'^^^ " o „ o ■= ^-^^^ "^■> V 1 ' " " 6 ,.0' c.^", "•' o ,-&•' ^"^^-. o <0 « =■ ^■f^^ V K^ H O o .v^ *'' ^" c: P ,^ .V 0'" .*''■ >• s.'^-^i. $*, ' 6 Pi O ' .< ." ^ \^^ .^°^ -^ ^^**'% ^^C^- /% ' • A ... O ; ■^ .f G' ..^*^ ^^^ ^% "^r^^.^ -^^'O, '^'P^*' o'^^'S. '>^.'^ ^^ *!. » O o «#>, .^^ ^o. %'^. ^^, "i/ >( <.^^ r-ivr.. *?*./ *.aL!-\ ^ i ^ > f^ V.^ ^>ife X^s^ :»g\ %^ v-^ ;'Kt> iO^, ■^ y^/ip^ -. <$>■ ' O N i^ \ Kj' * /-. \^^^ 'M# \>/ ^^^'^ ^^^^^ ■ ^ ■ ^ ^-^ •^y' * ^." (i^^ •^-^ / //} .^ HISTORIGAL COLLECTIONS ^"k5' ALL NATIONS: COMPRISING NOTICES OF THE MOST IRcmatltatle iSbrntss ant! ^t^tingiiiriljcti €i)aractcrg in X\)t HJi^lorg of tijc SSlorlti ; WITH ANECDOTES OP HEROES, STATESMEN, PATRIOTS, AND SOVEREIGNS, WHO HAVE SIGNALIZED THEIR NAMES IN ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY; WITH SPECIAL NOTICES OF THE HEROES OF THE WEST. BY JOHN FKOST, LL.D. AtJTnOR OF " PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES," " LIVES OF THE AMERICAN GEKEEALSj" ETC. ETC. ETC. HAETFORD : CASE, TIFFANY & CO. 1852. Emered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by CASE, TIFFANY & CO., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Connecticut. SrEKl'OTTPKD BT I.. .lOIINSON AN"!) CO. PHlLADEI.l'inA. A COMPLETE history of the world, in strict chronological order, has its peculiar advantages for reference and for accurate information. On the other hand, a volume of historical collec- tions, which leaves the author at liberty to choose the most striking passages of history, and bring forward the most prominent characters in full relief, while he entirely rejects or notices in a summary manner the drier details, has the advantage of enabling him to give a more lively, entertaining, and readable book, than he could possibly do by conforming to all the conditions of regular historical writing. In this volume I have endeavoured to present in a lively way the more prominent and popular features in the history of all those nations who have made any remarkable figure in history. In most instances, a summary outhne precedes the portions on which I have thought it best for the reader's enter- tainment to dilate. But I have considered that the title and design of the work left me at full liberty to select any portion of a country's annals which promised entertainment and instruc- tion, and to reject any other parts which were less suited to my purpose. PREFAC E. A slight outline only is given of American history, because books on that subject are so abundant ; but the Border Wars of the West have been dwelt on with more detail, and more of individual enterprise and adventure given, because the sub- ject is comparatively fresh and full of interest. I have embellished the book very copiously with engravings. That is my way ; and, as I have had frequent occasion to remark, it has its advantages. It appeals directly to the eye, and impresses characters and events indelibly on the mind. We remember a great man or a great event longer if we have seen the portrait of the man, or the picture of the event, than if we had only read the historical accounts of them without the aid which pictorial art gives to the memory. The public have afforded very satisfactory evidence of their approbation of my method, by the liberal encouragement given to the publishers of my embellished works. COI^TEI^TS. PAGE Outline History of Ancient Greece 1^ Principal Cities of Ancient Greece — Athens — Thebes — Delphi — Sparta —Corinth 21 Grecian Idolatry ^^ The Grecian Mysteries and Oracles 39 Public Games and Festivals of the Greeks - • • 47 The Trojan War 51 Lycurgus and his Laws 54 Exploits of Aristomenes, the Messenian Hero 57 Siege of Eira — Last Exploits of Aristomenes 63 Solon, Pisistratus, and the Pisistratida^ 68 First Persian Invasion 75 Second Persian Invasion ^7 Socrates 149 Death of Socrates 123 Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War 130 The Retreat of the Ten Thousand 142 Macedon: Geography and early History — Reign of Philip 145 10 CONTENTS. PAGE Alexander the Great 151 Kome 188 Founding of Rome — Romulus and Remus 193 Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus Marcius 197 The Tarquins— Fall of the Monarchy 200 Coriolanus 207 Cineinnatus 210 The Decemvirs — Sicinius Dentatus 212 Story of Virginia , 214 Taking of Rome by the G-auls 219 Carthage 223 First Punic War 226 Second and Third Punic Wars 232 Siege of Nuniantia 235 Adventures of Marius 238 Catiline's Conspiracy 241 The First Triumvirate — Caisar in Gaul and Britain 243 War between Pompey and Ca3sar 244 Death of Pompey 251 Death of Csesar 253 Caesar's Funeral 257 The Second Triumvirate 259 Battle of Philippi — Antony and Cleopatra 262 Battle of Actium — Death of Antony and Cleopatra , 268 Caligula 273 Claudius 277 Nero 279 Constantino the Great 284 Theodosius the Great 286 Outline History of Palestine, and more particularly of the Jews 288 The State of the Jews since the Destruction of Jerusalem 310 Armenia 315 Albania 317 History of Egypt, with Syria 320 Ancient Germany — Successful Resistance of the Germans against the Romans 339 CONTENTS. 11 PAGE The Huns and the Visigoths— Alaric and Attila— Fall of the Western Empire ^'^^ The Byzantine, or Eastern Roman Empire— Justinian— Bolisarius 348 Arabia — Mohammed ^'-^^ France— Charles Martel ^^^ France and Germany— Charlemagne, the first Germanic-Roman Em- 364 peror Spain — Its Conquest by the Moors ^'" Scandinavia— The Northmen 375 Italy— Hildebrand ^^^ Q. ., 391 bicily Syria— The Crusades : ^^^ The Turkish or Ottoman Empire •^^'^ Persia ^"^ China and Tartary "^^^ England — Early Attempt at Reformation— John Wickliffe 441 Bohemia— The Martyrdom of John Huss— The Hussite War 443 Portugal "^^^ Spain ^^^ Pisa, Genoa, Florence, and Venice 4G9 Italy — Rieuzi and Massaniello "*^- The Netherlands ••" '^^'^ TT , 494 Hungary India.... 507 England, to the End of the Reign of Henry III 526 Wales... 5^^ Scotland 55^ England, from the Reign of Edward I. to that of Henry VII 556 Outline History of America 5/1- The United States ^^^ Mexico. 609 Canada • ^^*^ Peru. 618 Chili : 621 Brazil 624 The Republic of La Plata, or United Provinces 628 12 CONTENTS. PAGE Colombia 631 Venezuela 632 Bolivia 633 Guiana 634 Amazonia 635 Episodes of American History — King Philip's War 636 Border Wars of Kentucky 651 Border Wars of Ohio 687 Border Wars of Indiana 724 Border Wars of Illinois 748 Border Wars of Michigan 765 Border Wars of Tennessee 787 Border Wars of Louisiana 806 The Russian Empire 830 Poland 840 Sweden 843 Switzerland 849 England, from the Reign of Henry VIII. to James II 854 England, from William III. to the Present Time.. 916 Germany — The Reformation 940 Prussia — Frederick the Great 950 France — Succession of the Kings from Hugh Capet to Louis Philip 955 France — Napoleon 958 European Revolutions of 1848-49 965 New Mexico and California 993 Cuba lOOG ''^"'Mm/////''/''^ i all the OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. HIS deservedly celebrated country of an- tiquity — the seat of science, literature, and the fine arts, at a period when the greater part of the European continent was involved in the obscurity of barbaric ignorance — in its most palmy state comprised the southern portion of the great eastern peninsula of Europe, and extended to about 42° of north latitude, in- cluding Thessaly and a part of modern Albania, with the Ionian islands, Crete, and the islands of the Archipelago. Modern Greece, although not so considerable in extent as the far-famed Greece of ancient date, comprises the territories of most celebrated and interesting of the Grecian states. 13 14 OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. By all the accounts which have been handed down, the earliest inhabitants of Greece were barbarous in the extreme. They lived on those fruits of the earth which grew spontaneously ; their shelter was in dens or caves, and the country was one wild, uncultivated desert. By slow degrees they advanced towards civilization, forming them- selves into regular societies to cultivate the lands, and build towns and cities. But their original barbarity and mutual violence ine- vented them from uniting as one nation, or even into any considera- ble community ; and hence the great number of states into which Greece was originally divided. Tlie history of Greece is divided into three principal periods — the periods of its rise, its power, and its fall. The first extends from tlio origin of the people, about 1800 years c. c, to Lycurgus, 875 years b. c. ; the second extends from that time to the conquest of Greece by the Romans, 14G b. c. ; the third shows us the Greeks as a conquered people, constantly on the decline, until at Icngtli, about A. D. 300, the old Grecian states were swallowed up in the Byzantine empire. According to tradition, the Pelasgi, under Inaclius, were tlie first people who wandered into Greece. They dwelt in caves in tlic earth, supporting themselves on wild fruits, and eating the flesh of their conquered enemies, until Phoroneus, who is called king of Argos, began to introduce civilization among them. Some barbarous tribes received names from the three brothers, Achjeus, Pelasgus, and Pythius, who led colonies from Arcadia into Thessaly, and also from Thessalus and Graecus (the sons of Pelasgus) and others. Deucalion's flood, 1514 b. c, and the emigration of a new people from Asia, the Hellenes, produced great changes. The Hellenes spread themselves over Greece, and drove out the Pelasgi, or mingled with them. Their name became the general name of the Greeks. Greece now raised itself from its savage state, and im- ] -roved still more rapidly after the arrival of some Phoenician and Egyptian colonies. About sixty years after the flood of Deucalion, Cadmus, the Phoenician, settled in Thebes, and introduced a know- ledge of the alphabet. Ceres, from Sicily, and Triptolemus, from Eleusis, taught the nation agriculture, and Bacchus planted the vine. Now began the heroic age, to which Hercules, Jason, Pirithous, and Theseus belong, and that of the old bards and sages, as Ta- myris, Amphion, Orpheus, Linus, Musrous, Chiron, and many others. A Avariike spirit filled the whole nation, so that every quarrel called all the heroes of Greece to arms ; as for instance the war against Thebes, and the Trojan Avar, 1200 B. c, which latter forms one of the principal epochs in the history of Greece. This war de- OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. 15 I I ! I 1 ! prived many kingdoms of their princes, and produced a general con- fusion, of which the Heraclidoe took advantage, eighty years after the destruction of Troy, to possess themselves of the Peloponnesus. They drove out the lonians and Achscans, who took refuge in Attica. But, not finding here sufficient room, Neleus (1044 B. c.) led an Ionian colony to Asia Minor, where a colony of .S^olians from the Pelopon- nesus had already settled, and was followed, eighty years after, by a colony of Dorians. In other states republics were founded, viz. in Phocis, in Thebes, and in the Asiatic colonies, and at length also in Athens and many other places ; so that, for the next four hundred years, all the southern part of Greece was, for the most part, occupied by republics. Their prospei'ity and the fineness of the climate, in the meantime, made the Asiatic colonies the mother of the arts and of learning. They gave birth to the songs of Homer and Hesiod. There commerce, naviga- tion, and law flourished. Greece, however, still retained its ancient simplicity of manners, and was unacquainted with luxury. If the population of any state became too numerous, colonies were sent out ; for example, in the seventh and eighth centuries, the powerful colonies of Rhegium, Syracuse, Sybaris, Crotona, Tarentum, Gela, Locris, and Messena were planted in Sicily and the southern parts of Italy. The small independent states of Greece needed a common bond of union. This bond was found in the temple of Delphi, the Amphictyonic council, and the solemn games, among which the Olympic were the most distinguished, the institution, or rather revival of which, 776 B. c, furnishes the Greeks with a chronological era. From this time, Athens and Sparta began to surpass the other states of Greece in power and importance. At the time of the Persian war, Greece had already made important advances in civilization. Besides the art of poetry, we find that philosophy began to be cultivated GOO B. c, and even earlier in Ionia and Lower Italy than in Greece Proper. Statuary and painting were in a flourishing condition. The important colonies of Massilia (Mar- seilles) in Gaul, and Agrigentum, in Sicily, were founded. Athens was continually extending her commerce, and established important commercial posts in Thrace. In Asia Minor, the Grecian colonies wei-e brought under the dominion of the Lydian Croesus, and soon after under that of Cyrus. Greece itself was threatened with a simi- lar fate by the Persian kings, Darjus and Xerxes. Then the heroic spirit of the free Greeks showed itself in its greatest brilliancy. Athens and Sparta almost alone withstood the vast armies of the Persian ; and the battles of Marathon, Thermopyloe, and Platasa, as 16 OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. well as the sea-fights at Artemisium, Salamis, and Mycale, taught the Persians that the Greeks were not to be subdued by them. Athens now exceeded all the other states in splendour and in power. The supremacy which Sparta had hitherto maintained devolved on this city, whose commander, Cimon, compelled the Persians to acknow- ledge the independence of Asia Minor. Athens was also the centre of the arts and sciences. The Peloponnesian war now broke out, Sparta being no longer able to endure the overbearing pride of Athens. This war devastated Greece, and enslaved Athens, until Thrasybulus again restored its freedom ; and, for a short time, Sparta was compelled, in her turn, to bend before the Theban heroes, Epami- nondas and Pelopidas. In spite of these disturbances, poets, philoso- phers, artists, and statesmen continued to arise, commerce flourished, and manners and customs were carried to the highest degree of refinement. But that unhappy period had now arrived, when the Greeks, ceasing to be free, ceased to advance in civilization. A kingdom, formed by conquest, had grown up on the north of Greece, the ruler of which, Philip, united courage with cunning. The dissen- sions which prevailed among the diifercnt states afforded him an op- portunity to exert his ambitious plans, and the battle of Clireronea, 338 B. c, gave Macedonia the command of all Greece. In vain did the subjugated states hope to become free after his death. The de- struction of Thebes was sufficient to subject all Greece to the young Alexander. This prince, as generalissimo of the Greeks, gained the most splendid victories over the Persians. An attempt to liberate Greece, occasioned by a false report of his death, was frustrated by Antipater. The Lamian war, after the death of Alexander, was equally unsuccessful. Greece was now little better than a Macedonian province. Luxury had enervated the ancient courage and energy of the nation. At length, most of the states of southern Greece, Sparta and /Etolia excepted, concluded the Achrean league, for the mainte- nance of their freedom against the Macedonians. A dispute having arisen between this league and Sparta, the latter applied to Macedonia for help, and was victorious. But this friendship was soon fatal, for it involved Greece in the contest between Philip and the Romans, who, at first, indeed, restored freedom to the Grecian states, while they changed ^tolia, and soon after Macedonia, into Roman provinces; but they afterwards began to excite dissensions in the Achrean league, interfered in the quarrels of the ijlreeks, and finally compelled them to take up arms to maintain their freedom. So unequal a contest could not long remain undecided ; the capture of Corinth, 146 b. c, placed the Greeks in the power of the Romans. OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. 17 During the whole period which elapsed between the battle of Chse- ronea and the destruction of Corinth by the Romans, the arts and sciences flourished among the Greeks ; indeed, the golden age of the arts was in the time of Alexander. The Grecian colonies were yet in a more flourishing condition than the mother country; especially Alexandria, in Egypt, which became the seat of learning. As they, also, in process of time, fell under the dominion of the Romans, they became, like their mother country, the instructors of their conquerors. In the time of Augustus the Greeks lost even the shadow of their former freedom, and ceased to be an independent people, although their language, manners, customs, learning, arts, and taste spread over the whole Roman empire. The character of the nation was now sunk so low, that the Romans esteemed a Greek as the most worth- less of creatures. Asiatic luxury had wholly corrupted them ; their ancient love of freedom and independence was extinguished, and a mean servility was substituted in its place. At the beginning of the fourth century, the nation scarcely showed a trace of the noble cha- racteristics of their fathers. The barbarians soon after began their ruinous incursions into Greece. The principal traits in the character of the ancient Greeks were simplicity and grandeur. The Greek was his own instructor, and if he learned any thing from others, he did it with freedom and inde- pendence. Nature was his great model, and in his native land she displayed herself in all her charms. The uncivilized Greek was manly and proud, active and enterprising, violent both in his hate and in his love. He esteemed and exercised hospitality towards strangers and countrymen. These features of the Grecian character had an important influence on the religion, politics, manners, and philosophy of the nation. The gods of Greece were not, like those of Asia, surrounded by a holy obscurity : they were human in their faults and virtues, but were placed far above mortals. They kept up an intercourse with men ; good and evil came from their hands ; all physical and moral endowments were their gift. The moral system of the earliest Greeks taught them to honour the gods by an exact observance of customs ; to hold the rites of hospitality sacred, and even to spare murderers, if they fled to the sanctuaries of the gods for refuge. Cunning and revenge were allowed to be practised against enemies. No law enforced continence. The power of the father, of the husband, or the brother, alone guarded the honour of the female sex, who therefore lived in continual dependence. The loss of virtue was severely punished, but the seducer brought his gifts and ofl'erings 2 18 OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. to the gods, as if liis conduct had been guiltless. The security of domestic life rested entirely on the master of the family. From these characteristic traits of the earliest Greeks, originated, in the sequel, the peculiarities of their religions notions, their love of freedom and action, their taste for the beautiful and the grand, and the simplicity of their manners. The religion of the Greeks was not so much mingled with superstition as that of the Romans ; thus, for example, they were unacquainted with the practice of augury. The Greek was inclined to festivity even in religion, and served the gods less in spirit than in outward ceremonies. His religion had little in- fluence on his morals, his belief, and the government of his thoughts. All it required was a belief in the gods, and in a future existence ; a freedom from gross crimes, and an observance of prescribed rites. The simplicity of their manners, and some obscure notions of a su- preme God, who hated and punished evil, loved and rewarded good, served, at first, to maintain good morals and piety among them. These notions were afterwards exalted and systematized by poetry and philosophy ; and the improvement spread from the cultivated classes through the great mass of the people. In the most enlightened period of Greece, clearer ideas of the unity of the deity, of his omniscience, his omnipresence, his holiness, his goodness, his justice, and of the necessity of worshipping him by virtue and purity of heart, prevailed. The moral system of some individuals among the Greeks was equally pure. The precepts of morality were delivered at first in sententious maxims ; for example, the sayings of the seven wise men. After- wards, Socrates and his disciples arose, and promulgated their pure doctrines. The love of freedom among the Greeks sprang from their good fortune in having lived so long without oppression or fear of other nations, and from their natural vivacity of spirit. It was this which made small armies invincible, and which caused Lycurgus, Solon, and Timoleon to refuse crowns. Their freedom was the work of nature, and the consequence of their original patriarchal mode of life. Their first kings were considered as fathers of families, to whom obedience was willingly paid, in return for protection and favours. Important affairs were decided by the assemblies of the people. Each man was master in his own house, and in early times no taxes were paid. But as the kings strove continually to extend their powers, they were ultimately compelled to resign their dignities ; and free states arose, with forms of government inclining more or less to aris- tocracy or democracy, or composed of a union of the two ; the citi- zens were attached to a government which was administered under OUTLINE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE. 19 the direction of wise laws, and not of arbitrary power. It was this noble love of a free country which prompted Leonidas to say to the king of Persia, that he would rather die than hold a despotic sway over Greece. It was this which inspired Solon, Themistocles, De- mosthenes, and Phocion, when, in spite of the ingratitude of their countrymen, they chose to serve the state and the laAvs, rather than their own interests. The cultivation of their fruitful country, which, by the industry of the inhabitants, afforded nourishment to several millions, and the wealth of their colonies, prove the activity of the Greeks. Commerce, navigation, and manufactures flourished on all sides ; knowledge of every sort was accumulated ; the spirit of inven- tion was busily at work ; the Greeks learned to estimate the pleasures of society, but they also learned to love luxury. From these sources of activity sprang also a love of great actions and great enterprises, so many instances of which are furnished by Grecian history. Another striking trait of the Grecian character was a love of the beautiful, both physical and intellectual. This sense of the beautiful, awakened and developed by nature, created for itself an ideal of beauty, which served them, and has been transmitted to us, as a cri- terion for every work of art. We have seen to what a state of degradation the Greeks were reduced in a few centuries after their subjugation by the Romans. Thus it continued as long as it was either really or nominally a por- tion of the Roman empire ; till, at length, like the imperial mistress of the world herself, it bent before the all-subduing Alaric the Goth, A. D. 400, and shared in all the miseries which were brought by the northern barbarians who successively overran and ravaged the south of Europe. After the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Greece was divided into feudal principalities, and governed by a variety of Norman, Venetian, and Prankish nobles ; but in 1261, with the exception of Athens and Nauplia, it was reunited to the Greek empire by Michael Paleologus. But it not long remained un- molested, for the Turks, then rising into notice, aimed at obtaining power in Europe, and Amurath II. deprived the Greeks of all their cities and castles on the Euxine sea, and along the coasts of Thrace, Macedon and Thessaly, carrying his victorious arms, in short, into the midst of the Peloponnesus. The Grecian emperors acknowledged him as their superior lord, and he, in turn, afforded them protection. This conquest, however, Avas not effected without a brave resistance, particularly from two heroic Christians, John Hunniades, a celebrated Hungarian general, and George Castriot, an Albanian prince, better known in history by the name of Scanderberg. 20 OUTLINE HISTORY OP ANCIENT GREECE. When Mohammed II., in 1451, ascended the Ottoman throne, the fate of the Creek empire seemed to be decided. At the head of an army of 300,000 men, supported by a fleet of three hundred sail, he laid siege to Constantinople, and encouraged his troops by spreading reports of prophecies and prodigies that portended the triumph of Islamism. Constantino, the last of the Greek emperors, met the storm Avith becoming resolution, and maintained the city for fifty-three days, though the fanaticism and fury of the besiegers were raised to the highest pitch. At length (May 29, 1453) the Turks stormed the Avails, and the brave Constantino perished at the head of his faithful troops. The final conquest of Greece did not, however, take place till 1481. Neither were the conquerors long left in undisturbed possession of their ncAvly-acquired territory ; and during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Greece was the scene of obstinate wars, till the treaty of Passarovitz, in 1718, confirmed the Turks in their con- quest ; and for a century from that time the inhabitants of Greece groaned under their despotic sway. "Yet are hei' skies as blue, her crags as wild, Sweet are her groves and verdant are her fields, Her olives ripe as when Minerva smiled, And still his honied wealth Ilymcttus yields ; There the blythe bee his fragrant fortress builds. The freeborn wanderer of her mountain air; Apollo still her long, long summer gilds, Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare : Art, glory, freedom fail, but nature still is fair," ^^ The Pnyx. PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. ATHENS, THEBES, DELPHI, SPARTA, CORINTH. THENS lay in a plain, extending about four ^^.; , ^, -ly miles towards the south-west, in the direction f^i^,ri] k^^^^^r^ '^ of the sea and the harbours ; on the other side it was enclosed by mountains. The plain itself was interrupted by several rocky hills, of which that named the Acropolis was the most remark- able. Athens was founded by Cecrops, a native of Sals, in Egypt, about 1556 years before the Christian era, and was named after the Egyp- tian goddess Neith, whom the Greeks called Athen(i, and the Romans Minerva. The first buildings were erected on the hill of the Acro- polis, which probably had been occupied by some of the Pelasgic tribes before the arrival of Cecrops ; thence the city gradually ex- tended on every side, especially towards the sea, until the long walls built by Themistocles uniting the city to the Piraeus, completed the enclosure of Athens in its greatest extent. The summit of the Acropolis was a level plain eight hundred feet in length, and nearly four liundred in breadth ; it was remarkable for the magnificent prospect which it afforded, for having been the ancient cradle of the nation, and, above all, The Acropolis. 21 22 PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. for those masterpieces of architecture which were erected by Pericles and other statesmen, to be the glory of their own age and the admi- ration of posterity. The view to the north-west commanded the dis- tant peaks of Mount Cithoeron, famous for the orgies of the Baccha- nalians, rising majestically over the surrounding hills ; to the north- east lay Pentelicus, celebrated for its quarries of the finest marble ; the two summits of Ilymettus, celebrated for its abundant supply of the richest honey, lay to the east ; as the spectator turned south- wards, he beheld Laurium, valuable for its silver mines, appearing at the remote extremity of the Attic peninsula ; but on the south and south-west was a prospect which awakened all the pride of an Athe- nian, and M'hicli even a modern traveller can scarcely view without emotion, since in that direction were seen the three harbours with their shipping and dockyards ; the Saronic gulf, the islands of Sala- mis and ^gina, the outline of the Argive shores ; and in the remote distance, the pinnacle of the Corinthian citadel, the commercial rival of Athens. To facilitate the student's conception of the following brief descrip- tion of Athens, we shall suppose him to ascend the Acropolis, and from thence survey the different parts of the city. A flight of mar- ble steps led to the PropyliTea, or entrance to the Acropolis, erected by Pericles at an expense of nearly half a million sterling. The wings of this splendid structure were two temples ; in one Minerva Avas worshipped as the goddess of victory; the other was adorned with paintings, executed by Polygnotus. The citadel had nine gates; on the north it was fortified by the Pelasgic wall, said to have been erected by the ancient Pelasgi ; on the south it was at first only defended by palings, which some of the xithenians mistook for the wooden walls declared by the oracle to be their best defence against the Persians ; but after the victory at Mycale, Cimon erected a wall called after bis name, which completed the enclosure. Within these bounds lay the principal public buildings of Athens, the temples, the treasury, and the courts of judicature. It would be impossible, in our narrow limits, to describe all the edifices collected on this fixvoured spot ; we shall therefore only men- tion the principal. Far the most remarkable was the Parthenon, or temple of Minerva, the noblest piece of architecture that the world has ever seen, rebuilt by Pericles, after its destruction by the Per- sians, of the purest Pentelic marble. It contained three statues of Minerva: one of olive wood, so ancient that it was said to have fallen from heaven ; one of marble ; and one of gold and ivory, the work of Phidias, and deemed, next to his statue of the Olympic Jupiter, PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. 25 the greatest triumph of sculpture. The temple commemorating the contest of two deities for the patronage of the city, was divided into two chapels, the one dedicated to Minerva, Pallas, or patroness of the city ; the other to Neptune. In these were contained the salt- spring Erechtheis, said to have been produced from the earth by a blow of Neptune's trident, and the sacred olive planted there by Minerva. Behind the Parthenon was the public treasury, called, from its situation, Opisthodomos, or the house in the rear ; in this, a thousand talents were always kept to meet any sudden emergency. At the foot of the Acropolis on the north side was the Prytaneium, a common hall, where the magistrates and those who had deserved well of their country, were fed at the public expense. On the south were the Odeum, where musical contests were celebrated ; and the theatre of Bacchus, where tragedies were acted in honour of that deity, and the merits of rival dramatists determined. The northern quarter of Athens, named Melite, contained little of importance. Ceramicus was the name given to the western part of the city, from the nature of its soil, which was potters' clay ; this name was also extended to a portion of the country beyond the walls. The Cera- micus contained the agora or forum, which was the principal market- place of Athens, and sometimes the scene of the public assemblies. It was ornamented by several porticoes, of which the most remarkable were the Poecile and the portico of the Hermos. The Poecile derived its name from the paintings with which it was ornamented ; in the middle was depicted the war between Theseus and the Amazons : on one side was the burning of Troy, and on the other the battle of Marathon. It was under the shade of this portico that Zeno taught his disciples, whence his followers were called Stoics, from a Greek word [stoa) signifying a porch. The portico and street of the Ilermce were so named from several statues of Hermes or Mercury, with which they were ornamented. Only the bust of the figure was formed, the lower part was a square pillar, on which moral sentences were written for the instruction of the people. At the extremity of the Ceramicus, near the Acropolis, stood the temple of Theseus, the most beautiful structure in the lower city ; it had the privilege of being a sanctuary for slaves, and all men of the lower ranks, who dreaded the persecution of the powerful ; — a noble compliment to the memory of Theseus, who had ever been the pro- tector of the distressed. A small valley, Cocle, lay between the Acropolis and the hills named the Pnyx and the Areopagus. The latter, which derives its name from being consecrated to Mars, was principally remarkable for 26 PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. the celebrated court that met on its summit. The Pnyx was the place in ■which the most important assemblies of the people were held; on the top was erected a bema, or pulpit, from which the orators spoke; and its position, strangely enough, varied with the political constitution of the state. While agriculture was the princi- pal employment of the inhabitants of Attica, the government remained aristocratic, but when commerce had increased the wealth and intelligence of the people, the constitution was changed into an almost complete democracy. During this period, the bema was placed fronting the sea, intimating that its contemplation should stimu- late the orator to protect commerce, as the source both of the wealth and political happiness of the state; but when Lysander had over- thrown the Athenian power, and subverted the Athenian constitution, the bema M'as made to face the country, under the pretence that agriculture was pointed out by Minerva as the proper object of the attention of the Athenians. A strange illustration of the early belief in an aphorism, which has since been frequently exemplified, that a commercial country must always be more or less democratic. South of the Pnyx was a hill named Musa3um, where a fortress was erected by the Macedonians, when they occupied the city. There were three harbours belonging to Athens, Munychia, Pirreus, and Phalerum. The first of these Avas the most ancient, and was very soon deserted : the other two were celebrated for affording safe anchorage, and a shelter secure against every storm. The Pirteus was the most important haven ; it in fact was a city by itself, with its own squares, temples, and agorai, frequented by a commercial crowd nearly as numerous and busy as that which was to be found in the market-places of Athens. The Pir»us could accommodate four hundred triremes, the other two not more than fifty each. The road to the harbours was enclosed by a double wall, designed and executed by Themistocles. These walls Avere built entirely of freestone, and were so wide that two wagons could drive on them abreast. The road was ornamented with the monuments of deceased poets, statesmen, and warriors, whom the Athenians frequently perse- cuted during their lives and almost deified after their death. The most remarkable places in the vicinity of Athens were the gym- nasia or public schools, three of which deserve to be more particularly mentioned ; the Academy, the Lycseum, and the Cynosarges. The Academy lay at the north-west side of Athens, at the ex- tremity of the Ceramicus, Avithout the walls ; it was originally the demesne of a rich Athenian, named Academus, and was the place chosen by Plato for the instruction of his disciples. It is said to have PRINCIPAL CITIES OP ANCIENT GREECE. 29 been laid out with great taste and elegance ; and its groves are described as among the finest specimens of ornamental planting. On the eastern side was the Cjnosarges, where the principles of the Cynic philosophy were taught ; and a little to the right of it, the Lycaeum, where Aristotle lectured. As this philosopher delivered his instructions while walking about the pleasure-grounds, his followers were named Peripatetics. From the geographical position of Athens, we are led to deduce some inferences which may illustrate the history of the republic. It was the centre of a small but compact territory ; no inhabitant of Attica was more than a day's journey from the metropolis, and there was consequently no necessity for local jurisdictions in the villages. Athens was emphatically what it was called, Astu, the city ; and in it the pride and aifections of all the provincials were as much concentrated as if they had been actually citizens. It is, therefore, natural to suppose that all the thoughts of the Athenians would be directed to the beautifying of their city, as well as to the increase of its political influence. Attica was not a fertile country, but it was admirably situated for extensive commerce ; still there must have been always a powerful party favourable to agriculture — men possessed of hereditary claims to respect, rich in olive-grounds and fig-gardens, who looked with a jealous eye on the riches and influence which men of inferior rank acquired by trade. Hence we may expect to find in the history of the Athenian republic, traces of a struggle between the landed and mercantile interests, in which the former would aim at establishing an oligarchy, by limiting the possession of power to men of noble birth ; or, what must in early times have been the same thing, per- sons inheriting large estates ; while, on the other hand, the advocates of commerce would endeavour to establish a pure democracy. Finally, Athens would naturally be at the head of the difierent commercial states that studded the coasts of the ^gean ; she would be almost compelled to send out colonies, and establish depots on the Thracian coast, in order to hold communication with the Euxine Sea ; she would be the mistress of the ^gean Islands, and in close contact with the Persian ^provinces in Asia Minor. From these complicated relations, we may expect that various disputes and wars would arise ; especially as the democratic nature of the Athenian government would prevent the adoption of a steady line of policy. The notices of Thebes in ancient writers are not sufiiciently explicit to furnish the materials of a long description. It was founded by Cadmus, B. c. 1493, but its walls were erected by Amphion and 30 PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. Zethus about a century later. It was more remarkable for its extent than for the beauty of its edifices, but its seven gates are spoken of as meriting admiration. The Thebans looked on their city as the capital of Boeotia, and were therefore involved in constant disputes with the other cities in that province. We are, therefore, led to expect that in Grecian his- tory we shall find the Thebans more anxious to extend their dominion over their neighbours, than to exert themselves for the general benefit of the Hellenic community. Delphi, whose celebrated oracle exercised so great an influence over the Grecian states, was romantically situated in a valley of Mount Parnassus, and imbosomed in dark forests. The veneration in which the temple of Apollo and the Pythian responses were held, induced not only the Greek states, but even foreign princes, to send rich treasures to the shrine ; and Delphi, even at an early age, became celebrated for the extent of its stores and the beauty of its decora- tions. In Grecian history we are not to expect that Delphi will appear prominent ; placed out of the way of the different states which con- tended for supremacy, it was the common object of veneration to all, and consequently all felt interested in maintaining its integrity ; but when the treasures collected during ages in the shrine had stimulated the cupidity of some neighbouring community, we should naturally be inclined to conjecture that the most cruel of all wars, a religious war, should be the consequence. Sparta, or Lacedoemon, is supposed to have been founded by Lelex, a leader of the Pelasgi, but at what time it is impossible to determine ; it became a city of considerable importance before the time of the Trojan war, and, soon after the Doric invasion, was considered the principal city of the Peloponnesus. The name Sparta was strictly ap- plicable only to the citadel, erected on a hill in the centre of the city ; Lacediemon was a common name for the residences of the five Laco- nian tribes which were erected round the citadel. It was one of the largest cities in Greece, but being built in a straggling manner, was not so populous as several others. As the Spartans professed to despise the fine arts, their city did not contain any public edifice of importance. There is nothing in the situation of Laceda;mon which would lead us to anticipate the eminence at which it arrived. The river Eurotas, on whose banks it stood, was celebrated for the clear- ness and salubrity of its waters, but it was not a navigable stream, and aff'orded no facilities for commerce. The fame of Sparta was owing to its political institutions, and not to its geographical position. PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. 31 Corinth.. At the southern extremity of the isthmus that united the ^^ Peloponnesus to Hellas stood Corinth, a city enjoying the best situation for extensive commerce in ancient, or per- haps in modern times. It was :^^^ founded by Sisyphus, the son -'^J^l of yEolus, B. c. 1G16, and was „'^^ originally named Ephyre ; but "^^^ when the family of Pelops became masters of the penin- sula, it received its present name from Corinthus, a son of the Phry- gian hero. The city was situated at the foot of a loft}^ mountain, Acro-corinthus, and was about four miles in extent. It was richly adorned with temples and statues, and the supply of water was better than in any other Grecian city, for its aqueducts were numerous and abundant. Acro-corinthus was the strongest fortress in Greece, and rivalled the Acropolis of Athens in the magnificence of its prospects; beneath it stood the city, Avith its numerous edifices and busy crowd ; beyond lay the narrow isthmus, and the two ports of the city Cenchreaj, on the Saronic, and Lechoeum, on the Cressaan bay: these harbours were usually crowded with ships, for the isthmus furnished a conve- nient market, where the merchants of Western Europe might meet and trade with the Asiatics. Farther to the north might be seen the summits of Helicon and Parnassus ; and on the eastern side a strong eye might discern the Athenian Acropolis. From this sketch of the position of Corinth, we are led to antici- pate the great commerce which it enjoyed, especially with Western Europe, as there was no great city on the Ionian Sea. It is also natural to suppose that the population would soon become too nume- rous for its limited extent, and that the Corinthian colonies would be more numerous than those of any other city. As it was the very key of the Peloponnesus, we might have expected that Corinth would have held the balance of power between Northern and Southern Greece ; but its inhabitants were more mercantile than Avarlike, and neglected to avail themselves of the military advantages of their situation. Commercial jealousy made them in general hostile to the Athenians, and consequently allies of the Spartans ; but their hostility to their rival was on some occasions tempered with a generosity not very usual among competitors in trade. 32 PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ANCIENT GREECE. In case of foreign invasion, Corinth became the citadel of Greece The successive bands of spoilers who devastated that unhappy coun- try, found this city garrisoned by men eager to defend the last hope of their country. Hence, after the decline of Grecian liberty, we meet with several instances of Corinth being fiercely besieged and heroically defended, and suffering fearfully from the vengeance of its barbarous conquerors. In allusion to these circumstances, Lord Byron opens his poem of the Siege of Corinth with the following lines, whose spirit and beauty will serve as a relief to the dryness of our geographical details : — Manj' a vanish'd year and age, And tempest's breath and battle's rage, Have swept o'er Corinth ; yet she stands, A fortress form'd to freedom's hands. The whirlwind's wrath, the earthquake's shock Have left untouch'd her hoary rock. The key-stone of a land which still, Thougli fall'n, looks proudly on that hill, The land-mark to the double tide. That purpling rolls on either side, As if their waters chafed to meet. Yet pause and crouch beneath her feet. But could the blood before her shed Since first Timoleon's brother bled. Or baffled Persia's despot fled. Arise from out the earth which drank The stream of slaughter as it sank. That sanguine ocean would o'erflow Her isthmus idly spread below : Or could the bones of all the slain Who perish'd there be piled again, V^: That rival pyramid would rise More mountain-like, through those clear skies, Than yon towei'-capt Acropolis, Which seems the very clouds to kiss. GRECIAN IDOLATRY. HE origin of the Grecian religion has been differently narrated by historians, some assert- ing that it was originally derived from Egypt, others declaring that Phoenicia was its parent, while not a few contend, that in the ancient history of Crete or Samothrace we must look '^^^^^^^^^^^^ ' for those personages whom the Greeks looked on as the rulers of Olympus. Much may be said in support of each of these several suppositions, for it is probable that the colonies which successively settled in the country brought with them the worship practised in their native land ; but none of them would, if taken sepa- rately, explain the reason of the great difference between the Grecian system of idolatry and all those which from time immemorial have prevailed in the East. The account given by the ancient Greeks themselves, appears to be founded in truth ; they tell us, that the poets collected the various traditions which were spread through the country, and arranged them into one uniform system, which the beauty of their verses soon caused to be Universally adopted. Instead of enumerating the names and attributes of the deities, which may be found in any pantheon, we shall endeavour rather to discover what was the nature of the Grecian religion, in its effect on the character of the people, and contrast it with the superstitions of Asia. The great struggle between the eastern and western world is the most prominent feature in the ensuing history : any light that can be thrown on the character of the combatants, will not only make us more interested in their fortunes, but also greatly assist us in un- derstanding the nature of the contest. Every inquiry that has been made into the superstitions that pre- vailed in Asia has contributed to prove, that the divinities of the East were purely elementary, or in other words, founded on some 3 33 34 GRECIAN IDOLATRY. power or object of nature, and that the attribute •which they princi- pally contemplated in the object of their worship, was resistless power. The sun, the moon, the starry host, the earth, the river that watered the country, the storms and whirlwinds that laid waste the fields, — these and similar objects, mingled with rude ideas of a creating, preserving, and destroying poAver, formed the groundwork of the different reli- gious systems that prevailed in the East. They did, indeed, some- times represent their deities in the human form, because men naturally associate ideas of excellence with their own shape ; but they did not from thence deduce that the deities were actuated by human feelings. The form was always a secondary consideration, and they did not hesitate to disfigure it by the most unnatural combinations, in order to convey more forcibly their ideas of divine power. The Hindoo represents his god with fifty arms, the Phrygian Diana had as many breasts; the Egyptians gave to their deities the heads and limbs of animals. In all these cases the statue was looked on as a symbol rather than a representation. Beings supposed to possess boundless power, whom men had no reason to hope would sympathize in their condition, naturally inspired terror ; hence the Asiatics adopted a religion of fear, and worshipped their gods rather to avert evil than procure good. This naturally led to cruel sacrifices ; human beings were, and still continue to be, offered up in the East, for mercy and love form no part of the attributes with which their deities are invested. The influence of such a belief on the mind must have been injurious in the highest degree ; it predisposed men to slavery, because they were naturally ready to acknowledge in the government of their country those principles by which they believed the whole world to be directed. Despotism in its worst form they looked upon as the great principle that ruled the natural world ; their gods were to be conciliated, not by rectitude and piety, but by cruel sufferings, severe austerities, and inhuman sacrifices. We find that these same principles pervaded all the Asiatic forms of government ; let us now see what practical effect they were likely to produce. The Asiatics could have no idea of political rights or justice ; their patriotism must have consisted in simple attachment to the soil, their only connection with the government was blind submission to the ruler's will. Hence, when a war broke out, they might fight for pay or plunder, through love of their leader, or attachment to their sove- reign, but never from a desire to serve their country, or secure its independence. This simplified the business of conquest in the East; when an army was beaten the country was subdued, the general body of the people no more dreamed of resisting a victor, than they would GRECIAN IDOLATRY. 35 attempt to struggle against an earthquake or a whirlwind. Sesostris, Cyrus, Alexander, and many others, overran the East with forces scarcely suflScient to garrison one of its provinces. From the same habit of looking on their individual leader as every thing and themselves as nothing, the success of an Asiatic army depended altogether on the character of its general. There was no emulation between the different bodies of the army ; no soldier dared to think for himself; he fought, indeed, where he was commanded, but if his leader fell, or was made prisoner, he fought no longer ; when the general fled, his army ran away ; the Asiatics were habitu- ated to act as mere machines, and consequently became useless when the moving power was destroyed. This was the fatal secret on which the fortune of Persia depended ; the celebrated expedition of the ten thousand revealed it to the Greeks, and Alexander, by availing him- self of the knowledge, decided the fate of the Eastern world at Issus and Arbela. The religion of the Greeks was one of the most extraordinary phe- nomena that the world ever witnessed ; it was formed by the poets, and upheld by the fine arts. To use the expressive words of an old philosopher, its gods were immortal men, and its men were mortal gods. Instead of the single attribute of brute force, the divinities of Greece were supposed to possess all the passions and affections of human nature, joined indeed with the possession of supreme power, but power subjected to the control of wisdom and justice. Though many absurdities flowed from thus attributing human characters to the gods, it gave a warmth and affection to their worship which pro- duced salutary effects. The Greek honoured his deity as his friend; he presented the same gifts at the altar as he would have offered to a fellow-mortal whose favour he wished to conciliate ; he celebrated the sacred festivals with songs and dances, because such things delighted himself and gratified all his acquaintance. By a natural transition, this attachment was extended to the place where the deity was wor- shipped, and became an additional cause of that ardent love with which the Greeks regarded their native land. To defend their tem- ples was with them a more powerful motive than to protect their fire- sides ; and all through this history we shall see that piety was a prin- cipal part of Grecian patriotism. On this account, we must expect to meet with religious wars and persecutions in the history of this people : it is enough to mention the Messenian and the two Phoecian wars, as instances of the inveterate hostility with which they were punished who presumed to offend the gods, the friends of the nation. Another peculiarity in the Grecian religion was, that the priest- 36 GRECIAN IDOLATRY. hood was not limited to a particular family or class : it appears to have been, like the magistracy in the republics^ elective and tem- porary ; and many important services of religion were performed by the generals and magistrates themselves. This prevented the esta- blishment of a privileged class who might monopolize knowledge, as happened in Egypt and other countries, while, at the same time, it gave a character of freedom to religion which must naturally have been imitated in politics. The persecutions raised against those who insulted or were sup- posed to have insulted the religion of the state, do not appear in any instance to have been caused by the priesthood ; the Amphictyonic council was composed of laymen when it commenced the sacred wars ; Alcibiades and Socrates were accused of impiety, not by priests, but by factious demagogues ; they were condemned by the national tri- bunal, and not by an ecclesiastical inquisition. In short, the Grecian was a state religion only because every individual in the state felt interested in its preservation. The most striking consequence of their religion was the ardour with which the Greeks cultivated the fine arts. The gods were supposed to possess a human form, but the beauty and sublimity of their appear- ance was far superior to that of ordinary mortals. The poets laboured to describe the majesty of the deities by the most lively images. The painter and statuary endeavoured to imbody these conceptions on the canvass and in the marble. This was the origin of ideal beauty, or the discovery of the highest degree of perfection which the human form can be conceived to attain. Thus, with its religion was asso- ciated all that makes the name of Greece honoured by posterity ; epic poetry celebrated the wars of gods, and heroes descended from them ; the lyric writers composed hymns in their praise, and the dra- matic writers laboured strenuously to produce pieces worthy of being represented at their festivals ; poetry, painting, sculpture, music, were cultivated, not so much for their own excellence as for their connection with the service of deities, who were loved as friends while they were worshipped as rulers. All these circumstances combined to accelerate the progress of civilization in Greece. Athens had arrived at a pitch of refinement higher than Rome ever attained, when the entire West of Europe remained sunk in barbarism. But perhaps this very refinement may have been the chief cause of its ruin, by introducing a lavish expen- diture in matters merely ornamental, and exhausting those treasures on which the nation relied for its defence, in splendid buildings and pompous processions. THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. ESIDES the popular religion, in which all the Greeks participated, there were in every Gre- cian state certain mysteries, ceremonies of a secret religion, in which none but the initiated could participate. The nature of the doctrines taught in these solemnities, and the meaning of their rites, were covered with an impene- trable veil of secresy ; to divulge the hidden nature of these mysteries was deemed a crime of the greatest magnitude ; and we shall see, in 'the course of the following history, that the bare suspicion of having betrayed some of the mysteries to the uninitiated pro- duced the banishment of Alcibiades, at the moment when his services were most wanted by the Athenians. It is easier to discover the origin and tendency than the nature and meaning of these mysterious doc- trines and observances : the notices scattered through ancient writers are brief and unsatisfactory, and modern disquisitions are too frequently 39 40 THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. founded on mere conjecture, and generally exhibit more power of imagination than depth of knowledge. As these mysteries, however, had a powerful effect on the national character, it is necessary to take some notice of them before we enter on the history of the people. All the historians concur in representing the mysteries as derived from some foreign source : the mysteries of Ceres, the first in interest and importance, were brought from Egypt by Danaus ; the secret rites of Bacchus were derived from Thrace, and Crete supplied those of the Curetes and Dactyli. Indeed, from the earliest ages, we find traces, in all the Eastern countries, of a religion entirely differing from the vulgar, confined to a particular caste, and guarded from the rest of mankind with the most sedulous care. We are told that " Moses was skilled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," by which, undoubt- edly, is meant that the secrets of the priesthood had been revealed to him as an adopted disciple of their order. The ceremonies in the temple of Sais, in Egypt, are declared to have been precisely the same as those of the Eleusinian mysteries, celebrated in honour of Ceres, at Eleusis, a village of Attica, and the inscription on the pedestal of Minerva's statue in that temple gives us a remote conception of the nature of the secret doctrines there taught. The inscription was : " I am all that is, was, and shall be : and no one has ever lifted my veil." From this it would seem probable that these institutions were designed to preserve the knowledge of the meaning attached to the symbolical representations of the divinities, together with the traditions of the origin of the world and of the deities themselves. After the epic poets had systematized the mythology of Greece, the knowledge of the religion originally introduced from Egypt and Asia would have totally perished but for the mysteries, and it is doubtful if even they were sufficient for its preservation. Homer does not mention them, because in his time the religion of the vulgar and that of the instructed was the same ; but when his fables and those of Hesiod became the source whence the populace derived their religious knowledge, the mysteries suddenly rose into importance, and were deemed objects of the highest national concern. But in process of time these secret doctrines probably degenerated into empty forms and unmeaning ritual ; they were more honoured for their antiquity than valued for their importance, after Athens had been subjugated by the Romans ; but, like many secret societies in Europe, they con- tinued to exist in name long after their power had been destroyed. But the mysteries of ancient Greece inspired more reverential awe in the minds of the multitude than any modern institutions of a similar nature ever produced. The doctrines and the nature of the THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. 41 ceremonies were revealed only to the initiated, but tlie ceremonies themselves were public ; no one but a member could take a part in the festivals and processions : no one was excluded from being a spectator. While the multitude was permitted to gaze at these exhibitions, to increase the splendour of which all the resources of art were ex- hausted, they learned to believe that there was something more sublime revealed to the initiated, and their ignorance of its nature only served to increase their awe and admiration. Thus the public worship inspired love for the divinities, while the private religion filled the mind with reverence, and both combined to elevate the national character, by freeing it from the servile adoration of the Asiatic and the stern political religion of the Romans. In all ages, the eager desire of men to penetrate futurity has led to unnumbered superstitions, which the artful and designing have per- verted to their own purposes. Even in our own day, a belief in omens and in dreams still continues to exist in the minds of the un- educated; all the accidental coincidences are carefully treasured up as instances of the certainty of prognostic, while the far more nume- rous instances of failure are forgotten. When such absurdity con- tinues to exist even in this enlightened age, we can easily imagine that men in the commencement of society would be much more easily duped by pretensions to foreknowledge : if fortune-tellers find dupes even amid all the light and knowledge of the nineteenth century, we may readily believe that a crafty priesthood could impose on the world when they monopolized all the little learning that existed. L Of all the modes of divination practised in Greece, that of oracles was the most important, and produced the greatest effect on the nation. No enterprise of consequence was undertaken until the will of the gods had been inquired at the holy shrines : expeditions were undertaken or laid aside according to the responses delivered by the priest or priestess in the name of the deity./ The first, and, in the earlier ages of Gfreece, the most important oracle was that of Jupiter, at Dodona. It is said by some to have existed in the time of Deucalion, but others, with more probability, assign its origin to a later period. Two Egyptian pi'iestesses that were carried off by Phoenician merchants from Thebes in Egypt were sold as slaves, the one in Libya, and the other in Epirus ; their superior knowledge enabled them to impose on the credulity of the natives, and at length they were enabled to establish the oracle of Jupiter at Dodona, and that of Ammon in Libya. This simple account became by tradition a very wonderful story ; it was said that two black doves, sent by 42 THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. Jupiter, had flown into these countries, and, addressing the inhabitants in human voice, foretold of future events. But the fame of the Dodonean oracle was eclipsed bj that of Del- phi ; Jupiter continued to be considered as the great author of pro- phecy, but Apollo was looked upon as its most lucid interpreter. The discovery of the Delphic oracle is said to have originated in accident : a shepherd on Mount Parnassus observed that when his goats ap- proached a particular fissure in the mountains, they were seized with extraordinary convulsions, and agitated by a species of delirium. Anxious to examine the cause of this phenomenon, he approached the fissure, and scarcely had he breathed the exhalation which issued from it, when he was seized with frenzy, and uttered words of strange import. The matter became noised abroad, a temple was built over the place, and a priestess, named Pythia, appointed to deliver oracles from a tripod placed over the fissure. Iler words were then put into hexameter verse by some poets kept in attendance for the purpose. The verses, however, were so bad that it was commonly said, " The god of poetry is the worst of poets." The magnificent situation of the temple in the recesses of Mount Parnassus, the two gigantic peaks of the mountain, and the savage defiles which led to the sacred city, contributed in no small degree to the fame of the oracle. It seemed a spot which nature itself had marked out and hallowed for a nation's worship : no one could approach the sacred precincts without being deeply impressed by feelings of reverence and awe. The fame of the oracle of Delphi soon eclipsed all the others ; its celebrity spread not merely through Greece, but extended to Western Asia, and the northern shores of Africa and Italy. Its responses, veiled in studied obscurity, could in general be interpreted so as to seem to have foretold the event, whichever way it turned out, as in the celebrated answer to Pyrrhus : " Aio te, jEacida, Romanos vincere posse." Which may be translated, either that Pyrrhus would vanquish the Romans, or that they would conquer him. But obscurity was not the only means by which the credit of the oracle was maintained ; the very belief in its power had a tendency to perpetuate itself, for those in whose favour an oracle had been uttered deemed themselves invincible, as being under the special protection of heaven, while those against whom the Pythia had decided were proportionably dispirited. As the Greeks became more enlightened, the influence of the Delphic oracle decreased ; an insult off'ered to the shrine of the Plio- cians produced both the sacred wars, but it is easy to see from THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. 43 the history, that in the interval between them, men's minds had un- dergone a great alteration : in the first, a desire to avenge the pro- faned temple was both the real and professed motive of the assailants ; in the second, religion was the ostensible pretext, but we can clearly see that it was nothing more than a pretext. Even among the Athenians the most superstitious of all the Grecian states, Demos- thenes did not hesitate to say, "The Pythia philippizes," boldly asserting that the oracles were not inspired by Apollo, but purchased by Philip. After the extinction of Grecian liberty, the Delphic oracle still held on a lingering existenc^, and its decline was so gra- dual, that it is impossible to discover aft what time it became totally silent. The oracle of Apollo at Delos was as highly honoured, though not so celebrated, as that of Delphi. Thither the Athenians annually sent a sacred ship called Paralus, and from the moment of her sailing until her return, it was unlawful to put any criminal to death. The oracle of Trophonius in Lebadeia was also celebrated, chiefly indeed from the jugglery of the priests, who introduced the visitants into a cave, and exhibited such terrifying sights as usually dispirited them for the rest of their lives : hence, " to have visited the cave of Tro- phonius," was a phrase proverbially applied to all persons of a dark and gloomy disposition. The faith in oracles, though it in some degree tended to inspire a reverence for the deities, yet on the whole produced injurious effects. While they met with general credence, a belief in fatalism was naturally produced, which damped the energies of those to whom danger was threatened, and gave their adversaries spurious confidence, rather than true courage. The deception, though admirably managed, could not be concealed for ever ; party feeling, but more frequently avarice, induced the priests to pass judgments dictated by their pre- judice or their interest ; and when these were falsified by events, the credit of the oracle was shaken to the foundation. After the con- clusion of the first Peloponnesian war, we meet with several instances of generals who made it their boast that they disregarded omens, prodigies, and oracles. Epaminondas was especially remarkable for his disregard of all such quackery, and answered his superstitious monitors with that well-known verse of Homer, — His sword the brave man draws, And usks no omen but his country's cause. The Athenian philosophers contributed much to shake the credit pre- viously given to these supposed declarations of the divine will ; and 44 THE GRECIAN MYSTERIES AND ORACLES. thougli oracles continued to be consulted, yet they appear to have lost all political influence before the age of Alexander. Still the temples of Dodona and Delphi were not entirely useless : they kept up a spirit of nationality among the diff'erent branches of the Hellenic race ; for these temples were not considered the pro- perty of the Thesprotians or Phocians, but of all those of Greek descent, in whatever part of the world they resided. Delphi espe- cially was to the Greeks what Jerusalem was to the Jews, and Mecca is to the Mohammedans, a national temple, in whose preservation all are interested, because all have been accustomed to regard it with veneration. The guardiansh!|) of these sanctuaries being intrusted to the Amphictyonic council, a connecting link was formed between the government and the popular religion ; and at the same time the pilgrimages made from Greece and the most remote colonies, by bringing together representatives of all the remote branches of the Hellenic family, reminded them that they were one race and one people. The right of consulting the oracles belonged almost exclusively to the Greeks, though some foreign princes, especially the Lydian mo- narchs, were permitted to seek responses and offer presents. But the meanest state of Grecian origin and the humblest individual of Grecian descent had the privilege of visiting the shrine, and seeking the information which he was taught to believe a benignant deity had particularly provided for all the descendants of Hellen. PUBLIC GAMES AND FESTIVALS OF THE GREEKS. ONE of the Grecian institutions tended more to unite the different branches of the Hellenic family into one nation than the public games which were celebrated at stated intervals. Of these there were four, the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian. •^y&^l The general design of all the games was the same : it was to display bodily and mental ex- cellence, to excite emulation by rewarding merit, and to afford oppor- tunities for the exhibition of every thing that tended to exalt the national character. They rose gradually into importance : in the time of Homer, they were neglected so much that the poet takes no notice of their existence ; but in the space of about two centuries they had arrived at such a height of fame, that the victors were cele- brated by Pindar, and a crown obtained at the Olympic games was deemed the greatest of mortal honours. The painters and sculptors sent the best specimens of their art to Olympia ; poets, orators, and historians recited portions of their works in these national assemblies ; and all the vocal and instrumental performers who had any skill in music were eager to have their fame sanctioned by the approbation of the Olympic judges. 47 48 PUBLIC GAMES AND FESTIVALS. The Idsei Dactyli are said to have instituted the Olympic games ; they were revived by Hercules, but having again fallen into neglect, they were re-established by Iphitus, B. c. 884, who ordained that they should be regularly celebrated every fifth year. The intervals be- tween these festivals were called olympiads, and by them the Greeks computed time : they reckoned, however, not from their institution or re-establishment, but from the victory of Coroebus, b. c. 776, which, though always counted the first, was really the twenty-eighth olym- piad. This mode of ascertaining dates continued to be used until the 364th olympiad, A. D. 440, when the Christian era was substituted in its stead. The athletic exercises used in these games were five, viz. leaping, running, throwing, which was performed with javelins, arrows, quoits, &c., and wrestling, which seems also to have included boxing. The other exercises were horse and chariot-races, of diiferent kinds, but alike in deciding the victory more from the skill of the rider or cha- rioteer than by the strength or swiftness of the horses. The contests between musicians, artists, poets, &c. were secondary objects in the Olympic games, but formed the principal part of the Pythian. The latter were celebrated every fifth year at the Delphi, and are said to have been instituted by Apollo, in honour of his victory over the serpent Python. The Nemean games were celebrated every third year at Nemea, a village in Argolis : they are said by some to have been instituted in commemoration of the destruction of the Nemean lion by Hercules ; but the more general account is that they were funeral games in memory of Archemorus. The Isthmian games, so named from the place of their celebration, the Corinthian isthmus, were instituted in memory of Melicertes, the son of Athamas and Ino. These games were considered so sacred, that they were not permitted to be laid aside even in consequence of a public calamity. The rewards at the public games were chiefly honorary : the Olym- pic victor was crowned with laurel ; the Pythian received a chaplet made of some fruit-tree ; the Nemean and Isthmian conquerors re- ceived crowns made of parsley, that of the former being green, and that of the latter withered. But though no pecuniary reward was given at the games, almost every state in Greece settled pensions on any of their citizens who had been so fortunate as to obtain prizes. The similarity between these games and the tournaments of the middle ages appears at first very striking, but a little consideration will show that they were institutions of a totally different nature. PUBLIC GAMES AND FESTIVALS. 49 The exercises of chivalry were confined to a particular class of society ; no person of obscure family was allowed to share in them, and they were entirely of a martial character. The meanest Greek might con- tend at the Olympic games, but the most powerful monarch who was not of Hellenic descent could not become a candidate. They were designed to display the glory of the Greek nation, and this they ef- fected by exhibiting every thing which could excite admiration ; bodily strength and skill in manly excellence, the splendour of opulence, as displayed in the rich equipages that contended in the chariot-race ; intellectual excellence of every description, poetry, oratory, painting, sculpture, and music. The government of these games was confided to the people in whose vicinity they were celebrated ; but some control appears to have been exercised over them by the Amphictyonic council. There were several assemblies of this kind, which have all been forgotten in the superior celebrity of that which met at Delphi and Thermopylae. In general, the characteristics of these assemblies were, first, that several states should form a federative union, and agree to send depu- ties to debate on matters of common interest ; secondly, that the meetings should be held in a temple or sanctuary ; and thirdly, that the time of their assembly should by celebrated as a festival, by games and processions. They appear to have been instituted at a time when Greece was divided into tribes, and before the cities be- came of importance. Hence their weight in preventing civil war among the Greeks was lost, when individual states, such Athens, or Sparta, began to struggle for eminence. In fact, after the termina- tion of the Persian war, the Amphictyonic council became to the Greeks what the Diet is to the Germans, a national council, that preserved a certain feeling of brotherhood, though it did not possess any real political influence. Athens and Sparta no more referred the decision of their disputes to the assembly at Delphi, than Austria and Prussia to the congress at Ratisbon ; still they entertained a cer- tain respect for the great national council, and observed certain regulations, even in war, which had been instituted by the Am- phictyons. From these assemblies originated the rules observed in civilized warfare, which form so important a part of the law of nations. This will appear if we consider some of the clauses in the ancient Am- phictyonic oath : the deputies swore, in the name of the states they represented, "never to destroy an Amphictyonic city; not to deprive them of water, whether in war or peace ; to punish any city that violated these laws ; to protect the worship of the god, and the safety 4 50 PUBLIC GAMES AND FESTIVALS, of his sanctuary, to the utmost of their power." In the course of the following history we shall find these principles regarded, even in the fiercest domestic wars, and shall see that, though the national festivals and national councils could not prevent disunion, they still hindered the Greeks from forgetting, in the midst of discord, that they were all brethren of the same race. If we contrast the wars of the Romans in Italy with the Pelopon- nesian wars, we shall see more clearly the efiect of these feelings. Rome increased not merely by the conquest, but by the destruction of the neighbouring cities ; cruelty to the vanquished was in Italy the rule, and in Greece the exception. "I cannot refuse quarter when I hear it asked in my native tongue," was the expression of a Swiss soldier in the thirty years' war. It was a natural feeling, but it was one that must have been peculiarly influential on a Greek, whom every public institution tended to inspire with national pride and national affection. THE TROJAN WAR. WELVE centuries before the birth of our Saviour, a flourishing state had arisen on the eastern side of the Hellespont. Its capital was Troy ; and Hercules, with the assistance of Telamon, son of ^acus, had captured it, but had restored it to Priam, the son of its conquered king, Laomedon. Priam reigned there in peace and prosperity over a number of little tribes, until his son Paris, attracted, it is said, by the fame of Helen's beauty, came to Laconia, and, abusing the hospitality of Menelaus, carried off his queen to Troy. This aroused the choler of the chiefs of Greece, and they combined their forces, under the command of Agamemnon, to avenge the out- rage. They sailed with a large armament to Troy, and after a siege of ten years, took and destroyed the city, b, c. 1184. By some writers the tradition of the Trojan war has been called into question. This has, doubtless, arisen from the circumstance of its being surrounded with poetic ornament. Setting this aside, how- ever, 'there appears to be no ground for skepticism ; for it was uni- versally received in Greece as a leading event in their early history. Not that it can be supposed that the abduction of Helen was the cause of the Trojan war ; it would rather appear that the Argonautic expedition was the real occasion of the first conflict between the 51 52 THE TROJAN WAR. Greeks and Trojans ; for it is inconsistent with the piratical habits of the early navigators to suppose that their intercourse was always of a friendly nature. The fact of the city having been taken and sacked by Hercules nearly a century before, proves that it had al- ready provoked or tempted the cupidity of the Greeks ; and it may readily be imagined that a revival of its power and opulence would again excite the same feelings. Notwithstanding, Paris may have retaliated upon the Greeks for the previous sack of Troy — may have undertaken a marauding expedition against Laconia, and thereby have called their ancient enmity into action, so as to arm the confederated chiefs against the Trojan power. That there was a mutual and fixed hatred between the two powers is evident from the account of the war. Throughout the whole of the Iliad, they are represented as panting for, and as executing, vengeance on each other. Although, therefore, the facts of the war are highly coloured by the genius of the poet, yet that such a war occurred cannot be doubted. Among the distorted features of the poetic narrative may be men- tioned the affirmed result of the war : namely, that the Trojan state was overturned by the confederated Grecian chiefs. Although it ap- pears clear that the expedition accomplished its immediate object, yet it is equally clear that a Trojan state existed after the fall of Troy. Homer himself indirectly confirms this ; for he introduces Poseidon predicting that the posterity of-3lIneas should long continue to reign over the Trojans, after the race of Priam should be extinct. More explicit testimony, however, is discovered, in the pages of Xanthus, the Lydian, who is an historian of great authority, both from his age and country. He relates that the Trojan state was finally destroyed by the invasion of the Phrygians, a Thracian tribe, which crossed over from Europe to Asia after the Trojan war. To the conquerors, the remote consequences of the war were little less disastrous than its immediate result was to the vanquished. Of five Boeotian commanders only one remained ; and the siege had been proportionably fatal to the leaders of other tribes, as well as to their followers. Those, also, who lived to divide the spoils of Troy were impatient to set sail with their newly acquired treasures, notwithstand- ing the threatening aspect of the skies, and many of them perished by shipwreck, while the rest were long tossed on unknown seas. Even when they landed, and expected to find in their native country the end of their calamities, they were exposed to greater than any which they had yet endured. The thrones of several of the absent chiefs had been usurped by violence and ambition ; the lands of various communities had been occupied by the invasion of hostile tribes; and THE TROJAN WAR. 53 even the least unfortunate of the adventurers found their domains uncultivated, or their territories laid waste — their families torn by discord, or their cities shaken by sedition. The most celebrated com- bined enterprise of Greece tended to plunge the country into barba- rism and misery. Such is the history of the heroic age ; or, as it may perhaps more properly be termed, the mythical period. More might have been offered to the reader ; but, as truth should form the basis of history, only that which bears at least the semblance of truth, culled from the regions of poetry, has been adduced ; and even of that it may be said, its veracity cannot be asserted. The Greeks, of later ages, were pro- verbially mendacious ; and, in the heroic age, they appear to have been wholly given to romance. It would seem that they were per- mitted to work good or evil, as their imaginations or inclinations might lead them. It was, in truth, one of the darkest ages in the annals of the Greeks. LYCURGUS AND HIS LAWS. I HE city of Sparta, called also Lacedgemon, a name pro- perly belonging to the suburbs, was built on a series of hills, whose outlines are varied and romantic, along the right bank of the Eurotas, within sight of the chain of Mount Taygetum. We have already mentioned, that it was not originally surrounded by walls ; but the highest of its eminences served as a citadel, and round this hill were ranged five towns, sepa- rated by considerable intervals, occupied by the five Spartan tribes. The great square or forum, in which the principal streets of these towns terminated, was embellished with temples and statues: it con- tained also the edifices in which the senate, the ephori, and other bodies of Spartan magistrates, were accustomed to assemble : there was, besides, a splendid portico, erected by the Spartans from their share of the spoils taken at the battle of Platiea, where the Persians were finally overthrown. Instead of being supported by pillars, the roof rested on gigantic statues, representing Persians habited in flowing robes. On the highest of the eminences stood a temple of Minerva, which, as well as the grove that surrounded it, had the privileges of an asy- lum. It was built of brass, as that at Delphi had formerly been. 54 LYCURGUS AND HIS LAWS. 55 The greater part of these edifices had no pretensions to architec- tural beauty; they were of rude workmanship, and destitute of ornament. Private houses were small and unadorned ; for the Spar- tans spent the greater part of their time in porticoes and public halls. On the south side of the city was the Hippodromos, or course for horse and foot races ; and, at a little distance from that, the Plata- nistffi, or place of exercise for youth, shaded by beautiful palm-trees. The Dorian conquerors of Laconia formed themselves into a per- manent ruling caste, and r^uced the greater part of the inhabitants of the country to a state of vassalage, or rather perfect slavery. During two centuries the Spartans were engaged in tedious wars with the Argives, and their state was agitated by domestic broils, result- ing from the unequal division of property, the ambition of rival nobles, and the diminished power of the kings. At length, Lycurgus, having obtained the supreme authority, as a guardian of his nephew Charilaus, directed his attention to establishing a system of law, which might prevent the recurrence of such disorders. The legisla- tion of Lycurgus was not a written code ; and many things of later origin have been erroneously attributed to this lawgiver. His great object was to insure the continuance of the Spartans as a dominant military caste, by perpetuating a race of athletic and warlike men ; and hence his laws referred rather to domestic life and physical edu- cation, than to the constitution of the state or the form of its govern- ment. He continued the relation of caste between the Spartans and Laco- nians, and the double line of kings as leaders in war and first magis- trates in peace. He is said to have instituted the gerusia, or senate, of which no one could be a member who had not passed the age of sixty ; but it is uncertain whether he founded the college of the five ephori, or inspectors, chosen annually, with powers somewhat similar to those of the Roman tribunes : he certainly did not invest them with the power they assumed in later ages. There were also popular assemblies ; but they could originate no law, nor make any alteration in the resolutions submitted to them by the kings and the senate, their power being confined to a simple approbation or rejection. The chief regulations in private life were, the equal distribution of lands, the removal of every species of luxury, the arrangement of domestic relations so as to insure a race of hardy citizens, and the complete establishment of slavery. Thus a military commonwealth was established in Greece, which for ever banished a chance of tran- quillity ; since the Spartan citizens must have been impelled to war by the restlessness common to man, when all the occupations of 56 LYCURGUS AND HIS LAWS. household life and of agriculture were intrusted to the care of the helots, as their slaves were usually called. The strength of the Spartan army lay in its heavy-armed infantry ; they usually fought in a phalanx or close column, and were remarkable for the skill and rapidity of their evolutions. They marched to the charge with a regular, measured step, and never broke their ranks either to plunder or pursue a flying enemy. After battle, every soldier was obliged to produce his shield, as a proof that he had behaved bravely and steadily: • EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES, THE MESSENIAN HERO. REAT deeds abound in the history of Greece ; but among all her remarkable men, none seems to have encountered more extraordinary vicis- situdes than Aristomenes, who so long, by his indomitable corn-age and perseverance, enabled his countrymen to resist the assaults of the Lacedaemonians. I have selected from Mitford Bome of his most striking adventures. In reading them, we cannot but regret that such glorious deeds should have proved insufficient to save his country from ruin, and his compatriots from either flying into exile, or permanently becoming the helots (bond-slaves) of their 57 58 EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. cruel enemies. His career commenced after liis countrymen had once submitted to the Lacedaemonians. During near forty years, says Mitford, Messenia remained in quiet subjection. Those of its unfortunate people who submitted to the Lacedaemonian terms, chose the least among evils presenting them- selves, and rested under their hard lot. But the succeeding genera- tion, unexperienced in the calamities of war, unexperienced in the comparative strength of themselves and their conquerors, yet insti- gated by a share of that irresistible spirit of independency which at this time so remarkably pervaded Greece, and buoyed up by that hope of fortunate contingencies so natural, in adversity, to generous minds, could not brook the comparison of their own circumstances with those of all other Greeks. Their subjection was indeed too severe and too humiliating to be by any possibility borne with satis- faction, yet not sufficiently depressing to insure the continuance of quiet submission. A leader, therefore, only was wanting of reputa- tion to attract and concentrate the materials of the rising storm, and it would burst with energy. Such a leader appeared in Aristomenes, a youth whose high natural spirit was still elevated by the opinion of his descent from Hercules through a long race'of Messenian kings. When, therefore, others were proposing a revolt, Aristomenes was foremost to act in it. Persons were sent privately to the former allies of the state, the Ar- gians and the Arcadians, to inquire what assistance might be expected from them. Very favourable promises being received, Aristomenes and his party immediately attacked a body of Lacedaemonians at Dera;. A very obstinate action ensued, which terminated without victory to either party ; yet the Messenians were so satisfied with the behaviour of Aristomenes, that they would have raised him to the throne. He prudently refused that invidious honour, but accepted the office of commander-in-chief of the forces. The first adventure related of this hero after his elevation sounds romantic ; but the age was romantic, and his situation required no common conduct. Aristomenes well knew the power of superstitious fear among his contemporaries, and he formed a project to serve his country through its operation. There was at Sparta a temple called the brazen house, dedicated to Minerva, and held in singular vene- ration. Aristomenes entered that city alone by night, which was not difficult, as there were neither walls nor watch, and the less danger- ous as no Grecian towns were lighted, and the Lacedicmonian insti- tutions forbade to carry lights. Secure, therefore, in obscurity, he suspended against the brazen house a shield, with an inscription do- EXPLOITS OF AKISTOMENES. 59 daring that Aristomenes, from the spoils of Sparta, dedicated that shield to the goddess. Nothing the early Greeks dreaded more than that their enemies should win from them the favour of a deity under whose peculiar protection they imagined their state to have been placed by the piety of their forefathers. The Lacedeemonians were so alarmed, that they sent to inquire of the Delphian oracle what was to be done. The answer of the Pythoness was well considered for the safety of the oracle's reputation, but rather embarrassing to the Lacedaemo- nians ; it directed them to take an Athenian for their counsellor. An embassy was accordingly sent to Athens. But here, too, some embarrassment arose : for the Athenians, far from desirous that the finest province of Peloponnesus should become for ever annexed to the dominion of Sparta, dared not yet directly oppose the oracle. They took, therefore, a middle way ; and, in obeying, hoped to make their obedience useless. They sent a man named Tyrtasus, who, among the lowest of the people, had exercised the profession of a schoolmaster ; little known of course, but supposed of no abilities for any purpose of the Lacedgemonians, and lame of one leg. There is something in these circumstances so little consonant to modern history, that they are apt, at first view, to bear an appear- ance both of fable and of insignificancy ; but they come so far authen- ticated to us, that it is impossible not to give them some credit. It was partly from the admired works of Tyrtssus himself, fragments of which remain to us, that historians afterward collected their account of the Messenian affairs ; and it is still common, we know, for cir- cumstances in themselves the most trifling to have consequences the most important. The Messenian army was now reinforced by Argian, Arcadian, Sicyonian, and Eleian auxiliaries ; and Messenian refugees, from various foreign parts, came in with eager zeal to attach themselves once more to the fortune of their former country. These combined forces met the Lacedeemonian army, which had received succour from Corinth only, at Caprusema. The exertions of Aristomenes in the battle which ensued are said to have exceeded all belief of what one man could do. A complete victory was gained by the Messenians, with so terrible a slaughter of the Lacedaemonians, that it was in consequence debated at Sparta whether a negotiation for peace should not immediately be opened. On this occasion, great efi"ects are attri- buted to the poetry of Tyrtseus, and probably not without foundation. We know that even in these cultivated times, and in the extensive states of modern Europe, a popular song can sometimes produce con- siderable consequences. Then, it was a species of oratory suited 60 EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. beyond all other to the genius of the age. Tyrtseus reanimated the drooping minds of the Spartan people. It was thought expedient to recruit the number of citizens by enfranchising and associating some helots. The measure was far from popular, but the poetry of Tyr- taeus persuaded the people to acquiesce ; and it was determined still to prosecute the war with all possible vigour. Aristomenes meanwhile was endeavouring to push the advantage he had gained ; he did not venture a regular invasion of Laconia, but he carried the war thither by incursion. He surprised the town of Pharse, bore away a considerable booty, and routed Anaxander, king of Sparta, who had planted an ambush to intercept his return. In another irruption, he took the town of Caryge ; and, among other plunder, led off a number of Spartan virgins, who had assembled there ■ to celebrate, according to custom, the festival of Diana. Pausanias relates to his honour, on this occasion, a strong instance of the strict- ness both of his discipline and of his morality. On his appointment to the command in chief, he had selected a band of young Messenians, mostly of rank, who attended him, and fought by his side in all his enterprises. The Spartan virgins taken at Caryne being intrusted to a guard from this body, the young men, heated with wine, attempted to force their chastity. Aristomenes immediately interfered ; but finding it in vain that he represented to them how they dishonoured the name of Grecians by attempts so abhorrent from what the laws and customs of their country approved, he laid the most refractory with his own hand dead upon the spot ; after which he restored the girls to their parents. Among the extraordinary adventures of our present hero, we find it related, that in an attempt upon the town of Jiigila, he was made prisoner by some Spartan matrons assembled there for the celebration of a festival ; who, trained as they were under the institutions of Lycurgus, repelled the attack with a vigour which the men of other states could scarcely exceed. Here the softer passions, it is said, befriended him. Archidameia, priestess of Ceres, becoming ena- moured of him, procured his escape. It was now the third year of the war, when the Lacedaemonian and Messenian forces met at Megaletaphrus ; the latter strengthened by their Arcadian allies only, whose leader, Aristocrates, Prince of Orchomenus, was secretly in the Lacedaemonian interest. On the first onset this traitor gave the signal to his own troops for a retreat, which he artfully conducted so as to disturb the order also of the Messenian forces. The Lacedaemonians, prepared for this event, seized the opportunity to gain the flank of their enemy. Aristomenes EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. 61 made some vain eiForts to prevent a rout ; but his army was presently, for the most part, surrounded and cut to pieces ; and he was himself fortunate in being able to make good his retreat with a miserable remnant. The Messenians had not now the resources of an established govern- ment. A single defeat induced constant necessity for resorting to the measure practised by Euphaes in the former war. Again quitting all their inland posts, they collected their force at Eira, a strong situation near the sea, and prepared by all means in their power for vigorous defence. The Lacedaemonians, as was foreseen, presently sat down before the place ; but the Messenians were still strong enough to keep a communication open with their ports of Pylus and Methone. The enterprising spirit of Aristomenes, indeed, was not to be broken by misfortune. Even in the present calamitous situation of his country's affairs, he would not confine himself to defensive war. With his chosen band he made irruptions from Eira, pillaged all the neighbouring country on the side occupied by the Lacedaemonians, and even ventured into Laconia, where he plundered the town of Amyclae. His expeditions were so well concerted, and his band so small and so light, that he was genei'ally within the walls of Eira again before it was known in the Spartan camp that any place was attacked. The business of a siege commonly, in those times, was extremely slow. The usual hope of the besiegers was to reduce the place by famine. But this was now a vain hope to the Lacedaemo- nians, while Aristomenes could thus supply the garrison. The govern- ment of Sparta, therefore, finding their army ineffectual to prevent this relief, proceeded to the extremity of forbidding, by a public edict, all culture of the conquered part of Messenia. Probably the Lace- deemonian affairs were at this time ill administered both in the army and at home. Great discontents, we are told, broke out at Sparta, and the government was again beholden to the lame Athenian poet for composing the minds of the people. But the temper of Aristomenes was too daring, and his enterprises too hazardous, to be long exempt from misfortune. His scene of action was not extensive, so that in time the Lacedgemonians neces- sarily learned, by their very losses, the means of putting a stop to them. He fell in unexpectedly with a large body of Lacedemonian troops, headed by both the kings. His retreat was intercepted ; and, in making an obstinate defence, being stunned by a blow on the head, he was taken prisoner with about fifty of his band. The Lacedismo- nians, considering all as rebels, condemned them, without distinction, 62 EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. to be precipitated into a cavern called Ceada, the common capital punishment at Sparta for the worst malefactors. All are said to have been killed by the fall except Aristomenes, whose survival was thought so wonderful, that miracles have been invented to account for it. An eagle, it is reported, fluttering under him, so far supported him that he arrived at the bottom unhurt. How far such miraculous assistance was necessary to his preservation, we cannot certainly know ; but the plain circumstances of the story, though extraordinary, have, as far as appears, nothing contrary to nature. Aristomenes at first thought it no advantage to find himself alive in that dark and horrid charnel, surrounded by his companions dead and dying, among the skeletons and putrid carcasses of former criminals. He retreated to the farthest corner that he could find, and, covering his head with his cloak, lay down to wait for death, which seemed unavoidable. It was, according to Pausanias, the third day of this dreadful imprison- ment, when he was startled by a little rustling noise. Rising and uncovering his eyes, he saw by the glimmering of light, which assisted him the more from his having been so long wrapped in perfect dark- ness, a fox gnawing the dead bodies. It presently struck him that this animal must have found some other way into the cavern than that by which himself had descended, and would readily find the same way out again. Watching, therefore, his opportunity, he was fortunate enough to seize the fox with one hand, Avhile with his cloak in the other he prevented it from biting him ; and he managed so as to let it have its way, Avithout escaping, until it conducted him to a narrow burrow. Through this he followed till it became too small for his body to pass, and here, fortunately, a glimpse of daylight caught his eye. Setting, therefore, his conductor at liberty, he worked with his hands till he made a passage large enough for himself to creep into day, and he escaped to Eira. Among the many escapes from almost certain death which history records, there is scarcely a more remarkable one than this. It has attracted attention from poets and artists, as well as historians ; and it certainly may serve to "point the moral," that even in the most discouraging circumstances a brave spirit never despairs of its destiny. Siege of Eira. SIEGE OF EIRA— LAST EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. HE first rumour of this reappearance of Aristomenes found no credit at Sparta. Preparations were making for pushing the siege of Eira with vigour, and a body of Corinthian auxiliaries was marching to share in the honour of completing the conquest of Messenia. Aris- tomenes, receiving intelligence that the Corinthians marched and encamped very negligently, as if they had no enemy to fear, issued with a chosen body from Eira, attacked them by surprise in the night, routed them with great slaughter, and carried off the plunder of their camp. Now, says Pausanias, the Lacedaemonians readily believed that Aristomenes was really living. Tradition says that this extraordinary warrior thrice sacrificed the Hecatomphoneia, the offering prescribed among the Greeks for those who had slain in battle a hundred enemies with their own hands. It was after this action that he performed that ceremony the second time. The Lacedaemonians now, for the sake of celebrating in security their festival called Hyacinthia, which was approaching, consented to a truce for forty days. Pausanias, who is not favourable to their fame, reports that they encouraged some Cretan mercenaries in their service to watch opportunities for striking a blow against the Messe- 64 LAST EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. nians, even during the truce ; that Aristomenes was actually seized in consequence, and recovered his liberty only through the favour of a young woman in the house where he was lodged, who cut his bonds, and procured him the means of slaying his keepers. Through the unskilfulness of the age in the attack of places, and the varied efforts of Aristomenes' genius to baffle the besiegers, the siege, or rather blockade, of Eira was protracted to the eleventh year. A concurrence of circumstances, seemingly trifling, but which, in the detail of them by Pausanias, form an important lesson for military men, at length decided its fate. In a violently tempestuous night, intelligence was brought to the Lacedfemonian commander, by a pri- vate soldier whom an intrigue with a Messenian woman had led to the discovery, that the Messenian guard at one of their posts, yielding to the weather, and trusting that the storm itself would prevent their enemies from acting, had dispersed to seek shelter. Immediately the troops were silently called to arms ; ladders were carried to the spot, and the Lacedtemonians mounted unresisted. The unusually earnest and incessant barking of their dogs first alarmed the garrison. Aris- tomenes, always watchful, hastily formed the first of his people that he could collect. lie presently met the enemy, and managed his defence so judiciously, as well as vigorously, that the Lacedi"emonians, ignorant of the town, could not, during the night, attempt any further progress. But neither could Aristomenes attempt more than to keep the enemy at bay, while the rest of his people, arming and forming themselves, made use of their intimate knowledge of the place to occupy the most advantageous points for defending themselves and dislodging the enemy. At daybreak, having disposed his whole force, and directed even the women to assist by throwing stones and tiles from the house-tops, he made a furious charge upon tne Lacede- monians, whose superiority in number availed little, as they had not room to extend their front. But the violence of the storm, which continued unabated, was such as to prevent the women from acting on the roofs ; many of whom were, however, animated with such a manly resolution for the defence of their country, that they took arms and joined in the fight below. There the battle continued all day with scarcely other effect than mutual slaughter. At night there was again a pause ; but it was such as allowed little rest or refreshment to the Messenians. Now the Lacedaemonian general profited from his numbers. He sent half his forces to their camp, while with the other half he kept the Messenians in constant alarm, and with the return of day he brought back his refreshed troops to renew the attack. The Messenian chiefs became soon convinced LAST EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. 65 that all attempts to expel the enemy must be vain. After a short consultation, therefore, they formed their people in the most conveni- ent order for defending their wives and children and most portable effects, while they forced their way out of the place. The Lacedae- monians, whose political institutions in some degree commanded the permission of escape for a flying enemy, gave them free passage. The Messenians directed their melancholy march to Arcadia. There they were most hospitably 'received by their faithful allies of that country, who divided them in quarters among their towns. Even in this extremity of misfortune, the enterprising genius of Aristomenes was immediately imagining new schemes for restoring his country, and taking vengeance on her enemies. He selected five hundred Messenians, to whom three hundred Arcadian volunteers joined themselves, with a resolution to attempt the surprise of Sparta itself, while the Lacedgemonian army was yet in the farthest part of Messenia, where Pylus and Methone still remained to be conquered. Every thing was prepared for the enterprise, when some of the Arca- dian chiefs received intelligence that a messenger was gone from their king, Aristocrates, to Sparta. They caused this man to be waylaid on his return. He was seized, and letters were found upon him, thanking Aristocrates for information of the expedition now intended, as well as for his former services. An assembly of the people was immediately summoned, in which the letters and their bearer were produced ; and the leaders in the interest opposite to Aristocrates worked up the anger of the commonalty to such a pitch against their treacherous prince, that they stoned him to death. To perpetuate his infamy, a pillar was afterward erected with an inscription, still preserved in the writings both of Pausanias and Polybius, warning future chiefs of the vengeance of the deity, which unfailingly, sooner or later, overtakes traitors and perjurers. The Pylians, Methoneans, and other Messenians of the coast, judg- ing it now vain to attempt the defence of their towns, embarked with their effects in what vessels they could collect, and sailed to Cyllene, a port of Eleia : thence they sent a proposal to their fellow-country- men in Arcadia, to go all together and settle a colony wherever they could find an advantageous establishment ; and they desired Aristo- menes for their leader. The proposal was readily accepted by the people, and, as far as concerned them, approved by the general ; but, excusing himself, he sent his son Gorgus, with Manticlus, son of the prophet Theocles, Avho had been his constant friend and companion, to conduct the enterprise. Still it remained to be decided to what uninhabited or ill-inhabited coast they should direct their course. 66 LAST EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. Some were for Zacynthus, some for Sardinia ; but mnter being already set in, it was soon agreed to put off the determination till spring. In the interval a fortunate occurrence offered. On the taking of Ithome in the former war, some Messenians, joining with some adventurers from Chalcis, in Euboea, had wandered to Italy, and there founded the town of Rhegium. These colonists had per- petual variance with the Zanclosans, on the opposite coast of Sicily, a people also of Grecian origin ; the first of whom were pirates, who settled there under Cratiemenes of Samos and Periercs of Chalcis. Anaxilas, now Prince of Rhegium, was of Messenian race. Hearing, therefore, of this second catastrophe of his mother-country, he sent to inform the Messenians at Cyllene, that there was in his neighbour- hood a valuable territory, and a town most commodiously situated, which should be theirs if they would assist him in dispossessing the present proprietors, his inveterate enemies. The offer was accepted ; the confederates, victorious by sea and land, besieged Zancle, and reducing the inhabitants to extremity, an accommodation was agreed upon, by which it was determined that the Messenians and Zanclceans should hold the city and country in common, as one people, but that the name should be changed to Messene. Thus the Messenians obtained a settlement, from which, howsoever in the course of ages variously subjected, they have never been expelled ; and the city, among many great misfortunes, generally flourishing, retains the very name, in the Latin orthography Messina, to this day. How far the late dreadful convulsion of the elements, involving in common deso- lation Messina with its ancient rival Reggio, and violently changing the face of nature to a great extent on both coasts, may, beyond all former calamities, urge its final downfall, will be for the historian of future years to tell. Aristomenes for some time still indulged the hope, through some favouring contingency, to avenge his country on the Lacedemonians : but, going to Delphi, he found the Pythoness too wise to prophesy him any encouragement. Yet, though he was no longer to shine in a public situation, fortune was favourable to his private happiness. Damagetus, prince, or, as he is styled by Grecian writers, tyrant of lalysus, in the island of Rhodes, happened to be at Delphi, inquiring of the oracle whom he should marry ; for it seems to have been about this time that Delphi was in highest repute, individuals often straining their circumstances to obtain its advice on their more interesting private concerns. To a question in its nature rather puzzling, the Pythoness gave a very prudent answer, and at the same time of uncommonly obvious interpretation. She directed Damagetus to take LAST EXPLOITS OF ARISTOMENES. 6T the daughter of the man of highest character among the Greeks. Aristomenes, then on the spot, was unquestionably in reputation the first of the Greeks, and he had a daughter unmarried. Damagetus therefore made his proposals, which were accepted ; and Aristomenes passed with him to Rhodes, where he is said to have spent the rest of his life in honourable ease. SOLON, PISISTRATUS, AND THE PISISTRATIDiE. ^^yilE political history of Athens begins properly with the reign of Theseus, who succeeded his father iEgeus about B. c. 1300. Certain institutions, such as the court of Areopagus, and the division of the people into eupatridre, (nobles,) georgi, {husbandmen,) and dcmiurgi, {mecha- lics,) are so manifestly derived from the Egyptian system of caste, that we may without hesitation assign them to Cecrops. Theseus, however, deserves to be regarded as the founder of the state, since, instead of the four independent districts, or demoi, into which Attica was divided, he established one body politic, and made Athens the seat of government. Among his successors, the most remarkable were Mnestheus, who fell before Troy, and Codrus, whose generous devotion led to the total abolition of royalty. After the abolition of royalty, b. C. 10G8, thirteen archons of his family ruled in succession, differing from kings only in being accountable for their administration. The first was Medon, the last Alcmreon ; after his death, b. c. 752, archons were chosen every ten years from the family of Codrus. 68 SOLON, PISISTRATUS, AND THE PISISTRATID^. 69 There were seven of these, the last of whom ceased to rule b. c. 682. Nine annual archons were then appointed by the powerful class of nobility, consisting not only of the descendants of such foreign princes as had taken refuge in Athens, but of those Athenian families which time and accident had raised to opulence and distinction. The powers of these magistrates were not equal ; their rank and oflEices were so arranged, that the prerogatives of the former kings and the preceding archons were divided among the first three of the nine. Nothing was gained by the great body of the people during these revolutions. The equestrian order, so called from their fighting on horseback, enjoyed all authority, religious, civil, and military. The Athenian populace were reduced to a condition of miserable servitude ; the lives and fortunes of individuals were left at the discretion of magistrates, who were too much disposed to decide according to party prejudices or their own private interests. In this confusion, Draco was chosen to prepare a code of laws, (b. c. 622.) He was a man of unswerving integrity, but of unex- ampled severity. His laws bore the impress of his character ; the punishment of death was denounced against all crimes, small as well as great ; and this indiscriminate cruelty rendered the whole code inoperative. Human nature revolted against such legal butchery ; and Draco, to avoid the public indignation, fled to -^gina, where he died an exile. This ineffectual effort only augmented the divisions of the state ; the excesses of the aristocratic factions produced the most violent indignation. The state was, in fact, reduced to perfect anarchy. To remedy these disorders, Solon, who had already won the confidence of his countrymen by planning and accomplishing an enterprise for the recovery of Salamis, was unanimously raised to the dignity of first magistrate, legislator, and sovereign arbiter, (b. c. 594.) He was eminently qualified for this important station. Descended from the ancient kings of Athens, he applied himself in early life to commercial pursuits, and, having secured a competency by honourable industry, he travelled to distant lands in search of knowledge. Such was his success, that he was reckoned the chief of the sages commonly called the Seven Wise Men of Greece, who in his age laid the foundation of Grecian philosophy. The chief object of Solon's legislation was to restrain the excessive power of the aristocracy, without, however, introducing a pure demo- cracy. He abolished all the laws of Draco, except those against murder. The state of debtors calling loudly for relief, he made an equitable adjustment of the claims of creditors, but at the same time TO SOLON, PISISTRATUS, AND THE PISISTRATID^. conciliated capitalists by raising the value of money. He abolished slavery and imprisonment for debt, which had led to great abuses and cruelties. Without abolishing the ancient local divisions, he arranged the citizens in four classes, according to their property, measured in agricultural produce. 1. The first class were the pentacosi-medimni, whose annual income exceeded five hundred bushels, (medimni ;) 2. The knights, (hippeis,) whose revenue was equal to four hundred ; 3. The zeugitoe, who had three hundred ; and, 4. The thetes, whose yearly revenue fell short of that sum. Citizens of all classes had a right of voting at the popular assemblies and in the courts of judicature ; but magisterial ofiices were limited to the first three classes. The archon- ship was left unaltered, but it was ordained that none of these magis- trates should hold military command during his year of office. A council of four hundred was chosen from the first three classes, pos- sessing senatorial authority ; the members were selected by lot, but they were obliged to undergo a very strict examination into their past lives and characters before they were permitted to enter upon office. The archons were bound to consult the council in every important public matter ; and no subject could be discussed in the general assembly of the people which had not previously received the sanction of the four hundred. The popular assemblies consisted of all the four classes, and usually met on the rocky hill called the Pnyx, described in the preceding section. They had the right of confirming or rejecting new laws, of electing the magistrates, of discussing all public affairs referred to them by the council, and of judging in all state trials. According to Solon's plan, the court of Areopagus should have been the chief pillar of the Athenian constitution. Before his time it was a mere engine of aristocratic oppression ; but Solon modified its con- stitution and enlarged its powers. It was composed of persons who had held the office of archon, and was made the supreme tribunal in all capital cases. It was likewise intrusted with the superintendence of morals, Avith the censorship upon the conduct of the archons at the expiration of their office ; and it had besides the privilege of amending or rescinding the measures that had passed the general assemblies of the people. Soon after this constitution was established, Solon was sent as a deputy to the Amphictyonic council at Delphi, and had no small share in stimulating that body to undertake the first sacred war against the Crisseans, who had invaded the sacred territories, and not only ravaged the country, but even plundered the shrine of Apollo. The war was BOLON, PISISTRATUS, AND THE PISISTRATID^. 71 protracted ten years ; but it terminated in the final destruction of the Crissean community, and the dedication of their territory to the deity whose temple they had sacrilegiously plundered, (b. c. 590.) The ter- mination of the war was celebrated by the revival of the Pythian games, which had been discontinued during the contest. Scarcely had the liberties of Athens been established, when they were again subverted by the usurpation of Pisistratus. Like Solon, the usurper was descended from the ancient kings of Athens. He was also possessor of an enormous fortune, which he distributed to the poor with lavish munificence. His generosity, his eloquence, and his courteous manners won for him universal favour ; but he had the art to persuade the lower ranks of his countrymen, that his popularity had rendered him odious to the nobles, and that the protection of a body-guard was necessary to the safety of his life. Scarcely had this been granted, when he seized on the Acropolis, and made himself ab- solute master of Athens, (b. c. 561.) Solon refused the usurper's offers of favour and protection : he went into voluntary exile, and died, or at least was buried, at Salamis. Megacles, the chief of the povv'erful family of Alcmseonid^, retired, with all his attendants and political friends, beyond the boundaries of Attica ; but he entered into a secret intrigue with Lycurgus, the chief of another faction, and by their joint efforts Pisistratus was driven into exile about twelve months after he had obtained the sovereignty. Megacles soon quarrelled with Lycurgus, and opened a negotiation with Pisistratus, ofiering to restore him if he would become his son- in-law. The terms were accepted, and Pisistratus was again sum- moned to assume sovereign power, amid the general exultation of the people. A quarrel with Megacles drove him a second time into ba- nishment ; but he returned again at the head of an army, and having recovered the reins of power, held them without interruption until the day of his death. The power thus illegally acquired was adminis- tered with equity and mildness. Pisistratus ceased not to exert him- self to extend the glory of Athens, and secure the happiness of the Athenians. On the death of Pisistratus, (b. c. 528,) his sons Hipparchus and Hippias succeeded to his power, but not to his prudence and abilities. After a joint reign of fourteen years, Hipparchus was murdered by two young Athenians, Harmodius and Aristogiton, whose resent- ment he had provoked by an atrocious insult, (b. c. 514.) The cruelty with which Hippias punished all whom he suspected of having had a share in his brother's death, alienated the affections of the people, and encouraged the Alcmeeonidse to make an efi"ort for his expulsion. By 72 SOLON, PISISTKATUS, AND THE PISISTRATID^. large bribes to the Delphian priesthood, they obtained a response from the oracle commanding the Spartans to expel the Pisistratidse ; and that superstitious people immediately sent an army for that pur- pose, (b. c. 510.) After a brief struggle, Ilippias -was forced to aban- don Athens, and thenceforward lived in perpetual exile. ,. '. cm^\^\\,};.'V\\\V-„,-v. FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. HOUGH Hippias, upon being driven from the throne, was obliged to abandon his native country, he did not, however, give up all hopes of being able some time or other to recover his lost power. He first applied to the Lacedoemonians, and that people seemed sufficient- ly willing to espouse his cause ;* they thought that his restoration might the more easily be effected, be- cause Athens was at this time thrown into confusion, by the introduction of the new mode of voting by ostracism, that is of procui^ing the banishment of any citizen for ten years, whose wealth or popularity rendered him dangerous to the state, by allowing every * AVhat rendered the Lacediemonians anxious to espouse the cause of the exiled monarch was an apprehension that Athens ■vvouhl become too powerful, if not weak- ened by tyranny or civil dissension. But the other states of Greece were equally jealous of Sparta, and refused to concur in any measure that might destroy the ba- lance of power, which alone insured their safety. 75 76 FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. one above sixty years of age to give in the name of the obnoxious per- son, written upon a tile or oyster-shell.* Before they undertook, however, to assist Hippias in reascending the throne, they thought it prudent to consult the other states of Peloponnesus with regard to the propriety of the measure, and finding all, but especially the Corin- thians, averse to it, they abandoned the tyrant and his cause for ever. Hippias, disappointed in his hopes of aid from the Lacednemonians, had recourse to one whom he considered as a much more powerful patron, Artaphernes, governor of Sardis for the king of Persia. To him he represented the facility with which an entire conquest might be made of Athens ; and the Persian court, influenced by the prospect of gaining such an addition of territory, and particularly such an extent of sea-coast, readily adopted the proposal. AVhen the Athe- nians, therefore, sent a messenger into Persia to vindicate their pro- ceedings with regard to Hippias, they received for answer, " That if they wished to be safe, they must admit Hippias for their king." But these gallant republicans had too ardent a passion for liberty, and too rooted an aversion to slavery, patiently to submit to so impe- rious a mandate. They therefore returned a peremptory refusal ; and from that time forward the Athenians and Persians began to prepare for commencing hostilities against each other. The gallantry, indeed, of the Athenians upon this occasion is the more to be admired, as their numbers and resources bore no propor- tion to those of the prince whom they thus set at defiance. The Per- sian monarch was, at that time, the most powerful sovereign in the universe ; whereas the small state of Athens did not contain above twenty thousand citizens, ten thousand strangers, and about fifty or sixty thousand servants. Sparta, which afterward took such a con- siderable share, and made so capital a figure, in the war against Per- sia, Avas still more inconsiderable with respect to numbers. These did not amount to above nine thousand citizens, and about thirty thousand peasants. Yet these two states, with very little assistance * A more detailed account of this remarkable mode of punishment will probably be acceptable to the reader. It was called by the Greeks ostrakismos, from oslrakon, a tile. Every one taking a tile, on which he wrote the name of the person to be ba- nished, carried it to a certain part of the market-place, surrounded with rails for that purpose, in which were ten gates, appointed for the ten tribes, every one of which entered at a distinct gate. After this, the archons numbered the tiles. If they were fewer than six thousand, the ostracism was void ; if more, they laid every name by itself, when he whose name was written by the major part was banished for ten years. FIRST PERSIAN INVASION". 77 from the inferior republics, were able not only to resist, but even to baffle and defeat all the attempts of the Persian monarch ; a memo- rable instance of what acts of heroism may be performed by men animated by a love of freedom, and inspired with a passion for mili- tary glory. The restoration of Hippias was not the only cause of quarrel be- tween the Persians and the Athenians. The Greek colonies of Ionia ^olia, and Caria, that had been settled for above five hundred years in Asia Minor, were at length subdued by Croesus, king of Lydia, and he in turn sinking under the power of Cyrus, his conquests, of course, were incorporated with the rest of his dominions. These colonies, however, had not yet lost all memory of the liberty they had formerly enjoyed ; and they therefore anxiously awaited an opportunity of delivering themselves from the Persian yoke, and of recovering their ancient independence. In this they were now encouraged by His- ti^eus, the governor, or tyrant, as he was called, of Miletus, for all the Persian governors of these provinces were by the Greeks called ty- rants, (b. c. 500.) This man, having rendered his fidelity suspected at the Persian court, had no other way of providing for his own safety than by exciting the lonians to a revolt. By his direction, therefore, Aristagoras, his deputy, first applied to the Lacedgemonians for assist- ance, but they were unwilling to engage in a war which would lead them to a country so distant from their home. Failing of success in that quarter, he next had recourse to the Athenians, where he met with a more favourable reception. The Athenians were at this time inflamed with the highest resentment against the Persian monarch, on account of his haughty mandate with regard to the restoration of Hippias : they therefore supplied the lonians with twenty ships, to which the Eretrians, and some other Euboean states, added five more. Thus supported, Aristagoras entered the Persian territories, and penetrating into the heart of Lydia, burnt Sardis, the capital city ; but being soon after deserted by the Athenians, on account of some checks he received, he found himself altogether unable to make head against the power of Persia ; and though he contrived to maintain the strug- gle for the space of six years, yet he was at last obliged to fly into Thrace, where he was cut off with all his followers. As to Histiseus himself, being taken prisoner with a few of the insurgents, he was con- ducted to Artaphernes, and that inhuman tyrant immediately ordered him to be crucified, and his head to be sent to Darius. The lonians, after repeated defeats, were compelled to take shelter in Miletus, one of their strongest cities ; but it was soon besieged by the fleet and 78 FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. army of tlie Persians, and after an obstinate defence, taken and burnt. Ionia soon, llo^Yever, recovered its former populousness, and was go- verned by the kings of Persia with great moderation and lenity. The commencement of this war naturally tended to widen the breach between the Athenians and Persians ; and the conclusion of it was no less calculated to inflame the pride and pi^esumption of the latter, than to inspire them with the ambitious design of making an entire con- quest of Greece. To pave the way for this grand project, Darius, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, (b. c. 493,) having recalled all his other generals, sent his son-in-law, Mardonius, to command through- out the maritime parts of Asia, and particularly to revenge the burn- ing of Sardis, which he could neither forgive nor forget. But his fleet being shattered in a storm in doubling the cape of Mount Athos, his army repulsed, and himself wounded, by the Thracians, who attacked him suddenly by night, Mardonius returned to the Persian court, covered with shame and confusion for having miscarried in his enterprise both by sea and land. Darius therefore displaced him, and appointed two elder and abler generals, namely, Datis, a Mede, and Artaphernes, son of the late governor of Sardis, in his stead. At the same time he exerted himself with unwearied diligence in fur- nishing them with such an army and navy as he thought would render them certain of success. Previous, however, to his invasion of Greece, he thought it became FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. 79 his dignity and humanity to send heralds into that country to require submission from the different states, or to threaten them with his ven- geance in case of refusal The lesser states, intimidated by his power, readily submitted ; but the Athenians and Spartans nobly dis- dained to acknowledge subjection to any earthly sovereio-n. When, therefore, the heralds demanded earth and water, the usual method of requiring submission from inferior states, these spirited republicans threw the one into a well, and the other into a ditch, and tauntingly bid them take earth and water from thence. Nay, they went still further ; they resolved to punish the ^ginetans for having basely submitted to the power of Persia, and by that means betrayed the common cause of Greece. These people, indeed, made some resistance ; they even carried on a naval war against the Athenians ; but the latter, having at length overcome them, increased their own navy to such a degree as to ren- der it almost a match for that of Persia. In the mean time, Darius, having completed his levies, sent away his generals, Datis and Artaphernes, to what he considered as a certain conquest. They were furnished with a fleet of six hundred ships, and an army of a hundred and twenty thousand men ; and their in- structions were to give up Athens and Eretria to be plundered, to burn all the houses and temples, and to lead the inhabitants into cap- 80 FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. tivity. The country was to be laid desolate, and the army was pro- vided with a suflBcient number of chains for binding the prisoners. To oppose this formidable invasion, the Athenians had only about ten thousand men, but all of them animated with that invincible spirit which the love of liberty ever inspires. They were at this time headed by three of the greatest generals and statesmen their country ever produced, though no country ever produced more. These were Mil- tiades, Themistocles, and Aristides. The first was considered the ablest commander ; the second was so fond of a popular government, and so eager to ingratiate himself with his fellow-citizens, that he was frequently accused of partiality. The third was so rigid and inflexibly just, that his name has descended to posterity as almost another term for justice itself. The Persian fleet, warned by the disaster of Mardonius, steered their course through the Cyclades for the Athenian coast. The islanders made no resistance to an armament whose numbers seemed to hide the waters of the ^gean, but either fled to their mountains, or sent earth and water as tokens of their submission. At length the invaders landed in Euboea, and the first brunt of the war fell upon the Eretrians, who, being utterly unable to oppose so mighty a force in the field, shut themselves up in the town. But though they de- fended the place with great gallantry, yet, after a siege of seven days, it was taken by the perfidy of two of its citizens, and reduced to ashes ; the inhabitants were put in chains, and sent as the first-fruits of victory to the Persian monarch. The rest of the island was soon subdued, and the Persians resolved to invade Attica, whose shores, separated from them only by the narrow strait of the Euripus, seemed to invite them to an easy conquest. The measures that they adopted for accomplishing this design appear to have been very judi- cious ; they left a large portion of their army to garrison the islands that had been subdued, sent all their useless attendants with the cap- tive Eretrians into Asia, and selected one hundred thousand of their best infantry, with a due proportion of cavalry, to form the expedi- tion. They easily crossed the strait, and being directed in their march by Ilippias, whose knowledge of the country and intimate acquaint- ance with the aff'airs of Greece made his opinions valuable, they en- camped on the Marathonian shore, where the level plains afforded room for the operations of cavalry, which constituted the most efiect- ive part of the invading army, but with which the Greeks were badly provided. There the Athenians resolved to oppose them ; but not thinking themselves singly equal to such an undertaking, they sent first to the Spartans for assistance, and would certainly have obtained FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. 81 it, had it not been for a foolish superstition, which would not allow them to begin a march before the full moon. They then applied to the other states of Greece ; but these, except the Platreans, who sent one thousand soldiers, were too much intimidated by the power of Persia to venture to move in their defence. Obliged, therefore, to depend upon their own courage alone, they collected all their forces, to the number of eleven thousand freemen, with probably an equal number of armed slaves, and intrusted the command of them to ten generals, of whom Miltiades was the chief ; and each of these was to have the direction of the troops for one day in regular succession. But this arrangement was soon found to be so very inconvenient, that, by the advice of Aristides, the chief com- mand was vested in Miltiades alone, as the ablest and most expe- rienced of all the generals. At the same time it was resolved in a council of war, though only by a majority of one vote, to meet the enemy in the open field, instead of waiting for them within the walls of the city. Miltiades, sensible of the inferiority of his numbers when compared to those of the enemy, endeavoured to make up for this defect by taking possession of an advantageous ground, (b. c. 490.) He there- fore drew up his army at the foot of a mountain, so that the enemy should not be able to surround him, or charge him in the rear. At the same time he fortified his flanks with a number of large trees that were cut down for the purpose, and strewed the ground in his front with branches, piles of stones, and other obstacles, to impede the Persian cavalry, which in consequence seem to have been rendered useless in the engagement. Datis saw the advantage which the Athenians must derive from this masterly disposition ; but relying on the superiority of his num- bers, and unwilling to wait till the Spartan succours should arrive, he resolved to begin the engagement. The signal for battle, however, was no sooner given, than the Athenians, instead of waiting for the onset of the enemy, rushed in upon them, according to their usual custom, with irresistible fury. The Persians regarded this as the result of madness and despair, rather than of deliberate courage ; but they were soon convinced of their mistake, when they found that the Athenians maintained the charge with the same spirit with which they had begun it. Miltiades had purposely and judiciously made his wings much stronger than his centre, where the slaves were posted, under the command of Themistocles and Aristides. The Persians, availing themselves of this circumstance, attacked the centre with great bravery, and were just upon the point of 6 82 FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. Battle of Marathon. making it give way, ■when the two wings, having now become victo- rious, suddenly wheeled about, and falling upon the enemy on both flanks at once, threw them into disorder. The Persians fought with swords and battle-axes, the Greeks used the sp.ear ; when their dense line of lances fell upon the hostile flanks, the shock was irresistible, the rout became universal, and the enemy fled to their ships with great precipitation. The Athenians pursued them as far as the beach, and even set several of their ships on fire. It was on this occasion that Cinfcgeirus, the brother of the poet iEschylus, seized one of the enem.y's ships with his right hand, as they were pushing it off from the shore. When his right hand was cut off, he laid hold of the vessel with his left ; and that likewise being lopped off", he at last seized it with his teeth, and in that manner expired. Seven of the enemy's ships were taken, and above six thousand men left dead upon the field of battle, not to mention those who were drowned as they were endeavouring to escape, or were consumed in the ships that were set on fire. Of the Greeks there fell not above two hundred, and among these was Callimachus, who gave the casting vote for fighting the enemy in the field. Hippias, who was the chief cause of the war, is thought to have perished in this battle, though some say he escaped, and afterward died miserably at Lemnos, (A. M. 3514.) FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. 83 The Persians pursued to their fleet after the battle of Marathon. Such was the famous battle of Marathon, one of the most import- ant that is to be found in history, as it first taught the Greeks to despise the power of the Persian monarch, bravely to maintain their independence, and to go on cultivating those arts and sciences which had so evident a tendency to polish and refine their own manners, and which have since difiused their benign influence over all the rest of Europe. Yet it would have proved fatal to the Greeks but for the activity of Miltiades. Datis, in his retreat, had conceived the hope of surprising Athens, which he imagined to be without defence, and his fleet had already doubled the promontory of Sunium, which forms the extreme point of Attica. No sooner was Miltiades informed of this, than he began his march, arrived the same day under the walls of the city, by his presence disconcerted the projects of the enemy, and obliged Datis to retire to the coasts of Asia. Of the marble which the Persians had brought with them for the erection of a monument to perpetuate the memory of their expected victory, the Athenians now caused a statue to be made by the cele- brated sculptor Phidias, to transmit to posterity the remembrance of their defeat. This statue was dedicated to the goddess Nemesis, who had a temple near the place. Monuments were at the same time erected to the memory of all those who had fallen in the battle ; and upon these were inscribed their own names, and the name of the tribe to which they belonged. Of these monuments there were three 84 FIRST PERSIAN INVASION. kinds ; one for the Athenians, one for the Platoeans, their allies, and one for the slaves who had been enrolled among the troops upon this pressing emergency. To express their gratitude to Miltiades, the Athenians caused a picture to be painted by one of their most eminent artists, named Polygnotus, in which that great commander was repre- sented at the head of the other generals, animating the troops, and setting them an example of bravery. The fame and influence which Miltiades had thus acquired eventually proved the cause of his ruin. He obtained from the Athenians an armament of seventy ships, without mentioning the manner in which he designed to employ them, but simply declaring that he wished to execute a project, which would bring great riches to Athens. With this force he sailed against the island of Pares, under the pretence of punishing the inhabitants for the assistance they had been compelled to give the Persians, but in reality to avenge a private quarrel of his own. He demanded from the islanders one hundred talents as the price of his retreat, but the Parians heroically refused to purchase safety, and set him at defiance. After a vain attempt to storm the town, Miltiades returned to Athens wounded and disappointed. For this disgraceful expedition he was brought to trial by Xanthippus, a nobleman of high rank. His wound prevented him from making a vigorous defence ; but the sight of the hero of Mara- thon extended on a couch, for he caused himself to be thus brought to the assembly, was more calculated to produce an effect on the mul- titude than the most eloquent oration. The crime laid to his charge was capital, but the Athenians were unwilling to inflict the punish- ment of death on one who had performed such essential services to the republic. They fined him fifty talents, (about 10,000Z.) which being unable to pay, he was thrown into prison. Miltiades died of his wounds in a few days after his imprisonment, but the fine was paid by his son Cimon. Many historians have quoted this as an instance of the ingratitude shown by the Athenians to their public men ; but assuredly the unjustifiable attack on the Parians, and the lavish ex- penditure of the public treasures and the blood of the citizens in prosecuting a private pique, merited a severe punishment ; and if we take into account the manner in which the resources of the state were wasted, the fine does not appear extravagant. SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. ARIUS, rather enraged than intimidated by the loss he had sustained in the battle of Marathon, was preparing to invade Greece in person, when, happily for the fe peace of that country, death put an end to his ambi- § tious project. His son Xerxes, however, who suc- ceeded him on the throne, was determined to execute the plan his father had formed. Having just returned from a suc- cessful expedition he had made into Egypt, he expected to meet with the like good fortune in Europe. But before he would engage in so important an enterprise, he thought proper to consult the principal officers in his court. Mardonius, his brother-in-law, well knowing his secret sentiments, and willing to flatter him in his favourite pursuits, highly applauded the resolution he had taken. But Artabanus, his uncle, whom years and experience had rendered wise, endeavoured to divert him from his rash design. His arguments, however, instead of producing the desired effect, drew from the haughty monarch a stern reprimand, as unbecoming as it was unjust. While these hostile designs were in agitation, the Athenians were assiduously employed, under the conduct of Themis- tocles, in subduing their more domestic enemies. The smaller islands in the ^gean sea had, through his exertions, been already reduced 87 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. to obedience ; but the possession of these remained precarious while the fleet of ^gina covered the sea, and bid defiance to that of Athens. That they might be enabled to seize or destroy this fleet, Themisto- cles persuaded the Athenians to devote the produce of the silver mine at Laureium, in Attica, to the purpose of building ships of "war. This prudent advice was of infinite service, as will appear in the sequel. Xerxes, having thus resolved upon his expedition into Greece, (b. c. 480,) began to make preparations for carrying it into execution ; and the greatness of these showed the high sense he entertained of the power and bravery of the enemy. Sardis was the general rendezvous for his land forces ; and the fleet was ordered to advance along the coasts of Asia Minor towards the Hellespont. On his way thither, in order to shorten its passage, he cut a canal through the neck of land that joined Mount Athos to the continent ; and, while this was doing, he addressed the mountain with all that pomp and ostentation for which the Eastern princes have ever been remarkable. " Athos," said he, " thou proud aspiring mountain, that liftest up thy head to the heavens, be not so audacious as to put obstacles in my way. If thou dost, I will cut thee level with the plain, and throw thee head- long into the sea." In his march to Sardis he gave a shocking proof of the cruelty of his disposition. Having required the eldest son of Pythias, a Lydian prince, to attend him in the war, the father ofl'ered him all his treasure, amounting to about four millions sterling, to purchase his exemption; and, as the young man seemed desirous of staying at home, Xerxes commanded him immediately to be put to death before his father's eyes. Then, causing the body to be cut in two, and one part of it to be placed on the right and the other on the left of the way, he made the whole army pass between them ; a terrible example of what every one had to expect that dared to dispute his orders. His army w'as composed not merely of Persians, but of Modes, Lydians, Bactrians, Assyrians, Ilyrcanians ; in a word, of every people that either acknowledged his authority, dreaded his power, or courted his alliance ; so that it is said to have amounted to above two millions of men. His fleet consisted of fourteen hundred and twenty-seven ships, besides a thousand lesser vessels that were em- ployed in carrying provisions. On board of these were six hundred thousand men ; so that the whole army might be said to amount to above two millions and a half; which, with the women, slaves, and sutlers always attending a Persian camp, might make the whole above five millions of souls — a force which, if rightly conducted, might have SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 89 given law to the universe ; but, being commanded by ignorance and presumption, was soon after repulsed, and finally defeated by the small but gallant states of Greece. With this mighty armament, Xerxes set out on his expedition, ten years after the battle of Marathon, (b. c. 480.) Upon reviewing his forces, his heart was naturally elated with joy from a consciousness of his superior power ; but this soon gave place to the feelings of humanity, and he burst into tears when he reflected that a hundred years hence not one of so many thousands would be alive. He had previously given orders for building a bridge of boats across the Hel- lespont, or, as it is now called, the Dardanelles, which separates Asia from Europe, and is about an English mile over. But this bridge, when completed, being carried away by the current, Xerxes, like a tyrant, wreaked his vengeance upon the workmen, and, like a lunatic, upon the sea. He caused the heads of the former to be struck off, and a certain number of lashes to be inflicted upon the latter to punish it for its insolence, and fetters to be thrown into it to teach it for the future obedience to his will ; a striking proof how much the possession of despotic power tends not only to corrupt the heart, but even to weaken and blind the understanding. A new bridge Avas formed by a double range of vessels secured by double anchors, and fastened together with the strongest cables. On these a roadway was formed by the trunks of trees ; the interstices were filled up with earth, and smooth planks laid over all. The sides were fenced with wicker-work to prevent any of the horses or beasts of burden from slipping over ; and upon this singular structure the entire army passed over from Abydos, in Asia Minor, to the little city of Sestus, in Thrace. So great was the number of the Persians, that seven days and nights were spent in the passage. Xerxes, having thus entered Europe, began his march directly for Greece, receiving everywhere the submission of the countries through which he passed. Most of the states of Greece, overawed by his power, submitted at the first summons. Athens and Sparta alone, those glorious republics, nobly disdained such pusillanimous conduct ; they gallantly resolved to oppose the invader of their country, and either to preserve their liberties entire or to perish in the attempt. From the moment that Xerxes began his preparations, they had re- ' ceived intelligence of his designs ; and in their turn began to take measures for rendering them abortive. They had also sent spies to Sardis, in order to bring them an exact account of the number and quality of the enemy's forces. The spies, indeed, were seized ; but Xerxes, instead of punishing, or even detaining them, ordered them 90 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. to be conducted through his camp and then dismissed, desiring them, at the same time, on their return home, to give a faithful relation of what they had seen. The Athenians and Spartans, however, neither intimidated by the mighty force that now came against them nor by the base submission of the inferior states, nobly resolved to face the common danger with joint forces. These forces did not amount to above eleven thousand two hundred men ; and yet, with this handful of troops, they determined to oppose the almost innu- merable army of Xerxes. Their first care was to appoint a general ; and they wisely made choice of Themistocles, the ablest commander that had appeared in Greece since the death of Miltiades. They likewise recalled Aris- tides, who had been driven into banishment by the faction of his enemies,* at the head of which, indeed, was Themistocles: such is the jealousy that sometimes prevails between great men, though equally attached to the interest of their country ! Ambassadors were sent to the Greek colonies in Sicily and Italy, soliciting them to assist their parent country in this crisis ; the inha- bitants of these states, with that eager love for Hellas which pervaded all the Hellenic tribes, immediately promised their assistance. Gelon, who then ruled at Syracuse, was appointed to command the auxiliaries, and, impressed with a deep sense of his own importance and abilities, required to be nominated captain-general of all the Grecian forces. The Spartans, with their usual pride, peremptorily rejected his demand ; and before any amicable arrangement could be formed, the Grajco-Italian states were obliged to contend for their own independ- ence at home. The Carthaginians had been long the commercial rivals of the Grecian colonists, and had \ainly attempted to crush their rising greatness ; the invasion of Greece by Xerxes seemed to aiford them a favourable opportunity ; they entered into a close alli- ance with the Persian monarch, and attacked Sicily at the very same moment that he invaded Greece. The defeat of the Carthaginians was as signal as that of their Asiatic ally ; but it did not occur at a period sufficiently early to alloAv of the colonists parting with any of their forces for the defence of the parent state. * It was upon the occasion of his banishment, that a peasant who could not write, and did not know Aristides personally, applied to him, and desired him to write the name of that citizen upon the shell by which his vote was given against him. " Has he done you any wrong," said Aristides, " that you are for condemning him in this manner?" — "No," replied the peasant, "but I hate to hear him always praised for his justice." Aristides, without saying a word more, calmly took the shell, wrote down his name upon it, and contentedly retired into exile. SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 91 Themistocles saw that the enemy must be opposed by sea as well as by land ; and, to enable him to do this with the greater eifect, he caused a hundred galleys to be built, and turned all his thoughts towards the improvement of the navy. The oracle had declared, some time before, that Athens should defend herself only with wooden walls ; and he took advantage of the ambiguity of this reply, to per- suade his countrymen that by such walls was meant her shipping. The Lacedoemonians used equal industry in improving their navy, so that, upon the approach of Xerxes, the confederates found themselves possessed of a squadron of two hundred and eighty sail, the command of which was conferred upon Eurybiades, a Spartan. Being unable to cope with the overwhelming numbers of the Per- sians in the open plains, the Greeks resolved to confine their military operations to the defence of the few passes that are found in the chains of mountains by which Hellas is intersected. For this pur- pose, they sent a strong detachment to secure the vale of Tempo, which formed the usual road between Macedonia and Thessaly. But having soon after discovered that there was another pass at some distance, and their army being insufiicient to garrison both, they retreated southward, and finally resolved to make their first stand at the straits of Thermopylas, which secured the entrance to Phocis and Boeotia. The command of this important pass was given to Leonidas, one of the kings of Sparta, who led thither a body of six thousand men. Of these, three hundred only were Spartans ; the rest consisted of Boeotians, Corinthians, Phocians, and other allies. This chosen band were taught from the beginning to consider themselves as a forlorn hope, placed there to check the progress of the enemy, and give them a foretaste of the desperate valour of Greece. Nor were even oracles wanting to inspire them with enthusiastic ardour. It had been declared that, to procure the safety of Greece, it was necessary that a king, one of the descendants of Hercules, should die ; and this task was now cheerfully undertaken by Leonidas, who, when he marched out of Lacedcemon, considered himself a willing sacrifice for his country. In the mean time Xerxes advanced with his immense army, the very sight of which, he thought, would terrify the Greeks into sub- mission, without his being obliged to strike a single blow. Great, therefore, was his surprise, when he found that a few desperate men were determined to dispute his passage through the straits of Tber- mopylge. At first he could not believe they would persevere in their resolution ; and he therefore gave them four days to reflect on their 92 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. danger, hoping they would at last think it most prudent to retire. But when he found them remain immovable in their post, he sent them a summons to deliver up their arms. Leonidas, with a true Spartan contempt, desired him "to come and take them." And when it was observed that the Persian forces were so numerous that their very arrows would darken the sun, "Then," replied Dieneces, a Spartan, "we shall fight in the shade." Xerxes, provoked at these sarcasms, resolved to begin the attack immediately. The first assault was made by a body of Medes, but these were instantly repulsed with great slaughter. A body of ten thousand Persians, commonly known by the name of the immortal band, made another attempt to dislodge the Grecians, but with no better success than the former. In a word, the Greeks maintained their ground against the Avhole power of the Persian army for two days together ; and would probably have maintained it much longer, had it not been for the treachery of Epialtes, a Trachinian, who, having deserted to the enemy, conducted a body of twenty thousand Persians through a by-path across a mountain that overhung the straits. Leonidas, seeing the enemy in this situation, plainly perceived that his post was no longer tenable ; he therefore advised his allies to retire, and reserve themselves for better times and the future safety of Greece. "As for myself and my fellow Spartans," said he, " we are obliged by our laws not to fly : I owe a life to my country, and it is now my duty to fall in its defence." The Thes- pians, in number about seven hundred, which probably comprised the entire strength of that little commonwealth, gallantly resolved to share the fate of the Spartans, and four hundred Thebans were detained as hostages for the more than doubtful faith of their coun- trymen. When the rest had retired, Leonidas exhorted his followers, in the most cheerful manner, to prepare for death. " Come, my fellow-soldiers," says he, "let us dine cheerfully here, for to-night we shall sup with Pluto." His men, upon hearing his determined purpose, set up a loud shout, as if they had been invited to a ban- quet, and resolved every man to sell his life as dearly as he could. The night now began to advance, and this was thought the most glorious opportunity of meeting death in the enemy's camp^ as the darkness, by concealing the smallness of their numbers, would fill the Persians with greater consternation. Thus resolved, they made directly to the Persian tents, and in the silence of night had almost penetrated to the royal pavilion, with hopes of surprising the king. The obscurity added to the horror of the scene ; and the Persians, SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 95 incapable of distinguishing friend from foe, fell furiously upon each other, and rather assisted than opposed the Greeks. Thus success seemed likely to crown their bold but rash enterprise, had not the morning dawn discovered the smallness of their numbers. They retreated back to the straits, and four times repulsed their Persian pur- suers ; but while the victory was as yet doubtful, the Persian detach- ment, which had been intrusted to the guidance of Epialtes, was seen descending from the hills in their rear. Nothing now remained for the defenders of the straits but to sell their lives as dearly as possible ; abandoning, therefore, their outer lines of defence, they retreated behind the Phocian wall, and there forming themselves into a square, patiently awaited the approach of their enemies. The Thebans took advantage of this opportunity to put in practice their meditated trea- chery ; they advanced with reversed arms to surrender themselves to the Persians, but their object being mistaken, they were received as enemies, and very few of them purchased a miserable life by their disgraceful desertion. Meantime, the last stronghold of the Greeks Death of Leoniias. was assailed on every side, and yet not a man swerved from his post. The wall was at length tumbled down — the spears of the Greeks were blunted and shivered in the protracted contest — Leonidas, their leader, had fallen in the attack on the Persian camp, but his body, placed in the centre of the diminished band, was the rallying point of his ex- 96 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. hausted soldiers. They sank at last beneath a mountain of darts, which formed the proudest testimony of their valour and their most suitable monument. Of all the band, two only escaped, whose names were Aristodemus and Panites. They were treated, in consequence, with such contempt on their return to Sparta, that Panites killed himself in despair; but Aristodemus bore it with fortitude, and recovered his lost honour by his gallant behaviour at the battle of Platsea. The loss of the Persians on this occasion is supposed to have amounted to twenty thousand men, among whom were two of the king's brothers. The same day on which the battle of Thermopylae was fought, there was a naval engagement between the fleets of Greece and Persia, off the cape of Artemisium in Euboea, in which the former took or sank thirty of the enemy's ships, and forced a hundred and seventy of them to sea, where, by stress of weather, they were all soon after either sunk or stranded. Xerxes, however, having now passed the straits, found nothing capable of opposing his progress in the open country ; he therefore directed his march towards Athens, on which he was determined to take signal vengeance. Themistocles, seeing the impossibility of defending this place, used all his eloquence and address in persuad- ing his countrymen to abandon it for the present ; and this he was at last able, though with no little difficulty, to effect. A decree was therefore passed, by which it was ordained, that Athens for a while should be given up in trust to the gods, and that all the inhabitants, whether in freedom or slavery, should go on board the fleet. The young and adventurous set sail for the neighbouring island of Sala- mis ; the old, the women, and children took shelter at Trazene, the inhabitants of which generously offered them an asylum. But in this general desertion of the city, that which raised the compassion of all was the great number of old men they were obliged to leave in the place, on account of their age and infirmities. Many also volun- tarily remained behind, believing that the citadel, which they had fortified with wooden walls, was what the oracle pointed out for general safety. To heighten this scene of distress, the matrons were seen clinging with fond affection to the places where they had so long resided ; the women filled the streets with lamentations ; and even the poor domestic animals seemed to take a part in the general concern. It was impossible to sec those poor creatures run howling and crying after their masters, who were going on shipboard, without being strongly affected. Among these, the faithfulness of a par- ticular dog is recorded, who jumped into the sea, and continued SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 99 swimming after the vessel which contained his master, till he landed at Salamis, and died the moment after upon the shore. The few inhabitants that remained behind retired into the citadel, where, literally interpreting the oracle, they fortified it as well as they could, and patiently awaited the approach of the invader. Nor was it long before they saw him arrive at their gates, and summon them to surrender. This, however, they refused to do, or even to listen to any terms he proposed to them. The place was therefore taken by assault ; all who were found in it were put to the sword, and the cita- del reduced to ashes. While one division of the Persian army was marching throuo-h Boeotia on Athens, a smaller body had been sent to plunder the sacred treasury at Delphi. The inhabitants, alarmed at their numbers, con- sulted the oracle, and were told that " the arms of Apollo were suf- ficient for the defence of his shrine." Encouraged by this response, they posted themselves in the defiles of Mount Parnassus, having first sent their women and children to a place of safety. The Persians, who had often heard of the fame of Delphi, could scarcely control their superstitious fears as they approached the sacred sanctuary ; and a fearful storm which arose as they passed through a narrow defile threw them into remediless consternation. The Delphians showered rocks and trunks of trees from the mountain-tops ; their fierce shouts mingling with the noise of the storm, and repeated by a thousand echoes, completed the terror of the invaders : they hasted to fly from the valley in which they were entangled, but confusion impeded their flight. The Delphians charged the disordered multitudes, and slew them by thousands without meeting any resistance. The miserable remnant that escaped fied to join the other division at Athens, spread- ing everywhere the news of the divine vengeance, by which they supposed that their impious attempt was punished. But though the confederates had been thus obliged to abandon Athens to the fury of the enemy, they were by no means disposed to let them overrun the whole country. They took possession of Pelo- ponnesus, built a wall across the isthmus that joined it to the conti- nent, and committed the defence of that important post to Cleombro- tus, the brother of Leonidas. In adopting this measure they were unanimous, as being the most prudent that could be embraced : but this was not the case with regard to the operations of the fleet. Eurybiades was for bringing it into the neighbourhood of the isth- mus, so that the sea forces might act in conjunction. Themistocles was of quite a different opinion, and maintained that it would be the height of folly to abandon so advantageous a post as that of Salamis, 100 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. where tliey were now stationed. They were now, he said, in posses- sion of the narrow seas, where the number of the enemy's ships could never avail them ; that the only hope left the Athenians was their fleet, which must not capriciously be given up to the enemy. Eury- biades, who considered himself as glanced at by this speech, could not contain his resentment, but lifted up his cane in a menacing man- ner. "Strike," cried the Athenian, "strike, but hear me." His moderation and his reasoning prevailed ; and it was therefore re- solved to await the enemy's fleet at Salamis. Fearful, however, that the confederates might change their mind, Themistocles had recourse to one of those stratagems which mark superior genius. He con- trived to have it privately intimated to Xerxes, that the confederates were now assembled at Salamis, preparing for flight, and that it would be an easy matter to attack and destroy them. The artifice suc- ceeded. Xerxes gave orders to his fleet to block up Salamis by night, in order to prevent an escape that would have frustrated his hopes of vengeance. Aristides, who commanded a small body of troops at ^gina, no sooner heard of the apparently dangerous situation of Themistocles, than, ignorant of the real cause of all these manoeuvres, and actually thinking him in danger, he ventured in a small boat by night through the Avhole fleet of the enemy. Upon landing, he repaired to the tent of Themistocles, and addressed him in the following manner : " If we are wise, Themistocles, we shall henceforth lay aside all those frivo- lous and puerile dissensions which have hitherto divided us. One strife, and a noble one it is, now remains for us, which of us shall be most serviceable to our country. It is yours to command ns a gene- ral ; it is mine to obey as a subject ; and happy shall I be if ray ad- vice can any way contribute to yours and my country's glory." He then informed him of the fleet's real situation, and warmly exhorted him to give battle without delay. Themistocles felt all that gratitude which so generous and disinterested a conduct deserved ; and eager to make a proper return, he immediately let him into all his schemes and projects, particularly this last, of suffering himself to be blocked up. After this they exerted their joint influence with the other com- manders to persuade them to engage; and accordingly both fleets prepared for battle. The Grecian fleet consisted of three hundred and eighty ships ; that of the Persians was much more numerous. But whatever advantage they had in numbers and the size of their vessels, they fell infinitely short of the Greeks in naval skill, and in their acquaintance with the seas where they fought. But it was chiefly on the superior abilities of SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 101 their commanders that the Greeks placed their hopes of success. Euryhi- ades had nominally the command of the fleet, but Themistocles directed all its operations. He, knowing that a periodical wind, which would be favourable, would soon set in, delayed the attack till that time ; and this had no sooner arisen than the signal was given for battle, and the Grecian fleet sailed forward in exact order. As the Persians now fought under the eye of their sovereign, who beheld the action from a neighbouring promontory, they exerted them- selves for some time with great spirit ; but their courage abated when they came to a closer engagement. The numerous disadvantages of circumstances and situation then began to appear. The wind blew directly in their faces ; the height and heaviness of their vessels ren- dered them unwieldy and almost useless ; and even the number of their ships only served to embarrass and perplex them in that narrow sea. The lonians, mindful of their Hellenic descent, w^ere far from being anxious for a victory that would have enslaved the land of their fathers ; in the very first onset many of them fled, while others de- serted to the Greeks. The Phoenician galleys being thus disordered, and their flanks exposed, dashed against each other, and crowded into a confused mass, deprived of all power of action. The Athenians, with consummate skill, increased the confusion by forcing fresh hostile ships into the narrow space in which the Phoenicians were entangled. 102 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. And thus, as the poet iEschylus, Avho personally shared in the battle, declares, the whole Persian fleet " was caught and destroyed like fish in a net." In the general consternation which this occasioned, Artemisia, queen of Halicarnassus, who had come to the assistance of Xerxes Avith five ships, exerted herself with so much spirit, that the monarch was heard to say, his soldiers behaved like women in the conflict, and the women like soldiers. Her glory, however, is sullied by the unjustifiable means which she made use of to escape from the fatal strait. The Athenian captain Ameinias, the brother of the poet iEschylus, had distinguished himself above all his compeers, by superior skill in the management of his vessel, and by the havoc which he made in the hostile fleet. As he bore down against the galley of Artemisia, the queen, aware that resistance would be useless, ordered her pilot to run her ship against the galley of a Lycian prince, with whom she had been at variance. The Lycian vessel was run down, and all on board perished ; Ameinias, conjecturing from this that the queen's ship was one of those that had deserted to the Greeks, gave over the pursuit, and Artemisia was enabled to continue her flight in safety. Nothing, however, could repair the disorder that had now taken place in the Persian fleet. They fled on all sides ; some of them were sunk, and more taken ; above two hundred were burnt, and all the rest entirely dispersed. Such was the issue of the battle of Salamis, in which the Persians received a more severe blow than any they had hitherto experienced from Greece. Themistocles is said to have been so elated with this victory, that he proposed breaking down the bridge over the Helles- pont, and thus cutting ofl" the retreat of the enemy ; but from this he was dissuaded by Aristidcs, who represented the danger of reducing so powerful an army to despair. The trophy presented to Themis- tocles for this victory was the greatest triumph of his life. Xerxes, however, seems to have been so apprehensive of this step being taken, that, after leaving about three hundred thousand of his best troops behind him under Mardonius, not so much with a view of conquering Greece as in order to prevent a pursuit, he hastened back with the rest to the Hellespont, where, finding the bridge broken down with the violence of the waves, he was obliged to pass over in a small boat ; and this manner of leaving Europe, when compared with his ostentatious entry, rendered his disgrace the more poignant and afflicting. Nothing could exceed the joy of the Greeks upon the victory they had obtained at Salamis. It was customary after a battle for the SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 105 Flight cf Xerxes. commanding ofScers to declare who had distinguished themselves most, by giving in the names of such as merited the first and second rewards. On this occasion, each officer concerned adjudged the first rank to himself, but all allowed the second to Themistocles, which was, in fact, allowing him a tacit superiority. This was farther con- firmed by the Lacedicmonians, who carried him in triumph to Sparta ; and having adjudged the reward of valour to their own countryman, Eurybiades, adjudged that of wisdom to Themistocles. They crowned him with olive, presented him with a rich chariot, and conducted him with three hundred horse to the confines of their state. But there was a homage paid to him that flattered his pride yet more : when he appeared at the Olympic games, before all the states of Greece assem- bled, the spectators received him with uncommon acclamations. As soon as he appeared, the whole assembly rose up to do him honour ; nobody regarded either the games or combatants ; Themistocles was the only object worthy their attention. Struck with such flattering honours, he could not help exclaiming, that he that day reaped the fruits of all his labours. Mardonius, having passed the winter in Thessaly, led his forces in the spring into the province of Boeotia, and thence sent Alexander, king of Macedonia, Avith very tempting proposals to the Athenians, hoping by that means to detach them from the general interests of 106 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. Greece.* He offered to rebuild their cit}^ to present them with a considerable sum of money, to allow them to enjoy their laws and liberties, and to bestow upon them the government of all Greece. The Spartans were afraid that the Athenians might bo prevailed on to accept these proposals ; they therefore sent ambassadors to Athens, in order to dissuade them from so base a conduct. The Athenians rejected the tempting offer of Mardonius, and severely censured the Spartans for supposing that, to secure their private interest, they would desert the general cause of Greece ; at the same time they entreated their allies to join them as speedily as possible, in order to repel a second invasion of Attica, which Mardo- nius, irritated at the Athenian obstinacy, would probably attempt. This conjecture was justified by the event. In a few weeks, Mardo- nius, having broken up from his winter quarters in Thessaly, marched with all his forces directly towards Attica, where there was neither fortress nor army capable of making any resistance. Messenger after messenger was sent to claim the promised aid of Sparta, but all in vain ; that state, with the selfishness which cliaractcvizes and disgraces its entire history, neglected every summons. They had completed the fortification of the Corintliiau isthmus, and having thus provided, as they believed, for the security of the Peloponnesus, they aban- doned northern Greece to the vengeance of the Persians. Deserted a second time by the confederates, the Athenians again retired to Salamis, and witnessed from its shores the flames that con- sumed their houses and temples. Every thing that had been spared in the first invasion was destroyed in the second ; but still the deter- mination of the Athenians was not changed. They even stoned Lyciadas, a senator, to death, for daring to propose a surrender, and his wife and children met with the same fate from the women. The deputies from Platrea and Megara united with the ambassadors from Athens in reproaching the Spartans for their disgraceful aban- donment of the common cause. The Spartans for some time turned a deaf car to their complaints, until at length the Athenians hinted the probability of their being compelled to accept the offers of Mardo- nius, and pointed out to the Spartans how vain would be the wall ■■' The Thehans, who had perfidiously deserted the common cause, added to their baseness by giving Mardonius advice, which, had he followed, would more eil'ectually have reduced Greece under his power thau all the force of his arms. "You have only," said the}', "to bribe the leading men in the several republics, and you will divide each state into factions ; engage them in a civil war, and, when exhausted by mutual hostilities, they will readily submit to your demands." Instead of following this detestable though prudent advice, Mardonius proceeded as is related in the text. SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 109 across the isthmus, when the Persian fleet, united with that of Athens, would triumphantly sweep the seas, and harass the coast of the Pelo- ponnesus. They immediately resolved to take the field, the different southern states were summoned to send in their contingents, and Pausanias, one of the Lacedoemonian kings, was appointed to the command of the combined forces. The Grecian army was now assembled to the number of seventy thousand men. Of these, five thousand were Spartans, attended by thirty-five thousand Helots. The Athenians amounted to eight thou- sand, and the troops of the allies made up the rest. With this army the Greeks resolved to oppose Mardonius, though at the head of no less than three hundred thousand men. That general, fearing to be attacked in the hilly country of Attica, where he could not avail himself of his great superiority of numbers, had lately returned into Boeotia, and encamped his troops on the banks of the river iEsopus. Thither he was pursued by the Grecians ; but as neither side could begin the attack without encountering great disadvantage, the two armies continued in sight of each other for the space of ten days, both equally eager for battle, and yet both afraid to strike the first blow. It was during this interval that a mutiny had nearly arisen in the Grecian army about the post of honour. All parties allowed the Spartans the command of the right wing ; but the Tegfeans alleged that they were better entitled by their past services to the command of the left than the Athenians, who now occupied it. This dissension might have produced very fatal effects, had it not been for the mode- ration and magnanimity of Aristides, who commanded the Athenians, and who addressed himself to the Spartans and the rest of the con- federates in the following manner : — " It is not now a time, my friends, to dispute about the merits of past services ; for all boasting is vain in the day of danger. Let it be the brave man's pride to own, that it is not the post or station which gives courage, or which can take it away. I head the Athenians ; whatever post you shall assign us we will maintain it, and will endeavour to make our station, wherever we are placed, the post of true honour and military glory. We are come hither not to contend with our friends, but to fight with our enemies ; not to boast of our ancestors, but to imitate them. This battle will distinguish the merit of each city ; and the lowest sentinel will share with his commander the honour of tfie day." This speech determined the council of war in favour of the Athenians, who thereupon were allowed to maintain their former station. Meanwhile the Grecians, beginning to be straitened for want of 110 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. water, resolved to retreat to a place where tliey miglit be more plenti- fully supplied with that necessary article. As their removal was in the night, much disorder ensued ; and in the morning, Mardonius, construing their retreat into a flight, immediately pursued them, and coming up with them near the little city of Platisa, attacked them with great impetuosity. His ardour, however, was soon checked by the Spartans, who brought up the rear of the Grecian army, and who, throwing themselves into a phalanx, stood impenetrable and immo- vable against all the assaults of the enemy. At the same time, the Athenians, being informed of the attack, quickly returned, and, after defeating a body of Greeks in Persian pay, came to the assistance of the Spartans, just as these last had completed the overthrow of the enemy. For Mardonius, enraged at seeing his men give way, rushed into the thickest of the ranks in order to restore the battle, and was killed by Aimnestus, a Spartan. Upon this, the whole army betook themselves to flight. Artabazus, with a body of forty thousand men, fled towards the Hellespont : the rest retreated to their camp, and there endeavoured to defend themselves with wooden ramparts ; but these being quickly broken down, the confederates rushed in upon them with irresistible fury, and, eager to rid the country of such terrible invaders, sternly refused them quarter, putting upwards of a hundred thousand of them to the sword. Thus ended the invasion of Greece by the Persians ; nor ever after was an army from Persia seen to cross the Hellespont. We have already observed that Aris- tides commanded the Athenians in this important action ; the Spar- tans were headed by Cleombrotus ; and Pausanias, a Lacediemonian, was the commander-in-chief. The battle was no sooner over, than the Greeks, to testify their gratitude to heaven, caused a statue of Jupiter to be made at the public expense, and placed in his temple at Olympia. On the right side of the pedestal were engraved the names of the several nations of Greece that were present in the engagement. The Spartans had the first place, the Athenians the second, and the rest succeeded in order. The successes of the Greeks were as rapid as they were important. On the very evening of the day on which the victory of Plataja was won, another, equally glorious, was obtained at INIycale, on the coast of Ionia. • After the defeat of Salamis, the remains of the Persian fleet retired to Samos ; but the Greeks lost no time in pursuing them. The con- federates on this occasion were headed by Leotychides, the Spartan, and Xanthippus, the Athenian. The Persians were no sooner in- SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 113 formed of their approach, than, conscious of their OTvn inferiority by sea, they drew up their ships upon dry land at Mycale, and fortified them with a wall and deep trench, while they at the same time pro- tected them with an army of sixty thousand men, under the command of Tigranes. But nothing could secure them from the fury of the Grecians, who, immediately coming on shore, and dividing themselves into two bodies, the Athenians and Corinthians advanced directly on the plain, while the Lacedaemonians fetched a compass over hills and precipices, in order to take possession of a rising ground. But before these last arrived, the former had entirely put the enemy to flight, and, on being joined by the Spartans, soon forced their way through the Persian ramparts, and set all their ships on fire ; so that nothing could be more complete than the victory now obtained. Tigranes, the Persian general, with forty thousand of his men, lay dead on the field of battle ; the fleet was destroyed ; and of the great army which Xerxes brought into Europe, scarcely a single man remained to carry back the news of its defeat. No sooner were the Greeks freed from the apprehensions of a foreign foe, (b. c. 478,) than they began to entertain jealousies of each other ; and the first symptoms of this dangerous spirit appeared in a misunderstanding that took place between the Athenians and Spartans. The former, with their families, being returned to their own country, began to rebuild the city ; and as its late state of weakness had ren- dered it so easy a prey to the Persians, they now formed a plan for strengthening and extending the walls, and giving it for the future a greater degree of security. This excited the jealousy of the Lace- diemonians, who could not bear to see any of the other states of Greece upon an equal footing with themselves. They therefore sent ambassadors to dissuade the Athenians from this undertaking : but being ashamed to avow their real motive, they alleged the great de- triment which these fortifications would prove to the general interests of Greece, if ever they should fall into the hands of the enemy. Themistocles, who then guided the councils of Athens, at once saw through their design, and resolved to meet their duplicity with equal dissimulation. He therefore told them that the Athenians would soon send an embassy to Sparta, and fully satisfy all their scruples : and having procured himself to be chosen for this purpose, he by studied delays kept the Spartans in suspense until the works were completely finished. He then boldly threw ofi" the mask, and declared that Athens was now in a condition to defend herself against any enemy, either foreign or domestic ; that what she had done was per- fectly consistent with the law of nations and the common interests of 114 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. Greece ; and added, that if any violence were offered to his person, the Athenians would retaliate upon the Spartan ambassadors who were now in their hands. In consequence of this spirited conduct, the ambassadors on both sides were suffered quietly to depart ; and Themistocles, upon his arrival in Athens, was received as if he had been returning from a triumph. The confederates, being thus left at liberty to turn their arms against their foreign foes, instead of drawing their swords against one another, fitted out a powerful fleet. Pausanias commanded the Spartans ; the Athenians were conducted by Aristides, and Cimon the son of Miltiades. They first directed their course to the isle of Cyprus, where they set all the cities free ; but from some unknown cause, the authority of the Persians was soon re-established in that island. Then, steering towards the Hellespont, they attacked the city of Byzantium, of which they made themselves masters ; and, besides the vast quantity of plunder which they found in it, took a great number of prisoners, many of whom were of the richest and most considerable families of Persia. But whatever the Greeks gained upon this occasion in fame and authority, they lost in the purity and simplicity of their manners. The deluge of wealth poured in upon them from this quarter naturally tended to corrupt their minds ; and from this time forward, neither the magistrates nor the people valued themselves, as formerly, on their personal merit, but merely on account of their riches and possessions. The Athenians, being a polite people, bore this change for some time with tolerable moderation ; but the contagion immediately broke out among the Spartans with all its native virulence. It seems to have inspired Pausanias, who was naturally of a haughty and imperious temper, and who had forfeited the good opinion not only of the neighbouring states, but also of his own subjects, with the ambitious hopes of raising him- self to a still higher rank. He offered to deliver up Sparta, and even all Greece, to Xerxes, provided that prince would give him his daughter in marriage. How long this conspiracy was carried on is uncertain : Pausanias ^s twice tried, and twice acquitted for want of sufficient evidence against him. The wicked means which he took to conceal his guilt at length became the cause of his detection. A slave whom he had employed to convey a letter to one of the Persian satraps, remembering that no former messengers had returned, opened the despatch, and found that it contained orders to put him to de?ith, as the best means of insuring his secrecy. He conveyed the letter without delay to the Spartan magistrates, who immediately made every preparation for completing the proofs of the guilt of Pausanins SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. 117 previous to his arrest. But just as the ephori were upon the point of seizing him, he took refuge in the temple of Minerva, "where the sanctity of the place preventing his being dragged forth, the people blocked up the entry -with large stones, and, tearing off the roof, left him to die of cold and hunger, (b. c. 475.) Thus perished the man who had led on the troops of Greece to victory in the battle of Platsea. The fate of Pausanias soon after involved that of Themistocles, who had some time before been banished, and lived in great esteem at Argos. The occasion of his banishment was this : he had built near his house a temple in honour of Diana, with this inscription, " To Diana, the goddess of good counsel ;" thereby insinuating the benefit his counsels had been of to his country, and the little gratitude his fellow-citizens had shown in rewarding them. He was now accused, not only of having been privy to the designs of Pausanias, without 118 SECOND PERSIAN INVASION. revealing them to the state — which part of the charge, indeed, seems to have been well founded — but likewise of having approved and fa- voured those designs ; a crime of which it appears he was altogether guiltless. The Spartans, however, who had always been his enemies, oow declared themselves his accusers before the assembly of the peo- ple of Athens ; and those of his countrymen who had formerly either dreaded his power or envied his popularity joined in the general charge against him. By these means the people were wrought up to such a degree of rage, that they clamoured for his death with great vehemence; and persons were actually sent to seize and bring him before the general council of Greece. Fortunately, however, he had notice of their design, and saved himself by a precipitate flight. He first took refuge in the island of Corcyra. Thence he repaired to the court of Admetus, king of the Molossians ; but that prince not being able to afford him any long or certain protection, he at last went over to Sardis, where, throwing himself prostrate before the Persian mo- narch, he boldly declared his name, his country, and his misfortunes. "I have done," cried he, "my ungrateful country services more than once ; and I am now come to olfer those services to you. My life is in your hands ; you may now exert your clemency, or display your vengeance. By the former you will preserve a faithful suppliant ; by the latter you will destroy the greatest enemy of Greece." The king made him no answ^er at this audience, though he was struck with admiration at his eloquence and intrepidity ; but he soon gave loose to his joy for the event. He told his courtiers that he considered the arrival of Themistocles as a very happy incident ; and wished that his enemies would always pursue the same destructive policy of ba- nishing from among them the good and wise. He gave him the re- venues of three cities for his support, and maintained him in the utmost affluence and splendour. ISOCRATES. HEN we hear of men wlio have attained great eminence in ■wisdom and virtue, we naturally wish to know hy what means they became superior to those around them. f Our curiosity has not, however, been gratified with many particulars respecting the early life of Socrates. His father, Sophronicus, was a statuary, and he was himself brought up in the practice of the same art, in which there is reason to believe that he made great proficiency ; since his statues of the Habited Graces were judged worthy of a place on the wall of the citadel of Athens, behind the statue of Minerva. In the age and city Avhich produced such a master of that art as Phidias, one cannot suppose that the work of Socrates would have obtained this honour if he had 119 120 ■ SOCRATES. been a bungler in his profession. He probably continued to exercise this art till he was nearly thirty years of age, when Crito, a noble Athenian, observing his disposition to study, and admiring his inge- nuous temper and powerful understanding, thought that such a man might be more usefully employed than in making statues, and placed him with his children, as their preceptor. In this situation he had an opportunity of attending the lectures of the most celebrated philo- sophers of that time. This was the usual method of instruction in the age of Socrates : books were then so scarce, that few could study in retirement. Know- ledge was therefore communicated in discourse ; and the public walks, the porticoes, and places appropriated to bodily exercises, were re- sorted to for the improvement of the mind. While Socrates listened to these discussions, his thoughts took another direction; and as he had hitherto admired proportion and order in the different parts of the statues which he Avas employed in carving, he now began to feel the beaut}'' of regularity in the charac- ters and manners of men. This easy transition of taste from natu- ral to moral beauty is admirably described by one of the poets : — " The attentive mijid, Ey this liarmouious action on lior powers, Becomes herself harmonious ; ■wont so oft In outward things to meditate the charm Of sacred order, soon she secies at home To find a kindred order, to exert Within herself this elegance of love, This fair inspired delight ; her temper'd powers Refine at length, and every passion wears A chaster, milder, more attractive mien." The philosophevs v/hosc lectures Socrates attended were chiefly oc- cupied in discussing difficult and curious questions, which it was either impossible or useless to answer. The formation of the world, and the laws which govern the motions of the heavenly bodies, also engaged their attention. In these speculations Socrates made an uncommon progress ; but he soon perceived that the happiness of men was but little promoted by these studies. He therefore resolved to call phi- losophy down from heaven, where she had been vainly striving to ac- count for the motions of the planets, and the revolution of the sea- sons, that she miglit assist in the regulation of tliat little world which the Deity has put into our j)o\ver. He now applied himself in earnest to the study of the heart of man, and endeavoured to find the most effectual means of governing his SOCRATES. 121 ! passions, and directing his reason. He lived for some time as a pri- vate citizen, in humble life, distinguished only for his wisdom and virtue, and for the exactness of his obedience to the laws of his coun- try. At length, when he was about thirty-six years old, he was called into a more active scene. Potidsea, a town situated on the isthmus which joins the little peninsula of Pallene to the continent of Thrace, or Macedonia, (for historians do not agree respecting the boundaries of those countries,) revolted from the Athenians, to whom they had for some time been tributary. The cause of this revolt was the un- just use of power on the part of the Athenians. Potidaiia, though at that time dependent on Athens, was a Corinthian colony ; and the Athenians, fearing it might shake off their yoke, and regain the pro- tection of Corinth, commanded the inhabitants to demolish their for- tifications on the side next to Pallene; to place hostages in their hands, as securities for their obedience ; and to dismiss the Corinthian magistrates who had hitherto governed their city. To these humi- liating conditions the Potidaeans refused to accede. They declared war against the Athenians, and many neighbouring towns followed their example. Injustice having thus made a beginning, ambition and revenge hastened to complete the work. Alas ! could the Athe- nians have foreseen the miseries and humiliations which were soon to fall upon themselves, how differently would they have acted ! Corinth sent an army to the reli«f of the Potidreans. Athens also sent troops to compel them to obedience. And now Socrates, who thought it his duty to support the measures of his country, though he had as yet taken no share in the government, exchanged his contemplative life of a philosopher for the bustle and activity of a camp. Ever anxious to exert his powers to the utmost in the public service, he endured, beyond any of his companions in arms, the privations and fatigues of war. Hunger, thirst, and cold, were enemies with which he had long accustomed himself to contend, and therefore the severity of the cli- mate affected him less than anybody. The Thracian winters were then extremely severe ; and when but few of the soldiers would ven- ture to go out of their tents on account of the cold, and those who did, wrapped themselves in warm furs, Socrates accompanied them in his common clothing, and walked barefoot on the ice with more ala- crity than those who were so warmly clad. This astonished the sol- diers, who considered his hardiness as a reproach to themselves. Our philosopher not only surprised the soldiers by his hardiness, but delighted them by his wit and gayety, which made him the life of every company ; for, during this expedition, they had times of feast- 122 SOCRATES. ing as well as of privation, and whetlier the business of the day was enjoyment or suffering, Socrates equally distinguished himself, though he was careful not to exceed the bounds of temperance. AVhen the Athenians invested Potidsea, many skirmishes took place between them and the Corinthians. In one of these, a noble Athenian youth, named Alcibiades, was severely wounded. Socrates, seeing him lie in this sad condition on the ground, stepped before him, defended him courageously, prevented the enemy from taking possession of his arms, and at length brought him off safely, in sight of the whole army. The prize of valour was considered as justly due to Socrates for this brave action, but he modestly declined it. To him the plea- sure of doing his duty appears to have been reward sufficient ; and we are told, that the honourable testimony -nhich he bore to the credit of young Alcibiades had such weight with the judges, that they be- stowed upon him the crown and suit of armour which had been in- tended for Socrates. The check which their Corinthian allies had received in this action did not change the resolution of the inhabitants of Potid^a. They persisted in refusing to obey the unjust commands of the Athenians, and the city was therefore closely besieged, both by sea and land. The Corinthians, not liking to give up a place colonized by themselves, ap- pealed to the Lacedaemonians, who, notwithstanding the wise remon- strances of their kin"; Archidamus, consented to engasre in the war. As they had not, however, made the necessary preparations, they sent ambassadors to Athens, by way of gaining time. These depu- ties, among other offensive demands, were instructed to desire that the siege of Potidrea should be raised. The Athenians, confident in their strensrth, were more inclined to defend their afriiressions than to accede to the terms proposed. The ambassadors returned to Sparta, and the Pcloponnesian war began soon afterward, which ended in the complete humiliation of Athens. Socrates receiving the cup of poison. DEATH OF SOCRATES. ^^ ,^ OCRATES' disciple, Xenophon, begins his Me- i^^^o* niorials of his revered master, with declaring his wonder how the Athenians could have been persuaded to condemn to death a man A of such uncommonly clear innocence and exalted r| worth, .^lian, though his authority will bear no comparison with Xenophon's, has, I think, nevertheless given the solution. " Socrates," he says, " disliked the Athenian constitution. For he saw that democracy is tyrannical, and abounds with all the evils of absolute monarchy." But though the political circumstances of the times made it necessary for contem- porary writers to speak with caution, yet both Xenophon and Plato have declared enough to show that the assertion of -^lian was well- 123 -^x^ 124 DEATH OF SOCRATES. founded; and farther proof, were it wanted, may be derived from another early writer, nearly contemporary, and deeply versed in the politics of his age, the orator ^schines. Indeed, though not stated in the indictment, yet it was urged against Socrates, by his prosecu- tors before the court, that he was disafi'ected to the democracy ; and in proof they aflSlrmed it to be notorious that he had ridiculed what the Athenian constitution prescribed, the appointment to magistracy by lot. " Thus," they said, " he taught his numerous followers, youths of the principal families of the city, to despise the established government, and to be turbulent and seditious ; and his success had been seen in the conduct of two, the most eminent, Alcibiades and Critias. Even the best things he converted to these evil purposes. From the most esteemed poets, and particularly from Homer, he se- lected passages to enforce his anti-democratical principles." Socrates, it appears, indeed, was not inclined to deny his disappro- bation of the Athenian constitution. His defence itself, as it is reported by Plato, contains matter on which to found an accusation against him of disaiTection to the sovereignty of the people, such as, under the jealous tyranny of the Athenian democracy, would some- times subject a man to the penalties of high-treason. " You well know," he says, " Athenians, that had I engaged in public business, I should long ago have perished, without procuring any advantage either to you or to myself. Let not the truth offend you : it is no peculiarity of your democracy, nor of your national character; but wherever the people is sovereign, no man who shall dare honestly to oppose injus- tice, frequent and extravagant injustice, can avoid destruction." Without this proof, indeed, we might reasonably believe, that though Socrates was a good and faithful subject of the Athenian government, and would promote no sedition, no political violence, yet he could not like the Athenian constitution. He wished for wholesome changes by gentle means ; and it seems even to have been a principal object of the labours to which he dedicated himself, to infuse principles into the rising generation that might bring about the desirable change insensibly. His scholars were chiefly sons of the wealthiest citizens, Avhose easy circumstances afforded leisure to attend him ; and some of these zealously adopting his tenets, others merely pleased with the ingenuity of his arguments and the liveliness of his manner, and de- sirous to emulate his triumphs over his opponents, were forward, after his example, to engage in disputation upon all the subjects on which he was accustomed to discourse. Thus employed, and thus fol- lowed, though himself avoiding office and public business, those who governed, or desired to govern, the commonwealth, through their influ- DEATH OF SOCRATES. 125 ence among the many, might, perhaps, not unreasonably, consider him as one who was, or might become, a formidable adversary ; and at the same time it might not be difficult to excite popular jealousy against him. Melitus, who stood forward as his principal accuser, was, as Plato informs us, no way a man of any great consideration. His legal de- scription gives some probability to the conjecture, that his father was one of the commissioners sent to Lacedeemon from the moderate party, who opposed the ten successors of the Thirty Tyrants while Thrasy- bulus held PiraBus, and Pausanias was encamped before Athens. He was a poet, and stood forward as in a common cause of the poets, who esteemed the doctrine of Socrates injurious to their interest. Unsup- ported, his accusation would have been little formidable ; but he seems to have been a mere instrument in the business. He was soon joined by Lycon, one of the most powerful speakers of his time. Lycon was the avowed patron of the rhetoricians, who, as well as the poets, thought their interest injured by the moral philosopher's doctrine. I know not that on any other occasion in Grecian history, we have any account of this kind of party interest operating ; but from circum- stances nearly analogous in England, if we substitute for poets the clergy, and for rhetoricians the lawyers, we may gather what might be the party spirit, and what the weight of influence of the rhetori- cians and poets in Athens. With Lycon, Anytus, a man scarcely second to any in the commonwealth in rank and general estima- tion, who had supported high command with reputation in the Pelo- ponnesian war, and had been the principal associate of Thrasybulus in the war against the Thirty, and the restoration of the democracy, declared himself a supporter of the prosecution. Nothing in the accu- sation could, by any known law of Athens, affect the life of the ac- cused. In England, no man would be put upon trial on so vague a charge : no grand jury would listen to it. But in Athens, if the party was strong enough, it signified little what was the law. When Lycon and Anytus came forward, Socrates saw that his condemnation was already decided. By the course of his life, however, and by the turn of his thoughts for many years, he had so prepared himself for all events, that, far from alarmed at the probability of his condemnation, he rather rejoiced at it, as, at his age, a fortunate occurrence. He was persuaded of the soul's immortality, and of the superintending providence of an all- good Deity, whose favour he had always been assiduously endeavour- ing to deserve. Men fear death, he said, as if unquestionably the greatest evil ; and yet no man knows that it may not be the greatest 126 DEATH OF SOCRATES. good. If, indeed, great joys were in prospect for him, he and his friends might, with more show of reason, regret his losing it ; but at his years, and with his scanty fortune, on the contrary, though he was happy enough at seventy still to preserve both body and mind in vigour, yet even his present gratifications must necessarily soon decay. To avoid, therefore, the evils of age, pain, sickness, decay of sight, decay of hearing, perhaps decay of understanding, by the easiest of deaths, (for such the Athenian mode of execution, by a draught of hemlock, was reputed,) cheered with the company of surrounding friends, could not be otherwise than a blessing. Xenophon says, that by condescending to a little supplication, Socrates might easily have obtained his acquittal. No admonition or entreaty of his friends, however, could persuade him to such an unworthiness. On the contrary, when put upon his defence, he told the people that he did not plead for his own sake, bv\t for theirs ; wishing them to avoid the guilt of an unjust condemnation. It was usual for accused persons to bewail their apprehended lot, Avith tears to supplicate favour, and, by exhibiting their children upon the bema, to endeavour to excite pity. lie thought it, he said, more respectful to the court, as well as more becoming himself, to omit all this ; though he was aware their sentiments were likely so far to differ from his, that judgment would be given in anger for it. Condemnation pronounced wrought no change upon him. He again addressed the court, declared his innocence of the matters laid against him, and observed, that even if every charge had been com- pletely proved, still jill together did not, according to any known law, amount to a capital crime. " But," in conclusion, he said, " it is time to depart ; I to die ; you to live : but which for the greater good, God only knows." It was usual at Athens for execution very soon to follow condem- nation, commonly on the morrow. But it happened that the con- demnation of Socrates took place on the eve of the day appointed for the sacred ceremony of crowning the galley which carried the annual offerings to the gods worshipped at Delos ; and immemorial tradition forbade all executions till the sacred vessel's return. Thus the death of Socrates was respited thirty days, and his friends had free access to him in prison. During all that time he admirably supported his constancy. Means were concerted for his escape ; the jailor was bribed, a vessel prepared, and a secure retreat in Thessaly provided. No arguments, no prayers, could persuade him to use the opportunity offered. He had, he said, always taught the duty of obedience to the laws, and he would not furnish an example of the breach of it. To no SI^KT^'- V^^i/iffJt.UUibil^ \ DEATH OP SOCRATES. 129 purpose it was urged that he had been unjustly condemned : he had always held that wrong did not justify wrong. He waited with per- fect composure the return of the sacred vessel, reasoned on the im- mortality of the soul, the advantage of virtue, the happiness of having made it, through life, his pursuit ; and, with his friends about him, took the fatal cup and died. Writers who, after Xenophon and Plato, have related the death of Socrates, seem to have held themselves bound to vie with those who preceded them in giving pathos to the story. The purpose here has been rather to render it intelligible ; to show its connection with the political history of Athens ; to derive from it illustration of the political history of Athens. The magnanimity of Socrates, the prin- cipal eiScient of the pathos, surely deserves admiration ; yet it is not that in which he has most outshone other men. The circumstances of Lord Russel's fate were far more trying. Socrates, we may reason- ably suppose, would have borne Lord Russel's trial ; but, with Bishop Burnet for his eulogist, instead of Plato and Xenophon, he would not have had his present splendid fame. The singular merit of Socrates lay in the purity and the usefulness of his manners and conversation ; the clearness with which he saw, and the steadiness with which he practised, in a blind and corrupt age, all moral duties ; the disinte- restedness and the zeal with which he devoted himself to the benefit of others ; and the enlarged and warm benevolence, whence his supreme and almost only pleasure seems to have consisted in doing good. The purity of Christian morality, little enough, indeed, seen in practice, nevertheless is become so familiar in theory, that it passes almost obvious, and even congenial, to the human mind. Those only will justly estimate the merit of that near approach to it which Socrates made, who will take the pains to gather, as they may from the writings of his contemporaries and predecessors, how little con- ception was entertained of it before his time ; how dull to a just moral sense the human mind has really been ; how slow the progress in the investigation of moral duties, even where not only great pains have been taken, but the greatest abilities zealously employed ; and, when discovered, how difiicult it has been to establish them by proofs beyond controversy, or proofs even that should be generally admitted by the reason of men. It is through the light which Socrates diffused by his doctrine, enforced by his practice, with the advantage of having both the doctrine and the practice exhibited to highest advantage, in the incomparable writings of disciples, such as Xeno- phon and Plato, that his life forms an era in the history of Athens and of man. 9 Alcibiades ALCIBIADES AND THE PELOPONNESIAN WAPx. ALCIBIADES, the son of Cleinias, was one of the most distinguished statesmen and generals of Athens, during the eventful period of the Pe- loponnesian war. Descended on both sides from the most illustrious families of his country, born to the inheritance of great Avealth, endowed with extra- ordinary beauty of person, and with mental qualifications no less brilliant, it seemed evident from his early youth that he would exert no slight influence over the councils and the fortunes of Athens. This marked him out to Socrates as one on whom his moral influence might be exerted with beneficial results. The faults of Alcibiades were those of a spoilt child of fortune : he was fickle, selfish, overbearing, and extravagant. But these faults clouded, not concealed, his nobler qualities. Passionately fond of show and splendour, a frequent victor in the Olympic games, and possessed of a more criminal notoriety as a favoured suitor among the most dignified matrons of Athens, he never lost sight of more manly objects of ambition ; and he met the proffered friendship of Socrates with eagerness, as the surest means of acquiring that mental cultivation which at Athens was the best, 130 THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 131 though not the only, key to political power. The philosopher soon acquired over his wayward pupil that influence which he seems to have exercised over all who came within his circle ; and the close intimacy which arose between these opposite characters was cemented by a singular reciprocity of benefits. In a battle fought near Potidaea, Socrates saved the life of Alcibiades, and the latter repaid the obli- gation by a similar service at the battle of Delium. But the influence of Socrates was insufiicient in this case to work a permanent change of character ; and the political life of Alcibiades proves that he had not profited much by the moral instructions of his master. He became an orphan at an early age, and was placed under the wardship of his uncle Pericles. After the death of Pericles, Alcibiades being then but a child, Nicias and Cleon succeeded to a divided influ- ence in the state : but, with increasing years, Alcibiades was natu- rally regarded as one likely to take a leading part in politics, and he was not slow to assert the influence which seemed his due. At first, he was inclined to cultivate the good-will of Sparta ; between which and his own family an ancient hereditary friendship had existed : but the Spartans, whose national character was utterly alien from that of the impetuous and volatile Athenian, chose rather to connect them- selves with Nicias. Alcibiades readily changed his politics when he found that, in that connection, he could not be the leading man, and became as violent in enmity as he might have been in friendship to Sparta, had his advances been more favourably received. His first opportunity of thwarting the wishes of Sparta, and his first prominent appearance in public life, occurred in the year 421 b. c. A truce had been concluded between Sparta and Athens, but consi- derable difiiculty arose in executing the terms of the treaty : much dis- satisfaction arose, in consequence, at Athens ; and it seemed a good opportunity to engage the people in a connection with Argos, always jealous of Sparta, and then at the head of a strong confederacy of Peloponnesian states. Ambassadors arrived from both these cities at the same time ; the Argians to solicit Athens to join their alliance, the Spartans with ample power to settle all disputed points ; for it was of first-rate importance to them to prevent a junction between Athens and Argos. The prospect of accommodation with Sparta was far from suiting the views of Alcibiades ; and he was not scrupu- lous as to the means by which it might be prevented. The ambassa- dors came with full powers to settle all points in dispute, and had made a statement to this effect before the council of five hundred. But before they were introduced to the general assembly of the citizens, Alcibiades persuaded them that, on account of the grasping 132 THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. temper of the Athenians, it would be better not to state the full authority with which thej were vested. They followed his advice, to the great astonishment of Nicias, his party, and the whole council ; and were in turn equally surprised when Alcibiades attacked them violently, reproached them with prevai-ication, and made an animated appeal to the people in favour of the Argian alliance. After some hesitation, his proposition was agreed to ; and thus Athens was placed at the head of the principal confederacy of the Peloponnesus, and Alcibiades became the leading political character, not only of Athens, but of Greece. His age at this time is not certainly known, but it was from five-and-twenty to thirty. Thucydides calls him " still young." In 419, he was made Stratcgos, or chief military officer of Athens, and during the next three years he took a promi- nent and active part in the complicated struggle of intrigue and war carried on in Peloponnesus during that period. It is said by Plutarch, but apparently on uncertain report, that he was principally concerned in the detestable massacre of the Melians. About this time, the Athenian people were chiefly influenced by three men, each of whom was the leader of a strong party : Alci- biades, of the war or anti-Laconian party ; Nicias, of those who Avished for peace, and a sincere accommodation with Sparta. The third, Ilyperbolus, a mob-orator of the meanest class, influenced a large proportion of the poorest citizens, who were numerically for- midable in the general assembly. This man threw out no obscure hints of the expediency of banishing Alcibiades, as a person danger- ous to the commonwealth from his Avealth, power, and ambition ; and in the divided state of parties he might, perhaps, have eff"ected this, had not Alcibiades been assisted by Nicias, who dreaded and detested Ilyperbolus as cordially upon political as Alcibiades upon personal grounds. By their united eiforts, sentence of exile, under the form called ostracism, was passed on Hyperbolus. But the coalition lasted only till this was accomplished. Diametrically opposite in temper, as well as in politics, these rival statesmen could not bear divided power ; and, that Alcibiades might be supreme, it was necessary to excite some war, in which his own versatile talents might find scope for their display, and by Avhich the cupidity of the Athenians for both gain and glory might be gratified. Such an opportunity was aff"ordcd by an embassy from Egesta, a small town in Sicily, which had become opposed to Syracuse, by far the most powerful city of that island. The Syracusans, a Dorian people, were attached to the Spartan interest, although hitherto they had interfered little in the affairs of Greece proper. But they had THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 133 trenched materially on the independence of the Ionian cities of Sicily; and it was a plausible argument for taking part against Syracuse, that if no power remained capable of balancing hers, she might, at some future period, be inclined both by temper and by blood to unite with Lacedaemon against Athens. Alcibiades proposed, therefore, to send an armament to protect the Egestans, and to take any fur- ther measures which might strengthen the Athenian inte- rest in Sicily. The measure was in vain opposed by Nicias, and a decree passed, that a powerful fleet should be de- spatched thither. This was done; and the armament which sailed from the Pi rams, B. c. 415, under the joint command of Nicias, Lamachus, and Alci- biades, was the most splendid one that ever left a Grecian port. Popular enthusiasm was strongly excited; the under- taking seemed to promise wealth and victory, and neither public nor private expense was spared to make the equipment as com- plete as possible. There sailed from Athens 100 ships, con- taining, besides their crews, 2200 heavy-armed Athenian citizens ; and the tale of 134 ships, and 5100 heavy-armed soldiers, besides slingers and bowmen, was made up by the allies and subject states. But, on arriving in Sicily, it was found (as probably Alcibiades well knew) that little help coukl be had from the Egestans. Nicias was for returning, Lamachus for laying siege at once to Syracuse. Alcibiades proposed to enter into nego- tiation with all the cities except Syracuse and Selinus, in the hope of securing a powerful party in the island before commencing hos- tilities with those two states. This plan was finally adopted; and 134 THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. had the genius of Alcibiades continued to direct it, this unfortunate expedition might perhaps have terminated gloriously for Athens. But party strife at home led to his recall, and of the two generals •who remained, Lamachus a mere soldier, Nicias timid and disinclined to the w^hole business, neither was qualified to execute the plan of their enterprising colleague. But we must return a little, in the order of time, to explain the cause of Alcibiades' recall. It was usual to place a square block of stone, surmounted by a head of Mercury, before the doors of temples and houses in Athens, a relic of more simple times, in which the presence of the god was expected to guard the entrance from violence. Of these Hermse, as they were called, from the Greek name of the god, the greater part were defaced in one night. The next morning anger and tumult spread through the city. The act was generally believed to bode ill to the important expedition to Sicily, then in preparation ; it was even thought to indi- cate a design to overthrow the democracy. High rewards were offered for any information concerning the guilty persons ; and it came to light that a party of intoxicated young men had been concerned in the mutilation of a few statues some time before. Alcibiades was impli- cated in this charge, whicli, however, was entirely distinct from the act which had given such alarm and offence. But this and his other irregularities gave a colour to the accusation, which his enemies laboured to fix on him, of having contrived the mutilation of the Mercuries. lie came forward freely and eagerly to court an imme- diate trial, urging the inexpediency of sending out any man in a com- mand of high importance with such a charge hanging over his head. But the oligarchal party at present possessed the ear of the people, and it did not suit their purpose either to grant this reasonable request, or to deprive him of the command. No immediate investi- gation was made, and a vote was obtained that he should proceed on the voyage. But the agitation was kept up, and rose to an extra- ordinary height during his absence ; and the influence of his enemies was powerful enough to procure that decree of recall of which we have spoken, Alcibiades obeyed the summons, and quitted the fleet in his own trireme ; but believing that his death was resolved, he disappeared at Thurium in Italy, in company with other accused persons, and betook himself first to Argos, then to Sparta. By the injury which he did to his country after his exile, Alcibiades proved how much he might have done for her benefit, had the com- mand of her yet unbroken resources been continued in his hands. Restrained by no principle of patriotism, (a feeling not very common in Greece, where no party hesitated to call in foreign arms to THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 135 strengthen their own hands,) he yet felt it necessary, in offering his services and counsels to Sparta, to make some apology for this step, and, as given by Thucydides, it is a very lame one : — " I love not my country as wronged by it, but as having lived in safety in it. Nor do I think that I do herein go against any country of mine, but that I far rather seek to recover the country I have not. And he is truly a lover of his country, not that refuseth to invade the country he hath wrongfully lost, but that desires so much to be in it, as by any means he can he will attempt to recover it." — (Thucyd. vi. 92.) The value of his services was soon shown. The Athenians had laid siege to Syracuse, and it seemed probable that it would fall into their hands. But at his suggestion a Lacedaemonian force commanded by a Spartan general was sent to Syracuse ; and in consequence of their timely aid the besieging force was totally destroyed. He also advised attacking the Athenians more vigorously at home, and at his suggestion De- celeia, a town of Attica, within fifteen miles of Athens, was fortified and permanently occupied by a Lacedoemonian garrison. Hostile and injurious as this conduct was, his professions of patriotism probably were so far sincere, that he was actuated by no love for Sparta, and no hate for Athens, though altogether careless of all national or in- dividual misfortune, so long as he promoted his own views of returning home in power and authority, and not as an arraigned criminal. It was the general belief of Greece, that the maritime ascendency of Athens was utterly destroyed by the ruin of the Sicilian armament. The Ionian cities, which had felt the harshness of her command, and for the most part contained a strong oligarchal party, eagerly seized the favourable opportunity of revolt. The Persian satraps, or go- vernors of provinces, on the coast of the ^gean, were also eager to crush a power which, in addition to old grudges, maintained against the barbarians the integrity and independence of many valuable Gre- cian cities, which otherwise would probably have passed into Persian hands. It so chanced that, B. c. 412, Tissaphernes, satrap of Lydia, and Pharnabazus, satrap of the Hellespontine provinces, both sent to invite the alliance of Sparta. It is not necessary to detail the in- trigues by which Alcibiades caused the former to be preferred ; at the same time it was determined to support Chios and Erythrse in a pro- posed revolt. The usual supineness of the Spartan government nearly prevented this important blow being struck, nor would the design have been accomplished but for the activity of Alcibiades, by whom Chios, Erythrse, Clazomense, Teos, and Miletus, were induced to re- volt from Athens, and a treaty, by no means honourable to Sparta, was concluded with Tissaphernes. 136 THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. In the annual change of Spartan magistrates at the end of the year, those who had been most closely connected with Alcibiades went out of oflBce, and were succeeded by the party of Agis, one of the reigning kings, who had personal reasons for looking on the Athenian refugee with no friendly eye. The connection with Persia was utterly repug- nant to the principles of Lycurgus's institutions ; the terms of the late treaty with Persia were highly objectionable ; and in addition to those reasons for disliking the course of policy suggested by Alcibi- ades, there was ground to suppose that he who had been so ready to ruin his country, would not scruple to betray the interests of his adopted home, and there was something like a certainty that he would betray them if the direction of afi'airs were taken out of his hands. To prevent this, recourse was had to a measure not unfrequent in Spartan councils, and the Spartan general in Asia received instruc- tions to have Alcibiades assassinated. Aware of his danger, Alci- biades left the camp, and repaired to Tissaphernes. Probably it was his aim from the first to establish an independent interest wnth the satrap, so as to make himself the channel which should turn Persian gold at pleasure into the treasury of Sparta or Athens, and thus ob- tain sufficient consequence to prescribe to either party the terms on which his services might be purchased. It was with this view that he recommended to the satrap a line of policy which should give no de- cisive advantage to either of the contending parties. By the ruin of Athens his services would become useless to Sparta ; by the relieving Athens from the fear of Sparta his restoration to his home would be- come hopeless. The exertions of Athens, ever since the fiital expedition to Sicily, had been wonderful, and her success proportionate ; but they had nearly drained her treasury, and it seemed impossible to hold out much longer against Sparta, backed by the wealth of Persia. It was probably the knowledge of this which guided the policy of Alcibiades, and induced him to hold out hope of an alliance with Persia, on terms which a few years sooner would have been rejected with scorn. These were, his own restoration, coupled with the establishment of oligarchy. The negotiation was commenced with the citizens in the Athenian army, then quartered in great strength at Samos. A large proportion of the trierarchs, or captains of ships, who, under the Athenian system, were men of wealth, w'ere favourable to the change. "^Vhen they had secured a decided majority in the army, it was resolved to send delegates to Athens, to acquaint the people with the proposals of Alcibiades, and the opinion of the army that they should be accepted. The deputation succeeded in reconciling the people to the THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 239 change with singular rapidity, and in return a body of ten commis- sioners was sent out to treat with Alcibiades and Tissaphernes. But whether the former thought the revolution thus brought about un- favourable to his private views, or that he found it impossible to make Tissaphernes fulfil the expectations of assistance, which he had held out as the price of his return, he so managed matters that the com- missioners broke off the conference in anger, convinced that, at all events, Alcibiades meant nothing friendly to them. Still the revolu- tion proceeded. By the new constitution, the supreme authority was vested in a body of five thousand select citizens, and a council of four hundred was appointed to supersede the old council of five hundred. The council was nominated, but not the select body. No one dared to complain, for the practice of secret murder was carried to a fright- ful extent, and those who did not favour the government were satisfied to remain quiet, when they saw the numbers who were daily slain without inquiry or notice on the part of the magistrate. But in the absence of the leading oligarchists, the temper of the army at Samos changed. Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus, two officers of high character, but subordinate rank, were appointed to take the command : an oath of adherence to the democracy was exacted from all, and, as the general assembly at Athens had been dissolved, the citizens in the army assumed the supreme power, and considered the resolutions of their own assembly as the acts of the commonwealth. One of their first measures was to recall Alcibiades, and appoint him their general. In this capacity he did his country the signal service of preventing a civil war between the oligarchy at home and the army, who were on the point of sailing to Athens to restore the old constitution by force. Meanwhile a schism had arisen, which led to the desired event without confusion or bloodshed. The violent oligarchists were suspected, and with good reason, of a plot to deliver the city into the hands of the Peloponnesians ; a cry was raised to uphold the authority of the five thousand against the four hundred ; the supreme authority was vested in the former body, who were appointed to be taken from such citizens upon the muster-roll of the heavy-armed foot as were then in Athens ; and one of its first acts was to decree the restoration of Alcibiades, and all who had absented themselves from Athens on account of the mutilation of the Mercuries. This revolution and counter-revolution were comprised in the year 411, four years after the recall and con- demnation of Alcibiades. The promises of Persian assistance, which Alcibiades had made so confidently, were not fulfilled. Tissaphernes had learnt so much from his wily counsellor, that he was as unwilling to break entirely with 140 THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. the Spartans as formerly with the Athenians. But the able conduct of Alcibiades, seconded by Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus, soon bright- ened the prospects of the Athenians. At Cynossema, (b. c. 411,) the Peloponnesian fleet was defeated; at Abydos, in the same year, a fur- ther success was obtained ; at Cyzicus, (b. c, 410,) a still more brilliant victory was gained, in which every ship of the Peloponnesians was taken or destroyed. In the two following years, a train of equally important successes marked the ability with which the Athenian aifairs were conducted. Chalcedon, Byzantium, and the whole Hellespont and Propontis were regained to the alliance or subjection of Athens; and thus the control of the Euxine, and the power of levying duties on all ships passing the straits, a very lucrative branch of revenue, was recovered. Alcibiades had hitherto abstained from visiting Athens, though the decree against him had been reversed for four years. He now probably thought that his brilliant successes ensured a favourable reception, and he led home his victorious armament in 407. He was received with distinguished favour, elected commander-in-chief, with a new title, and apparently with greater powers than those belonging to the office of strategos, and soon found an opportunity of gratifying the people, by conducting the annual procession from Athens to Eleusis under safeguard of the army, which had never ventured to traverse the country since the establishment of a Laconian garrison in Deceleia. After staying four months in Athens, he returned to the scene of action. The Athenians seem to have thought that he could command success at wdll, and grew angry that no brilliant success immediately waited on his arms. The defeat at Notium, where his second in com- mand gave battle during his absence, contrary to his commands, completed their alienation. He was superseded, and the command vested in a board of ten. It is not said that any steps were taken against him, but he evidently thought it would be unsafe to return to Athens, and retired from the fleet to the Thracian Chersonese, where he had large possessions. Here the history of his public life ends, and of his future history few certain notices are preserved. He still resided in the Chersonese in 405, and endeavoured to prevent the defeat of ^gospotamoi, which he foresaw from the negligence and incompetence of the Athenian commander; but his interference was disregarded. Athens was taken in the following spring, and Alci- biades, thinking himself no longer safe in the Chersonese, retired into Bithynia, with the intention, it is said by Plutarch, of repairing, like Themistocles, to the Persian court, to request assistance in restoring the independence of Athens. During his abode in Asia, his house THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. 141 ■was surrounded and set on fire by a body of armed men. They dared neither enter the house, nor await the assault of Alcibiades, supported only by his servants, but overwhelmed him with missile weapons. He appears to have died in 40-1, being then at least forty-four years of age. The intellectual eminence and moral depravity of Alcibiades are alike placed beyond the reach of doubt. His conduct, however, sub- sequent to his recall, seems to have been unexceptionable ; and the ingratitude of his countrymen was justly punished by the issue of the war. The rashness and petulance of his youth were tempered by experience, and his measures appear to have been equally vigorous in execution, and prudent and mature in conception. Singularly gifted with the faculty of adapting himself to all men, it was observed that, when at Sparta, he equalled the Spartans in austerity of manners ; in Asia surpassed the pomp of the Persians themselves ; and he is said, by Plutarch, to have been materially indebted to his powers of pleas- ing in society, which w^ere such, that "no man was of so sullen a nature but he would make him merry, nor so churlish but he would make him gentle." Had he been suffered to retain the direction of the counsels of Athens, there can be no doubt but that the temporary fall of that city would have been long delayed, and a strong proba- bility that the event of the Peloponnesian war would have been alto- gether different. Xenophon. THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND. N the fifth century before the Christian era, an even!: happened \\-hich disclosed to Europe the internal weak- ness of the Persian empire, and which ultimately led to the wonderful successes of Alexander the Great in the East. It forms the subject of one of the works of the accomplished historian Xenophon, who served in this campaign. Cyrus, the younger son of Darius Nothus, the Persian king, had from his infancy shown far superior powers of thought and action to those of his elder brother Artaxerxes ; his mother, Parysatis, had vainly laboured to persuade Darius to change the order of succession in his favour, but the old king steadily refusing, she only succeeded in stimulating the ambition of one son, and awakening the jealousy of the other. Soon after the death of Darius, Artaxerxes, at the in- stigation of Tissaphernes, threw Cyrus into prison, and would have put him to death, but for the intercession of his mother. At her re- quest, Cyrus was not only pardoned, but restored to the government of Lesser Asia, which he had held in the lifetime of his father. As during his former administration, he had been of the most essential service to the Spartans, and was indeed the principal cause of their great success, he found it easy to renew his alliance with that people, while at the same time he conciliated the Asiatic Greeks by the jus- 142 THE KETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND. 143 tice and mildness of his administration. But the memory of the insult he had suffered, and the danger he had escaped, still rankled in the bosom of Cyrus ; he resolved to dethrone his brother, and for this purpose obtained from the Lacedoemonians permission to enlist soldiers in Greece, while he silently assembled an army in Asia. The desired leave was granted, a body amounting to about thirteen thousand were collected, under the command of Clearchus, from the different states of Greece ; several young men of rank joined as volunteers, among whom was Xenophon, the disciple of Socrates, who has left us a most interesting narrative of the expedition. Though Artaxerxes had received frequent warnings of his danger, he seems to have neglected every preparation for resistance, since the army of Cyrus marched almost without opposition into the very heart of the Persian empire, (b. c. 400.) At length, when the invaders reached the plains of Cynaxa, within a day's march of Babylon, they suddenly learned that the army of Artaxerxes was in their neighbour- hood. Immediate preparations were made for battle, and a fierce engagement ensued. The Greeks totally defeated the wing of the Persians to which they were opposed, but their victory was rendered useless by the death of Cyrus, who, irritated to madness by the sight of his brother, had attacked the royal guard, accompanied only by his personal attendants, and had fallen in the encounter. The victorious Greeks, on returning to their camp, were surprised to find that it had been plundered, and that no intelligence had been received from Cyrus. The night was spent in great anxiety, but the following morning they became acquainted with the extent of their misfortune. They sent to Ariseus, the lieutenant of Cyrus, offering to place him on the throne of Persia, but the satrap judiciously re- fused, and advised them to join him in retreating to Lesser Asia. In the mean time, a herald arrived from Artaxerxes, commanding the Greeks to surrender their arms, which they indignantly refused ; this was followed by a second message of a different nature, proposing to treat about the safe conduct of the Greeks to their native land. This negotiation was protracted for twenty days by the artful Tissaphernes, during which time he successfully laboured to persuade Ariaeus to purchase a pardon from the king by deserting the Greeks. Soon after, Tissaphernes invited the Grecian commanders to a conference, and treacherously murdered them. The situation of the Greeks, when they learned the perfidious assas- sination of their leaders, was the most deplorable that can be con- ceived. They were more than twelve hundred miles from home, surrounded by lofty mountains, deep and rapid rivers, by powerful 144 THE RETREAT OP THE TEN THOUSAND. enemies and perfidious friends, without provisions, -without horses, and without leaders. Yet they overcame all these difficulties under the guidance of the new generals whom they elected ; they fought their way through the great extent of the Persian empire, and made their retreat, commonly called the retreat of the ten thousand, one of the most celebrated exploits recorded in military annals. Ancient Phrygian Warriors. MACEDON: GEOGRAPHY AND EARLY HISTORY- REIGN OF PHILIP. Il^, HE range of Mount Hoemus separates Thrace and Macedon from northern Europe, and the Cambunian mountains on the south divide the latter country from Thessaly. The space in- tervening between these mountain-chains was, during a long succession of ages, distinguished by different appellations, according as the bar- barous nations that tenanted these regions rose into temporary emi- nence. The most ancient name of Macedonia was ^mathia ; but the time and cause of the appellation beins^ changed are unknown. It is 10 145 146 MACEDON. difficult to describe, the boundaries of a country whose limits were constantly varying ; but, in its most flourishing state, Macedon was bounded on the north by the river Strymon and the Scardian branch of Mount Ilsemus ; on the east by the -3j]gean Sea ; on the south by the Cambunian mountains ; and on the west by the Adriatic. It was said to contain one hundred and fifty different nations ; and this number will not appear exaggerated, when it is remembered that each of its cities and towns was regarded as an independent state. The western division of the country, on the coast of the Adriatic, was, for the most part, possessed by the uncivilized Taulantii. In their territory stood Epidamnus, founded by a Corcyrean colony, whose name the Romans changed to Dyracchium, [Durazzo,) on account of its ill-omened signification ; and Apollonia, a city colonized by the Corinthians. South of the Taulantii, but still on the Adriatic coast, was the territory of the Alymiotse, whose chief cities were Elyma and Bullis. East of these lay a little inland district called the kingdom of Orestes, because the son of Agamemnon is said to have settled there after the murder of his mother. The south-eastern part of the country, called ^mathia, or Mace- donia proper, contained iEg?ea, or Edessa, the cradle of the Macedo- nian monarchy, and Pella, the favourite capital of its most powerful kings. The districts of ^raathia that bordered the sea were called Pieria, and were consecrated to the muses ; they contained the im- portant cities Pydna, Phylace, and Dium. North-east was the region of Amphaxitis, bordering the Thermaic gulf; its chief cities were Thermn, subsequently called Thessalonica, [Salonielii,) and Stagira, the birthplace of Aristotle. The Chalcidian peninsula, between the Thermaic and Strymonian gulfs, has its coast deeply indented by noble bays and inlets of the ^gean Sea. It contained many important trading cities and colonies, the chief of \shich were Pallene, in the headland of the same name; Poti(l;va, a Corinthian colony; Torone, on the Toronaic gulf; and Olynthus, famous for the many sieges it sustained. In the region of Edonia, near the river Strymon, was Amphipolis, a favourite colony of the Athenians, Scotussa, and Crenides, Avliose name was changed to Philippi by the father of Alexander the Great. The most remarkable mountains of Macedon were the Scardian and other branches from the chain of Hremus ; Pangreus, celebrated for its rich mines of gold and silver ; Athos, which juts into the ^gean Sea, forming a remarkable and dangerous promontory ; and Olympus, which partly belonged to Thessaly. Most of these, but especially the Scardian chain and Mount Athos, were richly wooded, MACEDON. 147 and the timber they produced was highly valued by shipbuilders. The principal rivers falling into the Adriatic were the Panyasus, the Apsus, the Laus, and the Celydnus ; on the ^gean side Avere the Haliacmon, the Erigon, the Axius, and the Strymon, which was the northern boundary of Macedon until Philip extended his dominions to the Nessus. The soil of Macedonia was very fruitful ; on the seacoast especially, it produced great abundance of corn, wine, and oil, and most of its mountains were rich in mineral treasures. Macedonia was celebrated for an excellent breed of horses, to which great attention was paid ; no fewer than thirty thousand brood-mares being kept in the royal stud at Pella. An Argive colony, conducted by Caranus, is said to have invaded ^mathia by the command of an oracle, and to have been conducted by a flock of goats to the city of Edessa, which was easily stormed, (b. c, 813.) The kingdom thus founded was gradually enlarged at the expense of the neighbouring barbarous nations, and was fast rising into importance, when, in the reign of king Amyntas, it became tributary to the Persians, (b. c. 513,) immediately after the return of Darius from his Scythian campaign. After the overthrow of the Persians at Platgea, Macedon recovered its independence ; which, however, was never recognised by the Persian kings. Perdiccas II., (b. c. 554,) on coming to the throne, found his dominions exposed to the attacks of the lllyrians and Thracians, while his brother was encouraged to contest the crown by the Athenians. He was induced, by these circumstances, to take the Spartan side in the first Pelopon- nesian war, and much of the success of Brasidas was owing to his active co-operation. Civilization and the arts of social life were introduced into Mace- donia by Archelaus, the son and successor of Perdiccas, (b. c. 413.) Ilis plans for the reform of the government were greatly impeded by the jealous hostility of the nobles, who were a kind of petty princes, barely conceding to their kings the right of precedence. He was a generous patron of learning and learned men ; he invited Socrates to his court, and munificently protected Euripides when he was forced to depart from Athens. Archelaus was murdered by Craterus, one of his favourites, (b. c. 400 ;) and his death was followed by a series of civil wars and sanguinary revolutions, which possess no interest of importance. They were ter- minated by the accession of Philip, (b. c. 360,) who, on the death of his brother Perdiccas HI., escaped from Thebes, whither he had been sent as a hostage, and was chosen king in preference to his nephew, whose 148 MACEDON. infancy disqualified liim from reigning in a crisis of difficulty and danger. Philip found his new kingdom assailed by four formidable armies, and distracted by the claims of two rival competitors for the throne, one of whom had the powerful support of the Athenians. Educated in the arts of war and state-policy by the great Epaminondas, Philip displayed valour and wisdom adequate to the crisis : he purchased, by large bribes, the forbearance rather than the friendship of the Illy- rians, Pieonians, and Thracians ; he then marched with his whole force against Argaius and his Athenian auxiliaries, whom he defeated in a general engagement. Argseus was slain, and his supporters remained prisoners of war. Philip, anxious to court the favour of the Athenians, dismissed his captives without ransom, and resigned his pretensions to Amphipolis. Having restored tranquillity to his kingdom, he began to prepare for its security by improving the tactics and military discipline of his subjects. Epaminondas, at Leuctra and Mantineia, had shown the superiority of a heavy column over the long lines in which the Greeks usually arranged their forces ; and, improving on this lesson, he in- stituted the celebrated Macedonian phalanx. He soon found the ad- vantage of this movement : having been forced to war by the Pajonians, he subdued their country, and made it a Macedonian province ; and then, without resting, he marched against the Illyrians, whom he over- threw so decisively, that they begged for peace on any conditions he pleased to impose. While Athens was involved in the fatal war against the colonies, Philip, though professing the warmest friendship for the republic, captured Amphipolis, Pydna, and Potidrea ; and stripped Cotys, king of Thrace, the most faithful ally the Athenians possessed, of a great portion of his dominions. Thence he turned his arms against the tyrants of Thessaly and Epirus ; and received from the Thessalians, in gratitude for his services, the cession of all the revenues arising from their fairs and markets, as well as all the conveniences of their harbours and shipping. When the campaign was concluded, (b. c. 357,) he married Olympias, daughter of the king of Epirus, a princess equally remarkable for her crimes and her misfortunes. While Greece was distracted by the second sacred war, Philip was steadily pursuing his policy of extending his northern frontiers, and securing the maritime cities of Thrace. He was vigorously opposed by Kersobleptes and an Athenian army ; in spite, however, of these enemies, he captured the important city of Methone ; but he deemed the conquest dearly purchased by the loss of an eye during the siege. MACEDON. 149 His attention was next directed to the sacred war, which he was invited to undertake by the Thebans. Having subdued the Phocians, he made an attempt to seize Thermopylae, (b. c. 352,) but was baffled by the en- ergetic promptitude of the Athenians. They were roused to this dis- play of valour by the eloquent harangues of the orator Demosthenes, • whose whole life was spent in opposing Philip's designs against Grecian liberty. He was soon after doomed to meet a second disappointment ; his troops being driven from the island of Euboea by the virtuous Phocion, the last and most incorruptible of the long list of generals and statesmen that adorned the Athenian republic. Lemosthenes. These disappointments only stimulated his activity. Having pur- chased, by large bribes, the services of several traitors in Olynthus, he marched against that opulent city, (b. c. 349,) while the venal ora- tors at Athens, whom he had taken into his pay, dissuaded the careless and sensual Athenians from hastening to the relief of their allies. The noble exhortations, solemn warnings, and bitter reproaches of Demos- thenes failed to inspire his countrymen with energy : they wasted the time of action in discussions, embassies, and fruitless expeditions ; and when they began to prepare for some more serious interference, they were astounded by the intelligence that Olynthus was no more. It had been betrayed to Philip, who levelled its walls and buildings to the ground, and dragged the inhabitants into slavery. This triumph was followed by the conquest of the whole Chalcidian peninsula, with its valuable commercial marts and seaports. His artifices and bribes disarmed the vengeance of the Athenians, and lulled them into a fatal security, while Philip finally put an end to the sacred war, by the utter destruction of the Phocians. They even permitted him to ex- 150 MACEDON. tend his conquests in Thebes, and to acquire a commanding influence in the Peloponnesus, by leading an armament thither, which completed the humiliation of the Spartans. For several years Philip was engaged in the conquest of the com- mercial cities in the Thracian Chersonese and on the shores of the Propontis, while the Athenians made some vigorous but desultorji efforts to check his progress. At length the third sacred war against the Locrians of Amphissa gave him an opportunity of again appear- ing as the champion of the national religion of Greece. He entered Phocis, and thence marched to Amphissa, which he totally destroyed, (b. c. 338.) Before the southern Greeks could recover from their as- tonishment, he threw off the mask which had hitherto concealed his plans, and announced to the states his design of becoming their master, by seizing and fortifying Elateia. The Thebans and Athe- nians united in defence of Grecian liberty, but unfortunately they intrusted their forces to feeble and treacherous commanders. They encountered the Macedonians, headed by Philip and his valiant son Alexander, in the plains of Cheroneia, and were irretrievably ruined. They were forced to accept of peace dictated by the conqueror, who treated the Thebans with dreadful severity, but showed great forbear- ance and kindness to the Athenians. In the following year a general convention of the Grecian states was held at Corinth, where it was resolved that all should unite in a war against the Persians, and that Philip should be appointed captain-general of the confederate forces. While preparations were making for this great enterprise, Philip Avas stabbed to the heart by Pausanias, a Macedonian nobleman, whose motives for the crime are unknown. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. LEXANDER III., commonlj called the Great, son of Philip II., king of Macedon, was born B. c. 356. His mother was Olympias, the daughter of Xeopto- lemus, king of Epirus, through whom Alexander claimed a descent from the great Phthiotic hero, Achilles. The history of Alexander forms an epoch in the history of the world. Whatever difficulties we may have in making an exact esti- mate of his personal character, we can hardly assign too much im- portance to the great events of his life, and their permanent influence on the condition of the human race. The overthrow of the great Asiatic monarchy, which had so often threatened the political exist- ence of Greece, the victorious progress of the Macedonian arms from Thebes to the banks of the Danube, and from the Hellespont, the boundary of rival continents, to the Nile, the Jaxartes, and the In- dus — these have formed in all ages the theme of historical declama- tion, and are still the subject of vulgar admiration. But the diffusion of the language and the arts of Greece, the extension of commerce by opening to Europeans the road to India, the great additions made to natural science and geography by the expedition of Alexander, — these are the real subjects for enlightened and critical research. If we knew nothing more of Alexander than that Aristotle was his master, the memory of the philosopher would preserve that of the pupil. But it is a rare coincidence to find the greatest of conquerors instructed by the first of philosophers — the master of all knowledge teaching the future master of the world. Some of the great projects of Alexander might pass for the mere caprice of a man possessed of 151 152 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. unlimited power, if we did not know that Ai-istotle had given him lessons in political science, and written for his use a treatise on the art of government. That the pupil amid all his violence and excesses possessed a vigorous and clear understanding, wuth enlarged views of the advantage of commerce and of the nature of civil government, is amply confirmed by some of the most prominent events of his life. Unfortunately, Aristotle was not his only master. The flattery of Lysimachus and the obsequiousness of his attendants conspired to cherish those ungovernable passions which seem to have descended to him from both his parents. The military education of Alexander commenced from his boyhood : he was trained to be expert in all manly exercises, and particularly in the management of a horse. His first essay in arms was made at the battle of Chferonea, (b. c. 338,) when his father crushed the united forces of Thebes and Athens with their allies, and established the Macedonian supremacy in Greece. Philip was murdered (b. c. 336) during the celebration of his daugh- ter's marriage, when he was just on the eve of setting out on his Asiatic expedition, at the head of the combined force of Greece. His sudden death inspired the states which had been humbled with some hope of throwing ofi" the yoke of the Macedonian kings. Alexander in his twentieth year succeeded to the monarchy and to the great designs of his father. Though threatened with danger on all sides, from the movements of the barbarians on the north, and the restless Greeks in the south, his courage and address saved him. The Thessalonians readily chose liim as the head of their confederacy ; and the iVmphic- tyons confirined him in the honours which had been granted to Philip. His next step was to man-ch an army into Boeotia, to cheek the begin- ning of insurrectionary movements, by showing himself at the gates of Thebes. His vigour secured for him greater honors than Philip had ever received, and the states of Greece, Lacedsemon excepted, transferred to him, at Corinth, with abject flattery and mean submis- sion, the ofiicc of commander-in-chief against Persia, which they had already conferred on his father. In giving a brief sketch of the chief events of Alexander's short life, we may observe that without a constant reference to maps, it is impossible to form any idea of the rapidity of his movements, the natural obstacles which he had to encounter, or the immense extent of country which he overran in a few years. All military history with- out geographical detail is only a heap of confusion, and that of Alex- ander still waits for more complete illustration from the researches of modern times. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 153 In order to leave no troublesome enemies behind him, he resolved to reduce the barbarians of the north to obedience. From his resi- dence in Macedonia he marched (in the spring of B. c, 335) in ten days to the passes of Mount Haemus, (the Balkan.) crossed them in spite of the opposition of the natives, and descended into the great plain of the Danube. Here he defeated the Triballi ; and after crossing the Danube at a point which it is now impossible to deter- mine, he struck terror into the Get?e, who lived on the northern bank, by the rapidity and decision of his movements. On his return, he led his troops against the Illyrians and Taulantii, whom it was neces- sary to reduce to submission before he could safely quit his king- dom. A false report of his death, during this expedition, gave the Greeks once more hopes of throwing oif the hated yoke of Macedon ; and the Thebans set the example, by murdering two oiFicers of the Macedonian garrison, which had occupied the Cadmeia or Acropolis of the city ever since the battle of Ch?eronea. But while they were indulging in the anticipation of recovering their independence, their ever-active enemy made his appearance before their city. It appears as if Alexander would have been satisfied with a reasonable submission, but party violence in Thebes prevented all concession, and the proposals of the Macedonian king were rejected with insult. After a short resistance, Alexander's troops entered the city, when one of those horrid scenes of carnage ensued which form a necessary part of a conqueror's pro- gress. It was then that the Phocians, with the Plat?eans and other Boeotians in the army of Alexander, inflamed by the remembrance of what they had once suffered from this unprincipled city, slew all be- fore them, " even those who made no resistance ; they murdered the suppliants in the temples; they spared neither woman nor child." The number killed is stated at 6000, which may possibly be exaggerated ; the survivors were sold for slaves, except the ministers of religion, and the few who were the friends of the conqueror or who had opposed the revolution ; the temples and the house of Pindar, it is said, were spared ; but all the rest of the city, except the Cadmeia, was levelled to the ground, and Thebes for the present was blotted out of Greece, (b. c. 335.) Alexander did not march further south, though the Athenians had been active in organizing the late resistance. One such example was suiBcient for a warning. In the spring of b. c. 334, Alexander set out on his Asiatic expe- dition with a force of about 35,000 men, and a very small supply of money. The largest component part of his army was Macedonian, with about 7000 allied Greeks, some mercenary troops, and several 154 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. bodies of Thracians, 1500 Agrianian light infantry, and some other bodies of troops. His cavah-y, on which his success in a great measure depended, was mainly composed of Macedonians and Thes- salians. Having arrived at Sestos in twenty days, and crossed the narrow channel of the Hellespont, the descendant of Achilles and his friend Hephoestion did honour to the mounds that were said to contain the remains of the mighty hero and his beloved friend Patroclus. At the period of Alexander's landing in Asia, the unwieldy and dis- jointed monarchy of the Persians presented an appearance in every respect analogous to the Turkish empire at present. The Persians themselves, the ruling caste, were comparatively few in number. One monarch with absolute power claimed the sovereignty of almost count- less nations, and of an immense extent of country, the parts of which were in many cases separated by natural boundaries which were diffi- cult to pass. The provinces that lay remote from the seat of govern- ment could only be maintained by the presence of an armed force under a military governor nominated by the king. The partition of the empire and the distribution of power were therefore essential to the very existence of the Persian monarchy ; but this system was also the remote cause of its weakness and dissolution. Each powerful governor was kept in submission by no other motive but fear of punish- ment ; and when he felt himself able to defy his master, the bond of union was for the time broken. Hence some provincial governments passed quietly from father to son, the monarch tacitly consenting to an arrangement which he could not prevent. Darius, the king of Persia, who was contemporary with Alexander, seems to have been ill qualified to retrieve the falling fortunes of the monarchy : he was deficient in courage and military skill, and had no hope of opposing the invader but by turning against him the arms of the Greeks them- selves. From the time of Cambyses, the son of the first Cyrus, to the age of Alexander, we find renegade Greeks constantly in the pay of the Persian monarch, ready to serve their new paymaster against those who were united to them by kindred and language. The civil commotions which so often disturbed the peace of Grecian communities were also continually driving refugees to seek from the king of Persia the rank and property which they had lost at home. At this time the hopes of Darius rested on Memnon, a Greek of Rhodes, whose mili- tary skill might have made him, with better opportunities, a formida- ble opponent to the Macedonian king. The first combat between the invaders and the Persians was on the banks of the Granicus, (now perhaps the Oostvola,) a river which falls into the Sea of Marmora. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 155 The Persians possessed an elevated position on the east bank of the river, which their generals determined to defend, contrary to the advice of Memnon, who being, as it appears, not in the command, could only recommend for the present the safer expedient of a retreat. But the dispositions of the Persians were totally unsuited to oppose the violent attack of Alexander's cavalry, which crossed the river and maintained itself on the opposite bank until the light infantry that followed had time to come up, when the compact front of the Macedonians bristling with their formidable spears broke the less disciplined lines of the Per- sian cavalry, and secured a complete victory. To the daring personal courage of Alexander, who himself killed two Persians of the highest rank, and to the long spears of the Macedonians, the victory may be mainly attributed. The Greek infantry in the Persian army was cut to pieces, with the exception of 2000, who were sent into Macedonia in chains, and condemned to slavery. Alexander showed, after the battle, that he knew how to win affection by flattering self-love, as well as to lead men to conquest. He visited his own disabled soldiers, listened to the talc of their exploits and their wounds, and gave to the parents and children of those who had fallen, privileges of distinc- tion and immunity from civil burdens. Twenty-five horsemen belong- ing to the Companion cavalry, — a kind of military order, perhaps instituted by Alexander, — had fallen in the first assault : Lysippus, 156 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. the famous sculptor, Avas ordered to make their figures in bronze, which were placed in the town of Dium, in Macedonia, and afterward adorned one of the public buildings of Rome. This success was of the utmost importance to Alexander, by pre- paring the submission of most of the Greek towns on the iEgean, in which he adopted the policy of establishing democratic forms of govern- ment, with the double purpose of showing that he had come as the liberator of the Greek states, and perhaps, too, with a view of prevent- ing their combining against himself by the constant occupation which they wonld have in quarrelling with one another. After gaining the strong post of CehTsmTe, near the source of the MjBander, the Macedonian general marched to Gordia in Phrygia, (b. c. 333,) where he had another opportunity of turning to profit the belief of a superstitious age. The empire of Asia was promised to him who should untie the complicated knot which fastened to the pole of a chariot the yoke and collars of the horses. Alexander relieved himself from the difiiculty, either by cutting the cord, or some equally expeditious process. The promptitude of his resolution and the presence of a victorious army could not fail to secure him the credit of having fulfilled the intentions of the Deity. The army was now increased by fresh reinforcements from home, and the return of the new married soldiers who had been sent to winter in Macedonia. At Tarsus the career of Alexander was nearly terminated by a fever, either caused by fatigue, or by throwing him- self when heated into the cool stream of the Cydnus. A similar act of imprudence at Tersoos is said to have been fatal to the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. A little before this time Memnon died, and with him the best hopes of Darius. This skilful commander, at the time of his death, was in the iEgean with a powerful fleet, to which Alexander had nothing to oppose : he was master of Chios, the chief part of Lesbos, and ready to fall on Euboea and Macedon, with the prospect of being supported by the Lacedemonians. His sudden death relieved Alexander from an opponent whose operations in Greece might have compelled him to give up the dazzling prospect of Asiatic conquest. From Tarsus Alexander marched, partly by the route of the younger Cyrus, along the Gulf of Issus to the little town of Myriandrus in Syria. Darius had for some time occupied an extensive plain in Syria, well adapted for the evolutions of his large body of cavalry, and for the disposition of his immense army. Contrary to the advice of Amyntas, a Greek deserter, he abandoned this position for one in which defeat was almost certain. An offset from the range of Taurus ALEXANDER THE GREAT. runs down to tlie Gulf of Issus, (the modern Gulf of Skanderoon,) and terminates in the high land of Cape Khjnzyr. The mountains press close on the shores of the Gulf of Issus, leaving in some places a plain barely large enough for the battle-ground of an army : in one particular spot the passage is so narrow as to be capable of an easy defence. By this unguarded pass Alexander had advanced into Syria, while by another pass farther north in the mountain range, Darius moved from Syria to the plain of Issus with the river Pinarus in his front. He was now in the rear of Alexander ; but he had engaged himself in a position where victory might be confidently ex- pected by the Macedonians. Alexander marched back through the Syrian pass, and found the Persian king prepared for battle in the plain of Issus. The left wing of the Macedonian army was protected by the sea, and the dispositions on the right were such as to prevent the superior force of the Persians from effectually outflanking the Greeks on that side. The Persian king, though possessing a far superior force, waited the attack on the opposite bank, as if conscious of his inferiority, and anticipating a defeat. Alexander himself, who was on the right wing, crossed the stream, attacked the Persians with impetuosity, and soon put their left wing to the rout. The thirty thousand Greek mercenaries in the Persian army offered a stout resist- ance to the main body of the Macedonians ; and the Persian cavalry on the right, who were opposed to the Thessalians, fought bravely as long as their king remained on the field of battle. The Persian king himself gave the signal for flight when he saw his left wing entirely routed ; and the cavalry, soon following the example of their leader, turned their backs with the rest of the army. The slaughter, though perhaps exaggerated, must have been pro- digious, from the nature of the ground ; and Ptolemy, the future king of Egypt, who was in the battle, relates that in one narrow pass the pursuers crossed the road on the upheaped bodies of the slain. Darius succeeded in escaping over the Euphrates by the usual ford at Thapsa- cus, but his mother, wife, and his infant son, who had attended him to the field of battle, fell into the hands of the conqueror, and expe- rienced from him the most humane and respectful treatment. This victory (about the close of B. c. 333) may be considered as having decided the fate of the Persian monarchy : it opened to Alexander a passage towards Egypt and Babylon, and checked the designs of Agis and Pharnabazus in Western Asia and the ^gean. One obstacle only lay in the way, which proved more formidable than the armies of Darius. A single day was sufiicient to disperse a numerous army, but the labours of many months were necessary for the capture of 160 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Tyre. This great commercial city was situated on an island sepa- rated from the mainland by a channel about half a mile wide, which, on the side of the continent, was shallow and muddy, but had about eighteen feet water close to the island. The island itself was defended by lofty walls, and well supplied with all the ammunition of war. For many centuries this wealthy city had been the great entrepot between the eastern and the western Avorld ; and through it the inhabitants of Europe had long received those Asiatic products which we find men- tioned in the oldest Greek writers. Her commerce and her ships had penetrated to all knoAvn seas, and her adventurous traders, through many intermediate hands, received the products of countries which the Tyrians themselves never visited. Her merchants were princes, and her warehouses were stored with all that contributes to national wealth and domestic comfort. We find in the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel a most glowing picture of the prosperity of this great emporium, expressed with all the sublimity and strength of the ancient Hebrew poetry. The cities of Pha-nicia submitted to Alexander on his approach, and the ancient Sidon yielded Avithout a blow ; but Tyre, proud of her naval superiority, refused to grant all that was demanded, and prepared for a vigorous resistance. Alexander, in order to assault the place, was compelled to unite the mainland and the city by a causeway, which was not effected without great labour and difficulty. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 163 It is said that Nebuchadnezzar had taken the city by the same means ; but if the story is true, his causeway must have been of such a nature as to be easily removed. It is more probable that the island was not occupied till after the old city, which was on the mainland, had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar. Alexander's work still remains, and the island of Tyre is now part of the mainland. After a. laborious block- ade of seven months, the place was taken by storm, and the impa- ' } The Siege of Tyre. tience of the besieging army was gratified by the slaughter of 8000 Tyrians ; 30,000 more were sold into slavery ; and, if we trust the authority of Diodorus and Curtius, the conqueror was guilty of the inhuman act of crucifying 2000 men on the seashore. The last bul- wark of the Persian monarchy was now gone, and the dominion of the sea, as well as of the land, was in the hands of the Macedonians. Under the Persian monarchy Tyre enjoyed favour and privileges, on condition of furnishing the main part of the navy in all the wars with the Greeks ; a condition to which the Tyrians probably were not averse, as it gave them additional means for crushing the Greeks, whom they hated as their rivals in the commerce of the Mediter- ranean. The siege of Gaza, one of the strong towns of Palestine, occupied Alexander for two months ; but the obstinate defence of the 164 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. inhabitants did not preserve the citj from being taken, nor the women and children from being sold into slavery. After the sieges of Tyre and Gaza, according to the authority of Josephus, Alexander marched to the holy city of Jerusalem, intend- ing to punish the inhabitants for their refusal to supply him with troops and money. The high-priest Jaddus went forth to meet the conqueror, attended by the priests and people, and accompanied by all the imposing insignia of the Jewish religion. Alexander was so struck with this spectacle, that he pardoned the people, adored the name of the Most High, and sacrificed in the temple, according to the directions prescribed to him by Jaddus. The Book of the Prophet Daniel was shown to him, and the passage pointed out in which it was foretold that the king of Grecia should overcome the king of Persia. With this, as the historian says, he was well satisfied, inter- preting himself to be the person foretold by the prophet. The story appears only like another version of the visit to the Temple of Am- mon, in Libya ; and will not, in our opinion, bear the test of exami- nation. Arrian says nothing about it. Nothing now remained to check the march of Alexander into Egypt, which yielded without striking a blow. In seven days the army marched from Gaza, through the desert to Pelusium, the frontier town of Egypt on the east. The Persian governor found resistance hopeless, and the country passed at once under the dominion of the Greeks, an event to which circumstances had been long gradually tending. From the time of Amasis, (b. c. 560,) the Greeks had received permission to settle in Egypt ; and, at the time of Alexander's in- vasion, there can be no doubt that the country contained a very large proportion of that nation. Under Persian government Egypt had always been an unruly and troublesome province, and the contest for the possession of it, between the Greek and Persian, and the Persian and Egyptian, had more than once been doubtful. The Egyptians hated the Persians for their religious intolerance and the desecration of their temples, while the more accommodating Greek readily associated his own with the religious usages of the Egyptians, and was willing to assign to both a common origin. From Pelusium Alexander visited the sacred city of Heliopolis, renowned for its temples and obelisks, and Memphis, then the great capital of Egypt ; south of this point we have no reason for supposing that he ever went. He next sailed down the Canopic, or western branch of the Nile, and entered the lake of Marea, where he founded the city of Alexandria, which still preserves his name. From motives of policy, vanity, or curiosity, or perhaps under the influence of all three, Alexander ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 167 determined to visit the far-famed temple of Ammon, an object of religious veneration to the Egyptians, and also probably, as it now is, the centre of a considerable trade. The site of this curious spot is now ascertained to be Siwah, where the ruins of a temple, and the hot springs, confirm other evidence as to its locality. Alexander marched along the coast by the same route that Mr. Brown followed in 1792. Alexander, having received some reinforcements from Greece, and established the government of Egypt on a wise and liberal footing, set out to attack the Persian king, who had again collected a considerable army. In the spring of B. c. 331, he marched to Tyre, where he made some stay ; from thence to the ford of Thapsacus on the Euphrates, and across Mesopotamia to the Tigris. Such a march makes but a small figure in, the brief narrative of Arrian, and is but an inconsider- able part of the military operations of Alexander : it amounts, how- ever, to above eight hundred miles. The king crossed the Tigris, and, advancing through Aturia, found Darius encamped on the banks of the Bumadus, near a small place called Gaugamela, or the Camel's House. The immense disproportion between the Persian and Grecian armies was no disadvantage to the less numerous, but better disci- plined force of Alexander, though the victory was not obtained with- out a struggle. As on former occasions, many divisions of the Persian ai-my behaved with courage, and the Asiatic cavalry made a strong resistance ; but the early flight of the timid king left the Ma- cedonians a certain victory. Darius fled to Ecbatana (Hamadan) in Media ; and Alexander, who no longer had any reason to fear such an opponent, marched unmolested to take possession of Babylon, and the empire of Asia. This battle is more commonly known by the name of the battle of Arbela, (now Erbil,) up to which city Alexander pursued Darius. Arbela is between forty and fifty miles east of Gaugamela. The battle of Arbela may be considered as an epoch in the life of Alexander. Though Darius was still alive, he could no longer be considered as king ; his power was crushed ; the fairest part of his empire had submitted ; and the progress of the conqueror was hence- forward attended with almost immediate submission. But the conduct and temper of Alexander began to undergo a change. Intoxicated with success, he gradually assumed the state and manners of an Asiatic sovereign ; and, unrestrained by habits of self-control, he gave way to the most guilty excesses, which, if we trust the evidence of history, it is equally futile to palliate or deny. The ancient city of Babylon, which had so long resisted the first 168 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Cyrus and the first Darius, yielded, without a blow, at the approach of Alexander. The Macedonian adopted a more prudent and generous policy than the Persian monarchs, whose fanaticism and intolerance to foreign religions are hardly exceeded by that of the followers of Mohammed. Xerxes had ruined the temples of Babylon, and even had dared to profane the shrine of the Great Bel, and to murder the high-priest. Alexander gave orders to restore the temple of the deity, and showed himself a worthy proselyte, by sacrificing to Bel, accord- ing to the rites prescribed by his ministers the Chaldeans. A march of twenty days brought the Macedonians from Babylon to the banks of the Choaspes, (the Kerah,) on the east side of which stood the city of Susa, (Sus,) then the chief residence of the Persian kings, and the depository of their treasures ; now only remarkable for its extensive ruins, which spread for several miles along the banks of the Kerah. From Susa the active monarch advanced to the Pasitigris, (the Karoon,) and thence by the route which Timour afterward followed, along the valley of Ram Hormuz, to the mountain pass, (Kala-i-Sifid, the white castle,) which led into Persia Proper, (Pars,) the original seat of the Persians. His object was to surprise Persepolis, in which he succeeded ; and, according to some accounts, he burnt the palace of the Persian kings in a fit of drunken madness, and at the instiga- tion of Thais, an Athenian prostitute, who accompanied the army. It is difficult to believe all the circumstances as they are related ; and it is almost certain that the real destruction of Persepolis belongs to the Mohammedan epoch. Under the name of Istakhar it is often mentioned by oriental writers; and the immense remains of Tchil- Minar, (the forty columns,) perhaps once the palace of the Persian kings, have been described and copied by various modern travellers. Persepolis was a kind of sacred city to the Persians ; the former capital of their early empire, and the burying-place of their monarchs after the seat of government was removed to Susa and Ecbatana. From Persepolis Alexander marched to Ecbatana, (b. C. 330,) but not by a direct route. On his approaching the city Darius fled past the ancient Rhagse, and through the passes of the Elburz mountains, (Caspiie pyloe,) to seek a refuge in his Bactrian provinces. In fact, he was now a prisoner in the hands of the Bactrian satrap Bessus, who accompanied him in his flight, and assumed the command. At Ecbatana the Thessalian cavalry and many of the allied troops having terminated their period of service, were honourably dismissed with full pay and presents. Some who preferred a life of adventure were enrolled as volunteers. The Thessalians sold their horses to the ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 171 king, and with the rest of the Greeks received a safe convoy to the shores of the Mediterranean. The march of Alexander from Rhagse, (the modern Rej, whose extensive ruins lie near Tehran,) to his entrance into India, is the most obscure part of his history. The geography of those regions is still very imperfectly known to us, and the brief narrative of Arrian, our sole trustworthy authority, only enables us to form a general idea of the movements of the army. Alexander penetrated into regions where no European army has yet followed him, and few tra- vellers have ventured to explore. The surprising rapidity of his move- ments and his capacity to endure toil are not surpassed by what is recorded of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, though we may readily admit that Arrian in this part of his work may have exaggerated, and fallen into error from unavoidable ignorance of the country. It is the same with distance as with time ; both of them are unfavourable to clear perception. As the history of a remote age is comprised in a few words, so the immense spaces of Asiatic geography dwindle into insignificance, and leave no impression on the reader. But nothing is wanting, except a clear conception of the distances traversed by Alexander, and the obstacles encountered, to convince us that of all the conquerors who ever troubled the peace of mankind, he was the most unwearied and daring. From Rhagae the Macedonian commander passed through one of the defiles in the Elburz mountains, commonly known by the name of the Caspian Pass, and in one night accomplished, while pursuing Darius, a distance of four hundred stadia through the arid wastes of Parthia, with foot-soldiers mounted on horses. Just as Alexander was coming up with the fugitives, Bessus took to more hasty flight, while two of his Persian attendants assassinated their unfortunate monarch, and made their escape with six hundred horsemen. Alex- ander sent the body to Persepolis, to be interred in the tombs of the Persian kings. The army now advanced into the ancient Hyrcania, comprising a part of the modern Mazanderan, a country hemmed in on one side by lofty wooded mountains, and on the other stretching down in a slop- ing plain to the great inland waters of the Caspian. The king's object was to gain over the remnant of the Greeks who had served in the army of Darius, for his progress eastward might be dangerous, and the occupation of the conquered provinces insecure, if he left in his rear a body of armed Greeks. After some negotiations, they came and surrendered at his camp, and Alexander had the good policy to pardon all, and to take a great many of them into his pay 172 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. on the same terms as they had served the Persian king. Some Lace- daemonian ambassadors to king Darius, "who surrendered at the same time, were put in chains. In Zadracarta, the capital of Parthia, (a city whose site is totally unknown,) Alexander stayed fifteen days : his next progress was towards the frontier of Areia, along the north- ern verge of the great salt desert, and to Susia, (Toos ?) a city of Areia. According to a policy often successfully imitated, he left the government of Areia in the hands of the Persian satrap Satibarzanes, and prepared to lead his soldiers into a still more remote land. The traitor Bessus had fled into Bactria, (Bokhara,) one of the remotest possessions of the Persian monarchy, where he had rallied round him a few Persians and a considerable body of the natives of the province. He had assumed the royal name of Artaxerxes, and placed the tiara erect on his head, the symbol of Persian sovereignty. A new claimant thus arose to the empire of Asia. Alexander set out towards Bactria, but was speedily recalled by the news of Satibarzanes having revolted almost as soon as his master had turned his back. With a body of cavalry and mounted spearmen, and his ever-faithful Agrianians, the unwearied king returned before he was expected : in two days he marched six hundred stadia, and entered Artacoana, (Herat ?) the capital of the province, to which he gave a new ruler. His course, which seems to have been changed by this unexpected revolt, was now bent to the country of the Drangee, or Sarangos, and to their capital. The limit of this march, in this direction, it is impossible to determine ; but we must look for the country of the Drangte on the banks of the great Helmund, which flows into the lake of Zerrah. Here one of those events in Alexander's life must be briefly noticed, which cast the darkest shade on his character. Philotas, the son of Alexander's faithful general Parmenion, was accused of conspiring against the king, and of having long harboured treacherous designs. The charge may be true ; at least, Philotas was tried by his Macedo- nian peers, who pronounced him guilty, and carried the sentence into execution by transfixing him with their spears. The father was absent in Media at the head of an army. A letter from Alexander, conveyed by one of the companions to three other commanders in Media, contained the sentence of Parmenion. It was thus that a Per- sian king used to issue his decrees of death against a governor whom he had reason to fear ; and the same sanguinary policy, the offspring of fear, was the only remedy that a Turkish sultan would have applied in a similar case. No proof of Parmenion's guilt is brought forward, and the absence of all real charge against hiyn tends rather to show ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 1T3 that tlie tyrant had basely murdered the son, and feared the just resentment of the father. The army now advanced, probably along tlie valley of the Ilelmund, to the Ariaspi, a people to whom the first Cyrus had given the name of Orosangse, or benefactors, (Euergetre,) for their aid in his Scj^thian expedition. Their civilized manners secured to them the favour of the second great conqueror of Asia. The Arachoti, sometimes called the White Indians, a people who live west of the Indus, and south of the great mountains, were subdued by Alexander : these operations, as well as the complete conquest of the Areii, were accomplished in the winter time, « in the midst of much snow, want of provisions, and hard suffering on the part of the soldiers." Nothing but the general's own capacity of endurance could have maintained the discipline of his army. Were the history of this campaign more minutely known, ALEXANDER THE GREAT. we might, perhaps, find a parallel to the unconquered endurance of the Macedonian king, in Charles XII., amid the marshes of the Ukraine, and a contrast in the hasty retreat and abandonment of his army, by the greatest conqueror of modern times. Alexander, in his progress to the mountains, built a city, ^yhich he called by his own name, Alexandria, supposed by some to be the modern Candahar. This, however, we may dispute. His course now lay over the Caucasus, as his historian terms the western part of the Hindoo Coosh, (Cau- casus — Ko-Koosh,) the mountain range that here separates the waters that flow southward, or into the ocean, from those that contribute to the lakes of central Asia. The greater part of the mountains were lofty and bare of wood, but the residence of a great number of people who here found food for their cattle. Bessus laid waste the country on the north side of the mountains, in order to impede the progress of his pursuer; "but," to use the simple and energetic words of the Greek historian, " Alexander moved forward not a bit the less : with difficulty, indeed, through deep snow, and without provisions ; but still he moved on." On the nearer approach of Alexander, (b, c. 329,) the Persian satrap crossed the Oxus, burnt his boats, and retreated to Nautaca, a town ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 175 of Sogdiana, the modern Mawarennahr. Alexander, advancing, took in succession Aornos and Bactra : the latter is conjectured to be near the modern site of Balk, which lies on the line of road that the con- queror probably followed. The Oxus is described by Arrian as the largest river crossed by Alexander except the rivers of India, and as flowing into the Caspian Sea ; its breadth was about six stadia, which proves that Alexander crossed it about the melting of the snow on the mountains, in May or June ; the current was deep and rapid, and its banks offered no materials for constructing boats or rafts. In five days, however, Alexander passed all his army over by means of floats made of the tent skins of the soldiers stuffed with dried reeds and grass. Before crossing this mighty stream and entering on a new world, he sent home his disabled Macedonians, and such of the Thes- salian volunteers as were no longer fit for service. The traitor Bessus fell into the hands of Alexander soon after he had crossed the river : after being kept a prisoner for some time, his nose and ears were cut off by order of Alexander, and he was sent to Ecbatana to be put to death. Arrian, like an honest chronicler, condemns this barbarous punishment. The conqueror, intoxicated with success, debased him- self by ordering those cruel mutilations, of which ancient and modern Persian history present such frightful examples. Alexander had now assumed the insignia and the state of an Asiatic despot, and it would be difiicult to distinguish his future conduct from that of any other conqueror who has been the scourge of Asia. From the Oxus the army marched to Maracanda, (Samarcand,) the royal city of Sogdiana, and, at a later period, the seat of the wise and vigorous government of Tamerlane. The impetuous Macedonian still advanced eastward till he reached the banks of the Jaxartes, (the Sir,) which he proposed to make his frontier against the Scythians, or the nomadic tribes, occupying the country now possessed by the Kirghiz. After taking several cities to which the inhabitants had fled for refuge, he at last assaulted Cyropolis on the Jaxartes, a town which claimed for its founder the great Cyrus. This place is conjectured to be Khoojund, but it must be remarked that the measurement of distances and the fixing of positions in this part of Asia are yet entirely con- jectural. When the actual geography of these regions has received that illustration which we are daily expecting, we may then venture to illustrate the descriptions of antiquity. After taking Cyropolis, Alexander crossed the river, defeated the cavalry of the Scythians, and pursued them under the burning heat of a Bucharian summer. The army was exhausted by thirst, and the commander himself was compelled to recross the river in consequence of illness, caused by 176 ALEXANDER THE GllEAT. drinking the unwholesome -water, the only kind that is found in these arid steppes. A city founded on the banks of the Jaxartes, -which bore the name of Alexandria, -was designed to commemorate the limit of his conquests, and to serve as a frontier against the nomadic tribes. It -would be unprofitable to detail minutely the operations of the army in a country of -which most readers know as little as of the interior of New Holland. Alexander recrossed the Oxus, and spent the next winter (of 329 and 328 B. c.) at Bactra or Zariaspa. Here Arrian relates the story of Cleitus's death. It was during a festival in honour of Castor and Pollux, and the drunken revellings which followed, that Alexander murdered his friend Clcitus. Arrian remarks that Alex- ander, among other Asiatic customs, had adopted the Persian fashion of hard drinking, while the miserable flatterers by whom he was surrounded encouraged his vanity by exalting him above the demi- gods and heroes of Greece. Cleitus, who w^as drunk himself, had the boldness and imprudence to deny Alexander's claim to such extrava- gant honours, and the furious king, whom his attendants were unable to restrain, pierced his friend through with a javelin on the spot. ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 177 Unavailing honours to the dead, and bitter remorse on the part of the murderer, were the natural termination of this tragical story. In the spring of 328 Alexander recrosscd the Oxus at a place marked by a fountain of water and a fountain of oil, (naphtha ?) which, if dis- covered, might throw some light on the course of the array. He paid a second visit to Saraarcand in order to tranquillize the country, and spent the severe season of the next winter in quarters at Nautaca ; the cold of this region rendering winter operations impracticable. In the following spring, (b. c. 327,) he assaulted a strong natural fortress in which Oxyartes the Bactrian had deposited his wife and daughters. The place was almost inaccessible, and well furnished with provisions; and in addition to this, a recent fall of snow had rendered tlie scaling of the rocks more difficult. By means of the iron pins used for secur- ing their tents, and strong ropes of linen, some adventurous soldiers ascended the steepest face of the fortress by night, and by the sud- denness of the surprise frightened the garrison into a surrender, Alex- ander thus not only got possession of the strongest post in Sogdiana, but he found there a wife in Roxana, the daughter of Oxyartes, whom his followers pronounced to be the handsomest woman they had seen in Asia, after the wife of Darius. We have but few and doubtful traces of Alexander being much devoted to the fair sex. His conduct to the wife of Darius may have proceeded from indifierence, though it is more charitable, and, perhaps, more true, to assign it to a generous feeling for a female whose husband's feebleness and misfortunes were more likely to excite pity than the wish to insult his fallen fortunes. Roxana was the daughter of a Bactrian prince, but to which of the tribes now found in Bucharia this wife of a Greek king belonged, it is impos- sible to say. The Tadjiks, who are considered the aborigines of Bu- charia, are a han.-^ , ^-i^r"^^ Vesuvius. ROME. 'F (says Dr. Arnold, in his admirable liistorj) it is hard to carry back our ideas of Rome from its actual state to the period of its highest splendour, it is yet harder to go back in fancy to a time still more distant, a time earlier than the beginning of its authentic history, be- fore man's art had completely rescued the very soil of the future city from the dominion of nature. Here also it is vain to attempt accuracy in the details, or to be certain that the several features in our description all existed at the same period. It is enough if we can image to ourselves some like- ness of the original state of Rome, before the undertaking of those great works which are ascribed to the late kings. The Pomoerium of the original city on the Palatine, as described by Tacitus, included not only the hill itself, but some portion of the ground immediately below it ; it did not, however, reach as far as any of the other hills. The valley between the Palatine and the Aventine, afterward the site of the Circus Maximus, was in the earliest times covered with water ; so also was the greater part of the valley between the Palatine and the Capitoline, the ground afterward occupied by the Roman forum. But the city- of the Palatine hill grew in process of time, so as to become a city of seven hills. Not the seven famous hills of imperial or republican Rome, but seven spots more or less elevated, and all belong- iss ROME. 191 ing to three only of the later seven hills, that is, to the Palatine, the Cselian, and the Esquiline. At this time, Rome, already a city on seven hills, was distinct from the Sabine city on the Capitoline, Qui- rinal, and Viminal hills. The two cities, although united under one government, had still a separate existence ; they were not completely blended into one till the reigns of the later kings. The territory of the original Rome during its first period, the true Ager Romanus, could be gone round in a single day. It did not extend beyond the Tiber at all, nor probably beyond the Anio ; and on the east and south, where it had most room to spread, its limit was between five and six miles from the city. This Ager Romanus was the exclusive property of the Roman people, that is, of the houses ; it did not include the lands conquered from the Latins, and given back to them again when the Latins became the plehs, or commons of Rome. Well indeed may the inquiring historian exclaim — And now what was Rome, and what was the country around it, which have both acquired an interest such as can cease only when earth itself shall perish ? The hills of Rome (he continues) are such as we rarely see in England ; low in height, but with steep and rocky sides. In early times the wood remained in natural patches amid the buildings, as at this day it grows here and there on the green sides of the Monte Testaceo. Across the Tiber the ground rises to a greater height than that of the Roman hills, but its summit is a level unbroken line, while the heights, which opposite to Rome rise immediately from the river, under the names of Janiculus and Vaticanus, then sweep away to some distance from it, and return in their highest and boldest form at the Mens Marius, just above the Milvian bridge and the Fla- minian road. Thus to the west the view is immediately bounded ; but to the north and northeast the eye ranges over the low ground of the Campagna to the nearest line of the Apennines, which closes up, as with a gigantic wall, all the Sabine, Latin, and Volscian low- lands, while over it are still distinctly to be seen the high summits of the central Apennines, covered with snow, even at this day, for more than six months in the year. South and southwest lies the wide plain of the Campagna ; its level line succeeded by the equally level line of the sea, which can only be distinguished from it by the brighter light reflected from its waters. Eastward, after ten miles of plain, the view is bounded by the Alban hills, a cluster of high, bold points rising out of the Campagna, on the highest of which (about 3000 feet) stood the temple of Jupiter Latiarius, the scene of the common worship of all the people of the Latin name. Immediately under this highest point lies the crater-like basin of the Alban lake ; and on its nearer 192 ROME. rim might be seen the trees of the grove of Ferentia, where the Latins held the great civil assemblies of their nation. Further to the north, on the edge of the Alban hills, looking towards Rome, was the town and citadel of Tusculum ; and beyond this, a lower summit crowned with the walls and towers of Labicum seems to connect the Alban hills with the line of the Apennines, just at the spot where the citadel of Prseneste, high up on the mountain side, marks the opening into the country of the Hernicans, and into the valleys of the streams that feed the Lyris. Returning nearer to Rome, the lowland country of the Campagna is broken by long, green, swelling ridges. The streams are dull and sluggish, but the hill-sides above them constantly break away into little rock cliffs, where on every ledge the wild fig now strikes out its branches, and tufts of broom are clustering, but which in old times formed the natural strength of the citadels of the numerous cities of Latium. Except in these narrow dells, the present aspect of the coun- try is all bare and desolate, with no trees nor any human habitation. But anciently, in the earlier times of Rome, it was full of independent cities, and in its population and the careful cultivation of its little gar- den-like farms, must have resembled the most flourishing parts of Lombardy. Such was Rome, and such its neighbourhood. The foregoing topographical observations appear to be necessary, before the reader enters upon even a brief recital of any of those cir- cumstances which — whether legendary or strictly true, whether fabu- lous or merely exaggerated — have been handed down from age to age as the veritable history of Rome. FOUNDING OF ROME— ROMULUS AND REMUS. B. c. 752. iNDER a thick veil of mythological tradition, in which a few leading facts are buried under a mass of pure fiction, the annals of Rome for the first four centuries after the foundation of the city are presented to us by its best historians. Recent inquirers, among whom Niebuhr is the most cele- brated, have shown that the histories of Livy and other great Roman writers have been chiefly made up, so far as relates to this period, from old heroic songs, written to flatter the national vanity, and filled with romantic stories having no foundation in truth. An attempt to separate the truth from the fiction would lead to a great deal of dry disquisition ; and as these legends are perpetually referred to in all ancient and modern literature, we prefer to imitate the example of Dr. Arnold, and give the legends in the old simple form, cautioning the reader to regard them as legends, and not as unquestioned history. After the time of Camillus, the Roman his- tory assumes a more authentic form. We quote, for the present, from Keightley. The Roman historians have related the early annals of the city of Rome in the following manner : — AVhen Troy was taken by the Greeks, a Trojan prince named ^neas, and said to be a son of the goddess Venus by a mortal father, fled from that city, and, embarking with those who would follow his for- tunes, sailed westward. After a variety of adventures, he reached the coast of Latium, on the western side of Italy, and Latinus, the 13 lys 194 FOUNDING OF ROME. king of the country, allowed him to settle there, and gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage. Some time after, in a war with the people of the country, ^neas disappeared on the banks of a river, (whether drowned or not was uncertain,) and he was thenceforth worshipped as a god. He was succeeded by his son, named Ascanius or lulus, who had accompanied him from Troy ; and this prince removed his people from the seacoast, and built a town over a lake on the side of a mountain, which, from its appearance, was named Alba Longa, or, as we might express it in English, Long Whitton. The family of ^neas reigned in Alba for the space of three hun- dred years. One of the last of these monarchs, when dying, left two sons, named Numitor and Amulius, the former of whom being of a quiet, gentle temper, the ambitious younger brother deprived him of the throne, and left him only the lands belonging to the family. The son of Numitor was a young man of some spirit, and Amulius, fearing lest he might assert his right to the throne, caused him to be murdered as he was out hunting. As Numitor's only remaining child was a daughter named Silvia, Amulius, to prevent her from marrying, placed her among the vestal virgins, who were a kind of nuns, whose duty it was to watch the sacred fire which burned perpetually in the temple of the goddess Vesta. But all the precautions of Amulius proved vain. One day, when Silvia went into the sacred grove of the god Mars to draw water for the use of the temple, she saw a M'olf, and fled for refuge into a cavern. While she was there, the god himself appeared to her and made her his spouse. In due time the pains of labour came on her in the very temple of Vesta, and she brought forth twins. Amulius immediately ordered herself and her babes to be cast into the river Tiber. The god of the stream, it was said, saved and espoused Silvia ; the protect- ing care of their sire was extended to the innocent babes. The ark or trough in which they had been placed floated along the river till it reached some hills on its side, where the river had overflowed ; it upset in the soft mud at the foot of one of them. A she-wolf, who came to slake her thirst, heard their whimpering ; she conveyed them to her den on the hill, where she suckled them with the fondness of a mother. A woodpecker also brought them food, and they throve and grew strong. At length Faustulus, the king's herdsman, who lived on the hill, happened to discover them ; the wolf, as her task was now accomplished, retired, and he took them to his cottage and reared them with his own sons. The twins, who were named Romulus and Remus, when they grew FOUNDING OP ROME. 195 up, distinguislied themselves among the shepherd-lads by their strength and courage. They had many encounters with the herdsmen of Nu- mitor, whose cattle fed on one of the adjacent hills, and in one of these Remus was made a prisoner and carried away to Alba. The king handed him over to Numitor, who, struck with the noble appear- ance of the youth, questioned him about his parentage ; and, on hear- ing his story, began to suspect that he might be his grandson. Faus- tulus meantime, who had a similar suspicion, revealed his thoughts to Romulus, and that fiery youth resolved at once to free his brother and restore his grandsire to his rights. His comrades, by his direc- tions, entered Alba at different parts, and then uniting, fell on and slew the tyrant and placed Numitor on the throne. The two brothers resolved to build a town for themselves, and their old rustic comrades joined them in their project. The place which they fixed on was the hills where they had passed their boyish days ; but a dispute arose as to which of the hills should be its site, and after which of the brothers it should be named. They then agreed that each should sit on his hill at midnight and watch for the flight of particular kinds of birds ; they did so. Day came and went, and no birds appeared ; toward dawn of the second day, Remus saw six vultures ; at sunrise the news came to Romulus, but just then twelve vultures flew past him. A contest therefore arose, as, though Remus had seen the birds first, a double number had appeared to Romulus, and the party of the latter proved the stronger ; the town was there- fore to be called Rome, and to be built on the Palatine hill. Romu- lus drove a plough round the hill to mark out the extent of his town, and, on the line drawn by the plough, his men began to erect a wall. Remus in derision leaped over the rising wall, and Romulus, in a rage, struck him with a spade and killed him, crying, " So perish he who will leap over my walls !" But grief soon succeeded to his rage, and it was long before he could be comforted. As a means of increasing the population of his new town, Romulus opened an asylum, or place of refuge for all who might choose to resort to it. Those who came were naturally of a very indifferent character, such as debtors, criminals, and runaway slaves ; and as there could be, of course, few or no women among his subjects, he was greatly perplexed how to get wives for them ; for the people of the neighbouring towns, when he applied to them, would on no account bestow their daughters in marriage on such a rabble. He therefore had recourse to artifice, and he proclaimed through all the surround- ing country, that on a certain day horse-races and other games would be celebrated at Rome. On the appointed day, a good number of the 196 FOUNDING OF ROME. neighbouring people came to Rome, accompanied by their wives and daughters. The sports began, and while the strangers were eagerly gazing, the Roman youths rushed in with drawn swords and carried oflF a number of their maidens ; the parents fled in dismay, calling on the gods to avenge such perfidy. The people of the insulted cities took arms against the Romans ; but as they did not unite, and each attacked them singly, they were all in succession overcome by Romu- lus and his hardy subjects. Among the people whose daughters were thus torn away from them were the Sabines, a hardy and valiant race. After making due pre- paration, they advanced against Rome, led by their king, Titus Tatius. As they came down the b^^nks of the Tiber, the Capitoline hill lay between them and Rome, which stood on the Palatine. The Romans had placed a garrison on that hill ; but Tarpeia, the daughter of the governor, as she went down to draw water, met the Sabines, and she agreed to open a gate for them if they would give her what they wore on their left arms, meaning their golden bracelets. She kept her word ; but when she claimed her reward, they cast their shields, which they bore on their left arms, on her, and the traitress perished be- neath their weight. The Romans were now in possession of one hill and the Sabines of another, and the valley between them (afterwards called the Forum) was their battle-field. Here, as the two armies were hotly engaged, the Sabine women suddenly appeared to them with their garments rent and their hair dishevelled, and called on their fathers and hus- bands to cease from the impious conflict. Both sides dropped their arms and stood in silence. A treaty was concluded, by which the two nations became one people under Romulus and Tatius. The nation was divided into two orders, the Patricians and the Plebeians. Rome now flourished more and more every day. Tatius having been slain in a private quarrel, Romulus once more reigned alone. After he had reigned seven-and-thirty years, as he was one day re- viewing his army, there came on a sudden storm, which dispersed the people and made them fly to shelter ; and amid the thunder, lightning, and rain. Mars, it is said, descended in his flaming chariot and carried his son away to the abode of the gods. When the tempest was over the people returned, but their king was nowhere to be found ; and they were inconsolable for his loss, till a respectable man came for- ward and assured them, that as he was coming from Alba by moon- light, Romulus had appeared to him in glory, and bade him to tell his people not to lament him, but to worship him as a god under the name of Quirinus. NUMA POMPILIUS, TULLUS HOSTILIUS, AND ANGUS MARCIUS. T Rome, as everywhere else, tliere was a senate, com- posed of the more aged and respectable citizens, to act as a council and to make laws. After the disap- pearance of Romulus, the senate tried to keep the government in its own hands ; but the people were not satisfied, and insisted on having a king. It was then agreed that the king should be a Sabine, but that he should be chosen by the Romans. The person selected was Numa Tf Pompilius, a native of the Sabine town of Cures, a man famous ^ for his wisdom and virtue. The reign of this prince was long and free from war. His thoughts were all turned to the arts of peace and the introduction of a respect for religion among the rude people over whom he had been called to rule, and it was to him that Rome was chiefly indebted for her religious institutions. A goddess named Egeria had, it was said, espoused this pious prince, and she used to meet him in a grove at a fount named from herself, and give him instructions which might enable him to make wise laws for his people. It was also said that when one time Rome was visited by terrific light- nings and thunder, Numa caused the god Jupiter to descend from heaven and teach him how they might be averted. 197 198 TULLUS HOSTILIUS. The next king, named Tullus Hostilius, was of a character more like that of Romulus than of Numa. He was, therefore, anxious for war, and he soon contrived to pick a quarrel with the people of Alba. The two armies met, and, as they stood in array of battle, the Alban general, named Mettius, proposed that to avoid bloodshed their dis- pute should be decided by a single combat of three champions on each side, the people whose champions should be defeated being to submit to the other. Though Tullus would have preferred a battle, he could not reject so reasonable a proposal, and the treaty was made. There happened to be in each army three twin-brothers, whose mothers were sisters ; the Romans were named the Horatii, the Albans the Curiatii. To these the combat was committed, and they advanced fully armed into the space between the two armies, who sat down in their ranks to view the combat. When they met they drew their swords and engaged hand to hand. Their countrymen viewed the encounter in deep silence. At length two of the Romans were seen to fall dead ; the third, however, was still unhurt, and all the Albans were wounded. A shout of triumph rose in the Alban army ; the Romans gave up all hope, and now their only surviving champion was seen flying like a coward. But his flight Avas only feigned, in order that he might separate his antagonists. When he saw one of the Curiatii in advance of his brothers, he turned and slew him ; the same fate befell each of the others as he came up. The surviving Horatius remained sole master of the field, and Alba submitted to Rome. When the Roman army returned home, Horatius marched proudly at its head, bearing the arms and other spoils of those he had slain. At the gate of the city he was met by his sister, who was the promised bride of one of the Curiatii. When she saw among the bloody spoils a surcoat which she had woven with her own hands and given to her lover, she loosed her hair and bewailed his fate. Her brother in a rage drew his sword and plunged it into her bosom, crying, " Such be the fate of her who bewails an enemy of Rome !" The bystanders were filled with horror ; the murderer was seized and led before the king, at whose order he was tried by the judges. Their sentence was that he should be scourged and then hanged. The officers were laying hold on him, when, by the king's advice, he appealed to the people. His father pleaded for him with tears, and the people acquitted him of the murder. A war broke out some time after between the Romans and the people of the neighbouring town of Fidenae. Tullus summoned the Albans to his standard, and in the battle he placed them on the right wing of his army ; but Mettius, who had secretly kindled the war, gradually ANGUS MAKCIUS. 199 drew off his troops in order that the Romans might he defeated. Ilis plan, however, did not succeed ; his treachery was detected, and the enemy was routed. When the victory was won, he came to congratu- late Tullus, who took no notice of his conduct, hut received him kindly, and he thought himself secure. Next day the king assemhled all his troops ; the Albans, to prove their loyalty, came the first and stood around him unarmed. Meantime the Romans, by Tullus's directions, took their arms and surrounded them. When they were thus taken in the toils, the king reproached Mettius with his treachery ; a heavy punishment he told him awaited him : Alba should be destroyed and its people be removed to Rome. Resistance now was hopeless ; two chariots were brought, and Mettius's legs and arms were bound to them ; they were then driven, the one toward Rome, the other toward Fidenee, and the traitor was thus torn asunder. Troops had meantime gone to Alba and commenced the destruction of the town. The temples of the gods alone were left standing : one of the hills at Rome was assigned to the Albans for their abode. The successor of Tullus was Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa, whom he resembled in character. His reign, therefore, was peaceful and marked by few events. He was succeeded by Tarquin the Elder. Roman Architecture. THE TARQUINS— FALL OF THE MONARCHY. ARQUINIUS, or, as he is usually called, Tarquin, proved an able and a powerful monarch, wise in peace and vic- torious in war. He greatly improved the citj, and he made some alteration in the constitution of the state. One of his proposed changes not being agreeable to the nobility, they employed an augur or soothsayer, named Attus Navius, to oppose it. The king, annoyed at his opposition, told him to augur if what he was then thinking of could be done. Navius replied that it could. " Then," cried the king, triumphantly, " I was thinking that you should cut a whetstone through with a razor." The augur took the stone and razor and did as the king required. In one of the wars of king Tarquinius, on the taking of a town, when the people were reduced to slavery, according to the usual cus- tom, a woman of rank fell to the share of the king, in whose house 200 THE TARQUINS. 201 she became servant. While there she saw a vision of the fire-god, and Tanaquil (Tarquin's wife) immediately arrayed her as a bride, and shut her up in the apartment where she had had the vision. She in consequence became a mother, and her child was named Servius Tul- lius. The child was brought up in the palace, and one day, when he fell asleep in the porch, flames were observed to play round his head without doing him the slightest injui-y. From this Tanaquil inferred that he was destined to greatness, and she caused him to be brought up with the greatest care ; and when he was grown to man's age, and had given proofs of wisdom and courage, she united him in marriage with her daughter, and it was generally supposed that the king intended him for his successor, but Servius Tullius secured the succession to himself. After reigning thirty-eight years, Tarquin was murdered by the sons of Ancus. The reign of Servius was peaceful, like that of Numa. He was the poor man's friend ; he paid the debts of those who were in distress, and he bestowed lands on those whose poverty was pressing. He also divided the people into classes, so that their taxes should be in pro- portion to their property. This good king reigned more than forty years in peace and prospe- rity. At length his life was terminated by crime, in the following manner. He had given his two daughters in marriage to the two sons, or rather grandsons, of the late king Tarquinius, named Lucius and Aruns. As the former was of a haughty, violent temper, he united him with the more gentle of his daughters, while he gave Tullia, his other daughter, who was proud and violent, to Aruns, whose cha- racter was the opposite of his brother's. Soon, however, Lucius and Tullia fell in love with each other ; and when his wife and her husband died suddenly, (poisoned perhaps,) they made the king consent to their marriage. Urged on by his unprincipled wife, and relying on the support of the patricians, who were displeased at the laws of king Servius, Tar- quinius resolved to usurp the throne. Accordingly he went one day, surrounded by armed men, to the senate-house, and ordered the herald to summon the senators to meet king Tarquinius. When they came he addressed them, stating his claims to the throne. While he was speaking the king arrived, and demanded why he dared to take the royal seat. Tarquinius made an insolent reply, and then seizing him round the waist, flung him down the steps of the senate-house. The king, sorely bruised by the fall, got up and was slowly moving home- ward, when he was overtaken and slain by those who had been sent after him by the usurper, and his body was left lying in the street. 202 THE TARQUINS. As soon as Tullia heard of what had been done, she mounted her chariot and drove to the senate-house. She called her husband out, and was the first to salute him king. At his desire she then went home, and her way chanced to lie through the street where her father had been slain. The mules which drew her chariot started when thej came to the corpse of the king ; the driver, in horror, turned and looked his mistress in the face. " Why do you stop ?" cried she. " See you not the body of your father ?" replied the man. She flung the footstool at his head ; he lashed on the mules, and the chariot passed over the body of the king, whose blood spirted over the clothes of his unnatural child. It was reported that when some time after Tullia entered a temple in which there stood a statue of her father, it covered its face with its hands, and was heard to say, «' Hide me, that I may not behold my impious daughter." Tarquin maintained by cruelty the crown he had acquired by crime, and all orders of the people soon saw cause to regret the good Ser- vius. He put to death such of the senators as he disliked or feared ; and he surrounded himself with a guard of armed men, a thing which none of the kin2;s before him had done. Towards the close of Tarquin's reign, prodigies of various kinds came to disturb the repose of the king. One day, for example, as he was offering a sacrifice to the gods, a serpent came out of the altar, seized the flesh of the victim, and put out the fire. This seemed so ominous, that Tarquin sent two of his sons to consult the famous oracle of Delphi, in Greece, about its meaning. There went with them their cousin Lucius Junius, who was nicknamed Brutus, that is. Fool ; for when Tarquin had put his elder brother to death to get his property, Lucius, to save his life, counterfeited folly. The reply of the oracle was, that Tarquin would fall when a dog (meaning Brutus) spake with a human voice. The Tarquins then asked which of them should reign at Rome. " He who first kisses his mother," was the reply. They resolved not to tell Sextus, and to decide by lot between themselves. But Brutus, who saw the meaning of the oracle better than they, pretended to stumble and fall as they were leaving the temple ; and, as he lay on the ground, he kissed the earth, the common mother of all. His offering to the god had been his staff of cornel-wood, Avhich he had secretly filled with gold, an emblem of himself. Tarquin some time after laid siege to a town named Ardea. As it stood on the summit of a steep hill, it could only be reduced by block- ade, and the Roman army lay encamped around it. While they were thus inactive, the king's sons amused their leisure by mutual ban- THE TARQUINS. 203 quets ; and at one of these, they and their cousin Collatinus fell into a dispute about the virtues of their wives. When they could not settle the matter by argument, they agreed to mount their horses that very moment, and to go and take their wives by surprise. They rode first to Rome, and arriving just at nightfall, found the royal ladies revelling at a banquet. Then they went on to Collatia, where Collatinus's house was, and though it was late in the night when they arrived, his wife Lucretiawas sitting spinning among her maids. The prize was at once yielded to her, and she entertained her husband and his cousins with cheerfulness and modesty. They then mounted their horses and returned to the camp. A few days after Sextus Tarquin came to Collatia, attended by a single slave, and went to the house of Collatinus. Lucretia received him as her husband's kinsman, and a chamber was assigned him for the night. He retired, but when all was still he arose, and taking his drawn sword in his hand, sought the chamber of his hostess. He awoke her with declarations of love ; he prayed, he besought, but all in vain. He then menaced to slay her, and with her his slave, and to declare that he had caught them in the act of adultery, and thus punish them. The dread of a disgraced memory effected what no other motive could, and she submitted to his wishes. In the morning he arose, and returned to the camp before Ardea. Lucretia imme- diately sent trusty messengers to summon her husband and her father Lucretius. They came ; the former accompanied by Brutus, whom he chanced to meet on the way ; the latter by Valerius, a man of rank at Rome. They found Lucretia sitting mournful in her cham- ber. She told them all that had happened, and implored them to avenge her, declaring that she would not survive her disgrace. They tried to console her, but she drew a concealed knife, and, before they were aware, plunged it into her heart. Her husband and father gave a loud cry of grief ; but Brutus seized the bloody weapon, and drawing it from the wound, swore on it eternal hatred to the tyrant and his family. He handed it to the others, and all of them took the same oath, amazed at the sudden change which had come over him. The body of Lucretia was brought out into the market-place, and Brutus, pointing to the wound, excited the people to vengeance. They thence went to Rome, where Brutus assembled the people, and told them his own story and that of Lucretia, and displayed the crimes and the cruelty of the tyrant. The multitude cried out that there should be no more kings at Rome. Brutus then set out with a select body of men for the camp ; Tarquin meantime, hearing what had occurred, was on his way, but by a different road, to Rome. Brutus was received with 204 THE TARQUINS. shouts of joy by the soldiers ; the tyrant found the gates of the city closed against him. He retired to Etruria. Sextus, the author of all the evil, went to Gabii, where he was slain soon after by the rela- tions of those whom he had caused to be put to death. Thus was royalty ended at Rome. Instead of kings, it was resolved to have two magistrates, named consuls, to be appointed every year. The first consuls chosen were Brutus and Collatinus, (b. c. 508.) CORIOLANUS. N a war with the Volscians a gallant patrician had greatly distinguished himself, and he had been the chief means of taking the town of Oorioli, whence he was named Coriolanus. He was very proud and haughty, and a great enemy to the plebeians. It happened soon after that Rome was visited with a grievous famine. Agents were sent in all quarters, even as far as the island of Sicily, to purchase corn, and a large quantity arrived from that island, partly purchased, partly the gift of a prince who reigned there. It was proposed in the senate to distribute this gift- corn among the people without payment, and to sell the remainder to them at a low price. But Coriolanus said no, this was the time to make them do away with the tribunes, and advised not to give them the corn on any other terms. When the tribunes heard of this pro- posal, they accused him as an enemy of the people ; and as he knew that he was sure to be condemned, he quitted Rome and went into exile. The place which he selected for his abode was Antium, one of the chief cities of the Volscians. He lived in the house of Tullius, the king of the place, and he offered his services against his country. But there was at that time peace between the Romans and the Volscians, and it did not appear easy to make the latter people break it. Tullius 207 208 comoLANus. had, therefore, recourse to stratagem, and he took advantage of the following occasion. There used at certain seasons to be celebrated at Rome, in honour of the gods, what were called the Great Games, consisting of chariot- races and other exercises. They were to be now repeated ; for when they had last taken place, and, as was the custom, the images of the gods were carried around the circus in which they were to be per- formed, to sanctify it, a slave, whom his master had condemned to death, was driven across and scourged. No notice was taken of this circumstance, and the games went on as usual ; but soon after the city was visited by a pestilence, and various prodigies occurred. The soothsayers could tell neither the cause nor the remedy ; at length Jupiter appeared in a dream to a countryman named Latinius, and directed him to go to the consuls and tell them that the preluder to the games (meaning the slave) had been displeasing to him. Latinius, fearing that he should be only laughed at, did not venture to go near the consuls. A few days after his son died suddenly, and the vision again appeared to him, and menaced him with a greater evil if he de- layed going to the consuls. But he still hesitated, and he then lost the use of his limbs. He at length made the matter known to his kinsmen and friends, and they agreed that it were best to carry him in his bed to the forum. The consuls when he came directed him to be brought into the senate-house, and he there told his wonderful tale, and scarcely had he completed it when another miracle took place, for he all at once recovered the use of his limbs, and walked out of the senate-house. The games were now renewed with great splendour, and Tullius took advantage of the resort of people to them to kindle a war. He went secretly to the consuls, and told them that he was apprehen- sive lest his countrymen, who were come in great numbers to the festival, should commit some acts of violence. The senate, in conse- quence, issued a hasty order for all Volscians to quit the city by sun- set. They departed in great anger, and Tullius, who had gone before, met them on the way, and excited them to vengeance for the insult. War was now declared by the Volscians, and Tullius and Coriolanus were appointed to command their armies. Coriolanus was everywhere successful ; he took a number of towns, and at length pitched his camp within five miles of Rome. No one thought of resisting him ; a decree was passed for restoring him to all his former rights and honours, and five senators bore it to his camp. But he insisted that the lands taken from the Volscians should also be restored. He gave them thirty days to consider, and meantime led off his troops. When he returned, the CORIOLANUS. 209 Coriolanus yielding to the entreaties of his raother. principal senators waited on him, and he gave three days more. Next day the priests entered his camp in their sacred habits, and tried but in vain to move him. The third day came, and his army was expect- ing to be led against Rome, when a long procession of Roman ladies was seen approaching. It was headed by the exile's venerable mother and his wife leading her two children. It entered the Volscian camp and advanced to the tent of the general. Coriolanus received them with respect ; the tears of his wife and the other ladies melted his haughty soul ; he shuddered at the menaced curse of his aged parent ; he burst into tears. " Mother," cried he, " thou hast chosen between Rome and thy son : me thou wilt never see more ; may they requite thee !" He embraced his wife and children, and then dismissed them, and on the following day he led off his army. He passed the remainder of his life among the Volscians, and when he died the women of Rome mourned for him as they had done for Brutus. CINCINNATUS. B. c. 456. |OME years after the Romans were at war with the people named the iEquians. A peace was made, but the iEquians broke it, and began to ravage the lands of the Latins, who were the allies of the Romans. Ambassadors were sent to the ^quian camp to complain of this breach of faith. The ^quian general was sitting under the shade of a spreading oak, and he insolently desired them to make their complaint to the tree. The Romans then took the oak and the gods to witness the justice of their cause and departed, and a Roman army soon was in the field against the ^quians. But fortune favoured the guilty side, for the Roman army was shut up in its camp by the enemy, and a rampart raised all round it. Ere the rampart, however, was completed, five of the horsemen made their escape and carried the tidings to Rome. It was the custom of the Romans, on occasions of imminent danger, to create a dictator, as the power of that ofiicer was unlimited. The choice of the senate now fell on Cincinnatus, one of the most dis- 210 CINCINNATUS. 211 tinguished of their body, but who was so poor that he was living on a little farm of four acres beyond the Tiber, which he cultivated with his own hands. The officers sent to inform him of his appointment found him guiding his plough, with nothing on him but an apron, it being summer-time. They bade him dress himself to hear the message of the senate. He called to his wife to fetch him his toga, — so the Komans called the white mantle or rather shawl which formed their outer garment. She came with it out of their little cottage ; he put it on, and the officers then saluted him as dictator. A boat lay ready to convey him over the river ; at the other side he was met by his sons and other kinsmen and friends, and he was conducted by them to his abode. He entered the forum before dawn the next morning, and directed the shops to be closed and all business to be suspended ; he then ordered all those who were of the age for military service to be ready by sunset, each with twelve palisades and a supply of provisions for five days. At nightfall all were ready, and, the dictator placing himself at their head, they set out, and at midnight they halted near the camp of the enemy. The dictator rode forward to take a view of it, directing his officers to make their men leave their baggage where they were, and to march on with only their arms and the palisades, and when they reached the enemy's camp to set up a shout and com- mence forming a ditch and rampart round it. His orders were obeyed ; a loud shout arose, which, pealing over the ^quian camp, reached the ears of the Romans, and assured them that deliverance was at hand. The besieged then burst forth, and engaged and fought with the ^quians till the dawn. In the mean time the dictator's army had completed their work, and the iEquians, finding themselves thus enclosed and assailed from both within and without, sued for mercy. The only terms the dictator would grant were the surrender of their general and his principal officers, and of one of their towns, with all the property in it, and the passage of their whole army under the yoke. These hard terms were agreed to. The yoke was set up, (it was formed of two spears set in the ground and another laid across, like a doorway,) and the whole ^quian army, each man wearing only a single garment, went through it and then departed. Their camp and all that it contained became the prize of the Romans. The dic- tator then led home his army. He entered the city in triumph ; as the soldiers passed along, they found tables spread with provisions before the doors of all the houses, and joy and festivity everywhere prevailed. The dictator then laid down his office, and returned to the cultivation of his little farm. THE DECEMVIRS— SICINIUS DENTATUS. s^ll^^^^l HE people at Eome had long been discontented with the state of the laws as being too much in favour of the patricians, and after a good deal of opposition it was agreed that a new code of laws should be framed. Deputies were sent to Greece, especially to Athens, to gain a knowledge of the laws and constitutions of that country, and on their return ten persons (thence named decemvirs, that is ten men) were appointed to make laws for the Roman people. As was the practice in such cases in ancient times, they were entrusted with absolute power, and there were no other magistrates left in the state. The decemvirs made an excellent code, which was contained in ten tables or laws ; but they said that these were not suflEicient, and that two tables more were required to complete the code. Accordingly a new board of decemvirs, containing some of the former members, was appointed. The two tables that were wanting were then framed, and the whole, under the name of the Twelve Tables, became the founda- tion of the Roman law. 212 THE DECEMVIRS. 213 The decemvirs should now have gone out of office, but they had tasted the sweets of power, and they were resolved not to resign it, and there was no legal mode of compelling them to lay down their authority. They never assembled the senate, and the senators, having therefore little or nothing to do in the city, went and lived on their farms. The decemvirs got round them a number of the young patri- cians as a kind of body-guard, and they tyrannized as they pleased over the people. Fortunately for the decemvirs, the enemies of Rome remained at peace, so that there Avas no occasion for arming the people. But at length the Sabines and ^quians renewed hostilities, and it was ne- cessary to take up arms against them. Two armies were accordingly raised, of which eight of the decemvirs took the command, while their colleagues, Appius Claudius and Oppius, remained in charge of the city. Both armies, however, sooner than gain victories for the tyrannic decemvirs, suffered themselves to be beaten. In the army which went against the Sabines there w^as a dis- tinguished old soldier named, Sicinius Dentatus, who it is said had been present in not less than one hundred and twenty battles, had the scars of forty-five wounds on his body, and had gained military honours and rewards without number. The Roman camp happening to be near the Sacred Mount, Sicinius took occasion to remind the soldiers of what their fathers had been, and how at that very place they had recovered their rights from the haughty patricians, and he urged them to follow that noble example. The generals, alarmed at his conduct, resolved to put him out of the way, and, under the pretext of doing him honour, they sent him with a party to choose a place for encampment, giving secret orders to the soldiers to fall on him in some convenient place and slay him. Sicinius went suspecting no danger, but in a lonely spot his men suddenly assailed him. Placing his back against a rock, the veteran warrior defended himself man- fully, and before he fell he had slain fifteen and wounded thirty of his cowardly assailants. The survivors ran back to the camp, crying that they had fallen into an ambush of the enemy, who had slain their leader and several of their comrades. A party was then sent to bury the dead, but they could find no trace of an enemy ; the body of Sicinius lay unspoiled in his armour ; all the slain men were Romans, and their bodies were all turned toward his, whick proved that they must have fallen by his hand. It was therefore quite evident that he had perished by the treachery of the decemvirs. The soldiers were highly enraged, but the generals gave Sicinius a splendid military funeral, which pacified them in some measure. STORY OF VIRGINIA. B. c. 447. UT a far worse deed was done in the city. Appius, "wlien sitting on his judgment-seat in the forum, was in the habit of seeing a beautiful plebeian maiden going, attended by her nurse, to one of the schools which were held there. Her name was Virginia ; she was the daughter of a plebeian of good family named Virginius, who was then serving as a captain in the army which was acting against the ^quians, and she was betrothed to Icilius, who had been a tribune. Appius conceived a passion for her ; he tried the effect of promises and bribes, but to no effect ; but he was resolved to stop at no mode of getting the beautiful victim into his power. Accordingly one of his folloAvers, named Claudius, by his directions, seized her one day as she was crossing the forum, asserting that she was his slave. At the loud cries of Virginia's nurse a crowd assembled to oppos'fe him ; but he said that as his claim was a legal one, there was no need to employ force, and all the parties went before Appius, who was sitting on his tribunal. Claudius, as had been concerted with the judge, then said that Virginia was the child of one of his female slaves, by whom she had been given to the wife of Virginius, who was 2U STORY OF VIRGINIA. 215 barren, and that consequently she was his property. The friends of Virginia replied that it would be only reasonable to wait till Virginius could come from the camp, and that meantime, according to one of the decemvir's own laws, security should be taken for the appearance of the maiden. Appius, however, pretending that his law did not apply to this case, decided that she should be delivered up to the claimant on his giving security to produce her when required. But such a cry of horror was raised at this iniquitous decree, and the people seemed so determined to prevent its execution, that Appius found it prudent to give way, and Virginia was delivered up to her friends. It was the intention of Appius to send to his colleagues in the camp, directing them not to suffer Virginius to come to Rome, and to surround himself next day with a strong body of his dependants, and carry his point by force if necessary. But while, to remove suspicion, he sat some time longer in court, Icilius and his friends took care to detain him by making delay in arranging the securities ; and mean- time they had directed two active young men to mount, and ride off to the camp with all speed, and inform Virginius of what had occurred. They therefore arrived long before Appius's messenger ; and Vir- ginius, pretending the death of a relation, obtained leave of absence and came to Rome. At daybreak next morning the forum was filled with people ; Vir- ginius and his daughter came among them in the garb of mourners, and followed by a train of women. He implored their aid ; Icilius supported his entreaties ; the women wept in silence. Appius soon appeared at the head of an armed train. Claudius addressed him, gently reproaching him with not having done him justice the preceding day. Without listening to either party, Appius gave sentence in favour of the claimant, who advanced to lay hold on the maiden, but the women and their friends repelled him. Virginius then menaced the decemvir for his injustice, but Appius declared that he knew there was a conspiracy to resist the government, but that he would put it down by force. He then thundered out, " Go, officer, disperse the crowd, and make way for the master to take his slave." The people fell back : Virginius, seeing there was no hope from them, apologized for his vehemence, and asked permission to take his daughter and her nurse aside for a few minutes to examine them about the matter. Appius consented, and Virginius then drew them over to one of the butchers' shops, which were round the forum, and snatching up a knife and crying out, " I make you free, my child, in the only way in my power," plunged the knife into his daughter's bosom. Then, 216 STORY OF VIRGINIA. looking to the tribunal, he added, " With this blood, Appius, I devote thee and thy life to the gods below." Appius called out to seize him, but, brandishing the reeking blade, he made his way to the gate and hastened to the camp. Icilius meantime harangued the people over the corpse of Virginia ; Appius, aided by the young patricians, attempted to seize him and put him into prison, but Valerius and Horatius, members of two of the noblest and most ancient families in Rome, appeared on the side of the people, and Appius was obliged to seek refuge in one of the adjacent houses. His colleague Oppius called the senate together, but it would come to no decision. Some of the patricians then went off to the camp to try to keep the army in its duty ; but all their hopes were vain ; for when Virginius arrived and told his story, the soldiers plucked up their standards, and, marching for the city, posted themselves on the Aventine. Deputies came from the senate, but they were told to send Valerius and Horatius if they wanted an answer. The army then resolved to go and occupy the Sacred Mount. They marched through the city unopposed, and encamped on that celebrated spot, the Runnymead of Roman history ; and they there were joined by the other army. Valerius and Horatius soon arrived as envoys from the senate ; and the people had such reliance on the justice and honour of these tAvo worthy men, that they left to them the arrange- ment of the whole matter. It was agreed that the decemvirs should lay down their office and account for their public conduct. The peo- ple then returned to the city. Vengeance for Virginia was now to be exacted. Her father sum-* moned Appius, and Claudius, the agent of his meditated crime, to stand their trial before the people. Instead of seeking safety in flight, the haughty decemvir appeared as usual in the forum surrounded by the patrician youth. Virginius, who was a tribune, ordered him to be seized and cast into prison ; he appealed to the other tribunes, but they would not interfere, and he was dragged away by the officers. lie died in prison, by his own hand, before the day of trial came. The same was the fate of his colleague Oppius ; the other decemvirs were suffered to go into exile, as also was Claudius, when he had been tried and found guilty. The tribunes then declared prosecution to be at an end ; and «< the spirit of Virginia," says the historian, " more happy in her death than in her life, having roamed through so many houses exacting vengeance, rested at length where no guilty person remained." TAKING OF ROME BY THE GAULS. B. c. 383. HE Gauls were the inhabitants of the country now called France. They were in a very barbarous state, and were unacquainted with the luxuries of the south, till, as we are told, a citizen of Clusium, whose wife had been se- duced by a young nobleman, being refused all satisfaction by the nobility, resolved to try to induce the Gauls to enter Italy. He loaded mules with wine and oil, and with mats filled with dried figs, and crossed the Alps. The rude Gauls, to whom such delicacies were unknown, were eager to possess them ; and when he told them that they might easily make themselves mas- ters of the country that produced them, the whole people arose, and with wives and children passed the Alps and the Apennines, and laid siege to Clusium. The Romans sent three of the noble family of the Fabii as ambas- sadors to the Gauls, requiring them not to molest the allies of Rome; but the Gauls replied that they wanted land, and that the Clusians must divide theirs with them. Instead of returning home, the Fabii went into the town, and they even joined in a sally ; and one of them, having slain a Gaulish chief, was recognised as he was stripping him 219 220 TAKING OF ROME BY THE GAULS. of his armour. Brennus, the Gaulish king, instantly ordered a retreat to be sounded, and he despatched some of hishugcst warriors to Rome to demand satisfaction for this breach of the law of nations. The senate was inclined to surrender the Fabii to the Gauls, but the peo- ple would not consent. Brennus immediately directed his march for Rome ; his troops on their way did no injury to the husbandman ; they passed the towns and villages as if they were friends ; they crossed the Tiber, and on the banks of the Alia, about eleven miles from Rome, they encountered the Roman legions. They would have found the Romans unprepared, it is said, were it not, that one night, as a man was going along by the foot of the Pa- latine hill, he heard a voice, more than human, calling him by his name. He turned, but could see nothing ; he then again heard the voice desiring him to go in the morning and tell the magistrates that the Gauls were coming. He obeyed, and preparations were then made to meet the approaching foe. On the 16th of July, a day rendered ominous by the defeat of the Fabii at the Cremera, the Roman army gave battle to the Gauls. Their best troops were placed on the left, close to the Tiber ; the right wing was composed of new-raised men. Brennus fell on these last, and speedily routed them : he then brought his whole force against the left wing, which, seeing itself so greatly outnumbered, broke and made for the river. The Gauls attacked them on all sides ; many were slain and drowned, the remainder fled to Veil. Those who had escaped on the right carried the news of the defeat to Rome, and before nightfall the Gaulish horse appeared on the Field of Mars. But no attempt was made on the city, and the Gauls devoted the whole of the next day and night to rioting and drunkenness. The Romans, seeing that it would not be possible for them to defend the city, resolved to abandon it. As the Capitoline hill was very steep, and would contain about a thousand men, they collected provisions for that number on it, who were to remain for its defence : all the rest departed to seek refuge where best they could hope to obtain it. A part of the sacred things were buried ; the vestals and some of the priests set out with the remainder for the town of Caere in Etruria. As they were ascending the Janiculan hill on the other side of the Tiber, a man, who was driving his wife and children in his cart, was shocked at seeing the holy virgins trudging on foot, and he made his family get down and give place to them ; and he then con- veyed them in safety to Caere. But there were about eighty old patricians, who had borne the highest offices in the state, and who would not survive that Rome TAKING OF ROME BY THE GAULS. 221 which had been the scene of all their glory. They put on their robes of state, and they sat calmly awaiting their doom on their ivory chairs of office in the forum. The Gauls, meantime, marking the stillness that prevailed in the city, were apprehensive of an ambush ; but they at length broke open one of the gates and entered. No one was to be seen ; silence reigned around : they advanced till they reached the forum. On the capitol above they beheld armed men ; beneath, in the forum, sat the aged senators, like beings of another world. They were filled with awe, and paused. At length one of the Gauls put forth his hand, and stroked the long white beard of one of the senators. The indignant old man raised his ivory sceptre, and smote him on the head : the Gaul drew his sword and killed him, and all the rest were then slaughtered. The Gauls spread all over the city in search of plunder; they set fire to it in various parts, and soon Rome was nothing but a heap of ruins. They made various attempts to force their way up the capitol, but they were always repulsed with loss. While the Gauls were thus masters of Rome, those who had fled to Veii had gained some successes against the Tuscans, who had taken advantage of their distress. As it was necessary to communicate with the consuls and the senate, who were on the capitol, a gallant youth one night swam down the river on corks, and, eluding the Gallic sentinels, clambered up the side of the capitol, and having received his instructions, returned by the way that he came. But next day the Gauls took notice of a bush that had given way as he grasped it, and they also observed that the grass was trodden down in various places ; they thence concluded that as some one had climbed up, they might be able to ascend it themselves. Accordingly, at midnight a chosen party came to that place, and began to ascend in dead silence. They advanced slowly and cautiously ; no noise was made ; the Ro- mans, even the sentinels, were buried in sleep ; the watchful dogs heard no sound and gave no alarm. The foremost Gaul had reached the summit, when some geese that were kept at the temple of Juno, as sacred to the goddess, began to flutter and scream. The noise awoke a patrician named Manlius ; he started up, ran out, and seeing the Gaul, pushed him down the hill. The Gaul, falling on his com- rades, threw them also down, and the project thus miscarried. But the famine was now very great on the capitol, and the men had been obliged to eat the leather of their shields, and even the soles of their shoes. The Gauls, on their part, were anxious to go away ; and it was agreed that they should depart on receiving one thousand pounds weight of gold ; but when the gold was being weighed out, Brennus used false weights ; and when the Romans 222 TAKING OF ROME BY THE GAULS. complained, he flung his sword into the scale, crying, " Wo to the vanquished I" But just then Camillus, who had been appointed dic- tator, entered the forum at the head of his troops. He ordered the gold to be taken away ; the Gauls pleaded the treaty : he replied that it was not valid, being made without the knowledge of the dic- tator. From words they came to blows, and a battle was fought on the ruins of Rome. The Gauls were routed with great slaughter ; and in a second battle on the road to Gabii, the remainder of their army was cut to pieces, and Camillus led Brennus captive in his triumph. Camillus. CARTHAGE. HE Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, not only for their origin, but also for their man- ners, language, customs, laws, religion, and ap- plication to commerce. They spoke the same language as the Tyrians, and these the same as the Canaanites. If it were not the Hebrew, it was at least a language entirely derived from it, for many of the characters were Hebrew. The word Poeni, from which Punic is derived, is the same with Phoeni, or Phoenicians, because they came originally from Phoenicia. This accounts for the strict union which always subsisted between the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. When Cambyses had resolved to make war upon the latter, the Phoenicians, who formed the chief strength of his fleet, told him plainly, that they could not serve him against their countrymen ; and this declaration obliged that prince to lay aside his design. The Carthaginians were never forgetful of the country from whence they came, and to which they owed their origin. They sent regularly every year to Tyre a ship freighted with presents, as a quit-rent paid to their ancient country ; and its tutelary gods had an annual sacrifice offered to them by the Carthaginians, who considered them as their protectors. They sent thither the first-fruits of their revenues and a tithe of the spoils taken from their enemies, as offerings for Hercules, one of the principal gods of Tyre and Carthage ; and when Alexander was besieging Tyre, the Tyrians sent away their wives and children to Carthage, where they were received and entertained with kindness and generosity. It appears, from several passages in the history of Carthage, that 223 224 CARTHAGE. its generals began and ended all their enterprises with the worship of the gods. Hamilcar, father of the great Hannibal, before he entered Spain, offered up a sacrifice to the gods ; and his son, treading in his steps, before he left Spain and marched against Rome, went to Cadery, to pay the vows he had made to Hercules. This religious homage was not the ambition of particular persons only, but of the whole nation. Polybius has transmitted to us a treaty of peace concluded by Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon, and the Carthaginians, in which the respect and veneration of the latter for the deity, and their persuasion that the gods preside over human affairs, are strongly displayed. The government of Carthage was founded upon principles of con- summate wisdom. Aristotle ranks this republic among those held in the greatest esteem by the ancients. He remarks, that from its foun- dation to his time, (upwards of 500 years,) no considerable sedition had disturbed the peace, nor any tyrant oppressed the liberty of Car- thage. The government united three different authorities ; these authorities were that of the two supreme magistrates, called Suffetes, — that of the senate, — and that of the people. Then, afterward, the tribunal of One hundred, which had great influence on the republic. The power of the suffetes was only annual, and their authority in Carthage answered to that of consuls at Rome. The senate was com- posed of persons venerable for age, experience, birth, riches, or merit. When the votes were unanimous, the senate decided supremely, and there lay no appeal from it ; but when there was a division, the power of deciding devolved on the people. Tbe trade of Carthage was its predominant characteristic. The power, the conquests, the credit and glory of the Carthaginians, all flowed from their trade. Situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, and stretching their arms both eastward and westward, the extent of their commerce embraced the known world. From Egypt they brought fine flax, papyrus, corn, and sails and cables for ships ; from the coasts of the Red Sea, spices, frankincense, perfumes, gold, pearls, and pre- cious stones. From Tyre and Phoenicia, purple and scarlet, rich stuffs, costly furniture, and divers curious and artificial works. From the western world, for the commodities carried thither, they brought iron, tin, lead, and copper. They thus enriched themselves at the expense of all nations, and became for a time lords of the sea. The most con- siderable personages of the city were not ashamed to trade. They made settlements on the coast of Spain, and, some time after. New Carthage gave the Carthaginians an empire in that country almost equal to that which they enjoyed in Africa. CAKTHAGE. 225 The history of the Carthaginians, from the foundation of Carthage to its ruin, included about seven hundred years, and may be divided into two parts : the first extends to the Punic war ; the second, to the destruction of the state. Carthage, in Africa, was a colony from Tyre, the most renowned city for commerce in the world. Tyre had long before transplanted another colony into that country, which built Utica, made famous by the death of the second Cato, who for this reason is generally called Cato Uticensis. The foundation of Car- thage may be fixed about the year of the world 3158, when Joash was king of Judah ; seventy-nine years before the building of Rome, and eight hundred and forty-six before the birth of Christ. It is ascribed to Elisa, a Tyrian princess, better known by the name of Dido. Ithobal, or Ethbaal, king of Tyre, and father of the noted Jezebel, was her great-grandfather. She married her near relation, Acerbas, called also Sicharbas and Sichgeus, an extremely rich prince ; and Pygmalion, king of Tyre, was her brother. This prince having put Sichoeus to death, that he might possess his im- mense treasures. Dido eluded the cruel avarice of her brother by withdrawing secretly, with all her dead husband's possessions. She landed on the coast of Africa, on the gulf where Utica stood, and there settled with her followers, after having purchased some lands from the inhabitants of the country. Dido, welcomed by the natives of the country, was induced to build her city, which she named Car- thada, a name that, in the Phoenician or Hebrew tongue, signifies "new city." It is said that, while the foundations were digging, a horse's head was found, which was thought to be a good omen, and a presage of the future warlike genius of the people. The dominions of Carthage were not long confined to Africa. The inhabitants extended their conquests into Europe, by invading Sar- dinia, seizing a great part of Sicily, reducing almost all Spain, and, having sent powerful colonies everywhere, they enjoyed the empire of the seas for more than six hundred years ; and formed a state which was able to dispute pre-eminence with the greatest empires of the world, by their wealth, their commerce, their numerous armies, their formidable fleets, and, above all, by the courage and abilities of their captains. 15 FIRST PUNIC WAR. FTER Carthage had spread her dominion over a great part of Africa, it carried on a large and lucrative trade with various parts, such as Spain and Sicily. It was on account of their settlements and conquests in this last island, that the Carthaginians became in- volved in w'ar with the Romans. The wars between them are called Punic, because the Romans termed the Carthaginians Poeni, on account of their Phoenician origin. The following was the first occasion of war, (b. c. 264.) A Sicilian prince had in his pay a body of Italian soldiers : after his death they were disbanded, and they set out on their return to Italy ; but on their way they surprised the town of Messana, where they massacred the men, and divided the women, children, and property among them- selves. Being hard pressed by the Sicilians, who sought to punish them for their treachery, they looked abroad for aid ; and while part of them applied to Hanno, a Carthaginian admiral, and put the cita- del into his hands, others sent off to Rome imploring assistance on account of their Italian blood. The senate at Rome was in great perplexity, for they had lately most severely punished one of their own legions for the very crime of which these men had been guilty ; at the same time they wished to prevent the Carthaginians from getting Messana into their hands. Unable to come to a decision, they left the whole matter to the people, who, as usual, little troubled by scruples about justice or honour, voted at once that the required aid should be given. The Romans had as yet never crossed the sea, and their navy was 226 FIRST PUNIC WAR. 227 very insignificant ; it was therefore no easy matter for them to get their troops over to Sicily. As the strait, however, between it and Italy is narrow, the consul managed, by taking advantage of the night, to put his legions across, and he then defeated the Carthagi- nians, and the Romans soon became masters of a great part of the island ; but they could not venture to meet their rivals on the sea, and the Carthaginians therefore ravaged the coast of Italy at their pleasure. The Romans, who were never daunted by difficulties, were resolved to have a fleet ; but unless they could build ships of equal size with those of the enemy, they had little chance of success, and for this they had no model. Fortune here, however, stood their friend as usual : a Carthaginian ship of war happened to be cast away on the coast of Italy, and Avith this for a model, in the space of sixty days from the time that the timber for them was cut, they had a fleet of one hundred and thirty ships afloat. As the ancient ships of war were what are called galleys, that is, vessels impelled by oars, the Romans caused those whom they intend- ed for rowers to practise their art seated on benches erected on the land, while the ships were in preparation ; and by the time they were completed, the rowers were able to handle their oars with some dex- terity. Still, aware of their own inferiority as sailors, they deemed 228 FIRST PUNIC WAR. some other expedient needful, and they devised a grappling engine of the following kind : In the forepart of each ship they set up a mast four-and-twenty feet high, with a pulley-wheel at its top ; they then made what may be called a ladder, six-and-thirty feet long and four broad, which had a hole at about a third of its length, through which the mast passed ; at its further extremity was an iron ring, from which a rope w^ent through the pulley at the top of the mast, by which the ladder might be raised or lowered. The ladder had also at its end a long iron spike, and it was boarded on each side to the height of a man's knee. This machine was called a corvus, or crow, and it was to be used in the following manner : when one of the Roman ships got close to one of the enemy's, she was to let her crow fall on the enemy's deck, which the spike would enter, and thus hold her fast. The Roman soldiers then, holding their shields before or beside them, and having their legs protected by the side-boards of the ladder, would pass along it, and thus board the enemy's ship. When all was prepared, the consul Duillius put to sea. The Car- thaginians were at first surprised by the uncouth appearance which the Roman ships presented with their odd-looking crows ; but they did not hesitate, notwithstanding, to attack them. The result was, however, quite contrary to their expectation, for every ship that the crows caught was taken, and they were finally defeated with great loss. This first naval victory caused immense joy at Rome ; the consul Duillius triumphed for it, and he was permitted, for the rest of his life, to have a torch-bearer and a flute-player to go before him at night Avhen he was returning home from supper anyAvhere, (b. c. 260.) The Romans now resolved, instead of confining the contest to Sicily, to invade Africa and attack Carthage itself. They therefore assembled a large fleet, carrying forty thousand soldiers, besides the sailors and rowers, and it set sail for Africa in four squadrons, under the command of the consuls Regulus and Manilas, in the following order : The two ships of the consuls sailed side by side ; each was followed by a squad- ron sailing in a single line, each ship keeping further out to sea than the one before it, thus forming the two sides of a triangle ; the ships of the third squadron, sailing abreast, formed the base or remaining side of the triangle ; and the fourth squadron brought up the rear, sailing in a line parallel to the third. A large Punic fleet attacked it on its passage, and destroyed four-and-twenty of the ships, but it was beaten off with considerable loss. The Romans found it neces- sary to return to Sicily to repair, and to refresh their crews ; and when they again put to sea, the enemy did not venture to meet them, and the troops were landed at no great distance from Carthage. FIRST PUNIC WAR. 231 The Carthaginians were, as we have already observed, greatly devoted to trade, and -where that is the case, it will always be found that agriculture is carried to a high degree of perfection, and that the land in particular adjoining to the towns, where the wealthy mer- chants reside, is cultivated like a garden. So it is in England and Holland, and so it was at Carthage. The whole country, from the place where the Romans landed to the capital, was one garden, full of corn, cattle, vines, figs, fruit of all kinds, and covered all over with the elegant country-seats of the opulent citizens of Carthage. In a few days the Romans, who thought only of plunder and devastation, had turned the whole of this lovely region into a desert, and the Car- thaginians, having no regular troops, did not venture to defend their property. After a duration of twenty-four years, the first Punic war was ter- minated by a naval victory gained by the Romans. The consul Luta- tius, having put to sea with a fleet of two hundred ships, blockaded one of the Punic towns on the coast of Sicily. The Carthaginians immediately got ready all their ships of war, and lading them with corn and other stores, directed their admiral, Hanno, to sail over to Sicily, where Hamilcar, their ablest general, then was, and, having landed the stores, to take Hamilcar and his best troops on board, and then to engage the Romans. Hanno sailed straight to the ^gatian isles, off Cape Lilyboeum, in Sicily, and Lutatius, who was not far off, and who seems to have learned the plan of the Carthaginians, resolved to give him battle at once. Accordingly, next morning, though the sea was rough and the wind favourable to the enemy, he put to sea, and succeeded in bringing on an engagement. As the Punic ships were heavily laden, and they had not Hamilcar's troops on board, they were totally unable to contend with those of the Romans, and the con- sequence was a total defeat. The resources of Carthage were now quite exhausted, and she was forced to sue for peace, which was granted on the conditions of her giving up all claim to Sicily, and paying the Romans a large sum of money. Hannibal. SECOND AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. HE siege and conquest of Saguntum, a city in alliance with the Romans, gave birth to the second Punic war. Hannibal, already famous for his brilliant success in Spain, who had from his infancy been taught to regard the Romans with detestation, and had taken an oath of eternal enmity against them, advanced towards Italy at the head of an army ; crossed the Rhone ; traversed the Alps in the midst of ■winter ; defeated Scipio on the banks of the Vesin ; was conqueror at Trebia, Thrasymenus, and Cannoe ; and filled Rome itself Vvith alarm. The pleasures of Capua, it is said, where he had the impru- dence to winter, saved Rome from destruction. It gave the Romans time to recover from the consternation which his rapid progress had occasioned ; they collected all their force, and rose more terrible than i!32 SECOND AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. 233 The oath of Hannihal ever, by their constancy, their discipline, their courage, and their policy. Their numerous victories astonished Spain and Sicily. They declared war against Philip, the ally of Carthage ; took Syracuse, Agrigentum, and Capua ; defeated Asdrubal ; and all Spain submitted to the younger Scipio. This general Avent into Africa, and, by his successes, obliged Hannibal to quit Europe, and return home. The interview between these two great generals hastened the battle of Zama, where every manoeuvre in the art of war was displayed. Scipio was the conqueror, and the Roman senate dictated the conditions of peace. This victory augmented the already immoderate ambition of Rome, which threatened with slavery the whole of the then known world. Hannibal, after having passed some time at the court of Antiochus, king of Syria, whom he had engaged to declare war against the Ro- mans, returned to Bithynia ; but fearing that he should be delivered up to his inveterate enemy, he put an end to his existence by poison. The war with Philip, king of Macedon, and afterwards with Perseus, his son, was a remarkable epoch. Philip, after having suffered great loss, made peace with the Romans ; but Perseus, with a view of reco- vering back what his father had lost, renewed a war which deprived him both of his liberty and life, and reduced his kingdom to a Roman province. Antiochus, king of Syria, who had declared war against 234 SECOND AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. The death, of Hannibal. the Romans in compliance witli the wishes of Hannibal, was likewise obliged, in order to obtain peace, to cede all the country he possessed on the western side of Mount Taurus. The Romans beheld with pain the existence of Carthage, and eagerly sought an occasion to commence hostilities. An opportunity soon pre- sented itself. The Carthaginians being at Avar with Massinissa, king of Numidia, the Romans armed in his favour, and sent a strong force against Carthage itself. The Carthaginians defended themselves cou- rageously ; but the Roman commander, Publius Cornelius Scipio, becoming master of it, reduced it to ashes, and carried with him its riches to Rome. Thus ended the third Punic war ; and thus fell Car- thage, the ancient and powerful rival of Rome, b. c. 147. Scipio Africanus. SIEGE OF NUMANTIA. B.C. 133. CIPIO AFRICANUS, who received his second name from his great campaign, which terminated in the destruction of Carthage, was the Roman general who conducted the famous siege of Numantia in Spain. Numantia was strong by nature, being built on a hill, which was nearly surrounded by the river Douro and another stream, and though it con- tained only eight thousand fighting men, they were all first-rate soldiers. The consequence was, that for many years the Romans were able to efi"ect nothing against them, and on one occasion a Roman army of twenty thousand men only escaped destruction by its general concluding an honourable peace with the Numantines. But the senate, acting as usual, refused to ratify the peace, and as in the similar case at the Caudine Forks, they ordered the general to be delivered up to the Numantines. These, like Pontius, refused to receive him, and thus to release the Romans from the guilt of breach of faith. 235 236 SIEGE OF NUMANTIA. Siege of Numantia. It was now resolved to commit the conduct of tlie Numantine war to Scipio Africanus, and for that purpose he was made consul a second time. When he came to Spain he found the troops in the same state as he had found the army in Africa some years before. He forthwith gave orders for all needless and improper persons to quit the camp ; he directed that all the superfluous wagons and beasts of burden should be sold ; forbade the soldiers to use any food but plain boiled and roast meat, and made them sleep on the ground, him- self setting them the example. He made them march and counter- march, dig trenches and fill them up again, build walls and throw them down, and when he had thus brought the army into an efficient state, he formed two camps close to Numantia, his intention being to starve the town into a surrender. He would, therefore, give the Nu- mantines no opportunity of fighting ; and he raised ramparts and tow- ers on all sides of the town except where it was washed by the Douro. To prevent provisions or information being brought in by boats or divers, he placed guards on the river above and below the town ; and he let long beams of timber, in which wxre fastened swords and darts, and attached by ropes to the shore, float along the stream, which, being very rapid, kept whirling them round and round, so that nothing could pass. SIEGE OF NUMANTIA. 237 The brave Numanties made several fruitless attacks on the works of the Romans. At length, when famine began to be felt, and they were quite hopeless of relief, they sent offering to surrender if they could obtain moderate terms. Scipio insisted on unconditional sur- render, and to this they would not yet submit. But the famine grew sorer every day, and they ate leather and various nauseous substances, and even, it is said, began to feed on human flesh. They then, at last, according to one account, surrendered at discretion, while another says that they burned all their arms and property, and then destroyed themselves, and that Scipio took only the empty town. ifaM^M^a^^ls-^^a^S ADVENTURES OF MARIUS. [NHEARD of atrocities were practised during the civil wars between Sulla and Marius. They commenced on the occasion of the Social War. It was named the Social War, because it was carried on by the allies (in Latin Socii) against the Romans. The cause of it was the refusal to grant them the rights of citizenship, which had been promised them by Gracchus. It lasted for two years, and, after costing an immensity of blood, was ended by granting them all that they sought. Sulla distinguished himself so much in the Social War, that he was made consul, and appointed to conduct the war in Asia, where a powerful monarch, named Mithridates, had caused eighty thousand Romans to be massacred, and seemed resolved to drive the Romans out of Asia. But Marius, who had been already six times consul, and was now advanced in years, was jealous of Sulla, and anxious to get the command for himself; and by means of a tribune named Sulpicius, he got the people to transfer to him the task of conducting the Mith- ridatic war. 238 ADVENTURES OF MARIUS. 239 When Sulla, who was at Capua, informed his troops of what had occurred, they became furious, and insisted on his leading them to Rome. He entered the city at their head. Marius and Sulpicius, unable to resist him, were forced to fly, and Sulla remained absolute master of the city, being the first Roman who ha(J ever entered it at the head of an army. Sulpicius was betrayed by one of his slaves, and was immediately put to death ; Marius escaped to Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, where one of his friends had provided a ship for him. He got on board, but a storm soon after obliged him to land on another part of the coast ; and while he and his companions were wandering about, some herdsmen, who knew him, informed him that a party of horse was there in quest of him. They concealed themselves in a wood, where they passed the night without food. Next morning they con- tinued their flight along the coast, when, happening to look round, they saw some horsemen pursuing them ; they instantly hastened and got on board of two vessels that were luckily lying close to the shore ; the horsemen came and required the mariners to give up Marius, but they were moved by his entreaties, and sailed away. Afterward, reflecting on the risk they ran, they persuaded him to land at the mouth of the river Liris to get food and repose ; and while he was taking a sleep in the grass they departed, leaving him to his fate. On awaking, Marius rambled about the marshes till he came to the solitary hut of an old man, whose compassion he implored. The old man led him away into the marsh, and, making him lie down in a hollow spot, covered him with sedge and rushes. He then left him ; and soon after Marius heard at the hut the voices of those who were in pursuit of him. Fearing that the old man would betray him, he stripped himself and went and stood up to his neck in the mud and water of the marsh ; but he was discovered there, and dragged, naked as he was, to the nearest town. He was there placed in confinement ; and the magistrates of the place, having consulted, resolved to put him to death. They sent a Cimbrian slave to despatch him. The Cim- brian, when he approached the spot where Marius was lying in a dark room, was daunted by the fiery glare of the old warrior's eyes ; and when he rose and cried with a tremendous voice, " Dost thou dare to slay Caius Marius?" he rushed out, crying, "I cannot kill Caius Marius." The magistrates then resolved not to have his blood on their heads ; and they put him on board a vessel, in which he passed over to Africa. He landed at Carthage, but the governor of the pro- vince sent, ordering him to depart. He sat in silence, looking sternly at the messenger ; and, on his asking what answer he should make to 240 ADVENTUKES OF MARIUS. the governor, he groaned and said, " Tell him you saw Caius Marius sitting an exile amid the ruins of Carthage." He then retired to an island in the neighbourhood, (b. c. 88.) After this, Marius was recalled to Rome by the consul Cinna. The city was captured %j their faction, and the friends of Sulla being pro- scribed, Marius revenged his past distresses by causing rivers of blood to flow in the city. Marius, at the end of the year, was made consul for the seventh time ; but he died in the first month, while brooding over new projects of bloodshed and atrocity, happy in thus escaping the vengeance of Sulla. Atrium of the House of Pans at I'ouipeii. CATILINE'S CONSPIRACY. B. c. 63. ATILINA, or, as we commonly call him Catiline, "who was the murderer of his own brother in the time of Sulla, was a man of the most abandoned charac- ter. He is also charged with taking away the life of his own son, and with various other enormities. His circumstances were desperate, and he saw no remedy for them but in a renewal of the scenes of bloodshed and robbery in which he had borne his part in the days of Sulla. With this view he entered into a conspiracy with some other men of rank and birth, whose aifairs were in the same state as his own. They were to exert all their influence to have him made consul, and he was then to act as Sulla had done. It is said that they bound themselves by a dreadful oath, drinking wine with which human blood was mingled. Among the conspirators was a man named Curius, who was engaged in a love affair with a lady named Fulvia. He had been rather slighted by her of late, because he was not able to make her presents on ac- count of his poverty ; but now his tone became quite altered : he would behave to her with the greatest insolence, and boast of the great wealth of which he would soon be possessed. She was curious to know what could have caused this change, and she never ceased till she had drawn 16 241 242 CATILINE'S CONSPIRACY. the secret from him ; she then told her friends what she had learned, but without naming her author. The nobility, finding that there existed a plot for their destruction, grew seriously alarmed. Hitherto they had opposed Cicero the great orator in his suit for the consulship, because he was not one of their order ; but now, aware that he was the only man able to baffle Catiline, they gave him their interest, and he was elected and Catiline rejected. Cicero soon, by means of Fulvia, gained over Curius, and he was thus informed of all the plans of the conspirators. After some time, Catiline, finding all his projects frustrated by the vigilance of the consul, left Rome and went to join an army which he had caused to be assembled in Tuscany. When going, he charged his confederates, Lentulus, Cethegus, and others, to gain over as many persons as they could, to murder Cicero and other men of rank, and to set fire to the city in different parts, and then to break out and join him and his army. There happened to be ambassadors at Rome from a people in Gaul named the Aliobroges, and Lentulus, thinking it would be of advantage to gain over this people, who could supply them witli troops, caused application to be made to them. They at first readily agreed ; but on thinking more coolly of the matter, they went and told it to one of the senators. lie informed Cicero, by whose directions they pre- tended a great zeal for the plot, in order to get all the information they could. Cicero also directed them to require a letter to their na- tion, with the seals of the principal conspirators. AVhen they had gotten all they had required, they set out at night on their return home. At a bridge over the Tiber, a few miles above Rome, they were fallen on and seized by the troops which Cicero had placed there in ambush. They were brought back and led before the senate, where they told all they knew, and the conspirators who had been arrested were forced to acknowledge their seals. Lentulus, who was actually prretor at the time, was made to lay down his oflice, and all were given into custody to different senators. A few days after, when it appeared that Lentulus and Cethegus were exerting them- selves to induce the slaves and the rabble to rise and rescue them, Cicero laid the matter before the senate, and it was resolved that they should be executed as traitors. That very evening Cicero conducted Lentulus, Cethegus, and three others to the public prison, and caused them to be strangled. Cicero's colleague Antonius led an army against Catiline, and the rebel and his men fell fighting with a valour worthy of a better cause. THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE.— CJESAR IN GAUL AND BRITAIN. •\r>'. HERE were at this time in Rome three eminent /men : namely, Pompey, a popular general ; Cras- sus, the conqueror of Spartacus and the richest man in Italy; and Julius Ciesar, who in talents 1 far exceeded all others, but whose ambition nothing [ could satisfy but the dominion over the whole Ro- 'man empire. Csesar, being consul, proposed to Pompey and Crassus that they three should enter into a secret league for their mutual advantage, and thus contrive to govern the state without its being known. They agreed, not perceiving that he in- tended them to be nothing more than his tools, and their association was named a triumvirate, as they were three in number. To strength- en their union, Ceesar gave his daughter Julia, a most amiable and beautiful young lady, in marriage to Pompey, though he was an older man than himself; yet Julia loved him most devotedly, for Pompey was the kindest and most affectionate of husbands. After the expiration of his consulship, Csesar obtained the govern- ment of the Roman province in Gaul, and in the course of eight or nine years he conquered the whole of that country. He crossed the Rhine and invaded Germany, and he even ventured to land his legions in the isle of Britain, which the Romans considered as lying without the limits of the habitable world. Ceesar embarked at midnight at the place now called Boulogne, and at nine next morning he reached Dover ; but as the cliffs were guarded by Britons, he sailed on to Deal, where he landed in the evening. He did not advance far into the country ; but the next year he returned, and having defeated the Britons, he crossed the Thames near Hampton Court, and advanced into Middlesex and took the chief town of the people named the Trino- bantians ; but his affairs did not permit hipa to remain in Britain, and his conquest of it therefore was merely nominal. While Csesar was engaged in the conquest of Gaul, Crassus was urged by his avarice to attempt the conquest of the East, in which he was defeated and lost his life. 243 Julius Csesar. WAR BETWEEN POMPEY AND C^SAR. B. c. 49. HE death of Crassus put an end to the triumvirate ; Julia was also dead, and there remained nothing to check the ambition of Pompey and Coesar, of whom the former could not bear an equal, nor the latter a superior. Coesar was now at the head of a veteran army, trained in the Gallic wars, and entirely devoted to him ; and he refused to disband it unless he were made consul again : to this the senate and Pompey refused to consent, and he resolved to appeal to arms. From the time that the Gauls had crossed the Alps and made them- selves masters of the north of Italy, that country had been named Gaul. It was called Cisalpine Gaul, that is, Gaul on this side of the Alps, to distinguish it from the original Gaul beyond those mountains. The boundary between it and Italy, properly so called, was a stream named the Rubicon, and any general who passed the Rubicon in arms was held to be an enemy to his country. CoDsar was at Ravenna, in Cisalpine Gaul, when he heard of the proceedings against him at Rome. He assembled his soldiers and made his complaint to them ; 2U WAR BETWEEN POMPEY AND CiESAR. 247 Coesar crossing the Eubicon. they assured him of their fidelity, and he sent them on toward Italy. As for himself he passed the day in viewing the exercises of the gla- diators, and in the evening he sat down to dinner as usual. When it grew dark he rose and went out, telling the company that he would return presently ; but he mounted a hired horse, and set off after his troops. On coming to the Rubicon he halted, and pondered on the consequences of the step he was about to take. After consulting some time with his friends, he cried, " Let the die be cast !" and he crossed the bridge. His troops followed, and he took possession of the town of Rimini. The towns and troops everywhere submitted to Caesar. Pompey, who, in his self-confidence, had said that wherever he should stamp with his foot legions would rise up, found himself wofully deceived in his expectations ; and he was obliged to quit Italy and pass over to Greece, in the hope of being able to carry on the war with the aid of the princes of the East. Caesar then resolved to proceed to Spain, where Pompey's lieutenants, Afranius and Petreius, were at the head of an army. He previously went to Rome, where he seized all the money that was in the treasury. In this act he was opposed by one 248 WAR BETWEEN POMPEY AND CiESAR. of the tribunes ; but he laid his hand on his sword, and threatened to kill him ; and "know, young man," added he, " that this is easier to do than to say." In Spain he found Afranius and Petreius encamped on an eminence between two rivers, at the modern city of Lerida. After a variety of actions and manoeuvres, they found it necessary to quit that position, and march for the river Ebro ; but Ctesar, by his celerity, got between them and that river, and forced them to encamp on a hill, round which he drew lines, and cut them off from water and forage, so that at last they were obliged to surrender. He only required them to disband their troops and quit Spain, and he himself returned to Rome, where he was made dictator. Csesar now prepared to follow Pompey to Greece. Though the latter had a great fleet in the Adriatic Sea, Ciesar, whose shipping was but trifling, contrived to get across, with a part of his troops, to Epirus, and he then sent the ships back for the remainder. But Pompey's commanders were now on the alert, and they could not venture to stir. Cnssar then resolved to run all risks, and go himself to fetch them. One night he disguised himself as a slave, and em- barked in a fishing-boat on the river near his camp ; but, when the boat had reached the mouth of the river, the sea proved so rough and stormy, that the boatmen, after making an attempt to go out, put back. Coesar then discovered himself to the master, saying, <« Why dost thou WAR BETWEEN POMPEY AND C^SAR. 249 Battle of Tharsalia. fear ? thou carriest Cassar !" They then made another attempt, but the storm was so great, that he was obliged to let them return. The troops, however, soon got over and joined him. Porapey, who had arrived with his army to oppose him, having gained the advantage in an action which occurred, Cassar resolved to quit the coast, and he set out for Thessaly, followed closely by Pompey. They both entered that country about the same time, and they encamped opposite each other, near the town of Pharsalia. Pompey's infantry, without reckoning the light troops, was double that of CcTssar in number, and his cavalry was seven times as nume- rous as his ; but Cassar's men were veterans, while Pompey's were mostly recruits. Aware of the inferiority of his troops in quality, Pompey wished to avoid an action ; but he w^as not, like his rival, a free agent, for he was controlled by the senators, who were in his camp, and who, confident of victory, insisted on his giving battle. Caesar, weary of delay, was one day preparing to decamp, when, to his surprise and joy, he saw Pompey's army drawn up in battle array at the foot of the hill on which their camp lay. As it was on his cavalry that Pompey chiefly relied, Caesar mixed some of his most active foot-soldiers through his own cavalry, and he placed a part of his troops in reserve, with directions to fall on the enemy's horse when they should see them engaged, and to be sure to strike at their faces. This stratagem succeeded: the handsome young horsemen, more solicitous about their beauty than about their honour and repu- 250 WAR BETWEEN POMPEY AND CESAR. tation, turned and fled ; and then these troops falling on the rear of Pompey's left wing, where were his best troops, and where he himself commanded, threw them into confusion, and they fled to their camp. Pompej, seeing the battle lost, retired to his tent ; and when lie found that Cresar was attacking his camp, he mounted his horse, and left it with about thirty followers. When Ctesar took the camp, he found the tents of the principal men hung with ivy, with fresh turfs cut for seats, tables covered with phitc, and all the preparations for celebrating a victory. In the battle he had cried out to his soldiers to spare the blood of their fellow-citizens, but, notwithstanding, a great number were slain. All the remainder surrendered, and most of them entered his service. DEATH OF POMPEY. OMPEY rode without halting till he reached the romantic vale of Tempo, through which the river Peneus leaves Thessaly, and dis- charges its waters into the sea. At the mouth of that river he found a merchant- ship, in which he embarked, and sailed to the isle of Lesbos, where he had left his wife Cornelia. Having taken her on board, he proceeded to the isle of Cyprus, where he consulted with his friends as to whether he had better seek an asylum with the king of the Parthians, or go to Africa, where Juba, king of Numidia, was in arms against Caesar, or repair to the young king of Egypt, whose father he had restored to his throne. This last course was the one fixed on, and they made sail for Egypt. On approaching the coast, they saw an army encamped there, headed by the king himself, who was at war with his sister Cleopatra. When Pompey sent to implore his protection, his ministers held a consultation as to what were best to be done, and the conclusion to "which they came was, that it would be most for their own interest, 251 252 DEATH OF POMPEY. and that of their king, to put him to death, and thus recommend themselves to the favour of Ctesar. They accordingly sent Achilles, a captain of the guard, with a Roman officer named Septimius, and some others, in a small boat to invite him to enter it and land, as the shore was too oozy and shallow to allow a ship to approach it. He consented, and, followed by two officers and two attendants, having embraced Cornelia, he entered the boat, and then turning round, repeated two verses of the tragic poet Sophocles. They went on for some time in silence ; at length Pompey, turning to Septimius, said, " If I mistake not, you and I have been fellow-soldiers," lie nodded assent ; the silence was resumed, and Pompey began to read over what he had prepared to say to the king. When they reached the shore, several of the royal officers were seen coming down to receive him ; he took hold of his freedman's arm to rise from his seat. As he was rising, Septimius stabbed him in the back ; Achilles and another then struck him ; he drew his mantle before his face, groaned, and died in silence. A loud cry rose in his ship, which then fled, followed by some of the Egyptian vessels. Pompey's head was cut oflF and kept as an offering for Ccfisar ; his trunk Avas thrown on the beach, where his faithful freedman stayed by it, and having washed it in the sea, prepared a pile to burn it from the wreck of a fishing-boat. While he was thus engaged, an old Roman, who had served under Pompey, came up and joined him in his pious office, saying, " that the honour of assisting at the funeral of Rome's greatest general compensated him in some measure for the evils of an abode in a foreign land." DEATH OF C^SAR. ^SAR triumphed on his return to Rome to the grief of the people, for it was the first triumph ever cele- brated for a victory gained over Roman citizens. He then began to prepare for making war on the Parthians, that, like Alexander the Great, he might become the conqueror of the East. But not content to be the abso- lute master of the Roman world, he coveted the title as well as the power of a king, and he tried in various ways to obtain it from the people. Thus, one day, some one placed a diadem and a crown of laurel on one of his statues ; two of the tribunes, however, put the man into prison, at which the people expressed their joy. Cffisar then commended the tribunes, but he took care soon after to deprive them of their oflEice. Another time, as he Avas returning to Rome from the Alban Mount, some voices in the crowd called him king ; but seeing that the people were not pleased, he said aloud, " I am Caesar, not king." But the great attempt was reserved for the 253 254 DEATH OF C/ESAR. time of the Lupcrcalia, a festival which took place in the month of February, in which it was the custom for the Luperci, as the members of that religious association were named, to run nearly naked all through the city, slashing those Avhom they met with thongs made of goatskin. On that day Marcus Antonius, (or, as he is vulgarly called, Mark Antony,) Cesar's colleague in the consulship, being one of the Luperci, ran up to him as he was sitting in state in the forum, and placed a diadem on his head. A few hired voices in the crowd ap- plauded ; Cffisar rejected it, and a general shout of approbation was raised ; Antony again offered the diadem. Csesar again put it aside, and the multitude shouted as before. Cffisar then seeing that the pro- ject would not succeed, ordered the diadem to be placed on the statue of Jupiter, as being the only king of the Romans. It would seem to have been this desire for the royal title that cost CiBsar his life. The Romans had an hereditary hatred of the title of king, and in the old times there v.-as no surer way to destroy a man than to charge him with aiming at it ; there was also an ancient law authorizing any one who pleased to kill the man who should attempt DEATH OF C^SAK. 255 Death of Caesar. to make himself a king. A conspiracy, therefore, was formed against Cresar, in "which not less than sixty persons were engaged, mostly all his own friends, who, though they willingly aided in making him the real master of his country, could not endure that he should bear the title of King of the Romans. But the two principal conspirators were Brutus and Cassius, whom, though they had fought on the side of Pompey against him, Caesar had forgiven and had treated with so much favour, that they were both of them at the time prcetors at Rome. Brutus was the nephew of Cato, to whose daughter Porcia lie was married. Cassius had acted under Crassus in his unfortunate war against the Parthians. The day fixed on for performing the deed was the Ides (that is, the 15th) of March, when the senate was to be held in the senate-house which Pompey had^built in the Field of Mars. It is said that Caesar got warning, but that he replied he had lived long enough, and that he would sooner die at once by treachery than live in constant appre- hension of it. It is also said that a soothsayer named Spurinna had •warned him to beware of the Ides of March. The fatal day came. Brutus and Cassius in the morning took their seats in the forum to administer justice as usual ; they had their dag- gers concealed beneath their mantles. The senate assembled, but 256 DEATH OF CiESAR. Caesar did not appear, for he had been rather unwell, and as his wife had had what she deemed ominous dreams, to gratify her he was think- ing of not going to the senate that day. But Decimus Brutus, one of the conspirators, came to him, and, deriding such fancies, induced him to ascend his litter and set out. As they proceeded Spurinna met them. "Well," said Csesar, "the Ides of March are come." " Yes," replied he ; " but they are not past." A Greek philosopher then met him, and handing him a paper containing a full account of the plot, bade him read it immediately ; but he took no heed, and went into the senate-house with the paper unopened in his hand. When he took his seat the conspirators gathered round him ; one of them began to plead for the pardon of his brother who was in exile ; the others joined in the suit; C?esar appeared annoyed at their importu- nity ; one of them then gave the appointed signal by laying hold on his mantle and pulUng it oiF his shoulder. "This is violence," cried C«3sar. Another then drew his dagger and stabbed him under the throat ; he rose and rushed forward, but another and another dagger struck him ; then thinking only of dying with dignity, he drew his mantle around him, and fell, pierced by three-and-twenty wounds, at the foot of Pompey's statue. Brutus was then going to address the senators, but they fled out of the house in dismay. CiESAR'S FUNERAL. S it was uncertain how the people might act, the con- spirators retired to the Capitol. The body of Cassar was left lying in the senate-house till three of his slaves placed it in the litter and carried it home. After some time, Antony, as consul, assembled the senate, and Cicero proposed an amnesty or act of oblivion, which was agreed to, and the conspirators came down from the Capitol. It was also agreed that Csesar should have a public funeral. When Csesar's will was opened, it was found that he had left a sum of money to each individual citizen, and had bequeathed to their use in general his gardens on the banks of the Tiber. The minds of the people being favourably disposed by this intelligence, the funeral took place. A small temple adorned with gold was erected in the forum in front of the rostra, in which Csesar's body was placed, lying on an ivory couch. The mantle which he had on when slain was hung over it. Antony, who was to deliver the funeral oration, ascended the rostra. Having directed the decrees made by the senate in Caesar's honour, and the oaths they had taken to defend his life at the hazard of their own, to be read, he proceeded to address the people on the conduct of the senate, and, it is said, by pointing to the blood- 17 257 258 C^SAR S FUNERAL. stained mantle, and by enumerating Caesar's benefits to themselves, excited them to avenge his death. As the body was to be burnt in the Field of Mars, the magistrates and those who had borne office under Ccesar advanced to take it up to convey it thither, but the multi- tude would not suffer them, some crying that it should be burnt in the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, others in the senate-house where he was slain. Suddenly two armed soldiers advanced bearing lighted torches, and set fire to the bier. The crowd then broke up the seats and threw on every thing else that came to hand to feed the flame ; the musicians and pla^^ers flung their dresses, the veterans their arms, the women their own and their children's ornaments on the pile, and thus was tlie body of the mighty Caesar consumed. A Triumphal Chariot. THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. HE conspirators now found it necessary to leave !|\\ the city. Antony, who had obtained possession of CjBsar's papers and money, did as he pleased, till Caesar's nephew and adopted son and heir, the young Octavius, came to Rome to claim his inhe- ritance. His uncle's veterans supported him, and the senate united with him in the hope of destroy- ing Antony. Finding Cj»sar, as we shall henceforth call Octavius, too strong for him, Antony quitted Rome and went with his troops to Cisalpine Gaul, where he besieged Decimus Brutus, the goveAor of tliat province, in the town of Mutina, (now called Modena.) Cresar and the two consuls, Ilirtius and Pansa, marched to the relief of Brutus, and they defeated Antony, and forced him to fly beyond the Alps. Hirtius and Pansa were, however, both slain, and the sole com- mand rem.ained with Caesar. Cffisar, it is said, claimed the honour of a triumph ; but it was refused by the senate. He then, though not twenty years of age, demanded the consulship, for which the legitimate age was forty-three! For this purpose he sent a deputation of his officers to Rome, and when the senate demurred, one of them threw back his cloak, and, showing the hilt of his sword, said, " This will make him if you will not." Caesar himself soon arrived, and he and his cousin Pedius were made the consuls. He forthwith caused a law to be passed for bring- ing to trial all that were concerned in his uncle's death. 259 260 THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. Antony had joined Lepidus, (b. c. 43,) who commanded in Gaul, and they sent secretly to Caesar proposing a union against the repub- lican party, by which they would be able to draw all the power of the state to themselves. He lent a willing ear to their proposals, and as they had now recrossed the Alps, he set out to give them the required meeting in the neighbourhood of the modern city of Bologna. The appointed place of interview was a small island in a river, within view of which each encamped, Csesar on the one side, Antony and Lepidus on the other side of the stream. Lepidus first entered the island alone to examine it, and, on his giving the signal that all was safe, the others advanced and passed over from the opposite banks by bridges, the guard of each of which was committed to three hundred men. They first searched each other to see that they had no concealed weapons about them, and then sat in conference for three days. They agreed THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. 261 that under the title of Triumvirs thej should jointly hold the supreme power for five years, and appoint to all public offices ; that Ctesar and Antony should prosecute the war against Brutus and Cassius, and that, at the end of the war, eighteen of the best towns in Italy, with their lands, should be taken from their owners and given to the soldiers. They then, like Sulla, proceeded to draw up a proscription list containing the names of a great number of senators and knights distinguished for their political opinions or for their wealth, in which list were included the brother of Lepidus and the uncle of Antony. They immediately sent off some soldiers to murder seventeen of the most obnoxious persons in the list, and the tumult made by them in searching after these unhappy persons threw the city into such con- sternation, that the consul Pedius died in consequence of the exertions he found it necessary to make in order to quiet the alarm of the people. Augustus Csesar. BATTLE OF PHILIPPI— ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. jHEN the triumvirs had satiated themselves with blood and robbery, Antony and Cresar passed over with an army to Macedonia t» engage Brutus and Cassius, who were at the head of a considerable force in that coun- try, having collected men and money in Asia. It is said, that as Brutus, previous to their passage over into Europe, was sitting up late one night reading in his tent, he beheld a strange and terrific-looking figure standing beside him. He asked who it was, and for what purpose it had come. The phantom replied, " I am thy evil genius ; thou wilt see me at Philippi." " I shall see thee, then," said Brutus, calmly, and the figure vanished. The two armies met near the town of Philippi. As the advantage in point of position was on the side of the republicans, Cassius, who was a good general, wished to avoid an engagement, but he was obliged to yield to the impatience of his troops. In the action which ensued, Antony defeated Cassius and took his camp, while Brutus routed Caesar's troops and took their camp. Cassius, who had retired to an eminence, seeing a body of horsemen coming toward him, sent one of his friends to ascertain who they were ; and observing that they re- 262 BATTLE OF PHILIPPI, 265 ceived his messenger among them, and still continued to advance, while, being short-sighted, he could not ascertain whether they were friends or enemies, he took them for the last, and, withdrawing into a lonely hut, he made a faithful freedman strike off his head. When the horsemen who had been sent by Brutus came up, his friend who was with them slew himself; and Brutus, arriving soon after, wept over him, calling him the last of the Romans. In about three weeks after, Brutus was obliged by his troops to give the triumvirs battle again ; though his men fought with desperation, he was defeated. He took shelter for the night under a rock in a valley with his friends, where he passed the hours enumerating and lamenting over those that had fallen. Toward morning he tried to prevail on some of those who were with him to kill him, but they all refused. After some time he retired with two or three of his friends, and one of them having consented to hold his sword for him, he threw himself on it and died. The victory at Philippi ended the war, and the only concern of the trmmvirs now was to provide the means of rewarding their soldiers ; accordingly, while Caesar returned to Italy to plunder innocent people of their houses and lands for these military ruffians, Antony proceeded to Asia to rob the people there of their money for them, and also to obtain the means of gratifying his own appetites ; and the sums which he extorted from the unfortunate people were enormous. When he was at Tarsus, in Cilicia, he summoned Cleopatra to his presence. She was now sole ruler of Egypt, having murdered her 266 BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. jjati^a s Toyag' the CvJnus. brother ; but it was not on account of that crime that he summoned her : it was for not having aided the triumvirs in the hate war. She came ; at the mouth of the river Cydnus she entered a barge, the poop of which was adorned with gold, and its sails were purple ; the oars were set with silver, and the rowers kept time to the sound of flutes and lyres. The queen, dressed like the goddess Venus, reclined be- neath an umbrella embroidered with gold, while boys, adorned like Cupids, stood fanning her ; her female attendants were around her in the habits of the graces and the nereides or sea-nymphs, and costly spices and perfumes were burnt before her. When the news of her approach reached Tarsus, all the people of the city crowded to behold her, and Antony was left sitting alone on his tribunal in the market- place. He sent to invite the queen to supper, but she insisted on his coming to sup with her, and the next day he tried in vain to equal the variety and elegance of the entertainment which she gave him. The artful enchantress soon gained her object. Antony became her devoted slave ; he gave up her sister and others to her vengeance, and, laying aside all thoughts of the war Avhich he had been meditat- ing against the Parthians, he accompanied her to Egypt, where he abandoned himself wholly to luxury and enjoyment in her society. Cassar meantime was engaged in depriving the people of Italy of their lands for his soldiers. The poet Virgil, who was one of the suf- BATTLE OF PIIILIPPI. 267 ferers, but who recovered his lands by means of his poetry, has given affecting pictures of the misery occasioned by this wholesale robbery. Antony's wife Fulvia, and his brother Lucius, took advantage of the discontent caused by it to kindle a new war in Italy, but Coesar proved too strong for them. Fulvia fled to Greece, where she died ; and as Antony came to Italy on account of that war, Ci^sar gave him in marriage his sister Octavia, one of the most amiable and virtuous women that Rome ever possessed ; but all her virtues were lost on the worthless Antony, who soon after abandoned her for the wanton queen of Egypt. Coesar, who had conquered Pompey and deprived Lepidus of his share in the triumvirate, made the ill-treatment of his sister a pretext for war, and both sides prepared to commence hostilities. BATTLE OF ACTIUM— DEATH OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. B. c. 31. HE cape of Actium, on the coast of Epirus, wit- \^ nessed this last conflict for the Roman empire. Each had a large army and a large fleet, but by the desire of Cleopatra, who was present, Antony, contrary to the advice of his best officers, resolved that the first engagement should be a naval one. On the second of September the fleets engaged. The action was maintained for some time with great courage on both sides, till, in the midst of it, whether from treachery or cowardice, Cleopatra fled, followed by all the Egyptian ships. Antony, when he saw her flying, instead of, like a brave man, despising her and letting her go whither she pleased, while he continued to fight for victory and honour, left the battle and followed her. His naval forces, worthy of a nobler commander, kept up the engagement till the evening, when, finding that he had deserted them, they submitted to Caesar, and, a few days after, the land army followed their example. When Antony overtook Cleopatra he went on board of her ship, 268 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 269 ^ <^hM^ r.^i\*yt7^ (^f^K^/f?^ t^^l\Cc)f?^ ^WC^fT^ (tq^^fT^ r«C*/f-?^ '^;%^ ^^>5^;;:rj^ '^^^w:';^ '>i^*^:;jSj^ '>VJ^'^ WilliaiXL the Conqueror -wounded by his son Robert. feet, and craved pardon for his offence ; but William, who was highly exasperated, gave him his malediction. He was, however, afterward reconciled to him, and on his return to England Robert was suc- cessfully employed in retaliating an invasion of Malcolm, king of Scotland. William the Conqueror died in 1087, and was succeeded by his son ^//>f/iW Death of William Rufus. 534 ENGLAND. William Rufus wiirued ly the ixionk. William II., called Rufus, on account of his red hair. His elder bro- ther, Robert, received the dukedom of Normandy for his inheritance, and Henry, the third son, a portion of his father's treasures. Robert pledged his dukedom to William for ten thousand marks, to bear his expenses on a crusade to the Holy Land. William was killed while hunting; in the New Forest, which his father had formed into a hunt- ed ■' ing-ground by devastating twenty English towns and villages. The clergy of those times pointed to this as a retribution, and they had a tradition that William, who was a very irreligious man, was met on his way to the forest, and warned of his fate by a monk. His successor was Henry I., his younger brother, who availed him- self of Robert's absence in the Holy Land to ascend the throne. He married a niece of Edgar Atheling, and thus acquired the Saxon claim. On Robert's return, Henry offered ' him a sum of money and the succession, in case he should die without issue. He afterward Avas cheated of his Norman possessions, and imprisoned by Henry. But a domestic calamity, about this time, threw a cloud over Hen- ry's prosperity. His only son, William, Avho had been recognised as his successor to the English throne, he had carried over to Normandy, to receive the homage of the states. On his return to England, the vessel in which Henry had embarked was soon carried by a fiiir wind ENGLAND. 535 Death of Prince "William. out of sight of land. The prince was detained by some accident, and the sailors, having spent the interval in drinking, were unable to ma- nage the vessel, and she foundered upon a rock. The prince, in this extremity, had recourse to the long boat, and had got clear of the ship, when, hearing the cries of the countess of Perche, his natural sister, he ordered the seamen to row back and take her in. Numbers crowded into the boat, and the whole went down. A hundred and forty young noblemen of the principal families in England and Nor- mandy perished on this occasion. Henry I, being now without any legitimate male issue, he was in- duced to marry, in the hope of having a successor. But Adelais, his second queen, brought him no children. His legal heir was his daugh- ter Matilda, the widow of the emperor Henry V., who afterward was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, by whom she had several children. The last years of Henry's reign were distinguished by a profound tranquillity. In preparing to return from Normandy, whither he had gone to visit his daughter Matilda, he was seized with a violent illness ; and finding it necessary to make his will, he named Matilda heiress to all his dominions. England lost this brave and able monarch in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and after a reign of thirty-four years, (a. d. 1135.) If his conduct towards his brother and his nephew throws a stain upon his 536 ENOLAND. Stephen imprisoned. memory, he might be said in some degree to have atoned for it by the vigour and wisdom of his administration. Henry was fond of litera- ture ; on this account he acquired the name of Beau Clerc, or the Schohar. During his reign, London obtained a charter, which is con- sidered as the foundation of its privileges. The barons chose Stephen, count of Blois, nephew to the ting, to succeed him. The greater part of his reign Avas spent in wars re- specting the succession between him and Matilda, the rightful heir. At one time Stephen was dethroned, while Matilda was acknowledged queen, and crowned at Winchester. The imperious spirit of the queen soon disgusted her turbulent sub- jects. The Londoners entered into conspiracy to seize her person : she fled to Winchester, where she was besieged and reduced to great extremities. She, however, found means to escape, but the earl of Gloucester fell into the hands of the enemy. lie was exchanged for Stcplien, who had continued a captive. The death of this brave nobleman, vvhich happened soon after, gave a mortal wound to the in- terests of his party ; and Stephen was again placed on the throne. Matilda was now a suppliant on behalf of her son Henry, and after various other vicissitudes, it was finally agreed that Stephen should possess the crown during his life, and that Henry should succeed him, which he did in 1155, under the title of Henry II., a famous person- age in English history. In his time arose the famous Thomas it Becket, a sort of English Ilildebrand, who disputed with the king for the privileges of the clergy. To determine these matters, the king summoned a general council of the nobility and clergy at Clarendon, by whose concurrence might ENGLAND. 537 Matilda tefore King Stephen. be ascertained the proper limits of the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdic- tions. And it was there enacted, that ecclesiastics accused of anj crime should be tried in the civil courts ; that no appeals from sen- tences pronounced in England should be made to the pope ; that all matters regarding the revenues of the church should be decided by the king's judges, &c. These enactments got the name, from the place where they were formed, of the Constitutions of Clarendon. These, with others, to the number of sixteen, Avere subscribed to by all the bishops present ; and Becket himself, after a vigorous resistance, set his seal to the number. But Pope Alexander IIL, to whom they were sent, condemned and annulled them, as incompatible with the rights of the church. After the abrogation of the pope, Becket expressed the deepest sorrow for having given the laws his sanction. This inflamed the haughty and violent disposition of Henry II. to an unjustifiable ex- tremity. He ordered Becket to be tried on a frivolous pretence, and then confiscated his wealth. The archbishop, pushed to extremity, exerted the vigour of an inflexible mind. He presented himself at court, with the cross in his hands, and arrayed in his sacred vestments, in order to intimidate the king ; and he appealed to the supreme pon- tifi" against the sentence pronounced against him. He soon after found means to leave the kingdom. Unfortunately, the obstinacy of Becket was equal to the stateli- ness of Henry. A compromise was at last suggested which the king hoped would secure a lasting peace; but he deceived himself; for 538 ENGLAND. Becket presenting himself to the king. Becket had scarcely set foot in England, when he issued new cen- sures against the archbishop of York, who had crowned Henry's son in his absence ; and he excommunicated the bishops of London and Salisbury, besides committing other acts equally arbitrary. The king was informed of these violent measures at Bayeux, in Normandy. " What !" cried he, " will no one rid me of this ungrate- ful and imperious prelate ?" This passionate exclamation was a suffi- Death "of Thomas a Becket. ENGLAND. 539 Penance of Heni-y IT. cient hint for his courtiers. Four gentlemen secretly withdrew from court, and proceeded to Canterbury. During the time of vespers, as soon as the primate reached the altar, they fell on him. Becket thus became a victim to his intrepid and inflexible spirit, in a cause in ■which he Avas guided by the most destructive prejudices. On receiving the news of this catastrophe, the king was seized with despair, and refused all nourishment for three days. He despatched eight persons to Rome, to clear him of all suspicion of concern in it, and performed penance to avert from him the thunders of the Vatican. The assassinated archbishop passed for a saint and a martyr ; pil- grimages were undertaken to his tomb from all parts, and miracles were supposed to be performed by his relics. Pilgrims gomg to Becket's tomb. 540 ENGLAND. Fair RosaixioDcL and the Queen. When Becket's turbulent career was over, it might have been sup- posed that Henry would enjoy greater peace ; but, on the contrary, his life was a constant struggle with the barons, the church, and his own family. His supposed agency in Becket's death raised up so many enemies, that he was obliged to give up any attempt to reform the clergy ; and they remained even more powerful at the close of his reign than at the beginning. And in his own family his sorrows were many ; not undeserved — since he had chosen to take for his queen a woman of very bad character, merely for ambition's sake ; and then, when he found him- self unhappy, he sought the company of other women. There was a very beautiful girl called Rosamond, whom King Henry loved extremely, and, because he dreaded lest the queen should ill- treat her if she found out his attachment, he concealed her in a laby- rinth in Woodstock Park. And, as stories say, the queen, after some time, discovered the secret of this labyrinth, and found her way quite into fair Rosamond's presence ; and there this cruel queen held out a bowl of poison to Rosamond, and obliged her to drink, while she held a dagger to her breast. Of Henry's four sons, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, each in his turn rebelled against him, and some of them made open war upon him. He died at Chinon, in Normandy, A. D. 1189. ENGLAND. 541 Richard I. at Ascalon. His successor, Richard I., is chiefly celebrated for his actions in Palestine, and particularly for his defeat of Saladin at the battle of Ascalon. Under the head of the Crusades he has already been noticed. During his absence in the Holy Land, his brother John attempted to usurp the government, and carried matters with a pretty high hand. Richard's imprisonment in Austria, on his way home from Palestine, delayed his return for a long time, but at length he was ransomed for three hundred thousand pounds : and the moment the king was at liberty, he set out, and travelled rapidly day and night till he came to the seaside, where he met with a vessel, in which he embarked directly for England. It was fortunate that he did so, for the duke of Austria repented of having let him go so easily, and sent men in pursuit of him ; but, happily, they only arrived in time to see his little vessel at a distance making all sail for England. The best part of Richard's conduct remains to be told. On reaching England, he learned all that had passed in his absence, and particu- larly the treachery of his brother John, which at first made him very angry; but when John humbled himself and submitted, he forgave him freely, only saying, " I wish I could as easily forget your offences as you will my pardon." From this time, John served him better. Richard's reign, however. 542 ENGLAND. Richard I. pai'domiig his broth>jr Joan. did not last long. He was too turbulent and -warlike to have much rest either for liis body or mind, and he died in the year 1199, of a wound received while besieging a castle in Normandy called Chaluz. Richard was succeeded by his brother John. There was, however, another elder brother, Geoffrey, but he had long been dead ; yet he had left one son called Arthur, who was just twelve years old when his uncle Richard died. He was the true heir to the crown, and had been destined by Richard to be his successor ; but, in the last years of his life, John had been named heir to the crown. And as John was a man, and Arthur but a child, and as the uncle managed to get the nephew into his possession after a battle fought in France in his behalf, this young prince had but a poor chance ; and, indeed, ver}^ soon after the battle he disappeared, and it was said that his uncle murdered him. The kings of England were also dukes of Normandy, from the time of William the Conqueror till the reign of John ; but he, by his bad ENGLAND. 543 Prince Arthur a prisoner, management and sloth, gave the king of France an opportunity of seizing by far the greatest part of Normandy ; and thus John got the name of Lack-land. After losing Normandy, John quarrelled -with the pope on the Murder of Frince Arthur. 544 ENGLAND. subject of ecclesiastical appointments, had his kingdom laid under an interdict, and ^^'as finally compelled to make a most abject submission to the holy see. John was next engaged in a quarrel with his barons. The charter passed by Henry I. and confirmed by Stephen, had flattered the people, but had long remained unexecuted. The barons, under the influence of the primate Langton, insisted on the renewal and obser- vance of it. When they read over the articles, John burst into a furi- ous passion, and asked, "Why they did not also demand from him his crown ?" He swore he would not grant it to them. The malcontent barons then entered into a confederacy, and chose Robert Fitzwalter for their general, under the title of " The Marischal of the army of God and of the holy church." They issued a proclamation, requiring the other nobles to join them, and advanced towards London, which they entered without opposition. Abandoned by his subjects, John found himself constrained to sub- mit at discretion. A conference was accordingly appointed. The ground where this most important treaty took place was at Runni- mede, between Staines and Windsor, where John was compelled to sign the famous bulwark of English liberty, the Magna Charta. This deed either granted or secured freedom and numerous privileges to ENGLAND. 545 King Jolan granting a charter to tlie city of London. the higher orders ; but as for the lower classes, they had very little participation of legal protection. John subsequently refused to execute the charter, and a civil war was the consequence, which was only terminated by the king's death, in 1216. During his reign, he granted a charter to the city of London, which confirmed their right of electing a mayor annually. Henry III., John's son, was only nine years old when he became king. He had a wise guardian and counsellor in the earl of Pembroke, but when he came to man's estate he cast off his best friends, and preferred weak favourites, who knew not how to advise him for the best. Henry had signed the great charter as soon as he was old enough to understand its meaning ; but he never entered into the spirit of it, and was constantly trying to break through the barrier it imposed upon him. He had, in short, so repeatedly broken his promises to the barons, that they determined on bringing him to renew them, in a more solemn manner, in the presence of the bishops and abbots. They therefore assembled in full armour in Westminster Hall, and the great charter was read. After the charter was read, a solemn sentence of excommunication against any who should break it followed ; and when this sentence was pronounced, all the prelates, who had burning tapers in their hands, cast them down on the ground, exclaiming, " So may all that incur this sentence be extinguished in hell ;" and the king added, " So 35 546 ENGLAND. help me God, I will keep these things, as I am a man : as I am a Christian : as I am a knight : as I am a king, crowned and anointed." It was in this reign that a parliament was summoned, comprising not only knights of the shires, but citizens and burgesses also. This was the beginning of the House of Commons. Henry the Third reigned fifty-six years. At his death, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a very fine monument to his memory is to be seen. Ifi L ly III 1 1 Ui'ing the armed parliament. Caractacus. WALES. T is probable, says an authentic historian, that Britain was first colonized by the Celtte of Gaul, at least a thousand years before the birth of our Saviour ; a period of time coeval ■vNuth the reigns of David and Solomon. The names of Albion and of Britain are supposed to have been given to the island by the Belgic Gauls, who inhabited the opposite shores. The language of the ancient Britons was simi- lar to that of their probable ancestors. When Julius Caesar invaded Britain, (55 b. c.,) Cambria, or Wales, was in- habited by three different tribes of Britons, namely, the Silures, the Dimetse, and the Ordovices, who were governed by a number of petty princes, sovereign and independent. Caractacus, their prince, having, Avith variety of fortunes, opposed the Roman arms for nine years, was at length obliged to retire among the Silures, who were defeated by the Romans. He was afterward betrayed to his enemies, and led prisoner to Rome, where his heroic composure and magnanimity in the presence of the emperor Claudius led to the restoration of his liberty, (a. d. 52.) Suetonius, the general of Nero, destroyed Mona, the centre of the druidical superstition. However, the Romans did not penetrate far into the interior of the country. Caswallon, a prince of Cambria, in 443, made choice of Mona for his residence ; and from this era we may fix the date of a distinct sovereignty in North Wales. When the Saxons invaded Britain, after a severe struggle, the in- habitants pressed on every side by advancing enemies, and weakened 547 548 WALES. Caraotaous before Claudius. by incessant wars, "were at lengtli obliged to retire before the Saxon arms, and they fled to the mountains of Cambria ; which country about this period took the name of Wales. In 58C, the Saxons again en- deavoured to penetrate into Wales ; but the Welsh encountered them with great bravery, and entirely defeated their purpose. The Welsh were light and active, and more fierce than strong ; from the lowest to the highest of the people they were devoted to arms, which the ploughman as well as the courtier was prepared to seize on the first summons. The chief sustenance of this people was cattle and oats, besides milk, cheese, and butter. They were accustomed to walk with their feet bare ;. or, instead of shoes, they used boots of raw leather. They were not given to excess either in eating or drinking, nor expen- sive richness in their clothes. Their whole attention was occupied in the splendid appearance of their horses and arms, in the defence of their country, and in the care of their plunder. Accustomed to fast from morning till night, their minds were wholly employed on their business. There was not a beggar to be seen among these people, for the tables of all Avere common to all ; and with them, bounty, and particularly hospitable entertainment, were in higher estimation than any of the other virtues. The successors of William the Conqueror made repeated attempts to conquer Wales ; but this was not effected till the reign of Edward I. WALES. 549 Death, of Llewtllyn. It was a difficult task ; for the Welsh well knew the nature of their own country, and took advantage of the shelter of their lofty moun- tains, which at that time were covered with woods, where they could lie in ambush, and attack a whole army to the greatest advantage. And the war might have been carried on for a length of time thus, if a treacherous Welshman had not betrayed Prince Llewellyn, and brought on a battle in which he was slain. Then the Welsh fled in confusion, or threw down their arms, or were put to the sword ; for Edward, though he had many fine qualities, was a merciless conqueror : and the strife ended by his dividing the coun- try into counties, and placing sheriffs in each, as was the custom in England, and also by Edward's calling his eldest son, who was born at Carnarvon, Prince of Wales. From this time the Welsh have had no more princes of their own race ; but the eldest son of the king of Eng- land is always called Prince of Wales. The bards, were, of course, deeply grieved at this change in the government of their country, and they long mourned over it in their songs ; but they were obliged to be cautious where or how they uttered their sentiments, as the English were always on the watch against them, and it is said that many of them were murdered on account of their bitter and scornful remarks on the conquerors. King Ed- ward cut down a great many of the woods on the mountains and in the valleys of Wales, that there might be no place of shelter for rebels. Galtracus. SCOTLAND. jNDER the head of English history, a great part of the history of Scothmd is comprehend- ed. But we interpohite here a short notice of certain portions of Scottish history before pro- ceeding -with our collections of English history, because the intimate connection of English and ■*®si^^i^^S^^^^^^ Scottish aflfairs commences under the reign of Edward L, who is the next English monarch we shall notice. The Caledonians are supposed to have been the ancient inhabitants of Scotland. At the time the Romans occupied Britain, it was governed by a race of brave and wise princes. Galdus, or Galgacus, in A. D. 79, resisted the Romans, who were never able to subdue the country. The Scots, who were probably from Scythia, occupied the hills to the north; and the Picts occupied the southern part, and were men of the plains. Its early history is involved in much uncertainty; 550 SCOTLAND. 551 Death of ilacbetli. but in the fifth century, both Fergus and Dongard are said to have reigned, and the Scots were represented as a powerful nation. About the middle of the ninth century, Kenneth MacAlpinus finally subdued the Picts, and united the Picts and Scots under one monar- chy; the kingdom was afterward known by the name of Scotland. Its authentic history commences at the reign of Duncan, 1033, a prince distinguished for his virtues. He was treacherously murdered by Macbeth, who usurped the throne. The usurper was killed in battle, and Malcolm Canmore the Third, the son of Duncan, succeed- ed, 1057. This prince, espousing the cause of Edgar Atheling, heir of the Saxon kings of England, whose sister he married, provoked a war with William the Conqueror, which was equally prejudicial to both kingdoms. In an expedition of Malcolm into England, it is alleged that, after concluding a truce, he was compelled by William to do homage for his kingdom. The truth is, that this homage was done for the territories in Cumberland and Northumberland won by the Scots, and held in vassalage of the English crown, though this homage was afterward absurdly made the pretext of a claim of feudal sove- reignty over all Scotland. In a reign of twenty-seven years, Malcolm supported a spirited contest with England, both under William I. and his son Rufus ; and to the virtues of his queen Margaret, his king- 552 SCOTLAND. Eruce killing Corny n. clom, in its domestic policy, owed a degree of civilization remarkable in those ages of barbarism. Alexander I., his son and successor, defended, with equal spirit and good policy, the independence of his kingdom ; and his son David I., celebrated even by the democratic Buchanan as an honour to his coun- try and to monarchy, won from Stephen, and annexed to his crown, the whole earldom of Northumberland. In these reigns we hear of no claim of the feudal subjection of Scotland to the crown of England, though the accidental fortune of war afterward furnished a ground for it. William I., taken prisoner at AlnAvick by Henry II., was com- pelled, as the price of his release, to do homage for his whole king- dom ; an obligation which Richard, the successor of Henry, volunta- rily relinquished, as deeming it to have been unjustly extorted. On the death of Alexander III. without male issue, in 1285, Bruce* and Baliol, descendants of David I. by the female line, Avere compe- titors for the crown, and the pretensions of each were supported by a formidable party in the kingdom. Edward I. of England, chosen umpire of the contest, arrogated to himself, in that character, the feudal sovereignty of the kingdom, compelling all the barons to swear * The great Robert Bruce, so famous in history, commenced his public career by assassinating his rival, Comyn, in a church to which he had invited him for a private conference. SCOTLAND. 553 Sabraissioa of Ealiol. j allegiance to him, and taking actual possession of the country by his troops. He then adjudged the crown to Baliol, on the express con- dition of his swearing fealty to him as lord paramount. Baliol, how- ever, soon after renouncing his allegiance, the indignant Edward in- vaded Scotland with an immense force, and compelled the weak prince to abdicate the throne and resign the kingdom into his hands. William Wallace, one of the greatest heroes whom history records, restored the fallen honours of his country. Joined by a few patriots, his first successes in attackino; the English o;arrisons brought numbers to his patriotic standard. Their success was signal and conspicuous ; victory followed upon victory; and, while Edward was engaged on the continent, his troops were utterly defeated in a desperate engage- ment at Stirling, and forced to evacuate the kingdom. Wallace, the deliverer of his country, now assumed the title of governor of Scot- land ; a distinction which was followed by the envy and disaffection of many of the nobles, and the consequent diminution of his array. The Scots were defeated at Falkirk. Edward returned with a vast accession of force ; and, after a fruitless resistance, the Scottish barons finally obtained peace by capitulation, from which the brave Wallace was excepted by name. A fugitive for some time, he was betrayed into the hands of Edward, who put him to death with every circum- stance of ignominy that barbarous revenge could dictate, (a. d. 1304.) Scotland found a second champion and deliverer in Robert Bruce, the grandson of the competitor with Baliol ; who, deeply resenting the humiliation of his country, once more set up the standard of war, and bade defiance to the English monarch to whom his father and grandfather had meanly sworn allegiance. Under this intrepid leader 554 SCOTLAND. i.-ai-y, queen of rScots, leaving France for Scotland. the spirit of the nation was roused at once; the English -were attacked in every quarter, and once more entirely driven out of the kingdom. Rohert Bruce was crowned king at Scone, 1306 : and Edward, advancing with an immense army, died at Carlisle, 7th July, 1307, enjoining it with his last hreath to his son, Edward II., to prosecute the war with the Scots to the entire reduction of the country. In ohedience to his father's will, Edward invaded Scotland with one hundred thousand men. Bruce met this immense force with thirty thousand at Bannockburn, and defeated them with prodigious slaugh- ter, June 25th, 1314. This important victory secured the independ- ence of Scotland, and Edward escaped by sea to his own dominions. His successor, Edward III., bent on the conquest of Scotland, marched to the north with a prodigious army, vanquished the Scots in the battle of Hallidon-hill, and placed Edward Baliol, his vassal and tributary, on the throne. But the kingdom was as repugnant as ever to the rule of England, and a favourable opportunity was taken for the renewal of hostilities on the departure of Edward for a foreign enterprise which gave full scope to his ambition. The Scots invading England were defeated in the battle of Dur- ham by Philippa, the heroic queen of Edward III. ; and their sove- reign, David II., was led prisoner to London, where he continued in captivity for eleven years. He was ransomed by his subjects, and SCOTLAND. 555 restored to his kingdom in 1357 ; and he ended a turbulent reign in 1371. The crown passed at his demise to Robert, the high-steward of Scotland, in virtue of a destination made by Robert I., with con- sent of the states. The reign of Robert II., which was of twenty years' duration, was spent in a series of hostilities between the Scots and English, productive of no material results to either kingdom. Robert II. was the founder of the famous Stuart family. We pass over the reigns of his son Robert III., and a succession of James's from I. to v., to come to the unfortunate Mary, queen of Scots, daughter of James V. Mary was educated in France, and she espoused the dauphin, after- ward Francis II. She imprudently assumed the arms and title of queen of England, by the persuasion of her maternal uncles, the Guises ; and this laid the foundation of all the miseries of the queen of Scots. Upon her husband's death, at the age of eighteen, she returned to her hereditary kingdom, having fortunately escaped an English fleet which Elizabeth had despatched to take her prisoner on her passage. Her misfortunes began from that hour. Her Protestant subjects regarded their Catholic queen with abhorrence, and looked up to her enemy Elizabeth as their defender. She was married to Lord Darnley, in whose assassination she was charged with taking a part. Her contests with her subjects finally drove her to the desperate measure of seeking an asylum in England, where she was imprisoned, and finally beheaded by order of Elizabeth on a charge of conspiring against her life. Her son, James VL, suc- ceeded her, and at the death of Elizabeth he succeeded to the British crown, thus uniting England and Scotland, and forming the united kingdom of Great Britain. ENGLAND, FROM THE REIGN OF EDWARD I. TO THAT OF HENRY VII. HE most important events in the reign of Edward L, viz. his annexation of Wales to Enghmd and his wars Avith Scotland, have just been noticed. He died in 1307, leaving Edward 11. as his heir, and charging him to prosecute the ~* war with Scotland, which he did with very unfortunate results, receiving a ter- rible defeat from Robert Bruce at Ban- nockburn. Edward II. was a weak and effeminate prince, governed by unprin- cipled favourites, which occasioned his imprisonment and assassination by the nobles, (1327.) His son, Edward III., was a very different character. At the age of seventeen he displaced the minions of his mother, an infamous woman, and took the government into his own hands, overran Scotland, and placed Baliol on its throne. . About 1339, Edward turned his arms against France. The first preparation for this campaign led to nothing decisive. The year following, the naval engagement off Sluys Avas disastrous to France. Philip's fleet, which was composed of four hundred sail, manned with forty thousand men, was stationed there with a view of intercepting the king of England. The English fleet was much inferior in the number of ships, but they conquered. The French had thirty thousand of their seamen and two of their admirals slain ; and more than half of their ships of war were taken. Edward thus opened for himself a way into France, with a hundred 556 ENGLAND. 557 Great naval victory off Sluys. thousand men, where he first laid siege to Tournay ; and he sent a herald to Philip, challenging him to single combat. Philip wisely declined the combat. The countess of Ilainault, their common rela- tion, though she had taken the vows in a convent, yet left her retreat to inspire them with pacific sentiments. Her zeal produced a cessa- tion of hostilities. This truce the pope in vain endeavoured to convert into a peace. Intestine commotions which had taken place in Brittany induced Edward to recommence hostilities against France. He made a descent into Normandy, (1846,) took several towns, and carried his ravages to the gates of Paris. Pressed by Philip, who had collected a great army, Edward was desirous of retiring to Flanders, but the bridges of the Somme were either broken down or strongly guarded. In this con- dition a peasant saved him and his army, by pointing out to him a ford. He gained an eminence near the village of Crecy, ranged his army in order of battle, and prepared for an action which he could not avoid. Philip, with an army four times more numerous than that of Edward, was impatient to take revenge of the English. He gave orders to marshal his troops, but the vivacity of the French nobility rendered it impracticable : one division drove upon another, without order, thinking itself secure of victory while rushing to certain de- struction. 558 ENGLAND. Queen Ihilippa interceding for the burgesses of Calais. Edward communicated to his troops the courage with wliich he him- self "was inspired. Fifteen thousand crossbowmen, the vanguard of the French army, yiehied on the first charge of the English archers. Their rout threw the French cavalry into confusion. The Prince of Wales* attacked these, and sustained, with prodigious valour, a hot and furious engagement ; nothing was seen among the French troops but hurry, terror, and dismny. There was no longer any equality in the action. The count Alencon, the French king's brother, the kings of Bohemia and Majorca, an immense number of princes and great barons, one thousand tv,'o hundred knights, four thousand men-at-arms, besides about thirty thousand men of inferior rank, perished in the field of battle ; while the English lost only one squire, three knights, and a few inferior combatants. Edward now invested Calais, with a view in future to secure an easy entrance into France. The siege lasted nearly a twelvemonth. At length the necessities of the garrison induced the governor to capitu- late. The patriotism of Eustace de St. Pierre and five other burgesses of Calais, on this occasion, merits the highest encomiums. The king was only prevented from hanging them for their defence of the town by the intercession of Queen Philippa. The inhabitants were expelled, the town was peopled with English, and a truce between Edward and Philip was concluded. In the year 1346, the Scots, headed by David Bruce, their king, invaded the frontiers; and as Edward was then on the continent, Philippa, his queen, prepared to repulse the enemy in person ; and * Commonly known by the appellation of the Black Prince. ENGLAND. 559 King John entertained by the Llack Prince. having made Lord Percy general, met the Scots at Nevil's Cross, near Durham. Bruce and his array were routed, fifteen thousand of his men cut to pieces, and himself and many of his nobles and knights taken prisoners and carried in triumph to London. The year following, (a. d. 1347,) the Black Prince, with- an army of twelve thousa.nd men, extended his ravages as far as Berry ; when, on his return, he was met near Poictiers by King John, with sixty thousand men. It seemed impossible that the English could escape ; and the Prince of Wales offered to abandon his conquest, and to sign a truce for seven years ; but John would not comply with his request, insisting on his surrendering himself a prisoner. His reply to John was that of a hero. The English prepared for an engagement. The impatience of the French and their blind confidence of success pre- cipitated them into danger. Their first line was thrown into confusion by a body of English archers ; and the Prince of Wales, following up these advantages, attacked and discomfited it. The sudden flight of 560 ENGLAND. Deatii of Wat Tyler. the dauphin added to the confusion and terror of the French army. John found himself suddenly surrounded with the enemy, and was forced to surrender himself a prisoner. The generosity of the Black Prince to his captive has been much eulogized. A two years' truce was concluded with France, and the captive king being conducted to England, Edward received him with the same courtesy as if he had been a neighbouring potentate come to pay him a friendly visit. It was in this reign (a. d. 1349) that the Order of the Garter was in- stituted. It is said to have owed its origin to the love which Edward bore to the countess of Salisbury. At a court ball, this lady happen- ing to drop her garter, the king took it up ; and observing some of the courtiers smile, he presented it to her with these words, " Iloni soit qui tnaly iiensc,"' " Evil be to him that evil thinks." These words became the device of the order. The order was to consist of twenty- four persons besides the king. In a little time the zeal and valour of the French in general pro- ENGLAND. 663 Eeturn of Richard II. frora Ireland. duced an important revolution ; and of the many provinces that the English possessed, they retained only Bourdeaux, Bayonne, and Calais, when the necessities of Edward compelled him to conclude a truce. The Black Prince soon after died ; and Edward himself died in 1377. Edward's grandson, Richard II., succeeded to the throne at the age of eleven years. He appears to have been spoiled by flatterers. The public treasury was plundered by his courtiers. Heavy taxes were laid on the people, who rebelled under a popular leader, Wat Tyler, who was killed by Walworth, lord mayor of London. Richard showed much presence of mind on this occasion by haranguing Wat's followers, and offering to be their leader, an act which led to the suppression of the rebellion. Subjects of discontent, however, still remained against the king and his government, and these rose to their greatest height while Richard was absent in Ireland; so that on his return he found his subjects arrayed against him under the direction of Henry of Lan- caster, whom he had banished rather capriciously from the kingdom some time before. Richard, in fact, soon after his landing, found himself a prisoner in the hands of his enemy, who conducted him to London, and directly after compelled him to make a formal relinquishment of the crown to himself. Richard was then imprisoned, and finally assassinated. He was the last of the house of Plantagenet, and with his successor, Henry IV., commences the house of Lancaster, which ended with Henry VI. The reign of Henry IV. was signalized by the enacting of laws for punishing heretics in religion, and by the rebellion of a portion of his 564 ENGLAND. Deposition of Richard IL subjects under the earl of Northumberland and Glendower. In a battle in which the rebels were defeated, the young Harry Hotspur, son of the earl, is said to have fallen by the hand of the Prince of Wales. The prince was dissipated and thoughtless in his youth, and on one occasion one of his dissolute companions having been brought to trial before Sir William Gascoigne, chief justice of the King's Bench, for some misdemeanor, the prince became exasperated, and struck the judge in open court. The magistrate behaved with a dignity that Deatli of Hotspur. ENGLAND. 565 Henry V. became his office, and ordered the prince to be committed to prison. When the king was informed of the transaction, he expressed himself happy in having a magistrate endowed with such firmness in the execu- tion of the laws, and a son willing to submit to such a chastisement. The king died of a malady that made him subject to fits, in the forty- sixth year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. He left four sons, and was succeeded by the eldest, Henry V. One of the first acts of the new king was to dismiss all his late wild associates, and to send for Sir William Gascoigne, the judge whom he had insulted, and to commend his conduct on the occasion of the trial, and assure him of his confidence. He soon engaged in a war with France, assembled a fleet and army at Southampton, and disembarked at Harfleur, in Normandy, at the head of six thousand men-at-arms, and twenty-four thousand foot, mostly archers, and immediately began the siege of the place, which he took by assault, after having lost a considerable part of his forces. Fatigue and sickness had contributed also to waste the English army ; and Henry found himself enclosed in an enemy's country, like Edward III., without knowing how to escape. Having discovered a ford near St. Quentin, he passed the Somme, and marched towards Calais, watched by a French army four times, or, as some say, ten times more numerous than his own. Having now no resource but in courage and prudence, he seized an advantageous ground between two woods, in the plains of Agincourt. The constable D'Albret was for waiting till the enemy, who were in want of provisions, should abandon their post ; but the temerity and 566 ENGLAND. Heniy v . at the tattle of Aginccurt. imprudence of the French army renewed the disasters of Crecy and Poictiers. They attacked the English, notwithstanding the advan- tages of their situation ; and some rain having fallen, the ground was so moist that the French cavalry were unable to act eifectually. The English archers, defended by palisadoes, plied the enemy with showers of arrows, which nothing could resist, and having broken their ranks, rushed upon them with their battle-axes, and hewed them in pieces without resistance. The whole French army was a scene of confusion, terror, and dismay. The constable, several princes of the blood, and above nine thousand knights or gentlemen lay dead on the field, and many of the nobility were taken prisoners. Of the English, only ENGLAND. 667 Henrjr V. leaving his infaut son to the care of his brothers. about forty perished, and among these the person of most note was the duke of York. Henry immediately marched his army to Calais, where he concluded a truce with France. Want of funds prevented Henry, like his predecessors, from taking advantage of this victory. In a subsequent invasion of France, he had such success as to dic- tate terms of peace, by which he gained the king's daughter in mar- riage, and was declared heir to the French throne. He died in the thirty-fourth year of his age, leaving his son to the care of his brothers. Catherine of France, his widow, married a Welsh gentleman named Tudor, and from this marriage sprang the house of Tudor, which gave several kings and queens to England. Henry's son, Henry VI., being an infant at the time of his father's death, a long minority and a regency followed, during which the advantages lately gained in France were all lost. During his reign, a claimant to the crown appeared in the person of Richard, duke of York, who traced his descent to the second son of Edward III. Hence arose the famous wars of the 568 ENGLAND. Ladies' head-dresses of the time r)i' Henry VI, Roses, in which the houses of York and Lancaster contested their claims for thirty years. Edward the Fourth, son of the duke of York, after a succession of victories over the Lancasterians, was proclaimed king by a somewhat irregular popular election in 1461. Edward IV. proclaimed liing. ENGLAND. 569 Military costUDie of tlie time of Edward IV. The whole house of Lancaster was exterminated during his reign, with the exception of Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, who made his escape into France. The events of Edward's reign are full of romantic interest. He married a private gentlewoman for her beauty, and scandalized his subjects by his numerous amours with -Jane Shore and others ; and his crown was perilled by the daring intrigues and wars of the celebrated Warwick, the king-maker, whose adventures form the subject of Mr. Bulwer's romance. The Last of the Barons. Edward IV. died in 1483, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward V., who, however, together v/ith his brother, were supposed to have been murdered in the Tower, by order of their uncle, the duke of Gloucester, who succeeded to the throne under the title of Richard III. His character is represented in a very odious light by Shaks- peare and other Avriters, who were anxious to court the favour of the Tudors ; but Horace Walpole and other able writers have defended him, and shown that no dependence is to be placed on the popular accounts of his reign. The laws and public undisputed acts of his reign prove him to have been an able sovereign, having the welfare of his people at heart. He was defeated at the battle of Bosworth by Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, one of the most detestable of all the 570 ENGLAND. kings of England. Richmond was crowned on the battle-field, with the title of Henry VII. Henry VII. knew that his title to the crown was defective. He therefore married the princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward the Fourth, thus availing himself of the claims of both York and Lancas- ter. This marriage was called the Union of the Red and White Roses. Two persons appeared during his reign, each professing to be the true Henry V., escaped from the tower. The first, Simnel, was an impostor. The second is thought by many judicious writers to have been the true king. He is called in history Perkin Warbeck. Henry treated him very differently from his predecessor, and had him summarily put to death, without confronting him with the widow of Edward IV., who could instantly have recognised her son. ENGLAND. 571 MaiTiage of Heniy VII. Henry was successful in his policy of depressing the nobles, and he thereby did good service to the kingdom ; but his meanness, cowardice, and avarice disgraced the latter part of his reign. He left some thirteen millions to his heir, Henry VIII., to be squandered in extrava- gance and dissipation. He died in 1509. The most important event of this reign was the discovery of the American continent by Sebastian Cabot, sailing in the service of Henry VII. Having thus brought the history of England down to the period at which modern history properly commences, the period of the dis- covery of America, we gladly turn to our own country, proposing to revert again to England in a subsequent part of the volume. OUTLINE HISTORY OF AMERICA. HE American continent, known by this general name, is by some supposed to have been partially known to the ancients ; but the glory of its discove- ry in modern history belongs to Chris- toval Colon, a native of Genoa, better known to us as Christopher Columbus. This enterprising man, after many fruitless attempts to obtain assistance to enable him to prosecute liis elabo- rate speculations in geography, dis- covered the island of St. Salvador, Oct. 12, 1492; and six years afterward he reached the main continent at the mouth of the Orino- co, August 1, 1498. The discovery of the north continent of America belongs to the family of the Cabots, who resided in Bristol. The father and three sons set out in the year 1497, stimulated by the fame of Columbus, and under the patronage of Henry VII. of England. They discovered several islands, and coasted the whole of the main land of the north- ern continent doAvn to the Floridas. The honour of giving a name to these immense discoveries was gained by Amerigo Vespucci, a Floren- tine, who accompanied Alonzo de Ojeda as pilot, and on returning published the first account of the several countries ; from which cir- cumstance the newly-discovered world was called America. The Brazilian coast was first approached by Alvarez de Cabral, a Portuguese admiral, in 1500 ; and Florida by Ponce de Leon, a Spa- 672 OUTLINE HISTORY OF AMERICA. 573 niard, in 1512. In the eastern part of the peninsula, called Yucatan, the natives were found clothed in cotton garments, and exhibiting other marks of civilization, by Hernandez Cordova, A. D. 1517. The expedition which followed this discovery led to the conquest of Mexico. The spirit of discovery was now active, and all the great .European courts emulated one another in affording facilities to carry into effect the enterprising efforts of numerous able and adventurous navigators, who successively prosecuted the attempt, and immortalized their names by the successes which they gained. The history of the principal colonies and states which arose from these discoveries will be given in due course. America is divided into North and South. The principal colonies of the first were made by England and France ; those of the south by Spain and Portugal. The distinguishing spirit of the respective mother countries seems to have been infused into the infant states ; for while the southern division is rent by crude aspirants after liberty, the greater part of North America stands conspicuous — a mighty nation, growing in all the essentials of greatness, and already worthy to rival the leading European states. The vigour of the United States is that of Youth ; while the strength of the European dynasties assimilates very closely to the condition of Age — some of them strong, it is true, in their gray hairs, but others effete, and tottering to their decay. THE UNITED STATES. There were originally thirteen, colonized as follows :- When colonized. By whom. 1. Virginia, 1607, The British. 2. Neio York (Island,) 1618, The Dutch. 3, 3Iassaehusetts, 1620, 4. New Hampsliire, 1623, o. Delaware, 1626, 6. Connecticut, 1633, 7. Maryland, 1633, 8. BJiode Island, 1636, 9. North Carolina, 1663, 10. South Carolina, 1670, 11. New Jersey, 1670, 12. Pennsylvania, 13. Georgia, English Puritans. Ditto. The Swedes. Massachusetts emigrants. ' Lord Baltimore and Roman Catholics. Massachusetts emigrants. Virginian settlers. Ditto. Dutch and Swedes. 1681, William Penn and Quakers. 1732, Gen. Oglethorpe. These formed the original states, connected and swayed by the British ; and their early history is like that of other infant countries, while the difficulties they had at first to encounter were aggravated by the inveterate hostility of the natives, Avho found themselves dis- placed, and lorded over by men of different countries and different 674 THE UNITED STATES. 577 habits from themselves. Many were the leagues of the natives to crush the rising states, but all alike ineffectual from the time of Philip of Pokanohet to that of Tecumseh. Rude valour is never an equal match to the arts of civilization ; a small power well and skilfully directed easily puts to flight large masses undisciplined and without cultivation. Every age affords numerous instances of the truth of this. But although the European settlers were, by the superiority of their arts and discipline, rendered triumphant over their rude and savage opponents in general encounters, many a deed of death was retaliated upon them, by sudden incursions. The earliest colonists suffered the greatest hardships and encountered the most bloody perils, from which some of the later ones were exempted, as well by the advancement and strength of the others as by their own more humane and judicious policy. But the United States had to combat not only with barbarian ene- mies, but with European also. The adjoining country of Canada was a fertile source of disquietude and harassings. For not only did the French settlers, in the wars between their mother states, assault and war with the English colonists, but they stimulated against them the wild wai'-cry of the native Indians. The barrier provinces of New York and New England felt most severely this ill neighbourhood. Desolation and bloodshed spread their ravages 'through these devoted lands on occasion of every renewal of war ; and many were the pro- jects of a combination of power, aided by England, to dispossess the French of Canada. In 1690 an attempt was made, but it was ren- dered abortive by the tardiness of the British admiral ; and the years 1692 and 1696 witnessed similar scenes. The short period of repose enjoyed by the colonies subsequent to this period was interrupted by the general war in Europe ; and not only did New York and New England experience the renewal of former barbarities, but even Pennsylvania and Virginia, and South Carolina and Georgia escaped not the lash of European and Indian depredations. A brighter star now began its dawning, which, though occasionally obscured, at length attained its zenith. In 1745, Louis- bourg was gallantly taken by William Pepperell and a small body of New Englanders. In 1755, the English general Braddock received a signal defeat ; but three years afterward Fort Duquesne, now called Pittsburgh, was captured by the British and provincial troops. Suc- cess followed success, till Quebec and the whole of Canada fell under the power of Britain. In this exploit the name of Wolfe is conse- crated on the shrine of immortality. Thus relieved from the incursions and annoyances of their enemies, the States were so rapidly impelled 37 578 THE UNITED STATES. Tea riot at Boston. to wealth and greatness, that in a few years the parent country looked towards them to bear some share in the burden of taxation which the war had imposed upon her. The stamp act, in 1765, elicited the first scintillation of that flame which was afterward to blaze so brightly on the altar of independence. This was repealed, and tranquillity again settled in the States, to be interrupted, however, by another act of the English legislation, levying duties upon certain articles imported into the colonies. The colonists, having acquired some consciousness of their own strength and importance during the conflicts which termi- nated in the expulsion of the French from Canada, felt indignant at the attempt to exact from them taxes in spite of themselves, and reso- lutely determined to resist the legislation. The British ministry par- tially yielded to their resistance, reserving only the duty upon tea. This Avas met by the colonists with a compact among themselves, not to import or use this excisable commodity ; and so keen was their spirit, and so decided their resolution, that the people of Boston seized and threw into the sea a large quantity of it, which had been sent into their port. The legislature of the mother country retaliated upon them by passing an act to close the port of Boston, and by other severe measures against the charter of Massachusetts. This roused the in- dignation not of them only, but of even the provinces most remote from them, and most removed from the operation of the obnoxious measures. THE UNITED STATES. 579 .!1 S^ Battle of Lexington. In August, 1774, a congress of delegates assembled at Philadel- phia. The proceedings in Massachusetts, where a provincial congress had been constituted, were approved of — a resolution neither to import from nor export to Great Britain was passed, and an earnest remon- strance was addressed to the English parliament in vain. Compulsion became the language ; troops were sent against the colonies, and coercive measures were adopted against all the States except North Carolina, New York, and Delaware. This exemption was intended to be the apple of discord, but it failed, for these provinces refused the boon which had been denied to their sister States. Now sounded the cry of preparation, to be reverberated from the engines of war, which opened their destructive fire, April 18, 1775. The first collision took place at Lexington. The Americans had collected some warlike stores at Concord, which a body of 800 Eng- lish troops destroyed, and in the exploit being met by a small party of militia to the amount of seventy, they killed eight of them, and wounded a great many. In their turn they were much annoyed by the provincials, and though reinforced by 900 men, under Lord Percy, they lost before they reached Boston 273 men in killed, wounded, and pri- soners. The next action was at Bunker Hill, where 1500 of the American troops, partially protected by intrenchments, for a long 580 THE UNITED STATES. Lord Percy. time maintained their post against double the number of regular troops, having three times repulsed their attack, and only yielding when destitute of ammunition, with which to return the fire of the British from their field-pieces and the guns of their ships, which raked with great effect their position. Their retreat was effected in good order, with the loss of 453, including General Warren, while the British lost above 1000 men. This engagement took place on the 17th June, 1775. Matters now assumed a warlike aspect ; and the following year be- held troops levied in the name of the United Colonies, and General Washington appointed commander-in-chief. The first attempt made by this illustrious patriot was the siege of Boston, which commenced in July. In the following March, the British evacuated the place, and embarking aboard their fleet, sailed for Halifax. In the mean time, an expedition undertaken by the Americans in two divisions against Canada failed with great loss, and their General Montgomery was killed, and General Arnold wounded before Quebec. On July 4, 1776, the solemn act of declaring the colonies free and independent, with a constituted government of their own, was pub- lished, after a suitable address to the king, parliament, and people of Great Britain. Strong measures were now resorted to. The war had become general, and all hopes of bringing it to a speedy issue con- sisted in promptitude and large numbers. Accordingly, in August fol- lowing, twenty-four thousand British troops, under Sir William Howe, m ^ffj' iliiililii'iiHl THE UNITED STATES. 583 General Warren. landed on Long Island, about nine miles from New York, where the American general held his head-quarters with about seventeen thou- sand troops. Four days after their arrival the British gained a partial victory ; and on the 14th of September Washington evacuated the island, of which the British took immediate possession ; and, Novem- ber 12, they captured Fort Washington, with its garrison of nearly three thousand men. This was followed by the capture also of Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore. The tide of success seemed to set in for the British. Washington's army was dispirited, and very much di- minished by the departure of large numbers of the troops Avhose term of service had expired. Nothing but the most determined spirit of freedom could have sustained both the Congress and army, to persevere in their now almost hopeless contest. But the spark of liberty once expanded to a blaze is not to be ex- tinguished by reverses ; and true patriotism will generally extract even from depression the means of triumph. Accordingly, Washing- ton strove to dispel the gloom which brooded over the horizon of the republic heavily and drearily, by some brilliant exploits, which, 584 THE UNITED STATES. General Montgomery. -while they thinned the ranks of his opponents, shed a lustre upon his name, and infused fresh animation into his troops. His successful attacks upon the British posts at Trenton and Princeton compelled them to evacuate the principal part of New Jersey. Nor were their exploits at the conclusion of the year 1776 less in- jurious to the British than the skill and address of the American general in the following spring, with a great inferiority of force, were superior to the plans and operations of the British general, who, baffled in his attempt upon Philadelphia by land, changed his system, and resolved to attack it from the south. To counteract this attack, Washington pushed forward, but having sustained a defeat with the loss of twelve hundred men, and finding the attempt vain, he aban- doned Philadelphia to its fate. September 26th, Sir AVilliam Howe entered the city, having stationed the principal part of his army at Germantown, about six miles distant. An attack made upon this post by the Americans failed, and they lost a great number of men. But their losses in this quarter were more than compensated by THE UNITED STATE!?. 587 Buttle cf Germanto"wn. their successes in the Northern States. After capturing Ticonderoga with a garrison of three thousand men, and surmounting all obstacles which the enemy could throw in his way, so that he had almost reached the object of his expedition, wliich was the capture of Albany, (a measure which would have been greatly injurious to the colonies,) General Burgoyne was compelled, on the 17th of October, to suri'en- der his whole army prisoners of war at Saratoga. This triumph was not less glorious to the American arms than useful in rekindling their courage, replenishing their stores, and conciliating to their side the favour of the European powers, especially the French, government, from whom they received the assistance of a fleet and an army. Nei- ther did Washington suffer his troops to remain inactive, or the British to be unmolested ; for on the retreat of the latter to New York, he attacked and harassed their march, and, though he aj'oided a general engagement, in an action at Monmouth he came off victorious. The only other exploit in this year was the unsuccessful attack of the American General Sullivan on Rhode Island. Although the British carried on the operations Avith activity in the Southern States, the year 1770 does not present us with many striking events. They captured Savannah, but were repulsed in an attack upon Charleston ; while in the North the American General Wayne, with a small body of troops, carried by assault the strong position of Stony Point. 588 THE UNITED STATES. ■b "T" In the following year, active operations were continued by the Bri- tish in the Southern States ; they captured Charleston, and thereby wiped away the disgrace of their defeat in the preceding year; and Carolina was almost entirely overrun by them. General Gates, who was sent against them, sustained a complete defeat by Lord Cornwal- lis at Camden? General Greene, who superseded him, rallied his scattered troops, and by great activity and skill was enabled to turn the tide of Avar once more. Treachery now showed itself in the American camp, but, happily for the colonies, it Avas rendered abortive by a timely discovery. The name of Arnold is branded with infamy, and the English Major Andre was executed by the Americans as a spy. Very early in the following year, an inferior body of American mi- litia under General Morgan defeated some British troops at Cowpens; while at Guilford the colonists sustained some loss. Various now was the fortune of war. Greene, after a partial defeat at Camden, gained THE UNITED STATES. 589 Battle of Camden. a decisive advantage at Eutau Springs. The crisis now approaclied. Cornwallis, having received reinforcements, intrenched himself at Yorktown, in Virginia, when he was blockaded and besieged by a French army, in conjunction with Washington. After sustaining their combined attacks for nearly three weeks, Lord Cornwallis was reduced to the humiliating necessity of surrendering his army prison- ers of war, to the amount of seventeen thousand men. From this blow the British never recovered. The loss of two armies by surrender, convinced the English government, at last, that they were lavishing their resources and wasting their power in a vain con- test ; and though they made some partial attacks subsequently, the surrender of Cornwallis's army may be considered as the conclusion of this war. The independence of the colonies was acknowledged by the British government, by a treaty signed September 23, 1783. We may here remark that the assistance yielded by France contributed to aid the triumph of North American independence, and thereby inflicted a severe blow upon the British possessions and power. But it recoiled with a fearful revulsion upon herself. The lessons of American free- dom were wafted across the Atlantic to the plains of Gaul, and fomented that terrible explosion of public principles in France which demolished the throne and altar, and strewed the wrecks of its explosion over all the countries of Europe. Ending in a despotism too great for human 590 THE UNITED STATES. General Greene. Strength, the unwarrantable aggressions made on Spain and Portugal applied the match to the mine of slavery, which controlled the ener- gies of the various districts of South America, and led to the emanci- pation of those states, which now, rising from the ashes of oppression, open to the eve of history a vista of great events yet hidden beyond the horizon of time. To these states there may be yet seasons of ad- versity and trial ; but where the spirit of freedom is there is strength, — and they who are now feeble in infancy will hereafter become strong in maturity. Their slow advance to consolidated power is strongly contrasted with that speedy and efficient growth of greatness which marks the remaining history of the North American colonies, and shows the force of the different genius which had pervaded the respec- tive climes — characteristic of the spirit of their mother countries. Noble and spirited as were the efforts made by the colonies, and glorious as was the termination of the struggle, they soon found that their condition of independence was not in itself the boon of pros- perity. During the war, a series of dangers and the necessity of union and unceasing action, had kept their attention devoted to one object ; that object obtained, they found leisure to survey their condition. THE UNITED STATES. 591 SuiTender of Lord Cornwallis The sacrifices tliey had made now began to be felt. A heavy debt had been incurred, and they were a prey to all those evils which war ever bears in its train. Public morals were at a low ebb ; public credit deranged ; the acts of the Congress " more honoured in the breach than the observance." The arrival of peace, like the sudden calm after a storm, had nearly wrecked the fortunes of the youthful States. The real friends of the country now saw the danger, and a remedy was provided, Avhich, happily for them, proved effective. At Annapo- lis commissioners from five states assembled in 1786, and the result of their deliberation was a proposition to convene delegates from all the states, in order to consider the best means of revising their union and alliance. The result was the present constitution of the United States. This measure tended greatly to consolidate their power, and reduce their executive to order and authority; and although there arose two parties, and some delay took place before its general adop- tion, it became effective in the year 1789 ; and under the patriotic guidance of Washington as president, and John Adams as vice-presi- dent, it was found " to work well." Their wisdom led them, in opposition to great numbers of their 592 THE UNITED STATES. ■"SPiii^iarip^Ki "Wayne defeating the InJians. countrymen, to remain neutral in the shock which convulsed unhappy France, and caused every state in Europe to reel with a violence which sapped the foundations of them all. They had, however, a war of four years witliithe Indians, which, though attended with loss and defeat at the beginning, terminated successfully under the auspices of Gene- ral ^Yayne, (a. d. 1794,) who had previously distinguished himself in the capture of Stony Point from the British, in a most gallant man- ner. "Washington, after being twice elected president, declined the office a third time, and was succeeded by John Adams. The aggres- sive and insulting conduct of the French toward the United States at length aroused them to hostilities. An army of regular troops was established, the command of which v/as given to Washington, who died, universally lamented, December 14, 1799. The Americans now increased their navy ; but the war was of short continuance, and con- fined to one or two actions on the ocean, in which the superiority of the youthful state over the French marine was clearly established. In the collision of the two parties, in the year 1801, the democratic or republican party succeeded, in opposition to Adams, in raising Jef- ferson to the office of president, and under him prosperity shone upon the republic. Raised now to considerable consequence, the politics of America began to have some influence upon those of Europe ; while the affairs of the Old World necessarily implicated in some measure THE UNITED STATES. 595 Commo 1 ore Ferry. the proceedings of the United States. The measures of retaliation and blockade pursued by the British and French governments for some years after the renewal of war in 1803, affected not only the whole of Europe, but also the transatlantic world. After a variety of events, especially relating to commerce, the intercourse of which had been much prevented, war was declared against Great Britain, June 18, 1812. Although in the previous year the Americans with a body of regu- lar troops and some militia had defeated a large assemblage of Indians, their array at the beginning of the war was in a very inefficient state, and their efforts were accordingly attended with signal defeats. Gene- ral Hull, with an army with which he had invaded Canada, was cap- tured by General Broke, while another army of about one thousand men, under General Van Rensselaer, shared the same fate, but not without a manly struggle. On the ocean, they were more fortunate. In several well-fought engagements between frigates and smaller vessels, the Americans dis- played great skill and bravery. On Lake Erie, a British flotilla sur- rendered, after a long and well-fought action, to an American one of inferior force, under Commodore Perry. The military character of 596 THE UNITED STATES. Battle of Lake Chajnplain. the United States recovered its glory ; various and bloody were the struggles between the belligerants on the northwest frontier and in Canada ; and great loss was sustained by both sides, with alternate defeats and victories. In the mean while, the Atlantic frontier, which had previously en- joyed tranquillity, became the scene of bloodshed and hostile move- ments. The British were completely defeated in an attack upon Craney Island ; but they took and sacked the small town of Hampton. An expedition fitted out by the republic against Montreal failed, and was attended with very considerable loss to the Americans, at the close of the year 1813. A similar attempt met with a similar fate in the beginning of the following year ; but General Brown maintained the high character of the American arms at Fort Erie and Chippewa, both of which he captured from the British ; who were also foiled in their attempt to retake the former place. Nor were they unsuccessful only by land. Defeated on Lake Erie, their squadron on Lake Champlain yielded, after a severe contest, to an inferior force of the Americans ; while an expedition under Governor Prevost against Plattsburg was also abortive. But now liberated from Spain and Portugal, Great Britain sent some of her veteran warriors to display that prowess in the New, ■which had been so distinguished in the Old World. An attack was made by a body of four or five thousand men upon Washington, which proved successful ; but this triumph was counterbalanced by the defeat THE UNITED STATES. 597 Battle of New Orleans. and death of General Ross at Baltimore, and the failure of a large array of British troops in an attack upon New Orleans. Both parties now seemed weary of a contest in which there was little to gain from victory but empty renown ; and accordingly peace was concluded between them at Ghent, December 24, 1814. The thunders of the American navy were first heard in the Medi- terranean, in the capture of a frigate and sloop of war, by Commodore Decatur, from the Algerines, whom the Americans compelled to re- nounce by treaty, for ever, the practice of holding American prisoners in slavery. This was in the year 1815, and four years afterward a treaty was concluded with Spain for the cession of Florida to the United States, which did not actually take place till the year 1821, when the American troops took possession of the territory. In the following year, an almost unanimous vote of Congress acknowledged the independence of the Spanish provinces in South America. From this time until 1846, the history of the United States was marked by but few important occurrences. The Florida war, as the attempts to compel the removal of the Seminoles of Florida was called, cost the government much money, and the array many valuable officers. But the Indians were at length brought to a general action, defeated, and compelled to remove west of the Mississippi. The state of Texas, situated west of Louisiana, having declared its independence of Battle of Falo Alto. Mexico, and been formed into a republic, a project was soon set on foot to annex it to the United States. This project found favour with the democratic party in the Union, and, in 1845, the annexation was consummated. Mexico did not recognise the independence of Texas, and threatened to invade and reduce it. Early in 1846, General Zachary Taylor, with a small but efficient force, was ordered to the Rio Grande, which was claimed as the western boundary of Texas. A strong Mexican force was posted on the opposite side of the river. After several skirmishes and correspondences, the jMexicans crossed the river, and were encountered and defeated by the Americans in two battles, fought at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, upon the 8th and 9th of JNIay. Soon after. General Taylor crossed the river and took pos- session of Matamoras. War was now declared on both sides. Con- gress authorized the president to raise fifty thousand volunteers, and great numbers were readily obtained. In August, General Taylor, Avith about six thousand men, marched towards the interior of Mexico, and on the 21st of September laid siege to Monterey. This town capitulated after three days' hard fighting. In December, General Taylor was deprived of the greater portion of his regular troops, which were withdrawn for the expedition against Vera Cruz ; and while General Santa Anna with twenty-one thousand men was in the field, j he was forced to depend upon about five thousand troops, mostly volun- THE UNITED STATES. 603 General Taylor at Buena Vista. teers. Preferring to risk an attack in the open field to being besieged in Monterey, General Taylor took a strong position at Buena Vista. There he was attacked by Santa Anna, on the 22d and 23d of Feb- ruary, 1847, and an obstinate and bloody battle was fought. In the end, the Mexicans were repulsed, with the loss of two thousand men. This victory secured the Americans in the country they had subdued. In Februai-y, 1847, about twelve thousand men Avere collected at Anton Lizardo, in the Gulf of Mexico, under the command of General Winfield Scott, general-in-chief of the armies of the United States, for an expedition against Vera Cruz, and an entrance into Mexico through that port. A small but efficient naval force assisted in the transportation of troops and in the attack. The troops were landed without opposition on the 9th of March, and between that time and the 22d, the city was completely invested. A bombardment of the city and the castle of San Juan de Ulloa then commenced, and con- tinued until the 26th, when both capitulated. On the 8th of April, the army under General Scott began its march for the city of Mexico. On the 18th, it encountered and defeated the Mexicans under Santa Anna at the strong pass of Cerro Gordo, taking more than three thou- sand prisoners and an immense quantity of stores. Pressing forward rapidly, General Scott surmounted all opposition, and reached the valley of Mexico. There the severest fighting began. Contreras and Churubusco, positions considered impregnable, and defended by nume- rous armies, were both carried in one day by about six thousand men, G04 THE UNITED STATES. ]3attle o>: Cevro G.-^rdr great numbers of the enemy killed, and many taken. A short armistice was then agreed on, but soon broken by the Mexican general, and the Americans pushed their conquests further. The castle of Chapultepec, the -works of Molino del Rey, the Garitas, and, Battle of Contreras. THE UNITED STATES. 607 Storraing of Chapultepec. finally, the capital itself, fell into their hands, (September, 1848.) This rapid and decisive campaign was highly honourable to the skill of General Scott and the bravery of his troops. In the mean time, guerillas swarmed upon the road from Vera Cruz to Mexico, and reinforcements for the American army were compelled to fight their way. In the battles at Huamantla and Atlixco, General Lane defeated and dispersed the chief forces of guerillas. While General Scott was pursuing his campaign of conquest, General Kearny, with a body of volunteers from the Western States, took possession of New Mexico, very little resistance being met. Colonel Doniphan, with a detach- ment of this force, performed a very remarkable march to join General Taylor, through nearly two thousand miles of an unknown and hostile country, defeated the superior forces of the enemy at Bracito and Sacramento, and arrived at General Taylor's head-quarters with but trifling loss. General Kearny proceeded to California, and aided Commodore Stockton and Colonel Fremont in conquering that terri- tory. Thus, after the capture of the city of Mexico, the Americans were masters of the most important portions of the country. The 608 THE UNITED STATES. Mexicans now saw the necessity of making peace, and negotiations commenced, the result of which was a treaty, by which the United States gained the valuable territories of New Mexico and California, paying in compensation the sum of fifteen million dollars. The Union, at the conclusion of the war with Mexico, possessed a greatly extended territory and a much enhanced warlike reputation. The war had been a series of conquests such as would raise the con- fidence of any people in themselves. The discovery of the golden wealth of the mountains and rivers in California soon followed, and vast numbers of enterprising persons flocked thither. The immense riches of the gold regions have astonished the world, and, for the time, turned all eyes in that direction. California has already become a populous and powerful state. General Kearny. MEXICO. HIS rich and interesting country J may be regarded as altogether a Spanish colony, though it is no er dependent on Spain, having become deral republic. Discovered by Fer- io Cortez, (a. d. 1519,) it was by him ■n possession of in the name of the government. The exploits by which he ^l^^'^^ made himself master of this country seem rather to belong to romance than history; but the cir- cumstances of the age, and the nature and character of the opposing powers throw an air of universal interest over operations so multiform and diversified as the conquest of a great and powerful state by a body of men hitherto unseen by them, possessing all the advantages of skill and experience in war, and resolution and enterprise in action. The first conquest made by Cortez was on the river Tabasco; after which, landing at St. Juan de Ulloa, he erected a fort, where he re- ceived two ambassadors sent by the emperor of Mexico with offers of assistance. A haughty answer was the reply of Cortez; and gifts of the most costly character were heaped upon him by the natives in the hope of conciliating peace and preventing his further advance. Dangers, however, encompassed his steps ; sedition broke out in his camp, which he had the address not only to quell, but turn to his own advantage. A new town was founded, called La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Still a more alarming mutiny shoAved itself, which he 609 39 610 MEXICO. again converted into the means of executing a measure fraught with imminent risk, but calculated to superinduce the deadly courage of despair. This measure was the destruction of the fleet. Soon after this, being joined by one of the native caciques, with a force of little more than one thousand men, fifteen horses, and six cannons, he enter- ed the state of the Tlascalans, wdiom, after a desperate resistance of fourteen days, he subdued and converted into allies. At Cholula he massacred six thousand of the natives in revenge for their treachery. Success now wafted his banners, and the capital of the empire lay before him. Received by the emperor Montezuma at the head of his nobles, Cortez was conducted to a house in the city, which he instantly fortified in the strongest manner possible. It appears there was a prediction among the Mexicans, that a strange people should come to chastise them for their sins — a piece of superstition of which Cortez availed himself. By treachery he obtained possession of the person of Montezuma, whom he kept a prisoner for six months. Worn out MEXICO. 611 l\ioritezurQa. I at length, the Mexican emperor acknowledged himself a vassal of the Spanish throne. In the mean while Cortez lost no opportunity of strengthening his power by surveys of the country, and dividing the spoils among his followers. \ eta UlQZ. 612 MEXICO. ,'^- p 'if / , . / \ ' — ■ ',^"'1', I r Viii \wr Massacre at Cliolula. He "was again on the point of losing the fruit of his exertions ; for Velasquez, who commanded the expedition from which Cortcz had been despatched from Cuba, hearing of his success,' sent out a large force under Narvaez to seize him, and take possession of Mexico. This formidable danger Cortez frustrated, as well by bribes as the rapidity of his movements, almost without bloodshed ; but this he observed gave fresh spirit to the Mexicans, who attacked him on his return, and wounded him in his fortress. The wretched Montezuma, who had been placed in the van to deter the assailants from prose- cuting their attacks, was wounded, and died of a broken heart. Cortez was compelled to evacuate the place secretly, but only to return with a larger body of forces at the expiration of six months. We shortly afterward find his head-quarters at Tezcuco, where, with the assistance of the Indians, he built a flotilla of thirteen ships. Rein- forced with two hundred men, eight horses, and some military stores, he renewed the siege. Gallantly was the capital defended by Guati- mozin, the new emperor, and Cortez was once taken prisoner, but rescued at the expense of a severe wound. Seventy-four days did the city hold out, although the ranks of Cortez were augmented by one hundred thousand Indians. August 12, 1512, beheld Guatimozin MEXICO. 618 Cortez defeating Narvaez. a prisoner, and his capital in tlie hands of the merciless invaders ; merciless to him they were, for Cortez stained the lustre of his glory by putting the brave but ill-fated monarch to the torture. But there is, even in this world, a retributive justice ; and worldly minds, however sublimed by. courage and enterprise, generally encoun- ter reverses similar in character to their own conduct. Success had excited envy, and Cortez was doomed to find that no courage and enterprise can be altogether free from reverses. Created captain- general of New-Spain, (the name which he had given to his conquest,) even after an order had been issued, but not executed, for his arrest ; established in high favour and honour with the emperor, his native master, endowed with a grant of large possessions in the New World, he had the mortification to find himself possessing only military com- mand ; the political government was vested in a royal ordinance. His enterprising spirit led him to the discovery of the great Califor- nian gulf, but his glory was on the wane. Irritated and disappointed, he returned to Europe to appeal against the proceedings of the royal 614 MEXICO. ordinance, but without redress ; and he, who had barbarously tortured the gallant emperor of Mexico, died twenty-six years afterward of a broken heart, (a. d. 1547,) in the sixty-second year of his age. Abstracting the interest which attended the discovery and first conquest of Mexico or New Spain, the historian finds a tame succes- sion of events, which claim but a very vague notice. From the year 1535 to 1808 there was a succession of fifty viceroys, one alone an American by birth. At the latter period a spirit broke forth, elicited by centuries of oppression and exclusive favour to Europeans, which led the Mexicans to offer resistance to the dominion of Spain. The dissensions were headed by Hidalgo, an enthusiastic patriot, who was proclaimed generalissimo Sept. 17, 1810. He unfortunately halted in his advance towards the capital, which gave the royalists time to rally, and enabled them to defeat his intentions a few months, and put him to death. But with him the spirit of independence vanished not. Morelos, another priest, assumed the command, and several provinces were completely insured to the side of liberty. A congress of forty members was called, but after the defeat and execution of MEXICO. 615 Iturbide. Morelos, it was dissolved by General Teran, wlio succeeded him. After languishing for some time, the revolt was entirely quelled in 1819. The change of system introduced into Spain by the cortes alarmed the ecclesiastics in Mexico, who, for their defence, elected Iturbide, under whom a bloodless revolution was effected, and Mexico maintained in all its right, independent of the Spanish dominion, (a. D. 1822.) After a usurpation of the title of emperor for little more than one year, Iturbide was compelled to lay down his sauthority, and he retired to Leghorn. A federal government was now formed, and sworn to, February 24, 1824. Still commotions arose, in one of which Iturbide, who had been induced to return, lost his life. Although in the precarious situation of most states which rise on a sudden to independence from misrule and oppression, Mexico may hope to behold brighter days, and at no distant date become a great and powerful nation. The late war with the United States we have already noticed. Z-lacc d'Armes, Montreal. CANADA. HIS is the most important province possessed by Great Britain in North America. Its history is closely interwoven with that of the United States, with the people of which it has been, both under its original and present masters, in very fre- quent collision. Founded by the French in 1608, the colonists were for many years in danger of '^^^^^^^' being overwhelmed by the native Indians, with whom at length they entered into treaties, which enabled them to annoy very materially the neighbouring states under the British juris- diction. Twenty years after the founding of Quebec, the right of trading with Canada was granted exclusively to a company of French merchants, who, in the following years, were dispossessed of Quebec by Sir David Keith. This conquest remained in the hands of the British till it was ceded at the treaty of St. Germains. In 1663, the West India Company obtained the exclusive right of commerce for forty years, and Canada for thirty years enjoyed tran- quillity, and its concomitant, prosperity, which were interrupted by a bold but unsuccessful expedition of the people of New England, con- sisting of twelve or thirteen hundred men under the command of Sir William Phipps. This attempt w^as repeated about seventeen years afterward, (1711,) on a larger scale, but shared the same result, al- though four thousand veteran British troops were employed. 616 CANADA. 617 Death of Genei-al Wolfe. Little occurs in the affairs of Canada deserving notice, till the break- ing out of the continental war in 1756, when Canada became the theatre of military scenes, which ended, three years afterward, in the conquest of it by the British. The English General Wolfe, though defeated in his first operations by the French, at length, after an ac- tion sustained by equal gallantry on both sides, obtained possession of Quebec. In this exploit the opposing generals, Montcalm and Wolfe, are equally renowned for spirit and courage ; one did not sur- vive the mortification of defeat — the other lived only to hear the shouts of victory. This conquest was ratified to the English by the treaty of 1763. After that period it long enjoyed comparative peace ; for, with the exception of one unsuccessful expedition sent against it during the Revolutionary war, under General Montgomery, who was killed, Canada was exempt from military operations till the last Ameri- can war, when it became the theatre of several bloody frays, but re- sisted, by means of the British troops, the reiterated attacks of the Americans. Canada is now rising in importance. Ancient Peruvian temple. PERU. HE Peruvians have strange traditions tliat their progenitors were instructed in the arts of go- vernment and society by a man and woman named Manco Capac and Mama Oello, from an island in a lake south of Peru. Under their in- structions their kingdom was established, the royal family instituted, and success and power heaped upon them. This was about the thirteenth century ; and pre- vious to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1524 there had been fourteen successive monarchs or incas. On the arrival of the Europeans, Hu- ana Capac was the reigning inca, who was taken prisoner and put to death by Pizarro, the discoverer of the country, although he had paid as much gold for his ransom as filled the place of his confinement. Pizarro likewise defeated his successor, and was created marquis of Atibellos, with large possessions in his conquest. His associate, Al- magro, was also amply rewarded. The city of Lima was founded by Pizarro in 1533, but the Peruvi- ans again took up arms under their inca, Manco Capac, and obtained C18 PERU. 619 some successes. A division took place between Pizarro and Almagro, the latter of whom, having sustained a defeat, was taken prisoner and beheaded by his conqueror, who, two years afterward, was assassinated by one of Almagro's party. Various insurrections ensued with various successes, in which were conspicuous Vaca de Castro, Blasco Vela, Gonzalez Pizarro, and Pedro de la Gasca, a priest. The royal au- thority of the Spaniards was at length established by the surrender and execution of the last inca, Tupac Amaru, by Toledo the viceroy, at Cuzco, (a. d. 1562.) Peru remained in a stafe of uninterrupted vassalage to the Spanish crown till the year 1782, when a descendant of the last inca, on being refused a title which had been granted his ancestor, Sayu Tupac, reared the standard of independence, round which the natives rallied with spirit, and in great numbers. For two years the war continued with alternate success. At last, Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui was defeated, and with the rest of his family, excepting his brother Diego, put to death. The surviving brother shortly after- 620 PERU. Vaca de Castro, ward shared the same fate, on susjDicion of being engaged in a revolt at Quito. Peru escaped for a while the rising spirit of insubordination which convulsed the other colonics ; but in 1809 commotions ensued, and juntas were established in the cities of Quito and La Paz, but Avere suppressed. In 1813 the independents of Chili were subjugated, but their efforts were triumphant in 1817, under General San Martin, and Chili was not only evacuated by the Peruvian army, but sent an army to retaliate upon Peru. Lima capitulated on July 6, 1821, and San Martin held levees in the vice-regal palace. The independence of Peru was solemnly proclaimed on the 28th of the same month, and San Martin was proclaimed protector. This office he laid down, after calling together a constituent and sovereign congress, on the 20th of September, 1822. Disinterested as was this abdication, it was not followed by pros- perity to the country. The inadequacy of the junta appointed by the congress soon became manifest ; the patriots were defeated early in 1823 ; the congress now dissolved, anarchy predominated, and Lima surrendered to the Spanish troops in July of the same year. They were partially dispossessed by Bolivar and the Chilians shortly after- ward ; and Peru, though safe from Spanish subjugation, was like a vessel tossed by every casual wave, unsafe, and exposed to conflicting dangers. Fedro de YaldiTia. CHILI. Ills country was subjugated in 1450 by the Pe- ruvians, who retained possession of it till they were driven out by the Spaniards under AlmagrOj in 1535. The Spaniards were driven out by a general rising of the natives three years afterward. PizaiTO attempted to colonize the country in 1540, and though opposed by the natives of Copiapo, he succeeded in conquering several provinces, and founded the city of Santiago, February, 1541. In attempting to extend his conquest, he exposed his settlement for six years to the strong and repeated attacks of the Mapochians, in whose district Santiago was. His lieutenant, Pedro de Valdivia, to whom this extension was intrusted, made the Promancians his allies, and, surmounting various attacks and opposi- tions from the natives, founded the cities of Conception, Imperial, and Valdivia. He was shortly afterward defeated by his old enemies the Araucanians, who took him prisoner, and he was at length despatched by an old chief with the blow of a club. These Araucanians kept the new colonies for several years in a con- tinual state of alarm and distress ; and so far succeeded in avenging their former defeats as in 1589 to capture Vallanca, Valdivia, Impe- rial, and other towns, and form the cities of Conception and Chillar. 621 622 CHILI. Almagro. Nor were these the only losses sustained by the Spaniards. The Dutch plundered Chiloe, and massacred the garrison. The feuds between the Araucanians and Spaniards were settled by a treaty of peace in 1641, which lasted for fourteen years ; then came a war of ten years, and another peace. In 1722 a conspiracy for the extirpation of the whites was happily frustrated. The colonists were gathered into towns, the country divided into provinces, and several new cities founded by the governor Don Josef Manto, 1742. A similar attempt by Don Antonio Gonzago, in respect of the Araucanians, relighted the torch of war, which blazed three years, when harmony was re- stored. Nor does any thing of particular moment occur in the history of Chili till 1809 : then a successful revolutionary movement took place, and for four or five years fortune favoured the cause of inde- pendence ; but in 1814 a royalist army from Peru nearly extinguished the flame of liberty. Success (in 1817) returned with General San Martin, who brought them freedom. D. Bernardo O'Higgins was made director of the junta ; and a fatal blow was struck at the power of the royalists on the 5th of April, 1818, when a large tract of coast was declared in a state of blockade by the Chilian navy under Lord Coch- CHILI. 623 rane. In 1820, as stated in the history of Peru, the Chilian army, under San Martin, liberated Peru from the Spanish thraldom, and San Martin retired into the ranks of private life in Chili. His example was followed by O'Higgins, who resigned the dictatorship January 28, 1823, and was succeeded by General Freire, the commander-in-chief. The royalist flag, which was hoisted in Septeml^r, near the city of Conception, was pulled down, after a short period, and a free constitu- tion appointed, with a popular government. LunJing of Cabral. BRAZIL. HE honour of discovering this country is con- tested between Martin Behem and Pedro Alvarez Cabral, at the close of the fifteenth century. It was originally called Santa Cruz by Cabral, but afterward Brazil, from the name of a wood produced there. It was first '>(,f\ colonized by some refugee Jews, in 1548, ba- !hfli?v) nished from Portugal, and was fostered by the able guidance of Governor de Sonza, and the blandishments of the Jesuits. In 1624, San Salvador was taken possession of by the Dutch, who were in turn defeated by an armament of Spaniards under Frederic de Toledo. The Dutch, in 1630, succeeded in making themselves masters of Temerara, Paraiba, and Bio Grande. Maurice of Nassau added Scara, Sercgippee, and the greater part of Bahia ; and the whole of Brazil was on the point of yielding to their arms, when the revolution which drove Philip IV. from the Portuguese throne afforded an opportunity to both the Dutch and Portuguese to expel the Spaniards from Brazil. By an agreement between them, the country received a plural title, being called Brazils, from the circumstance that both the Dutch and Portuguese possessed almost an equal share of it. By conquest and treaty the whole at length fell to Portugal. In 1806, the royal family of Portugal, driven from Europe by the invasion of the French, migrated to Brazil, which from that period has risen rapidly in importance, indcpcndcnce,*and strength. In 1817, a 024 40 BRAZIL. 62T revolution broke out in Pernambuco, which failed. A free constitu- tion was passed, and the king returned to Lisbon. Subsequently the prince-regent, on his birth-day, October 12, 1822, was proclaimed constitutional emperor of Brazil, independent of the Portuguese throne—a measure which has since been formally recognised by the government of the parent country. THE REPUBLIC OF LA PLATA, OR UNITED PROVINCES. HE title of the United Provinces is of mo- dern date, as the following brief outline of the history of this part of the New World will exhibit. Juan Diaz de Solis, a Spaniard, is said to have been the first adventurer who explored the country, and took possession of it, (a. d. 1513.) Sebastian Cabot, in 1526, in the La Plata, discovered the island St. Gabriel, the river St. Salvador, and the Paraguay. Buenos Ayres was founded in 1535, by Don Pedro de Mendoza. This did not flourish much, on account of the restricted state of com- merce, which was, however, gradually relaxed, and in 1748 the annual flota made its last voyage. A free trade with several American ports began in 1774, and an extension to the Spanish ports was granted in 628 THE REPUBLIC OP LA PLATA. 629 1778. Under a viceroy trade augmented, and commercial prosperity ensued. Buenos Ayres was captured in 1806 by General Beresford, •with a British army, which was in turn compelled to surrender a few weeks afterward to General Liniers, a French officer, at the head of a body of militia. Sir Home Popham, with 5000 men, having captured Fort Maldonado, attacked MonteVideo, without success ; but, reinforced by Sir Samuel Auchmuty, at length carried the town by storm. The operations were extended under General Whitelocke and General Craw- ford, who with 12,000 men renewed the attack upon Buenos Ayres, but were defeated and captured by the native militia. Liniers, who had contributed so largely to this defeat, was raised by the people to the vice-royalty, upon the expulsion of Sobremonte for cowardice. The United Provinces escaped not the swell of that storm which the French invasion stirred up in Spain. After various intrigues and plots, Ferdinand VII. was at length proclaimed in Buenos Ayres by the ad- dress of Don Josef de Goyeneche. A rising of the people (August, 1809) was suppressed by Liniers, who was shortly after deposed and sent into exile. Rapid were the convulsions which now shook this un- happy country ; till, on May 26, 1810, the people rose, expelled the viceroy, and appointed a provisional junta of nine persons. This is the era of their independence. In vain the provinces of Cordova, Paraguay, and Monte Video refused their co-operation ; they were compelled to go along with the tide. In vain Liniers and General Nieto assembled armies ; they were defeated, and beheaded. Shortly after, the district of Potosi fell into the hands of the patriots, who de- puted, in 1814, a special mission to Ferdinand, on his restoration to the Spanish throne, with conditions of submission. These, happily for them, were rejected. In the same year a small cloud passed over the hopes of the patriots by the defeat of General Artigas, which was dispelled by the capture of Monte Video, the last stronghold of the Spaniards. After two years of carnage and confusion, in 1816 a sovereign congress met at Tucuman, and on October 6, the same year, the act of independence was ratified, D. Juan Martin Pueyrsedon being dictator. Monte Video was taken by the Portuguese under the baron de Leguna, who had seized on the most valuable part of Banda Oriental. Petty dissensions and intrigues, incident to the efforts of rising in- dependence, interrupted the progress of success necessary for the consolidation of a new state. D. Jose de San Martin cut a distin- guished figure in this part of the history, having twice defeated the independents atEntre Rios, in 1811 ; but his efforts failed, and the in- dependence of the provinces of Rio de la Plata was shortly after sealed. 630 THE REPUBLIC OF LA PLATA. Artigas, driven by the Portuguese across the Paraguay, was appre- hended by the dictator Francia, and in 1819 Pueyrsedon the dictator fled to Monte Video, and thus dissolved the confused mass of the union of conflicting and discordant provinces. After a variety of events and political changes, D. Martin Rodriguez was established governor, October 6, 1820 ; and in the following year the independence of Buenos Ayres was recognised by the Portuguese government. A general congress was convened at Cordova the same year, and on the 15th of December they decided the number of deputies to be sent by each province. In 1827 a war broke out between the republic and Brazil, respect- ing the possession of Uruguay, (Banda Oriental,) established as an independent state in 1828 ; and more recently La Plata has been in- volved in disputes with both Bolivia and France. These wars have contributed to retard the march of her prosperity ; but with all her accumulated difiiculties, La Plata has every appearance of soon be- coming a prosperous country. Mexican inn. Amerigo Vespucci. COLOMBIA. HIS is a nevf state, formed at the close of the year 1819, from the states of Granada, and Venezuela or Caraccas. It will therefore be necessary to detail the distinct history of these two original states. Granada, or as it is called, New Granada, was discovered by Columbus in his fourth voyage, and taken possession of for the Spa- nish government. He was followed by others, and especially by Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first who made Europe acquainted with a published account of this part of the New World. The first regular colonists were Ojeda and Nica Essa, in 1508 ; the former founded the district called New Andalusia, but with no great success ; the latter. Golden Castile, and he also perished. These two districts were united (1514) in one, called Terra Firma, under Avila, who suc- cessfully extended the discoveries, and founded the town of Panama. Other additions were subsequently made, and the kingdom of New Granada was established under a captain-general in 1547. As it had been established, so did it continue for more than one hundred and fifty years, when in 1718 it became a vice-royalty, which form of government lasted but for six years, when it was supplanted by the original one, which was again superseded in 1740 by the incubus of the vice-royalty. Thus did it continue, till the weakness of the mother country, from the 631 632 VENEZUELA. invasion of the French, afforded an opportunity to raise the standard of independence. Many and various have been the events attendant upon the struggle for mastery ; but a severe blow was inflicted by their old masters in 1810, who, under Morillo, defeated the colonists •with tremendous loss. Three years of renewed subjection followed, when the success of Bolivar and the union of Granada with Vene- zuela caused a brighter star to arise. VENEZUELA. This district was discovered somewhat earlier than Granada, by Columbus, in 1498. After several fruitless attempts to colonize it, the Spanish government disposed of the partially subdued natives to the Weltsers, a German company of merchants. Their mismanagement led to a change in 1550, when Venezuela, like Granada three years before, became a supreme government under a captain-general. From that period to 1806, Venezuela was a torpid vassal under the Spanish crown, when a futile attempt for independence was made under Gene- ral Mirando, a native. Simultaneous with Granada, Venezuela rallied for liberty when the mother country was prostrate before the ascend- ency of France in 1810. In the following year a formal proclama- tion of independence was made July G, and success seemed to attend the cause. Then came the dreadful earthquake. Superstition un- nerved the arm of freedom, and the royalist general, Monteverde discomfited Mirando, and again overran the province. In 1813, Bolivar called independence again into action, and success attended him for three years, when another defeat was sustained, which was followed by another in the following year, and then by a victory. Reverses again recurring, compelled the congress to appoint Bolivar dictator; and in 1819 the union of Venezuela with Granada was effected under the name of Colombia. Colombia may therefore date its history as a nation from this union, which was agreed upon Dec. 17, 1819 ; and the installation of the united congress took place May 6, 1821 ; which was followed, on June 24, by a victory obtained by the President Bolivar over the Spaniards, at the celebrated battle of Carabobo, in which the royalist army lost above six thousand men, besides their artillery and baggage. Bolivar. BOLIVIA. jjTIE history of this recently formed state, known before as Upper Peru, partakes of the nature of an episode in the life of the illus- trious Bolivar, in whose honour its present name was given, and to whose wise councils it is so much indebted. Previously to the battle of Ayachuco in 1824, it formed a part of the Spanish viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres ; but General Sucre, at the head of the republi- cans, having then defeated the royalist troops, the independence of the country was effected ; and in the following year, at the request of the people, Bolivar drew up a constitution for its governance. His renown was now at its height, and every act of his government showed how zealously alive he was to the improvement of the national institutions and the moral elevation of the people over whom he ruled. In 1823 he went to the assistance of the Peruvians, and having suc- ceeded in settling their internal divisions, and establishing their inde- pendence, he was proclaimed liberator of Peru, and invested with supreme authority. In 1825 he visited Upper Peru, which detached 633 634 GUIANA. itself from the government of Buenos Ayres, and was formed into a new republic, named Bolivia, in honour of the liberator ; but domestic factions sprang up, the purity of his motives was called in question, and he was charged with aiming at a perpetual dictatorship ; he ac- cordingly declared his determination to resign his power as soon as his numerous enemies were overcome, and to repel the imputations of ambition cast upon him, by retiring to seclusion upon his patrimonial estates. The vice-president, Santander, urged him, in reply, to re- sume his station as constitutional president ; and though he was beset by the jealousy and distrust of rival factions, he continued to exercise the chief authority in Colombia till May, 1830, when, dissatisfied with the aspect of internal affairs, he resigned the presidency, and expressed his determination to leave the country. The people ere long became sensible of their injustice to his merit, and were soliciting him to re- sume the government, when his death, which happened in December, 1830, prevented the accomplishment of their wishes. The government of Bolivia is in the hands of a president, to which office General Santa Cruz was elected in 1829. GUIANA. This is a British possession, comprising the several districts of Ber- bice, Essequibo, Demerara, and Surinam. It is asserted by some that Columbus saw this coast in 1458, and by others that it was discovered by Vasco Nunez in 1504. It became, however, known to Europe in 1595, when Raleigh sailed up the Orinoco in his chimerical search of El Dorado, a city supposed to be paved with gold. The coast of Guiana then became the resort of buccaniers ; and in 1634 a mixed company of these freebooters, English and French, formed the settlement of Surinam for the cultivation of tobacco. They were, after twenty years of great hardship and difficulty, taken under the protection of the British, who appointed Lord Willoughby of Parham governor, 1662. The Dutch captured the settlement in 1667, and the possession of it was confirmed by the treaty of Westminster, England receiving the colony of New York in exchange. In 1783, the Dutch settlements on the Essequibo, which had been captured by the British in the American war, were restored to the States-general. In 1796, both Berbice and Demerara fell to the English, as also Surinam in 1799 ; but again reverted to Holland, at the peace of Amiens, in 1802 ; fell to the Eng- lish arms in 1813, and were confirmed by the treaty of Paris, 1814, to Great Britain. AMAZONIA. 635 AMAZONIA. A COUNTRY of South America, so called from a martial and powerful state, in which a body of women, with arms in their hands, opposed Francisco Orellana, in his passage down the river Maragnon. It was first discovered by him, a. d. 1541 ; when, with fifty soldiers, he was wafted in a vessel down the stream of a smaller river into the channel of the Maragnon, which he also called Amazon. The origin of the name Amazon is folded in some mystery. It is applied exclusively to females of strong and martial habits, and was first used in reference to a race of them who, whether actually or fabulously is a matter of dispute, founded an empire in Asia Minor, upon the river Thermodon, along the coast of the Black Sea, as far as the Caspian. But whether the account of them is fabulous or true, they are men- tioned by the most ancient Greek writers, as well as by others of a late date ; and various are the accounts given both of their orio-in and history. Galley of the time of Orellana, iEpisotirs of .^mrrirau ii)istovj), KIXG PHILIP'S WAR. r^ ,;;-||^^,i ,'i^ HE colonists of New England were, !'.,; '.i^'rVfl^H^s^ 'by a happy combination of circum- stances, at peace with the Indians for about fifty years from the land- ing of the first Puritan settlers. Their number and wealth had ra- pidly extended, and they looked forward to a future of sunshine and plenty; but a mighty storm sud- denly checked their hopes, and desolated many of their homes. Massasoit, the ruler of a powerful ^^^' tribe at the time of the landing of the pilgrims, had entered into an alliance with them ; and his two sons, after his death, manifested an earnest desire to maintain such politic relations ; they even repaired to Plymouth and requested that English names might be given them. In compliance, the English named the elder Alexander, and the younger Philip. It soon appear- ed, however, that this was meant to lull the English into a fatal secu- rity. Alexander was detected in an attempt to invite the Xarragan- setts to hostility. The disappointment in the attempt overwhelmed him with rage and shame, and he died soon afterward. Philip now renewed the alliance with the English ; but it was to gain time for the execution of a mighty project he had formed. This chief pos- sessed the winning, moulding, wielding genius of the great statesman 636 KING Philip's war. 637 _,^.,.,_,-'^- Attack on DeerfielcL and warrior. He foresaw tlie ultimate result of the English encroach- ments, and determined to make an effort to check them, and even to exterminate the colonists ; for this purpose it was necessary to unite most of the New England tribes. In this scheme Philip displayed his powers, and was in a great measure successful. A converted Indian, having at length discovered the plot, revealed it to the governor of Plymouth ; he was soon after found dead in a field, with evidence that he had been murdered. A few of the neigh- bouring Indians were arrested, tried, and convicted of the crime ; and one of them confessed his share in it, as well as the fact that he had been instigated to it by Philip. The crafty chief now threw off the mask, and summoned the confederates to his aid. The colo- nies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut proceeded to arm for the common defence, having first endeavoured to negotiate, and failed. 638 KING Philip's wak. On the 20th of June, 1675, Philip's Indians attacked Swanzey, a frontier town, insulted the people, rifled their houses, killed four per- sons and a number of cattle. Four days after, they killed nine and wounded seven persons. The Plymouth troops now marched to pro- tect that town. On the 29th, the troops drove the enemy into a swamp, where they could not be followed. The next day, Major Savage, with a reinforcement, arrived ; he marched the army to the Indian towns, but found them deserted. Major Savage, to pursue the enemy with success, divided his men into companies, which he ordered to march in difl'erent directions, stationing forty at Mount Hope. On the 4th of July, the troops under Captains Church and Henchman fell in with about two hundred Indians, and a furious com- bat ensued. The savages had the advantage until the English were reinforced, when they fled in every direction, leaving about thirty dead and sixty wounded on the field. The English had twelve killed and twenty-seven wounded. Captain Church, with sixty-four men, now pursued the Indians into a dense forest, where he was suddenly at- tacked by them ; and, though he fought bravely and escaped, he lost all but sixteen of his men. The remainder of Major Savage's troops returned to Swanzey. The Indians now spread desolation among the villages of the fron- tier, and kept the inhabitants of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in a state of continual alarm. Captain Hutchinson, who had been sent with a party of horse to treat with the Nipmucks, was drawn into an ambush near Brookfield, himself mortally wounded, and sixteen of his men killed. The Indians then attacked Brookfield, burned all the houses but one, Avhich was garrisoned and bravely defended until Major Willard, with a party of troops, arrived ; and killed all the cattle and horses they could find. In September, Hadley, Deerfield, and Northfield, on Connecticut river, were attacked, and numbers of the inhabitants killed or wound- ed. There were also a number of skirmishes in that part of the country, in which the English were, upon the whole, losers. Captain Beers and twenty men were killed near Northfield. At Deerfield there were about three thousand bushels of wheat in stock, which it was resolved to bring to the general magazine at Hadley. Captain Lothrop, with about ninety men, guarded the teams employed in this service. On their way, they were surrounded and suddenly attacked by between seven and eight hundred Indians ; they fought bravely, but were nearly all killed. Captain Mosely marched from Deerfield to reinforce Captain Lothrop ; but arriving too late, he was obliged to fight the whole body of the enemy for several hours, until Major KING PHILIP'S WAR. 639 Treat, with about one hundred and sixty Englishmen and Mohegan Indians, marched to his aid and put the enemy to flight. About the middle of September, the commissioners of the colonies resolved to raise one thousand men, five hundred of whom were to be dragoons with long arms. In the mean time, Philip was active and successful. Tbe Indians in the neighbourhood of Springfield, pro- fessing friendship, conspired with Philip for the destruction of that town. One Toto, a Windsor Indian, disclosed the plot to the whites, and a messenger was sent to Major Treat, who was at Westfield with the Connecticut troop, to apprize him of their danger ; but the people of the town were possessed with a singular idea of their security, and no preparation for defence was made. Lieutenant Cooper, who com- manded there, went with one companion to ascertain the truth of the report. On the way, he met the advancing Indians, who fired, killed his companion, and mortally wounded him ; he kept his horse till he arrived in the town to give the alarm. The enemy instantly com- menced a furious attack. Thirty houses and barns were burned, but the people were saved from massacre by the timely arrival of Major Treat. The Indians, elated with their successes, now collected about eight hundred men and made a furious attack upon Hadley; but the garri- son of the town fought with skill and spirit, and kept them at bay until the arrival of the active Major Treat, who attacked them wath his whole force. The Indians were defeated, and suffered such a loss that they became disheartened, and did not again make an attack in that part of the country. The forces of the united colonies were in the field in December, and rendezvoused at New London, Norwich, and Stonington. Josiah Winslow Avas chosen commander-in-chief. As the Narragansetts ex- hibited a hostile determination, it was resolved to proceed against them. On the 7th of December, Gen. Winslow, with over eleven hun- dred men, marched for the head-quarters of the enemy, and on the 9th, in the morning, having travelled all the preceding night, reached the borders of the extensive swamp in which the Narragansetts were encamped. On reconnoitring, it was found that the strong fort in the centre of the swamp could only be reached by a single narrow path. About ten o'clock, the line of battle being formed, the English were ordered to rush into the swamp ; when within fifty rods of the fort, they were met and attacked by the enemy. A furious combat ensued. The Indians were driven to their fort, but from it they poured a destructive fire upon the English. Oneco and his Mohegan warriors now scaled the walls, and threw the Narragansetts into confusion ; 640 KING Philip's war. those who attempted to escape were instantly cut to pieces by the troops without ; no quarter was given. Of four thousand Indians supposed to have been in the fort, only two hundred escaped ; but among them was Philip. The loss of the English was very severe — two hundred and ninety-nine killed, and five hundred and thirteen wounded. In consequence of the severity of the weather and the number of the Avounded, the army now returned ; but parties of the Massachusetts and Plymouth forces hept the field during the winter, ranging the country, destroying villages, and taking prisoners. Of the captains of these parties, Benjamin Church was decidedly the most successful and the most dreaded by the enemy. An exploit of Captain Church, during the pursuit of the Narra- gansetts, is worthy of note. On the route, the pursuers reached an Indian town on an island, surrounded by a small swamp. The water of the swamp was frozen, which prevented the soldiers from charging the wigwams. A volley of musketry was poured into them, and under its cover the troops began to cross the ice. The Indians broke and fled as soon as the English and Mohegans reached the island. A Mohegan captured one of the enemy who had been wounded in the leg, and obtained permission to put him to death in the Indian mode. Church, not liking such bloody sport, withdrew. The Mohegan, elated with his task, advanced towards his victim flourishing his tomahawk and evincing his satisfaction. Suddenly he aimed a tremendous blow at his prisoner's head ; but the Indian dodged it, broke from those who held him, and ran for his life. Taking the same direction Church had done, he suddenly ran against him. Church grappled him, but the Indian slipped away and again ran, but stumbled and fell, and Church was again upon him. They fought and wrestled until the Indian broke away for his third race. Church pursued. They soon reached the ice, which being in some places hollow caused a rumbling noise. It now began to grow dark, and the Indian ran abreast of a fallen tree, and began to cry for assistance. Church was soon upon him ; each laid hold of the other's hair, and a desperate struggle en- sued. The ice was now heard crackling at a distance, and a person came running toward them. The stranger reached them, and, in silence, commenced feeling the two heads. With the same silence, he raised his hatchet and sank it in the head of the savage. It was the Mohegan executioner. Having gratified his cruelty, he hugged Church for having caught his captive, and conducted him to the camp in triumph. The Nipnet and Narragansett Indians were nearly exterminated in the action of the 9th of December. Those who escaped seized every 41 KING PHILIP'S WAR. 643 Nocc,^^ Cononchet. occasion to revenge the loss of their brethren. In February, Lan- caster and Medfield were attacked, many houses burned, twelve per- sons killed, and others made captives. On the 3d of March, Captains Pierce and Watkins, with two companies of cavalry, were ordered out to protect the frontier inhabitants. On the morning of the 6th, they attacked a body of Indians near Patuxet. Soon after, they found themselves surrounded by about five hundred savages, and though they struggled manfully, only five escaped. About ninety savages were slain. On the 25th, Weymouth and Warwick were attacked and burned, and many of the inhabitants killed. On the 10th of April, Kehoboth and Providence were pillaged and burned. On the 8th of May, Capt. Dennison, with a company of English and one hundred and fifty Mohegans, attacked a party of the enemy near Groton, and killed or captured nearly all of them. On the 23d, Cononchet, sachem of the remaining Narragansetts, proceeded with about two hundred of his tribe to the banks of the Connecticut river, to plant corn. The governor, apprized of this movement, sent three companies of cavalry and about one hundred Mohegans, under the command of Oneco, to attack them. The ac- tion began in the vicinity of Seekonk. The Narragansetts fought bravely, but the superior force of the assailants overpowered them. In the midst of the action, Cononchet, fearful of the issue, attempted to seek safety in a neighbouring wood. But the Mohegans recognised 644 KING Philip's war. and pursued him. Cononchet, seeing himself hard pressed, threw away his blanket and silver-laced coat, and plunged into the river, where the Mohegans and English overtook and secured him. This brave chief bore himself proudly, and refused to confer with any but the commander of the English. He rejected the offer of life upon condition of making peace with the whites, and when told he was con- demned to die, said he " liked it well — he should die before his heart was soft, and he had said any thing unworthy of himself." He was shot by Oneco, the Mohegan sachem, at Stonington. The English and Mohegan parties now scoured the country, killed or took many of the enemy, and were everywhere successful. But in June the Indians destroyed Bridgewater, and killed forty of the in- habitants ; and on the 11th of July Major Savage, with three com- panies of cavalry, Avas surrounded and suddenly attacked by an over- whelming force. The Indians gained a complete victory, killing fifty- four of the English. In other attacks the Indians were repulsed. On the 25th of September, a large body of Indians attacked Marl- borough, and cut off two companies of troops who were sent to its assistance. Captains Wadsworth and Smith were killed in this affair. In the latter part of October, the Indians on the Merrimack took up the hatchet, and spread massacre and desolation among the New Hampshire settlements. But they were defeated on the 23d and 26th of December, by Captains Sill, Holyoke, Cutler, and Prentice. The savages were no longer confined to any particular place, but, in par- ties of from fifty to one hundred, were scattered all over the thinly- inhabited parts of New England, seizing every chance to murder, burn, or capture. The inhabitants of Deerfield and other towns formed themselves into companies, and chose their own commanders. On the 4th of February, they heard that two hundred Indians were in the swamps near Deerfield, and marched to attack them. The In- dians were completely surprised, and one hundred and twenty of them killed. The English, on their return, were attacked by another body of Indians, and, having expended all their ammunition, fell an easy prey. Fifty were killed, and eighty-four wounded. But the Indians were severely defeated in an attack on Hatfield. On the 20th of February, Captain Henchman, with one hundred men, attacked a party of Indians near Brookfield, under the immediate command of Philip, killed about fifty, and captured sixty squaws and children. A portion of the Indians now fled to the Mohawks in the West, but were driven back by those staunch friends of the English. Philip had still a considerable force under his command, though so many of his warriors had bitten the dust. If his men had possessed a KING PHILIP S WAR. 645 Indian council. sufScient supply of fire-arms, they might have yet made ground against their white foes. But there were not more than a hundred guns to a thousand men, and ammunition was very scarce. Under these cir- cumstances, the efforts of the great chief were made terrible by des- peration. In April, Hadley was threatened with destruction ; but this was warded off by the arrival of Major Talcott with some troops and an eight-pound cannon. On the 5th of September, Major Tal- cott, with a force of English and Mohegans, attacked and nearly de- stroyed about three hundred of Philip's Indians at Narragansett. One hundred and fifty Indians, among whom was the wife of Philip, were captured at Pautuxet on the 15th of September ; and the next day seventy more were captured near Dedham. In the struggle which preceded this capture, Pomham, a warrior renowned for strength, courage, and activity, was slain. Famine now compelled many of the enemy to surrender to the English, and they came in daily. But Philip was undaunted by all his losses, and even struck dead a man who proposed to negotiate with the whites. 646 KING Philip's war. On the 12th of October, Captain Benjamin Church, with fifty troops and a few friendly Indians, defeated a party of the Indians near Providence ; and on the next day discovered a considerable body of them in a swamp near Pomfret. They were summoned to sur- render, and replied by a discharge of arrows. The English gave ground, but Church rallied them, and rushed upon the enemy so fu- riously that they were dislodged and routed. About thirty Indians were killed and sixty or seventy wounded. The English had seven killed and fourteen wounded. On the 20th, the governor and council received information that King Philip, who had been for a long time lurking about Mount Hope, the seat of his ancestors, disheartened by the defeat of his plans and the losses he had suffered, was, the preceding morning, dis- covered in a swamp near that place, attended by about ninety Sea- conet Indians. Captain Church, with his brave band-, was immedi- ately sent in pursuit. On the 27th, they arrived in the neighbour- hood of the swamp. Captain Church then stationed several Mohegans and Seaconets at the border of it, to intercept Philip in case he should attempt to escape, while he, with his Englishmen, plunged into the swamp, and, after wading waist-deep, discovered the foe. The In- dians, surprised, fled in every direction. Philip, in trying to fly, was recognised by one of the English who had been left with the Mohe- gans to intercept him. The Englishman levelled his piece, but the priming was Vv^et, and it Avould not go off. An Indian — the brother of him Philip had killed for proposing to make peace — then shot the sachem through the heart. But few of the hostile Indians escaped. The head of Philip was severed from his body and sent to the governor and council at Boston, to be preserved as a trophy, and the body was mutilated by the Mohegans. The Avar virtually ended with the death of its creator and supporter. Several skirmishes afterward occurred, but they were the death-groans of the Indian power. Numbers of them came in daily, and peace was soon restored in all quarters, in consequence of the activity of Church and his band. During the war, the English had suffered much. The progress of the colonies was materially retarded, and a large number of valuable lives were expended. Property to an immense amount was destroyed. But the Indians were nearly exterminated in the vicinity of the colo- nies. The mighty genius of Philip strove to avert that doom, but failed for the want of fortunate circumstances to aid it. However we may condemn his cruelty and treachery, we cannot but admire his dauntless perseverance and patriotic exertions. Death of Zing Philip. 2/^^^^ Pioneers entering Kentucky. BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. ENTUCKY was first visited by the whites about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury. James Finley has the credit of being the first adventurer. He traversed the country, and returned to North Caro- lina in 1767. The famous Daniel Boone, impelled by a restless disposition and the glowing accounts of the country given by Finley, visited it, in company with his brother, in 1769. These hardy adven- turers traversed the territory, seeing no Indians, and finding game in plenty. In the next year, a party led by Col. James Knox thoroughly explored the middle and southern regions of Kentucky. On their re- turn, they spread glowing accounts of the fertility of the soil, and healthiness of the climate. Boone headed another party which was in Kentucky at the same time as Knox's. On this exploration he was harassed by the Indians, and one of his companions, named Stuart, was killed by them. In the summer of 1774, several parties of surveyors and hunters entered Kentucky ; and during this year James Harrod erected a log cabin upon the spot where Harrodsburg now stands, which rapidly 651 652 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKr. grew into a station, probably tbe oldest in Kentucky. During this year, Colonel Richard Henderson purchased from the Cherokee In- dians the whole country south of Kentucky river. His purchase was subsequently declared null and void by the legislature of Virginia, which claimed the sole right to purchase land from the Indians within the bounds of the royal charter ; but great activity was displayed by Henderson in taking possession of his new empire, and granting land to settlers, before the act of the Virginia legislature overturned all his schemes. Daniel Boone was employed by him to survey the country, and select favourable positions ; and, early in the spring of 1775, the foundation of Boonsborough was laid, under the title of Henderson. From the 22d of March to the 14th of April, Boone was actively en- gaged in constructing the fort afterward called Boonsborough, during which time his party was exposed to four fierce attacks from the In- dians. By the middle of April the fort was completed, and within two months from that time his wife and daughters joined him, and resided in the fort, — the first white women who ever stood upon the banks of the Kentucky river. From this time, Boonsborough and Harrodsburg became the nucleus and support of emigration and set- tlement in Kentucky. In 1775, the renowned pioneer, Simon Ken- ton, erected a log cabin, and raised a crop of corn in the county of Mason, upon the spot where the town of Washington now stands, and continued to occupy the spot until the fall of that year, when he removed to Boonsborough. Boone's settlement and Harrodsburg were constantly exposed to the attacks of the savages, who seemed determined to drive the whites from the country, if possible. Stragglers were killed or captured, and the greatest strictness of discipline at the stations became necessary for safety. In 1777, Kentucky was invaded by a very large Indian force, and Harrodsburg, Boonsborough, and Logan's fort were in succession furiously assailed. The hunters and surveyors were driven to take shelter in the forts. Much injury was done to the property of the whites, but the forts could not be captured without artillery, which the red men did not possess. After the Indians had retreated, a reinforcement of one hundred and forty-five men arrived in Ken- tucky, and afforded great relief to Boone, Logan, and their brave companions. A brief period of repose now followed, in which the settlers en- deavoured to repair the damages done to their farms. But a period of heavy trial to Boone and his family was approaching. In January, 1778, accompanied by thirty men, Boone went to the Blue Licks to make salt for the difi'erent stations ; and on the 7th of February fol- BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 655 lowing, while out hunting, he fell in with one hundred and two Indian warriors, on their march to attack Boonsborough. He instantly fled, but, being upwards of fifty years old, was unable to contend with the fleet young men who pursued him, and was a second time taken pri- soner. As usual, he was treated with kindness until his final fate was determined, and was led back to the Licks, where his men were still encamped. Here his whole party, to the number of twenty-seven, surrendered themselves, upon promise of life and good treatment, both of which conditions were faithfully observed. Had the Indians prosecuted their enterprise, they might, perhaps, by showing their prisoners, and threatening to put them to the torture, have operated so far upon the sympathies of the garrisons as to have 656 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. obtained considerable results. But nothing of the kind was attempted. They had already been unexpectedly successful ; and it is their custom, after good or bad fortune, immediately to return home and enjoy their triumph, or lament their ill success. Boone and his party were con- ducted to the old town of Chillicothe, where they remained until the following March. No journal was written during this period by either Boone or his party. We are only informed that his mild and patient equanimity wrought powerfully upon the Indians ; that he was adopted into a family, and uniformly treated with the utmost affection. One fact is given us which shows his acute observation and knowledge of mankind. At the various shooting matches to which he was invited, he took care not to beat them too often. He knew that no feeling is more painful than that of inferiority, and that the most eflfectual way of keeping them in a good humour with 1dm was to keep them in a good humour with themselves. He, therefore, only shot well enough to make it an honour to beat him, and found him- self a universal favourite. * Boone was conducted to Detroit in March, 1778. At that place. Governor Hamilton and several English gentlemen offered very high ransoms for him, but the Indians refused to part with him. After his return to the Indian towns, Boone found a numerous body of war- riors collected for an expedition against the Kentucky settlements. This determined him to make an effort to escape. He lulled the sus- picions of the savages by pretending to be contented, and hunting and sporting with them, till the morning of the 16th of June, when he left Chillicothe and struck out for Boonsborough. He performed the distance of one hundred and sixty miles in four days, during -nhich time he ate but one meal. The arrival of the father of the settlement was opportune. His wife and children, thinking him^dead, had gone to North Carolina. His men, suspecting no danger, were dispersed at their employments. The fort was strengthened, ammunition procured, and every thing prepared in haste for the attack. As the Indians delayed their expedition, Boone concluded they had abandoned it, and he determined "to carry the war into Africa." The enterprising woodsman selected nineteen men, and marched silently and rapidly against the town of Paint Creek, on the Scioto. Within four miles of that town he met a party of thirty Indians, whom he attacked and defeated, killing several men, and losing none himself. Finding the village deserted, Boone concluded the Indians had gone on their grand expedition. His object now was to reach Boonsborough * McClung. BOEDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 657 Cajitaia Duquesne. before them. This he effected by a circuitous march, which was made with great celerity. The day after the arrival of Boone, the Indians appeared. It was then ascertained that they were aided by Canadian officers, skilled in war, and commanded by Captain Duquesne. The British colours were displayed, and the suirender of the fort demanded. Boone requested two days for consideration, v/hich the British commander was shallow enough to grant. Of course, the interval was employed by the gar- rison in preparing for a determined resistance. At the expiration of the granted time, Boone announced to Captain Duquesne his resolution. The British commander then proposed, that if nine men of the prin- cipal inhabitants would come out on the plain and treat with them, this army of warriors would depart without further hostilities. The object of this proposal was clear. But Boone, with singular lack of penetration, accepted it. With eight of his men, he went out and treated with Duquesne. The Indians then attempted to carry him away, but he broke from them, and fled to the fort amid a shower of bullets. One of his men was wounded. The attack was instantly 42 658 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. commenced. The assailants exhausted the ordinary stratagems of In- dian warfare, but were repulsed with loss in every effort. At length, seeing no prospect of success, they raised the siege and returned home. The loss of the garrison was two killed and four wounded ; that of the enemy was thirty-seven killed, and many wounded. This was the last attack on Boonsborough. The number of stations between that place and the Ohio prevented the savages from reaching it without leaving an enemy in the rear. The adventures of some of the pioneers of Kentucky are thrilling, and illustrate characters as daring and as circumspect as history can afford. Among the most distinguished for a love of adventure was Simon Kenton. He arrived in Kentucky soon after Boone, and sus- tained two sieges in Boonsborough. He also served as a spy with dilin-ence and success. But Kenton was on some occasions more con- spicuous for daring than prudence. Soon after the last siege of Boonsborough, Kenton, Montgomery, and Clark were ordered by Colonel Bowman to go on a reconnoitering expedition to tlie towns on the Little Miami, against which Bowman meditated an expedition. Their adventures and misfortunes, which give a clear idea of border life, are thus narrated by McClung, in his Sketches of Western Adventure : They instantly set out, in obedience to their orders, and reached tlie neighbourhood of the town without being discovered. They ex- amined it attentively, and walked around the houses during the night with perfect impunity. Thus far all had gone well ; and had they been contented to return after the duo execution of their orders, they would have avoided the heavy calamity which awaited them. But, unfortunately, during their nightly promenade, they stumbled upon a pound in which Vv^ere a number of Indian horses. The tempta- tion was not to be resisted. They each mounted a horse, but, not satisfied with that, they could not find it in their hearts to leave a single animal behind them, and as some of the horses seemed indis- posed to change masters, the affair was attended M'ith so much fracas, that at last they were discovered. The cry ran through the village at once, that the Long Knives were stealing their horses right before the doors of their wigwams, and old and young, squaws, boys, and war- riors, all sallied out with loud screams to save their property from these greedy spoilers. Kenton and his friends quickly discovered that they had overshot the mark, and that they must ride for their lives ; but even in this extremity, they could not bring themselves to give up a single horse which they had haltered, and while two of them rode in front and led, I know not how many horses, the other brought BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 661 up the rear, and plying his Avhip from right to left, did not permit a single animal to lao; behind. In this manner they dashed through the 'woods at a furious rate, •with the hue and cry after them, until their course "was suddenly stopped by an impenetrable swamp. Here, from necessity, they paused for a few moments and listened attentively. Hearing no sounds of pursuit, they resumed their course, and skirting the swamp for some distance, in the vain hope of crossing it, they bent their course in a straight direction toward the Ohio. They rode during the ■whole night "without resting a moment ; and halting for a few minutes at daylight, they continued their journey throughout the day, and the "whole of the following night, and by this uncommon expedition, on the morning of the second day, they reached the northern bank of the Ohio. Crossing the river "would now ensure their safety, but this "was likely to prove a diflScult undertaking, and the close pursuit which they had reason to expect rendered it necessary to lose as little time as possible. The "wind was high, and the river rough and boisterous. It was determined that Kenton should cross with the horses, while Clark and Montgomery should construct a raft in order to transport their guns, baggage, and ammunition to the opposite shore. The necessary preparations were soon made, and Kenton, after forcing his horses into the river, plunged in himself and swam by their side. In a very few minutes, the high waves completely overwhelmed him, and forced him considerably below the horses, that stemmed the current much more. vigorously than himself. The horses, being thus left to themselves, turned about, and swam again to the Ohio shore, where Kenton was compelled to follow them. Again he forced them into the water, and again they returned to the same spot, until Kenton became so exhausted by repeated efforts as to be unable to swim. A council was then held, and the question pro- posed, "What was to be done?" That the Indians would pursue them, was certain ; that the horses would not and could not be made to cross the river in its present state, was equally certain. Should they abandon their horses and cross on the raft, or remain with their horses and take such fortune as heaven should send them ? The latter alternative was unanimously adopted. Death or captivity might be tolerated, but the loss of so beautiful a lot of horses, after having worked so hard for them, was not to be thought of for a moment. As soon as it was determined that themselves and horses were to share the same fate, it again became necessary to fix upon some pro- bable plan of saving them. Should they move up or down the river, 662 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. or remain where they were ? The latter course was adopted. It was supposed that the wind would fall at sunset, and the river become sufficiently calm to admit of their passage, and as it was supposed probable that the Indians might be upon them before night, it was determined to conceal the horses in a neighbouring ravine, while they should take their stations in the adjoining wood. A more miserable plan could not have been adopted. If they could not consent to sacri- fice their horses, in order to save their own lives, they should have moved either up or down the river, and thus have preserved the dis- tance from the Indians which their rapidity of movement had gained. The Indians would have followed their trail, and being twenty-four hours march behind them, could never have overtaken them. But neglecting this obvious consideration, they stupidly sat down until sunset, expecting that the river would become more calm. The day passed away in tranquillity, but at night the wind blew harder than ever, and the water became so rough, that even their raft would have been scarcely able to cross. Not an instant more should have been lost in moving from so dangerous a post ; but as if totally infatuated, they remained where they were until morning ; thus wasting twenty-four hours of most precious time in total idleness. In the morning the wind abated, and the river became calm ; but it was now too late. Their horses, recollecting the difficulty of the passage on the preceding day, had become as obstinate and heedless as their masters, and posi- tively and repeatedly refused to take the water. Finding every effort to compel them entirely unavailing, their mas- ters at length determined to do what ought to have been done at first. Each resolved to mount a horse and make the best of his way down the river to Louisville. Had even this resolution, however tardily adopted, been executed with decision, the party would probably have been saved ; but after they were mounted, instead of leaving the ground instantly, they went back upon their own trail, in the vain effort to regain possession of the rest of their horses, which had broken from them in the last effort to drive them into the water. They wearied out their good genius, and literally fell victims to their love for horse- flesh. They had scarcely ridden one hundred yards, (Kenton in the cen- tre, the others upon the flanks, with an interval of two hundred yards between thexu,) when Kenton heard a loud halloo, apparently coming from the spot v/hich they had just left. Instead of getting out of the way as fast as possible, and trusting to the speed of his horse and the thickness of the wood for safety, he put the last capping stone to his imprudence, and, dismounting, walked leisurely back to meet his pur- BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 663 beSlThtf rr' ""T "' ''^*^™"'' - possible. He quickly beheld tkee Indmns and one white man, all well mounted. Wishing gu-e ha alarm to hi^ companions, he raised his rifle to hs shoulder" tnggei. His gun had become wet on the raft, and flashed The enemy were mstantly alarmed, and dashed at him. Now at last when fl.ght could be of no service, Kenton betook himself tl'hfa heels and was pursued by four horsemen at full speed. He nstantlv directed b.s steps to the thickest part of the wood, where there w- eTt h tul " ^f « '•"'^'. S^"''-'" "' ™<'-wood and had srce! ! It ZnnZt' '" 1 /"= '"' r '""''' "''""■ J"^' »« he was leaving the fallen timber and entering the open wood, an Indian on horseback gal oped round the corner of the wood, and aroroaehed him sr ^pi 1 y as to rende, .flight useless. The horseman rode up, holding 2tl hand and calling out "Brother! brother!" in a tone of great affe hat .Ctrerfd-^'h" ^V' t »""" '""" '-™ -'=« «'' '^ ™"^ nave brotheud him to his heart's content, but being totallv un- armed, he called out that he would surrender if they would rich" quarter and good treatment. ^ *■ Promises were cheap with the Indian, and he showered them out by he dozen continuing all the while to advance with extended hands and a ™thi„g g„n upon his countenance, which was intended for a mile of courtesy. Seizing Kenton's hand, he grasped it whh v o rknockT-"'°d' "'°' '"T' ""^ """""^ °f "^ captoi'raised hi ;„: knock hini down, when an Indian who Iiad followed him clotlv ht°ats : :r'^"r"'^r'"""^ ^"^^ "p™ '■■^ ^-"^ »-' p='"»»^ s Ice h m bv ;; ■• rr, T'?" '^^ J"^' "PP^"^*"' l'^- 'ten re t o tl !^ , "■■ ""'' '^""^ ''™ ""'" ^"' '««* rattled, while the rest of the party coming up, they all fell upon Kenton ^ith their to death. They were the owners of the horses which he had carried off, and now took ample revenge for the loss of their property It every stroke of their ramrods over his head, (and they we ndtht fow nor far hetween,) they would repeat in a tone of sionrin^n tion, "Steal Indian boss!! hey!!" »""Uo ""-"gna- Their attention, however, was soon directed to Montgomery who having heard tlie noise attending Kenton's capture, vtry "al alt W hastened tjp to his assistance ; while Clark very prudently con uU d bis own safety m betaking himself to his hecls,^Lvi„g bis u^f tu nate companions to shift for themselves. Monlgomeiyha led whhin gunshot and appeared busy with the pan of his^gun, L if prepLtg to £■ e. Two Indians instantly sprang off in pursuit of him, while the 664 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. rest attended to Kenton. In a few minutes Kenton heard the crack of two rifles in quick succession, followed by a halloo, which announced the fate of his friend. The Indians quickly returned, waving the bloody scalp of Montgomery, and with countenances and gestures which menaced him with a similar fate. They then proceeded to secure their prisoner. They first compelled him to lie upon his back, and stretched out his arms to their full length. They then passed a stout stick at right angles across his breast, to each extremity of which his wrists were fastened by thongs made of buff'alo's hide. Stakes were then driven into the earth, near his feet, to which they were fastened in a similar manner. A halter was then tied around his neck, and fastened to a sapling which grew near, and finally a strong rope was passed under his belly, lashed strongly to the pole which lay transversely upon his breast, and wrapped around his arms at the elbows, in such a manner as to pinion them to the pole with a painful violence, and render him literally in- capable of moving hand, foot, or head, in the slightest manner. During the whole of this severe operation, neither their tongues nor hands were by any means idle. They cuffed him from time to time with great heartiness, until his ears rang again, and abused him for a '< tief ! — a boss steal ! — a rascal !" and finally, for a " d d white man !" I may here observe, that all the western Indians had picked up a good many English words, particularly our oaths, which, from the frequency with which they were used by our hunters and traders, they probably looked upon as the very root and foundation of the English language. Kenton remained in this painful attitude through- out the night, looking forward to certain death, and most probably torture, as soon as he should reach their towns. Their rage against him seemed to increase rather than abate from indulgence, and in the morning it displayed itself in a form at once ludicrous and cruel. Among the horses which Kenton had taken, and which their origi- nal owners had now recovered, was a fine but wild young colt, totally unbroken, and with all his honours of mane and tail undocked. Upon him, Kenton was mounted, without saddle or bridle, with his hands tied behind him, and his feet fastened under the horse's belly. The country was rough and bushy, and Kenton had no means of protecting his face from the brambles, through which it was expected that the colt would dash. As soon as the rider was firmly fastened to his back, the colt was turned loose with a sudden lash, but after exerting a few curvets and caprioles, to the great distress of his rider, but to the infinite amusement of the Indians, he appeared to take compassion on his rider, and falling into a line with the other horses, avoided the BOEDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 665 brambles entirely, and went on very well. In this manner he rode through the day. At night he was taken from the horse and confined as before. On the third day they came within a few miles of Chillicothe. Here the party halted, and despatched a messenger to inform the village of their arrival, in order, I suppose, to give them time to prepare for his reception. In a short time Blackfish, one of their chiefs, arrived, and regarding Kenton with a stern countenance, thundered out in very good English, " You have been stealing horses ?" " Yes, sir." " Did Captain Boone tell you to steal our horses ?" " No, sir, I did it of my own accord." This frank confession was too irritating to be borne. Blackfish made no reply, but brandishing a hickory switch, which he held in his hand, he applied it so briskly to Kenton's naked back and shoulders, as to bring the blood freely, and occasion acute pain. Thus, alternately beaten and scolded, he marched on to the village. At the distance of a mile from Chillicothe, he saw every inhabitant of the town, men, women and children, running out to feast their eyes with a view of the prisoner. Every individual, down to the smallest child, appeared in a paroxysm of rage. They whooped, they yelled, they hooted, they clapped their hands, and poured upon him a flood of abuse, to which all that he had yet received was gentleness and civility. With loud cries, they demanded that their prisoner should be tied to the stake. The hint was instantly complied with. A stake was quickly fastened into the ground. The remnant of Kenton's shirt and breeches were torn from his person, (the squaws officiating with great dexterity in both operations,) and his hands being tied together, and raised above his head, were fastened to the top of the stake. The whole party then danced around him until midnight, yelling and screaming in their usual frantic manner, striking him with switches, and slapping him with the palms of their hands. He ex- pected every moment to undergo the torture of fire, but that was re- served for another time. They wished to prolong the pleasure of tor- menting him as much as possible, and after having caused him to an- ticipate the bitterness of death until a late hour of the night, they released him from the stake and conveyed him to the village. Early in the morning he beheld the scalp of Montgomery stretched upon a hoop, and drying in the air before the door of one of their principal houses. He was quickly led out, and ordered to lun the gauntlet. A row of boys, women, and men, extended to the distance of a quarter of a mile. At the starting-place stood two grim-looking warriors, with butcher knives in their hands ; at the extremity of the line was an Indian beating a drum ; and a few paces beyond the drum 666 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. •was the door of the council-house. Clubs, switches, hoe-handles, and tomahawks were brandished along the whole line, causing the sweat involuntarily to stream from his pores, at the idea of the discipline which his naked skin was to receive during the race. The moment for starting arrived ; the great drum at the door of the council-house was struck, and Kenton sprang forward in the race. Kenton avoided the row of his enemies, and turning to the east, drew the whole party in pursuit of him. He doubled several times with great activity, and at length observing an opening, he darted through it, and pressed forward to the council-house with a rapidity which left his pursuers far behind. One or two of the Indians succeeded in throwing themselves between him and the goal, and from these alone he received a few blows, but was much less injured than he could at first have supposed possible. As soon as the race was over, a council was held in order to deter- mine Avhether he should be burnt to death on the spot, or carried round to the other villages, and exhibited to every tribe. The arbi- ters of his fate sat in a circle on the floor of the council-house, while the unhappy prisoner, naked and bound, was committed to the care of a guard in the open air. The deliberation commenced. Each war- rior sat in silence, while a large war-club was passed round the circle. Those who were opposed to burning the prisoner on the spot were to pass the club in silence to the next warrior, those in favour of burning were to strike the earth violently with the club before passing it. A teller was appointed to count the votes. This dignitary quickly reported that the opposition had prevailed ; that his execution was suspended for the present ; and that it was determined to take him to an Indian tow^n on Blad river called Waughcotomoco. His fate was quickly announced to him by a renegade white man, who acted as interpreter. Kenton felt rejoiced at the issue, but naturally became anxious to know what was in reserve for him at Waughcotomoco. He accordingly asked the white man " what the Indians intended to do with him upon reaching the appointed place ?" "Burn you ! G — d d — n you !" was the ferocious reply. He asked no further question, and the scowling interpreter walked away. Instantly preparations were made for his departure, and to his great joy as well as astonishment, his clothes were restored to him, and he was permitted to remain unbound. Thanks to the ferocious intimation of the interpreter, he was aware of the fate in reserve for him, and secretly determined that he would never reach Waughcotomoco alive if it was possible to avoid it. Their route lay through an unpruned forest, abounding in thickets and undergrowth. Unbound as he was, BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 667 it would not be impossible to escape from tlie hands of his conductors ; and if he could once enter the thickets, he thought that he might be enabled to baffle his pursuers. At the worst, he could only be retaken ; and the fire would burn no hotter after an attempt to escape than before. During the whole of their march he remained abstracted and silent ; often meditating an effort for liberty, and as often shrinking from the peril of the attempt. At length he was aroused from his revery by the Indians firing ofi" their guns, and raising the shrill scalp halloo. The signal was soon answered, and the deep roll of a drum was heard far in front, an- nouncing to the unhappy prisoner that they were approaching an In- dian town, where the gauntlet, certainly, and perhaps the stake awaited him. The idea of a repetition of the dreadful scenes which he had already encountered completely banished the indecision which had hitherto withheld him, asd with a sudden and startling cry he sprang into the bushes and fled with the speed of a wild deer. The pursuit was instant and keen, some on foot, some on horseback. But he was flying for his life ; the stake and the hot iron, and the burning splin- ters, were before his eyes, and he soon distanced the swiftest hunter that pursued him. But fate was against him at every turn. Thinking only of the enemy behind, he forgot that there might also be enemies before ; and before he was aware of what he had done, he found that he had plunged into the centre of a fresh party of horsemen, who had sallied from the town at the firing of the guns, and happened, unfortunately, to stumble upon the poor prisoner, now making a last efibrt for free- dom. His heart sank at once from the ardour of hope to the very pit of despair, and he was again haltered and driven before them to the town, like an ox to the slaughter-house. Upon reaching the village, (Pickaway,) he was fastened to a stake near the door of the council-house, and the warriors again assembled in de- bate. In a short time they issued from the council-house, and, sur- rounding him, they danced, yelled, &c. for several hours, giving him once more a foretaste of the bitterness of death. On the following morning their journey was continued, but the Indians had now become watch- ful, and gave him no opportunity of even attempting an escape. On the second day, he arrived at Waughcotomoco. • Here he was again compelled to run the gauntlet, in which he was severely hurt ; and immediately after this ceremony he was taken to the council-house, and all the warriors once more assembled to determine his fate. He sat silent and dejected upon the floor of the cabin, awaiting the moment which was to deliver him to the stake, when the door of the 668 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. Simon Girty. council-house opened, and Simon Girty, James Girty, John Ward, and an Indian came in with a woman, (Mrs. Mary Kennedy,) as a prisoner, together with seven chiklren and seven scalps. Kenton was instantly removed from the council-house, and the deliberations of the assembly were protracted to a very late hour, in consequence of the arrival of the last-named party with a fresh drove of prisoners. At length he was again summoned to attend the council-house, being informed that his fate was decided. Regarding the mandate as a mere prelude to the stake and fire, which he knew Avere intended for him, he obeyed it with the calm despair which had now succeeded iSie burning anxiety of the last few days. Upon entering the council-house he was greeted with a savage scowl, which, if he had still cherished a spark of hope, would have completely extinguished it. Simon Girty threw a blanket upon the floor, and harshly ordered him to take a seat upon it. The order was not immediately complied with, and Girty impatiently seizing his arm, jerked him roughly upon the blanket, and pulled him down upon it. BOEDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 669 In the same rough and menacing tone, Girty then interrogated him as to the condition of Kentucky- " How many men are there in Kentucky ?" " It is impossible for me to answer that question," re- plied Kenton, " but I can tell you the number of oflBcers and their respective ranks ; you can then judge for yourself." " Do you know William Stewart?" " Perfectly well ; he is an old and intimate ac- quaintance." " What is your own name ?" " Simon Butler !" replied Kenton. Never did the annunciation of a name produce a more pow- erful effect. Girty and Kenton (then bearing the name of Butler) had served as spies together in Dunmore's expedition. The former had not then abandoned the society of the whites for that of the savages, and had become warmly attached to Kenton during the short period of their services together. As soon as he heard the name he became strongly agitated ; and, springing from his seat, he threw his arms around Kenton's neck, and embraced him Avith much emotion. Then turning to the assembled warriors, who remained astonished spectators of this extraordinary scene, he addressed them in a short speech, which the deep earnestness of his tone and the energy of his gesture rendered eloquent. He informed them that the prisoner, whom they had just condemned to the stake, was his ancient comrade and bosom friend ; that they had travelled the same war-path, slept upon the same blanket, and dwelt in the same wigwam. He entreated them to have compassion upon his feelings ; to spare him the agony of witnessing the torture of an old friend by the hands of his adopted brothers ; and not to refuse so trijQing a favour as the life of a white man, to the earnest intercession of one who had proved by three years' faithful service, that he was sincerely and zealously devoted to the cause of the Indians. The speech was listened to in unbroken silence. As soon as he had finished, several chiefs expressed their approbation by a deep guttural interjection, while others were equally as forward in making known their objections to the proposal. They urged that his fate had already been determined in a large and solemn council, and that they would be acting like squaws to change their minds every hour. They insisted upon the flagrant misdemeanors of Kenton ; that he had not only stolen their horses, but had flashed his gun at one of their young men ; that it was in vain to suppose that so bad a man could ever be- come an Indian at heart, like their brother Girty; that the Ken- tuckians were all alike, very bad people, and ought to be killed as fast as they were taken ; and, finally, they observed that many of their peo- ple had come from a distance, solely to assist at the torture of the prisoner, and pathetically painted the disappointment and chagrin with 670 BORDER AVARS OF KENTUCKY. ■wliich they would hear that all their trouble had been for nothing. Fresh speakers arose upon each side, and the debate was carried on for an hour and a half with great heat and energy. During the whole of this time, Kenton's feelings may readily be imagined. He could not understand a syllable of what was said. lie saw that Girty spoke with deep earnestness, and that the eyes of the assembly were often turned upon himself with various expressions. He felt satisfied that his friend was pleading for his life, and that he was violently opposed by a large part of the council. At length, the war-club was produced and the final vote taken. Kenton watched its progress with thrilling emotion, which yielded to the most rapturous delight, as he perceived, that those who struck the floor of the council-house were decidedly inferior in number to those who passed it in silence. Having thus succeeded in his benevolent purpose, Girty lost no time in at- tending to the comfort of his friend. He led him into his own wigwam, and from his own store gave him a pair of moccasins and leggins, a breech-cloth, a hat, a coat, a handkerchief for his neck, and another for his head. For the space of three Aveeks, Kenton lived in perfect tranquillity. Girty's kindness was uniform and indefatigable. He introduced Ken- ton to his own family, and accompanied him to the wigwams of the principal chiefs, Avho seemed all at once to have turned from the ex- tremity of rage to the utmost kindness and cordiality. Fortune, how- ever, seemed to have selected him for her football, and to have snatched him from the frying-pan only to throw him into the fire. About twenty days after his most providential deliverance from the stake, he was walking in company with Girty and an Indian named Redpole, Avhen another Indian came from the village toAvards them, uttering repeatedly a whoop of peculiar intonation. Girty instantly told Ken- ton that it Avas the distress halloo, and that they must all go instantly to the council-house. Kenton's heart involuntarily fluttered at the intelligence, for he dreaded all whoops, and hated all council-houses, firmly believing that neither boded him any good. Nothing, hoAv- ever, could be done, to avoid whatever fate awaited him, and he sadly accompanied Girty and Redpole back to the village. Upon approaching the Indian who had hallooed, Girty and Redpole shook hands with him. Kenton likcAvise offered his hand, but the Indian refused to take it, at the same time scoAvling upon him omi- nously. This took place Avithin a fcAV paces of the door of the council- house. Upon entering, they saAV that the house aa^is unusually full. Many chiefs and warriors from the distant toAvns Avere present ; and their countenances were grave, severe, and forbidding. Girty, Redpole, BORDER WARS OP KENTUCKY. 671 and Kenton walked around, offering their hands successively to each warrior. The hands of the first two were cordially received ; but when poor Kenton anxiously offered his hand to the first warrior, it was re- jected with the same scowling eye as before. He passed on to the second, but was still rejected : he persevered, however, until his hand had been refused by the first six ; when, sinking into despondence, he turned off and stood apart from the rest. The debate quickly commenced. Kenton looked eagerly towards Girty, as his last and only hope. His friend looked anxious and dis- tressed. The chiefs from a distance arose one after another, and spoke in a firm and indignant tone, often looking at Kenton with an eye of death. Girty did not desert him, but his eloquence appeared wasted upon the distant chiefs. After a warm debate, he turned to Kenton and said, "Well! my friend! you raust dieT' One of the stranger chiefs instantly seized him by the collar, and the others sur- rounding him, he was strongly pinioned, committed to a guard, and instantly marched off. His guard was on horseback, while the prisoner was driven before them on foot, Avith a long rope round his neck, the other end of which was held by one of the guard. In this manner they had marched about two and a half miles, when Girty passed them on horseback, informing Kenton that he had friends at the next village, with whose aid he hoped to be able to do something for him. Girty passed on to the town, but finding that nothing could be done, he would not see his friend again, but returned to Waughcotoraoco by a different route. They passed through the village without halting, and at the distance of two and a half miles beyond it, Kenton had again an opportunity of witnessing the fierce hate with which these children of nature regard an enemy. At the distance of a few paces from the road, a squaw was busily engaged in chopping wood, while her lord and master was sitting on a log, smoking his pipe and directing her labours, with the indolent indifference common to the natives when not under the influ- ence of some exciting passion. The sight of Kenton, however, seemed to rouse him to fury. He hastily sprang up, with a sudden yell, snatched the axe from the squaw, and rushing upon the prisoner so rapidly as to give him no opportunity of escape, dealt him a blow with the axe which cut through his shoulder, breaking the bone, and almost severing the arm from his body. He would instantly have repeated the blow, had not Kenton's conductors interfered and protected him, severely reprimanding the Indian for attempting to rob them of the amusement of torturing the prisoner. They soon reached a large village upon the head-waters of Scioto, 672 BORDER "WARS OF KENTUCKY. where Kenton, for the first time, beheld the celebrated Mingo chief Logan, so honourably mentioned in Mr. Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. Logan walked gravely up to the place where Kenton stood, and the following short conversation ensued : " Well, young man, these young men seem very mad at you?" "Yes, sir, they certainly are." "Well, don't be disheartened ; I am a great chief; you are to go to Sandusky : they speak of burning you there, but I will send two runners to-morrow to speak good for you." Logan's form was striking and manly, his countenance calm and noble, and he spoke the English language with fluency and correctness. Kenton's spirits instantly rose at the address of the benevolent chief, and he once more looked upon himself as pro- videntially rescued from the stake. On the following morning, two runners were despatched to San- dusky, as the chief had promised, and until their return Kenton was kindly treated, being permitted to spend much of his time with Logan, who conversed with him freely, and in the most friendly manner. In the evening, the two runners returned, and were closeted with Logan. Kenton felt the most burning anxiety to know what was the result of their mission, but Logan did not visit him again until the next morn- ing. He then walked up to him, accompanied by Kenton's guards, and giving him a piece of bread, told him that he was instantly to be carried to Sandusky ; and without uttering another word, turned upon his heel and left him. Again Kenton's spirits sank. From Logan's manner, he supposed that his intercession had been unavailing, and that Sandusky was des- tined to be the scene of his final suffering. This appears to have been the truth. But fortune, who, to use Lord Lovat's expression, had been playing at cat and mouse with him for the last month, had selected Sandusky for the display of her strange and capi-icious power. He was driven into the town, as usual, and was to have been burned on the following morning, when an Indian agent named Drewyer inter- posed, and once more rescued him from the stake. He was anxious to obtain intelligence for the British commandant at Detroit ; and so earnestly insisted upon Kenton's being delivered up to him, that the Indians at length consented upon the express condition, that after the required information had been obtained, he should again be placed at their discretion. To this, Drewyer consented, and without further difficulty Kenton was transferred to his hands. Drewyer lost no time in removing him to Detroit. On the road, he informed Kenton of the condition upon which he had obtained possession of his person, assuring him, however, that no consideration should induce him to abandon a prisoner to the mercy BORDER WARS OP KENTUCKY. 673 of such wretches. Having dwelt at some length upon the generosity of his own disposition, and having sufficiently magnified the service which he had just rendered him, he began, at length, to cross-question Kenton as to the force and condition of Kentucky, and particularly as to the number of men at Fort Mcintosh. Kenton very candidly declared his inability to answer either question, observing that he was merely a private, and by no means acquainted with matters of an en- larged and general import ; that his great business had heretofore been to endeavour to take care of himself, which he had found a work of no small difficulty. Drew^'^er replied that he believed him, and from that time Kenton was troubled with no more questions. His condition at Detroit was not unpleasant. He was compelled to report himself every morning to an English officer, and was restricted to certain boundaries through the day, but in other respects he scarcely felt that he was a prisoner. His battered body and broken arm were quickly repaired, and his emaciated limbs were again clothed with a proper proportion of flesh. He remained in this state of easy restraint from October, 1777, until June, 1778, when he meditated an escape. There was no difficulty in leaving Detroit, but he would be compelled to traverse a wilderness of more than two hundred miles, abounding with hostile Indians, and affording no means of subsistence beyond the wild game, which could not be killed without a gun. In addition to this, he would certainly be pursued, and, if retaken by the Indians, he might expect a repetition of all that he had undergone before, with- out the prospect of a second interposition on the part of the English. These considerations deterred him for some time from the attempt, but at length his impatience became uncontrollable, and he determined to escape or perish in the attempt. He took his measures with equal secrecy and foresight. He cautiously sounded two young Kentuck- ians, then at Detroit, who had been taken with Boone at the Blue Licks, and had been purchased by the British. He found them as impatient as himself of captivity, and resolute to accompany him. Charging them not to breathe a syllable of their design to any other prisoners, he busied himself for several days in making the necessary preparations. It was absolutely necessary that they should be pro- vided with arms, both for the sake of repelling attack, and procuring the means of subsistence ; and, at the same time, it was very difficult to obtain them, without the knowledge of the British commandant. By patiently waiting their opportunity, however, all these prelimi- nary difficulties were overcome. Kenton formed a close friendship with two Indian hunters, deluged them with rum, and bought their guns for a mere trifle. After carefully hiding them in the woods, he 43 674 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. returned to Detroit, and managed to procure another rifle, together with powder and balls, from a Mr. and Mrs. Edgar, citizens of the town. They then appointed a night for the attempt, and agreed upon a place of rendezvous. . All things turned out prosperously. They met at the time and place appointed without discovery, and taking a circuitous route, avoided pursuit, and travelling only during the night, they at length arrived safely at Louisville, after a march of thirty days. During the year 1781, the Indians were making a desperate effort to crush the settlements of Kentucky at a single blow. In the mean time, the settlers were employed in clearing land, and enjoying the fruits of their struggles in the wilderness, totally ignorant of the storm which was gathering on the lakes of the north. In the spring of 1782, they began to be harassed by small parties of the enemy. On the night of the 14th of August, 1782, the Indian army, num- bering six hundred warriors, appeared before Bryant's station, and, surrounding it on all sides, silently awaited the approach of day to rush into the fort when the gates were opened. But the old observa- tion, that fortune rules in war, was here exemplified. The men of the garrison were awake all that night, preparing to march next morning to the relief of another station then besieged by the Indians. This led the Indians to imagine that their approach was known, and they arranged another plan of attack. The main body was posted in am- bush near a spring on one side of the garrison, while a small party upon the other side were to make a feint of attack, which would draw the garrison to that side. At daybreak the garrison paraded, and was preparing to open the gates and march, when they were alarmed by a furious discharge of rifles and most appalling yells. The experienced rangers immediately concluded this was a decoy party, and manned the opposite side of the fort. When the main body commenced the attack, they were met with a well-aimed and steady fire, which killed and wounded many of them, and caused them to fall back. The attack was continued all that day, but no impression could be made upon the fort without artil- lery, and therefore the enemy resolved to raise the siege. Before doing so, Simon Girty made an efl'ort to negotiate with the garrison, but was treated with contempt. The next morning, before daylight, the whole army retired, leaving their fires burning. And now we have to record the particulars of the greatest disaster which had yet befallen the people of Kentucky — the defeat at the Blue Licks. While the Indians still lingered. Colonel John Todd, who resided in Lexington, despatched intelligence to Lieutenant-Colonel Trigg, BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 677 living at Harrodsburg, of the attack on Bryant's station, leaving it to the latter to give the intelligence to his superior, Colonel Benjamin Logan. Neither Colonel Trigg nor Colonel Boone, Avho had also been called on, lost any time in collecting the men in their respective neighbourhoods ; but with singular promptitude, on the 18th of the month, but after the Indians had left the ground, repaired to Bryant's station under the command of Todd, as the superior officer, from Lexington, where they had rendezvoused their men under their appro- priate officers. The majors were McGary and Harland, from near Harrodsburg, and Levi Todd, of Lexington. The enemy having retreated, a council was held, in which it was promptly decided to pursue the Indians without waiting for the arrival of Colonel Logan, who was known to be collecting a strong party, and to be expected on the ground in a few days ; but when arrived, would, as the superior officer, have the command ; a circumstance which, it was suspected, both Todd and Trigg desired to avoid, think- ing themselves equal to the command, and sanguine of success, as they were emulous of praise, and possessed an idea of mental supe- riority. In consequence of the determination of the council, the march was immediately ordered, and forthwith commenced under the command of Colonel Todd, and next to him Colonel Trigg, on the route of the enemy, whose numbers as yet, though considerable, were not known. They had not proceeded very far before Boone and some others, experienced in the manners of the Indians, discovered signs of osten- tation and of tardiness on their trail, indicative of their willingness to be pursued, and calculated to point out their route, while apparent caution had been taken to conceal their numbers. The one was effect- ed by chopping the trees on the way ; the other, by treading in single file a narrow track, contracting their camp, and using but few fires where they stopped to eat. No Indian was seen, although it was apparent they were at no great distance in advance, until the pur- suers reached the southern bank of Licking, at the licks. The van of the party then discovered a few of them on the opposite side of the river, traversing the hill-side ; and who, apparently without alarm and leisurely, retired over the hill from their sight. A halt was called, the principal officers being assembled, the information then given, and the questions asked — "What shall be done? Whether is it best immediately to cross the river and continue the march, or stand here until the country round about can be reconnoitred by proper parties, and measures ultimately taken according to circumstances — either to attack, if the enemy were near, or wait the arrival of Colonel Logan?" 678 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. Neither of the superior officers were much skilled in the manner or custom of Indian warfare ; they were, however, willing to be inform- ed, and had actually called upon Colonel Boone for his opinion of the case, and how they should act. This he was detailing with his usual candour and circumspection, by adverting to his own observations on the different appearances on the road, and the fact of the Indians showing themselves on the next hill. As to the number of the enemy, his conjectures varied from three to five hundred, owing to the ambi- guous nature of the sign they had made on the road. From the careless manner in which the Indians who had been seen conducted themselves, he was of the opinion that the main body was near and prepared for action. lie was particularly well acquainted with the situation of the ground about the licks, and the manner in which the river winds into an irregular ellipsis, embracing the great buffalo road and ridge from the licks toward Limestone as its longest line of bisec- tion, and which is terminated by two ravines heading near together a mile from the licks, and extending in opposite directions to the river. He had suggested the probability of the Indians having here formed an ambuscade, the advantages to them and the disadvantages to the party of Colonels Todd and Trigg should this conjecture be realized and the march continued. He proposed that the party should divide ; the one half march up Licking, on the south side, to the mouth of a small creek, now called Elk creek, and there crossing over, proceed on the ridge to the outside of the ravines; while the other half should advance to the high ground on the north of the licks, and place itself in a situation to co-operate on the enemy in case of attack. He showed that the whole advantage of position might be thus turned against the enemy ; and ho insisted, as the very least that should be done, if his superiors were determined not to wait for Colonel Logan, was to have the country explored round about, before they marched the main body over the river, for they were yet ignorant whether the Indians had crossed or not ; and in either event, if they were near, they meant to take advantage of the measure, which their superiority of number would render decisive. Already had Boone nearly gained the entire approbation of his superiors, and of those who heard his counsel — for, in fact, they only hesitated between his propositions — when Major McGary, impatient of delay, rushed his horse forward to the water's edge, and raising the war-whoop, next cried out with a loud voice, " Those who are not cowards follow me, I will show them where the Indians are," and spur- red his horse into the river. One followed, and then another in quick succession, until a motion and agitation were communicated to the BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 679 •whole ; tlie council was broken up, the ofEcers "who might have been otherwise inclined were forced along in the crowd and tumult ; no- thing had been concerted, no distinct orders were given ; or, if given, not observed. They crossed the river, and pursued the road, as the general guide, kept by McGary in front, on either side of which parties flanked off, as the unevenness and irregularity of the ground would permit ; all moving forward, with the utmost disorder and pre- cipitation, over a surface covered with rocks laid bare by the tramp- ling of the buffalo and the washing of the rains for ages past. When the van approached the ridge next within the ravine which has been mentioned, to the left, an Indian or two were observed on it at a distance ; these appeared to retreat along the ridge, which led to the point between the ravine and river. One moment of cool reflection might have suggested the idea of decoy, and the next would have shown the propriety of caution. It appears, however, that the deter- mination to find the enemy so engrossed the party, that prudence was, like fear, completely excluded and banished. The party, therefore, pressed on toward the end of the ridge, where it was covered by a forest of oak trees of middling size, and the ravines with small sap- lings or brushwood, while the whole extent of the ellipsis had been stripped of all herbage by the herds of buffalo which were in the habit of resorting to the licks. Some scattering trees here and there ap- peared on a pavement of rock, as rude as it was singular, throughout the whole extent of the field. Both Todd and Trigg had deviated from the main road ; and, probably with a view of taking their posi- tion on the right of the troops, were far from the front, which moved rapidly and rather obliquely, headed by McGary, Harland, and McBride, and followed by the rest without regular order ; the whole, with a few exceptions, being armed with rifles and mounted on horses, formed a broken line corresponding with the ridge, and nearly parallel to the ravines, which were filled with Indians. No sooner had McGary entered the forest, than he discovered the enemy waiting for him : here the action immediately began, and soon became warm and bloody; on either side the rifle was pointed, on either side the warrior fell. It was discovered that the ravines, ex- tending the whole length of the line of Kentuckians, had concealed the savages, who fired and rushed upon their foes, not half their equal in point of numbers. Todd and Trigg, who were on the right when the line fronted the ravines, were thrown into the rear when its flank was changed, and it moved to the left, where the battle began. Al- ready had these fallen — already were the Indians turning the right, or rear of this line — already had twenty or more of those brave men 680 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. •who first engaged breathed their last — already was the line every- where assailed, when a retreat commenced under the uplifted toma- hawk. At the beginning of the battle many of the men dismounted, while others did not ; in the retreat, some recovered their horses, others fled on foot over the rocky field already described, which was environed by high and rugged cliffs on either hand, until it declined into a flat as it approached the salt-spring. The ford was narrow, and the water, though shallow on it, was deep both above and below. Some of the fugitives were overtaken on the way to the river, and fell beneath the stroke of the Indian spear or hatchet ; but at the water was a greater havoc : some were slain in the water, some on either shore. Here it was that a singular phenomenon was exhibited : a man by the name of Netherland, well mounted, and among the foremost in the flight, having crossed Licking and gained the farthest bank, think- ing himself out of danger, checks his horse, takes a back view, sees the savages preparing to rush into the water, and there to extinguish the remains of many lives almost exhausted by wounds and the fatigue of flight, cries out with a shrill and commanding voice to those who had made the shore next to him — " Halt : fire on the Indians, and protect the men in the river." The call had the desired effect on ten or a dozen, who immediately halt, fire on the enemy, and check their pursuit ; probably, by so doing, as many lives were saved. This re- sistance, however, proves but momentary; the Indians gather rapidly on the shore, numbers of them are seen crossing the river, and per- sonal safety suggests a speedy flight. The fugitives were pursued for miles ; nor did they find a place of safety short of Bryant's station, thirty-six miles from the scene of action. Here many of those on horseback arrived within six, and others on foot within eight hours after the battle. At Bryant's, the survivors of this tragedy recount the exploits of their comrades, and their own disasters. Here they tell that Captain Robert Patterson, exhausted in the retreat, and ready to yield himself to the scalping-knife of the savage just in his rear, is accosted by Reynolds, a soldier on horseback, who dismounts, assists Patterson into his seat and insures his escape, while himself, now closely press- ed, falls into the hands of three or four of the enemy; he seems alert, and they have not time to kill him, but they take his arms, and leave him in the custody of an Indian who by this time had arrived, but seeming less expert than the captors, who continue the pursuit, sure of the pleasure of torturing one white man when they should have more leisure ; but the Indian with the prisoner continuing to move BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 681 him, his moccason came loose ; and, while he stooped down to tie it, Reynolds snatches his gun from him, knocks him down with its butt, and makes his own escape. For this singular instance of real mag- nanimity and essential service, Patterson, who had no prior claims on Reynolds, afterward made him a present of two hundred acres of land. Never had Kentucky experienced so fatal a blow as that at the Blue Licks : of the one hundred and sixty-six brave men who repaired to the assistance of Bryant's station, one half or more were from Harrodsburg and its vicinity. The whole loss on the side of Ken- tucky was sixty killed and seven made prisoners. Of the wounded, but few escaped. The Indians, it was said, lost sixty-four killed, besides a number wounded. Such were the reports from their towns afterward, and that they massacred four of their prisoners to make the loss equal. The equal loss is doubted. Among the slain Kentuckians were Todd, Trigg, Harland, young Boone, and others of promising talents and high repute. The rash McGarry, though he fought like a tiger, escaped without a wound. He never acknowledged that he had done wrong, but asserted that Todd and Trigg had refused to wait and take counsel at tho proper time, had taunted him with cowardice because he had advised it, and then checked their ardour just as they were within striking distance of the enemy. Colonel Logan, with four hundred and fifty men, visited the battle-field a few days after the disaster, with the purpose of attacking the enemy if they could be found. But they had gone home, as usual with them, to boast and rejoice on account of their victory. The dead were buried, and then Logan and his little army returned to Bryant's station. To retaliate for this Indian invasion. Colonel George Rogers Clarke, who was stationed permanently at Louisville, declared that he would lead his regiment of state troops against the Indian villages in Ohio, and invited the militia to accompany him. As his reputation for energy and prudence was brilliant, the invitation was promptly answered. One thousand men assembled at the mouth of Licking, and, under Clarke's orders, penetrated to the heart of the Indian country. The savages, aware of their approach, fled from their towns, which were then reduced to ashes. Having completely destroyed every thing within their reach, the army returned to Kentucky. During the constant war between the first settlers of Kentucky and the Indians, boats descending the Ohio were exposed to the attacks of the latter, whose artifices frequently efiected what their force could not. In 1784, Colonel Thomas Marshall, formerly commander of the 682 BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. third Virginia regiment on continental establishment, and subsequently holding the same rank in the A^irginia artillery, embarked with a numerous family on board of a flat-bottomed boat, and descended the Ohio, without any incident worthy of notice, until he had passed the mouth of the Kenawha. Here, about ten o'clock at night, he was hailed from the northern shore by a man who spoke good English, and quickly announced himself as James Girty, the brother of Simon, both of whom have already been repeatedly mentioned. The boat dropped slowly down within one hundred and fifty yards of the shore, and Girty making a corresponding movement on the beach, the conference was kept up for several minutes. He began by mentioning his name, and inquiring that of the master of the boat. Having been satisfied upon this head, he assured him that he knew him well, respected him highly, &c. &c., and concluded with some rather extraordinary remarks. "He had been posted there," he said, "by the order of his brother Simon, to warn all boats of the danger of permitting themselves to be decoyed ashore. The Indians had become jealous of him, and he had lost that influence which he for- merly held among them. He deeply regretted the injury which he had inflicted upon his countrymen, and wished to be restored to their society. In order to convince them of the sincerity of his regard, he had directed him to warn all boats of the snares spread for them. Every eflort would be made to draw passengers ashore. White men would appear on the bank, and children would be heard to supplicate for mercy. But," continued he, " do you keep the middle of the river, and steel your heart against every mournful application which you may receive." The colonel thanked him for his intelligence, and con- tinued his course. This warning, by whatever motive dictated, proved of great service to many families who would without it have fallen victims to savage stratagem. Soon after Marshall's warning. Captain James Ward was descending the Ohio, under circumstances which rendered a rencounter with the Indians peculiarly to be dreaded. He, together with half a dozen others, one of them his nephew, embarked in a crazy boat, about forty-five feet long and eight feet wide, with no other bulwark than a single pine plank above each gunnel. The boat was much encumbered with baggage, and seven horses were on board. Having seen no enemy for several days, they had become secure and careless, and permitted the boat to drift within fifty yards of the Ohio shore. Sud- denly, several hundred Indians showed themselves on the bank, and running down boldly to the water's edge, opened a heavy fire upon the boat. The astonishment of the crew may be conceived. BORDER WARS OF KENTUCKY. 683 Attack oa Ward's boat. Captain Ward and his nephew were at the oars when the enemy appeared, and the captain, knowing that their safety depended upon their ability to regain the middle of the river, kept his seat firmly, and exerted his utmost powers at the oar, but his nephew started up at the sight of the enemy, seized his rifle, and was in the act of level- ling it, when he received a ball in the breast, and fell dead in the bottom of the boat. Unfortunately, his oar fell into the river, and the captain, having no one to pull against him, rather urged the boat nearer to the hostile shore than otherwise. He quickly seized a plank, however, and giving his own oar to another of the crew, he took the station which his nephew had held, and unhurt by the shower of bullets which flew around him, continued to exert himself until the boat had reached a more respectable distance. He then, for the first time, looked around him in order to observe the condition of the crew. His nephew lay in his blood, perfectly lifeless ; the horses had been all killed or mortally wounded. Some had fallen overboard ; others were struggling violently, and causing their frail bark to dip water so 684 BORDER "WARS OF KENTUCKY. abundantly as to excite the most serious apprehensions. But the crew presented the most singular spectacle. A captain, who had served with reputation in the continental army, seemed now totally bereft of his faculties. He lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat, with hands uplifted, and a countenance in which terror was per- sonified, exclaiming in a tone of despair, " Lord ! Lord !" A Dutchman, whose weight might amount to about three hundred pounds, was anxiously engaged in endeavouring to find shelter for his bulky person, which, from the lownels of the gunnels, was a very difficult undertaking. In spite of his utmost efibrts, a portion of his posterial luxuriance appeared above the gunnel, and afibrded a mark to the enemy which brought a constant shower of balls around it. In vain he shifted his position. The hump still appeared, and the balls still flew around it, until the Dutchman, losing all patience, raised his head above the gunnel, and, in a tone of querulous remon- strance, called out, " Oh, now ! quit tat tamned nonsense, tere, will you !" Not a shot was fired from the boat. At one time, after they had partly regained the current. Captain Ward attempted to bring his rifle to bear upon them, but so violent was the agitation of the boat, from the furious struggles of the horses, that he could not steady his piece within twenty yards of the enemy, and, quickly laying it aside, returned to the oar. The Indians followed them down the river for more than an hour, but, having no canoes, they did not attempt to board ; and as the boat was at length transferred to the opposite side of the river, they at length abandoned the pursuit and disappeared. None of the crew, save the young man already mentioned, were hurt, although the Dutchman's seat of honour served as a target for the space of an hour, and the continental captain was deeply mortified at the sudden, and, as he said, "unaccountable" panic which had seized him. Captain Ward himself was protected by a post, which had been fastened to the gunnel, and behind which he sat while rowing. Kentucky was born and nurtured amid scenes of hardship, struggle, and bloodshed, and her population have ever displayed those heroic qualities we might expect from their experience. The State has proved a valuable gem in the circlet of the Union ; and in time of threatening danger the clarion calls no braver soldiers to the field than those reared within her bosom. Her early history teems with the adventures and exploits of such spirits as are found in few countries, and her present population owe those pioneers a debt of gratitude and admiration, which it would be gross negligence and degradation to refuse. Trading with the iD-diana. BORDER WARS OF OHIO. HIO is one of the largest, most popu- lous, and most prosperous States of the American confederacy. Her growth has been exceedingly rapid. The citi- ^' zen of little more than threescore and ten years can remember the time when not a white settler was to be found north of the Ohio river, within the present boundaries of the State — wdien the red men traversed the territory, and looked upon its extensive and well-stocked hunting-grounds as all their own. Yet nearly two millions of enterprising inhabitants are now found within Ohio's limits, and the number is increasing at a very rapid rate. Long before any of the Anglo-Saxon race arrived upon the shores of the Ohio, they were visited by enterprising and adventurous French- men. None of these, however, attempted to form a settlement within the limits of the present State of Ohio. In 1748, the Ohio Company was formed by the English, for the purpose of securing the Indian trade, and checking the progress of the French. The first English trading-post in the territory was built upon the Great Miami, in 1749. The place is known now as Laramie's Store. Christopher Gist was^ perhaps, the first English trader who visited that part of the country. Early in 1752, the French, having heard of the trading-house on the Miami, sent a party of soldiers to the Twigtwees, and demanded the traders as intruders upon French lands. The Twigtees refused to de- 687 688 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. liver up their friends. The French, assisted by the Ottawas and Chip- pewas, then attacked the trading-house, which was probably a block- house, and after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and others wounded, took and destroyed it, carrying away the traders to Canada. This fort, or trading-house, was called by the English Pickawillany. The Moravian missionaries, prior to the war of the Revolution, had several missions within the limits of Ohio. The principal of these pious adventurers were Post and Heckwelder. In March, 1782, a party of frontier men, commanded by Col. Williamson, went to the Moravian towns on the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, and mur- dered, in cold blood, ninety-four of the defenceless converted Indians. They had been for a long time the friends of the whites, and were peace-loving, industrious people. In the following June, Col. Craw- ford, with five hundred men, marched into the Indian country, but was defeated about three miles north of Upper Sandusky. Col. Craw- ford was captured and put to death with horrible tortures. An account of this dreadful scene is left us by Dr. Knight, a prisoner at the same time, and an eye-witness. " When we Avent to the fire, the colonel was stripped naked, ordered to sit dovin by the fire, and then they beat him with sticks and their fists. Presently after I was treated in the same manner. They then tied a rope to the foot of a post about fifteen feet high, bound the colonel's hands behind his back, and fastened the rope to the ligature between his wrists. The rope was long enough for him to sit down or walk round the post once or twice, and return the same way. The colonel then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to burn him ? Girty answered yes. The colonel said he would take it all patiently. Upon this. Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, made a speech to the In- dians, viz. about thirty or forty men, sixty or seventy squaws and boys. " When the speech was finished, they all yelled a hideous and hearty assent to what had been said. The Indian men then took up their guns, and shot powder into the colonel's body, from his feet as far up as his neck. I think that not less than seventy loads were discharged upon his naked body. They then crowded about him, and, to the best of my observation, cut off his ears ; W'hen the throng had dispersed a little, I saw the blood running from both sides of his head in conse- quence thereof. " The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which the colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles, burnt quite through in the middle, each end of the poles remaining about six feet BORDER WARS OP OHIO. 689 in length. Three or four Indians by turns would take up, individually, one of these burning pieces of wood, and apply it to his naked body, already burnt black with the powder. These tormentors presented themselves on every side of him with the burning fagots and poles. Some of the squaws took broad boards, upon which they would carry a quantity of burning coals and hot embers, and throw on him, so that in a short time he had nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon. " In the midst of these extreme tortures he called to Simon Girty, and begged of him to shoot him ; but Girty making no answer, he called to him again. Girty then, by way of derision, told the colonel he had no gun, at the same time turning about to an Indian who was behind him, laughed heartily, and by all his gestures seemed delighted at the horrid scene. " Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. He said, however, I was not to die at that place, but to be burned at the Shawanese towns. He swore by G — d I need not expect to escape death, but should suffer it in all its extremities. " Colonel Crawford, at this period of his sufferings, besought the Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with the most manly fortitude. He continued in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three-quarters or two hours longer, as near as I can judge, when at last, being almost exhausted, he lay down on his belly ; they then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, telling me, 'that was my great captain.' An old squaw (whose appearance every way answered the ideas people enter- tain of the devil) got a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes and laid them on his back and head, after he had been scalped ; he then raised himself upon his feet and began to walk round the post ; they next put a burning stick to him, as usual, but he seemed more insen- sible of pain than before. <' The Indian fellow who had me in charge now took me away to Captain Pipe's house, about three-quarters of a mile from the place of the colonel's execution, I was bound all night, and thus prevented from seeing the last of the horrid spectacle. Next morning, being June 12th, the Indian untied me, painted me black, and we set off for the Shawanese town, which he told me was somewhat less than forty miles distant from that place. We soon came to the spot where the colonel had been burnt, as it was partly in our way ; I saw his bones lying among the remains of the fire, almost burned to ashes ; I sup- pose, after he w^as dead, they laid his body on the fire. The Indian told me that was my big captain, and gave the scalp halloo." u 690 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. In the fall of 1787, the JSTew England Ohio Company was formed in Boston, and a large tract of territory in the vicinity of the Mus- kingum and Scioto rivers was purchased from the general government. The settlement of this purchase began in the spring of 1788, when General Rufus Putnam, with a party of settlers, founded Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum. The same year. Congress appointed General Arthur St. Clair governor of the Northwest Territory, and the governmental organization was effected soon after. The settlement of Marietta was followed by the settlement of other places on the Ohio and Muskingum, in rapid succession. The Indians were opposed to the existence of the towns north of the Ohio, and in spite of the treaties entered into between St. Clair and some of the tribes, they resolved to attempt to break them up. In BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 691 the course of 1789, the Indians assumed a hostile front, killed several stragglers from the settlements, and compelled the people to erect block-houses, and be very guarded in their movements. The garrison at Fort Harmer was strengthened ; and late in 1789, General Har- mer, with about two hundred and fifty regulars, arrived at Fort Wash- ington, on the spot where Cincinnati now stands. General Harmer now strove to conciliate the Indians. But his efforts failed ; and he then resolved to march into their country, and attack their towns. In September, 1790, he left Cincinnati with thirteen hundred men, only one-fourth of whom were regulars. Near the Indian villages on the Miami, an advance detachment fell into an ambush, and was defeated, many being killed. Harmer suc- ceeded in destroying the Indian villages and standing corn, and then commenced his march homeward. He had not proceeded far, when he received intelligence that the savages had returned to their ruined towns. Colonel Hardin, at his own request, then led a detachment back to bring them to battle. This was effected. The Indians, under the command of Little Turtle and other famous chiefs, fought furiously, and at length defeated the detachment, killing more than one hundred of the militia and most of the regulars. After this disaster Harmer returned to Fort Washington. The expedition of General Harmer having failed to attain its object, a more powerful force was collected at Fort Washington, and General 692 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. L ttl TuiU St. Clair assumed tlie command. This army of tliree thousand men commenced its march in October, and proceeded rather slowly toward BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 693 Fort WashinL'ton. the Maumee towns. Forts Hamilton and Jefferson were built about forty miles from each other, on the road. At Fort Jefferson a con- siderable body of militia deserted, and the first regiment of regulars was ordered to pursue them and prevent them from plundering the advancing convoys of provisions. General St. Clair had now about thirteen hundred men with him. On the od of November, 1791, he halted at a creek which is now the line between Darke and Mercer counties. There he intended to wait for the absent regiment. But before sunrise on the following morning, the camp was attacked by an overwhelming force of Indians. After an obstinate conflict of four hours, the Americans were entirely defeated. General Butler and nearly six hundred men were killed, and a precipitate flight only saved the remainder of the army. When the war broke out, the Ohio settlers were scarcely prepared for it. Forts were erected at the principal settlements, but some of the new ones were without even the shelter of block-houses. The forts were not as well provided as they should have been with either food or ammunition. The services of a daring and efficient body of spies or rangers were secured, and these rendered all attempts to surprise the chief settlements futile. But others were not so secure. The first stroke fell upon the new settlement at Big Bottom, on the 694 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. Cleaiins at Big Bottom. Muskingum, in the fall of 1790. The following account of the attack and massacre we find in the American Pioneer. Those best acquainted with the Indians, and those most capable of judging from appearances, had little doubt that they were prepar- ing for hostilities, and strongly opposed the settlers going out that fall, and advised their remaining until spring ; by which time, proba- bly, the question of war or peace would be settled. Even General Putnam, and the directors of the Ohio company, who gave away the land to have it settled, thought it risky and imprudent, and strongly remonstrated against venturing out at that time. But the young men were impatient, confident in their own prudence and ability to protect themselves. They went, put up a block-house Avhich might accommodate the whole of them on an emergency, covered it, and laid puncheon floors, stairs, &c. It was laid up of large beech logs, and rather open, as it was not chinked between the logs ; this job was left for a rainy day, or some more convenient season. Here was their first great error, as they ceased to complete the work, and BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 695 the general interest was lost in that of the convenience of each indi- vidual ; with this all was lost. The second error was, they kept no sentry, and had neglected to stockade or set pickets around the block-house. No system of defence or discipline had been introduced. Their guns were lying in different places, without order, about the house. Twenty men usually encamped in the house, a part of whom were now absent, and each individual and mess cooked for themselves. One end of the building was appropriated for a fire-place ; and when the day closed in, all came in, built a large fire, and commenced cooking and eating their suppers. The weather for some time previous to the attack, as we learn from the diary of Hon. Paul Fearing, who lived at Fort Harmer, had been quite cold. In the midst of winter, and with such weather as this, it was not customary for the Indians to venture out on war-parties, and the early borderers had formerly thought themselves in a manner safe from their depredations during the winter months. About tw^enty rods above the block-house, a little back from the bank of the river, tw^o men, Francis and Isaac Choate, members of the company, had erected a cabin and commenced clearing their lots. Thomas Shaw, a hired labourer in the employ of the Choates, and James Patten, another of the associates, lived with them. About the same distance below the garrison, was an old " tomahawk improvement " and a small cabin, which two men, Asa and Eleazer Bullard, had fitted up and now occupied. The Indian war-path, from Sandusky to the mouth of the Muskingum, passed along on the opposite shore, in sight of the river. The Indians, who, during the summer, had been hunting and loiter- ing about the settlements at Wolf creek mills and Plainfield, holdinc^ frequent and friendly intercourse with the settlers, selling them veni- son and bear-meat in exchange for green corn and vegetables, had withdrawn early in the autumn, and gone high up the river into the vicinity of their towns, preparatory to winter-quarters. Being well acquainted with all the approaches to these settlements, and the man- ner in which the inhabitants lived, each family in their own cabin, not apprehensive of danger, they planned and fitted out a war-party for their destruction. It is said, they were not aware of there being a settlement at Big Bottom until they came in sight of it, on the oppo- site shore of the river, in the afternoon. From a high hill opposite the garrison, they had a view of all that part of the bottom, and could see how the men were occupied, and what was doing about the block- house. Having reconnoitred the station in this manner, just at twi- light they crossed the river on the ice a little above, and divided their men into two parties; the larger one to attack the block-house, and 696 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. the smaller one to make prisoners of the few men living in Choate's cabin, without alarming those below. The plan was skilfully arranged and promptly executed. As the party cautiously approached the cabin, they found the inmates at supper ; a party of the Indians entered, while others stood without by the door, and addressed the men in a friendly Inanner. Suspecting no harm, they offered them a part of their food, of which they partook. Looking about the room, the In- dians espied some leather thongs and pieces of cord that had been used in packing venison, and taking the white men by their arms told them they were prisoners. Finding it useless to resist, the Indians being; more numerous, thev submitted to their fate in silence. While this was transacting, the other party had reached the block- house unobserved ; even the dogs gave no notice of their approach, as they usually do, by barking ; the reason probably was, that they were also within by the fire, instead of being on the alert for their mas- ters' safety. The door was thrown open by a stout Mohawk, who stepped in and stood by the door to keep it open, while his companions without shot down those around the fire. A man by the name of Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts, was frying meat, and fell dead in the fire ; several others fell at this discharge. The Indians then rushed in and killed all who were left with the tomahawk. No resist- ance seems to have been offered, so sudden and unexpected was the attack, by any of the men ; but a stout, backwoods, Virginia woman, the wife of Isaac Meeks, who Avas employed as their hunter, seized an axe and made a blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door ; a slight turn of the head saved his skull, and the axe passed down through his cheek into the shoulder, leaving a huge gash that severed nearly half his face ; she was instantly killed by the tomahawk of one of his companions before she could repeat the stroke. This was all the injury received by the Indians, as the men were all killed before they had time to seize their arms, which stood in the corner of the room. While the slaughter was going on, John Stacy, a young man in the prime of life, and the son of Col. William Stacy, sprang up the stairway and out on to the roof; while his brother Philip, a lad of sixteen years, secreted himself under some bedding in the corner of the room. The Indians on the outside soon discovered the former, and shot him while he was in the act of "begging them, for God's sake, to spare his life, as he was the only one left!" This was heard by the Bullards, who, alarmed by the firing at the block-house, had run out of their cabin to see what was the matter. Discovering the Indians round the house, they sprang back into their iiut, seized their rifles and ammunition, and, closing the door after them, BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 697 put out into the woods in a direction to be hid by the cabin from the view of the Indians. They had barely escaped when they heard their door, which was made of thin clapboards, burst open by the Indians. They did not pursue them, although they knew they had just fled, as there was a good fire burning, and their food for supper smoking hot on the table. After the slaughter was over and the scalps secured, one of the most important acts in the warfare of the American savages, they proceeded to collect the plunder. In removing the bedding, the lad, Philip Stacy, was discovered ; their tomahawks were instantly raised to despatch him, when he threw himself at the feet of one of their leading warriors, begging him to protect him. The savage either took compassion on his youth, or else his revenge being satisfied with the slaughter already made, interposed his authority and saved his life. After removing every thing they thought valuable, they tore up the floor, piled it on the dead bodies, and set it on fire, thinking to destroy the block-house with the carcasses of their enemies. The building being made of green beech logs, the fires only consumed the floors and roof, leaving the walls still standing when visited the day after by the whites. There were twelve persons killed in this attack, viz. John Stacy, Ezra Putnam, son of Major Putnam, of Marietta ; John Camp and Zebulon Throop — these men were from Massachusetts ; Jonathan Fare- well and James Couch, from New Hampshire ; William James, from Connecticut ; Joseph Clark, Rhode Island ; Isaac Meeks, his wife and two children, from Virginia. They were well provided with arms, and no doubt could have defended themselves had they taken proper pre- cautions ; but they had no old revolutionary ofiicers with them to plan and direct their operations, as they had at all the other garrisons. If they had picketed their house and kept a regular sentry, the In- dians would probably never have attacked them. They had no horses or cattle for them to seize upon as plunder, and Indians are not very fond of hard fighting -where nothing is to be gained ; but seeing the naked block-house, without any defences, they were encouraged to attempt its capture. Colonel Stacy, who had been an old soldier, well acquainted with Indian warfare in Cherry valley, and had two sons there, visited the post only the Saturday before, and seeing its weak state, had given them a strict charge to keep a regular watch, and prepare immediately strong bars to the door, to be shut every night at sunset. They, however, fearing no danger, did not profit by his advice. The party of Indians, after this, bent their steps toward the Wolf creek mills ; but finding the people here awake and on the look-out, 698 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. prepared for an attack, they did nothing more than reconnoitre the place, and made their retreat at early dawn, to the great relief of the inhabitants. The number of Indians who came over from Big Bottom was never known. The next day Captain Rogers led a party of men over to Big Bot- tom. It was a melancholy sight to the poor borderers, as they knew not how soon the same fate might befall themselves. The action of the fire, although it did not consume, had so blackened and disfigured the dead, that few of them could be distinguished. That of Ezra Putnam was known by a pewter plate that lay under him, and which his body had prevented from entirely melting. His mother's name was on the bottom of the plate, and a part of the cake he was baking at the fire still adhered to it. William James was recognised by his great size, being six feet four inches in height, and stoutly built. He had a piece of bread clenched in his right hand, probably in the act of eating, with his back to the door, when the fatal rifle shot took effect. As the ground was frozen outside, a hole was dug within the walls of the house, and the bodies consigned to one grave. No further attempt was made at a settlement here till after the peace in 1795. The general government, having determined to make more vigorous efforts than ever for the punishment of the Indians, General Anthony Wayne, an energetic commander, was appointed to conduct another expedition into the country of the hostile tribes. W^hile Wayne was collecting his troops, disciplining them, and making every exertion to create a force which would insure success, the general government strove to bring about a peace by negotiation. These efforts failed. Some of the negotiators were murdered ; the others received no en- couragement. On the 28th of July, 1794, Wayne, having been joined by General Scott, with sixteen hundred mounted Kentuckians, moved forward to the Maumee. By the 8th of August, the army had arrived near the junction of the Auglaize with that stream, and commenced the erection of Fort Defiance at that point. Wayne intended to sur- prise the enemy, and had two roads cut to the Indian towns, proposing to march between them. But the Indians heard of his approach through a deserter, and, abandoning their head-quarters, defeated the plan. Wayne then sent a man named Miller to the Indians, with a final ofi"er of peace ; but he did not wait for the return of his mes- senger. On the 19th, the army arrived at Roche de Boeuf, where a fort was erected as a place of deposit for the heavy baggage. Miller having returned with an oft'er of delay from the Indians, Wayne did not think it prudent to accede to it, but pressed on toward the Maumee BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 699 General Wayne. "where the enemy was posted. The site of the battle was .about two miles south of the present Maumee City. From Wayne's report of the battle we quote the following : " The legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee : one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier-Gene- ral Todd, and the other in the rear, under Brigadier-General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently ad- vanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war. "After advancing about five miles. Major Price's corps received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood, which extended 700 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. for miles on our left, and for a very considerable distance in front ; the ground being covered with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favourable covert for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right angles with the river. I soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favourite ground, and en- deavouring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first ; and directed Major- General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the whole force of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route ; at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well-directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again. " I also ordered Captain Mis Campbell, who commanded the legion- ary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favourable field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude ; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were driven from all their coverts in so short a time, that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper position, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove, in the course of one hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their numbers. From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed w^ith terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison. " The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest approbation. There were, however, some whose rank and situation placed their con- duct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure and the most lively gratitude ; among whom I must beg leave BORDER WARS OP OHIO. 701 to mention Brigadier- General Wilkinson and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I must add the names of mj faithful and gallant aids-de-camp, Captains De Butt and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who, with the adjutant-general, Major Mills, rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory. " The loss of the enemy was more than that of the federal army. The woods were strewed for a considerable, distance with the dead bodies of Indians and their white auxiliaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets. " We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, dui'ing which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance, both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol-shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent, and princi- pal stimulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages." The loss of the United States army in this battle was thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded. The victory was decisive. The Indians then expressed their strong desire for peace. During this successful expedition, Wayne employed a numerous corps of the best rangers upon the frontier. Of these, Captain Wells was the most distinguished and the most active. An exploit performed by this ranger and two comrades is thus narrated in McDonald's Sketches : — " In June, 1794, while the head-quarters of the army were at Green- ville, Wayne despatched Wells, with his corps, with orders to bring an Indian into the camp as prisoner. Accordingly he proceeded cau- tiously with his party through the Indian country. They crossed the St. Mary's and thence to the Auglaize, without meeting with any straggling party of Indians. In passing up the latter, they discovered a smoke, dismounted, tied their horses, and cautiously reconnoitred. They found three Indians encamped on a high, open piece of ground, clear of brush or any undergrowth, rendering it difficult to approach them Avithout being discovered. While reconnoitring, they saw, not very distant from the camp, a fallen tree. They returned and went round, so as to get it between them and the Indians. The tree-top, being full of leaves, would serve to screen them from observation. 702 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 1 <^m\:K The scouts. They crept forward on their hands and knees \Yith the caution of the cat, until they reached it, when they were within seventy or eighty yards of the camp. The Indians were sitting or standing about the fire, roasting their venison, laughing, and making merry antics, little dreaming that death was about stealing a march upon them. Arrived at the fallen tree, their plans were settled. McClellan, who Avas almost as swift of foot as a deer, was to catch the centre Indian, while Wells and Miller were to kill the other two, one shooting to the right and the other to the left. Resting the muzzles of their rifles on the log of the fallen tree, they aimed for the Indians' hearts. Whiz went the balls, and both Indians fell. Before the smoke had risen BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 703 two feet, McClellan was running with uplifted tomahawk for the remaining Indian, who bounded down the river, but finding himself likely to be headed if he continued in that direction, he turned and made for the river, which at that place had a bluff bank about twenty feet high. On reaching it, he sprang off into the stream and sank to his middle in the soft mud at its bottom. McClellan came after and instantly sprang upon him, as he was wallowing and endeavouring to extricate himself from the mire. The Indian drew his knife : the other raised his tomahawk, and bade him throw down his knife or he would kill him instantly. He did so, and surrendered without farther opposition. " By this time, Wells and his companion came to the bank, and discovered the two quietly sticking in the mud. Their prisoner being secure, they selected a place where the bank was less precipitous, went down, dragged the captive out, and tied him. He was sulky, and refused to speak either Indian or English. Some of the party went back for their horses, while the others washed the mud and paint from the prisoner. When cleaned, he turned out to be a white man, but still refused to speak, or give any account of himself. The party scalped the two Indians whom they had shot, and then set off for head-quarters. Henry Miller having some suspicions that their pri- soner might possibly be his brother Christopher, whom he had left with the Indians years previous, rode up alongside of him, and called him by his Indian name. At the sound, he started, stared around, and eagerly inquired how he came to know his name ? The mystery was soon explained. Their prisoner was indeed Christopher Miller ! A mysterious Providence appeared to have placed him in a situation in the camp by which his life was preserved. Had he been standing either to the right or to the left, he would inevitably have been killed, and an even chance too, if not by his own brother. But that fate which appears to have doomed the Indian race to extinction per- mitted the white man to live. " When they arrived at Greenville, their prisoner was placed in the guard-house. Wayne often interrogated him as to what he knew of the future intentions of the Indians. Captain Wells and his brother Henry were almost constantly with him, urging him to abandon the idea of ever again joining the Indians, and to unite with the whites. For some time he was reserved and sulky, but at length became more cheerful, and agreed that if they would release him from his confine- ment he would remain among them. Captain Wells and Henry Mil- ler urged Wayne to release him, who did so, with the observation that should he deceive them and return to the enemy, they would be one 704 BOEDER AVARS OP OHIO. the stronger. He appeared pleased with his change of situation, and "was mounted on a fine horse, and otherwise equipped for war. He joined the company of Wells, and continued through the war a brave and intrepid soldier." The following adventure, also narrated by McDonald, is highly honourable to Captain Wells, and shows that his courage was not tainted with ferocity : — " On one of Captain Wells's peregrinations through the Indian country, as he came to the bank of the St. Mary's, he discovered a family of Indians coming up the river in a canoe. He dismounted from his horse and concealed his men, while he went to the bank of the river, in open view, and called to the Indians to come over. As he was dressed in the Indian costume and spoke in that language, they crossed to him, unsuspicious of danger. The moment the canoe struck the shore, Wells heard the nicking of the cocks of his comrades' rifles, as tliey prepared to shoot the Indians ; but who should be in the canoe but his Indian father and mother, with their children ! The others were now coming forward with their rifles cocked, and ready to pour in a deadly fire upon this family. Wells shouted to them to desist, informing them who the Indians Were, solemnly declaring that the first man who attempted to injure one of them should receive a ball in his head. ' That family,' said he to his men, ' had fed him when hungry, clothed him when naked, and nursed him when sick, and had treated him as aflectionately as their own children.' This short speech moved the sympathetic hearts of his leather-hunting-shirt comrades, who entered at once into his feelings and approved of his lenity. Dropping their tomahawks and rifles, they went to the canoe and shook hands with the trembling Indians in the most friendly manner. Wells assured them they had nothing to fear ; and after talking with them some time to dispel their anxiety, he told them 'that General Wayne was approaching with an overwhelming force ; that the best thing the Indians could do was to make peace, and that the whites did not wish to continue the war. He urged his Indian father to keep for the future out of danger :' he then bade them farewell. They appeared grateful for his clemency, pushed ofl:' their canoe, and paddled with their utmost rapidity down the stream. Captain Wells and his com- rades, though perfect desperadoes in fight, upon this occasion proved that they largely possessed that gratitude and benevolence which does honour to human kind." This little band of spies, during the campaign, performed more real service than any other corps of equal number belonging to the army. They brought in, at difl^erent times, not less than twenty prisoners, 45 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 707 Icdiaa in arabush. and killed more than an equal number. As they had no rivals in the army, they aimed in each excursion to outdo their former exploits. "What confidence ! Avhat self-possession was displayed by these men in their terrific encounters ! To ride boldly into the enemy's camp, in full view of their blazing camp-fires, and enter into conversation with them without betraying the least appearance of trepidation or con- fusion, and openly commence the work of death, prove how well their souls were steeled against fear. They had come off unscathed in so many desperate conflicts, that they became callous to danger. In the mean time, the Ohio settlements were exposed to the vigilant and harassing war-parties of the Indians. In the early spring of 708 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 1792 several murders were committed at Newbury, a small settlement about six miles below Belpre, where a stockade fort had been erected for the security of the inhabitants. On the 1st of March, 1793, the people of Belpre met with the most serious loss they had yet felt, in the capture by the Indians of Major Nathan Goodalc, the most influ- ential man in the settlement. He fell sick and died while his captors were taking him to Sandusky. In the spring of 1794, the house of John Armstrong, on the Vir- ginia shore, near Blcnnerhassett's island, was attacked by the Indians, and most of the family killed or captured. Armstrong had resided upon the Ohio side during the winter ; but having, in partnership with Peter Mixner, a floating mill moored near the Virginia shore, he had moved his family just above it, and built a cabin. Mixner had done the same. They were warned of their exposure to Indian attacks, but did not fear them. From some cause not known, Mixner, shortly be- fore the attack, built another cabin in the woods, and moved his family into it. This saved them. The details of the attack upon Armstrong's house, we quote from Hildreth's Pioneer History. " Towards morning on the 25th of April, Mr. Armstrong was awa- kened by the barking of his faithful dog. An old she-bear had at- tempted to carry off his pigs a night or two before, and he thought she had returned. "Without putting on his clothes, he seized his rifle, unbarred the door, and rushed out to the aid of his dog, Avhicli was barking violently at some object which he could not distinctly see. As he approached nearer, he caught the glimpse of three or four Indians, Avhose presence had roused the ire of his dog. He instantly fired at them, and hal- looed, 'Indians! Indians!' and retreated into the house, fastened the door, and went up into the loft, where three of the larger children slept ; while the two smaller ones, with the infant, lodged below, with himself and wife. By the time he had reached the loft, the Indians, with the aid of a heavy rail and their tomahawks, had burst open the door and taken possession of the house. Finding he could make no effectual resistance for the defence of his family, he pushed apart the loose shingling of the roof, jumped down to the ground, and, unseen by the Indians, retreated to the mill, where two of his oldest boys, who aided in tending it, were sleeping, "When the savages entered the house, Mrs. Armstrong, with the infant in her arms, attempted to escape, by getting out at the top of the low, unfinished chimney, which was made of logs ; but her foot slipped and she fell back again, break- ing her leg in the fall. The Indians then tomahawked and scalped her, with the two younger children. On visiting the loft, they found BORDER AVARS OF OHIO. 709 Murder of Mrs. Armstrong. Jeremiah, about eiglit years old ; John, ten ; and Elizabeth, of four- teen years. These they did not kill, but took as prisoners, "In the mean time, Mixner, hearing the gun and the noise at Arm- strong's cabin, came out to learn the cause. Listening carefully, in the stillness of the night, he heard the Indians in busy conversation. Calling up his wife, who was incredulous as to the cause, he bade her hearken to the voices, which he could hear distinctly, but could not understand. Mrs. Mixner, who had been a prisoner with the Wyan- dots, and understood their language, learned that they Avere seeking and inquiring of each other for the family that lived in the other cabin, but was now empty. He lost no time in hurrying his family into his canoe, and paddled out into the middle of the river, letting the boat float slowly and silently by the cabin of his neighbour. Hearing the low moaning and stifled sobs of Elizabeth at the murder of her mother and the children, he hailed, and asked, ' what was the 710 BORDER WARS OP OHIO. matter, and what had happened.' One of the Indians who spoke English bid her say, 'that nothing had happened,' or he would kill her. In the bitterness of her anguish she was obliged to comply, and answered as she was directed. Having landed his family on the island, Mixner gave the alarm about the same time that Armstrong did. "In the morning, a party of men crossed from the island to the scene of the massacre. The Indians had gone. The faithful dog was found, with the lower jaw nearly severed by the tomahawk. The bodies were taken to the island and buried. The same day, twenty men went in pursuit of the murderers. It was ascertained that they were Wyandots, twenty-two in number ; that they had crossed the Ohio, went up the Big Jlockhocking several miles, and then travelled by land. By the print of the children's feet in the mud, the prisoners were known to be still alive, and it was thought they would be slain if the Indians were pressed in pursuit. The whites therefore returned. The young prisoners were adopted into different families, and appear to have been used well. John and Jerry were restored to the whites at the close of the war. Elizabeth married, and settled in Canada." During the war of 1812, many important events occurred within the limits of Ohio, the principal of which were the sieges of Fort Meigs, and the assault on Fort Stephenson. Of the first siege of Fort Meigs, we have the following account in the Historical Collections of Ohio :— After the defeat of Winchester at Frenchtown, January 22, 1813, General Harrison, with about twelve hundred men, proceeded to the rapids of the Maumee, and established his advanced post at their foot. The position of the army was then fortified, and called Fort Meigs, in honour of Governor Meigs. On the breaking up of the ice in Lake Erie, General Proctor, with all his disposable force, consisting of regulars and Canadian militia from Maiden, and a large body of Indians under their celebrated chief, Tecumseh, amounting in the whole to two thousand men, laid siege to Fort Meigs. To encourage the Indians, he had promised them an easy conquest, and assured them that General Harrison should be delivered up to Tecumseh. On the 26th of April, the Bri- tish columns appeared on the opposite bank of the river, and established their principal batteries on a commanding eminence opposite the fort. On the 2Tth, the Indians crossed the river, and established themselves in the rear of the American lines. The garrison, not having com- pleted their wells, had no water except what they obtained from the river, under a constant firing of the enemy. On the first, second, and third of May, their batteries kept up an incessant shower of balls and BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 711 shells upon the fort. On the night of the third, the British erected a gun and mortar battery on the left bank of the river, within two hun- dred and fifty yards of the American lines. The Indians climbed the trees in the neighbourhood of the fort, and poured in a galling fire upon the garrison. In this situation, General Harrison received a summons from Proctor for a surrender of the garrison, greatly magni- fying his means of annoyance ; this was answered by a prompt refusal, assuring the British general that if he obtained possession of the fort it would not be by capitulation. Apprehensive of such an attack. General Harrison had made the governors of Kentucky and Ohio ■minutely acquainted with his situation, and stated to them the neces- sity of reinforcements for the relief of Fort Meigs. His requisitions had been zealously anticipated, and General Clay was at this moment descending the Miami, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, for his relief. At twelve o'clock in the night of the fourth, an officer arrived from General Clay, with the welcome intelligence of his* approach, stating that he was just above the rapids, and could reach him in two hours, and requesting his orders. Harrison determined on a general sally, and directed Clay to land eight hundred men on the right bank, take possession of the British batteries, spike their cannon, immediately return to their boats, and cross over to the American fort. The remainder of Clay's forces were ordered to land on the left bank, and fight their way to the fort, while sorties were to be made from the garrison in aid of these operations. Captain Hamilton was directed to proceed up the river in a periauger, land a subaltern on the left bank, who should be a pilot to conduct General Clay to the fort ; and then cross over and station his periauger at the place designated for the other division to land. General Clay, having received these orders, descended the river in order of battle in solid columns, each ofiicer taking position according to his rank. Colonel Dudley, being the eldest in command, led the van, and was ordered to take the men in the twelve front boats, and execute General Harrison's orders on the right bank. He efiected his landing at the place designated with- out difficulty. General Clay kept close along the left bank until he came opposite the place of Colonel Dudley's landing, but not finding the subaltern there, he attempted to cross over and join Colonel Dud- ley ; this was prevented by the violence of the current on the rapids, and he again attempted to land on the left bank, and efi"ected it with only fifty men amid a brisk fire from the enemy on shore, and made his way to the fort, receiving their fire until within the protection of its guns. The other boats, under the command of Colonel Boswell, 712 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. Sortie from Fort I'Aeic ■were driven furtlier down the current, and landed on the right to join Colonel Dudley. Here they were ordered to re-embark, land on the left bank, and proceed to the fort. In the mean time, two sorties Avere made from the garrison, one on the left in aid of Colonel Bos- well, by which the Canadian militia and Indians were defeated, and he enabled to reach the fort in safety, and one on the right against the British batteries, which was also successful. The troops in this attack on the British battery were commanded by Colonel John Miller, of the nineteenth United States regiment, and consisted of about two hundred and fifty of the seventeenth and nineteenth regiments, one hundred twelve-month volunteers, and Cap- tain Seebre's company of Kentucky militia. They were drawn up in a ravine under the east curtain of the fort, out of reach of the enemy's fire ; but to approach the batteries it Avas necessary, after having ascended from the ravine, to pass a plain of two hundred yards in width, in the woods beyond which Avere the batteries, protected by a company of grenadiers, and another of light infantry, upward of two hundred strong. These troops Avere flanked on the right by two or three companies of Canadian militia, and on the left by a large body of Indians under Tecumseh. After passing along the ranks and encouraging the men to do their duty, the general placed himself upon the battery of the right rear angle, to witness the contest. The BOEDER WARS OF OHIO. 713 U-cCurnsen. troops advanced with loaded but trailed arms. They had scarcely reached the summit of the hill when they received the fire of the British infantry. It did them little harm ; but the Indians being placed in position, and taking sight or aim, did great execution. They had not advanced more than fifty yards on the plain before it became necessary to halt and close the ranks. This was done with as much order by word of command from the officers as if they had been on parade. The charge was then made, and the enemy fled with so much precipitation that although many were killed none were taken. The general, from his position on the battery, seeing the direction that a part of them had taken, despatched Major Todd with the re- 714 BORDER WARS OP OHIO. serve of about fifty regulars, who quickly returned with two officers and forty-three non-commissioncd officers and privates. In this action the volunteers and militia suffered less than the regulars, because from their position the latter were much sooner unmasked by the hill, and received the first fire of all the enemy. It was impossible that troops could have behaved better than they did upon this sortie. Colonel Dudley, with his detachment of eight hundred Kentucky militia, completely succeeded in driving the British from their batte- ries, and spiking the cannon. Having accomplished this object, his orders were peremptory to return immediately to his boats and cross over to the fort ; but the blind confidence which generally attends militia when successful proved their ruin. Although repeatedly or- dered by Colonel Dudley, and warned of their danger, and called upon from the fort to leave the ground ; and although there was abundant time for that purpose before the British reinforcements arrived, yet they commenced a pursuit of the Indians, and suffered themselves to be drawn into an ambuscade by some feint skirmishing, while the British troops and large bodies of Indians were brought up, and inter- cepted their return to the river. Elated with their first success, they considered the victory as already gained, and pursued the enemy nearly two miles into the woods and swamps, where they were sud- denly caught in a defile, and surrounded by double their numbers. Finding themselves in this situation, consternation prevailed ; their line became broken and disordered, and huddled together in unresist- ing crowds, they were obliged to surrender to the mercy of the savages. Fortunately for these unhappy victims of their own rash- ness. General Tecumseh commanded at this ambuscade, and had im- bibed since his appointment more humane feelings than his brother Proctor. After the surrender, and all resistance had ceased, the In- dians, finding five hundred prisoners at their mercy, began the work of massacre with the most savage delight. Tecumseh sternly forbade it, and buried his tomahawk in the head of one of his chiefs who refused obedience. This order, accompanied with this decisive manner of enforcing it, put an end to the massacre. Of eight hundred men only one hundred and fifty escaped. The residue were slain or made pri- soners. Colonel Dudley was severely wounded in the action, and afterward tomahawked and scalped. Proctor, seeing no prospect of taking the fort, and finding the In- dians fast leaving him, raised the siege on the 9th of May, and returned with precipitation to Maiden. Tecumseh and a considerable portion of the Indians remained in service ; but large numbers left it in dis- gust, and were ready to join the Americans. On the left bank, in the BORDER WARS OP OHIO. 715 several sorties of the 5th of May and during the siege, the American loss was eighty-one killed and one hundred and eighty-nine wounded. When the enemy raised the siege they gave a parting salute, which killed ten or twelve, and wounded double that number. " However," says one who was present, " we were glad enough to see them off on any terms. The next morning found us something more tranquil ; we could leave the ditches, and walk about with something more of an air of freedom than we had done for the last fourteen days ; and here I wish I could present to the reader a picture of the condition we found ourselves in when the withdrawal of the enemy gave us time to look at each other's outward appearance. The scarcity of water had put the washing of our hands and faces, much less our linen, out of the question. Many had scarcely any clothing left, and that which they wore was so begrimed and torn by our residence in the ditch and other means, that we presented the appearance of so many scare- crows." After the enemy had returned to Maiden, General Harrison repaired the fort, and then left for the interior of the state, to hasten the new levies of troops. The command of the garrison was intrusted to General Green Clay. Shortly after, the second siege of Fort Meigs commenced. An account of this, also, we take from the Ohio His- torical Collections : — On the 20th of July, the boats of the enemy were discovered ascend- ing the Miami to Fort Meigs, and the following morning a party of ten men were surprised by the Indians, and only three escaped death or capture. The force which the enemy had now before the post was 5000 men under Proctor and Tecumseh, and the number of Indians was greater than any ever before assembled on any occasion during the war, while the defenders of the fort amounted to but a few hun- dred. The night of their arrival. General Green Clay despatched Captain McCune, of the Ohio militia, to General Harrison, at Lower Sandusky, to notify him of the presence of the enemy. Captain McCune was ordered to return, and inform General Clay to be particularly cautious against surprise, and that every effort would be made to relieve the fort. It was General Harrison's intention, should the enemy lay regular siege to the fort, to select four hundred men, and by an unfrequented route reach there in the night, and at any hazard break through the lines of the enemy. Captain McCune was sent out a second time with the intelligence to Harrison, that about eight hundred Indians had been seen from the 716 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. fort passing up the Miami, designing, it was supposed, to attack Fort Winchester at Defiance. The general, however, believed that it was a ruse of the enemy to cover their design upon Upper Sandusky, Lower Sandusky, or Cleveland, and accordingly kept out a reconnoitring party to watch. On the afternoon of the 25th, Captain McCune was ordered by Har- rison to return to the fort, and inform General Clay of his situation and intentions. He arrived near the fort about daybreak on the fol- lowing morning, having lost his way in the night, accompanied by James Doolan, a French Canadian. They were just upon the point of leaving the forest and entering upon the cleared ground around the fort, when they were intercepted by a party of Indians. They imme- diately took to the high bank with their horses, and retreated at full gallop up the river for several miles, pursued by the Indians, also mounted, until they came to a deep ravine, putting up from the river in a southerly direction, when they turned upon the river bottom and continued a short distance, until they found their further progress in that direction stopped by an impassable swamp. The Indians, foreseeing their dilemma, from their knowledge of the country, and expecting they would naturally follow up the ravine, galloped thither to head them off. McCune guessed their intention, and he and his companion turned back upon their own track for the fort, gaining, by this manoeu- vre, several hundred yards upon their pursuers. The Indians gave a yell of chagrin, and followed at their utmost speed. Just as they neared the fort, McCune dashed into a thicket across his course, on the opposite side of which other Indians had huddled, awaiting their prey. When this body of Indians had thought them all .but in their possession, again was the presence of mind of jMcCune signally dis- played. He wheeled his horse, followed by Doolan, made his way out of the thicket by the passage he had entered, and galloped around into the open space between them and the river, where the pursuers were checked by the fire from the block-house at the western angle of the fort. In a few minutes after their arrival, their horses dropped from fatigue. The Indians probably had orders to take them alive, as they had not fired until just as they entered the fort ; but in the chase, McCune had great difficulty in persuading Doolan to reserve his fire until the last extremity, and they thei'efore brought in their pieces loaded. The opportune arrival of McCune no doubt saved the fort, as the intelligence he brought was the means of preserving them from an in- geniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh, which was put into execution that day, and which we here relate. BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 7t7 Towards evening, the British infantry were secreted in the ravine below the fort, and the cavalry in the Avoods above, while the Indians were stationed in the forest, on the Sandusky road, not far from the fort. About an hour before dark, they commenced a sham battle among themselves, to deceive the Americans into the belief that a battle was going on between them and a reinforcement for the fort, in the hopes of enticing the garrison to the aid of their comrades. It was managed with so much skill, that the garrison instantly flew to arms, impressed by the Indian yells, intermingled with the roar of musketry, that a severe battle Avas being fought. The officers even of the highest grades were of that opinion, and some of them insisted on being suflered to march out to the rescue. General Clay, although unable to account for the firing, could not believe that the general had so soon altered his intention, as expressed to Captain ]McCune, not to send or come with any troops to Fort Meigs, until there should appear further necessity for it. This intelligence in a great measure satisfied the officers, but not the men, who were extremely indignant at being prevented from going to share the dangers of their commander-in-chief and brother soldiers; and perhaps had it not been for the interposi- tion of a showCr of rain, which soon put an end to the battle, the general might have been persuaded to march out, when a terrible mas- sacre of the troops would have ensued. The enemy remained around the fort but one day after this, and on the 28th embarked with their stores and proceeded down the lake, and a few days after met with a severe repulse, in their attempt to storm Fort Stephenson. We are informed by a volunteer aid of General Clay, who was in the fort at the second siege, that preparations were made to fire the magazine, in case the enemy succeeded in an attempt to storm the fort, and thus involve all, friend and foe, in one common fate. This terrible alter- native was deemed better than to perish under the tomahawks and scalping-knives of the savages. But one of the most brilliant exploits ever performed within the limits of Ohio was the defence of Fort Stephenson by Major Croghan, an officer only twenty-one years of age, with one hundred and fifty men, against the great army of British and Indians Avhich had besieged Fort Meigs. When Harrison learned that the enemy had retired from the siege of that fort, he instantly conjectured that they would attack Fort Stephenson. A council of war was called, which unanimously decided that that fort was untenable against heavy artillery, it being a mere stockade, and that, as it was an unimportant post, the garrison ought to be withdrawn. An order to evacuate was immediately sent to Major Croghan ; but that officer returned answer that he could not 718 BORDER WARS OP OHIO. Defence of Fort Stephenson. leave the fort, as tlie enemy swarmed in the neighbouring woods, and that he had determined to defend it. This was a clear disobedience of orders, but an explanation afterward set the matter right. The fol- lowing account of the siege Ave take from Dawson's Life of Harrison: A reconnoitring party which had been sent from head-quarters to the shore of the lake, about twenty miles distant from Fort Stephen- son, discovered the approach of the enemy by water, on the evening of the 31st of July. They returned by the fort after twelve o'clock the next day, and had passed it but a few hours, when the enemy made their appearance before it. The Indians showed themselves first on the hill over the river, and were saluted by a six-pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort, which soon caused them to retire. In half an hour the British gunboats came in sight, and the Indian forces displayed themselves in every direction, with a view to inter- cept the garrison should a retreat be attempted. The six-pounder was fired a few times at the gunboats, which was returned by the artillery of the enemy. A landing of their troops with a five-and-a- half-inch howitzer was effected about a mile below the fort ; and Major Chambers, accompanied by Dickson, was despatched towards the fort with a flag, and was met on the part of Major Croghan by Ensign Shipp, of the seventeenth regiment. After the usual ceremonies, Major Chambers observed to Ensign Shipp, that he was instructed by General Proctor to demand the surrender of the fort, as he was BORDER WARS OF OHIO. 719 anxious to spare the effusion of human blood, which he could not do should he be under the necessity of reducing it by the powerful force of artillery, regulars, and Indians under his command. Shipp replied, that the commandant of the fort and its garrison were determined to defend it to the last extremity; that no force, however great, could induce them to surrender, as they were resolved to maintain their post, or to bury themselves in its ruins. Dickson then said that their im- mense body of Indians could not be restrained from murdering the whole garrison in case of success. " Of which we have no doubt," rejoin- ed Chambers, " as we are amply prepared." Dickson then proceeded to remark, that it was a great pity so fine a young man should fall into the hands of the savages. " Sir, for God's sake, surrender, and prevent the dreadful massacre that will be caused by your resistance." Mr. Shipp replied, that when the fort was taken, there would be none to massacre ; it will not be given up while a man is able to resist. An Indian at this moment came out of an adjoining ravine, and, advancing to the ensign, took hold of his sword and attempted to wrest it from him. Dickson interfered, and, having restrained the Indian, affected great anxiety to get him safe into the fort. The enemy now opened their fire from their six-pounders in the gunboats and the howitzer on shore, which they continued through the night with but little intermission and with very little effect. The forces of the enemy consisted of five hundred regulars and about eight hundred Indians commanded by Dickson, the whole being commanded by General Proctor in person. Tecumseh was stationed on the road to Fort Meigs with a body of two thousand Indians, expecting to intercept a reinforcement on that route. Major Croghan through the evening occasionally fired his six- pounder, at the same time changing its place occasionally to induce a belief that he had more than one piece. As it produced very little execution on the enemy, and he was desirous of saving his ammuni- tion, he soon discontinued his fire. The enemy had directed their fire against the northwestern angle of the fort, which induced the com- mander to believe that an attempt to storm his works would be made at that point. In the night. Captain Hunter was directed to remove the six-pounder to a block-house, from which it would rake that angle. By great industry and personal exertion, Captain Hunter soon accom- plished this object in secrecy. The embrasure was masked, and the piece loaded with a half charge of powder, and double charge of slugs and grape-shot. Early in the morning of the 2d, the enemy opened their fire from their howitzer and three six-pounders, which they had landed in the night, and planted in a point of the woods about two hun- 720 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. dred and fifty yards from the fort. In the evening, about four o'clock, they concentrated the fire of all their guns on their northwest angle, which convinced Major Croghan that they Avould endeavour to make a breach ^nd storm the works at that point ; he therefore immediately had that place strengthened as much as possible with bags of flour and sand, which were so effectual that the picketing in that place sustained no material injury. Sergeant Weaver, with five or six gen- tlemen of the Petersburg volunteers and Pittsburg blues, who hap- pened to be in the fort, was intrusted with the management of the six-pounder. Late in the evening, when the smoke of the firing had completely enveloped the fort, the enemy proceeded to make the assault. Two feints were made towards the southern angle, where Captain Hunter's lines were formed ; and, at the same time, a column of three hundred and fifty men was discovered advancing through the smoke, within twenty paces of the northwestern angle. A heavy galling fire of musketry was now opened vipon them from the fort, which threw them into some confusion. Colonel Short, who headed the principal column, soon rallied his men and led them with great bravery to the brink of the ditch. After a momentary pause he leaped into the ditch, calling to his men to follow him, and in a few minutes it was full. The masked port-hole was now opened, and the six-pounder, at the distance of thirty feet, poured such destruction among them that but few who had entered the ditch were fortunate enough to escape. A precipitate and confused retreat was the immediate consequence, although some of the officers attempted to rally their men. The other column, which was led by Colonel Warburton and Major Chambers, was also routed in confusion by a destructive fire from the line commanded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them fled into the adjoining wood, beyond the reach of our fire-arms. During the assault, which lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an incessant fire from their howitzer and five six- pounders. They left Colonel Short, a lieutenant, and twenty-five privates dead in the ditch ; and the total number of prisoners taken was twenty-six, most of them badly wounded. Major Muir was knocked down in the ditch, and lay among the dead till the darkness of the night enabled him to escape in safety. The loss of the garri- son was one killed and seven slightly wounded. The total loss of the enemy could not be less than one hundred and fifty killed and wounded. When night came on, which was soon after the assault, the wounded in the ditch were in a desperate situation ; complete relief could not be brought to them by either side with any degree of safety. Major BORDER WARS OP OHIO. 721 Croghan, however, relieved them as much as possible : he contrived to convey them water over the picketing in buckets, and a ditch was opened under the pickets, through which those who were able and willing were encouraged to crawl into the fort. All who were able preferred, of course, to follow their defeated comrades, and many others were carried from the vicinity of the fort by the Indians, par- ticularly their own killed and wounded; and in the night, about three o'clock, the whole British and Indian force commenced a disorderly retreat.^ So great was their precipitation, that they left a sail-boat containing some clothing and a considerable quantity of military stores ; and on the next day, seventy stand of arms and some braces of pistols were picked up around the fort. Their hurry and confusion were caused by the apprehension of an attack from General Harrison, of whose position and force they had probably received an exaggerated account. It was the intention of General Harrison, should the enemy succeed against Fort Stephenson, or should they endeavour to turn his left and fall on Upper Sandusky, to leave his camp at Seneca and fall back for the protection of that place. But he discovered by the firing on the evening of the 1st, that the enemy had nothing but light artil- lery, which could make no impression on the fort ; and he knew that an attempt to storm it without making a breach, could be successfully repelled by the garrison. He therefore determined to wait for the arrival of two hundred and fifty mounted volunteers under Colonel Rennick, being the advance of seven hundred who were approaching by the way of Upper Sandusky, and then to march against the enemy and raise the siege, if their force was not still too great for his. On the 2d, he sent several scouts to ascertain their situation and .force; but the woods were so infested with Indians, that none of them could proceed sufficiently near the fort to make the necessary discoveries. In the night the messenger arrived at head quarters with intelligence that the enemy were preparing to retreat. About nine o'clock Major Croghan had ascertained, from their collecting about their boats, that they were preparing to embark, and had immediately sent an express to the commander-in-chief with this information. The general now determined to wait no longer for the reinforcements, and immediately set out with the dragoons, with which he reached the fort early in the morning, having ordered Generals McArthur and Cass, who had arrived at Seneca several days before, to follow him with all the dis- posable infantry at that place, and which at this time was about seven hundred men, after the numerous sick, and the force necessary to maintain the position, were left behind. Finding that the enemy had 46 722 BORDER WARS OF OHIO. lattle ^f the Tliamo:- flecl entirely from the fort, so as not to be reached by him, and learn- ing that Tecumseh was somewhere in the direction of Fort Meigs, with two thousand warriors, he immediately ordered the infantry to fall back to Seneca, lest Tecumseh should make an attack on that place, or intercept the small reinforcements advancing from Ohio. In his official report of this affair, General Harrison observes that " It will not be among the least of General Proctor's mortifications that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty- first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle. Gen. George R. Clarke." Captain Hunter, of the seventeenth regiment, (the second in com- mand,) conducted himself with great propriety ; and never was there a set of finer young fellows than the subalterns, viz. : Lieutenants Johnson and Baylor of the seventeenth, Meeks of the seventh, and Ensigns Shipp and Duncan of the seventeenth. Lieutenant Anderson of the twenty-fourth was also noticed for his good conduct. Being without a command, he solicited Major Croghan for a musket and a post to fight at, which he did with the greatest bravery. <' Too much praise," says Major Croghan, "cannot be bestowed on the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates under my command, for their gallantry and good conduct during the siege." The brevet rank of BORDER WARS OP OHIO. 723 lieutenant-colonel was immediately conferred on Major Croghan, by the president of the United States, for his gallant conduct on this occasion. The ladies of Chillicothe also presented him an elegant sword, accompanied by a suitable address. After the war in the Northwest had been brought to a glorious ter- mination by Harrison's victory at the Thames, the settlement pro- gressed very rapidly, and the foundation of its present wealth and prosperity was securely laid. BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 3^HE territory now forming the flourishing state of In- diana, was separated from Ohio by an act of Congress, approved by the president of the United States on the 7th of May, 1800. By this act, Indiana was made to include the territory now forming the State of Illinois. William Henry Harrison was appointed the first governor of Indiana. At that time there were several settle- ments in what is now called Indiana. Of these, Vincennes, upon the Wabash, was the oldest and most important. It was established by the French before any of the Anglo-Saxon race had visited the north- west territory. When Canada fell into the hands of the English, the French posts in the west followed it. The inhabitants at these places were granted many privileges in the matters of religion and govern- ment, which made them contented with the British supremacy ; and, when the revolutionary war began, they ardently supported the cause of the mother country. They were confirmed in this course by a belief that the people of the provinces would interfere with their religious 724 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 725 General George Rogers Clark. ceremonies. From these posts, the Indians received supplies of arms and ammunition to continue their depredations upon the frontier of Kentucky and Virginia. Colonel George Rogers Clark, of Kentucky, seeing the true sources of the Indian hostilities, conceived the idea of an expedition to get possession of them, and, in the summer of 1777, he sent two spies to the French settlements to gain intelligence of their disposition and defenfces. Soon after, Clark went to Virginia, laid his plans before the governor, and obtained his approval, together with authority for raising seven companies of volunteers and the requisite supplies. He immediately commenced his preparations, and though he had many stones in his way, surmounted them with admirable perseverance. In the spring of 1778, Colonel Clark, with five companies of volun- teers, arrived at the falls of the Ohio, and took possession of an island near them. Here he disclosed his daring designs against the enemy's posts to his men. One company then deserted him. Undaunted by 726 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. this decrease of his force, Clark left the island on the 24th of June, and, landing on the shore of Illinois, began a toilsome march for Kas- kaskia. With the capture of this place we have here nothing to do. It is sufficient to say that the place was taken by surprise, and, by the judicious arrangements and devices of Colonel Clark, secured. Caho- kia, a neighbouring settlement, was also taken without bloodshed. The next object of the daring commander of the expedition, was to get possession of Vincennes. From his best intelligence, he judged its capture by force impracticable. He then resolved to try the silken means of diplomacy. Gaining an interview with M. Gibault, the priest of Vincennes, Clark succeeded in leading him to use his influence among his flock. Through M. Gibault's representations, the people were induced to throw off" allegiance to Great Britain and submit to the authority of Virginia. But on the 15th of December, 1778, Governor Hamilton, of Detroit, with thirty regulars, fifty volunteei:^, and four hundred Indians, arrived at Vincennes and took possession of it without opposition. Captain Helm and one private were the only garrison, and these men obtained the privilege of the honours of wa7\ The situation of Clark now became perilous. Detached parties of Indians began to appear in his vicinity, and he was obliged to con- centrate his small force. "I could see," says Clark, "but little probability of keeping, possession of the country, as my number of men was too small to stand a siege, and my situation too remote to call for assistance. I made all the preparation I possibly could for the attack, and was necessitated to set fire to some of the houses in town, to clear them out of the way. But, on the 29th of January, 1779, in the height of the hurry, a Spanish merchant, (Francis Vigo,) who had been at Post Vincennes, arrived and gave the following intel- ligence : That Mr. Hamilton had weakened himself by sending his Indians against the frontiers, and to block up the Ohio ; that he had not more than eighty men in garrison, three pieces of cannon, and some swivels mounted ; that the hostile Indians were to meet at Post Vincennes in the spring, drive us out of the Illinois, and attack the Kentucky settlements, in a body, joined by their southern fi-iends; that all the goods were taken from the merchants of Post Vincennes for the king's use ; that the troops under Hamilton were repairing the fort, and expected a reinforcement from Detroit in the spring ; that they appeared to have plenty of all kinds of stores ; that they were strict in their discipline, but that he did not believe they were under much apprehension of a visit ; and believed that, if we could get there undiscovered, we might take the place. In short, we got every infor- mation from this gentleman that we could wish for, as he had had BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 72T An Indian lodae. good opportunities, and had taken great pains to inform himself with a design to give intelligence." Upon this intelligence, Clark's resolution was quickly formed, as he said there was but one alternative, "to take or be taken." His preparations were immediately commenced, and the people of Kaskas- kia and Cahokia cheerfully aided him, collecting supplies, and raising two companies of volunteers. "To convey our artillery and stores," says Clark, "it was con- cluded to send a vessel round by water, so strong that she might force her way. A large Mississippi boat was immediately purchased, and completely fitted out as a galley, mounting two four-pounders and four large swivels. She was manned by forty-six men under the command of Captain John Rogers. He set sail on the 4th of February, with orders to force his way up the Wabash as high as the mouth of White River, and to secrete himself until further orders ; but if he found 728 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. himself discovered, to do the enemy all the damage he could, without running too great a risk of losing his vessel ; and not to leave the river until he was out of hope of our arrival by land ; but by all means to conduct himself so as to give no suspicion of our approach by land. We had great dependence on this galley. She was far superior to any thing the enemy could fit out without building a vessel : and, at the worst, if we were discovered, we could build a number of large pirogues, such as they possessed, to attend her, and with such a little fleet, perhaps, pester the enemy very much ; and, if he saw it our interest, force a landing : at any rate, it would be some time before they could be a match for us on the water." From the simple but forcible account of the expedition, written by Clark himself, we quote the following : " Every thing being ready, on the 5th of February, after receiving a lecture and absolution from the priest, we crossed the Kaskaskia river with one hundred and seventy men: marched about three miles and encamped, where we lay until the 7th, and set out ; the weather wet, (but, fortunately, not cold for the season,) and a great part of the plains under water several inches deep. It was difficult and very fatiguing marching. My object was now to keep the men in spirits. I suffered them to shoot game on all occasions, and feast on it like Indian war-dancers ; each company by turns inviting the others to their feasts, which Avas the case every night, as the company that was to give the feast was always supplied with horses to lay up a sufficient store of wild meat in the course of the day : myself and principal officers putting on the woodsmen, shouting now and then, and running as much through the mud and water as any of them. Thus, insensibly, without a murmur, were those men led on to the banks of the Little Wabash, which we reached on the 13th, through incredible difficulties, far surpassing any thing that any of us had ever experienced. Fre- quently the diversions of the night v/ore off the thoughts of the pre- ceding day. We formed a camp on a height which we found on the bank of a river, and suffered our troops to amuse themselves. I viewed this sheet of water for some time with distrust ; but, accusing myself of doubting, I immediately set to work, without holding any consulta- tion about it, or suffering any body else to do so in my presence, ordered a pirogue to be built immediately, and acted as though crossing the water would be only a piece of diversion. As but few could work at the pirogue at a time, pains were taken to find diversion for the rest, to keep them in high spirits. In the evening of the 14th, our vessel was finished, manned, and sent to explore the drowned lands on the opposite side of the Little Wabash, v/ith private instructions what IJ BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 729 report to make, and, if possible, to find some spot of dry land. They found about half an acre, and marked the trees from thence back to the camp, and made a very favourable report. " Fortunately, the 15th happened to be a warm, moist day for the season. The channel of the river, where we lay, was about thirty yards wide. A scafi'old was built on the opposite shore, (which was about three feet under w^ater,) and our baggage ferried across and put on it : our horses swam across and received their loads at the scaffold, by which time the troops were also brought across, and we began our march through the water. " By evening, we found ourselves encamped on a pretty height, in high spirits, each party laughing at the other in consequence of some- thing that had happened in the course of this ferrying business, as they called it. A little antic drummer afforded them great diversion by floating on his drum, &c. All this was greatly encouraged ; and they really began to think themselves superior to other men, and that neither the rivers nor the seasons could stop their progress. Their whole conversation now was concerning what they would do when they got about the enemy. They now began to view the main Wabash as a creek, and made no doubt but such men as they were could find a way to cross it. They wound themselves up to such a pitch, that they soon took Post Vincennes, divided the spoil, and before bedtime were far advanced on their route to Detroit. All this was, no doubt, pleasing to those of us who had more serious thoughts. We were now convinced that the whole of the low country on the Wabash was drowned, and that the enemy could easily get to us, if they discovered us, and wished to risk an action : if they did not, we made no doubt of crossing the river by some means or other : even if Captain Rogers, with our galley, did not get to his station agreeable to his appoint- ment, we flattered ourselves that all would be well, and marched on in high spirits." Passing over the toils and incidents of the intervening days, we come to the last day's march. " This last day's march through the water was far superior to any thing the Frenchmen had an idea of: they were backward in speak- ing — said that the nearest land to us was a small league, called the Sugar camp, on the bank of the [river ?] A canoe was sent off, and returned without finding that we could pass. I went in her myself, and sounded the water : found it deep as to my neck. I returned with a design to have the men transported on board the canoes to the Sugar camp, which I knew would spend the whole day and ensuing night, as the vessels would pass slowly through the bushes. The loss of so much 730 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. time, to men half starved, was a matter of consequence. I would have given now a great deal for a day's provisions, or for one of our horses. I returned but slowly to the troops, giving myself time to think. On our arrival, all ran to hear what was the report. Every eye was fixed on me. I unfortunately spoke in a serious manner to one of the officers : the whole were alarmed without knowing what I said. I viewed their confusion for about one minute, whispered to those near me to do as I did, immediately put some water in my hand, poured on powder, blackened my face, gave the war-whoop, and marched into the water, without saying a word. The party gazed, and fell in, one after an- other, without saying a word, like a flock of sheep. I ordered those near me to begin a favourite song of theirs : it soon passed through the line, and the whole went on cheerfully. I now intended to have them transported across the deepest part of the water ; but when about waist deep, one of the men informed me that he thought he felt a path. We examined, and found it so, and concluded that it kept on the highest ground, which it did ; and by taking pains to follow it, we got to the Sugar camp without the least difficulty, where there was about half an acre of dry ground, at least not under water, where we took up our lodging. The Frenchmen that we had taken on the river appeared to be uneasy at our situation. They begged that they might be permitted to go in the two canoes to town in the night : they said that they would bring from their own houses provisions, without a possibility of any persons knowing it ; that some of our men should go with them, as a surety of their good conduct ; that it was impos- sible we could march from that place till the water fell, for the plain was too deep to march. Some of the officers believed that it might be done. I would not suffer it. I never could well account for this piece of obstinacy, and give satisfactory reasons to myself, or any body else, why I denied a proposition apparently so easy to execute, and of so much advantage : but somethino- seemed to tell me that it should not be done ; and it was not done. " The most of the Aveather that we had on this march was moist and warm for the season. This was the coldest night we had. The ice in the morning was from one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick near the shores and in still water. The morning was the finest we had on our march. A little after sunrise, I lectured the whole. What I said to them I forget ; but it may be easily imagined by a person that could possess my affections for them at that time. I concluded by in- forming them that passing the plain that was then in full view, and reaching the opposite Avoods, would put an end to their fatigue — that in a few hours they would have a sight of their long wished for object — BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 731 and immediately stepped into the water without waiting for any reply. A huzza took place. As we generally marched through the water in a line, before the third entered I halted and called to Major Bowman, ordering him to fall in the rear with twenty-five men, and put to death any man who refused to march ; as we wished to have no such person among us. The whole gave a cry of approbation, and on we went. This was the most trying of all the difficulties we had experienced. I generally kept fifteen or twenty of the strongest men next myself; and judged from my own feelings what must be that of others. Get- ting about the middle of the plain, the water about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing ; and as there were no trees nor bushes for the men to support themselves by, I feared that many of the most weak would be drowned. I ordered the canoes to make the land, discharo-e their loading, and play backwards and forwards with all diligence and pick up the men ; and, to encourage the party, sent some of the strongest men forward with orders, when they got to a certain distance, to pass the word back that the water was getting shallow ; and when getting near the woods to cry out 'Land!' This stratagem had its desired effect. The men, encouraged by it, exerted themselves almost beyond their abilities, the weak holding by the stronger. The water never got shallower, but continued deepening. Getting to the woods where the men expected land; the water was up to my shoulders ; but gaining the woods was of great consequence. All the low men and the weakly hung to the trees, and floated on the old logs, until they were taken off by the canoes. The strong and tall got ashore and built fires. Many would reach the shore, and fall with their bodies half in the water, not being able to support themselves without it. " This was a delightful dry spot of ground of about ten acres. We soon found that the fires answered no purpose ; but that two strong men taking a weaker one by the arms was the only way to recover him, and, being a delightful day, it soon did. But, fortunately, as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian squaws and children was coming up to town, and took through part of this plain as a nigh way. It was discovered by our canoes as they were out after the men. They gave chase and took the Indian canoe, on board of which was near half a quarter of a buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettles, &c. This was a grand prize, and was invaluable. Broth was immediately made and served out to the most weakly with great care : most of the whole got a little ; but a great many gave their part to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheering to their comrades. This little refreshment, and fine weather, by the afternoon gave new life to the whole. Cross- ing a narrow, deep lake in the canoes, and marching some distance, 732 BOEDER WARS OF INDIANA. ■we came to a copse of timber called the Warrior's Island. We were now in full view of the fort and town, not a shrub between us, at about two miles' distance. Every man now feasted his eyes, and forgot that he had suffered any thing — saying that all that had passed was owing to good policy, and nothing but v/hat a man could bear ; and that a soldier had no right to think, &c. — passing from one extreme to an- other, which is common in such cases. It was now we had to display our abilities. The plain between us and the town was not a perfect level. The sunken grounds were covered with water full of ducks. We observed several men out on horseback, shooting them, within a half mile of us, and sent out as many of our active young Frenchmen to decoy and take one of these men prisoner, in such a manner as not to alarm the others, which they did. The information we got from this person was similar to that which we got from those we took on the river, except that of the British having that evening completed the wall of the fort, and that there were a good many Indians in town. " Our situation was now truly critical, no possibility of retreating in case of defeat, and in full view of a town that had at this time up- wards of six hundred men in it, troops, inhabitants, and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not fifty men, would have been now a reinforcement of immense magnitude to our little army, (if I may so call it,) but we would not think of them. We were now in the situa- tion that I had laboured to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner was foreign to almost every man, as they expected nothing but torture from the savages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was now to be determined, probably in a few hours. We knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would ensure success. I knew that a number of the inhabitants Avished us well — that many were lukewarm to the interest of either — and I also learned that the grand chief, the Tobacco's son, had, but a few days before, openly declared in council with the British, that he was a brother and friend to the Big Knives." These being favourable circumstances. Colonel Clark issued a pla- card to the inhabitants, announcing his determination to take the town that night, and requesting all the friends of America to remain in their houses. If taken in arms, a severe punishment was threat- ened. This placard decided the wavering friends of the expedition and astonished its enemies. We again quote from Clark, whose narrative is worthy of Cnesar himself, and in every portion displays the iron will and fertile mind of a military genius : " A little before sunset we moved and displayed ourselves in full view of the town — crowds gazing at us. We were plunging ourselves BORDER WARS OP INDIANA. 733 Tecumseh and fho Prophet. into certain destruction, or success. There was no midway thought of. We had but little to say to our men, except inculcating an idea of the necessity of obedience, &c. We knew they did not want encouraging ; and that any thing might be attempted with them that was possible for such a number — perfectly cool, under proper subordi- nation, pleased with the prospect before them, and much attached to 734 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. their officers. They all declared that they were convinced that an implicit obedience to orders Avas the only thing that would ensure suc- cess — and hoped that no mercy would be shoAvn the person that should violate them. Such language as this from soldiers, to persons in our situation, must have been exceedingly agreeable. We moved on slowly in full view of the town ; but as it was a point of some consequence to us to make ourselves appear as formidable, we, in leaving the covert that we were in, marched and counter-marched in such a manner that we appeared numerous. In raising volunteers in the Illinois, every person that set about the business had a set of colours given him, which they brought with them, to the amount of ten or twelve pairs. These were displayed to the best advantage ; and as the low plain we marched through was not a perfect level, but had frequent risings in it seven or eight feet higher than the common level, (which was covered with water,) and as these risings generally run in an oblique direction to the town, we took the advantage of one of them, inarching through the water under it, which completely prevented our being numbered : but our colours showed considerably above the heights, as they were fixed on long poles procured for the purpose, and at a distance made no despicable appearance : and as our young Frenchmen had, while we lay on the Warrior's Island, decoyed and taken several fowlers, with their horses, officers Avere mounted on these horses, and rode about more completely to deceive the enemy. In this manner we moved, and directed our march in such a way as to suffer it to be dark before we had advanced more than half way to the town. We then sud- denly altered our direction, and crossed ponds where they could not have suspected us, and about eight o'clock gained the heights back of the town. As there was yet no hostile appearance, we were impatient to have the cause unriddled. Lieutenant Bayley was ordered with four- teen men to march and fire on the fort. The main body moved in a different direction, and took possession of the strongest part of the town. " The firing now commenced on the fort ; but they did not believe it was an enemy until one of their men was shot down through a port ; as drunken Indians frequently saluted the fort after night. The drums now sounded, and the business fairly commenced on both sides. Rein- forcements were sent to the attack of the garrison, while other arrange- ments were making in town. We now found that the garrison had known nothing of us : that having finished the fort that evening, they had amused themselves at different games, and had just retired before my letter arrived, as it -wtis near roll-call. The placard being made public, many of the inhabitants were afraid to show themselves BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 735 out of the houses, for fear of giving offence ; and not one dare give information.* Our friends flew to the commons and other convenient places to view the pleasing sight. This was observed from the gai'ri- son, and the reason asked, but a satisfactory excuse was given ; and as a part of the town lay between our line of march and the garrison, we could not be seen by the sentinels on the walls. Captain W. Shan- non and another being some time before taken prisoners by one of their scouting parties, and that evening brought in, the party had dis- covered at the Sugar camp some signs of us. They supposed it to be a party of observation that intended to land on the height some dis- tance below the town. Captain Lamotte was sent to intercept them. It was at him the people said they were looking, when they were asked the reason of their unusual stir. Several suspected persons had been taken to the garrison : among them was Mr. Moses Henry. Mrs. Henry went, under the pretence of carrying him provisions, and whis- pered him the news and what she had seen. Mr. Henry conveyed it to the rest of his fellow-prisoners, which gave them much pleasure, particularly Captain Helm, who amused himself very much during the siege, and I believe did much damage. " Ammunition was scarce with us, as the most of our stores had been put on board the galley. Though her crew was but few, such a reinforcement to us at this time would have been invaluable in many instances. But, fortunately, at the time of its being reported that the whole of the goods in the town were to be taken for the king's use, (for which the owners were to receive bills,) Colonel Legras, Major Bosseron, and others, had buried the greatest part of their powder and ball. This was immediately produced ; and we found ourselves well supplied by those gentlemen. " The Tobacco's son being in town with a number of warriors, im- mediately mustered them, and let us know that he wished to join us, saying that by the morning he would have a hundred men. He re- ceived for answer that we thanked him for his friendly disposition ; and as we were sufficiently strong ourselves, we wished him to desist, and that we would counsel on the subject in the morning ; and as we knew that there were a number of Indians in and near the town that were our enemies, some confusion might happen if our men should mix in the dark ; but hoped that we might be favoured with his counsel and company during the night — which was agreeable to him. * " The town immediately surrendered with joy, and assisted at the siege."— Letter (dated Kaskaskia, Illinois, April 29, 1779,) from Col. Clark to the Governor of Vir- ginia. 736 BOEDER WARS OF INDIANA. " The garrison was soon completely surrounded, and the firing con- tinued without intermission, (except about fifteen minutes a little before day,) until about nine o'clock the following morning. It was kept up by the whole of the troops, — -joined by a few of the young men of the town, who got permission — except fifty men kept as a reserve. I had made myself fully acquainted with the situation of the fort and town, and the parts relative to each. The cannon of the garrison was on the upper floors of strong block-houses at each angle of the fort, eleven feet above the surface ; and the ports so badly cut that many of our troops lay under the fire of them within twenty or thirty yards of the walls. They did no damage except to the buildings of the town, some of which they much shattered ; and their musketry, in the dark, em- ployed against woodsmen covered by houses, pailings, ditches, the banks of the river, &c., was but of little avail, and did no injury to us except wounding a man or two. As we could not afford to lose men, great care was taken to preserve them sufiiciently covered, and to keep up a hot fire in order to intimidate the enemy as well as to destroy them. The embrasures of their cannon were frequently shut, for our riflemen, finding the true direction of them, would pour in such vol- leys when they were opened that the men could not stand to the guns : seven or eight of them in a short time got cut down. Our troops would frequently abuse the enemy, in order to aggravate them to open their ports and fire their cannon, that they might have the pleasure of cut- ting them down with their rifles — fifty of which perhaps would be levelled the moment the port flew open : and I believe that if they had stood at their artillery the greater part of them would have been de- stroyed in the course of the night, as the greater part of our men lay within thirty yards of the walls ; and in a few hours were covered equally to those within the walls, and much more experienced in that mode of fighting. Sometimes an irregular fire, as hot as possi- ble, was kept up from different directions for a few minutes, and then only a continued scattering fire at the ports as usual ; and a great noise and laughter immediately commenced in different parts of the town, by the reserved parties, as if they had only fired on the fort a few minutes for amusement ; and as if those continually firing at the fort were only regularly relieved. Conduct similar to this kept the garrison constantly alarmed. They did not know what moment they might be stormed or blown up, as they could plainly discover that we had flung up some entrenchments across the streets, and appeared to be frequently very busy under the bank of the river, which was within thirty feet of the walls. The situation of the magazine we well knew. Captain Bowman began some works in order to blow it up, in case our BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 737 artillery should arrive : but as we knew that we were daily liable to be overpowered by the numerous bands of Indians on the river, in case they had again joined the enemy, (the certainty of which we were unacquainted with,) we resolved to lose no time, but to get the fort in our possession as soon as possible. If the vessel did not arrive before the ensuing night, we resolved to undermine the fort, and fixed on the spot and plan of executing this work, which we intended to commence the next day. " The Indians of different tribes that were inimical, had left the town and neighbourhood. Captain Lamotte continued to hover about it, in order, if possible, to make his way good into the fort. Parties attempted in vain to surprise him, A few of his party were taken, one of which was Maisonville, a famous Indian partizan. Two lads had captured him, tied him to a post in the street, and fought from behind him as a breast-work — supposing that the enemy would not fire at them for fear of killing him, as he would alarm them by his voice. The lads were ordered, by an officer who discovered them at their amusement, to untie their prisoner, and take him off to the guard, which they did ; but were so inhuman as to take part of his scalp on the way ; there happened to him no other damage. As almost the whole of the persons who were most active in the Department of De- troit, were either in the fort or with Captain Lamotte, I got extremely uneasy, for fear that he would not fall into our power ; knowing that he would go off, if he could not get into the fort in the course of the night. Finding that, without some unforeseen accident, the fort must inevitably be ours, and that a reinforcement of twenty men, although considerable to them, would not be of great moment to us in the pre- sent situation of affairs, and knowing that we had weakened them by killing or wounding many of their gunners, after some deliberation, we concluded to risk the reinforcement in preference of his going again among the Indians : the garrison had at least a month's provisions, and if they could hold out, in the course of that time he might do us much damage. A little before day the troops were withdrawn from their positions about the fort, except a few parties of observation, and the firing totally ceased. Orders were given, in case of Lamotte's approach, not tg alarm or fire on him, without a certainty of killing or taking the whole. In less than a quarter of an hour he passed within ten feet of an ofiicer and a party that lay concealed. Ladders were flung over to them, and as they mounted them our party shouted ; many of them fell from the top of the walls — some within, and others back ; but as they were not fired on they all got over, much to the joy of their friends. But, on considering the matter they must have been 47 738 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. convinced that it was a scheme of ours, to let them in ; and that we were so strong as to care but little about them, or the manner of their getting into the garrison. The firing immediately commenced on both sides with double vigour ; and I believe that more noise could not have been made by the same number of men : their shouts could not be heard for the firearms ; but a continual blaze was kept around the garrison, without much being done, until about day-break, when our troops were drawn off to posts prepared for them, about sixty or seventy yards from the fort. A loop-hole then could scarcely be darkened but a rifle ball would pass through it. To have stood to their cannon would have destroyed their men, without a probability of doing much service. Our situation was nearly similar. It would have been imprudent in either party to have wasted their men, without some decisive stroke required it. " Thus the attack continued, until about nine o'clock on the morn- ing of the 24th. Learning that the two prisoners they had brought in the day before, had a considerable number of letters with them, I supposed it an express that we expected about this time, which I knew to be of the greatest moment to us, as we had not received one since our arrival in the country : and not being fully acquainted with the character of our enemy, we were doubtful that those papers might be destroyed ; to prevent which, I sent a flag, (with a letter,) demanding the garrison." In this letter Colonel Clark informed the governor that if he was obliged to storm, the garrison might depend upon the treatment justly due to murderers. Governor Hamilton requested three days' truce, which, of course, Clark refused to grant. An interview then took place between the American commander and the governor, in which the former in a firm and dignified manner refused to accede to any terms but the surrender of the garrison at discretion, and sternly denounced as mur- derers those of the British who had stimulated the Indian hostilities. But the oflicer-like conduct of Governor Hamilton caused the Colonel to relent, and to give the garrison honourable terms. On the 25th, the garrison, numbering seventy-nine men, was surrendered prisoners of war, and on the 27th, the galley hove in sight, with the artillery and the rest of Clark's men. The American flag was then floating over Vincennes, and an expedition which in conception and'execution rivals the most celebrated of ancient or modern times, was thus brought to a glorious termination. Vincennes was destined to be the theatre of other important events at a later period. In 1807 and 1808, the people of the frontier be- came alarmed at the prospect of a renewal of the horrors of savage BCRDER WARS OF INDIANA. 739 warfare. The activity and eloquence of Tecumseh and the Prophet were then exerted for the formation of a great Indian confederacy, the avowed object of which was to oppose '< a dam to the mighty waters of civilization." Whether Tecumseh had hostile designs in this work, or whether he merely desired the confederacy as a defensive institu- tion, must remain poised in doubt. However this may be, Harrison concluded the designs of the Indians were hostile, and commenced preparations for a struggle. In August, 1810, Tecumseh, with a body of warriors, visited Vin- cennes to see Governor Harrison. In the council, the real position was ascertained. The following account of it is given in Drake's Life of Tecumseh : — Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the council on the portico of his own house, which had been fitted up with scats for the occasion. Here, on the morning of the fifteenth, he awaited the arrival of the chief, being attended by the judges of the Supreme Court, some officers of the army, a sergeant and twelve men from Fort Knox, and a large number of citizens. At the appointed hour, Te- 740 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA, cumseh, supported by forty of his principal warriors, made liis appear- ance, the remainder of his followers being encamped in the village and its environs. When the chief had approached within thirty or forty yards of the house, he suddenly stopped, as if awaiting some advances from the governor ; an interpreter was sent, requesting him and his followers to take seats on the portico. To this Tecumseh objected — he did not think the place a suitable one for holding the conference, but preferred that it should take place in a grove of trees, to which he pointed, standing a short distance from the house. The governor said he had no objection to the grove, except that there were no seats in it for their accommodation. Tecumseh replied, that constituted no objection to the grove, the earth being the most suitable place for the Indians, who loved to repose upon the bosom of their mother. The governor yielded the point, and the benches and chairs having been removed to the spot, the conference was begun, the Indians being seated on the grass. Tecumseh opened the meeting by stating at length his objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, made by Governor Harrison in the previous year ; and in the course of his speech boldly avowed the principle of his party to be that of resistance to every cession of land, unless made by all the tribes, who, he contended, formed but one nation. He admitted that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty of Fort \Vayne, and that it was his fixed determination not to permit the village chiefs in future to manage their aifairs, but to place the power with which they had been heretofore invested in the hands of the war chiefs. The Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea-coast, and would soon push them into the lakes ; and, while he disclaimed all intention of making war upon the United States, he declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, and resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon the Indian lands. He concluded by making a brief but impassioned recital of the various wrongs and aggressions inflicted by the white men upon the Indians, from the commencement of the Revolutionary Avar down to the period of that council ; all of which was calculated to arouse and inflame the minds of such of his followers as were present. The governor rose in reply, and in examining the right of Tecum- seh and his party to make objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, took occasion to say that the Indians were not one nation, having a common property in the lands. The Miamis, he contended, were the real owners of the tract on the Wabash ceded by the late treaty, and the Shawnees had no right to interfere in the case; that upon the arrival of the whites on this continent they had found the Miamis in BORDER AVARS OF INDIANA. 741 l''irmness of Harrison at Vincennes. possession of this land, the Shawnees being then residents of Georgia, from which they had been driven by the Creeks, and that it was ridi- culous to assert that the red men constituted but one nation ; for, if such had been the intention of the Great Spirit, he would not have put different tongues in their heads, but have taught them all to speak the same lana;uao;e. The governor having taken his seat, the interpreter commenced explaining the speech to Tecumseh, who, after listening to a portion of it, sprang to his feet and began to speak with great vehemence of manner. The governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but as he did not understand him, thought he Avas making some explanation, and suffered his attention to be drawn toward Winneraac, a friendly Indian lying on the grass before him, who was renewing the priming of his pistol, which he had kept concealed from the other Indians, but in full view of the governor. His attention, however, was again directed toward Tecumseh, by hearing General Gibson, who was intimately ac- quainted with the Shawnee language, say to Lieutenant Jennings, " Those fellows intend mischief; you had better bring up the guard." At that moment the followers of Tecumseh seized their tomahawks and war-clubs, and sprang upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage himself from the arm- 742 BOEDER "WARS OP INDIANA. The Prophet. chair in •wliicli he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by his side, and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of the army, who stood near him, drew a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked his pistol. The citizens present were more numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed ; some of them procured clubs and brick-bats, and also stood on the defensive. The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist church, ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself at the door to defend the family. During this singular scene no one spoke, until the guard came running up, and appearing to be in the act of firing, the governor ordered them not to do so. He then de- manded of the interpreter an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Tecumseh had interrupted him, declaring that all the governor had said was/a?se, and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and imposed on the Indians. The governor then told Tecum- seh that he was a bad man, and that he would hold no further com- munication with him ; that as he had come to Yincennes under the protection of a council-fire, he might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the village. Here the council terminated. The hostile purpose of the Indians was now clearly manifested. In June, 1811, Governor Harrison sent a message to the Shawnees, bid- ding them beware of hostilities. Tecumseh replied, and promised to visit the governor. The visit was made in July. Nothing of impor- BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. 743 tance resulted from this meeting. Both parties seemed determined to make no concessions. Tecumseh soon afterward went south, to enlist the Creeks in his cause. The Prophet remained in his town on the banks of the Tippecanoe. Harrison increased his regular force, and, while he warned the Indians to obey the treaty of Greenville, prepared to crush the Prophet's town if necessary. On the 5th of October, he was on the Wabash, sixty miles above Vincennes. There he built Fort Harrison. Leaving a garrison in Fort Harrison sufficient to resist the attack of any number of Indians, Governor Harrison marched into the Indian country, and on the evening of the 5th of November, encamped within nine miles of the Prophet's town. The next morning he resumed his march, but no Indians were discovered till he had arrived within six miles of the town. The interpreters were then placed with the ad- vanced guard, in order to open a communication with them if possible. But their efforts were vain. Parties of Indians were frequently seen, but they paid no attention to the invitation of the Americans ; and all their attempts to open a communication and come to an under- standing with them were vain. When they came within two miles of the town, the path descended a steep hill, at the bottom of which was a small creek running through a narrow wet prairie ; and, beyond this, a level plain partially covered with oak timber, and without un- derbrush. This was a very good situation for the savages to make an attack upon the Americans, and Harrison, supposing he would be assailed, proceeded with the greatest caution. His march was, how- ever, not interrupted, and he arrived safely before the town. He now sent Captain Dubois to the Prophet to treat for peace. But in a few moments he returned, and stated that the Indians were near in con- siderable numbers, but would make no answer to the interpreter, though they were near enough to hear what was said. Harrison resolved no longer to hesitate about treating the Indians as enemies. He therefore ranged his troops in order of battle, and ■was marching against them, when he met with three Indians sent to him by the Prophet. An interview was held with them ; and, after some consideration, it was resolved that no hostilities should take place before next morning, when a conference should be held with the prin- cipal chiefs, and terms of peace agreed on. The army now proceeded to a creek northwest of the village, and bivouacked on a bank of dry oak land, considerably elevated, and situated between two prairies. The infantry, in two columns, occupied the front and rear, separated on the left one hundred and eighty yards, and on the right about half that distance. The left flank was covered by two companies of 744 BORDER WARS OF INDIANA. mounted riflemen, containing one hundred and fifty rank and file, commanded by Major-General Wells, of Kentucky; and the right flank by Spencer's troop of mounted riflemen, to the number of eighty. The front lino M'as composed of one battalion of the fourth regiment of the United States infantry, under the command of Major Floyd, flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the left by one. The rear line "was formed of another battalion of the fourth United States infantry, under Colonel Baen, acting major, flanked by four companies of militia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. Two troops of dragoons, sixty strong, took post in the rear of the left flank ; and another, somewhat stronger, in the rear of the front line. To guard against a night attack, the order of encampment was appointed the order of battle ; and each man rested upon his arms. The order given to the army, in the event of a night attack, was for each corps to maintain its ground at all hazards till relieved. The dragoons were directed in such case to parade dismounted, with their swords on and their pistols in their belts, and to wait for orders. The guard for the night consisted of two captains' commands of twenty- four men and four non-commissioned ofiicers, and two subalterns' guards of twenty men and non-commissioned ofiicers — the whole under the command of a field officer of the day. Just before reveille, on the morning of the 7th of November, 1811, an attack commenced on the left flank, and the pickets were driven in. The first notice of the enemy's approach was the usual yell of the savages, within a short distance of the line. They had violated the armistice agreed upon, to subsist mitil the ensuing day ; which, it Avould seem, they had proposed with a view to gain an opportunity of surprising their adversaries in their usual manner. Nothing but the precaution of encamping in order of battle, and the deliberate firm- ness of the officers in counteracting the effects of a surprise, saved the army from total defeat. The storm first fell upon Captain Barton's regulars and Captain Geiger's mounted riflemen, forming the left angle on the rear line. Some Indians forced themselves through the line and penetrated into the encampment, where they were killed. The companies, thus suddenly and severely attacked, were reinforced with all possible speed. A heavy fire then opened, to the left of the front, immediately on the regular companies of Captains Baen, Snelling, and Prescot. A gallant charge by the cavalry, from the rear of the front line, under Major Davies, was ordered for the purpose of breaking the Indians, who appeared in great force among some trees a few yards distant in front. The major received a mortal wound, and his men were driven back by superior numbers of the enemy. Captain Snell- BORDER WARS OP INDIANA. 745 Final charge at Tippecanoe. ing's company then charged with fixed bayonets, and the enemy were dislodged. The enemy's fire now extended along the left flank, the whole of the front, the right flank, and part of the rear line! Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen, and the right of Warwick's com- pany, it was excessively heavy. Captain Spencer and his first and second lieutenants were killed ; and Captain Warwick fell, mortally wounded. The troops, notwithstanding the fall of their officers, bravely maintained their posts until reinforced. Day approached,' when Major Wells, reconnoitring the position of the enemy on the left, charged and broke them. At this favouring moment, a small detachment from the cavalry dashed furiously upon the retreat- ing Indians, and precipitated them into the marsh. Simultaneously with these successful eff'orts on the left, the enemy were charged on the right by the companies of Captain Cook and Lieutenant Larabie, supported by the mounted riflemen, who pursued and killed a number of Indians in their flight. Driven now at all points, and pursued as far as the ground would admit, the Indians dispersed in every direc- tion. They were handled so severely in the retreat, that they were compelled to abandon many of their killed and wounded on the field, which is, with them, evidence of positive defeat. Forty Indians were found dead on the field. Numbers were carried off; some of whom were discovered the next day, in holes containing two, three, and four 746 BORDER WARS OP INDIANA. bodies, covered, to conceal them from the victorious army. The gene- ral estimated their loss, in killed and wounded, at one hundred and fifty. Such was the famous battle of Tippecanoe. Tecumseb was not engaged in this battle, being absent from that region on an excur- sion in the south. During the time of the contest, the Prophet kept himself secure on an adjacent eminence, singing a war-song. He had told his followers that the Great Spirit would render the army of the Americans unsuccess- ful, and that their bullets would not hurt the Indians, who would have light, while the enemy would be involved in thick darkness. Soon after the battle commenced, he Avas informed that his men were falling. He told them to fight, it would soon be as he predicted, and then be- gan to sing louder. The troops throughout displayed the greatest bravery, and effectu- ally resisted one of the most furious assaults ever experienced in savage warfare. They were saved only by their soldierly conduct. Had a panic, in the first onset of the savages, produced disorder, they ■would probably, to a man, have become the victims of the most merci- less of foes. Their loss was severe, both in officers and men, viz. one aid-de-camp, one captain, two subalterns, one sergeant, two corporals, and thirty privates killed ; two lieutenant-colonels, one adjutant, one assistant surgeon, two captains, three subalterns, nine sergeants, five corporals, one musician, and one hundred and two privates wounded ; besides one major, two captains mortally. Governor Harrison, on the 9tli of November, having burned the town, and laid waste the surrounding settlement, from which he obliged the defeated enemy to fly, returned with his forces into the settled country. The Prophet was immediately abandoned by his followers, who, on his defeat, lost all faith in his supernatural pretensions. Even his life was endangered by the sudden change in the feelings of those whom he had too successfully deluded. Most of the Indian tribes wdio had been influenced by his impious pretensions, after his expulsion from his imagined sanctuary, offered their submission, and sued for peace.* The scene of the battle of Tippecanoe is on the east bank of the river of that name, in Tippecanoe county. The ground was pointed out ta Harrison by an Indian chief, as the most eligible site for an encampment, and chosen for want of a better. It is a slight emi- nence, nearly surrounded by marshy ground. Although there were few white settlers in Indiana before 1800, ten BORDER WARS OP INDIANA. T47 years after that date, the settlements were numerous. The war of 1812 and (he depredations of the British and Indians checked the progress of the population. But immediately after its conclusion, the fertile lands so abundant in the vicinity of the larger streams drew a steady train of immigrants. In 1816, the Territory was converted into a State with its present limits, and admitted to a place among the bright galaxy of the Union. Since that event the increase of the wealth and population of Indiana has been rapid and steady. Among its immigrants have been a large number from Switzerland, who have established themselves in a very fertile district in the southeastern extremity of the State. Their industry has been very successfully directed to the planting of vineyards and the making of wine. The country in which most of these people reside is called Switzerland. BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. "^ HE first settlements made by Euro- peans in the West were within the pre- sent limits of Illinois. Some French ^ Jesuits, who accompanied the expedi- •' tion of the unfortunate La Salle, fixed themselves at Kashaslda and Cahokia, where they made many converts among the Indians, and established perma- % nent missions. In 1720, several fami- lies emigrated from Canada to the vicinity of the Jesuit missions, and in the course of a few years afterward, Kaskaskia and Cahokia became thriving settlements. They were situated on or near the Kaskaskia river. In 1763, after the English had gained possession of Canada and the greater part of the territory east of the Mississippi, a small body of their troops was placed in garrison at Fort Chartres, on the Mis- 748 BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 749 sissippi, about eighteen miles from Kaskaskia, and the British com- mandant of Illinois fixed his head-quarters at that place. Of the French population, while some took the oath of fidelity and obedience to the government of Great Britain, and continued to occupy their ancient possessions, others removed to the territories on the western side of the Mississippi river, where the authority of France was still in force, although the country had been ceded to Spain. In 1774, the British government, "smelling the battle afar off" between the provinces and the mother country, adopted measures to secure the attachment of the French inhabitants of Canada and the Northwest Territory. By the act of parliament known as the Quebec Act, these people were brought within the limits of the province of Quebec, and under its laws assured of the free exercise of their reli- gion, as far as was compatible with the articles of capitulation. These liberal grants had the desired effect. When the long looked-for strug- gle began, the French inhabitants were found upon the side of the mother country, enlisting the Indians in her service, and supplying them with the material for prosecuting their destructive warfare. After the Declaration of Independence, the British governor of Detroit sent messages to the French settlements, inciting them to send out war- parties of savages, and offering rewards for scalps. The effect of the depredations thus countenanced and stimulated by the British authorities was to awaken the speedy vengeance of the Kentuckians, under their sagacious commander. Col. George Rogers Clark.^ Of the capture of Kaskaskia, we have this account'in Cla'rk's Memoirs : — " On the 4th of July, in the evening, we got within a few miles of the town, where we lay until near dark, keeping spies ahead, after which we commenced our march, and took possession of a house wherein a large family lived, on the bank of the Kaskaskia river, about three- quarters of a mile above the town. Here we were informed that the people a few days before were under arms, but had concluded that the cause of the alarm was without foundation ; and that at that time there was a great number of men in town, but that the Indians had generally left it, and at present all was quiet. We soon procured a sufiiciency of vessels, the more in ease to convey us across the river. With one of the divisions I marched to the fort, and ordered the other two mto different quarters of the town. If I met with no resistance, at a certain signal a general shout was to be given, and certain parts were to be immediately possessed ; and men of each detachment, who could speak the French language, were to run through every street and proclaim what had happened ; and inform the inhabitants that every 750 BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. person that appeared in the streets would be shot down. This dispo- sition had its desired effect. In a very little time we had complete possession ; and every avenue was guarded, to prevent any escape, to give the alarm to the other villages in case of opposition. Various orders had been issued not Avorth mentioning. I don't suppose greater silence ever reigned among the inhabitants of a place than did at this at present : not a person to be seen, not a word to be heard by them for some time ; but, designedly, the greatest noise kept up by our troops through every quarter of the town, and patrols continually the whole night round it ; as intercepting any information was a capital object ; and in about two hours the whole of the inhabitants were dis- armed, and informed that if one was taken attempting to make his escape, he should be immediately put to death." After raising the terror of the French to a great height, Clark surprised and won them over to his interest by performing various just and generous acts. A deputation of the inhabitants waited on Clark, and said, " that their present situation was the fate of war, and that they could submit to the loss of their property ; but they solicited that they might not be separated from their wives and children ; and that some clothes and provisions might be allowed for their support." Clark feigned surprise at this request, and abruptly exclaimed, " Do you mistake us for savages ? I am almost certain you do, from your lan- guage ! Do you think that Americans intend to strip women and children, or take the bread out of their mouths ? My country- men," continued he, " disdain to make war upon helpless innocence. It was to prevent the horrors of Indian butchery upon our own wives and children, that we have taken arms and penetrated into this remote stronghold of British and Indian barbarity ; and not the despicable prospect of plunder. That now the king of France had united his powerful arms with those of America, the war would not, in all proba- bility, continue long ; but the inhabitants of Kaskaskia were at liberty to take which side they pleased, without the least danger to either their property or families. Nor would their religion be any source of dis- agreement ; as all religions were regarded with equal respect in the eye of the American law, and that any insult offered it would be im- mediately punished. And now, to prove my sincerity, you will please inform your fellow citizens, that they are quite at liberty to conduct themselves as usual, without the least apprehension. I am now con- vinced, from what I have learned since my arrival among you, that you have been misinformed, and prejudiced against us by British offi- cers ; and your friends who are in confinement shall immediately be released." In a few minutes after the delivery of this speech, the BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 753 Detroit. gloom that rested on the minds of the inhabitants of Kaslcaskia had passed away. The news of the treaty of alliance between France and the United States, and the influence of the magnanimous conduct of Clark, induced the French villagers to take the oath of allegiance to the State of Virginia. Their arms were restored to them, and a volun- teer company of French militia joined a detachment under Captain Bowman, when that officer was despatched to take possession of Ca- hokia. The inhabitants of this small village, on hearing what had taken place at Kaskaskia, readily took the oath of allegiance to Vir- ginia. The French inhabitants of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Post Vincennes having taken the oath of allegiance to Virginia, the general assembly of that State passed an act creating Illinois county, including these settlements. On the day following the surrender of Vincennes, Colonel Clark sent a detachment of sixty men up the Wabash to intercept some boats which were laden with goods and provisions from the British post of Detroit. The detachment, under the command of Captain Helms, proceeded, in three armed boats, one hundred and sixty miles up the river, when the British boats, seven in number, were completely sur- prised and captured without firing a gun. The number of prisoners taken was forty, among whom was a magistrate of Detroit. Clark took the provisions for the public use, and divided the goods, except about .£800 worth, among his troops. 48 754 BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. In the fall of 1780, La Balme, a Frenchman, with between twenty and thirty men, started for Kaskaskia, with the intention of attempt- ing the capture of Detroit. At Vincennes he was joined by a small number of men, and he then moved up the Wabash to the British trading-post Kekionga, at the head of the Maumee. There the party plundered the traders and Indians. La Balme seems to have pos- sessed but a mite of prudence ; his conduct drew on him the ven- geance of the Miamis. While he was encamped at the river Aboite, he was attacked, defeated, and, with several of his men, slain. This broke up the enterprise.* In 1800, Illinois contained but three thousand white inhabitants. Immigration became more rapid after that period, however, and, in 1809, a territorial government was given to the country. In 1810, the territory contained twelve thousand inhabitants. In 1812, a complete territorial government was organized, with an assembly and a deleo;ate to Conciress. During the war of 1812, several events of deep interest occurred within the limits of Illinois. Of these, the massacre of the greater part of the garrison of Chicago claims the first attention. On the site of the present city of Chicago, a, fort had been erected in 1803, and a small garrison stationed in it. Around the fort, and under its pro- tection, several families had clustered, built cabins, and began to cul- tivate the ground. The large and pov/erful tribe of Pottawatomies occupied the neighbouring country. When the war broke out, the garrison consisted of fifty men, commanded by Captain Ileald. As it was remote from the other American posts, it should have been withdrawn or strengthened. The first was thought advisable by Gen. Hull, and ordered ; but it was too late. The following account of the state of aff'airs at Chicago and the massacre, we take from Brown's History of Illinois : — On the 7th of August, 1812, in the afternoon, Winnemeg, or Catfish, a friendly Indian of the Pottawatomie tribe, arrived at Chicago, and brought despatches from General Hull, containing the first, and, at that time, the only intelligence of the declaration of war. General Hull's letter announced the capture of Mackinaw, and directed Cap- tain Heald " to evacuate the fort at Chicago if practicable, and, in that event, to distribute all the United States property contained in the fort, and the United States factory or agency, among the Indians in the neighbourhood, and repair to Fort Wayne." Winnemeg having delivered his despatches to Captain Heald, and stated that he was acquainted with the purport of the communication he had brought, * Dillon's History of Indiana. BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 757 urged upon Captain Ileald the policy of remaining in the fort, being supplied, as thej were, with ammunition and provisions for a consi- derable time. In case, however. Captain Heald thought proper to evacuate the place, he urged upon him the propriety of doing so immediately, before the Pottawatomies (through whose country they must pass, and who were as yet ignorant of the object of his mission) could collect a force sufficient to oppose them. This advice, though given in great earnestness, was not sufficiently regarded by Captain Heald; who observed, that he should evacuate the fort, but having* received orders to distribute the public property among the Indians, he did not feel justified in leaving it until he had collected the Potta- watomies in its vicinity, and made an equitable distribution among them. Winnemeg then suggested the expediency of marching out and leaving every thing standing; " while the Indians," said he, " are dividing the spoils, the troops will be able to retreat without molesta- tion." This advice was also unheeded, and an order for evacuating the fort was read next morning on parade. Captain Heald, in issuing it, had neglected to consult his junior officers, as it would have been natural for him to do in such an emergency, and as he probably would have done had there not been some coolness between him and Ensign Ronan. The lieutenant and ensign, after the promulgation of this order, waited on Captain Heald to learn his intentions; and being apprized, for the first time, of the course he intended to pursue, they remon- strated against it. "We do not," said they to Captain Heald, "be- lieve that our troops can pass in safety through the country of the Pottawatomies to Fort Wayne. Although a part of their chiefs were opposed to an attack upon us last autumn, they were actuated by motives of private friendship for some particular individuals, and not from a regard to the Americans in general ; and it can hardly bo supposed that, in the present excited state of feeling among the In- dians, those chiefs will be able to influence the whole tribe, now thirst- ing for vengeance. Besides," said they, " our march must be slow, on account of the women and children. Our force, too, is small; some of our soldiers are superannuated, and some of them are invalids. We think, therefore, as your orders are discretionary, that we had i better fortify ourselves as strongly as possible, and remain where we are. Succour may reach us before we shall be attacked from Macki- naw ; and, in case of such an event, we had better fall into the hands of the English than become victims of the savages." Captain Heald replied, that his force was inadequate to contend with the Indians, and that he should be censured were he to continue in garrison, when 758 ' BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. the prospect of a safe retreat to Fort Wayne was so apparent. He therefore deemed it advisable to assemble the Indians and distribute the public property among them, and ask of them an escort thither, with the promise of a considerable sum of money to be paid on their safe arrival ; adding, that he had perfect confidence in the friendly professions of the Indians, from whom, as well as from the soldiers, the capture of Mackinaw had studiously been concealed. From this time forward, the junior officers stood aloof from their commander, and, considering his project as little short of madness, conversed as little upon the subject as possible. Dissatisfaction, how- ever, soon filled the camp ; the soldiers began to murmur, and insub- ordination assumed a threatening aspect. The savages, in the mean time, became more and more trouble- some;* entered the fort occasionally, in defiance of the sentinels, and even made their way without ceremony into the quarters of its com- manding officer. On one occasion an Indian, taking up a rifle, fired it in the parlour of Captain Heald ; some were of opinion that this was intended as the signal for an attack. The old chiefs at this time passed back and forth among the assembled groups, apparently agi- tated ; and the squaws seemed much excited, as though some terrible calamity was impending. No further manifestations, however, of ill- feeling were exhibited, and the day passed without bloodshed. So infatuated at this time was Captain Ileald, that he supposed he had wrought a favourable impression upon the savages, and that the little garrison could now march forth in safety. From the 8th to the 12th of August, the hostility of the Indians was more and more apparent ; and the feelings of the garrison, and of those connected with and dependent upon it for their safety, more and more intense. Distrust everywhere at length prevailed, and the want of unanimity among the officers was appalling. Every inmate retired to rest, expecting to be aroused by the war-whoop ; and each returning day was regarded by all as another step on the road to massacre. The Indians from the adjacent villages having at length arrived, a council was held on the 12th of August. It was attended, however, only by Captain Heald on the part of the military; the other officers refused to attend, having previously learned that a massacre was in- * An Indian runner had previously arrived in the Pottawatomie camp -with a mes- sage from Tecumseh, informing them of the capture of Mackinaw, the defeat of Van Home, and the retreat of General Hull from Canada. He desired them to arm imme- diately ; and intimated that he had no doubt but General Hull would, in a short time, be compelled to surrender. BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 759 Captain Heald in council witli the Fottawatomios. tended. This fact was communicated to Captain Heald ; he insisted, however, on their going, and they resolutely persisted in their refusal. "When Captain Heald left the fort, they repaired to the blockhouse which overlooked the ground where the council was in session, and opening the port-holes, pointed their cannon in its direction. This circumstance and their absence, it is supposed, saved the whites from massacre. Captain Heald informed the Indians in council, that he would next day distribute among them all the goods in the United States factory, together with the ammunition and provisions with which the garrison was supplied ; and desired of them an escort to Fort Wayne, promis- ing them a reward on their arrival thither, in addition to the presents they were about to receive. The savages assented, with professions of friendship, to all he proposed, and promised all he required. The council was no sooner dismissed, than several, observing the tone of feeling which prevailed, and anticipating from it no good to the garrison, waited on Captain Heald in order to open his eyes, if possible, to their condition. The impolicy of furnishing the Indians with arms and ammunition to be used against themselves struck Cap- tain Heald with so much force, that he resolved, without consulting his officers, to destroy all not required for immediate use. On August 13th, the goods in the factory store were distributed 760 BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. among the Indians, -nho had collected near the fort ; and in the even- ing the ammunition, and also the liquor belonging to the garrison, were carried, the former into the sally-port and thrown into the well, and the latter through the south gate, as silently as possible, to the river bank, Avhere the heads of the barrels were knocked in, and their contents discharged into the stream. The Indians, however, sus- pecting the game, approached as near as possible and witnessed the whole scene. The spare muskets were broken up and thrown into the well, together with bags of shot, flints, and gun-screws, and other things ; all, however, of but little value. On the 14th, the despondency of the garrison was for a while dis- pelled by the arrival of Captain Wells and fifteen friendly Miamies. Having heard at Fort Wayne of the order to evacuate Chicago, and knowing the hostile intentions of the Pottawatomies, he hastened thither in order to save, if possible, the little garrison from its doom. Having, on his arrival, learned that the ammunition had been destroy- ed, and the provisions distributed among the Indians, he saw there was no alternative. Preparations were therefore made for marching on the morrow. In the afternoon a second council was held with the Indians, at which they expressed their resentment at the destruction of the am- munition and liquor in the severest terms. Notwithstanding the pre- cautions which had been observed, the knocking in of the heads of the whisky-barrels had been heard by the Indians, and the river next morning tasted, as some of them expressed it, "like strong grog." Murmurs and threats were everywhere heard ; and nothing, apparent- ly, was wanting but an opportunity for some public manifestation of their resentment. The morning of the 15th dawned as usual ; the sun rose with un- common splendour, and Lake Michigan " w^as a sheet of burnished gold." Early in the day a message was received in the American camp from To-pee-na-bee, a chief of the St. Joseph's band, informing them that mischief was brewing among the Pottawatomies, who had promised them protection. About nine o'clock, the troops left the fort with martial music, and in military array. Captain Wells, at the head of the Miamies, led the van, his face blackened after the manner of the Indians. The garrison, with loaded arm.s, followed, and the wagons with the bag- gage, the women and children, the sick and the lame, closed the rear. The Pottawatomies, about five hundred in number, who had promised to escort them in safety to Fort Wayne, leaving a little space, after- ward followed. The party in advance took the beach road. They BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 761 Battle bet-ween mounted troops and the Indians. had no sooner arrived at the sand-hills which separate the prairie from the heach, about a mile and a half from the fort, when the Pot- tawatomies, instead of continuing in rear of the Americans, left the beach and took to the prairie ; the sand-hills of course intervened, and presented a barrier between the Pottawatomies and the American and Miami line of march. This divergence had scarcely been effected, when Captain Wells, who, with the Miamies, was considerably in ad- vance, rode back and exclaimed, "They are about to attack us; form 762 BORDER WARS OP ILLINOIS. instantly and charge upon them." The word had scarcely been utter- ed, before a volley of musketry from behind the sand-hills was poured in upon them. The troops were brought immediately into a line and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran of seventy, fell as they ascended. The battle at once became general. The Miamies fled in the outset ; their chief rode up to the Pottawatomies, charged them with duplicity, and, brandishing his tomahawk, said, " he would be the first to head a party of Americans, and return to punish them for their treachery." lie then turned his horse and galloped off in pur- suit of his companions, who were then scouring across the prairie, and nothing was seen or heard of them more. The American troops behaved gallantly; though few in number, they sold their lives as dearly as possible. They felt, however, as if their time had come, and sought to forget all that was dear on earth. While the battle was raging, the surgeon, Doctor Voorhes, who was badly wounded, and whose horse had been shot from under him, ap- proaching Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm, (who was in the action, participating in all its vicissitudes,) observed, " Do you think," said he, " they will take our lives ? I am badly wounded, but I think not mortally. Perhaps we can purchase safety by offering a large reward. Do you think," continued he, "there is any chance?" "Doctor Voorhes," replied Mrs. Helm, "let us not waste the few moments Avhich yet remain in idle or ill-founded hopes. Our fate is inevitable: we must soon appear at the bar of God ; let us make such preparations as are yet in our power." " Oh," said he, " I cannot die ; I am unfit to die ! If I had a short time to prepare! Death ! oh, how awful !" At this moment, Ensign Ronan was fighting at a little distance with a tall and portly Indian ; the former, mortally wounded, was nearly down, and struggling desperately upon one knee. Mrs. Helm, pointing her finger, and directing the attention of Doctor Voorhes thither, observed, "Look," said she, "at that young man; he dies like a soldier." "Yes," said Doctor Voorhes, "but he has no terrors of the future; he is an unbeliever." A young savage immediately raised his tomahawk to strike Mrs. Helm. She sprang instantly aside, and the blow intended for her head fell upon her shoulder ; she thereupon seized him around his neck, and while exerting all her efforts to get possession of his scalp- ing-knife, was seized by another Indian and dragged forcibly from his grasp. The latter bore her, struggling and resisting, toward the lake. Notwithstanding, however, the rapidity with which she was BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. 763 hurried along, she recognised, as she passed, the remains of the un- fortunate surgeon stretched lifeless on the prairie. She was plunged immediately into the water and held there, notwithstanding her resist- ance, with a forcible hand. She shortly, however, perceived that the intention of her captor was not to drown her, as he held her in a position to keep her head above the water. Thus reassured, she looked at him attentively, and, in spite of his disguise, recognised the "white man's friend." It was Black Partridge. When the firing had ceased, her preserver bore her from the water and conducted her up the sand-bank. It was a beautiful day in August. The heat, however, of the sun was oppressive ; and walking through the sand, exposed to its burning rays, in her drenched condi- tion — weary, and exhausted by efforts beyond her strength — anxious beyond measure to learn the fate of her friends, and alarmed for her own, her situation was one of agony. The troops having fought with desperation till two-thirds of their number were slain, the remainder, twenty-seven in all, borne down by an overwhelming force, and exhausted by efforts hitherto unequalled, at length surrendered. They stipulated, however, for their own safety and for the safety of their remaining women and children. The wounded prisoners, however, in the hurry of the moment, were unfor- tunately omitted, or rather ^ot particularly mentioned, and were therefore regarded by the Indians as having been excluded. One of the soldiers' wives, having frequently been told that prison- ers taken by the Indians were subjected to tortures worse than death, had from the first expressed a resolution never to be taken ; and when a party of savages approached to make her their prisoner, she fought with desperation ; and, though assured of kind treatment and protec- tion, refused to surrender, and was literally cut in pieces and her mangled remains left on the field. After the surrender, one of the baggage-wagons, containing twelve children, was assailed by a single savage, and the whole number were massacred. All, without distinction of age or sex, fell at once beneath his murderous tomahawk. Captain Wells, who had as yet escaped unharmed, saw from a dis- tance the whole of this murderous scene ; and being apprized of the stipulation, and seeing it thus violated, exclaimed aloud, so as to be heard by the Pottawatomies around him, whose prisoner he then was, " If this be your game, I will kill too!" and, turning his horse's head, instantly started for the Pottawatomie camp, where the squaws and Indian children had been left ere the battle began. He had no sooner started, than several Indians followed in his rear and discharged 764 BORDER WARS OF ILLINOIS. their rifles at him as he galloped across the prairie. He laid himself flat on the neck of his horse, and was apparently out of their reach, when the ball of one of his pursuers took effect, killing his horse and wounding him severely. He was again a prisoner ; as the savages came up, Winnemeg and Wa-ban-see, two of their number, and both his friends, used all their endeavours in order to save him ; they had disengaged him already from his horse, and were supporting him along, when Pee-so-tum, a Pottawatomie Indian, drawing his scalping- knife, stabbed him in the back, and thus inflicted a mortal wound. After struggling for a moment he fell, and breathed his last in the arms of his friends, a victim for those he had sought to save — a sacri- fice to his own rash, presumptuous, and perhaps indiscreet intentions. The battle having ended, and the prisoners being secured, the latter were conducted to the Pottawatomie camp near the fort. Here the wife of Wau-bee-nee-mah, an Illinois chief, perceiving the exhausted condition of Mrs. Helm, took a kettle, and dipping up some water from the stream which flowed sluggishly by them, threw into it some maple sugar, and, stirring it up with her hand, gave her to drink. "It was," says Mrs. Helm, "the most delicious draught I had ever taken, and her kindness of manner, amid so much atrocity, touched my heart." Her attention, however, was soon directed to other ob- jects. The fort, after the troops had marched out, became a scene of plunder. The cattle were shot down as they ran at large, and lay dead, or were dying around her. It called up afresh a remark of Ensign Ronan's, made before : " Such," said he, " is to be our fate — to be shot down like brutes." The wounded prisoners, we have already remarked, were not in- cluded in the stipulation made on the battle-field, as the Indians understood it. On reaching, therefore, the Pottawatomy camp, a scene followed which beggars description. A wounded soldier, lying on the ground, was violently assaulted by an old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends or excited by the murderous scenes around her — who, seizing a pitchfork, attacked with demoniac ferocity, and delibe- rately murdered in cold blood the wretched victim, now helpless and exposed to the burning rays of the sun, his wounds already aggravated by its heat, and he writhing in torture. During the succeeding night, five other wounded prisoners wei'e tomahawked. Those unwoundcd remained in the wigwams of their captors. The work of plunder being now completed, the fort next day Avas set on fire. A fair and equal distribution of all the finery belonging to the garrison had apparently been made, and shawls and ribands and feathers were scattered about the camp in great profusion. BOEDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. ICHIGAN -was visited by Europeans much earlier than any other portion of the territory northwest of the Ohio. Its peninsular character and favourable po- sition for commanding the commerce of lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior, made its possession an object of import- ance to those rival nations, which were seeking to gain power in America. French traders visited the territory as early as 1640, and in 1670 the adventurers of the same enterprising nations founded Detroit, which continued to be their chief trading- post until the fall of Canada. The French seem to have possessed the art of winning the affections of the Indians, for here, as in other places in the western territory, they were never compelled to use force to maintain their ascendency. The principal tribes with whom they traded were the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawatomies. When Canada and its dependencies had been surrendered to the English, Major Robert Rogers with a strong body of troops was sent to take possession of the French posts Detroit and Michilimackinac. On the route from Montreal to the western part of Lake Erie, the major found the natives disposed to be friendly. But when he ap- proached Detroit, he received a message from Pontiac, the chief of the Ottawas, commanding the English to stop until he could " see them with his own eyes." The troops were drawn up in order for an emergency, and Pontiac soon arrived at their encampment. He is 765 766 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. said to have possessed a stern and impressive appearance ; and subse- quent events displayed his great skill as a ■warrior and a statesmen. After the first salutation, Pontiac sternly demanded of Major Rogers, why he had ventured upon the territory of the Indians -with- out the permission of their head. Major Rogers replied that he had no designs against the Indians, and that his object was the re- moval of the French, who had prevented the blessings of friendship and commerce from existing between the Indians and the English. He then gave Pontiac several belts, which Avere well received. The chief gave Major Rogers a string of wampum, saying, " I shall stand in your path till to-morrow morning." By this he meant that the English must not proceed further without his permission, Pontiac then supplied the troops with provisions, for which Major Rogers was prudent enough to pay.* The next morning, Pontiac came to the English camp, smoked the pipe of peace with the English commander, and informed him that he should pass safely through his territories, and that his warriors should protect them from all hostile tribes. The chief meant what he said. For he accompanied Rogers to Detroit, sent messengers to all the different Indian towns, informing them that the English had his permission to pass through the country, and take possession of the French posts, and sent one hundred warriors to the aid of a corps of troops who were driving a number of cattle from Fort Pitt to Detroit. The great chief of the Ottawas remained the firm and active friend of Major Rogers while he continued in command of the English forces. But Rogers was succeeded in command at Detroit by Major Gladwyn; and from that time the intercourse between the English and Indians became less cordial. The causes of the intense hatred which Pontiac conceived soon after for the English were numerous and just. The French treated the Indians as brothers, and him as king. The Eng- lish domineered over them, disgraced some of the warriors by flogging them, and acted upon the whole like the secure and arbitrary masters of the country. French influence aided in widening the breach, and finally, in the course of 1762, Pontiac resolved to organize a confede- racy for driving the English from all their posts in the northwest, in uniting the powerful tribes in the neighbourhood of the great lakes, and in forming the plan for crushing the enemy at a single blow. This chief must be admitted to have displayed greater force of genius than any other Indian, with, perhaps, the single exception of Tecum- seh. Among the different tribes, reports were circulated of a design * Drake's Book of the Indians. BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 767 formed by the English for the extirpation of the Indians, and, roused by these, the red men were for putting Pontiac's schemes in action. In the spring of 1763, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Sacs, Foxes, Menominies, Miamis, Shawanees, and branches of other tribes were ready for a simultaneous attack on all the British forts and trading-posts in the country northwest of the Alleghany mountains. Without meeting with much resistance, they took possession of Green Bay, St. Joseph's, Ouaitenon, Miamis, Sandusky, Presque Isle, Le- Boeuf, and Venango. A small number of traders about these posts were killed, and others were captured. The capture of Michilimack- inac is thus narrated in Dillon's History of Indiana : — The fort at Michilimackinac, distant three hundred and twenty miles from Detroit, stood on the south side of the strait between the lakes Huron and Michigan. There was connected with the fort an area of two acres. This area was enclosed with cedar-wood pickets, extend- ing on one side so near to the edge of the water that a western wind sometimes drove the waves against the foot of the stockade. There were within the limits of the enclosure about thirty small houses, in- habited by French families. The only ordnance on the bastions of the fort were two small brass pieces. The garrison consisted of ninety men, besides two subalterns, and Major Etherington, the commandant. The task of capturing this fort had been allotted to the Sacs and the Chip- pewas, and the warriors of these tribes effected their object by means of a very ingenious stratagem. Nearly four hundred Indian warriors were encamped at Michilimackinac ; and on the 4th of June, which was the birth-day of George III., these Indians began to amuse them- selves by playing at a favourite game of ball, which they called "bag- gatiway." This game is played Mith a bat and ball, the bat being about four feet long, curved, and terminating in a sort of racket. Two posts are placed in the ground at the distance of a half mile or more from each other. The Indians arc then divided into two par- ties, and each party has its post. On the ground, midway between the two posts, is placed the ball ; and the players then endeavour to knock or throw it from the direction of their own post, and totcard the post of their adversaries. The Indians played for some time with great animation near the pickets of the fort, and part of the garrison went out to observe the progress of the game. In the ardour of the con- test, the ball was sometimes, apparently by accident, thrown over the stockade. At such moments it was followed by numbers of both par- ties, who ran into and out of the fort Avith freedom. This artifice was repeated several times ; when, finally, as the ball was thrown over the pickets, the Indians rushed into the enclosure and took possession 768 BORDER AVARS OF MICHIGAJN. of the fort. A furious attack was then made on the English soldiers, seventy of whom were killed and scalped. The remainder, being about twenty men, were saved as prisoners. The capture of Detroit by Pontiac was only prevented by one of those accidents which " balk or crown our reaching schemes." A concise and well-digested account of this affair and subsequent events is also given by Dillon, in his History of Indiana: — Early in the month of May, Pontiac appeared before Detroit at the head of three or four hundred warriors. These Indians, who were accompanied by their women and children, encamped near the fort, without exciting at first, any suspicion in the mind of Major Gladwyn, the commandant. The post was then garrisoned by one hundred and thirty men, including officers. Three rows of pickets, enclosing about an acre and a half, surrounded the fort, in the form of a square. There were blockhouses at the corners and over the gates. With a few exceptions, the houses of the French inhabitants were situated within the enclosure ; and an open space, which was called by the French Le chemin du Ronde, intervened between the houses and the pickets. The fortifications did not extend to the river Detroit, but a gate opened in the direction of the stream, in which, near the fort, the Beaver, an armed English schooner, was then moored. The ordnance of the fort consisted of two six-pounders, a few small brass pieces, and three mortars. Such was the condition of aff'airs about Detroit on the 8th of May, 17G3, when Pontiac proposed to hold a council with Major Gladwyn, saying to that officer that " the Indians desired to take their new father, the king of England, by the hand." To this proposal Major Gladwyn gave his assent, and it was agreed between the parties that the council should be held in the fort on the next day. In making this apparently friendly overture, it was the object of Pontiac to gain admittance into the fort, at the head of a number of warriors who were armed with rifles which had been made so short that they could be concealed under the blankets of those who carried them. At a particular signal, which was to be given by the chief, these Indians were to massacre all the officers in the fort, and then open the gates to admit the other Indians, who were to rush in and complete the destruction of the garrison. Major Gladwyn obtained information of this scheme before an opportunity occurred to execute it. Carver states — and his account is substantially confirmed by tradition, as well as by other authorities — that an Indian woman betrayed the secret. She had been employed by the com- mandant to make him a pair of moccasons out of elk-skin, and having completed them, she brought them into the fort on the evening of the day when Pontiac made his appearance, and his application for a BORDER WARS OP MICHIGAN. 769 council. The major was pleased with them, directed her to convert the residue of the skin into articles of the same description, and having made her a generous payment, dismissed her. She went to the outer door, but there stopped, and for some time loitered about, as if her errand was still unperformed. A servant asked her what she wanted, but she made no answer. The major himself observed her, and ordered her to be called in, when, after some hesitation, she replied to his in- quiries, that as he had always treated her kindly, she did not like to take away the elk-skin, which he valued so highly ; she could never bring it back. The commandant's curiosity was, of course, excited, until the woman at length disclosed every thing which had come to her knowledge. Her information was not received with implicit cre- dulity, but the major thought it prudent to employ the night in taking active measures for defence. His arms and ammunition were examined and arranged ; and the traders and their dependants, as well as the garrison, were directed to be ready for instant service. A guard kept watch on the ramparts during the night, it being apprehended that the Indians might anticipate the preparations now known to have been made for the next day. Nothing, however, was heard after dark, except the sound of singing and dancing in the Indian camp, which they always indulge in upon the eve of any great enterprise. In the morning, Pontiac and a party of his warriors repaired to the fort. They were admitted without hesitation, and were conducted to the council-house, or the place assigned for the meeting, where Major Gladwyn and his officers were prepared to receive them. They per- ceived at the gate, and as they passed through the streets, an unusual activity and movement among the troops. The garrison was under arms, the guai'ds were doubled, and the officers were armed with swords and pistols. Pontiac inquired of the British commander what was the cause of this unusual appearance. He was answered, that it was proper to keep the young men to their duty, lest they should become idle and ignorant. The business of the council then commenced, and Pontiac proceeded to address Major Gladwyn. His speech was bold and menacing, and his manner and gesticulations vehement, and they became still more so as he approached the critical moment. When he was upon the point of making the preconcerted signal, the drums at the door of the council-house suddenly rolled the charge, the guards levelled their pieces, and the British officers drew their swords from their scabbards. Pontiac was a brave man ; but this unexpected and decisive proof that his plot was discovered disconcerted him, and he failed to give his party the signal of attack. Major Gladwyn imme- diately approached the chief, and drawing aside his blanket, discovered 49 770 BOHDEE, WARS OF MICHIGAN. Attack on tne house at Hog Island. the shortened rifle ; and tlien, after stating his knowledge of the plan, and reproaching him for his treachery, ordered him from the fort. The Indians immediately retired, and as soon as they had passed the gate they gave a yell, and fired upon the garrison. They then proceeded to the commons, ^vhere "was living an aged English woman, with her two sons. These they murdered, and afterward repaired to Hog Island, where a discharged sergeant resided with his family, who were all but one massacred. BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 771 During three or four day^ immediately succeeding these events, the Indians ihade several attempts to carry the fort by storm. At one time, a cart, filled with combustible materials set on fire, was wheeled up against the pickets ; at another time the besiegers were about to set fire to the chapel, by shooting blazing arrows upon its roof; but the warriors of the wilderness gave up this intention, when they were told by a Jesuit missionary that such an act would bring down upon them the condemnation of the Great Spirit. The assailants made several attempts to cut aAvay the pickets, so as to make a breach. On one occasion, when such an attempt was made, Major Gladwyn ordered his men to assist the Indians in cutting aAvay some of the pickets. This was done ; and when an opening was made, the Indians began to rush into it ; but they were suddenly and destructively repulsed by the dis- charge of a brass four-pounder which had been brought to bear upon the breach. After this repulse, the assailants did not at any time make a close assault upon the fort : but they maintained a pretty close siege throughout the months of May, June, July, and August, during a part of which time the English garrison were compelled to subsist on half rations. About the 31st of May, Lieutenant Cuyler, who had been despatched from Niagara, arrived at Point Pelee with ninety-seven men, manning twenty small boats laden with provisions and stores for the garrison at Detroit. A few hours after the arrival of the English party at this place, they were surprised and defeated by a band of Pontiac's warriors, who took possession of all the boats, except one, in which an officer and thirty men escaped. Of the re- mainder of the party, some were killed and others captured. The prisoners were then compelled to navigate the boats, in each of which the Indians placed a guard ; and thus the vessels, keeping close to the Canadian shore, moved up the Detroit river, attended by a con- siderable number of warriors, who marched along the banks. When the foremost boat arrived at a point nearly opposite to Detroit, four prisoners who were manning the boat determined to effect their escape or to perish in the attempt. They suddenly changed the course of the boat, and began to force her across the stream and towards the fort. The Indian guards, who attempted to stop them, after a short struggle leaped overboard, dragging with them one of the prisoners. The three who remained in the boat were fired on by the Indians, and one of the fugitives was wounded ; but an armed vessel lying before Detroit opened a fire upon the Indians, and thus covered the retreat of the English boatmen until they reached the vessel. The Indians then landed the boats, and took the rest of the prisoners to Hog Island, where nearly all of them were put to death. 772 BORDER WARS OP MICHIGAN. Boat sku'raisTi lietween Pontiac's warriors an' 1 the In the early part of June, a strong detachment of Indians left the siege, and proceeded to Fighting Island, for the purpose of intercept- ing a vessel laden ^vith arms and provisions for the relief of the gar- rison at Detroit. The Indians, in their canoes, annoyed the English vessel very much, until the latter reached the point of the island, ■Nvhere, on account of the wind failing, she "was compelled to anchor. To deceive the Indians in regard to the strength of his crew, the cap- tain had concealed his men in the hold. Soon after dark the Indians embarked in their canoes and proceeded to board the vessel. The men were silently ordered up and took their stations at the guns. The Indians were suffered to approach close to the vessel, when the cap- tain, by a stroke of a hammer on the mast, gave the signal for action. An immediate discharge took place, and the Indians precipitately fled, with many killed and wounded. The next morning the vessel dropped down to the mouth of the river, where she remained six days waiting for a wind. On the thirteenth she succeeded in ascending the river, and reaching the fort in safety. BOEDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 773 Soon after these events occurred, Pontiac made some unsuccessful attempts to destroy the English vessels moored before Detroit. Large rafts constructed of combustible materials ■were towed to a certain position in the river, and there set on fire, with the expectation that the current Avould carry these burning masses into contact with the vessels. A fleet of gunboats, strongly armed, and having on board three hundred English regular troops under the commaixd of Captain Dal- yell, arrived at Detroit late in the month of July. Soon after the arrival of this reinforcement, a battle was fought between the English and the Indians, at a place v/hich, from the time of the engagement to the present day, has been called "Bloody Bridge." The English commander, in his official returns, gave the following minute account of this alfair. " On the evening of the 30th July, Captain Dalyell, aid-de-camp to General Amherst, being arrived here with the detach- ment sent under his command, and being fully persuaded that Pontiac, the Indian chief, with his tribes, would soon abandon his design and retire, insisted with the commandant that they might easily be sur- prised in their camp, totally routed and driven out of the settlement ; and it was thereupon determined that Captain Dalyell should march out with two hundred and forty-seven men. Accordingly we marched about half an hour after two in the morning, two deep, along the great road by the river side, two boats up the river alongshore, with a patteraro in each, with orders to keep up with the line of march, cover our retreat, and take off" our killed and wounded ; Lieutenant Bean, of the Queen's Independents, being ordered, with a rear guard, to convey the dead and wounded to the boats. About a mile and a half from the fort, we had orders to form into platoons, and, if attacked in front, to fire by street-firings. We then advanced, and, in about a mile farther, our advanced guard, commanded by Lieutenant Brown, of the 55th regiment, had been fired upon so close to the enemy's breastworks and cover, that the fire, being very heavy, not only killed and wounded some of his party, but reached the main body, which put the whole into a little confusion ; but they soon recovered their order, and gave the enemy or rather their works, it being very dark, a dis- charge or tAvo from the front, commanded by Captain Gray. At the same time, the rear, commanded by Captain Grant, were fired upon from a house, and some fences about twenty yards on his left ; on which he ordered his own and Captain Hopkins's companies to face to the left and give a full fire that way. After which, it appearing that the enemy gave way everywhere. Captain Dalyell sent orders to Cap- tain Grant to take possession of the abovesaid houses and fences ; 774 BOEDER WARS OF MICHIGAN which he immediately did ; and found in one of the said houses two men, who told him the enemy had been there long, and were well apprized of our design. Captain Grant then asked them the numbers: they said above three hundred ; and that they intended, as soon as they had attacked us in the front, to get between us and the fort ; which Captain Grant told Captain Dalyell, who came to him when the firing was over. And in about an hour after, he came to him again, and told Captain Grant he was to retire, and ordered him to march in the front, and post himself in an orchard. He then marched, and about half a mile farther on his retreat, he heard some shots fired on his flank ; but got possession of the orchard, which was well fenced ; and just as he got there, he heard a warm firing in the rear, having at the same time a firing on his own post, from the fences and corn- fields behind it. Lieutenant McDougal, who acted as adjutant to the detachment, came up to him, (Captain Grant,) and told him, that Cap- tain Dalyell was killed, and Captain Gray very much wounded, in making a push on the enemy, and forcing them out of a strong breast- work of cordwood, and an intrenchment which they had taken pos- session of ; and that the command then devolved upon him. Lieutenant Bean immediately came up, and told him, that Captain Rogers had desired him to tell Captain Grant, that he had taken possession of a house, and that he had better retire with what numbers he had, as he (Captain Rogers) could not get off without the boats to cover him, he being hard pushed by the enemy from the enclosures behind him, some of which scoured the road through which he must retire. Captain Grant then sent Ensign Pauli, with twenty men, back to attack a part of the enemy which annoyed his own post a little, and galled those that were joining him, from the place where Captain Dalyell was killed, and Captain Gray, Lieutenants Brown and Luke, were wounded ; which Ensign Pauli did, and killed some of the enemy in their flight. Captain Grant, at the same time, detached all the men he could get, and took possession of the enclosures, barns, fences, &c. leading from his own post to the fort, which posts he reinforced with the ofiicers and men, as they came up. Thinking the retreat then secured, he sent back to Captain Rogers, desiring he would come off ; that the retreat was quite secured, and the different parties ordered to cover one another succes- sively, until the whole had joined; but Captain Rogers not finding it right to risk the loss of more men, he chose to wait for the armed boats, one of which appeared soon, commanded by Lieutenant Brehm, whom Captain Grant had directed to go and cover Captain Rogers's retreat, who was in the next house. Lieutenant Brehm accordingly went and fired several shots at the enemy. Lieutenant Abbott, with BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 775 Pontiac. the other boat, wanting ammunition, went down with Captain Gray. Lieutenant Brown and some wounded men returned also, which Captain Grant supposes the enemy seeing did not wait her arrival, but retired on Lieutenant Brehm's firing, and gave Captain Rogers, with the rear, an opportunity to come oif; so that the whole from the different posts joined without any confusion, and marched to the foft in good order, covered by the armed boats on the water side, and by our own parties on the country side, in view of the enemy, who had all joined, and were much stronger than at the beginning of the affair, as was after- ward told us by some prisoners that made their escape ; many having joined them from the other side of the river and other places. The whole arrived at the fort about eight o'clock, commanded by Captain Grant, whose able and skilful retreat is highly commended." 776 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. In this battle, the loss of the English detachment was Captain Dal^yell and nineteen men killed, and Captain Gray and thirty-six men wounded. Captain Dalyell's head was cut off and stuck upon a pole on Bloody Bridge. Soon after the battle, a portion of the Indians gave up their prisoners and returned home, being anxious for peace. But Pontiac and his Ottawas kept the English in close quarters at Detroit until 17G4. This determined chief never made friends with the English. When the most of the northwestern tribes sued for peace, he retired to Illinois, where he was assassinated in 1707. He was a noble man. Misused by the English, deceived by the French, and betrayed by his own people, he was still true to himself, and by his independent genius effected much. Many anecdotes are related of him, all of which prove that if we wish for instances of magnanimity, valour, and eloquence, we need not go beyond the history of our own country. BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 777 Colonel Cass. Detroit continued in the possession of the British during the Revo- lutionary war. The Americans made no attempt to capture any of the Michigan posts. But at the end of the war, the territory was ceded to the United States by Great Britain, and William Hull was soon afterward appointed governor. When the war of 1812 broke out, Governor Hull, at the head of about two thousand five hundred men, of whom only eight hundred were regular troops, marched for Detroit, from Urbana, Ohio. On the 13th of June, this army reached the Maumee, having in two weeks marched one hundred and twenty miles, cutting their road through a dense forest, and Avading knee-deep in mire about forty miles. They now entered- an open and pleasant country, and reached Detroit on the 5th of July. While at Maumee, Governor Hull put his baggage on board of a vessel for Detroit. This was taken by the enemy, and thus they became acquainted with the strength and plans of the Americans. On the 12th of July, Hull crossed into Canada, some distance above Detroit, and entered the village of Sandwich. Within a few days. Colonel Duncan McArthur with a detachment took possession of the 778 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. country along the Thames, and Colonel Cass routed a British detach- ment about four miles from Maiden. But in Michigan the American arms were destined to droop in disaster. Fort Michilimackinac, from its commanding position, was con- sidered as the Gibraltar of the Lakes. Its garrison, however, num- bered but fifty-six men. On the 16th of July, about three hundred British troops embarked at St. Joseph's, and presented themselves before the x-Vmerican post. The garrison surrendered upon honourable terms. The fall of this post filled Hull with consternation. A council of war assembled on the 1st of August, and it was determined to attack Maiden. But after sending Major Vanhorn, with a detachment of Ohio volunteers, to escort a convoy of provisions from the Raisin, the terror-stricken Hull suddenly gave the order to recross the Detroit river, much to the mortification of the gallant men under his com- mand. Major Vanhorn was attacked by the enemy on the second day of his march, and compelled to retreat, losing nineteen men killed and nine wounded. The follovring account of Miller's victory at Managua, and the surrender of Hull, we take from Kauifman's His- tory of Western Pennsylvania : — Lieutenant-Colonel James Miller was now sent at the head of five hundred men to escort the provisions at the river Raisin to Detroit, and to chastise the enemy that had attacked Major Vanhorn. He commenced his march on the 9th of August, and having arrived in the vicinity of Brownstown, proceeded with great caution. The enemy had thrown up a breastwork about four miles from the town, at a place called Magagua, behind which the Indians under Tccumseh were con- cealed, w^aiting the approach of Colonel Miller. The whole British and Indian force was commanded by Major Muir. The advanced guard of the Americans under Cnptain Snelling, approaching the ambuscade of the Indians, was suddenly attacked with great fury. Captain Snelling kept his ground until the main body approached, when the Avhole Indian force poured a destructive fire into his ranks. Colonel IMiller returned the fire, and then charged the enemy with great impetuosity. The British troops gave way and fled, but the Indians under Tccumseh, retreating a short distance into the woods, kept their ground with desperate obstinacy. The British regulars, being rallied, returned to the contest, and the fight continued for some time with great fury on both sides. Five hundred savages under Tccumseh, aided by a body of British troops, fought with great despe- ration. Colonel Miller, disregarding the musketry of the British and the yells of the savages, repelled their attacks on every side, and by repeated charges, compelled the enemy to retreat. They retired sloAvly BORDEK WARS OF MICHIGAN. 79 Battle of Ma^a^ua. to Brownstown, literally retreating at the point of the bayonet. Here they hastily embarked in boats and crossed the river to Maiden. The British loss was fifteen killed and more than thirty wounded, and the Indians left nearly one hundred dead on the field of battle. The Americans had fifteen killed and about sixty wounded. After this brilliant victory at Magagua, Colonel Miller was unable to proceed to the river Raisin, and Colonel Cass and Colonel McArthur were despatched with about four hundred men to escort the provisions to Detroit. In the mean time, the British had taken a position oppo- site Detroit, and erected fortifications. On the loth of August, a flag of truce was sent from General Brock, the British commandant, to Governor Hull, demanding a surrender of Detroit. To this summons an answer was returned that the place vrould be defended to the last extremity. The British immediately opened their batteries, and con- tinued to throw shells durino; the night. The fire was returned, but with little effect on either side. In the morning, it was discovered that the British were landing on the American shore, at a place called Spring Wells, under the cover of their ships. The enemy, having landed about ten o'clock, advanced towards the fort in close column and twelve deep. The American force was judiciously posted to pre- vent their advance. The volunteers occupied the town or were posted behind pickets, from which they could annoy the enemy's flanks ; the regular troops defended the fort, and two twenty-four pounders were posted on an eminence, charged with grape, and could sweep the whole '80 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. line of the enemy as it advanced. All was now silent expectation. The daring foe still moved slowly forward, apparently regardless or unconscious of their danger — for their destruction must have been certain — had they not been impressed with contempt for a commander whose treachery or pusillanimity they knew. The hearts of the Ameri- cans beat high at the near prospect of victory and triumph. But who can describe the chagrin and mortification of these troops, when, at the very moment it was thought the British were deliberately advanc- ing to certain destruction, the artillery were ordered not to fire, and the whole force was ordered to retire into the fort ? Here the troops were ordei-ed to stack their arms, and, to the astonishment of every one, a white flag, in token of submission, was suspended from the walls. A British officer rode up to ascertain the cause. A capitulation was agreed upon, without even stipulating the terms. Thus, without firing a gun, did this pusillanimous commander surrender an army of about seventeen hundred brave men, well provided with provisions and the requisite munitions of war, to an infirm force of about seven hundred British soldiers and Canadian militia, and six hundred Indians. The British took immediate possession of the fort, containing forty barrels of powder, four hundred rounds of twenty-four pound shot, one hun- dred thousand ball cartridges, two thousand five hundred stand of arms, twenty-five pieces of iron and eight brass cannon, a great num- ber of which had been captured by the Americans during the war of the Revolution. Tiie detachments under Colonels Cass and McArthur, and the whole territory, were surrendered to the British. The surrender of Hull aroused the people of the West to a sense of the necessity of washing the stain from the American flag. Four thousand volunteers were in the field in a very short time, and General William Henry Harrison, the victor of Tippecanoe, was appointed commander-in-cliicf, with greater powers tluin had before been con- ferred upon any American, with the exception of Washington and Greene. He immediately planned a winter campaign for the recovery of Detroit. General Winchester with a considerable force was ordered to proceed to the rapids of the Miami, and collect stores for the con- centration of the troops at that point. Other dispositions were made; but a great disaster, the consequence of a disobedience of Harrison's orders, disconcerted the whole plan of operations. This disaster is known to history as the massacre at the Raisin. A clear and well- supported narrative of the afl'air we find in Kauffraan's History of Western Pennsylvania : — • On the 10th of January, General Winchester descended the Mauraee, and established his quarters on the north bank, just above ^Vayne's BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 781 Gtneral Winciiestei' battle-ground, on an eminence. His encampment -u-as well chosen. He then erected a large store-house, and filled it with corn from the fields around him. On the 13th of the same month, he received infor- mation that the Indians threatened to burn Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, twenty-six miles from Detroit. The inhabitants claimed the protection of the United States, and on the 14th, sent an urgent request for relief. On the 16th, two messengers ai-rived, and pite- ously begged immediate assistance, as the only means of saving their town from conflagration and themselves frojn massacre. A council of war advised General Winchester to march to their assistance, and accordingly, on the 17th of January, Colonel Lewis and Colonel Allen, of the Kentucky volunteers, were sent with six hundred and ten men on the expedition. They encamped the first night twenty miles from the camp of General Winchester, when an express from the river Raisin arrived, with the information that the British and Indinns had already taken possession of Frenchtown, and an additional force was soon expected. Colonel Lewis sent a messenger back to the Rapids with the news, and continued his march. As the troops drew near the town, the enemy became apprized of their approach, and prepared for their reception. Colonel Allen commanded the right wing, Major Graves the left, and Major Madison the centre. On reaching the 782 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. river, wtich was bridged with ice, they displayed, and moved forward under a fire from a howitzer, and a discharge of musketry. Majors Graves and Madison, with their battalions, were ordered to dislodge the enemy from the houses and picketing, which they in a moment effected, under a shower of bullets, and drove the British and Indians to the woods. Colonel Allen made a simultaneous movement upon their left, and, after several spirited charges, the enemy gave way and fled. Availing themselves of the fences and fallen timber in the neighbouring wood, they attempted to make a stand, but were again attacked, and, after an obstinate conflict, gave way. Being pursued, they charged furiously in turn, but were not able to break the Ameri- can line. A severe conflict now ensued ; but the enemy were finally beaten, pursued with a continual charge for several miles, and entirely dispersed. The American loss was twelve killed and fifty-five wounded. The enemy left fifteen dead in the open field ; but as the conflict was mostly in the woods, about dark, the appearance of the ground the next day showed that a large number had been carried ofi" by the Indians. The volunteers, having thus gallantly eff"ected their object, encamped on the spot, where they remained until the twentieth, Avhen they were joined by General Wilkinson with two hundred and fifty men, increas- ing the force to about eight hundred. Six hundred men were posted within the pickets, and the remainder encamped in the open field. On the morning of the 22d of January, a combined British and Indian force of about fifteen hundred strong, under Colonel Proctor and the Indian chiefs Ilound-IIead and Split-Log, having taken a position within three hundred yards of our army, opened a heavy fire upon it suddenly, at daylight, with six pieces of artillery, accompanied with musketry. The body of men belonging to the encampment, and composing the right wing, were soon overpowered by numbers, and endeavoured to retreat across the river. Two companies of fifty men each, seeing the situation of their comrades, sallied out of the breast- work to their relief, but were overpowered with them, and were either cut ofl"or surrendered themselves to the British, under the promise of protection. JSIore than one hundred of these men had gained the woods, where they were instantly surrounded by Indians, scalped, and tomahawked. Horrible destruction overwhelmed the fugitives on all sides. Captain Simpson was shot down and tomahawked. Colonel Allen, although severely wounded, attempted several times to rally his men. He had escaped two miles, where, exhausted with loss of blood, he seated himself upon a log. An Indian warrior approached and ordered him to surrender. Another Indian approached, with a raised BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. 783 tomahawk to strike liim, whom the colonel instantly killed. A third Indian then shot him dead. Captain Mead was killed in the com- mencement of the action. The snow was deep, and prevented the escape of nearly all. Gene- ral Winchester and Colonel Lewis were taken prisoners at a bridge, three-fourths of a mile from the town, and, after being stripped of their coats, were conducted by their captors to Colonel Proctor. At the same time, amidst all this desolation and death, Major Madi- son and Major Graves maintained their position behind the pickets with more than Spartan valour. Colonel Proctor, finding it useless any longer to assail this little band of heroes, withdrew his forces, and posted himself in the woods, beyond the reach of their rifles. But having secured General Winchester as prisoner, he determined to get possession of Major Madison and Major Graves without further con- test. General Winchester instantly agreed to surrender these brave men. Major Overton, his aid, accompanied by Proctor himself, and several British officers, carried a flag of truce and an order from General Winchester, directed to Major Madison and Major Graves, to surrender themselves and their men to the enemy. The flag passed three times, the Americans being unwilling to surrender with arms in their hands, until they received a positive engagement from the British colonel that they should not be murdered, and that they should have the privilege of burying their dead. Thirty-five officers and four hundred and fifty non-commissioned officers and men still remained after fighting six hours against discharges of artillery and musketry, amid the yells of thousands of savages. After some altercation, the British commander agreed to the following terms of capitulation : " That private property should be respected ; that sleds should be pro- vided on the next morning to convey the wounded to Amhersburg, near Maiden ; that in the mean time they should be protected by a guard ; and, finally, that the side-arms of the officers should be restored to them at Maiden." On such terms, they relied upon British honour and surrendered. Scarcely had the Americans surrendered, under the stipulation of protection from Colonel Proctor, than these brave men discovered, too late, that they were reserved to be butchered in cold blood. Of the right wing, but a small number had escaped ; the work of scalping and stripping the dead, and murdering those who could no longer resist, was suftered to go on without restraint. The infernal work was now to begin with the brave men under Major Madison and Major Graves. The infamous Proctor and the British officers turned a deaf ear to the remonstrances of these unhappy men. Their swords were taken from r84 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. Massacre at Fronchtown. the sides of the officers, and many of them -were stripped almost naked and robbed. The brave dead were stripped and scalped, and their bodies shockingly mutilated, and the tomahawk put an end at once to the suiferings of many of the wounded who could not rise. With few exceptions, the prisoners who now remained, instead of being guarded by the British soldiers, as stipulated, were delivered to the charge of the Indians, to be marched in the rear of the army to Maiden, and the greater part of these ill-fated men were murdered on the way, through mere wantonness. All who became weak for want of nourish- ment, or from excessive fatigue or their wounds, in this most inclement season of the year, were at once struck down with the tomahawk. Small W'as the remnant of this little army that ever reached the British garrison. The greater part of the prisoners were carried off by the savages to be roasted at the stake. About sixty of the wounded, many of them officers of distinction, had been suffered to take shelter in the houses of Jean B. Jerome and Gabriel Godfrey, and two of their own surgeons were permitted by Proctor to attend them. They also obtained a promise that a guard should be placed to protect them, and that they should be carried to Maiden the next morning on sleds. But no guard was left, and on the next day, instead of sleds to convey them to a place of safety, a party of Indians returned to the field of battle ; raising their frantic yells, they began to plunder the houses of the inhabitants. They next broke into the houses where the wounded were, and plundered, tomahawked, and scalped them without BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAN. T85 Colonel RictiarcL M. Johnson. mercy. They then set the houses on fire. Several who were able to crawl endeavoured to escape at the windows, but they were toma- hawked, pushed back into the houses, and consumed in the flames. Others were killed in the street and thrown back into the burning houses. For these horrible outrages, unprecedented in civilized war- fare, Colonel Proctor was raised to the rank of brigadier-general in the British army. In this action, the Americans lost in killed, wounded, and missing, two hundred and ninety men. The British captured five hundred and forty-seven prisoners ; the Indians forty-five, and thirty-three escaped to the Rapids. The British and Indian loss was between three and four hundred. Detroit was not recovered by the Americans until the 29th of Sep- tember, 1813, before which time it had been abandoned by Proctor's troops. Perry's victory upon Lake Erie, and the annihilation of the British and Indian army at the Thames by General Harrison, secured the Americans in the possession of Michigan. Tecumseh having fallen 50 786 BORDER WARS OF MICHIGAjST. in that battle, it is said by the hand of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, the Indian tribes were glad to conclude a treaty of peace, by which the United States gained possession of a vast quantity of land, and secured their northwestern frontier from massacre and devastation. Michigan had received a territorial government complete in 1805. In 1836, a state constitution was adopted by the inhabitants, and Michigan took her place in the glorious Union. The population had increased rapidly after the formation of the territorial government, and, in 1840, it amounted to over two hundred and two thousand. As the commerce of the great lakes increases, Michigan will become one of the most wealthy and prosperous States in the confederacy. General Jackson. BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. HE territory now included in Tennessee was originally comprised in the charter of North Carolina, given by Charles the Second, in 1664. No European settlements were formed in it, however, until 1757, Vv'hen Fort Loudon was built and garrisoned ; and the Indians, to induce artisans to settle among them, made donations of land to those who came. Fort Loudon was established on the north side of the Little Tennessee river, about one mile above the mouth of the Tellico, in the centre of the Cherokee country. A war with that In- dian nation having occurred, the garrison was besieged, and compelled to surrender for the v/ant of provisions. By the terms of the ca- pitulation they were to retire beyond the Blue Ridge ; but after pro- ceeding about twenty miles, the Indians fell upon and massacred the whole number excepting nine persons, amounting to betAveen two and three hundred. This happened in the year 1760. In 1761, Colonel 787 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. Grant inarched against the Indians and subdued them, and compelled them to sue for peace. The only settlements which had been made in the vicinity of Fort Loudon were broken up by the war ; but tranquillity having been restored, fifteen or twenty persons formed themselves into a company, and came to a place now called Carter's valley, in East Tennessee. In 17G8 an exploring party came into the country from Virginia. The first permanent settlements were made in 1768 and 1769. The settlers were chiefly from North Carolina and Virginia. The settlements continued to increase until 1774 and 1775, when an extensive purchase of land was made from the Indians by Henderson and company, but not without warm opposition from the chief, who declaimed against the encroachments of the whites, without effect. In 1776, war with the Indians occurred, but, after some fighting, an arrangement was made by the States of North Carolina and Virginia, by which the boundaries of the territory, now State, of Tennessee, were definitively settled. In 1779, Capt. James Robertson and others from East Tennessee crossed Cumberland Mountain, and explored the country in the neighbourhood of Nashville, and planted corn that season on the ground where Nashville now stands. They all returned for their families excepting three, who remained to keep the buffaloes, which abounded in this region, out of the corn. In 1780, the backwoodsmen, chiefly Tennesseeans, gained the famous victory of King's Mountain. The scene of this battle is Avithin the present limits of North Carolina. But an account of it is due to the State which furnished the gallant warriors, and which was then a part of North Carolina. The following we take from Collins's Memoir of Governor Shelby, in his History of Kentucky : — Seven hundred men, led by Cols. Shelby, Clarke, and Williams, on the 19th of August, 1780, defeated a British and tory detachment at Musgrave's mill, and took many prisoners. With these the back- vfoodsmen retreated beyond the mountains. Major Ferguson was so solicitous to recapture the prisoners, and to check these daring adven- tures of the mountaineers, that he made a strenuous effort, with his main body, to intercept them ; but failing of his object, he took post at a place called Gilbert-town, from whence he sent the most threatening messages, by paroled prisoners, to the officers west of the mountains, proclaiming devastation to their country, if they did not cease their opposition to the British government. This was the most disastrous and critical period of the Revolutionary war to the South. No one could see whence a force could be raised to check the enemy in their progress to subjugate this portion of the continent. Cornwallis, with the main army, was posted at Charlotte-town, in BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 789 Col. Shelby- North Carolina, and Ferguson, with three thousand men at Gilbert- town ; while many of the best friends of the American government, despairing of the freedom and independence of America, took protection under the British standard. At this gloomy moment. Colonel Shelby proposed to Colonels Sevier and Campbell to raise a force from their several counties, march hastily through the mountains, and attack and surprise Ferguson in the night. Accordingly, they collected with their followers, about one thousand strong, on Doe run, in the spurs of the Alleghany, on the 25th of September, 1780, and the next day com- menced their march, when it was discovered that three of Col. Sevier's men had deserted to the enemy. This disconcerted their first design, and induced them to turn to the left, gain his front, and act as events might suggest. They travelled through mountains almost inaccessible to horsemen. As soon as they entered the level country, they met with Colonel Cleveland with three hundred men, and with Colonels 790 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. Williams and Lacy, and other refugee officers, Avho had heard of Cleve- land's advance, by ■which three hundred more were added to the force of the mountaineers. They now considered themselves to be sufficiently strong to encounter Ferguson ; but being rather a confused mass, without any head, it was proposed by Colonel Shelby, in a council of officers, and agreed to, that Colonel Campbell, of the Virginia regi- ment, — an officer of enterprise, patriotism, and good sense, — should be appointed to the command. And having determined to pursue Ferguson with all practicable despatch, two nights before the action they selected the best horses and rifles, and at the dawn of day com- menced their march with nine hundred and ten expert marksmen. As Ferguson was their object, they would not be diverted from the main point by any collection of tories in the vicinity of their route. They pursued him for the last thirty-six houi'S without alighting from their horses to refresh but once, at the Cowpens, for an hour, although the day of the action was so extremely wet, that the men could only keep their guns dry by wrapping their bags, blankets, and hunting-shirts around the locks, which exposed their bodies to a heavy and incessant rain during the pursuit. By the order of march and of battle. Colonel Campbell's regiment formed the right, and Colonel Shelby's regiment the left column, in the centre : the right wing was composed of Sevier's regiment, and Major Winston's and McDowell's battalions, commanded by Sevier himself; the left wing Avas composed of Colonel Cleveland's regiment, the followers of Colonels Williams, Lacy, Hawthorn, and Hill, headed by Colonel Cleveland in person. In this order the mountaineers pur- sued, until they found Ferguson, secm-ely encamped on King's Moun- tain, which was about half a mile long, and from which, he declared the evening before, that "God Almighty could not drive him." On approaching the mountain, the two centre columns deployed to the right and left, formed a front, and attacked the enemy, while the right and left wino;s were marchino- to surround him. In a few minutes the action became general and severe — continuing furiously for three- fourths of an hour ; when the enemy, being driven from the east to the west end of the mountain, surrendered at discretion. Ferguson was killed, with three hundred and seventy-five of his officers and men, and seven hundred and thirty captured. The Americans had sixty killed and wounded ; of the former. Colonel Williams. This glorious achieve- ment occurred at the most gloomy period of the Revolution, and was the first link in the great chain of events to the South which established the independence of the United States. History has, heretofore, though improperly, ascribed this merit to the battle of the Cowpens, in Jan- BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 791 General Pickens. uary, 1781 ; but it belongs, justly, to the victory on King's Mountain, which turned the tide of war to the South, as the victory of Trenton, under Washington, and of Bennington, under Stark, did to the North. It was achieved by raw, undisciplined riflemen, without any authority from the government under which they lived, — without pay, rations, ammunition, or even the expectance of reward, other than that which results from the noble ambition of advancing the liberty and welfare of their beloved country. It completely dispirited the tories, and so alarmed Cornwallis, who then lay only thirty miles north of King's Mountain with the main British army, that on receiving information of Ferguson's total defeat and overthrow by the riflemen from the west, under Cols. Campbell^ Shelby, Cleveland and Sevier, and that they were bearing down upon him, he ordered an immediate retreat — marched all night, in the utmost confusion — and retrograded as far back as Winnsborough, sixty or eighty miles, whence he did not attempt to advance until reinforced, three months after, by General Leslie, with two thousand men from the Chesapeake. In 1781, the Cherokees and Chickasaws, stimulated by British in- fluence, committed depredations upon the people of Tennessee and 792 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. North Carolina, and a detachment of troops, under General Pickens, had to be sent against them. By the energetic conduct of Pickens, the Indians were severely chastised, and compelled to sue for peace. A treaty was concluded in the latter part of the year. In the course of the same year, the legislature of North Carolina granted the rights of pre-emption to the settlers of the Cumberland. Each head of a family, and every single man who had made a settlement prior to January, was by this act allowed six hundred and forty acres of land. In 1783, the legislature granted 25,000 acres of land to General Nathaniel Greene for his revolutionary services. In 1784, North Carolina ceded the territory of Tennessee to the United States, if they would accept of it within two years of the pas- sage of the act. The inhabitants in the mean time organized a terri- torial government for themselves. The assembly of North Carolina repealed the act which ceded Tennessee to the United States, and great confusion and perplexity ensued. In December, 1784, the in- habitants formed a constitution for the new State, named Frankland, and announced to North Carolina their independence. Some of the people adhered to North Carolina, and a confusion of authority was the consequence. But in 1790, deeds of conveyance were executed, and the territory came into the possession of the United States. William Blount was appointed by Washington to be the first governor. In 1791, the population of the territory, including slaves, amounted to 86,043 persons. The Creeks and Cherokees now made a determined effort to prevent the white settlements from spreading. Bloodshed and desolation visited the more exposed places, and the people of Tennessee felt all the miseries endured by most of the western settlers. But after severe and desperate fighting, the savages Avere subdued. In June, 1794, they sued for peace, and a treaty was concluded. A State constitution was formed by the people in February, 1796, and Tennessee was admitted into the Union in the folloAving June. From that time until the com- mencement of the second war with Great Britain, the people of Ten- nessee enjoyed peace and prosperity. In 1812, the famous Tecumseh arrived among the Creeks, and by his artful management roused a spirit of war and revenge among them. The first fury of the Creeks was spent upon those of their own nation who were anxious for peace with the v/hites. They were forced to fly for safety to the forts and settlements. Infatuated by the prophets with the persuasion that the Great Spirit was on their side, and that they should be found invfecible, they made their first assault upon Fort Mimms, situated in the Tensaw settle- BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 793 Massacre at Fort liimms. ment in Mississippi; and here they terribly signalized their cruelty and vengeance. It was crowded with women and children, who had fled to it from terror of the savages, as a place of protection, and was garrisoned by one hundred and fifty men under the command of Major Beasly. The savages obtained their ammunition and supplies from the Spanish at Pensacola ; and in 1813, to the number of six or seven hundred, under command of Weatherford, commenced their attack upon the fort. They were fatally successful, and carried it by storm. About three hundred persons, more than half of them women and chil- dren, were massacred. Never was savage character more fully de- veloped. The mother and the child Avere slain with the same stroke of the tomahawk. But seventeen of the multitude that had crowded into the supposed protection of the fort escaped to relate the catas- trophe. The abominable cruelties of the savages previous to this were merged at once in the excitement created by this monstrous and most unprovoked atrocity. As soon as. the news reached the adjoin- ing States, a just spirit of resentment was aroused. A campaign had already been planned by the Governor of Tennessee, in conformity to instructions from the secretary of war, against them. The feelings universally excited on this occasion naturally accelerated these opera- tions. General Jackson was selected by public sentiment as com- mander in this campaign. General Jackson, though suffering from a severe wound which he had received in a private rencontre, accepted the command. Colonel 794 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. Coffee, in whom, also, the Tennesseeans reposed great confidence, commanded under him ; and, in case the general government did not see fit to adopt the expedition and defray its expense, the State voted three hundred thousand dollars for its support. In preparing for this campaign, and in marching to the scene of action, General Jackson encountered every difficulty and delay that could arise from the opinions of opposing factions, from false alarm and intelligence, from the refractory spirit of men generally unused to control, and much more so to the stern control of a camp ; and more than all from hunger and an uncertain supply of provisions. He seemed precisely the man to meet and obviate all these difficulties. Unitina; in an uncommon degree perseverance with promptitude, no opposition stood in his way but that wdiich in the nature of things was insurmountable. He soon marched wdth such as these circumstances allowed him to collect.* Near the Creek settlements, Colonel Dyer was sent to attack Litta- fouchee toAvn. He destroyed this place, and returned with a consi- derable number of prisoners. Soon after, General Coffee, with nine hundred men, was detached to attack a body of the enemy who had collected on the Tullushatchee, thirteen miles from the camp of the main army. Coffee found a fordable place in the Coosa, and crossing it divided his troops into two bodies, and surrounded the town. The Indians were prepared for the onset, and a desperate contest ensued. The troops drove the savages to their houses, where the battle con- tinued, no quarter being asked by them. The loss of the Indians was one hundred and eighty-six killed, and about ninety — nearly all women and children — made prisoners. Of the Tennesseeans, five were killed and forty-one Avoundcd, After the battle of Tallushatchee, General Jackson waited for the junction of the troops from East Tennessee. But he Avas doomed to disappointment. No reinforcement arrived ; and information being received that a large body of the hostile Creeks had appeared before Talledega, a town of friendly Indians, humanity compelled him, with one thousand eight hundred men, to march to their relief. On the 8th of December, 1813, at one in the morning, the army began crossing the river, behind AA'hich the Indians w^ere posted. It Avas here six hundred yards Avide, and of course to cross it was a work of difficulty as well as time. The next day, at four in the morning, the army Avas again in motion. The infantry proceeded in three columns ; the cavalry in the same order. The advance, consisting of a company of artillerists with muskets, two companies of riflemen, and * Flint. BORDER AVARS OP TENNESSEE. 795 one of spies, marched about four hundred yards in front, under the command of Colonel Carroll, with orders, after commencing the action, to fall back on the centre, and draw the enemy after them, Lieute- nant-Colonel Dyer was placed in the centre, with two hundred and fifty cavalry as a corps of reserve. The remainder of the mounted troops were directed to advance on the right and left, after encircling the enemy, by uniting the fronts of their columns, and keeping their rear rested on the infantry, to face and press toward the centre, so as to leave the savages no possibility of escape. The remainder of the army advanced by heads of companies, General Hall's brigade occupying the right, and General Roberts's the left. At eight in the morning, the advance, within eighty yards of the enemy, received a severe fire from them, concealed as they were be- hind a thick shrubbery. They returned it, and, according to their instructions, fell back upon the centre. The enemy, with their cus- tomary yells and whoops, rushed upon General Roberts's brigade, a few companies of which recoiled in alarm, and fled at the first fire. To fill the chasm created by this desertion, the commanding general directed a volunteer regiment of Colonel Bradley, which appeared to linger, to advance and occupy the vacant space. This order was not executed by Bradley. Owing to this failure, it became necessary to dismount the reserve, which met the rapid approach of the enemy with great firmness. This example inspirited the retreating militia, who rallied, and assisted in checking the advance of the savages. On the left they were met and repulsed by the mounted riflemen. But, owing to the dilatory movements of the volunteer regiment, and the too extensive circuit made by Colonel Allcorn, who commanded the cavalry of that wing, the intended circle was not so closed but that a number of the enemy escaped in the interval. The savages fought with determined spirit for some time, and then retreated for the adjacent hills. Many of them fell in this retreat, and the slaughter did not cease until they were sheltered among the hills, at the distance of three miles. General Jackson in his report bestowed the highest commendation on the ofiicers and soldiers gene- rally. He mentioned Colonel Carroll and Lieutenant-Colonel Dyer in terms of high praise for the spirited gallantry with which they met and repulsed the enemy ; stating that both oflicers and privates had answered his highest expectations, and merited the gratitude of their country. The enemy brought one thousand and eighty to this battle, of whom two hundred and ninety-three were killed on the field. It is supposed that many were killed in the flight. Few escaped unwounded. Their 796 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. whole loss, as since stated by themselves, was about six hundred. The American force lost fifteen killed, and eighty wounded, of whom many afterward died. A scene ensued this victory that would be difficult to describe. The friendly Indians had been besieged closely for several days. They were a handful surrounded by infuriated enemies. Torture and the most horrible death were in reserve for them, as the certain conse- quence of surrender. In their siege, they endured every privation, particularly the dreadful one of water. They were relieved on the very day when an assault was to have been made upon them, which would almost inevitably have resulted in the destruction of every one of them. Their deliverance was one of the few occasions that melts even the savage heart to tenderness and joy. The manifestations were affecting. Famished as they had been, they sold their provisions for the supply of the famished troops of General Jackson.* The commander encountered many obstacles in the prosecution of this campaign which would have disconcerted men of ordinary deter- mination. General Cocke, holding precisely the same rank as Gene- ral Jackson, refused to join him with his troops, alleging that the latter would reap all the laurels — a paltry reason for inaction when the security of life and property is at issue. Without aid from that quarter, Jackson's army also suffered from famine, which produced an outbreak of the spirit of mutiny. The general was forced to retreat, as if the Creeks had been successful. Several mutinies then occurred, which exercised the firmness and energy of Jackson. In consequence of the extreme want of provisions, General Jackson was forced to allow the militia to return. One hundred and ten men volunteered to defend the camp until the army returned to the field. The militia had not marched more than twelve miles when they met one hundred and fifty beeves. But when their hunger was appeased they refused to obey the general's orders to return to camp. One company was already moving off in a direction toward home. As soon as the general was informed of this, he pursued them Avith a part of his staff, and a few soldiers with General Coffee, wdio had halted a quarter of a mile in advance. He ordered them immediately to form across the road, and to fire on the mutineers if they attempted to proceed. Snatching up their arms, these faithful adherents pre- sented a front which awed the deserters, and caused them to retreat precipitately on the main body. But the example of mutiny was contagious. He soon ascertained that a whole brigade was in the * Flint. BORDER WARS OP TENNESSEE. 797 attitude of marching back by force. In this crisis, having taken his ground, he determined to triumph or perish. Seizing a musket, and resting it on the neck of Tiis horse, for he was disabled by a -wound from the use of his left arm, he threw himself in front of the mutinous column, and declared that he would shoot the first man who should venture to advance. In this situation he was found by Major Reid and General Coffee, who, judging from the length of his absence that some disturbance had arisen, hastened to his side, and waited the result of his perilous determination in the anxious suspense of expec- tation. For many minutes the column preserved a sullen yet hesi- tating attitude, at once fearing to proceed, and reluctant to retreat. In the mean time, those who remained faithful to their duty, amount- ing to about two companies, were collected and formed in rear of the general, and in advance of the troops, with positive orders to imitate his example in firing, if they attempted to advance. The timidity resulting from the consciousness of a bad cause prevailed. They returned quietly to their posts. This firmness, at this critical moment, undoubtedly saved the campaign, and perhaps determined the issue of the war. There are but few men who could have adopted such a course with safety.* Not long after the battle of Talledega, General White attacked and destroyed the Hillabee towns, killing sixty, and making two hundred and fifty-six prisoners. It is said that the people of these towns had sued for peace, and were waiting for an answer when White attacked them. This is supposed to have made the Creeks believe the whites had determined to exterminate them, and resolve to fight desperately. On the 12th of December, General Cocke reached Jackson with fifteen hundred men. But it was found that their term of service would expire within a few weeks. Mutiny succeeded mutiny, and the Governor of Tennessee advised the relinquishment of the expedition. But General Jackson determined to exert his utmost energy in main- taining it. The more obstructions opposed his path, the stronger became his resolution to surmount them. The general had no legal right to compel men to remain in camp when their term of service bad expired ; but he considered the security of the frontier superior to mere questions of legal power between men. After the dispersion and return of most of the troops, and the arrival and mutiny of others, General .lackson found himself at the head of only nine hundred men, with which he determined to make a diversion in favour of the Georgia forces then in the Indian country. At Talledega, he was joined by two hundred friendly Indians, who, * Flint. 798 BORDER WARS OP TENNESSEE. however, were badly armed and dispirited. Intelligence had been received at Fort Armstrong that the warriors from all the towns on the Tallapoosa were about to attack that place. The garrison was too small for successful defence, and its preservation depended on Jackson's making a rapid march and a vigorous stroke at the enemy. The general quickly decided. The enemy were understood to be near the mouth of the creek Emuckfaw. On the 21st of January, 1814, the army encamped on the heights which overlooked Emuckfaw. About midnight spies reported that they had discovered a large encampment of Indians at three miles distance, and that the enemy seemed apprized of the arrival of the Americans. At the dawn of the next morning, the alarm guns of the sentinels, succeeded by shrieks and savage yells, announced the attack of the enemy. Their first assault was on the left flank, commanded by Colonel Iliggius. It Avas met, and opposed with great firmness. General Coffee and Colonels Carroll and Sitler instantly repaired to the point of attack, and by example and exhortation encouraged the men to their duty. The action raged for half an hour. The brunt of it being against the left wing, it had become considerably weakened. The first part of the action had taken place during the dimness of twi- lif'-ht. The clear light of the morning showing the position of the enemy, and Captain Ferril's company having reinforced the left wing. General Coffee directed a charge, and a rout immediately ensued. The enemy were pursued two miles. The general immediately detached General Coffee, with the friendly Indians and four hundred men, to storm the enemy's encampment, unless it should be found too strongly fortified, in which case he pro- posed to bring up the artillery. Coffee, having reconnoitred the posi- tion, and found it too strongly fortified to be assailed with his force, returned to camp. He had not returned more than half an hour, when a fire was opened on the pickets on the right, accompanied with the usual savage yells. General Coffee volunteered his services to move upon the left flank of the assailants. His detachment was taken from different corps. He placed himself at their head, and moved rapidly upon the foe. While he was thus occupied, the rear of his force had an opportunity to slip away unperceived, until the whole number did not exceed fifty men. He found the enemy occupying a ridge of open pine timber, covered with low underbrush, which afforded them every opportunity for concealment. To drive them from, their lurking places, General Coffee ordered his men to dismount, and charge them. In carrying this order into execution, the general was wounded through the body, and his aid, Major Donelson, killed. BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 799 This was followed by a violent onset on the line of the left. Gene- ral Jackson repaired in person to the point of attack. The battle was maintained by the assailants by quick and irregular firing from behind logs, trees, shrubbery, and whatever could afford concealment. Behind these, they prostrated themselves, after firing, to reload, and rise, and fire again. After sustaining this fire for some time, a brilliant and steady charge under Colonel Carroll broke their array, threw them into confusion, and caused them to fly. Their loss, though it was certainly considerable, was not exactly known. On the right, General Coffee had not been able to drive them from their fastnesses to his wish ; and with a view to draw them from their retreat, he affected to retire toward the place where he had first dis- mounted. This stratagem had the desired effect. They forsook their hiding places, and advanced rapidly upon him. The fight was renewed again on equal terms. A severe contest ensued, which lasted almost an hour, Avith nearly the same loss on each side. At this crisis, when several of the detachment had been killed, many wounded, and the whole were exhausted with fatigue, a timely reinforcement from Gene- ral Jackson made its appearance on the enemy's left flank, and put an end to the contest. General Coffee, although severely wounded, in- stantly ordered a charge, from v/hich the enemy fled in consternation, and were pursued with great slaughter. At this place, few, if any, escaped. It was a day of almost continual hard fighting. The night, that drew on after such a day, amid the gloom of the forest, would naturally be dispiriting to troops, most of whom had never before seen an enemy, or formed a distinct idea of the horrors of a battle. The spirits of the men were observed visibly to flag as the darkness increased. During the night, at even the least noise, the sentinels would fire their alarm-guns, and retreat upon the main body. General Jackson, having accomplished the main objects of his expedition, a diversion in favour of General Floyd, and the relief of Fort Armstrong, began to think of returning to his former station at the Ten Islands. The impossibility of subsistence for men and horses where they were rendered this measure indispensable. The appear- ance of a retreat, too, would probably draAv the savages from their strongholds, where they could not be attacked with his present force with any prospect of success. Every arrangement for the comfort and conveyance of his wounded being made, he began his retreat at ten the next morning. He marched without interruption until nearly night, and encamped on the south side of Enotichopco creek. The next day, various circumstances instructed the general that he was pursued. The delay of an attack led him to fear that he was 800 BORDER WARS OE TENNESSEE. marching into an ambuscade. The necessary crossing of a deep ravine between two hills, sheltered with thick shrubbery and brown sedge, affording a most favourable concealment for savage attack, exposed him to an ambuscade. A few pioneers were despatched to find another crossing place. At this place, the front guards and part of the columns had passed, and the artillery was crossing. The com- pany of Captain Russell, who marched in the rear, was suddenly attacked by greatly superior numbers. The General had made all pos- sible arrangements for the emergency of an attack in this place, and calculated on a certain victory. Great was his astonishment, when he beheld the right and left columns of the rear-guard, after a feeble resistance, giving way, carrying confusion and dismay with them, and obstructing the passage over which the principal strength of the army was to be recrossed. This timid deportment was wellnigh being fol- lowed with the most fatal consequences, which were only prevented by the determined bravery of a few men. Nearly the whole of the centre column had followed the example of the other two. Not more than twenty men remained to oppose the torrent of assault. The artillery company, commanded by Lieutenant Armstrong, and com- posed of young men of the first families, who had volunteered their services at the commencement of the campaign, formed with their muskets before their piece of ordnance, and hastily dragged it from the creek to an eminence, whence they could discharge it on the enemy to advantage. This piece they defended with the most desperate bravery against an enemy five times their number, and checked the advance of a foe, already animated from beholding the consternation which his first shock had produced. The brave Armstrong fell beside his piece, exclaiming as he fell, " Some of you must perish ; but do not abandon the gun." By his side fell, mortally wounded, his associate and friend. Bird Evans, and the gallant Captain Hamilton. In the mean time, General Jackson and his staff, by the greatest exertions, were enabled to restore something like order. The enemy, perceiving a strong force advancing upon them, and being warmly assailed on their left flank by Captain Gordon, at the head of his spies, in their turn were stricken with alarm, and fled, throwing away whatever retarded their flight. They were pursued two miles; many were destroyed, and the remainder wholly dispersed.* The American loss in this day's contest was twenty killed, and seventy-five wounded, some of whom afterward died. The loss of the enemy was never accurately known. The prisoners represented it to BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 801 be over two hundred killed, and many "wounded. The army returned to Fort Strother, the relief of Fort Armstrong and the diversion in favour of Floyd and his Georgians having been accomplished. The ranks of a triumphant army are easily filled. Most of the troops who had been engaged in the expedition returned home, but volunteers now flocked to the field, eager to reap the laurels to which the energy and perseverance of the victorious Jackson had opened the way. Among the new volunteers insubordination and difficulties in regard to supplies occurred, but in a less degree than formerly. The execution of a mutineer had the effect of securing obedience to command. On the 14th of March, 1814, General Jackson had made such ar- rangements and obtained such supplies as enabled him to commence his march for the enemy. At the mouth of Cedar creek, he estab- lished Fort Williams. On the 24th, leaving a sufficient force for the protection of the fort, under Brigadier-General Johnson, he set out for the Tallapoosa by the way of Emuckfaw. His whole effective force was something less than three thousand men. At ten in the morning of the 27th, after a march of fifty-two miles, he reached the village of Tohopeka. The enemy had collected here in considerable numbers to give him battle. The warriors from Oakfusky, Hillabee, Eufalee, and New Youcka, amounting to nearly twelve hundred, were at this place waiting his approach. They had selected an admirable place for defence. Situated in a bend of the river, which almost surrounded it, it was accessible only by a narrow neck of land. This they had used great exertions to render impregnable, by placing large timbers and trunks of trees horizontally on each other, leaving but a single place for entrance. From a double row of port-holes, they were ena- bled to fire in perfect security behind it. Captain Coffee, with mounted infantry and friendly Indians, had been despatched early in the morn- ing to encircle the bend, and manoeuvre in such a way as to divert the savages from the real point of attack. He was particularly directed to prevent their escape to the opposite shore in their canoes, with which, it was represented, the whole shore was lined. The general posted the rest of his army in front of the breastwork. He began to batter their breastworks with his cannon. Muskets and rifles were used, as the Indians occasionally showed themselves. The signals which were to announce that General Coffee had gained his destination were given. The soldiers hailed it with acclamations, and advanced with the intre- pidity of veterans. The 39th regiment, led on by their skilful com- mander. Colonel Williams, and the brave but ill-fated Major Montgo- mery, and the militia, amidst a sheet of fire that poured upon them, 51 802 BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. Destruction of tlie Creeks. rushed forward to the rampart. Here an obstinate and destructive conflict ensued. In firing through the port-holes on either side, many of the enemy's balls were welded between the muskets and bayonets of our soldiers. At this moment Major Montgomery, leaping on the rampart, called to his men to follow him. Scarcely had he spoken, when he Avas shot through the head, and fell. Our troops had now scaled the ramparts, and the savages fled before them, concealing themselves under the brush and timber, which abounded in the peninsula, whence they still continued a galling fire. Here they were charged, and dislodged. Their next alternative was their canoes ; but they perceived that a part of the army lined the opposite shore, and precluded escape on that quarter. They that still survived the conflict leaped down the banks, and took shelter behind the trees which had been felled from their margin. A flag, with an interpreter, was here sent them, to propose a surrender. They fired upon the party, and wounded one of them. Ascertaining their desperation, orders were given to dislodge them. The brush and trees about them were set on fire by lighted torches, sent down among them, and the BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 803 blaze drove them from their hiding places, and brought them to view. The slaughter continued until night concealed the combatants from each other. A few of the misguided savages, who had avoided the havoc of the day, made their escape under the covert of the darkness. The friendly Indians contributed not a little to the completeness of this victory. Several of the Cherokees and Russell's spies, in the heat of the action, swam across the river, and fired the Indian town in the rear of the foe. Thus they found themselves assailed on every side, and vulnerable on a quarter from which they had not expected an attack.* This was the death-blow to the power of the Creeks. Their prophets had assured them they would be invincible upon that ground, and they could not expect safety anywhere else. Five hundred and fifty-seven bodies were found on the field, many were drowned in trying to cross the river ; so that there is but little doubt that the entire loss of the Indians was about six hundred and fifty warriors, and three hundred women and children made prisoners. After such a loss, they never could make a stand against their invaders. General Jackson's loss was fifty-five killed, and one hundred and forty-six wounded. Among the killed were several valuable oflicers. The general sank his dead in the river to save their scalps from the enemy, who had frequently used these stolen trophies to encourage their warriors. He then returned to Fort William. In April, General Jackson issued an address to his troops, con- gratulating them upon their success, and soon afterward commenced a march to efiect a junction with the North Carolina and Georgia troops, near the Hickory Ground. This junction was accomplished, and the gallant Tennesseeans, who were almost famished, were supplied with provisions. The remaining chiefs of the Creeks now came in and sued for peace. The most of the hostile band which had escaped the carnage of the war had fled southward to the Spaniards. General Jackson commanded all of the Creeks who came in with professions of friendship to retire northward of Fort William, and would accept no other evidence of their desire for peace. Weatherford, the most renowned warrior and statesman of the Creeks, continued away, wan- dering alone and mourning for the loss of his people. Jackson ordered the Creeks who seemed friendly to bring him bound to the camp. Soon after, the general was surprised by a personal visit from that chief, who had come voluntarily, and without being known, and had been admitted to the general's quarters. He entered with a calm 804 BORDER WARS OP TENNESSEE. Weatherford. front and said "that he had come to ask peace for himself and his people. The general expressed his astonishment that he, whose conduct at Fort Mimms had been so well known, and who must be BORDER WARS OF TENNESSEE. 805 conscious that he deserved to die, should venture to appear in his presence. "I had directed," he continued, "that you should be brought to me confined. Had you appeared in this way, I should have known how to have treated you." Weatherford replied, " I am in your power. Do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight, and con- tend to the last. But I have none. My people are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation." This bold demeanour softened the heart of Jackson, who ever sym- pathized with courage and patriotism. He told the chief the course to take if he wished for peace, and that if it did not suit him, he was free to go and fight it out ; but warned him of his certain death if captured in battle. Weatherford replied in a speech which is highly honoura- ble to his talents, his feelings for the misfortunes of his people, and his dignified spirit. He asked for peace only because he was unable to rally an army to meet the foe, and because it promised to relieve the miseries of the remnant of his people. He concluded by accepting the alternative off'ered by General Jackson. While the arrangements were making for securing the Indian coun- try by a line of posts from Tennessee to the Alabama, the friendly Creeks were pursuing and destroying their fugitive countrymen. All who acknowledged that they had participated in the massacre at Fort Mimms were considered at once as unfit for mercy. The necessary arrangements for preserving peace having been accomplished. Gen. Jackson delivered a parting address to his troops, and then dismissed them to their homes, now secure from the prowling savage and the murderous tomahawk. It was a cheering reflection to them, that, having seen, inflicted, and suff"ered so much misery, they were return- ing home satisfied with the feeling of duty done, and crowned with laurels. Their gallant commander, to whose determination and acti- vity the success of the war was mainly owing, returned home, but to prepare for his crowning triumph at New Orleans. Since the war of 1812, in which the people of Tennessee acted so glorious a part, the increase of the population and wealth of the State has been as rapid as in most of the western States. The fertility of the soil is remarkable both in Eastern and Western Tennessee, and every attraction is ofiered to immigrants. Kew Orleans. BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. RECENT and eloquent -writer* has shown that the history of Louisiana possesses thrilling materials for the novelist, the poet, and the philosopher. Its position near the junction of the greatest of rivers with the broad Gulf of Mexico, its commercial facili- ties, and the almost tropical fertility of the soil, early attracted the attention of Euro- pean adventurei'S, and especially of the more enterprising French and Spaniards. The first Europeans who visited Louisiana are supposed to have been Do Soto and his chivalric followers, who reached the Mississippi in 1539. From that time until 1663, no attempt was made to explore the country. In that year, Marquette and Joliette, two French mis- sionaries, visited the Mississippi and the adjacent territory. In 1682, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, after exploring IlUnois, descended the Mississippi to its mouth, explored the country west of the river, and gave it the name of Louisiana, in honour of Louis le Grand. In 1699, M. Iberville, a distinguished French naval commander, 806 * Gayarre. BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA". 807 visited the mouth of the Mississippi, leaving his fleet anchored near the Chandeleur islands. Proceeding up the river, M. Iberville reached the village of Bayagoulas, where he found a letter from the Chevalier Tonti to La Salle. The chevalier had come down the river to meet La Salle, but, being disappointed, had returned to Canada. The French, under Iberville, extended their explorations up to the mouth of the Red River. On their return, they separated when they arrived at Bayou Manchac. Bienville, with one party, was ordered to go down the river to the French fleet, to give information of what they had seen and heard. Iberville, with the other portion, went through Bayou Manchac to the lakes now known as Ponchartrain and Maure- pas. These names were given them in honour of the famous states- men of the reigns of Louis le Grand and Louis XY. From Lake Ponchartrain, Iberville arrived at a sheet of water now known as Lake Borgne. The French gave it this name, which signifies something defective, because it did not precisely answer the definition of a lake. To a beautiful bay upon that lake, Iberville gave the name of St. Louis, in honour of the best of the French monarchs, Louis IX. Iberville now returned to his fleet, and, after holding a consulta- tion, determined to make a settlement at the Bay of Biloxi. A posi- tion on the east side, near the mouth of the bay, was skilfully chosen, a fort erected, twelve pieces of artillery mounted, a few huts built in the vicinity of the fort, the cultivation of the ground begun, and Sau- volle, the talented brother of Iberville, appointed to the command. Bienville, the youngest of the three brothers, was appointed his lieu- tenant. Iberville then sailed for France. As soon as the French fleet had departed, Bienville, with a small party, was sent to explore the country, and pay a visit to the Cola- pissas and other tribes. On this expedition much information was gained, and the friendship of many tribes secured. On the 7th of December of the same year, Iberville returned to Louisiana with the news that Sauvolle had been appointed by the king governor of Lou- isiana, Bienville lieutenant-governor, and Boisbriant commander of the fort at Biloxi. Hearing of an attempt made by some English adventurers to eifect a settlement in Louisiana, Iberville, aiming to prevent such attempts in the future, erected a fort about fifty-four miles from the mouth of the river, so as to command it. Soon after- ward, the Chevalier Tonti and his followers came down the Missis- sippi, and had a very pleasant interview with the colonists. When he re-aScended the Mississippi, Iberville and Bienville accompanied him as far as Natchez, which Iberville marked as a very eligible site for a town. The singular and awful ceremonies of the Natchez In- 808 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. \ '\ I ^ i Natchez family. dians excited the curiosity of the French, and by no means prepos- sessed them with a liking for this tribe. After this expedition, Iberville again returned to France, leaving Bienville in command of the new fort. The colonists had many diffi- culties to call forth their exertions ; but famine and disease appeared BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 809 among them, and, not long after Iberville had sailed, gloom and despair took possession of most of them. Sauvolle, whose brilliant faculties had excited the admiration and hope of men renowned in science, war, and literature, died suddenly on the 22d of July, 1701, and the governor's oflSce devolved on young Bienville. He had hardly consigned his brother to the tomb, when Iberville returned to the colony with supplies, and orders that Bienville should remove the principal seat of the colony to the west side of the river Mobile, near where the present city of Mobile stands. It was thought this situa- tion would give the French command of the gulf, and prevent the progress of Spanish dominion. Boisbriant, with twenty men, was left at Biloxi. Iberville then sailed for France, promising to return with supplies and colonists ; but a war between France and Spaiuj and other expeditions, occupied him till his death. In waiting for the expected return of the founder of the colony, the French suffered from anxiety and want. The Spanish governor of Pensacola, in payment for a like kindness, sent a vessel to relieve their famine ; and, soon after, a ship from France arrived. Plenty noAv blessed the adventurers. Many persons came out to settle per- manently in the country; and Louis le Grand himself sent out many things most desirable in a new settlement. But disputes among those in authority in Louisiana prevented peaceful prosperity from visiting it, and some of the Indians began to commit depredations when a chance appeared. The Chickasaws and Cherokees, very large and powerful tribes, were the most dreaded by Bienville. He made them presents of all the goods he could spare, but could not conceal his weakness from them, when it was clear that fear alone could restrftjn them from at- tacking those whom they considered as invaders. Bienville's enemies were now successful in their schemes; and, on the 13th of July, 1707, the minister of France appointed De Muys to succeed him. But De Muys died at Havana, Bienville was continued in office, and La Salle, his chief enemy, Avas dismissed. In 1708, the population of Louisiana did not exceed two hundred and seventy-nine persons. The colony seemed " to gasp for breath" until 1712, when the king of France granted to Anthony Crozat, an enterprising merchant, the exclusive privilege, for fifteen years, of trading in all that immense and undefined territory which France claimed as Louisiana. " He also had the privilege," says Gayarre, " of owning for ever all the lands that he would improve by cultiva- tion, all the buildings he would erect, and all the manufactures that he might establish. His principal obligation, in exchange for such 810 BORDER WARS OP LOUISIANA. advantages, was to send every year to Louisiana two ships' loads of colonists, and, after nine years, to assume all the expenses of the ad- ministration of the colony, including those of the garrison and of its officers ; it being understood that, in consideration of such a charge, he would have the privilege of nominating the officers to be appointed by the king. In the mean time, the annual sum of fifty thousand livres (ten thousand dollars) was allowed to Crozat for the king's share of the expenses required by Louisiana. It was further provided that the laws, ordinances, customs, and usages of the prevostship and vis- county of Paris should form the legislation of the colony. There was also to be a government council similar to the one established in San Domingo and Martinique. This charter of concessions virtually made Crozat the supreme lord and master of Louisiana. Thus Louisiana was dealt with as if it had been a royal farm, and leased by Louis XIV. to the highest bidder. It is a mere business transaction, but which colours itself with the hue of romance when it is remembered that Louisiana was the farm, Louis XIV. the landlord, and that Anthony Crozat was the farmer." When Crozat obtained his charter, the military force in Louisiana did not exceed two companies of infantry of fifty men each. There were also seventy-five Canadians in the pay of the king, and used for every species of service. The balance of the population amounted to about three hundred, scattered over a vast extent of country. In 1713, a ship reached Louisiana with the new governor, Lamothe Ca- dillac, other new officers, and a commission for Bienville to act as lieutenant-governor. But serious disputes soon broke out in the co- lony. The colonists were divided into two parties, Cadillac being at the head of one, Bienville at the head of the other. It was evident to most that the new governor was unfit for his office, and did not attend to its duties. The Natchez Indians having become very troublesome, Bienville, with thirty-four men, was sent to chastise them, and build a fort upon fheir territory. On the 24th of April, 1716, the lieutenant-gover- nor encamped on an island in the Mississippi, opposite the village of the Tunicas. He immediately sent a Tunica to inform the Natchez that he was coming to establish a factory among them. By this strata- gem, he hoped to accomplish his aim without a collision with the greatly superior numbers of that tribe. On the 27th, three Natchez warriors came to see Bienville, ostensibly to compliment him, but really to act as spies. These envoys were well treated, and sent back in company with a Frenchman, whose mission it was to invite the Natchez chiefs to a conference upon the island. BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 811 The chiefs accepted the invitation, and came to the island in great state on the 8th of May. Bienville had skilfully prepared his net for them. When they had completely entered it, he demanded, in a stern tone, what satisfaction they had to offer for the murder of some French- men, whom they had slain Avithout provocation. They were astounded, and could give no reply, as they had thought Bienville knew nothing of the bloody transaction. The chiefs were thrown into a dungeon and fettered. The Great Sun and his two brothers were given one night to choose whether they would deliver up the murderers or suffer themselves. The next morning, the Little Sun was permitted to go back to the Natchez country to bring the heads of the murderers. Five days elapsed, and he then returned with three heads. But Bienville refused to accept the heads of innocent men, and so retained his prisoners. In the mean time he was reinforced by twenty-two Frenchmen and Cana- dians, who, through his warning, had escaped the attacks of the Natchez. The Great Sun now confessed that the real murderers of the Frenchmen were among the prisoners, and pointed them out. These were put to death, and the rest of the prisoners dismissed, upon terms dictated by Bienville, and very advantageous to the French. On the 25th of August, Bienville was strongly posted in the midst of the Natchez. Fortifications had been rapidly erected, and the ma- terial of war placed in them. Bienville left M. Pailloux in command of Fort Rosalie, as it was named, and returned to Mobile. Cadillac was now dismissed from the post which his obstinacy and weakness had brought into contempt. On the 9th of March, 1717, three ships arrived from France, bringing three companies of infantry, fifty colo- nists, De I'Epinay, the new governor, the cross of St. Louis for Bienville, and also the concession to him of Horn island on the coast of Alabama. The schemes of Crozat had failed to result as brilliantly as expect- ed. All attempts to open a trade with Mexico proved abortive, and neither mines nor precious stones were found in the territory under the charter. In August, 1717, Crozat surrendered his charter to the king; and on the Gth of September, the privileges which had been possessed by Crozat were transferred to the Company of the Indies, of which the famous John Law was the soul. This transfer gave a wonderful impulse to Louisiana, but many individuals in France long after re- gretted their entrance into the Mississippi scheme. Early in 1718, the company sent three vessels to Louisiana, with three companies of infantry and sixty-nine colonists, who landed on the 9th of March. Bienville was now created governor, an office which 812 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. his toils and sacrifices had justly earned. The first act of Bienville's new administration was the selection of the site and the establishment of the town of New Orleans. The importance of the present city is the best proof of Bienville's sagacity and judgment. In the course of 1718 and '19, several vessels arrived from France with colonists. — but not such as, in Bienville's opinion, the circumstances of the colony demanded. War breaking out between France and Spain, Bienville fitted out an expedition, and took possession of Pensacola, of which his brother, Chateaugu^, was appointed commandant. But two months afterward, Chateaugu(^ was compelled to surrender to an overwhelming force from Havana. After the surrender of Pensacola, the Spanish fleet appeared before Dauphine island, which was defended by one hundred and sixty Frenchmen and two hundred Indians, under the command of Serigny. The French ship Philippe was anchored within pistol-shot of the shore. The Spaniards dared not come to a close attack, but contented them- selves with attempts to land on various parts of the island, and with a fruitless cannonading. On the 26th of August, the enemy abandoned the siege and returned to Pensacola. Three ships of war, convoying two of the company's vessels, now arrived, and enterprises against Pensacola and the Spanish fleet were projected. The expedition against Pensacola was perfectly successful. After a two hours' contest, in which the address of the French gover- nor was honourably displayed, the garrison surrendered, and the fleet followed its example. Soon after this successful expedition, the seat of government of Louisiana was removed to New Biloxi, on the Biloxi Bay. In 1720, Louisiana received large additions to its European popu- lation. The English traders in the west now saw the rapid progress of the French, and by their influence among the Indians endeavoured to check it. In the course of 1720, a war between the French and Chickasaws occurred, but the address of Bienville succeeded in securing a treaty of peace for a short time. Accessions to the population continued to arrive, and the company, to secure a regular administra- tion of affairs, removed the subordinates of Bienville, who interfered with his measures, and appointed his friends to office. But the general system of the company was narrow and despotic. Its whole aim seemed to be to make money out of the colony. In 1721, there were about one hundred negroes in Louisiana, employed in cultivating the ground. A considerable number of Germans had arrived, and a few of them had settled. In 1723, the seat of govern- ment was definitively transferred to New Orleans, which then con- tained one hundred houses. BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 81i The Chickasaws becoming very troublesome, Bienville stimulated the Choctaws, the allies of the French, to undertake an expedition against them. The Chocta^YS eagerly seized the occasion, attacked the Chickasaws, destroyed three villages, and took four hundred scalps and one hundred prisoners. This was a crushing blow, and prevented the Chickasaws from attempting further mischief. But the Natchez now got into difficulty with the French and murdered three traders. Bienville collected seven hundred men, and immediately marched into their country. The heads of the murderers were given up to him by the overawed tribe, and then a treaty of peace was concluded. In January, 1724, Bienville was compelled to go to France to answer the charges of his enemies. Before he set out, he promulgated the famous Black Code, containing all the laws relating to slaves. The enemies of the founder of Louisiana were successful; he was dismissed from office, and on the 9th of August, 1726, Pdrier was appointed in his stead. Governor Perier was very active, at the commencement of his ad- ministration, in extending the influence of the French over the Indians, and diminishing that of the English. His efforts, however, were not seconded by his subordinates. In 1829, the French settlement at Natchez was under the command of Chopart, a cruel and rapacious officer, who heaped outrage in every shape upon the Natchez Indians. It was the intention of this man to gain complete possession of their country. One day Chopart summoned the Great Sun of the Natchez to his presence, told him he had been ordered to take possession of the beautiful village of White Apple, and that it was necessary the inhabit- ants should move elsewhere. The Great Sun indignantly refused, and returned to the village to consult his wise men upon the measures to be adopted. In the council which was held, war was resolved upon ; messengers were sent to the Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Yazoos, to unite them for the extermination of the French. A bundle of sticks was sent to each tribe, from which a stick was to be taken each day ; the last one to designate the day for the combined attack. To gain time for these secret operations, the Great Sun asked for a postpone- ment of the removal of his tribe until December, which Chopart readily granted. In the mean time, the neighbouring tribes expressed their assent to the scheme of the Natchez. The curiosity of the mother of the Great Sun gained from him a revelation of the whole plot. She was friendly to the French interest, and determined to save them, if she could do so without exposing her son's life to their vengeance. Through various channels she commu- nicated information of the plot to the French commander ; but Cho- 814 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. part was as negligent as tyrannical, and the old woman, finding the French so careless, believed them doomed by the Great Spirit, and made no further effort to save them. The morning of the 29th of November came, and so precisely were the orders of the Natchez chiefs executed, that at the same moment, within a radius of many miles, the house of every Frenchman was found full of Indians, asking for powder, shot, and brandy, to go on a hunting excursion, or paying old-standing debts. The following account of the tragic affair we find in Gayarre's History of Lou- isiana : — At eight, the Great Sun was seen departing from his village at the head of his nobles and of a troop of warriors. The procession moved with a great noise of instruments, and carried, with as much show as possible, the stipulated tribute of fowls, corn, oil, and furs. The master of ceremonies, gorgeously dressed, and making himself con- spicuous above the rest, twirled on high, and with fantastic gestures, the calumet of peace. With demonstrations of joy, they went several times round the fort, and entered the house of the French commander, who, waked up by the noise, made his appearance in his morning- gown. Elated at the sight of the valuable presents which were laid before him, laughing in his heart at the credulity of those who had attempted to rouse suspicions in his mind as to the fidelity of his In- dian friends, he ordered the givers of ivarnings, as he called them, to be released from their confinement, that they should come to see how futile were their cowardly fears. Then the Indians began to dance, to sing, and to creep into the fort and everywhere. In the mean time, a chosen band of warriors glided down the hill to the bank of the river, where the long-expected and richly-laden galley, which had arrived the day previous, was moored. There, each Avarrior having leisurely picked his man and made his aim sure, a simultaneous dis- charge was heard. This was the preconcerted signal, which was followed far and wide by discharges of firearms so close on each other that they seemed to make but one whole. Let us listen to Governor Perier himself, re- lating that event in one of his despatches : " Such being the disposition of the Indians, and the hour having come," says he, <' the general assassination of the French took so little time, that the execution of the deed and the preceding signal were almost but one and the same thing. One single discharge closed the whole affair, with the excep- tion of the house of La Loire des Ursins, in which there were eight men, who defended themselves with desperation. They made the house good against the Indians during the whole day. Six of them BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 815 were killed, and when night came the remaining two escaped. When the attack began, La Loire des Ursins happened to be on horseback,} and being cut off from his house by the intervening foes, he fought to death, and killed four Indians. The people who were shut up in his house had already killed eight. Thus it cost the Natchez only twelve men to destroy two hundred and fifty of ours, through the fault of the commanding officer, who alone deserved the fate which was shared by his unfortunate companions. It was easy for him, with the arms and the forces he had, to inflict on our enemies a severer blow than the one we have received, and which has brought this colony to within two inches of utter destruction." It is said that Chopart had the grief of surviving all his country- men. Such was the horror and contempt the Natchez had for him, that death inflicted by the hands of a warrior was thought too honour- able for the French chief. None of that class condescended to lay hands upon him, and the lowest among the stinJcing, or plebeians, was sent for, who beat him to death with a club, in his own garden, whither he had fled. A few Frenchmen escaped, as it were by miracle, from the general massacre : among others, Navarre, Couillard, Canterelle, Louette, and Ricard, who succeeded in reaching New Orleans, after many perilous adventures. Two men only were spared by the Natchez, one wagoner, named Mayeux, to be employed by them in transporting all the goods, merchandise, and effects of the French to the public square, in front of which stood the palace of the Great Sun, and where that sovereign was to make a distribution of the spoils among his subjects. The other Frenchman, named Lebeau, was a tailor, and owed his life to that circumstance. As the Natchez stood in want of his craft, they preserved him to turn him to profitable account, and employed him in repairing or reshaping the clothes of the dead, and in fitting them to the bodies of the new owners. Dumont relates that the Natchez were particularly pleased with the variegated, diversified, and highly-coloured patches which he adapted to their vestments. The women and children, with a few exceptions, were spared and destined to be slaves, their number amounting to about three hundred. Many of the blacks, to whom the Natchez had promised their freedom and a share in the booty, had been induced to join them in the con- spiracy. Some of them, however, had the credit of remaining faithful to the French, and succeeded in making their way to New Orleans. The Natchez being under the impression that all the French were de- stroyed throughout the land, that they had no longer any thing to fear from such redoubtable foes, and finding themselves more wealthy than they had ever been, gave themselves up to the wildest exhibitions 816 BOEDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. of joy. They concluded that bloody day of the 29th of Novemher by a general carousal, and they kept dancing and singing until late at night, around pyramids of French heads, piled up as cannon-balls usually are in an arsenal. The agonies of the wretched TYomen and children who witnessed the slaughter of their husbands and fathers, and who, amid the demoniacal rejoicings which followed, had to bear outrages too horrific to be related, are more easily conceived than de- scribed ! Long before the next day dawned upon them, the Natchez were in such a state of inebriation, that thirty well-determined French- men, says Dumont, could have destroyed the whole nation. The next day, the Natchez stationed warriors along the banks of the river, to watch for boats. A few days after the massacre, five Frenchmen, descending the river, being hailed, came to the shore. Three of them were shot down, one escaped, and the fifth was captured and tortured to death. Another party was fired upon, but escaped. The fort of St. Claude was easily captured by the Yazoos, and the twenty men constituting the garrison, with their families, were mas- sacred. This fort, as well as the one at Natchez, was destroyed. One hundred and fifty warriors were next sent by the Great Sun against Natchitoches, where St. Denis commanded. That vigilant and indomitable Frenchman discovered the designs of the Natchez, eluded their stratagems, and concluded by making a sudden and furious attack upon their camp. The Natchez were routed, sixty killed, many wounded, and but a few reached their native country. In the mean time, the Choctaws failed to execute their portion of the plan. Governor Pdrier was on his guard, and refused to receive the deputation which they sent to cover their intentions. Hearing from fugitives accounts of the massacre by the Natchez, the governor sent couriers up the river and to all the settlements, advising the inhabitants what measures to adopt for their safety. On the ICth of January, Perier received information that the Choc- taws, treacherous to the other tribes, had placed themselves under the command of La Sueur, a French officer, and were marching to attack the Natchez. A body of French troops collected at Tunicas for the same purpose, and was placed under the command of Loubois. In the mean time, five scouts were sent to discover what was going on among the enemy. These men were attacked by an overwhelming force, Navarre, a brave soldier, killed, and the other four captured. The prisoners, however, succeeded in making the savages believe they had come with peace propositions, and so gained four days to send a messenger to Loubois, with a full account of their situation and the condition of the enemy. On the fourth day, no answer to the message BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 81T arriving, the Natchez put the three remaining captives to death. But the cloud of destruction was hovering over this savage nation. The proceedings of their enemies are well narrated by Gayarre, as fol- lows : — On the 27th of January, they were feasting on the banks of St. Catherine's creek, when they were suddenly attacked by the Choctaws, headed by Le Sueur. Their defeat would have been complete, if those negroes who had joined the Natchez in the massacre of the French had not fought with desperate valour, and by their fierce resistance had not given time to their Indian allies to retire within the two forts they had prepared, in anticipation of the expected war which they knew would soon burst upon them. But the Choctaws killed sixty of the Natchez, took from fifteen to twenty prisoners, rescued fifty-four French women and children, and recovered about one hundred of the negroes. On the 8th of February, half of the French forces arrived at Natchez, and joined the Choctaws on St. Catherine's creek. On the 9th, they left the quarters of the Choctarws, and encamped at a cer- tain distance nearer the Mississippi. The rest of the army came up on that day, which was spent in reconnoitring and skirmishing with the Indians. The 10th, 11th, and 12th were employed in carrying the artillery, ammunition, and provisions from the boats to the French camp. The 13th was consumed in fruitless parleying with the In- dians, in approaching nearer to the forts, and in transporting pieces of artillery on the mound on Avhich stood the Great Temple, and which happened to command the two forts. The French protected that position with intrenchments. On the 14th, at daybreak, the French opened against the forts their fire, which was answered briskly. The four pieces of artillery which the French had were hardly fit for service, and were wretchedly managed. The Natchez had three pieces, which were still more clumsily handled. At night, the Natchez came through a cane-brake to dislodge the French from the temple. But some grape thrown among them forced them to retreat. On the 15th, the French, at the distance of five hundred and sixty yards, cannonaded the forts during six hours, without throwing down one single stake, and the Choctaws, to whom they had promised to make a breach in less than two hours, became discourafred, and hooted at the impotency of the French missiles. On the 16th, a man by the name of Du Pare was sent with a flag to summon the forts to surrender. He was received with a general dis- charge of musketry, which made him scamper away in such haste that 52 818 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. he left behind him his flag. It would have fallen into the hands of "b the Indians, had not a soldier, known under the nickname of the Parisian, run to the spot and carried away the flag under a heavy fire from the enemy. He was immediately made a sergeant as a reward for his' valour. At the very moment when the Parisian was rushing to rescue the flag, the Indians had opened their gates to make a sally to take it. Some Frenchwomen availed themselves of that circum- stance to rush out pellmell with the Indians, and succeeded in gaining the French camp. But the Indians avenged themselves for their escape in the most atrocious manner. The poor women had left chil- dren in the fort, hoping that they would be taken care of by their companions in captivity. The Indians seized these children, and impaled them on the stakes of the fort, to the great horror and rage of the French. On that day, an additional body of men arrived at the French camp, with four pieces of artillery quite as worthless as those the besiegers had already. Despairing to make with such artil- lery any impression on the forts, the French resolved to have recourse to mining, and went to work^iccordingly. Some, more impatient and more intrepid than the rest, offered to rush close to the walls, and to fling grenades into the forts, but Loubois refused, under the appre- hension of doing as much injury to the French captives as to the Indians. From the 17th to the 22d of February, the French made scientific preparations to attack the forts, and were engaged in erecting gabions and in undermining. On the 22d, during the night, one hundred Natchez attacked the French works in front, and two hundred in the rear, under the protection of a wild canefield through which they had approached. Tliey broke through the mantelets, penetrated into the last trench or traverse, and assailed with fury the temple and the French battery. They fought with desperation during three-quarters of an hour, and retired with considerable loss, but carrying away a good many blankets, spades, and other articles. The Choctaws came to the assistance of tlie French with great readiness. On the 23d, the Choctaws threw the French into consternation by threatening to withdraw, if the siege was not carried on with more vigour. This representation had its efl"ect, and on the 24th a battery of four pieces of the calibre of four pounds was established at three hundred and sixty yards from the forts, and the French informed the Natchez that they were determined to blow them up at all hazards to the French captives, if they did not surrender. Intimidated by the more active preparations made by the French, the Natchez sent one of their female captives, Madame Desnoyers, to make propositions BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 819 of peace. But she remained in the French camp, and no answer was returned to the Natchez. On the 25th, the Natchez hoisted a flag as a token that they wished to parley. Alibamon Mengo, one of the most famous Choctaw chiefs, growing impatient at all these parleyings, which never had any result, approached one of the forts, and addressed this harangue to the Natchez : " Did you ever hear that such a numerous band of In- dians as ours ever remained together two months encamped before forts ? From this circumstance, so foreign to our customs and habits, you may judge of our zeal and attachment for the French. It is therefore perfectly useless in you, who are but a handful of people when compared to our nation, to persist in refusing to give up to the French their women, children, and negroes. So far, the French have treated you with more leniency than you deserve, considering the quantity of their blood which you have shed. As to us, Choctaws, we are determined to blockade you until you die of hunger." This speech had its effect, and the Natchez promised to deliver to the Choctaws all the captives, provided the French would remove a^Yay to the bank of the river with their artillery. This was done on the 26th, and thus terminated the siege. The French, whose numbers, as far as we can judge from conflicting statements, amounted to five hundred, lost fifteen men during that siege. The cowardly and notorious Ecte-Actal acted as negotiator between the French and the Indians, and it had been agreed through him that the French forces Avould, as I have already said, withdraw to the bank of the river, and that the Natchez, on surrendering to the Choctaws the French captives and spoils, would remain in quiet possession of their lands and forts. This treaty was nothing but the embodiment of mutual deceit. The French commander, thinking himself absolved from adherence to his word by the proverbial perfidy of the Indians, had resolved to recommence the siege, and to complete the destruction of the Natchez, immediately after having got the French prisoners out of their hands ; and the Natchez, in their turn, who did not trust the French, had made up their minds to fly with all the spoils they could carry. On the 27th, they delivered to the Choctaws all the French women, children, and negroes, and in the night of the 28th they made their escape. On the morning of the 29th, the French, much to their surprise, saw the forts deserted, and found in them nothing but worth- less rags. Thus finished this expedition, which reflects little credit on the French arms. It was evidently ill-concerted ; the French ought certainly to have been as expeditious as the Choctaws, and to have arrived at the same time to strike a crushing blow with their united 820 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. forces. On the contrary, the undisciplined Choctaws, -who had to come by land over three hundred miles, were the first in the field and on the spot, and there had to wait about fifteen days for their white allies, who, when they invested at last the forts of the Natchez, and attacked with light pieces of artillery, almost worthless, it is true, and with five hundred men, could do nothing effective in twenty days. In the end, it was the intervention of the Choctaws which succeeded in bringing the Natchez to terms ; it was to the Choctaws, and not to the French, that they consented to give up their prisoners ; and then, eluding the vigilance of the French, or blinding them by the influence of bribery and corruption, they achieved their retreat with honour and without the slightest loss. Diron d'Artaguette, one of the king's commissaries, commenting on this expedition in one of his despatches, reflects severely on the want of policy, of judgment, and of activity exhibited by Pdrier on this occasion. He also blames Loubois for having lost so many days at the Tunicas, where he stopped so long under the apprehension of a general conspiracy, which, if he moved forward, would, as he feared, have put him in the awkward position of having the Natchez in front and other hostile nations in the rear, lie speaks in no measured terms of what he calls '■'■the shameful conclusion of the siege f' and says, "the Choctaws, it is alleged, wanted to retire, but the truth is, that the French army was the first to give up ; and strange stories are told about silver plate, and other valuable articles, which became the subjects of clandestine transactions." He thus goes on, intimating pretty broadly that the Natchez bribed the French into allowing them to escape. Governor P^rier says : " Several causes have prevented our cap- turing the whole Natchez nation. The first, the weakness of our troops, which were good for nothing ; the second, the distrust in which we were of the Choctaws, whom we suspected of treason. This was not without foundation ; for the Natchez, during the siege, re- proached them a thousand times with their perfid}'-, after having joined in the general conspiracy, of which the Natchez related the circum- stances to us. They also boasted that the English and Chickasaws were coming to their rescue. All these circumstances, which were not encouraging for men who had but little experience, forced Loubois, who had served Avith distinction, to be satisfied with the surrender of our women, children, and negroes. This was the essential point. D'Artaguette (a brother of the commissary of that name) has served with the most brilliant valour, and the planters with credit, having D'Arensbourg and Dc Laye at their head. The Creoles distinguished themselves particularly ; all the officers have done their duty, with BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 821 the exception of Renault d'Hauterive, De Mouj, and Villainville. Fifteen negroes, in whose hands we had put weapons, performed pro- digies of valour. If the blacks did not cost so much, and if their labours were not so necessary to the colony, it would be better to turn them into soldiers, and to dismiss those we have, who are so bad and so cowardly that they seem to have been manufactured purposely for this colony." The Natchez, on leaving their forts and native hills, crossed the Mississippi to take refuge among the Ouachitas. They were pursued by the chief of the Tunicas at the head of fifty warriors, who kept on their trail in the hope of picking up stragglers. On the territory thus abandoned, the French began the erection of a brick fort, the command of which, with a garrison of one hundred men, was given to the baron of Cresnay, who was also put at the head of all the troops in Louisiana, but who continued to act, however, in a subordinate capacity to Governor Perier. Loubois was rewarded for his success- ful campaign against the Natchez by being appointed major and com- mander of New Orleans.* The demands of the Choctaws having been with difficulty satisfied, Pdrier took advantage of the fears of the colonists to induce them to enclose New Orleans, and erect eight small forts between that town and Natchez. Although dispersed, the Natchez still made the French feel that they were not exterminated. Nineteen men who were cut- ting wood in a cypress swamp Avere surprised and killed. Six despe- rate Indians penetrated into the fort at Natchez, and furiously at- tacked the soldiers, of whom they killed five, and wounded many more. Five of these rash spirits were killed in the contest ; the sixth was captured, taken to New Orleans, and burned. A few days after, the Tunicas carried a Natchez woman to New Orleans, and Pei'ier allowed them to torture her to death. Others were burned by the order of the governor, who seems to have forgotten the civilized notions of his coun- trymen. The woman who was burned prophesied the speedy destruc- tion of the Tunicas, and events fulfilled her prediction. The Tu- nicas had scarcely returned home when they were attacked by the Natchez, their village burned, and their old chief and most of their nation destroyed. The remnant of the Natchez had taken refu2;e amono- the Chicka- saws, who now anticipated a struggle with the French, and prepared themselves for it. In the mean time, a reinforcement of troops arrived in Louisiana, which increased the efficient force of the colony to twelve hundred regulars and eight hundred militia-men. Perier now * Gayarre. 822 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. secured the friendship of the Choctaws, while he sent De Salverte, his brother, to the Tunicas, to collect a number of friendly warriors. At the Tunica village the forces were mostly united for an expedition, the object of which was the entire destruction of the Natchez. On the 4th of January, 1731, P^rier joined the army at the mouth of the Red River, and with it ascended the river and one of its branches till he came to the vicinity of the Natchez fort, which he invested, and summoned the garrison to surrender. The Natchez refused, and defended themselves until the night of the 25th, when they contrived to break through the French and escape ; but Perier had previously managed, by the grossest treachery, to gain possession of the Great Sun, and many prisoners who had been captured by the Natchez. The French demolished the fort and returned to New Or- leans. The Great Sun and forty-five other male prisoners, with four hundred and fifty women and children, were sent to St. Domingo and sold to slavery. This merely exasperated the remnant of the Natchez, and their marauding expeditions, in company with the Chickasaws, were now frequent and destructive. The Chickasaws refused to give up those who had asked and obtained their hospitality, and thus they virtually declared war against the French. Fortunately for the colony, Bienville was now re-appointed gover- nor in place of Pdrier. The company, finding its expenses too heavy, had previously surrendered its charter to the king. Bienville returned to Louisiana in 1733. Through his exertions, the Choctaws were mostly gained over to the French interest, and parties of their war- riors harassed the Chickasaws and Natchez. Leseur, with thirty Frenchmen and one thousand Choctaws, set out on an expedition against the Chickasaws ; but upon the arrival of this force in front of the Chickasaw forts, the Choctaws deserted the French, and the expedition efiected nothing. In spite of the treaties made by Bien- ville, it was clear that the Choctaws were divided into two parties, one favourable to the French, and the other hostile. In the mean time, the Natchez and Chickasaws continued their de- predations. A French officer named Du Coder, with a party of ten men, was attacked by a great force of Chickasaws ; eight men were killed, and Du Coder, a sergeant, and a soldier captured. These pri- soners were well treated, and the Chickasaws made Du Coder write to Bienville that they were anxious for peace. But the governor had deterfiiined to expel or exterminate that tribe, and he advised the prisoners to try to escape. This they efi"ected, and arrived safely at New Orleans. In the beginning of 1736, Bienville collected all the men who could BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 823 French, and Indians in camp. be spared from the settlements for an expedition against the enemy. On the 1st of April he arrived at Tombigbee depot with five hundred and forty-four white troops and forty-five negroes. Six hundred Choctaws joined him soon after, and the march commenced. On the 22d of May, Bienville encamped within twenty-two miles of the Chick- asaw towns. The next day, fortifications for the protection of the boats were constructed, and then the army resumed its wading, diffi- cult march. On the 25th, the whole force encamped on the edge of a prairie, within six miles of the enemy's villages. The following detailed narrative of the subsequent proceedings of the expedition, we take from Gayarre's Louisiana : — The intention of Bienville was to turn round those villages of the Chickasaws, to march upon the village of the Natchez, which was in the rear, and to attack first those Avhom he considered as the instiga- tors of the Chickasaw war. But the Choctaws insisted with such per- 824 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. tinacity upon attacking the villages ■whicli "vyere nearer, and "whicli, they said, contained more provisions than that of the Natchez — and they represented -with such warmth, that, in the needy condition in which they were, it was absolutely necessary they should take posses- sion of these provisions, that Bienville yielded to their importunities. The prairie, in which these villages were situated, covered a space of about six miles. The villages were small, and built in the shape of a triangle on a hillock sloping down to a brook which was almost dry ; further off Avas the main body of the Chickasaw villages, and the smaller ones seemed to be a sort of vanguard. The Choctaws having informed Bienville that he would find water nowhere else, he ordered the army to file off close to the wood which enclosed the prairie, in order to reach another hillock that was in sight. There the troops halted to rest and take nourishment. It was past twelve o'clock. The Indian scouts whom Bienville had sent in every direction to look for tidings of D'Artaguette, Avhom he had expected to operate his junction with him on this spot, had come back and brought no information. It was evident, therefore, that he could no longer hope for the co-operation on which he had relied, and that he had to trust only to his own resources. It was impossible to wait ; and immediate action was insisted upon by the Choctaws and the French officers, who thought that the three small villages, which have been described, and whicli were the nearest to them, were not susceptible of much resistance. Bienville yielded to the solicitations of his allies and of his troops, and, at two in the afternoon, ordered his nephew Noyan to begin the attack, and to put himself at the head of a column com- posed of a company of grenadiers, of detachments of fifteen men taken from each one of the eight companies of French regulars, of sixty-five men of the Swiss troops, and forty-five volunteers. The order for the attack being given, the division commanded by Noyan moved briskly on, and, under the protection of mantelets car- ried by the company of negroes, arrived safely at the foot of the hill on which the villages stood. But there, one of the negroes being killed and another wounded, the rest flung down the mantelets and took to their heels. The French pushed on and penetrated into the village, with the company of grenadiers at their head ; but being no longer under cover, and much exposed to the fire of the enemy, their losses were very heavy. The noble and brilliant Chevalier de Contra Cocur, a favourite in the army, was killed, and a number of soldiers shared his fate, or were disabled. However, three of the principal fortified cabins were carried by the impetuosity of the French, with several smaller ones, which were burned. But as a pretty considerable BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 825 intervening space remained to be gone over to assail the chief fort and the other fortified cabins, when it became necessary to complete the success obtained, Noyan, who had headed the column of attack, turning round, saw that he had with him only the officers belonging to the head of the column, some grenadiers, and a dozen of volunteers. The troops had been dismayed by the death of Captain De Lusser, of one of the sergeants of the grenadiers, and of some of the soldiers of this company who had fallen when they had attempted to cross the space separating the last cabin taken from the next to be taken; seeking for shelter against the galling fire of the enemy, they had clustered behind the cabins of which they had already taken posses- sion, and it was impossible for the officers who commanded the tail of the column to drive them away, either by threats, promises, or words of exhortation, from their secure position. Putting themselves at the head of a few of their best soldiers, in order to encourage the rest, the officers resolved to make a desperate attempt to storm the fortified blockhouse they had in front of them ; but, in an instant, their commander, the Chevalier de Noyan, DTIauterive, the captain of the grenadiers, Grondel, lieutenant of the Swiss, De Velles, Mont- brun, and many other officers, were disabled. Still keeping his ground, De Noyan sent his aid-de-camp, De Juzan, to encourage and bring up to him the wavering soldiers who had slunk behind the cabins; but, in making the effort, this officer was killed, and his death increased the panic of the troops. Grondel, who had fallen near the walls of the enemy, had been abandoned, and a party of Indians was preparing to sally out to scalp him, when a sergeant of the grenadiers, ashamed of the cowardice which had left an officer in this perilous and defenceless position, took with him four of his men and rushed to the rescue of Grondel, without being intimidated by bullets as thick as hail. These five intrepid men reached in safety the spot where Grondel lay, and they were in the act of lifting him up to carry him away, when a general discharge from the fort prostrated every one of them dead by the side of him they had come to save. But this noble deed was not lost upon the army ; the electrical stroke had been given, and was responded to by the flashing out of another bright spark of heroism. A grenadier named Regnisse, rather inflamed than dastardized by the fate of his companions, dashed out of the ranks of his company, ran headlong to the place where Grondel lay Avelteving in his blood from the five wounds he had received, took him on his athletic shoulders, and carried him away in triumph, amid the general acclamations and the enthusiastic bravos of those who witnessed the feat. To the astonish- 826 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. ment of all, he had the good luck to pass unscathed through the fire which was poured upon him by the enemy, but the inanimate body of Grondel, which he was transporting, received a sixth wound. So generously saved from the Indian tomahawk, this officer slowly recovered, and Avas subsequently raised to a high rank in the French army. The spectacle then presented to the sight was truly of an exciting character. The village attacked was enveloped in a thick smoke, through which might be seen to emerge occasionally a body of soldiers carrying away some of their wounded. Inside of the smoke, concealed behind the heavy logs of M'hich their forts and cabins were made up, the Indians, firing through their loopholes, were uttering such appal- ling Avhoops and shouts, such blood-freezing shrieks and fiendish yells, that one would have thought that thousands of demons were rioting in one of their favourite haunts in Pandemonium. To complete the illusion, the six hundred Choctaws, with the other red allies of the French, almost in a state of nakedness, and painted all over in the most frightful colours, as they do when they go to war to make them- selves more hideously terrific, kept hovering on both wings of the French at a safe distance from the balls of the enemy, while they fired at random into the vacant air, emulating the Chickasaws in the pro- duction only of horrific and unearthly sounds, gesticulating wildly, running and jumping as if they were delirious, and looking like maniac devils rather than men. One could have imagined that they were the rabble of hell, enraged and thrown into an insurrection by being excluded from the feast prepared for their betters. Noyan, seeing at last that he was exposing himself and his bravest companions in vain, and growing faint under the effects of his wound, ordered a retreat from the open field, and taking shelter in one of the cabins, sent word to Bienville that he had lost about seventy men, of whom many were officers, and that, if prompt relief was not aftbrded, no officer would be left standing on his feet, as they would all have to share the fate of those who had fallen ; that himself, although, from the nature of his wound, in w^ant of immediate assistance, would not venture to retire from the field of action, because he feared it would be the signal of a general scattering away. On hearing this report, and on seeing the French and Swiss troops beginning to give ground, while demonstrations of an attack on their flank were visible in the direction of the great Indian villages, which were further off" at the extremity of the prairie, Bienville sent Beau- champ with a reserve of eighty men to support the troops engaged, and to bring off" the wounded and the dead. Beauchamp did not exe- BORDER WARS OP LOUISIANA. 827 cute his orders -without losing several men. One of his officers, by the name of Favrot, was wounded ; and when Beauchamp reached the spot where the contest had been the fiercest, and which might, if the expression be allowed, be called the heart of the battle, he found all the officers nobly keeping their ground and clustered in a solid mass, retaining possession, with desperate energy, of the' foremost cabin they had gained nearest to the fort of the enemy. Beauchamp gathered together all the men who still remained on that bloody field, and retreated in good order toward the French camp, but he could not prevent some of the dead bodies from falling into the hands of the Indians, who, much to the horror of the French, impaled the naked corpses on their palisades. The Choctaws, who so far had kept aside and left the French to shift for themselves, seeing them in full retreat, seemed disposed, out of bravado, to show to the white faces that the red ones could do what the superior race had failed to execute, and they marched upon the village as if determined to storm it. But as they approached, a general discharge from the enemy having brought down twenty-two of their men, they did not wait for another, and scampered away like whipped curs, much to the satisfaction and amusement of the French.* After the repulse of the French, nothing remained for them but a retreat ; the troops were in want of provisions, and a renewal of the attack only offered the prospect of defeat. The Choctaws v;ere induced to accompany Bienville and to convey the wounded ; the retreat was effected without loss. At New Orleans, the governor first learned the defeat and death of D'Artaguette, who had arrived before him at the Chickasaw villages. D'Artaguette, with only about one hundred French and three hundred Indians, had been induced to attack the enemy, and was proceeding to do so, when he was attacked by an overwhelming force commanded by Englishmen. After a desperate battle, nearly the whole of the French were killed or captured ; their Indian allies fled at the first onset. D'Artaguette, a priest, and fif- teen other prisoners, were burned alive by the savages. The ammu- nition which fell to the victors enabled them the more effectually to resist Bienville. The failure of Bienville's campaign against the Chickasaws had the effect of dispiriting the inhabitants and checking the progress of the colony. During 1737, the war between the Choctaws and the Chick- asaws was continued at the instigation of the French, but no import- ant engagement occurred. In the next year, ships arrived with forces 828 BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. and supplies, such as Bienville had frequently asked for in vain ; but now, when the means for victory were within the reach of the gover- nor, he received orders to yield the command to M. de Noailles, or, at least, to submit to his counsel. The year 1739 was spent in pre- paration for a campaign which was intended to be decisive. In the mean time, the Choctaws harassed the Chickasaws and obtained many scalps. On the 12th of November, 1740, there were assembled at the mouth of the Margot twelve hundred white troops and two thousand four hundred Indians ; but this numerous army did not even attempt hos- tilities : the provisions Avere exhausted, and the forces dismissed to the quarters from whence they had been drawn. The brave Celeron was not satisfied with such proceedings ; he had come from Canada to take part in the expedition, and he resolved to effect something worthy of all the preparation which had been made. At the head of his com- pany of one hundred cadets, and between four and five hundred In- dians, Celeron marched upon the Chickasaw villages. When he ap- peared before them, the Indians, who seemed to be overawed at the extent of the French preparations, and to think Celeron commanded merely the van of the great army, appeared as supplicants for peace. The French commander gladly accepted their propositions, and sent some of the Chickasaw chiefs after Bienville. The governor concluded a treaty with them, by which they agreed to give up the Natchez who remained among them, and to exterminate the remnant of that tribe. The Choctaws Avcre not included in the treaty. Celeron then returned to Canada, being the only officer in the expedition who had gained any reputation. The treaty with the Chickasaws did not prevent them from resum- ing their depredations as soon as they were satisfied the French forces had retired. The Choctaws waged war against them, however, with such spirit and success, that the Chickasaws were threatened with the fate of the Natchez. The government of France was dissatisfied with the result of the great expedition against the enemy, and Bienville, perceiving that he had lost its favour, asked to be recalled. His request was granted, and in May, 1743, the founder of Louisiana left the country never to return. All accounts agree in representing him as an active, zealous, and talented, but unfortunate man, and he left behind him those who venerated him as the father of the colony. The Marquis de Vaudreuil, Bienville's successor, arrived at New Orleans on the 10th of May, 1743. The new governor managed to conclude an advantageous treaty with the Chickasaws, and to induce the Choctaws to consent to bury the hatchet. BORDER WARS OF LOUISIANA. 829 From this time, Louisiana continued to increase in population and importance. Its limits "were also greatly extended by the exertions of government agents and adventurers. The command of Missouri Tvas secui'ed by a fort built upon the site of the present city of St. Louis, and called by the same name. In 1762, France ceded the Avhole of Louisiana to Spain, in whose possession it continued until 1800, -when, under the government of Napoleon, the French again obtained possession of the country. In 1803, it Avas purchased by the United States for fifteen million dollars. Soon after this purchase, the present State of Louisiana was separated from the rest of the country, and called the territory of Orleans. In 1812, Louisiana, having obtained the necessary qualifications, was admitted to a mem- bership in the confederacy. Cathedral, New Orleans. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. USSIA has grown to a power of the first importance with- in a century and a half. It now comprises almost the entire northern part of the eastern continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That portion of the empire ^ which is in Europe, though less exten- sive than the Asiatic portion, is by far i^ the most important in a political point of view. It forms a vast plain, stretch- ing from Prussia and Austria to the Ural Mountains, and from the Caucasus to the northern extremity of the continent. The great majority of the people belong to the Caucasian race; the rest are of Mongol origin. 830 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 833 The Greeks and Romans knew very little of the inhabitants of Russia until the ninth century. They were anciently called Scythians and Sarmatians. In A. D. 862, the people of Novgorod, who had long been suffering from civil wars, sent an embassy to the Scandinavian peninsula, which was noted for brave and prudent men, to ask for one of them to become their sovereign. Three brothers, named Ruric, Snio, and Truvor, belonging to the family of Buss, accepted the invitation, and Ruric became the founder of the reigning dynasty of Russia. Wladimir the Great, one of Ruric's successors, married a daughter of the Greek emperor in 988, and became converted to Christianity. Kiew, the capital of Russia, soon after became a city of great extent and magnificence. As the country was divided into many principalities, it fell an easy prey to the Mongolians, who, in 1238, invaded and conquered all except the city and territory of Novgorod. The Mongols permitted the grand-dukes to continue reigning, but forced them to pay a heavy tribute. Various attempts were made by the Russian dukes to throw off the Mongolian yoke, and they were finally successful in 1554. In the mean time, Ivan, surnaraed the Great, who reigned from 14G2 to 1505, subjected all dependent principalities to his rule, and thus founded one empire, upon which he assumed the title of czar. The male line of the house of Ruric became extinct in 1598, and a period of fifteen years ensued, during which both the Poles and the Swedes wrested several provinces from the empire. At length, becoming strong from internal order, the Russians drove back their foes, recovered their provinces, and elected Michael Romanow, whose mother belonged to the house of Ruric, their king. Michael, his son Alexei, and grandson Feodor III., were distinguished for integrity and capacity. On the death of Feodor III. in 1682, Peter, afterward surnamed the Great, was left as heir to the throne. But the influence of his mother, Sophia, was directed in favour of his brother Ivan, so that they were crowned together. Peter possessed a strong will and an inquisitive mind, while his brother was weak. Sophia perceived the superior ability of Peter, and by various intrigues endeavoured to keep him from his proper share in the government. But she was detected, and forced to take the veil. Peter then made a solemn entry into Moscow, and began to administer the affairs of government. His first aim was to create a standing army, according to European tactics. This he effected through the aid of foreign skill. He then determined to possess a naval force, and engaged a Dutchman named Karsten Brand to be his chief ship-builder. In 1794, the czar entered Arch- angel with several Russian vessels, and appointed Prince Romana- 53 834 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. dowski admiral of the fleet. A war -with the Porte called forth Peter's greatest exertions, and he was successful on land and sea. By the capture of Azoph, he became master of the commerce of the Black Sea. For the security of this place, he deemed it necessary to increase his naval force, and sent many young men into foreign lands to learn the art of ship-building. In April, 1697, the active czar set out on his celebrated journey through the German states. At Saardera, he caused himself to be enrolled among the workmen at ship-building, under the name of Peter Michaeloff. There he remained, faring like the other workmen, until the expiration of seven weeks, when, having mastered the art of naval construction, he went to Amsterdam, super- intended the building of a Russian ship of war, visited England, and engaged many skilful engineers and naval officers in his service, and then hurried to Moscow to suppress an insurrection of the Strelitzes. (September, 1698.) The insurgents were cruelly treated when at his THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 837 Catharine I. feet ; many were banished, and hundreds put to death. About this time, the noted Alexander Menzikoff came into favour with the czar, but he did not make a conspicuous figure until the reign of Catha- rine I. Russia assumed a new form under the active czar, who was never satisfied unless employed in making improvements, and increasing the strength as well as the civilization of his empire. Becoming involved in a war with Sweden, he was defeated by Charles XII. at Narva. But he raised a new army, and was successful. Upon the northern seas the czar gained several decided triumphs, and won the distinction of rear-admiral. The Swedes were finally defeated under the walls of Pultowa. Peter then began to reorganize his army, erect fortifications, and collect munitions of war. In the mean time the city of St. Peters- burg was founded at the moiith of the Neva, and protected by strong 838 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Catharine II. fortifications. In a war with the Turks, which followed the defeat of the king of Sweden, Peter was surrounded by a numerous enemy, and forced to purchase safety for himself and army by the sacrifice of Azoph. But in the wars against Sweden, Peter was very successful, and was hailed "vice-admiral" by Romanadowski. The great czar, who may be regarded as the founder of the Russian power, died in February, 1725. He was a man of powerful genius ; and his faults were those usually resulting from the strongest passions. Catharine I. succeeded her husband, Peter the Great. This woman, who is said to have been the daughter of a peasant, was distinguished for kindness, intelligence, and firmness. The archbishop of Plescow swore before the people and troops, that Peter, on his death-bed, had declared Catharine alone worthy to succeed him in the government, and she was accordingly proclaimed empress. But her reign lasted only until May, 1727, when she died suddenly. Peter II., grandson of Peter the Great, succeeded the empress Catharine. The male line of Romanow became extinct with him in 1730. Yet he left two daughters, Catharine and Ann. The latter ascended the throne, and was, in 1740, succeeded by her niece, who, however, was removed in 1741, and succeeded by the empress Eliza- beth, a daughter of Peter I. She died in 1762, and was succeeded by her nephew, Peter III., whose reign lasted only six months, when he was succeeded by his consort, the empress Catharine II., a woman of remarkable ability and great ambition, but too fond of pleasure and THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 839 dissipation. She was never "without her favourite, who, by the manner in which she distinguished him, was publicly designated as such. She protected commerce, improved the laws, dug canals, founded towns, endeavoured to check abuses in the different departments of the govern- ment, and encouraged literature. During her reign the Russians were victorious against the Turks, both by sea and land, and extended the bounds of their empire to the Caucasus, as well as over portions of Poland. Catharine died of apoplexy on the 9th of November, 1796. Catharine II. was succeeded by her son Paul L, who died in 1801, and was succeeded by Alexander I. Nicholas, the brother of Alex- ander I., ascended the throne in 1825, and continues to reign, exhibit- ing governmental skill, diplomatic tact, and private virtue. At present the power of Russia is felt throughout the continent, and it is con- stantly increasing. As that power will be exerted for the extension of despotism, such as exists in Russia, we cannot regard this as a desirable state of affairs. POLAND. OLAND is an extensive country in tlie northern part of Europe, reaching from the foot of the Carpathian mountains and the plains of the Ukraine to the shores of the Bal- tic, and from the 15th to the 32d degree of east longitude. Although it has ceased to constitute a sepa- rate and independent state, the country is divided from those ^Yhich surround it, by national character, language, and manners. Poland has for a thousand years been re- markable for its miserable condition. In the great convulsions produced by the incursions of the Goths and Huns, and still more in its two hundred years' struggles with the Germans, and in its civil wars, the Poles acquired a wonderful elasticity of character, compounded of 840 POLAND. 841 obstinacy and pliancy. The first Sclavonic tribes, who in the sixth century expelled the old Finnish tribes, marched up the Dnieper, and followed down the course of the Vistula, settling on both sides, and assuming diflferent names. In 840, the people between the Vistula and Warta were united under Piast, a prince of their own choice ; but they were afterward divided into small principalities under his male heirs, so that there remained no other bond of union than aflSnity of origin, a common reigning family, and a common name. In the history of this period, the names of Tarnoffski, Tamoyski, and Zollskieffski are im- mortal, as those of pure and patriotic men. In 1025, the principalities were united in one kingdom, under Boleslaus Chrobry. But internal troubles continued, the root of them being the existence of a powerful and oppressive aristocracy. The arrogance of the hierarchy, and the bitter hatred nourished between the Germans and Poles by two hun- dred years of warfare, prevented Christianity from having a beneficial influence on the country. Casimir, surnamed the Great, a wise and energetic prince, succeeded in establishing social order, but was com- pelled to yield a portion of his territory to the Germans. With him, in 1370, the male line of the Piasts became extinct. Poland then became united with Hungary, under the rule of Louis. In 1386, the Lithuanian Grand-duke Jagellon obtained the Polish crown by mar- riage and election. A diet was now established for Poland and Lithu- ania, and the united countries constituted a powerful but turbulent state. The extinction of the Jagellon dynasty in 1572, was the com- mencement of the elective monarchy. Thenceforward, party hatred divided the leaders of the nobility, and family feuds called foreign arms into the country. At home all political order had yielded to anarchy, when in the reign of John Casimir (1648-69) a law was passed by which a single deputy could negative the resolution of the rest. John Sobieski, or John III., was one of the greatest warriors of the seventeenth century. He was born in 1629. He early distinguished himself in a war against the Cossacks, and became grand marshal and general of the kingdom. He was the terror of the Tartars and Cos- sacks. On the 11th of November, 1673, he won the famous battle at Chockzim against the Turks, who lost there twenty-eight thousand men. In the following year he was elected king of Poland. When the Turks laid siege to Vienna in 1683, he hastened thither with a Polish army, and rescued the imperial city. The Turks were com- l^letely defeated ; and the valiant Sobieski sent the standard of Mohammed to the pope, with the following modest communication : <'I came, I saw, and God has conquered." This great victory saved 842 POLAND. Europe from the power of the Mohammedans. Sobieski died, much lamented, in 1696. Internal troubles followed ; and in 1704, the Swedish arms disposed of the throne of Poland. The nobility became entirely corrupt, and the strength of the country was gone. The Jews and others revolted, and every passion was thrown into a fatal rage, when Catharine II. of Russia placed her favourite, Poniatowski, on the throne. He wavered between Russian protection and Polish independence, till he lost the respect of all. Civil wars ensued, and Russia gained the control of affairs in the kingdom. In September, 1772, the Russian minister made known the resolution of the courts of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, to partition Poland among them ; and this infamous scheme was effected in September, 1773. But in March, 1794, the heroic Kosciusko became the head of the confederates of Cracow, whose object was the freedom of their country. The battle of Ra- dowid, and the relief of Warsaw, which was besieged by a Russian army, are the most glorious days in the history of the Polish nation. But without allies, fortresses, discipline, or even arms, surrounded by the armies of three mighty powers, the convulsive efforts of national despair must have been fruitless after the battle of Maziewid, and the fall of Praga. In October, 1795, the whole country was divided be- tween Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The last king died at Petersburg, in 1798. Since that time, the Poles have made several determined efforts to recover their freedom and national independence ; but the great power against which they have had to contend has overwhelmed them. The suppression of each rebellion added new rivets to their chains ; and their condition is now as miserable as it has ever been. SWEDEN. WEDEN has occasionally taken a higli rank among the powers of Europe. Its early his- tory is included in that of all Scandinavia, which we give in another place. Sweden em- braces the eastern and larger portion of the Scandinavian peninsula. Its northern pro- vinces are mostly barren, as in Norway, or covered with vast forests, while the southern provinces are fertile and well-cultivated. The climate is generally cold. From 1397 until 1521, Sweden was united with Norway under the Danish rule. At that time, the tyranny of Christian II. of Denmark was so severe that matters were driven to extremity. Gustavus Vasa, or Wasa, a descendant of the ancient kings of Sweden, had fled from 843 844 SWEDEN. Stockholm to escape the rule of Christian, and concealed himself in the forests of Dalecarlia. A massacre committed bj the king at Stockholm roused the Swedes, and favoured the eiforts for their libe- ration. Gustavus raised the national banner in Dalecarlia, and was soon joined by great numbers of his countrymen. A struggle of three years' duration ensued. The Swedes were constantly victorious, and Gustavus entered Stockholm in triumph. The king of Denmark was at length compelled to recognise the independence of Sweden, and her heroic liberator was crowned king, (a. d. 1527.) Gustavus intro- duced the Protestant reformation into the country, encouraged learn- ing and industry, and raised his kingdom from a semi-barbarous condition to a high pitch of civilization. The accession of Gustavus Adolphus to the Swedish throne, in 1611, was the beginning of a race of triumph. The Protestant cause was threatened with destruction by the Catholic power of southern Europe. Sweden was regarded as the main hope of the Protestants, and her king, Gustavus Adolphus, was chosen captain-general of the reformed league. In 1630, Gustavus took the field at the head of ten thousand Swedes and the forces of the German Protestants ; and such were his courage, activity, and originality of discipline and manoeuvring, that he was constantly victorious. The imperial armies, commanded by such generals as Tilly, Pappenheim, and Wallenstein, could not withstand him. Russia, Poland, Denmark, and Austria, united in the field, were overthrown. The splendid triumphs of Leipsic and Breitcnfeld humbled the house of Austria, and secured the civil and religious liberty of the German empire. At the battle of Lutzen, Gustavus fell in the arms of victory. (November 6, 1632.) Even after his death, his generals continued to wage that desperate war of thirty years, which resulted so triumphantly for the Protestants. At the treaty of peace which followed, Sweden obtained Pomerania and other important territories in Germany, and her power was felt in Europe until the end of the seventeenth century. Christina, the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, succeeded him upon the throne of Sweden. She was a woman of great strength of mind, with much learninci:, and a fcAV eccentricities. She honoured the famous Chancellor Oxenstiern as a father, and to his wise direction submitted her first steps in government. She did every thing in her power to promote civilization, and her court was distinguished for talent and influence. She voluntarily resigned the throne, and went into retirement. She died a Catholic and at Rome, April 19, 1689. In 1697, Charles XII. ascended the throne at the age of fifteen. Russia, Poland, and Denmark resolved to take advantage of his youth SWEDEN. 845 to strip him of his dominions ; but Charles possessed a daring that courted danger, a perseverance that no obstacles could tire, and an ambition to rival the exploits of Alexander the Great. He quickly took the field, and attacked the king of Denmark with such vigour, that he compelled him to make peace within six weeks after the decla- ration of war. He next marched against Peter, the great czar of Russia, and completely defeated a much superior force of Russians at Narva. He next entered Poland, gained victory after victory, and, at the end of two years, placed a new king ou the Polish throne, (1704.) Russia was next invaded by this bold and rapid prince ; but at the battle of Pultowa he was entirely defeated by the prodigious army under the command of the czar. (July, 1709.) He fled to Tur- key, and remained there five years. All his conquests were lost as 846 SWEDEN. rapidly as they had been won ; and Charles, on his return, was killed at the siege of Frederickshall, it is supposed by treachery, in 1718, After the death of her glorious young monarch, Sweden was reduced to the rank of a secondary power. In 1789, Gustavus III. converted the govern- ment into an absolute monarchy. On the breaking out of the French revolu- tion, Sweden joined Great Britain in a war against France. In 1810, a con- nection was formed between the Swedes and Napoleon, and an heir being wanted for the throne, Charles John Berna- dotte, one of Napoleon's ablest generals, was chosen crown-prince of Sweden. Bernadotte conciliated the people by restoring the representative form of government. Having joined the allies against Napoleon, he received Norway in compensation for Finland, of which the Russians had taken possession. Bernadotte ascended the throne in 1818, and made an excellent ruler. Dying in 1844, he was suc- ceeded by his grandson, Oscar I., the present king. Charles SII. Gustavus Vasa. Mont Blanc. SWITZERLAND. SWITZERLAND is situated between Germany and Italy, and on the west is bordered by France. The ancient name of the country was Helvetia. The people have ever been characterized by a love of freedom, indomi- table spirit, and an industrious inclination. Switzerland was a Roman province until 406 A. D., when it was conquered by the Burgun- dians and Alemanni. About A. d. 500, it fell into the hands of the Franks. After the death of Charlemagne, many Swiss counts made themselves independent, while part of the country belonged to the Burgundian empire, under the rule of the German emperors. Cantons did not then exist. But there were privileged provinces, of which Uri, Schweitz, and Under- walden elected, in 1257, Count Rodolph of Hapsburg, afterward Ger- man emperor, their protector, but refused allegiance to his son. Emperor Albert L, because he strove to grasp their privileges. It was at this time that the celebrated William Tell appeared. William Tell was a peasant of Burgeln, near Altorf. The emperor Albert wished to unite the forest towns with his hereditary estates, and proposed to them to renounce their connection with the empire, and to submit themselves to him as duke of Austria. They rejected his offers, and w^ere, in consequence, ill-treated and oppressed by the im- perial governors. In 1307, Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden formed a league, at the head of which were Walter Flirst, (Toll's father-in- 64 849 850 SWITZERLAND. law,) Arnold of jMelchtlial, and Werner Stauffocher. Tell was also active in making this league. Gessler, the Austrian governor, now pushed his insolence so far as to require the Swiss to uncover their heads before his hat, and when Tell refused to comply with this arbi- trary mandate, condemned him to shoot an apple from the head of his own son. Tell was successful in the attempt, but confessed that a second arrow which he bore was meant for Gessler, and therefore was retained. While he was crossing the lake of the Four Cantons, or lake of Lucerne, in the same boat with the governor, a violent storm arose antl threatened the skiff with destruction. Tell, as the most skilful helmsman, was set free, and he conducted the boat success- fully to the shore, but seized the chance to spring upon a rock, pushing off the boat. He had fortunately taken his bow with him, and when the governor finally escaped the storm, it was to take his death from SWITZERLAND. 851 the well-aimed shaft of William Tell. The death of Gassier was the signal for a general rising, and a most obstinate war between Switzer- land and Austria ensued. The governors were deposed, and their castles destroyed. The Swiss gained a splendid victory at Morgarton in 1315. The victories of Sempach, (July 9, 1386,) where Arnold Winkelried sacrificed his life, and of Nafels, (April 9, 1389,) gave the people security from their enemies. But in consequence of the increase of the warlike spirit, they quarrelled among themselves. In 1424, the people of the Grey League established their independ- ence, and were soon after joined by those of the other two leagues. The emperor Frederick III. then called a French army into Switzer- land to protect his family estates. The Swiss made a second Ther- mopyloe of the churchyard of St. Jacob, at Basle, where sixteen 852 SV/ITZERLAND, hundred of them withstood twenty thousand French, under the dau- phin Louis, August 26, 144-4. Through the machinations of Louis XL, of France, the Swiss now became involved in a war with Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. Charles considered that he was marching to an easy triumph over the poor and peaceful mountaineers. He took the city of Granson, and put to the sword eight hundred men by whom it was defended. But here occurred a striking illustration of the truth, that no nation, when it enters upon a war, can tell what fate awaits its efforts. On the 3d of March, 1476, the Swiss mountaineers obtained a glorious victory over their powerful enemy near Granson. The loss of this battle plunged Charles into gloom and dejection. He resolved to make an effort to retrieve his tarnished fame, and with a new army returned SWITZERLAND. 853 to Switzerland. The Swiss, under the command of the duke of Lor- raine, met him at Murten, (Morat,) on the 22d of June, and again de- feated him. On the 6th of the following October, the town of Nancy surrendered to the victors, after a long siege. At the first information of this siege, Charles of Burgundy marched to retake the city from the duke Rene. He intrusted Campo-Basso with the conduct of the attack. But that officer was a traitor, and protracted the siege until Bene with twenty thousand men came up. On the approach of this army, Campo-Basso with his troops deserted to them, leaving Charles with only four thousand men. Against the advice of his council, the rash duke persisted in risking a battle. On the 5th of January, 147T, the unequal forces met. The wing of the Burgundian army was broken and dispersed, and the centre, com- manded by the duke, attacked in front and flank. The Burgundians gave way on all sides, and Charles, carried along with the fugitives, fell into a ditch, where he was killed by the enemy. The Swiss gained a complete and glorious victory. In the camp of the Burgundians they found enough gold and silver and precious stones, as they said, to buy their country. This battle destroyed the power and influence of Bur- gundy, which was soon after swallowed up in the territories of France. The confederated cantons now aspired to conquest, the people being fired by the desire of plunder, and the nobles by ambition and glory. In 1460, they wrested Thurgau from Austria ; and from 1436 to 1450, Zurich, Schweitz, and Glarus contended for Taggerburg, till Berne decided the dispute in favour of Schweitz. From this time the can- tons bore the name of the Swiss confederacy in foreign countries. At home many struggles took place between the lovers of aristocracy and those who preferred democracy, Avhile the Swiss troops served abroad with increase of reputation for themselves, and success for those who engaged them. During the early progress of the Reformation, Swit- zerland was torn by fierce and destructive wars. But the Protestants succeeded in gaining the supremacy, and comparative peace ensued. The Swiss preserved a neutral position during the war of the Spanish succession, and exerted but small influence upon foreign afi"airs. Later, the power of France was felt in the country, and it was drawn into the bloody wars waged by that nation against the rest of Europe. After the battle of Waterloo, the allied powers proclaimed the per- petual neutrality of Switzerland and the inviolability of its soil. Since that time, the struggle between the aristocracy and the opponents of privilege denied to all have been the only events of importance in Swiss history. The government is now much more democratic than it ever was before. Costume of tlie time of Henry Vin. ENGLAND FROM THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII. TO JAMES II. ENRY VII. died in April, 1509, in the fifty- thii'd year of his age. His eldest surviving son and successor, Henry VIIL, was now in his eighteenth year. Young, handsome, and sup- posed to be amiable, he enjoyed at first a high degree of popularity. Some years before, he had been affianced to Catharine, a Spanish princess, who had previously been the wife of his deceased brother, Arthur ; he was now married to this lady, the pope having previously granted a dispensation for that purpose. For many years the reign of Henry was unmarked by any unusual incidents. The chief administration of affairs was committed to a low-born but proud churchman, the celebrated Cardinal Wolsey. The king became much engaged in continental politics ; and during a war which he carried on against France, his brother-in-law, James IV., who sided with that state, made an unfortunate irruption into the north of England, and was overthrown and slain, with the greater part of his nobility, (September 9, 1513,) at Flodden. About this time some changes of great importance to European society took place. Almost ever since the destruction of the Roman empire, the nations which arose out of it had remained in subjection to the papal see, which might be said to have inherited the universal sway of that government, but altered from an authority over the bodies 854 ENGLAND. 855 Cardinal Wolsey. of men to an empire over their minds. In the opinion of many, this authority of the Roman Catholic religion had, in the course of time, become much abused, while the religion itself was corrupted by many superstitious observances. So long as men had continued to be the thoughtless warriors and unlettered peasants which they had been in the middle ages, it is not probable that they would ever have called in question either the authority of the pope or the purity of the Catholic faith. But with knowledge, and the rise of a commercial and manu- facturing class, came a disposition to inquire into the authority of this great religious empire. The art of printing, discovered about the middle of the preceding century, and which was now rendering litera- ture accessible to most classes of the community, tended greatly to 856 ENGLAND. bring about this revolution in European intellect. The minds of men, indeed, seem at this time as if awaking from a long sleep ; and it might well have been a question with persons who had reflection, but no expe- rience, whether the change was to turn to evil or to good. AVhen men's minds are in a state of preparation for any great change, a very small matter is required to set them in motion. At Wirtemberg, in Germany, there was an Augustine monk, named Martin Luther, who became incensed at the Roman see, in conse- quence of some injury which he conceived to have been done to his order, by the pope having granted the privilege of selling indulgences to the Dominican order of friars. Being a man of a bold and inquir- ing mind, he did not rest satisfied till he had convinced himself, and many others around him, that the indulgences were sinful, and that the pope had no right to grant them. This happened about the year 1517. Controversy and persecution gradually extended the views of Luther, till he at length openly disavowed the authority of the pope, and condemned some of the most important peculiarities of the Catholic system of worship. In these proceedings, Luther was countenanced by some of the states in Germany, and his doctrines were speedily established in the northern countries of Europe. Henry VIIL, as the second son of his father, had been originally educated for the church, and still retained a taste for theological learning. He now distinguished himself by writing a book against the Lutheran doctrines ; and the pope was so much pleased with it as to grant him the title o^ JDcfender of tlte Faith. Henry was not destined, however, to continue long an adherent of the Roman pontiff. In the year 1527, he became enamoured of a young gentlewoman named Anne Boleyn, who was one of his wife's attendants. He immediately conceived the design of annulling his marriage with Catherine, and marrying this younger and more agreeable person. Finding a pretext for such an act in the previous marriage of Catherine to his brother, he attempted to obtain from the pope a decree, declaring his own marriage unlawful, and that the dispensation upon which it had pro- ceeded was beyond the powers of the former pope to grant. The pontiff (Clement VII.) was much perplexed by this request of King Henry, because he could not accede to it without offending Charles v., emperor of Germany, one of his best supporters, and the brother of Queen Catherine, and at the same time humbling the professed powers of the papacy, which weio now trembling under the attacks of Luther. Henry desired to employ the influence of his minister, Cardinal Wolsey, who had now reached a degree of opulence and pride never ENGLAND. 857 before attained by a subject of England. But Wolsej, vfith all his greatness, could not venture to urge a matter disagreeable to the pope, who was more his master than King Henry. The process went on for several years, and still his passion for Anne Boleyn continued unabated. Wolsey at length fell under the king's displeasure for refusing to serve him in this object, was stripped of all his places of power and wealth, and, in November, 1530, expired at Leicester Abbey, declaring that if he had served his God as diligently as he had his king, he would not thus have been given over in his gray hairs. The uncontrollable desire of the king to possess Anne Boleyn was destined to be the immediate cause of one of the most important changes that ever took place in England — no less than a total reformation of the national religion. In order to annul his marriage with Catherine, and enable him to marry Anne Boleyn, he found it necessary to shake off the authority of the pope, and procure himself to be acknowledged in parliament as the supreme head of the English church. His marriage with Anne took place in 1533, and in the same year was born his celebrated daughter Elizabeth. In 1536, Henry became as anxious to put away Queen Anne as he 858 ENGLAND. Death of Anne Boleyn. had ever been to rid himself of Queen Catherine. He liad contracted a passion for Jane Seymour, a young hidy then of the queen's bed- chamber, as Anne herself had been in that of Catherine. In order to gratify this new passion, he accused Anne of what appears to have been an imagin;iry frailty, and within a month from the time when she had been an honoured queen, she was beheaded (May 10) in the Tower. On the very next day he married June Seymour, who soon after died in giving birth to a son, (afterward Edward VI.) His daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, were declared illegitimate by act of parliament, and therefore excluded from the succession. Hitherto, though professing independence of Rome, Henry still maintained, and even enforced, by severe and blood}^ laws, the most of its doctrines. He now took measures for altering this system of worship to something nearer the Lutheran model, and also for sup- pressing the numerous monasteries throughout the country. Being possessed of more despotic power, and, what is stranger still, of more popularity, than any former sovereign of England, he was able to encounter the dreadful risk of ofi'ending, by these means, a vastly powerful corporation, which seems, moreover, to have been regarded with much sincere affection and respect in many parts of England. No fewer than six hundred and forty-five monasteries, two thousand three hundred and seventy-four chanteries and chapels, ninety col- ENGLAND. 859 Sir Thomas More and his family. leges, and one hundred and ten hospitals, enjoying altogether a reve- nue of £161,000, were broken up by this powerful and unscrupulous monarch. He partly seized the revenues for his own use, and partly gave them away to the persons who most actively assisted him, and who seemed best able to protect his government from the effects of such a sweeping reform. By this act, which took place in 1537, the Reformation was completed in England. Yet for many years Henry vacillated so much in his opinions, and enforced these with such severe enactments, that many persons of both religions were burnt as here- tics. It was in the southern and eastern parts of England, where the commercial classes at this time chiefly resided, that the doctrines of the Reformation were most prevalent. In the western and northern parts of the country, Catholicism continued to flourish ; and in Ireland, which was remotest of all from the continent, the Protestant faith made little or no impression. After the death of Jane Seymour, Henry married Anne of Cleves, a German princess, with whose person, however, he was not pleased; and he therefore divorced her by an act of parliament. He next married Catherine Howard, niece to the duke of Norfolk ; but had not been long united to her when he discovered that she had com- mitted a serious indiscretion before marriage. This was considered a sufficient reason for beheading the unfortunate queen, and attainting all her relations. Though Henry had thus murdered two wives, and divorced other two, and become, moreover, a monster in form as well as in his passions and mind, he succeeded in obtaining for his sixth 860 ENGLAND. Sir Thomas More, wife (1543) Catherine Parr, widow of Lord Latimer, who, it is certain, only contrived to escape destruction by her extraordinary prudence. Almost all who ever served Henry VIII. as ministers, either to his authority or to his pleasures, were destroyed by him. Wolsey was either driven to suicide, or died of a broken heart : Thomas Cromwell, who succeeded that minister, and chiefly aided the king in bringing about the Reformation — Sir Thomas More, lord chancellor, the most virtu- ous, most able, and most consistent man of his time — the earl of Surrey, who was one of the most accomplished knights of the age, and the first poet who wrote the English language with perfect taste — all suf- fered the same fate with Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. When James IV. died at Flodden, in 1518, the Scottish crown fell ENGLAND. 861 Henrv VIII. to Ills infant son, James Y., who struggled through a turbulent minority, and was now a gay, and, upon the whole, an amiable prince. His uncle, Henry VIII., endeavoured to bring him into his views respecting religion ; but James, who was much in the power of the Catholic clergy, appears to have wished to become the head of the popish party in England, in the hope of succeeding, by their means, to the throne of that country. A war latterly broke out between the two monarchs, and the Scottish army having refused to fight, from a dislike to the expedition, James died (December, 1542) of a broken heart, leaving an only child Mary, who was not above a week old. Henry immediately conceived the idea of marrying his son Edward to this infant queen, by which he calculated that two hostile nations should be united under one sovereignty, and the Protestant Church in England be supported by a similar establishment in Scotland. This project, however, was resisted by the Scots, of whom very few as yet were inclined to the Protestant doctrines. Henr}'", enraged at their hesitation, sent a fleet and army, in 1544, to inflict vengeance upon them. The Scots endured with great patience the burning of their capital city, and many other devastations, but still refused the match. The government of Scotland was now chiefly in the hands of Cardinal Beaton, a man of bold and decisive intellect, who zealously applied himself to suppress the reforming preachers, and regarded the English match as likely to bring about the destruction of his religion. 862 ENGLAND. Edward VI. The slave-trade was first practised in England during this reign. The dresses of the nobles and ladies in Henry's reign were exceedingly costly and magnificent, and the court was remarkable for the splendour of the tournaments, races, shows, and other entertainments, which were held almost daily, and the king and his courtiers seemed to try which could dress in the handsomest manner, and give the most ex- travagant entertainments. Edward, the only son of Henry VIII., was ten years old at the time of his father's death. The duke of Somerset was appointed his guardian. The first thing the Protector (as the duke of Somerset was called) did, was to draw up a form or list of prayers and services to be performed in the Protestant churches ; many of these prayers are still in use. Somerset then sent an army into Scotland to oblige the Scots to marry their Queen Mary to Edward. This the Scotch refused, and a battle was fought, in which the English were victorious, but Somerset was obliged to return to England before he could pursue his advantages. Somerset then made many excellent laws, but he was (though well- meaning and kind-hearted) too weak to manage the people of England ; and his own brother. Lord Seymour of Sudeley, lord high admiral of England, formed a plot to destroy him, which was, however, defeated, and the admiral beheaded. One of the laws passed by him forbade Catholics to worship according to their own faith, and Mary, the king's sister, refusing to comply with the order, was very severely treated; but on her attempting to escape from England, she was allowed to have mass (the Catholic form of worship) performed pri- vately in her own house. ENGLAND. 863 Lady Jane Grey. The year 1549 was remarkable for riots, as the destruction of the Catholic houses of worship oifended the people of that persuasion, who consequently revenged themselves by breaking the laws, and doing much mischief. The earl of Warwick, in 1551, caused the Protector Somerset to be tried for several offences, of which, though he was declared guilty, he is generally supposed innocent. He was beheaded soon after, Warwick succeeding hira in his office. Warwick behaved very cruelly to the Catholics, many of whom were put to death for their religious sentiments. The beautiful libraries of Oxford and Cambridge were robbed of most of their gold and silver, under pre- tence of taking away Catholic relics and books, (or missals,) which were highly ornamented. The king was next persuaded to settle the crown on Lady Jane Grey, (the grand-daughter of Mary, the sister of Henry,) who was married to Lord Guildford Dudley, second son of Warwick, or, as he was now called, the earl of Northumberland. In the year 1553, the young king died, aged sixteen, some thought 8G4 ENGLAND. Lady Jane Grey refusing the cro'wn. by poison, though it was generally said to be of a consumption. His last -words were : " my Lord God, defend this realm from papistry, and maintain thy true religion, that my people may praise thy holy name, for Jesus Christ's sake." Although the country was in a very distracted state, owing to reli- gious disputes and persecutions, yet the merchants found it very advantageous, as they obtained many privileges they had not enjoyed before. Trade with Russia commenced in this reign. Edward founded Christ's Hospital, in London, for the education of boys, and several other schools in different parts of the kingdom. The amusements in this reign were of a very much graver kind than those in the time of Henry VIII. ' As soon as Edward had breathed his last, the duke of Northumber- land went to Sion-house, where Lady Jane Grey lived, and saluted her as queen ; but she, far from being ambitious of this dignity, entreated that it might not be forced upon her, and pleaded the superior claims of the two princesses. But the duke had gone too far to be stopped by the scruples of a young creature of sixteen ; and Lady Jane, who was naturally of a timid and gentle disposition, was soon persuaded by her father-in-law, and suffered herself to be proclaimed. No ap- plause followed the proclamation, and no one seconded this bold step of Northumberland. Lady Jane, after a joyless reign of ten days, thankfully returned from the royal apartments in the Tower, in which she had been placed, to the privacy of her own house ; and the Princess Mary, arriving from her retreat in Suffolk, was welcomed by the people with the loudest acclamations : for, though the consequences of her stern ENGLAND. 865 Queea Mary. bigotry were dreaded by those of the new religion, they yet dreaded still more the unprincipled character of Northumberland. When the duke saw his project entirely overthrown, he sought to save his own life by the meanest supplications. lie fell on his knees before Lord Arundel, who was sent by the queen to apprehend him ; and while in that posture, a woman rushed up to him and held a hand- kerchief to his face, which she told him was stained with the blood of his innocent victim, the duke of Somerset. Northumberland was con- demned, and beheaded on Tower-hill. His son Guildford and Lady Jane were also condemned to death ; but, on account of their youth and innocence, their sentence was not then executed, but they were kept in prison. The first act of Mary's reign showed a compassionate feeling, which raised the people's hopes of her character : she restored to liberty the old duke of Norfolk, who had languished in prison, with his unexe- cuted sentence hanging over his head, ever since the death of Henry VIIL She released also Courtenay, son of the marquis of Exeter, a young nobleman whose youth and talents had been wasting in a 55 866 ENGLAND. liaiifiiiiiii.. prison from his childhood, but who, soon after he was restored to the Avorkl, acquired a degree of grace and accomplishment that made him an ornament to the court. The queen's next act was to release Gardiner, Bonner, and Ton- stall, Avho had been deprived of liberty and of their bishopricks in the last reign ; and she hastened, with their assistance, to overturn the Reformation, and to restore the old religion, and, as much as possible, to replace every thing on its former footing. She was greatly anxious for a reconciliation Avith the pope, who, at first, made some difficulty to receive within the pale of the church such a country of heretics as England was now become ; but this difficulty was at length overcome, ENGLAND. 867 and Cardinal De la Pole was appointed legate in England. But Mary, though she could restore the mass, the praying to images, and all the other ceremonials of the Romish church, found it impossible to recover to their former uses the lands and buildino-s of the relidous houses. The foreign Protestants, who had brought many useful arts into the country, now hastily left it, and were followed by many English gentlemen, who were glad to escape from the persecutions which they foresaw were at hand. Cranmer was advised to fly, but he said he had been too much concerned in every measure of the Reformation to desert its cause. The queen had early marked him for destruction ; she was not of a temper to forget an injury, and hated him for the share he had had in her mother's divorce, which many good offices he had done for herself could never atone for in her eyes. A marriage was agreed upon between the queen and Philip of Spain, only son of Charles V., (a. d. 1554.) The match was exceed- ingly disliked by the English ; but the archduke was made to agree that the administration of the government should remain entirely with the queen and her ministers, and that no foreigner should be permit- ted to hold any public office. Still, so great was the alarm excited, that a formidable insurrection arose in Kent, which was headed by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who, having travelled in Spain, brought home such an account of Philip as added to the previous horror of him that had existed. The object of the insurrection was to dethrone Mary, and to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne ; and if her father, the duke of Suffolk, did not actually join, he at least showed some approbation of it. Wyatt, at the head of four thousand men, entered London ; but many of his followers, perceiving that no men of note joined his stand- ard, silently left him. He was summoned to surrender ; and having done so, he was tried, condemned, and executed ; four hundred of his unfortunate followers suffered with him, and four hundred more were conducted to the queen with ropes about their necks, and, falling on their knees, received their pardon. Soon afterward, Lady Jane Grey, whose fate it was always to suffer for the faults of others, was warned that she must prepare for death. The queen sent a priest of the Romish church to harass her last mo- ments, by attempting to convert her ; but her constancy was not to be shaken, and she employed the small portion of time that was left her in prayer, and in writing, in Greek, a farewell letter to her sister, in which she exhorted her to be firm in her faith. Lord Guildford Dudley was also condemned to die, and entreated 868 ENGLAND. to have a parting interview ; but Jane refused it, lest the affliction of such a meeting should overcome their fortitude. She appeared on the scaffold with a serene countenance, and declared that she had greatly erred in not having more firmly refused the crown ; but that filial reverence, and not her own ambition, had been the cause of her fault. Her father was beheaded soon after ; and the queen became so sus- picious of almost every body, that she filled the prisons with nobles and gentlemen. The time now arrived that had been fixed for the archduke's coming to England, (a. d. 1555,) but the admiral of the fleet which Mary had sent to escort him dared not take him on board, lest the sailors should commit some violence against him, such was the detestation in which he was held. At last he arrived : the marriage was celebrated at "Westminster ; and Philip, by his distant and reserved behaviour, in- creased the previous dislike of the English. From this time the chief business of parliament was to guard against the encroachments of Philip ; while Mary's only anxiety was to in- crease the power and influence of a husband on whom she doted with a troublesome fondness, though he, on his part, could with difiiculty conceal his own dislike to his unengaging partner. On one subject, however, they were perfectly agreed, namely, in the desire to extirpate heresy by the most violent and sanguinary measures. Gardiner willingly entered into the views of Philip and Mary ; but finding this work of cruelty more arduous than he had expected, he made it over to Bonner, a man of such inhumanity that he even de- lighted to see the dying agonies of the sufferers ; and would often take on himself the ofiice of executioner, adding to the misery of the poor creatures who suffered, by a mockery and levity, which, had it not been asserted by writers of undoubted credit, one would have thought impossible. In the course of the next three years, nearly three hundred persons were bui-ned alive, martyrs to their religion ; many more suffered imprisonments, fines, and lesser punishments. Two venerable and pious men, Latimer and Ridley, were among the first who perished; and they died exhorting each other to faith and courage. They were burnt, in the year 1555, in the public street at Oxford, near Baliol College. Hooper, bishop of Gloucester, was another martyr. When he was tied to the stake, and the fagots heaped about him, the queen's pardon was placed on a stool before him, and if he would have recanted, he might have stretched out his hand to take the pardon ; but he rejected it on such a condition, and died without uttering a groan. ENGLAND. 869 Latimer. If these scenes fill us with horror at the ^Yickeclness of Mary and her ministers, they also make us revere the constancy of the sufferers, •who, sustained by faith and hope, could thus abide, without a groan, the horrors of a death of extreme torture. Far from extirpating the Protestant religion, these barbarities only set the hearts of the people the more resolutely against a church which could sanction such cruelty. The English law in regard to heretics was nevertheless too mild to satisfy the ferocity of Philip, and he made an attempt to introduce the Inquisition into England, but happily without success. At the time when these executions took place, Gardiner also died. He was succeeded, as chancellor, by Heath, archbishop of York, a man of slender abilities, but of a furious zeal. Gardiner's death hastened 870 ENGLAND. that of Cranmer. The new chancellor nKule no opposition to the queen's wish that he should be put to death, and he was condemned to be burned at Oxford. In a moment of weakness, the archbishop, hoping by such a measure to preserve his life, signed a paper, in which he avowed his belief in the pope's supremacy. But IMary sent him word this should not save him, and that he must acknowledge his errors in the church before the whole people. The strength of Cranmer's mind now returned ; and, when he was brought forth to the church to make his public recantation, instead of doing so, he bitterly bewailed his momentary weakness, and asserted his firm belief in the Protestant faith. He was immediately led forth to execution ; and, when the fagots were set on fire, he stretched out ENGLAND. 871 his right hand, with Avhich he had signed the paper, and held it in the flames until it was totally consumed, without betraying any symptom of pain, saying frequently, "This hand has offended;" then, as if his mind was more at ease for having made this atonement, his counte- nance became full of peaceful serenity, and he appeared insensible to all worldly suffering. The next day the Cardinal de la Pole was made archbishop of Can- terbury ; and he showed so much lenity towards the Protestants, as to excite the displeasure of the pope. Philip, who had soon become weary of England, went, in 1555, to Flanders ; and the queen, seeing herself treated by him with indiffer- ence and neglect, spent her time in tears and lamentations, and in writing long letters to him, which he never answered, and, perhaps, never read. The more he slighted her, the more she doted on him ; and to procure money, in the hope of winning him back by supplying him with it, she loaded the people with taxes. Though every thing else in France had long been lost to the Eng- lish, they still preserved Calais, which had been guarded as the chief jewel of the crown by every English king since Edward III., who had won it. It was so strongly fortified, and had always been so well garrisoned, that the French had never even attempted to recover it. In Mary's feeble reign, the monks and bigots who composed her ministry thought more of burning heretics than of any other concern of state. They had neglected to keep the fortifications in repair ; and, to save the charge of what they supposed an unnecessary garri- son, withdrew the greater part of it during the winter months. The governor had remonstrated seriously, but in vain, against this unwise economy. The duke of Guise, general of the French array, being well informed of these circumstances, determined to attempt the recovery of the town. It was surrounded by marshes which, during the winter, were totally impassable, and could be approached on the land side only by two raised roads, defended by two castles. The duke made an attack on these castles, and soon took them, and, in the mean time, the French fleet besieged the fortifications of the town next the sea, and thus Lord Wentworth, the governor, saw himself enclosed on every side. Though Wentworth had only a few hundred men with him, he made a brave resistance ; but the town being unprovided with every thing necessary for sustaining a siege, he was obliged to surrender ; and thus the duke of Guise made himself master, in eight days, of a fort- ress that had been deemed impregnable. The news of this event struck a universal dismay all over England ; 872 ENGLAND. and the queen declared that when she died the word Calais would be found engraved upon her heart. Mary's health visibly declined from this time. The neglect of Philip, and her own disappointment at having no children, a blessing she vehemently desired, all preyed upon her health. She dragged on a few miserable months, and died Nov. 17, 1558, in the forty-third year of her age, and the sixth of her reign. The Cardinal de la Pole died on the same day with the queen, and left an unsullied name behind him. Queen Elizateth. ^^iy;?^^^ARY'S sister Elizabeth Avas welcomed to the crown "'" ' by general acclamation. She was about twenty- five when she passed as it were from a prison to a throne. The remembrance of her misfortunes gave an eclat to her merit. After having thanked Heaven for her deliverance, as for a miracle, she seemed to forget all the injuries of her enemies. Even he who had been her keeper, when in prison, found her not actuated by revenge. The ambitious Philip II., the late husband of ENGLAND. 873 John Knos. Mary, made her proposals of marriage, but the queen, unwilling to have a master, eluded his ofiers, without appearing to reject them. When the queen came to the throne, she found an interval of peace necessary, in order to restore the shattered state of her finances, and to make the kingdom flourish. She therefore concluded a peace with France. In the mean time, the court of France gave great umbrage to Elizabeth. Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland, niece of the Guises, and wife of Francis II., who soon succeeded Henry, his father, con- tested the legitimacy of Elizabeth's birth, in order one day to dispute the crown with her ; and she took the arms and title of the queen of England. The Guises added fire to her ambition, and waited only for 874 ENGLAND. a favourable opportunity of confirming her triumph. Elizabeth did not slumber on the brink of danger, and the troubles of Scotland afforded her the means of preventing it. Religious feuds in that king- dom rose to the most outrageous heights. At the head of the Pro- testant party were people of the first distinction, ■who established a society denominated the Congregation of Jesus, (December, 1557.) The famous John Knox kindled and kept alive the religious zeal of the Scots, and these revolters had recourse to Elizabeth for protection. In vain did Francis II. offer to restore Calais on condition of her observing neutrality. She answered that a fishing-town was of small consequence compared with the security of her dominions. She entered into negotiations with the Scotch reformers, and a very humi- liating treaty was signed at Edinburgh, by which the king of France and Mary Stuart renounced the arms of England, together with the title they had assumed. The reign of the queen of Scots was unfortunate. After some years of turbulent government, and the endurance of much humiliation, she was opposed by many of her nobility and subjects in arms. A battle fought at Langside, near Glasgow, A. d. 15G8, was decisive against the young queen, and she fled with precipitation to the borders of Eng- land, where she hoped for protection from Elizabeth, who, instead of protecting her, ordered her to be put in confinement in Tutbury castle, yet treated her with all proper marks of respect.* The duke of Norfolk, one of the first peers in England in point of birth and fortune, and who was beloved and respected by the people, flattered himself with the hope of marrying Mary. The sentiments of that princess were consulted, to which she replied that her repug- nance to a new marriage should give way to the public good, &c. Norfolk at first agreed to conclude nothing without the consent of Elizabeth ; but, despairing to obtain that consent, he sought to form a party capable of supporting his interests. The kings of France and Spain, being privately consulted, approved his design. Cecil, secre- tary of state to Elizabeth, got intelligence of the conspiracy, and the queen one day told Norfolk to take care on what pillow he reposed his head. The duke, with many of the conspirators, was arrested. In the mean time, to quiet the partisans of Mary, Elizabeth affected to negotiate in her favour, and to give testimonies of her attachment ; but political motives disguised her real sentiments. Pius V., unable to gain her friendship, aimed against her the thunders of the Vatican. * For the events connected with Mary Queen of Scots till she was imprisoned in England, see the account under the head of Scotland, in the former part of this volume. ENGLAND. 875 Cecil, Lord Burleigh. He excommunicated her, and affected to deprive her of her crown, by absolving her subjects from the oath of allegiance. In 1588, Philip II. of Spain meditated a most formidable invasion of England. All the ports of Naples, Sicily, Spain, and Portugal contributed to the immense preparations for the expedition, and the "Invincible Armada," as the Spaniards called it, threatened the annihilation of the English. The magnanimity of Elizabeth showed itself in this juncture. Her fleet at this time consisted of no more than twenty-eight sail. The maritime towns, the nobility, and gentry testified the greatest zeal on this occasion ; even the Catholics them- selves discovered patriotic sentiments. London fitted out thirt}'- ships. The land forces were superior in number to those of Spain, and they were ready to sacrifice their lives to liberty and the laws. The queen appeared on horseback before the camp at Tilbury, harangued her army, expressed her entire confidence in it, assured them that she would march at their head, and not only behold, but reward, their bravery. " My arm," said she, '< is but the arm of a woman, but I have the heart of a king, and, what is more, of a king of England," 876 ENGLAND. n-tf Elizabeth haranguing her troops at Tilbury. and added, that she would sooner die in the field of battle than survive the ruin of her people. The enthusiasm cauglit every breast, and the ■whole army partook of the ardour of the heroine. The "Invincible Armada," first detained by the death of the admiral, and secondly by a tempest, put to sea a third time, with a hundred and thirty ships, and twenty thousand soldiers on board, besides eight thousand seamen, and advanced full sail towards Ply- mouth, occupying a space of seven miles in length. The duke of Parma engaged to meet them with a large army from the Netherlands. But human hopes are often the sport of fortune. An armament, till then unparalleled on the ocean, and calculated at once to excite terror and amazement, was soon overwhelmed. Admiral Effingham, ably seconded by Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, played his cannon against the enemy's heavy vessels with success. Two of the Spanish galleons were first disabled and taken. To increase their confusion, Howard filled eight of his smaller ships with combustible materials, and sent them as fire-ships among the enemy. The Spaniards fled in great disorder, while the English took or destroyed twelve of their vessels. A violent storm completed the ruin of the invincible fleet. As it was returning through the Orkneys, seventeen ships, with five thousand men on board, were cast away on the Western Isles and the coast of Ireland. Not half the number of vessels returned to Spain. ENGLAND. 8T7 Philip is reported to have said, <' I sent my fleet to combat the Eng- lish, not the elements," and he thanked God that the calamity was not greater. Nothing is more seductive than victory. The English now thought of nothing less than of taking Portugal from Philip. Of those who made the most signal figure in the depredations upon the enemy was the young earl of Essex, a nobleman of bravery and genius, who risked every thing for glory. One of the queen's favourite ministers, Leices- ter, died in 1588, and the earl of Essex became his successor. He became also the professed rival of the sage Burleigh and the cele- brated Raleigh. His interest in the queen's aftections promoted his interest in the state, and he conducted all things at his discretion. In a debate before the queen between him and Burleigh, he carried matters so high as to turn his back upon the queen with an air of dis- respect : Elizabeth in her anger gave him a box on the ear. Instead of recollecting himself, and making that submission due to her sex and station, he clapped his hand to his sword, and swore he would not endure such an affront, even from her father. His friend the chan- cellor advised him to make due apology to the queen, and to consider his duty and his fortune ; which he refused. But the queen's affection for him was so strong, that she forgot or overlooked the offence. 878 ENGLAND. 'kV The troubles of Ireland opened a new scene for the ambition of Essex, and he rashly ran upon a fatal career. That kingdom, though it had been under the government of England nearly four hundred years, was still in an uncivilized state. The attachment of the Irish to the church of Rome heightened their aversion to their Protestant oppressors. So outrageous was their fury, that in one revolt they put to death all the inhabitants of the town of Athamy, because they began to be civilized, by adopting the English manners. To subdue these disorders was an employment that Essex thought worthy of his ambition ; though the queen, for the execution of this design, had cast her eyes on Lord Mountjoy. Essex was appointed ; and an army of twenty thousand men was raised, not doubting that the first cam- paign would be decisive. The first acts of Essex, as governor of Ireland, were opposed to the wishes of the queen, both in the choice of a master of the horse, and in the march of the army ; and after an ineffectual struggle, in which his forces were greatly weakened, he concluded a suspension of arms. The queen did not fail to signify to him her dissatisfaction, and com- manded him to continue in Ireland till further orders. But he pre- cipitately left Ireland, arrived in London, and presented himself before the queen. Elizabeth gave him a kind reception, but he was ordered to be accountable for his conduct to the privy council, and was kept ENGLAND. 879 Elizabetli signing the deatli warrant of Ess^x. sequestered from all society. This humbled his pride. He fell sick, and his life was thought to be in danger. The queen shoA^ed herself greatly interested in his recovery, and that proof of her tenderness was apparently his most effectual remedy. In the mean time, Mountjoy, appointed to the command of Ireland, conducted himself with great dexterity and success. Essex was tried before the privy council, and the chancellor's sentence is remarkable. "If the earl of Essex," said he, <'had been tried in the star-chamber, I should have condemned him to perpetual imprisonment in the Tower, and should have laid a heavier fine upon him than ever was known in that court ; but as we are in the train of favour, I declare that he be deprived of his offices and functions, remanded to his house, and con- tinue there a prisoner during the queen's pleasure." Essex lost all hopes of being restored to the queen's favour, and flew to revenge. To increase the number of his partisans, he paid his court to the Catholics, and even flattered himself that he mio-ht gain over the Puritans. His house was a kind of pulpit, where the fervours of fanaticism constantly discharged themselves, and the imprudent Essex did not spare the queen in his discourses. He repre- sented her as an old woman, whose temper was as crooked as her person. Elizabeth was informed of it ; and being extremely sensitive on the subject of her beauty, though now almost seventy, she felt this injury as a woman and as a queen. Every step the earl took in the intoxication of his passion brought him nearer to the precipice. He attached him.self to the king of Scotland ; he formed a plan for a revolt ; and he resolved Avith his partisans to attack the palace, to oblige the 880 ENGLAND. The Earl of Esses. queen to call a parliament, and change tlie administration of government. He flattered himself that the inhahitants of London would take up arms at the first signal ; but the court, being informed of the plot, had taken proper measures to suppress it. Essex appeared in town, ac- companied by two hundred men. His seditious exhortations were without effect. He was pursued, and notwithstanding his bravery, sub- mitted at discretion, (a. d. IGOl.) His trial was soon finished ; his crime was notorious. Far from making his defence, he gave himself up to sentiments of religion. He not only acknowledged himself guilty, but impeached his friends, a circumstance of the most infamous baseness. The queen, in great agitation, balanced between justice and cle- mency. She felt the revival of an ill-extinguished passion, and if the earl would have solicited her pardon, love would certainly have granted it. He was executed in the Tower, to prevent popular commotions ; for the people, by whom he was too much beloved, were irritated by his death. This illustrious criminal was not more than thirty-four years of age, descended from a royal lineage on the female side, and endowed with superior talents and heroic qualities. ENGLAND. 881 Francis Bacon, (Lord Verulam.) Although Philip II. of Spain died in 1598, that court, still animated by the same counsels, sent troops to Ireland. Religion served as the pretext to the enterprises of ambition and of rebellion. The commander took the title of " General in the Holy War for the Preservation of the Faith," and his measures were authorized by the bulls of Rome. Mountjoy foresaw this storm. He attacked the Spaniards and the Irish rebels ; drove away the former, subdued the latter, and by a conduct equally prudent and vigorous, completed in a few years the reduction of Ireland. The last two years of Elizabeth furnish no memorable event. In the midst of her prosperity and her glory, she fell into a profound melan- choly ; some consider it as an eiFect of her passion for Essex. After the expedition of Cadiz, it is said she gave him a ring, promising him that in whatever circumstances he might be, the sight of that pledge would induce her to favour him. Essex, when under sentence of death, intrusted the countess of Nottingham to carry the ring to Elizabeth ; but the earl of Nottingham, his enemy, prevented it. The queen waited for the ring with the utmost impatience, and, not receiving it, she signed the death-warrant. At last, the countess, in a violent illness, stung with remorse, confessed the whole to her. Outrageous and inconsolable, Elizabeth at first abandoned herself to her wrath ; afterward to all the bitterness of remorse. 66 882 ENGLAND. James I. A miserable languor soon reduced her to the last extremity. The council sent to consult her with regard to her successor ; she named the king of Scotland, her nearest relation, and died at the age of sixty- nine, after a reign of forty-four years, (a. d. 1603.) This princess, too much exalted by flattery, too much blackened by censure, will always, notwithstanding her faults, hold a place among the greatest monarchs. The firmness, the prudence, and the glory of her government, her policy, her vigilance, her heroism, her unavari- cious economy, and her address in difficulties, give a triumph to her reputation. In this reign flourished Spenser, Shakspearc, Francis Bacon, (Lord Verulam,) &c. James VI. of Scotland, and the First of England, was the son of Mary, queen of Scots. lie was married to Anne of Denmark. The English nation appeared to be greatly interested in his favour. He began his reign by lavishing titles and favours, of which the Scots had the greater part ; on which account the English were off'ended. James, however, employed Englishmen in the administration, and among others, Cecil, secretary of state, who was created earl of Salisbury. ENGLAND. 883 Sir Walter Raleigh. A conspiracy, which has never been sufficiently cleared up, "U'as excited in the beginning of this reign. Lord Grey, Lord Cobham, and Sir Walter Raleigh \,-ere condemned to die ; the two former were pardoned after they had laid their heads on the block. Raleigh was respitecl, but remained in confinement for many years, and at last suffered for his offence. Secure from this danger, James turned his attention to theological disputes. The severities of Elizabeth had restrained the partisans of the church of Rome ; but the fanaticism of the Puritans was a matter more difficult to subdue. Nevertheless, he v/as willing that the divines of the church of England should hold a conference with them at Hampton Court. The objects of the controversy were mostly the ceremonies, and not the doctrines. Some small change in the liturgy was the only fruit of this conference. Each party retained its preju- dices, wdth all the animosity they inspired. From this time the parliament began to assume a more liberal spirit. The love of liberty had increased with the taste that now prevailed for letters. From the spirit of independence, the parliament opposed the union of the kingdoms of Scotland and England ; a union Avhich true policy must have considered as the greatest advantage. They also refused the king a supply Avhich he wanted. This conduct of parlia- ment showed the new principles that were taking root in the nation. 884 ENGLAND. Anne of Denmark, wif j of James I. James did not foresee the consequences. He relied on the rights of the crown, without imagining that his subjects could have any rights to set against them. His weakness and timidity, rather than any political motives, made him conclude a peace with Spain. But a great conspiracy disturbed that tranquillity so favourable to his indolence. The Catholics, per- suaded at first that the son of Mary would certainly favour their religion and mitigate their laws, enraged at finding themselves treated with the same rigour, indulged in the principles of a blind zeal. Catcsby and Piercy, men of distinguished birth, united in a project of establishing their religion on the ruins of every thing that was great in the kingdom. The king, the royal family, and the parliament were to be involved in one common ruin. For the execution of this incre- dible enterprise, there were twenty conspirators mutually sworn to fidelity. Thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were concealed under the hall where the parliament assembled. The secret did not transpire. The day of execution was at hand. Happily, Lord Mounteagle, a Catholic, was advised by an anonymous letter not to appear in the parliament house. The parliament, it was said, would receive a dread- ful blow, without knowing from what quarter it came. ENGLAND. 885 Seizure of Guy Faux. Mounteagle consulted Lord Salisbury, secretary of state, and though at first they gave but little credit to the letter, they commu- nicated it to the king. James judged differently. The vaults were searched, the powder was discovered, and one of the conspirators, Guido Faux, was taken. The fear of torture at length compelled him to declare his accomplices. They, having fled to Warwickshire, stood upon their defence, though so few in number. Their powder failing, great part of them were killed. Some of them, being conveyed to prison, confessed their crime and were executed ; others experienced the king's mercy. Two Jesuits, Garnet and Oldcorne, it is said, were privy to the plot, and had abused the confession to confirm the will of the culprits. Garnet was executed with the rest. About the year 1617, James turned his views to Scotland. He was extremely desirous of establishing there the mode of worship and doc- trines of the church of England. In that country fanaticism had raged with all its horrors, and the Scots had expressed an extreme aversion to these and like ceremonies. In England, also, from a persuasion that holidays were intended not only for the honour of God, but as a relaxation from labour, he ordered that, after divine service, all manner of harmless amusements might be exercised, which gave great offence to many conscientious minds. The famous Sir Walter Raleigh, during his imprisonment of thirteen years, had written several learned woi'ks, and the favourable disposition of the public, who thought such a valuable citizen ought to be restored ENGLAND. Pvalcigli attaching St, a.hoi±iris. to the state, increased his desire and his hope of liberty ; and he ex- pected to obtain it by publishing that in the reign of Elizabeth he had discovered in Guiana a gold mine of immense value. James, though not much struck "with so improbable a report, gave him the command of twelve ships ; and Sir Walter, in 161G, arrived on the coast of Gui- ana, and attacked the town of St. Thomas, belonging to the Spaniards, notwithstanding the peace concluded between Spain and England. The place was taken, but no treasure found. This called down the re- proaches of those whom he had undertaken to command, and they compelled him to return with them to England, to answer for his con- duct, lie and his companions were examined before the privy council. In the course of his trial he is said to have shown great coolness and ability, and to have displayed not less of intrepidity at the time of his execution. James died in 1625, afflicted to see that peace which he had main- tained during his whole reign, and to the preservation of Avhich he had sacrificed the able and accomplished Raleigh, broken at last. James was liberal, but at the same time extravagant ; his profusion made him indigent. The English took advantage of it, and made themselves his masters. Elizabeth's economy was the greatest security of her prerogative. James's eldest son. Prince Henry, a promising young man, died during his father's reign. ENGLAND. 887 Prince Henry, son of James I. James I. was succeeded by Charles L, of a harsh and arbitrary temper, who (a. d. 1625) endeavoured to put into practice the specu- lative tenets of his father. He saw not the state of the nation. English liberty had made great progress under the Plantagenets : cir- cumstances enabled the Tudors nearly to crush it; but with the growth of wealth and the freedom of religious opinion, the spirit of the nation had recovered its vigour. Charles was suspected, on account of his marriage with Henrietta, sister to the king of France, a bigoted Catholic, and his partiality toward the professors of that religion, of a secret design against Protestantism. The Puritans, now a numerous party, were bitterly hostile to the church of England ; and the persecuting violence and silly superstition of Archbishop Laud augmented their rancour. Refused the necessary supplies by the par- liament, without giving some security for liberty, the king had recourse to all the illegal modes of taxation employed by his predecessors. Tonnage and poundage were levied ; all the oppressions of feudalism renewed ; for more than ten years no parliament assembled. An attempt being made to force Episcopacy upon the Scots, (a. d. 1638,) that nation took arms, and entered into the solemn league and COVENANT. A dreadful rebellion broke out in Ireland, (a. d. 1641,) 888 ENGLAND. in which thousands of Protestants were barbarously massacred by the Catholics. The Long Parliament, ■which the king had assembled, advanced every day in their demands on him, and testified a spirit of determined hostility to the church. The impeachment, and illegal and unjust, though ■\vell-merited condemnation of Strafford, the king's ablest and most obnoxious minister, showed him the spirit by "which they -were actuated. Charles, though reluctantly, still yielded to their demands ; but concession only produced further assumption. An in- vincible distrust of the king's sincerity, for -which, indeed, there was abundant reason, haunted the minds of the parliament, and prevented all accommodation. Both parties finally determined on the appeal to the sword, (a. d. 1642.) The king was supported by a large proportion of the ancient no- bility and gentry of the realm, many of Avhom had at first been zealous in checking the royal excesses ; but now, seeing the exorbitant de- mands of the commons, resolved to sustain the throne. The Cathohcs were naturally unanimous in his favour ; the western counties were in ENGLAND. (M\W\ \\Vv 889 StrafTord. general well affected to him. The chief strength of the parliament lay in the cities and great towns and the eastern counties, and the lower orders were mostly on their side. It is idle to seek to extenu- ate the faults on either side ; to represent the one party as the cham- pions of right and justice, the other as the inveterate foes of both. Each had much, indeed, to answer for. It was a struggle the probable termination of which would be tyranny or anarchy ; yet the king ap- pears to have had no alternative left him but civil war. On the 25th of August, 1641, the king erected his standard at Not- tingham, and soon found himself at the head of an army of ten thou- sand men. The parliament had superior forces and a better supply of arms ; but both parties were very ignorant of the art of war. The king commanded his own army in person, and the parliamentary forces were put under the charge of the Earl of Essex. The first battle took place October 23, at Edgehill, in AYarwick- shire, where the king had rather the advantage, though at the expense of a great number of men. He gained some further triumphs before the end of the campaign, but still could not muster so large an army as the parliament. During the winter, the parties opened a negotia- tion at Oxford ; but the demands of the parliament being still deemed too great by the king, it came to no successful issue. Early in the ensuing season, the king gained some considerable advantages ; he defeated a parliamentary army under Sir William Waller at Stratton, and soon after took the city of Bristol. It only 890 ENGLAND. Battle of Edgehill. remained for him to take Gloucester, in order to confine the insurrec- tion entirely to the eastern provinces. It was even thought at this time that he might have easily obtained possession of London, and thereby put an end to the war. Instead of making such an attempt, he caused siege to be laid to Gloucester, which the army of Essex relieved, when it was just on the point of capitulating. As the par- liamentary army was returning to London, it was attacked by the royal forces at Newbury, and all but defeated. Another royal army in the north, under the marquis of Newcastle, gained some advantages ; and, upon the Avhole, at the close of the campaign of 1643, the parliament- ary cause was not in a flourishing condition. In this war, there was hardly any respectable military quality ex- hibited besides courage. The royalists used to rush upon the enemy opposed to them, without any other design than to cut down as many as possible, and, when any part of the army was successful, it never returned to the field while a single enemy remained to be pursued ; the consequence of which was, that one wing was sometimes victorious, while the remainder was completely beaten. The parliamentary troops, ENGLAND. 891 Oliver Croraweil. thoiigli animated by an enthusiastic feeling of religion, were somewhat steadier, but nevertheless had no extensive or combined plan of mili- tary operations. The first appearance of a superior kind of discipline was exhibited in a regiment of horse commanded by Oliver Cromwell, a gentleman of small fortune, who had been a brewer, but was destined, by great talent, hypocrisy, and address, joined to an unrelenting dis- position, to rise to supreme authority. Cromwell, though himself in- experienced in military affairs, showed, from the very first, a power of drilling and managing troops which no other man in either army seemed to possess. Hence his regiment soon became famous for its exploits. The royal successes of 1643 distressed alike the English parliament and the Scottish nation, who now began to fear the loss of all the political meliorations they had wrested from the king. The two par- liaments therefore entered, in July, into a Solemn League and Cove- nant, for prosecuting the war in concert, with the view of ultimately settling both church and state in a manner consistent with the liberties of the people. In terms of this bond, the Scots raised an army of twenty-one thousand men, who entered England in January, 1644, and, on the 1st of July, in company with a large body of English forces, overthrew the king's northern army on Long Marston Moor. The defeat at Long Marston was severely felt by the king. He 892 ENGLAND. Costume of a Puritan, (time of Charles I.) gained a victory over Waller at Copedry Bridge, and caused Essex's army to capitulate in Cornwall, (September 1 ;) but in consequence of a second fight at Newbury, (October 27,) in which he suffered a defeat, he was left at the end of the campaign with greatly diminished resources. A new negotiation was commenced at Uxbridge ; but the terms ashed by the parliament were so exorbitant as to show no sin- cere desire of ending the war. In truth, though the Presbyterian party were perhaps anxious for peace, there Avas another party, now fast rising into importance, who had no such wishes. These were the Independents, a body of men who wished to see a republic established in the state, and all formalities whatever removed from the national religion. Among the leaders of the party was Cromw^ell, whose mind seems to have already become inspired with lofty view^s of personal aggrandizement. This extraordinary man had suScient address to carry a famous act called the Self-denying Ordinance, which ostensibly aimed at depriving all members of the legislature of commands in the army, but had the effect only of displacing a few noblemen who were obnoxious to his designs. He also carried an act for modelling the army anew, in which process he took care that all who might be ex- pected to oppose his views should be excluded. It was this party, ENGLAND. 893 Costume of a Cavalier, (time of Charles I.) more particularly, that prevented any accommodation taking place between tlie king and his subjects. The English campaign of 1645 ended in the complete overthrow of the king. Throughout the war, his enemies had been continually improving in discipline, in conduct, and in that enthusiasm which ani- mated them so largely, Avhile the royalists had become, out of a mere principle of opposition, so extremely licentious as to be rather a terror to their friends than to their enemies. The new-modelling of the parliamentary army, which took place early in 1645, had also added much to the effectiveness of the troops, who were now nominally com- manded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, but in reality by Oliver Cromwell, who bore the rank of lieutenant-general. The consequence was, that, in a pitched battle at Naseby, (June 14,) the king was so completely beaten that he and his party could no longer keep the field. He had no resource but to retire into Oxford, a town zealously affected to his cause, and well fortified. He subsequently threw himself into the hands of the Scotch leaders, who delivered him up to the parliament for a sum of money. After being kept for some time in confinement, he was brought to trial by 894 ENGLAND. Lc-LiLli of Charlos I. the parliament, condemned and beheaded. His death took place on the 30th of January, 1G49. Though the execution of the king produced a considerable reaction in favour of royalty, the small remaining part of the House of Com- mons, "which got the ridiculous nickname of the Rump, noAV established a republic, under the title of the Commonwealth, the executive being trusted, under great limitations, to a council of forty-one members, while in reality Cromwell possessed the chief influence. The House of Peers was voted a grievance, and abolished, and the peoj)le were declared to be the legitimate source of all power. Soon after the king's death, the duke of Hamilton and a few other of his chief adherents were executed. During the progress of the civil war, Ireland had been the scene of almost ceaseless contention among the various parties of the king, the English House of Commons, and the Catholics, none of which could eifectually suppress the rest. The most remarkable event was a secret agreement which Charles made, in 1(346, with the earl of Glamorgan, to establish the Catholic religion in Ireland, on condition that its partisans should assist him in putting dovrn his enemies in England and Scotland ; a transaction which ultimately injured his reputation, without leading to any solid advantage. At the time of ENGLAND. 895 Landing of Charles II. in Scotland. his execution, the royalists were in considerable strength under the duke of Ormond, while Hugh O'Neill was at the head of a large party of Catholics, who were not indisposed to join the other party, provided they could be assured of the establishment of their religion. While the two parties in union could have easily rescued the country from the English connection, Cromwell landed (August, 1649) with twelve thousand horse and foot, and, in a series of victories over the scattered forces of his various opponents, succeeded without any great difficulty in asserting the sway of the commonwealth. One of his most important actions was the capture of Drogheda, where he put the garrison and a number of Catholic priests to the sword, in order to strike terror into the nation. The people of Scotland, who had had scarcely any other object in the civil war than the establishment of their favourite form of worship, and were sincere friends to a limited monarchy, heard of the death of the king with the greatest indignation, and immediately proclaimed his eldest son Charles. Early in 1650, the young monarch, who had taken refuge in Holland, sent Montrose with a small force to attempt a Cavalier insurrection in Scotland ; but this nobleman being taken and put to death, Charles found it necessary to accede to the views of the Scots respecting the Presbyterian religion, and he was accordingly brought over and put at the head of a considerable army, though under great restrictions. Cromwell, who had now nearly completed the con- quest of Ireland, lost no time in returning to London, and organizing an army for the suppression of this new attempt against the common- wealth. On the 19th of July he crossed the Tweed, and advanced through a deserted country to Edinburgh, where the Scottish army lay in a 896 ENGLAND. Charles II. in fhe woods at Boscobel. fortified camp. Sickness in his army and the want of provisions soon after compelled him to retreat ; and the Scottish army, following upon his rear, brought him into a straitened position near Dunbar, where he would soon have been under the necessity of surrendering. In the midst of his perplexities, (September 3,) he beheld the Scots advancing from the neighbouring heights to give him battle, and in a transport of joy, exclaimed, " The Lord hath delivered them into our hands !" The movement was solely the result of interference on the part of the clergy who followed the Scottish camp ; the better sense of General Leslie would have waited for the voluntary surrender of his enemy. In the fight which ensued, the veteran troops of Cromwell soon proved victorious. The Scots fled in a panic, and were cut doAvn in thousands by their pursuers. This gained for Cromwell the possession of the capital and of all the southeast provinces ; but the Covenanters still made a strong appearance at Stirling. Cromwell spent a whole year in the country, vainly endeavouring to bring on another action. During the interval, (January 1, 1651,) the Scots crowned the young king at Scone, part of the ceremony ENGLAND. 897 Admiral De Ruyter. consisting in his acceptance of the Solemn League and Covenant. In tlie ensuing summer, Cromwell at length contrived to outflank the position of the Scottish army ; but the result was, that Charles led his troops into England without opposition, and made a very threatening advance upon the capital. Ere the royalists had time to rally around him, Cromwell overtook the king at AYorcester, where, after a stoutly contested fight (September 3, 1G51,) he proved completely victorious. Charles, after many narrow escapes, including his hiding in the wood at Boscobel, with great difficulty, escaped abroad, and Scotland, no longer possessed of a military force to defend itself, submitted to the conqueror. All the courts of the Scottish church were suppressed, and the ministers were left no privilege but that of preaching to their flocks. The country was kept in check by a small army under Gene- ral Monk, and in a short time was declared by proclamation to be united with England. Thus was the Independent party, or rather Cromwell, left without a single armed enemy. All the efi'orts of the people during twelve years to obtain limitations upon the monarchy had ended in a military despotism. After the country and its dependencies had been thoroughly settled under the new government, the republican leaders resolved upon com- mencing hostilities against Holland, which, during the civil war, had manifested a decided leaning towards the king, and had recently treated the triumphant party with marked disrespect. In the sum- mer of 1652, the Dutch fleet, under its famous commanders, Van Tromp, De Ruyter, and De Witt, had several encounters with the 57 898 ENGLAND. Crorawell dismissing the Parliament. English ships, under Admirals Blake and Ayscue, without any decided success on either side. But in the ensuing spring, an action was fought between Blake and Van Tromp, in which the latter lost eleven ships. The Dutch then sued for peace, which the Rump Parliament, for various reasons, were little inclined to grant. Their principal motive for prosecuting the war was a conviction that it tended to restrict the power of Cromwell, to whom they now paid by no means a willing obedience. CroniAvell, perceiving their design, proceeded with three hundred soldiers to the house, (April, 1G53,) and entering with marks of the most violent indignation, loaded the members with reproaches for their robbery and oppression of the public ; then stamp- ing with his foot, he gave signal for the soldiers to enter, and, address- ing himself to the members, "For shame !" said he ; " get you gone ! give place to honcster men ! I tell you you are no longer a parlia- ment; the Lord hath done with you!" He then commanded "that bauble," meaning the mace, to be taken away, turned out the mem- bers, and, locking the door, returned to Whitehall with the key in his pocket. Being still willing to keep up the appearance of a representative government, Cromwell summoned one hundred and forty-four persons in England, Ireland, and Scotland, to assemble as a parliament. These individuals, chiefly remarkable for fanaticism and ignorance, were denominated the Barehoncs Parliament, from the name of one of the ENGLAND. 899 Crom-T^ell refusing tlie crown. members, a leather-seller, Avliose assumed name, by a ridiculous usage of the age, was Praise-God Barebones. As the assembly obtained no public respect, Cromwell took an early opportunity of dismissing it. His officers then constituted him Protector of the Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ireland, with most of the prerogatives of the late king. At one time he was formally offered the crown, but thought it politic to refuse it. The war against Holland was still carried on with great spirit. In the summer of 1653, two naval actions, in which both parties fought with the utmost bravery, terminated in the triumph of the English and the complete humiliation of the Dutch, who obtained peace on the condition of paying homage to the English flag, expelling the young king from their dominions, and paying a compensation for certain losses to the East India Company. In a war which he subsequently made against Spain, the fleets of the protector performed some exploits of not less importance. The respect which he thus gained for the English name throughout Europe is one of the brightest points in his singular history. But while generally successful abroad, he experienced unceasing difiiculties in the management of affairs at home. Of the various parliaments which he summoned, no one was found so carefully composed of his own creatures as to yield readily to his will : he was obliged to dissolve them all in succession, after a short trial. He also experienced great difficulty in raising money, and sometimes applied 900 ENGLAND. General Mon'k. for loans in tlie city witliout success. His own officers could scarcely be kept in subordination, but were constantly plotting a reduction of his authority. The royalists, on the other h>and, never ceased to con- spire for his destruction ; one, named Colonel Titus, went so far as to recommend his assassination in a pamphlet entitled " Killing no Mur- der," after reading which he was never seen again to smile. The last parliament called by Cromwell was in January, 1656 ; when, besides the commons, he summoned the few remaining peers, and endeavoured by ennobling some of his officers, to make up a kind of upper house. This assembly proved as intractable as its prede- cessors, and he contracted such a disgust at the very nature of a representative legislature, as to resolve, like Charles I., never to call another. His health finally sank under the effects of his ill-gotten power, and he died on the 3d September, 1658, a day which was thought to be propitious to him, as it was the anniversary of several of his victories. His eldest son Richard, a weak young man, succeeded him as protector, and was at first treated with all imaginable respect ; but he could not long maintain a rule which even his father had ulti- mately failed in asserting. He quietly slunk out of public view, leav- ing the supreme authority in the hands of the Rump, which had taken the opportunity to reassemble. This remnant of an old parliament continued in power till the autumn of 1659, when it gave way to a council of the officers who had been in command under Cromwell. The latter government, in its turn, yielded to the Rump, which sat down once more in December. ENGLAND. 901 Charles II. entering London. The people, finding themselves made the sport of a few ambitious adventurers, began to long for some more fixed and respectable kind of government. At this crisis, General Monk, commander of the forces in Scotland, conceived the design of settling the nation. He left Scotland (January 2, 1660) with a considerable army ; and though he kept his thoughts scrupulously to himself, all men bent their eyes upon him, as a person destined to realize their hopes. He reached London, (February 3,) and was received Avith feigned respect by the Rump. Some resistance was attempted by Lambert, one of Cromwell's ofiicers, but in vain. Ere long, Monk was able to procure the restoration of the members who had been excluded from parliament by Cromwell, who, being a majority, gave an immediate ascendency to anti-republican views. As soon as this was effected, an act was passed for calling a new and freely-elected parliament ; after which, the existing assembly immediately dissolved itself. The new parliament proved to be chiefly composed of Cavaliers and Presbyterians, men agreeing in their attachment to monarchy, though differing in many other views. After some cautious procedure, in which the fears inspired by the late military tyranny were conspicu- ous, they agreed to invite the king from his retirement in Holland, and to restore him to the throne lost by his father. They were so glad to escape from the existing disorders, that they never thought of making any preliminary arrangement with the king as to the extent of his pre- rogative. On the 29th of May, being his thirtieth birthday, Charles IL entered London amid such frantic demonstrations of joy, that he 902 ENGLAND. Costume of the Court in the time of Charles II. could not help thinking it his own fault, as he said, that he had been so long separated from his people. One of the first measures of the new monarch was the passing of a bill of indemnity, by which all persons concerned in the late popular movements were pardoned, excepting a few who had been prominently concerned in bringing the king to the block. Harrison, Scrope, and a few other regicides, were tried and executed ; and the bodies of Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw were raised from the grave and exhibited upon gibbets. In Scotland only three persons suffered — the Marquis of Argyle, Johnston of Warriston, and Mr. Guthry, a clergyman : it was considered remarkable, that the marquis had placed the crown upon the king's head at Scone in the year 1651. Except- ing in these acts, the king showed no desire of revenging the death of his father, or his own exclusion from the throne. In the summer of 1G65, London was visited by a plague, which swept off about one hundred thousand people, and did not experience any abatement till the approach of cold weather. On this occasion the city presented a wide and heart-rending scene of misery and deso- lation. Rows of houses stood tenantless, and open to the winds ; the ENGLAND. 903 Great Fire of London. chief thoroughfares were overgrown with grass. The few individuals who ventured abroad walked in the middle of the streets, and when they met, declined on opposite sides, to avoid the contact of each other. At one moment were heard the ravings of delirium, or the wail of sorrow, from the infected dwelling ; at another, the merry song or careless laugh from the tavern, where men were seeking to drown in debauchery all sense of their awful situation. Since 1665, the plague has not again occurred in London, or in any other part of the kingdom. The second calamity was a conflagration, which commenced on the night of Sunday, the 2d of September, 1666, in the eastern and more crowded part of the city. The direction and violence of the wind, the combustible nature of the houses, and the defective arrangements of that age for extinguishing fires, combined to favour the progress of the flames, which raged during the whole of the week, and burnt all that part of the city which lies between the Tower and the Temple. By this calamity, thirteen thousand two hundred houses and eighty- nine churches, covering in all four hundred and thirty acres of ground, were destroyed. The flame at one time formed a column a mile in diameter, and seemed to mingle with the clouds. It rendered the night as clear as day for ten miles around the city, and is said to have produced an efi'ect upon the sky which was observed on the borders of Scotland. It had one good effect, in causing the streets to be formed much wider than before, by which the city was f endered more healthy. By the populace, this fire was believed to have been the work of the 904 ENGLAND. Catholics, and a tall pillar, Tvith an inscription to that effect, M'as reared in the city, as a monument of the calamity. This pillar "with its inscription still exists ; but the fire is now believed to have been occasioned purely by accident. After having been an absolute sovereign for nearly four years, Charles II. died February 6, 1685, professing himself at the last to be a Catholic, and was succeeded by the duke of'York, under the title of James II. Charles's first prime minister, the earl of Clarendon, wrote a history of the civil wars, which has been greatly admired for its style ; but it, of course, favours the royal party, to which he belonged. Charles II. was a prince of a gay and cheerful disposition, and so noted a sayer of witty things, and so addicted to humorous amuse- ments, that he was called the " merry monarch." His wit, shrewd- ness, and good-humour form the best side of his character. On the other side, we find a deficiency of almost every active virtue and of all steady principle. He never allowed any duty of his station, or any claim upon his justice or clemency, to interfere Avith his own in- terests, or even to disturb him in his indolent and vicious pleasures. Neglecting his wife, who never had any children, he spent most of his time with his various mistresses, who openly lived at court, and were even received by the queen. Of these ladies, the most remarka- ble were Louisa Querouaile, whom he created duchess of Portsmouth, and Barbara Villiers, whom he made duchess of Cleveland. Six sons of the king by his mistresses were made dukes, and five of these were the progenitors of families in the English nobility. During the reign of Charles II., the nation advanced considerably in the arts of navigation and commerce ; and the manufactures of brass, glass, silk, hats, and paper were established. The post-office, set up during the commonwealth as a means of raising money, was advanced in this reign, and the penny post was now begun in London by a private person. Roads were greatly improved, and stage-coach travelling was commenced, though not carried to any great extent. During this reign, tea, coffee, and chocolate, which have had a great effect in improving and softening manners, were first introduced. In 1660, the Royal Society was established in London, for the cultiva- tion of natural science, mathematics, and all useful knowledge. The science of astronomy was greatly advanced by the investigations of Flamstead and Halley. But the greatest contribution to science was made by Sir Isaac Newton, whose Principles of Natural Philosophy were published in 1683 : in this work, the true theory of planetary motions was first explained, in reference to the principle of gravitation. ENGLAND. 905 Among the literary men of the period, the first place is to be as- signed to John Milton, author of the Paradise Lost and other poems : Samuel Butler shines as a humorous and satirical poet, and Edmund Waller as a lyrist. Among divines, the highest names connected ■with the church are those of Jeremy Taylor and Isaac Barrow; while the highest among the nonconformists are those of Richard Baxter and John Bunyan. The theatre, which had been suppressed during the commonwealth, was revived in this reign ; but the drama exhibited less talent and more licentiousness than it did in the previous reigns. Female characters, which had formerly been acted by men, were now for the first time performed by females. Among the worst acts of Charles II. was his breaking a promise made at his restoration to the House of Commons, that he would spare the life of Sir Henry Vane, if he should be brought to trial for the part he had taken in the late revolution. As Sir Henry was once a governor of Massachusetts, all that relates to him is interesting to 906 ENGLAND. John Bunyan. Americans, and we therefore quote the account of this atrocious trans- action from a British historian.* The House of Commons demanded the trial, or rather the execution, of Lamhert and Vane, state prisoners since the Restoration. It is necessary to repeat here, that they were excepted from the act of ob- livion, that both houses at the same time petitioned the king for their lives, and that the king promised his compliance. The new parliament disdained the moderation of the convention, and clamoured for their blood. They were accordingly brought to trial in a few days after the prorogation. Neither had sat in judgment upon Charles I. : their crime was their having served the usurpation — now the style and title of the commonwealth. Lambert, a brave soldier, but a weak man, con- fessed himself guilty, made abject supplication for the royal clemency, and was suffered to reach the end of his natural life in the island of Guernsey, either wholly unthought of or remembered only to be despised. Vane had the reputation of wanting personal firmness. He defended himself on his trial with undaunted resolution, and never gave more shining proof of the elevation of his talents and his principles. The * Continuation of Mackiutosli's England, vol. xvii. p. 18. ENGLAND. 907 Execution of Sir Henry Vane indictment charged him ■with treason against the person and govern- ment of Charles II. ; and the overt acts to sustain it were his official acts, as a public servant of the commonwealth. His defence was, first, that he acted under the authority of the parliament, then the supreme, sole, and established governing power of England ; next, that the authority of the parliament v/as legal and supreme, and the cause which it vindicated just and sacred before God and man. The judges decided that Charles II. was king of England de facto as well as de jure, while he lived a wandering exile, repudiated even by foreign courts ; and the pretence of this revolting iniquity was, that there was then no person in England assuming the style and title of king. The verdict of guilty against Vane was, under the circumstances, a matter of course. He offered a fruitless bill of exceptions, founded on the king's pledged faith to the late parliament. Charles broke his faith, and thereby left one of the darkest stains upon his personal character. On the 14th of June, Sir Henry Vane was led on foot to the scaf- fold at Tower Hill. There are preserved minute particulars of his demeanour and treatment. He was clad in a black suit and mantle, with a scarlet waistcoat showing itself at the breast, his head uncovered, his eye bright, his colour unchanged. It was remarked that he showed the solemn calmness of a mere spectator of the scene. He proceeded to address the people from written notes, but was soon interrupted and reviled by the lieutenant of the Tower. The sheriff snatched his notes 908 ENGLAND. from liis hand, ^vliile the lieutenant ransacked his pockets for papers, and trumpets were sounded to drown his voice. He appealed from men to heaven, and submitted to his fate. His last words, as he knelt before the scaffold, were, " Father, glorify thy servant in the sight of men, that he may glorify thee in the discharge of his duty to thee and to his country." The death of Vane has been ascribed to his having produced the minute of council in evidence against Strafford; and Echard, in his per- fidious compilation, ventures to declare the death of Vane on the same spot where Strafford died, a judgment of God. But Charles had not virtue enough to inherit either the remorse or vengeance of his father, for the sacrifice of that famous minister ; and his own letter to Cla- rendon shows that he broke his faith from fear and hatred of the virtue and intrepidity with which Vane defended his life and vindicated his principles on his trial. The king and his chief minister came to the determination of "put- ting out of the way " a man in whom the genius of the commonwealth survived. Vane belongs in a particular manner to that epoch. It has been remarked, as anomalous and extraordinary, that a diplomatist, an administrator, and statesman, of versatile accomplishments and superior genius, should indulge in the wildest mysticism as a reli- gionist : but the simple and obvious truth is, that he was more than ordinarily imbued with the spirit of his age. With the visionary fer- vour of his religion he combined the first principles to which he would have been led by the light of reason and philosophy — that of religious toleration. In this, however, he but shared a virtue of the Independ- ents. All sects are ready to preach toleration when they are the party oppressed. The Independents alone have passed that sure ordeal of principle, the possession of power. The liberty of conscience, which they asked when they were weak, they gave when they became strong. We should add to this account, that the people of England were so outraged at the injustice of Vane's trial and condemnation as to occa- sion serious alarm to the court party, who were fain to make their peace by restoring to his family the titles and estates, which they have ever since enjoyed. The late head of the family, the duke of Cleve- land, was true to the principles of his illustrious ancestor ; and although elevated to the rank of the highest aristocracy, was an earnest advo- cate for popular rights. The duke of York, as James II., did not begin his reign without applause. His speech in the privy council was expressive of wise and moderate principles of government. After bestowing some eulogiums on the clemency of his brother, and saying that he should take him for ENGLAND. 909 James IT. his model, "I have been represented," said he, "as infatuated with principles of arbitrary power, but I will endeavour to maintain the government, both in church and state, as it is by law established. The church of England is favourable to monarchy, and I shall apply myself to support and defend it. The laws of England make me as powerful a prince as I can wish to be, and my object is to preserve the prerogatives of the crown, without invading the privileges of my subjects," &c. This speech, though it seemed to express his sentiments, did not correspond with his future conduct. He received respectful addresses from all parts. That of the Quakers is a monument of the singularity of their sect. " We are come to signify our affliction for the death of our good friend Charles, and our joy to see thee made ruler of the people. They tell us that thou art not of the church of England any more than we, so we hope thou wilt allow us the same liberty that thou takest thyself, and if thou dost, we wish thee all manner of 910 ENGLAND. William Penn. prosperity." James favoured the Quakers throughout his reign, and was particularly friendly to William Penn. The conduct of James, however, soon occasioned apprehensions both for the national liberty and for religion. The excise and customs, granted to his predecessors, were levied by his order, as if given by parliament. He appeared publicly at mass, contrary to the laws established. Priests, particularly Jesuits, became his principal con- fidants. Pope Innocent XL, to whom he sent his submission, con- demned his imprudent zeal. The Spanish ambassador represented to him that so many priests about court might do hurt by their counsels. James, asking him if the king of Spain did not consult his confessor, "Yes," replied the Spaniard, "and that is the reason why things go so ill with us." There is no doubt that James's desire of absolute power, and of changing the national religion, led him to the precipice from which he fell. The council, indeed, was composed of Protestants, but the queen, Maria Eleonora of Este, and some Catholic priests, were more listened to than the council. It became necessary, at the beginning of the reign, to call a parlia- ment. For some years past, the court had got a great ascendency. Elections were controlled, and the Commons were almost wholly com- posed of tories. The two houses granted the king the fixed revenue of his predecessor. The duke of Monmouth, the natural son of Charles II., and who ENGLAND. 911 Submission of tbe Dute of Monmouth.. was mucli beloved by the people, attempted to dethrone his uncle, at a time when the throne seemed firmly established. He landed with three ships on the western coast, with about a hundred men in his suite, and published a manifesto, in which, giving the king only the title of duke of York, he represented him as a traitor, a tyrant, a popish usurper, and invited the nation to take up arms. Monmouth was proclaimed in several towns, and was beaten near Bridgewater. He was warmly pursued, and found in a ditch, covered with mud, and disguised in the habit of a peasant. The fear of punishment brought him to make humble submission, but he refused to impeach his parti- sans, and died upon the scaffold. James had here a fine opportunity to signalize his clemency, but his natural severity prevailed. This victory was followed by many barbarous executions. Colonel Kirke, a most sanguinary man, carried his cruelty so far as to sport with the miseries of those whom he sacrificed. The chief justice, Jeffreys, still more insufferably inhuman, filled the counties that had taken part in the insurrection with carnage. Father Orleans asserted that James expressed his indignation at the severities of Jeffreys ; but that is utterly incredible, since Jeffreys was created a peer on his return, and raised afterward to the dignity of chancellor. The earl of Argyle, previous to Monmouth's rebellion, had attempted an invasion in Scotland ; but his countrymen not being disposed to support him, his small army dispersed of itself, and he was taken and executed. All the acts of parliament that then took place in Scotland were against the liberties of the people. It was made death to be pre- 912 ENGLAND. sent at a conventicle, and to refuse taking the test oath, when required by the council, was declared high-treason. The English parliament was not so tractable. James had declared that, in consequence of the Catholics having served him so faithfully, he totally dispensed with the tests required by law. The Commons at first showed some spirit of resistance, but proceeded no farther. The upper house, however, contrary to custom, undertook to examine the power which the king assumed, and in which they were encouraged by the bishops themselves. The king was irritated, and the parliament was prorogued. Several fresh imprudences showed James's settled purpose to change the national religion, such as the establishment of an ecclesiastical court, little different from that of the high commission, already abo- lished ; the suspension of the bishop of London by that court for not arbitrarily punishing a minister who had preached against popery ; the infringement of the privileges of the universities, in causing the admission of Catholics ; an open rupture with the church of England ; and the penal laws, by declaration, also suspended. Depending on his authority, more absolute indeed than that of his predecessors, he was not afraid of sending to Rome an ambassador extraordinary, nor of receiving at his court a pope's nuncio. Every connection with Rome had been declared high-treason by act of parliament, and what was to be expected from a measure contrary to the laws ? The pope, Inno- cent XI., foresaw the consequence, and disapproved of that intempe- rate zeal, which would be pernicious in its effects. "It is strange," says Hume, " that James, who knew what influence religious belief had on his own heart, should be so blind as not to suspect. that it might have the same power over his subjects." The declaration of tolerance being renewed, and ordered to be read in all the churches, six bishops represented to the king, in a respectful petition, that the declaration being founded on a power that the parlia- ment had often pronounced illegal, they could not allow it to be read publicly. Though these prelates had kept their business as secret as possible, they were presently sent to the Tower. The confluence of the people on the way, the consternation of the spectators, and the respect shown by the soldiers who conducted them, strongly testified the sentiments of the public. The counsel for the bishops defended their cause with equal freedom and success, and the judges, in dis- charging them, gave equal satisfaction. On the day of trial, James reviewed his troops on Hounslow Heath, and hearing a sudden shout, he inquired what was the occasion. " 'Tis nothing," answered a nobleman; "the soldiers are only expressing ENGLAND. 913 their joy for the discharge of the bishops." " Do you call that nothing?" replied the king; "but so much the worse for them." Two of the judges on this occasion lost their places, and the ministers who had not read the declaration were prosecuted. The public dis- content increased. Till then, the prince of Orange, in hopes of suc- ceeding to the crown, had behaved to the king, his father-in-law, with profound policy, giving him every demonstration of respect and attach- ment. William, however, was wary of exposing himself to the hatred of a people whom he might one day govern. He gave the king to understand that, though he approved of the revocation of the penal laws, as a friend to toleration, yet he regarded the test oath as a necessary means to preserve the established worship. After this declaration of his sentiments, the prince began to listen to the complaints of the English, nor did he long hesitate to break with his father-in-law, whose conduct he could not approve. Several of the English had already invited him to their assistance. The church of England and the Presbyterians were equally desirous of such a protector. At length he prepared for war, without hoping, however, that this would place him on the throne. For what purpose such armaments were intended was for a long time impenetrable. They appeared to be destined against France. Avaux, the French king's ambassador at the Hague, at length penetrated into the secret and informed his master. Louis communicated the discovery to the king of England, and offered him a squadron to join his fleet. James, carried away with a blind confidence, rejected his offer : " I am not reduced," said he, "to such a condition as to be obliged to seek the protection of France." The English fleet mutinied because James had ordered mass to be said on board. The land forces were no less disposed to revolt, because their consent was required to the revocation of the test and the penal laws. James rushed forward to his ruin with the security of a man who sees no danger. But the illusion vanished when it was too late. His ambassador wrote to him from Holland that every thing was ready for an invasion. Distressed and terrified with this news, James retracted. He restored the friends of the test and penal laws to their places ; he caressed the persecuted bishops ; he broke the ecclesiastical commission ; he restored the charters of London and the other cities. But his indiscretion had rendered the evil incurable. A manifesto from the prince of Orange prepared the way for the invasion ; and he delayed not to support this declaration with his arms. His fleet, amounting to five hundred ships, transported an army of more than forty thousand men. He landed at Broxholme, in Torbay, on the 5th 53 914 ENGLAND. Laadii: Lh.j iricce of Uiange at Torbay. of November, 1GS8. For some days the prince had the mortification to find himself joined by very few ; but just as he began to despair of success, a number of the nobility and English officers joined him, and the whole country soon after came flocking to his standard. Churchill, afterwards the famous duke of Marlborough, deserted his unfortunate master. Prince George of Denmark, his son-in-law, and the princess Anne, his favourite daughter, also abandoned him. In this scene of distress, he cried, " Great God, have pity on me ! my own children have forsaken their father." Distrusting his army, and fearful of throv.ing himself upon the par- liament, James, though a prince of approved valour and firmness, lost all courage, and abandoned his throne without ever attempting to defend it. He was seized in his flight, returned to London, and de- manded a conference with the prince of Orange. William ordered him to remove to Rochester castle, which is at no great distance from the sea, in hopes that this dangerous prisoner would rescue himself by flight. The dethroned monarch fled to France, where Louis XIV. received him Avith more than royal generosity. The literature of the reign of James 11. was strongly tinctured with French influence, especially in the department of the drama, which was highly immoral. Dryden was the best poet of that era, and Shaftesbury, Ilobbes, and South were among the most distin- ENGLAND. 915 Harvey. guislied prose writers. In medical science, Harvey, who discovered the true theory of the circulation of the blood, and Sydenham, the leading physician of the reign, were most remarkable. A host of other names of inferior note might be mentioned, whose compositions served to usher in the more brilliant era of Queen Anne. William III. ENGLAND, FROM WILLIAM III. TO THE PRESENT TIME. )ILLIAM of Nassau was in the thirtj-ninth year of his age when the voice of the people of England called him to the throne. He was distinguished for activity, firmness, and military skill. After a long debate, the parliament decided that the prince and princess of Orange should be made king and queen of England, and that the ad- ministration of the government should be placed in the hands of the prince only. The two houses at the same time made a declaration called the Bill of Eights, by which the pre- rogatives were limited and defined,* and the liberty of the subject secured. The Scots, soon after these events, declared the crown of Scotland vacant, and offered it to William and Mary. Lord Dundee collected a small body of Highlanders to uphold the cause of the Stuarts. He defeated a large body of William's troops at the pass 916 ENGLAND. 917 Battle of Aghrim. of Killicrankie, but was mortally wounded in tlie action, and after his death the Highlanders submitted to William. In the mean time James had landed in Ireland, and made a triumphal entry into Dub- lin. The duke of Schomberg, William's favourite general, was unsuc- cessfulin his operations against James, and William crossed to Ireland to conduct the war in person. The decisive action, in which the forces were nearly equal, was fought at the river Boyne, not far from Slane Bridge. William was triumphant, and James fled to France, where he passed the remainder of his life. On the 12th of July, 1691, General Ginkel, with twenty thousand men, defeated St. Ruth, with twenty-eight thousand men, at Aghrim, and the Stuart party was com- pletely crushed. The Scots were discontented, on account of William's striving to introduce episcopacy among them, and the massacre of forty Highlanders at Glencoe, for not taking the oath of allegiance at the appointed time. William now engaged in a war against France. (1691.) Marlborough nobly upheld the honour of the English arms upon the continent, and gained many victories. Peace was restored in 1697, by the treaty of Ryswick. William died on the 8th of March, 1702, in consequence of being thrown from his horse. James had died a few months before, in France. The succession devolved on the Princess Anne, by the enactment of parliament. She was thirty-nine years of age when she came to the throne ; and had a mild temper, with good natural capacity. The political strife between the Whigs and Tories was very warm during the whole of this reign. The chief point of difference was upon the subject of the succession of the crown, in case Anne should die without children. Anne resolved to pursue the same continental policy as William had pursued, the objects of which were the humbling of the 918 ENGLAND. Queeu Anne. arrogant Louis XIV. of France, and the placing of the son of the em- peror of Austria on the Spanish throne. The great duke of Marl- borough was sent to conduct the war, and was made generalissimo of the allied forces. Ilis achievements were rapid and glorious, and the French could furnish no general to withstand him. A fleet, com- manded by Sir George Rooke, now sailed into the Mediterranean, and after an unsuccessful attempt on Barcelona, attacked and took the strong fortress of Gibraltar, which has ever since remained in the hands of England. In 1705, a fleet, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, having on board five thousand soldiers, commanded by the earl of Peterborough, sailed for Spain, to assist the cause of the archduke of Austria. Barcelona was forced to surrender, chiefly through the extraordinary skill and vigour with which the earl of Peterborough pressed the siege. At the head of a small force, this able general nearly gained Spain for the arch- duke, and had driven Philip V. from the country ; but in the heat of victory he was recalled, and the earl of Galway, who succeeded him in the command, was defeated. After this, the cause of the archduke ENGLAND. 919 LuLe of i laT 11 ui u .n ■was dropped by the English. In the mean time, Marlborough gained many victories, of which the most noted -were those of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet. The war was carried on until 1712. In January of that year, a treaty for a general peace was opened at Utrecht ; but the negotiations were not concluded until April, 1713. England gained Newfoundland, Hudson's Bay, and the island of St. Christopher, and Louis promised to abandon the cause of the Pretender, son of James II. Soon after this treaty, the union of England and Scotland was completed, to mutual advantage. Anne died on the 1st of August, in the fifty-first year of her age. Although she had nine children, none of them survived ; and George, elector of Hanover, became the heir of the English throne. Gibraltar. 920 ENGLAND. Siege of Barcelona. During the reign of Anne, many men of brilliant genius flourished. Locke, the philosopher, died two years after her accession. Pope, Steele, and Addison, during her reign, won great reputation as poets and essayists. Jonathan Swift, dean of St. Patrick's, distinguished himself as a satirical author ; and Sir Isaac Newton, the discoverer of the law of gravitation and other important philosophical truths, towered above his contemporaries in force of genius. George, elector of Hanover, was in his fifty-fifth year when he was proclaimed king of Great Britain. He was a decided whig, and treated his opponents with severity. The duke of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke, tory leaders, were impeached, but escaped to France, They were then attainted, and their names erased from the list of Pope. ENGLAND. 921 George L refusing to pardon the reloel Earls. English peers. Lord Oxford was sent to the Tower, where he remained two years, but he was at length acquitted without a trial. These severities excited murmurs throughout the kingdom, and in Scotland, the earl of Mar proclaimed Prince James Stuart, (September 6, 1715.) But the Pretender did not receive the promised aid from France, and when he arrived in Scotland, his forces were so small that the duke of Argyle compelled him to abandon the enterprise. The rebels in the north of England were easily subdued ; some were hanged, and many sent to America. King George was deaf to all intercession on behalf of the rebel leaders. Bishop Berieley. 922 ENGLAND. Among the distinguished philosophers and literary characters of this reign, Bishop Berkeley ranked high for his theory of ideas, M'hich still engages the attention of those metaphysically disposed. George I. died June 11, 1727, while proceeding to Osnaburg, in Hanover. The news of the sudden death of the king reached London, June 14, and his son, George II., ^Yas proclaimed the next day. The new king Avas inferior in ability to his fiither, and chiefly remarkable for his preference of Hanover to England. lie was in his forty-fifth year, and had already tvvo sons and four daughters. Queen Caroline united in her person beauty, strong sense, and goodness of heart. In 1737, the queen died, and the king's grief for her was sincere and ex- cessive. In the same year, a war broke out between England and Spain, and Admiral Vernon took Portobello, a Spanish settlement on the Isthmus of Daricn. In the beginning of 1744, an invasion of England had been at- tempted by a French force of 15,000 men, under Prince Charles Edward. But though this expedition was rendered abortive. Prince Charles ventured in the following year to try his fortune in the northern part of the island. In June, 1745, he embarked with a few Scotch and Irish gentlemen in a small frigate ; but the vessel which carried a supply of arms for the expedition was disabled in the passnge. Meanwhile the frigate pursued her destined course. On the 16th of July, Charles landed at Borodale, in Lochaber, and was soon joined by a considerable number of Highlanders. A moment more favourable for this enterprise could not have been chosen. The king of England was in Hanover ; the duke of Cumber- land, with the serviceable part of the army, was in Flanders. The government was at first inclined to disbelieve the intelligence of these proceedings, but was soon forced to provide for its defence. Sir John Cope, with what troops he had in Scotland, was ordered to advance and suppress the insurrection, while a reward of thirty thousand pounds was ofi'ered for the head of the young prince. Through the false move- ments of Sir John Cope, Charles Edward was enabled to take posses- sion of Perth and Edinburgh, and gain accessions of Lowlanders. On the 21st of September, Cope encountered Charles at Prestonpans, and was completely defeated. Six Aveeks now elapsed before the victorious prince had sufficient force at his command to justify a march into Eng- land. At length he advanced to Derby, but Avas obliged by his friends to turn back. On the 17th of January, 1745, a battle took place at Falkirk, between the young Pretender's forces and the English under ENGLAND. 923 General Ilawley, each numbering about eight thousand men. ^ Here Charles vfas apain victorious, but was unable to follow up his triumph, and retired to Inverness to winter. The duke of Cumberland, with six thousand Hessians, now reached Scotland, and on the IGth of April, 1745, Charles was overthrown at Culloden. He had hnnselt the greatest' difficulty in escaping from the country, and the Highlands were subjected for several months to the desolating horrors of military violence. But this was followed by several government regulations calculated to improve the social condition of the Scots and to attach them to the existing government. During the war in which Britain and other powers were now engaged with France, the latter was successful on land, but was constantly defeated at sea. In 1T48, the two countries found that their losses were equal, and therefore agreed, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, to restore their respective conquests and make peace— a smgular con- clusion, if the war had been waged for a just purpose. A series of encroachments made by France on the British colonies in North America, gave birth, a few years afterwards, to a new war with that country, which broke out in 1755. This war eventually in- volved the whole of Europe, and is usually styled the Seven Years War In America, the most important English enterprises failed. But "the accession of the energetic William Pitt to the premiership of Great Britain breathed new life into the nation. New generals were appointed ; and in 1760, the whole of Canada was conquered. In the mean time, France attacked and conquered Hanover. Ihe 924 ENGLAND. Death, of Admiral Bynj northern European poAvers, except Prussia and her sagacious Frederick the Great, were combined against England. But Frederick, assisted by money and troops from England, overthrew the combined forces, and by a series of victories established his military reputation. At sea, the English flag was triumphant. Such were the expectations of the people in regard to naval achievement, that it would have been singular if they had not been occasionally disappointed. Minorca being hard pressed by the French, Admiral Byng was sent with ten ships of the line to relieve it. On arriving at the island, Byng judged it impossible to throw succours into the defences, and kept aloof. The French fleet appeared, but, as Byng would not come to a general action, sailed away. For this course of conduct the English admiral was arrested, taken to England, tried, and condemned to be shot, which fate he met with fortitude, on board of a man-of-war in the harbour of Portsmouth. That his punishment was too severe, his- torians are now agreed. George II. died October 25, 1760, in the midst of victory, and at an advanced age. George III. was twenty-two years of age when the death of his grandfather placed him on the throne. He had led a retired life, which, while it encouraged his domestic virtues, rendered him awkward in his first appearance at court. He seems to have possessed the best intentions, but little force of mind. In the year after his accession, he married Charlotte, princess of Mecklenburg Strelitz. The war was for some time continued with vigour, though the nation had become weary of the great expense of it. Spain now joined France against England. ENGLAND. 925 Geor It is difficult to select the most important events of this busy time. The British arms were everywhere successful. Several valuable islands in the West Indies were taken from France. Havana in Cuba, Ma- nilla in the East Indies, and the rest of the Philippine Islands, were taken from Spain, and many prizes made at sea. At length, a general peace was concluded at Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763. By this treaty, Minorca, several islands in the West Indies, and Goree, in Africa, were restored to France, as well as all their forts and fac- tories in the East Indies. Cuba was restored to Spain in exchange for the Floridas. Early in 1775, the American colonies revolted, and a struggle of seven years' duration ensued. An account of this will be found else- where in this work. The success of the Americans was due to the justice of their cause, their own determination, and the patriotism and ability of General George Washington. This war was popular in England, but from the outset was opposed by the earl of Chatham and other able men in parliament. The earl of Chatham was attacked with the illness which resulted in his death while denouncing the war and the purpose for which it was waged. France, Spain, and Holland united to assist the revolted colonies, and war was declared against them. 926 ENGLAND. Earl of Chalhaixi. The year 1780 is memorable in the history of England by the "No- Popery Riots," instigated by George Gordon, called by courtesy Lord George Gordon, when a bill was introduced in parliament to relieve the Catholics from civil disabilities. Many Catholic chapels and dwellings, Newgate prison, and the house of Lord Mansfield were destroyed. Gordon was arrested and tried for treason, but acquitted. England maintained the unequal contest with vigour, and, upon the sea, with success. Tier fleets, under the command of Lord Rodney, prevailed over the Spanish and the French. Some islands were taken in the West Indies ; but some were lost. Li the East Indies, the British arms were successful. In the beginning of 1783, peace was ENGLAND. 927 No Popery Riots. concluded between the belligerent powers. England acknowledged the independence of the United States, surrendered Minorca and Florida to Spain, and the river Senegal with a few forts in Africa, and the islands of St. Lucia and Tobago in the West Indies, to France. In the beginning of this reign, there was a continual change of ministers. Lord Chatham, the duke of Newcastle, Lord Bute, George Grcnville, marquis of Rockingham, duke of Grafton, Lord North, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Shelburne, held successively the chief offices in the administration. In 1783, William Pitt, the. second son of Lord Chat- ham, was made prime-minister, and, with one short interval, retained that office twenty-two years. The French Revolution excited the horror of the tory party of England, and, as the government determined to maintain the prin- ciple of hereditary monarchy, war was declared against the republi- cans. The events of that great struggle belong to the history of France, and form her most glorious era. The democratic spirit of her mighty armies, under the guidance of the genius of Napoleon, carried every thing before it, and Europe lay at the feet of France, in chains. But England alone maintained her independence, and secured the supremacy upon the sea. During 1797, the English gained two great naval victories. The first action was fought off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14th of February, and the Spanish fleet of twenty-seven sail of the line was completely defeated by Sir John Jervis, afterwards created Earl St. Vincent. The second victory was gained over the Dutch fleet, off Camperdown, by Admiral Duncan, 928 ENGLAND. Tlie Dutcli Admiral surrendering to Duncan. and was even more complete than that gained over the Spanish fleet. Duncan ^Yas raised to the peerage. In the summer of 1798, a serious rebellion occurred in Ireland, stimulated bj about one thousand French troops. This was, however, soon suppressed, chiefly by the energy and pi^udence of Lord Corn- wallis. The one thousand French troops were captured on the 8th of September. In the expedition of Napoleon to Egypt, in 1798, he was pursued by the famous Admiral Nelson. Napoleon and his army were safely landed. But the French fleet was attacked in Aboukir bay, near the mouth of the Nile, and after a battle which lasted during the night, all the French fleet, except two ships of the line and two frigates, was taken or destroyed. The French flag-ship blew up during the engagement. Admiral Nelson was created Baron Nelson of the Nile for this splendid achievement. In 1800, a legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland, upon the same principles as the union between England and Scotland in the reign of Anne, Avas consummated, and the islands were known from that time as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Early in 1801, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia were suspected of a combination to restrain the maritime power of Great Britain, and the ENGLAND. 929 Lord Nelson. government sent Sir Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson Tvith a powerful armament against Copenhagen. After an exceedingly severe engage- 1 J - ■^-^^^^^"^ ^-^ \1^ " i' -*S ^. A=^K ljEfe«^^i^^^^ Bdttle of the Nile. 59 930 ENGLAND. Death of Sir Kalph. Abercromljie. mcnt, several Danish ships were destroyed or captured, and Copenha- gen was in danger of being destroyed, when an armistice was con- cluded and the city saved. After the resignation of Mr. Pitt, early in 1802, the duke of Port- land became premier. A negotiation with France was opened, which ended in the definitive treaty of Amiens, March 27th, 1802. Pre- vious to this, a British army, under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, drove the French out of Egypt ; but the brave Abercrombie was killed in the decisive engagement. Hostilities were renewed between France and England in 1803. Napoleon now commanded Europe, but Eng- land was equally victorious upon the sea. On the 21st of October, 1804, Lord Nelson, with twenty-seven ships of the line, encountered the combined fleets of France and Spain, amounting to thirty-three sail, under the command of Admiral Villeneuve, off Cape Trafalgar. Twenty of the enemy's ships struck during the engagement; but most of the prizes were wrecked in a gale that sprang up that night. By this victory, the French and Spanish navies were nearly destroyed, and the maritime supremacy of Britain established; but the great Admiral Nelson, the glory of the navy, vv'as killed in the engagement. When wounded, he was carried below, and lived long enough to know that he was victorious. Mr. Pitt, who had again become premier in 1804, died on the 23d ENGLAND. 931 Nelson woundfed. of January, 1806, and was succeeded by his great political rival, Mr. Fox. But the new administration did not last long. Mr. Fox died on the 13th of September, and, in the following March, a new minis- try was formed, of which Mr. Percival was usually considered the head. In 1807, expeditions were .sent to the Dardanelles, to Egypt, and against the Spanish settlements in South America ; but none of them were attended with advantage. Another expedition was sent against Copenhagen, which succeeded, after bombarding and nearly destroying the town, in gaining possession of the whole Danish fleet, which was brought to England. In the spring of 1808, the Spaniards, exasperated by the cruelties committed by the French in Madrid, roused themselves to exertion, 932 ENGLAND. Burial of Sir John Moore. declared war against France, and sent deputies to England to implore assistance. An expedition of about ten thousand men was sent to their assistance, under the command of Sir Arthur Welleslej, and arrived at Corunna on the 20th of July. On communication with the Spanish leaders in that district, it was thought best to proceed in the first instance to Portugal, for the pur- pose of expelling General Junot, who had the command of a French army in that country, and was in possession of Lisbon. The English landed at Mondego Bay, and defeated the French in a battle at Yimcira, which was fought on the 21st of August ; after which the French army retired to the strong position which covered Lisbon, and a convention was in consequence entered into by Sir Hew Dalrymple, who had su*bsequently taken command of the army, for the evacuation of Portugal by the French troops. In the month of November, Sir John Moore, who had arrived with a reinforcement of twelve thousand men, led the British army into Spain. General Moore was, however, compelled to retreat ; and, after a most severe and calamitous march through a difficult country, and in most inclement weather, he arrived at Corunna, January 16th, 1809. Soult, the French general, overtook and attacked Moore when on the point of embarking. The British, though suffering under extreme ENGLAND. 933 The Allied Sovereigns in England. fatigue and anxiety, beat off the French, though with great loss. Sir John Moore was among those who fell. His friends were able to spare a few moments, amid the confusion of the night succeeding the battle, through the whole of which the troops were embarking, to inter the body of their lamented commander on the ramparts of Corunna. In April, 1809, Sir Arthur Welleslcy was again appointed to tlie command of the army of the peninsula. This vigilant and skilful commander succeeded in driving the French out of Portugal, and, ad- vancing into Spain, gained a victory at Talavera ; but, being unsup- ported by the Spaniards, he was compelled to fall back. In 1811 and '12, there was much hard fighting in Spain, and the English gained many victories ; but the French were so superior in numbers, that Lord Wellington, after advancing to ISIadrid, was obliged to re- treat to the Portuguese frontier. In 1813, however, his success was glorious and complete. He drove the French entirely out of the peninsula, and, on the 7th of October, entered France. Bordeaux welcomed the British as deliverers, and Marshal Soult was defeated at Toulouse. The capture of Paris and the abdication of Napoleon followed. Louis XVIII. was restored to his throne, and a treaty of peace concluded ; but the complete adjustment of the complicated questions involved in the negotiation was reserved for the congress of Vienna. In June, the emperor of Russia, the king of Prussia, and several celebrated generals visited England, and were received with rejoicings and festivity. A war with America had broken out in 1812 : it was not very honourable to the British arms, and upon the sea the Americans gained many victories in contests of single vessels. Peace was restored in the latter part of 1814. 934 ENGLAND. The Kout at Waterloo Early in 1815, all Europe was thrown into consternation by the escape of Bonaparte from Elba. On his arrival in France, he was everywhere received with enthusiasm, and a mighty army was at his command. The allies refused to conclude a peace with him, and, assembling their forces, named the duke of Wellington generalissimo of them. Napoleon was soon in the field, and, as usual, was the assail- ant. Upon the decisive field of Waterloo, his strenuous efforts and skilful combinations were bafiled by the firmness of the British and the delay of Marshal Grouchy. The victory turned upon the arrival of Blucher or Grouchy with reserve corps. Blucher gained the field with fresh troops, and the French were routed. Paris fell into the hands of the allies, Louis XVIII. was restored to his throne, and Napoleon sent to the island of St. Helena, where he remained till his death, in May, 1821. England came out of this long struggle with the French with a Oliver Goldsraith. ENGLAND. 935 Reynolds. great increase of military reputation, but also with a great increase of the public debt. The humiliation of the piratical Algerines and the liberation of Christian slaves by Lord Exmouth, in May, 181G, and the abolition of the negro slave-trade between Africa and the West Indies, were events more honourable to the nation and beneficial to mankind than all the British victories of this reign. George III., having at intervals of his life been subject to insanity, sank at length into complete derangement of intellect. During this misfortune, the Prince of Wales, afterward George IV., became prince-regent. George III. died on the 29tli of January, 1820, in the eighty-second year of his age, and the sixtieth of his reign, during the last nine years of which he had been afflicted with blindness, deafness, and insanity. Garnet 936 ENGLAND. John Ho'ivard. Dui'Ing tliis long reign, many men of genius flourished in Great Britain — enough to render it worthy of the title of the Augustan age of English literature. A constellation of poets, among whom Cowper, Thomson, Burns, Scott, and Byron, were pre-eminent, shed lustre over their country's verse, while Johnson and Goldsmith Avere distinguished for the versatility of genius displayed in their works. Burke, Fox, Pitt, and Sheridan won fame by their oratorical powers and literary achieve- ments. Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first great English painter, also flourished at this time. Garrick, by his delineations of Shakspeare's heroes, contributed much towards bringing that great author into popularity. AVith all these contributions of genius, the English mind ENGLAND. 937 Johnson. advanced rapidly. The famous John Howard, by his great philanthropic exertions, was also an honour to this reign, and one of the best men his country ever produced. George IV. was crowned king July 19,1821. He was fifty-nine years of age, had received an excellent classical education, but was dissolute in morals. His dissipated life, while a young man, had made him unpopular in England, but his first speech in the House of Lords gained him the love and confidence of the people. George IV. was married to his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick, Avhom he never loved, and from whom he afterward separated. Their only child died in 1817. Queen Caroline was accused of many crimes, and was brought Statue of George IV. 938 ENGLAND. Ooleridee. to trial on account of them. Public opinion is not fixed as to her guilt. She died in I82I5 and was relieved from the misery and disgrace of doubtful purity. George IV. seldom met his parliament in person ; very rarely held courts, that is, he rarely received the great nobility, foreign ministers, and distinguished strangers, and he seldom appeared in any public place. He died of dropsy in July, 1830, and was committed to the tomb with splendid ceremonies, but without the regrets of the good and pure. The reign of George IV. is marked by Catholic emanci- pation. It was a most unjust state of aifairs when men were excluded from office and privilege on account of their religious creed. In 1829, an act of parliament removed many disabilities from the Catho- lics, and raised them in the scale of citizenship. Several distinguished poets made valuable additions to the literature of the nation during this reign. Coleridge, Shelley, Scott, Byron, and Campbell have made themselves immortal. William Henry, duke of Clarence, succeeded to the throne on the decease of his brother George IV., and was titled William IV. On his accession, the English nation displayed a general feeling of suffer- ing from oppressive taxation and unjust government. The taxation since the accession of George III. had more than quadrupled ; one- sixth of the population were paupers. The people became clamorous for a better representation in parliament, believing that a wise govern- ment might remedy this sickly state of things. A reformed parlia- ment Avas obtained in 1832, the king conceding as much to the people as he then could. William reigned seven years, and died June, 1837. He was succeeded by the Princess Victoria, daughter of his brother, Edward, duke of Kent. ENGLAND. 939 Victoria. On the 10th of February, 1840, the young Queen Victoria was married to Albert, prince of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha. She had been carefully educated. But in the present state of England, the influence of a sovereign is much less than formerly, and the character of one cannot be a matter of the highest importance to the nation. The wars with China and Afghanistan, which terminated so advantageously for the British, have been narrated in another part of this work. The British anticipate a long and prosperous reign for Victoria. Under the management of such brilliant statesmen as Sir Robert Peel and Lord John Russell, the machinery of government has been successfully exerted to improve the condition of the nation, and extend its influ- ence. The Irish rebellion of 1848, — if a movement suppressed by a small force of police can be so dignified, — the numerous Chartist meet- ings in favour of parliamentary reform, and the great exhibition of the manufactures of the world, at London, in 1851, are the most important of recent events. The people groan under the weight of taxation, and occasionally break out in loud complaints, which should serve as warnings to the government to provide for their gradual relief or violence may derange its whole machinery. GERMANY— THE REFORMATION. V^l®^/^!^^^^'^ ^^^6 beginning of the sixteenth century, many doctrines and practices had been introduced and sanctioned by the church "which excited the amazement, and, finally, the opposition of many pure-minded men. But although the objectionable practices were so opposed, such was the power of the pope that few dared openly to say that he sanctioned aught but Avhat was righteous. The fate of John Huss and others we have narrated. At length, however, one appeared whoso courage nothing could appal, and Avhose powerful though somewhat uncouth mind well qualified him to head a reforma- tion. This was Doctor Martin Luther. He was born at Eisleben on 940 GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. 941 Leo Z. the 10th of November, 1483, of very poor parents. In his boyhood, he earned a scant living by singing in the streets. In 1501 he entered the university of Erfurt, and in 1503 took the degree of mas- ter of arts, after which he lectured on the physics and ethics of Aris- totle, and acquired the fame of a sound scholar. In obedience to his father's wishes, Luther applied himself to the study of the law, when an almost miraculous recovery from a severe sickness, and a narrow escape from death by lightning, exercised such an influence upon his mind that he resolved to study theology, and entered the Augustine convent of Erfurt on the 22d of July, 1504. In 1507 he completed his novitiate, and then applied himself to a more thorough study of the Scriptures. Through the influence of Dr. Staupitz, vicar-general of the Augustines in Germany, who had prophesied that Luther came into the world for some great work, in 1508 he gained the chair of philosophy at the university of Wittemberg. The abuse which first excited the open opposition of Luther was the sale of indulgences, or exemptions from future punishment for sins. At first, these indulgences were nothing more than the remission of penance for sins ; but the horrible doctrine began to be introduced that exemption from the fires of purgatory might be purchased not only on account of crimes already perpetrated, but for those which the buyer intended to commit. This trafiic was intrusted to the men- dicant monks, and under Leo X. extended to the greater part of Eu- rope. In Germany, one Tetzel, a Dominican friar, was selected by 942 GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. Tetzel. the papal nuncio as a fit person to be employed in the discreditable task of cajoling his simple-minded countrymen. On the 31st of October, 1517, Martin Luther declared war against the sale of indulgences, by affixing to the great door of the castle church at Wittemberg a challenge to all comers to dispute with him on ninety-five diff'erent theses, in which he pledged himself to prove that the pardon of sins was to be obtained only by contrition and penance, and not to be bought with money. This bold challenge of Luther's fell like a spark on matter prepared for explosion. What thousands had thought in secret, he had dared openly to express ; what hundreds of thousands had suspected, they now felt to be true. The theses of Luther found their way into every part of Germany, yet the pope and his advisers looked on the affair as merely one of those disputes between monks of rival orders which were perpetually occurring, and commissioned the cardinal Tommaso di Gaeta, (Caie- tanus,) general of the Dominican order, to inquire into the circum- stances of the case. Luther was accordingly summoned to appear at Rome, but the emperor Maximilian, deeming this a fit opportunity for humbling the arrogant pretensions of the pope, informed Frederick, duke of Saxony, that the monk must be spared ; and Frederick, proud of the reputation which his newly-founded university of Wittemberg had acquired through Luther's exertions, willingly assented. Luther, therefore, instead of being given up to the pope, was permitted to meet Caietanus at Augsburg, whore the diet was then sitting, and to discuss with him the subjects of his theses. At this period nothing GEKMANY — THE KEFORMATION. 943 Frederick, duke of Saxony. seems to have been farther from the reformer's wishes than a separa- tion from the church ; but his opponent was an intemperate man, who required unqualified retractation of all that Luther had advanced ; and, this being refused, he rose in great wrath, and dismissed the assembly with these violent words : " I will have nothing more to say to that beast, for he hath deep-seeing eyes and strange speculations in his head." Luther at length appealed to the pope ; but his attempts at reconciliation only drew on farther discussions, in which he found it necessary to combat the principal errors of the church of Rome one after another, and thus to widen hopelessly the breach between the pope and the reformers. Circumstances at this time greatly favoured Luther. By the death of Maximilian the imperial croAvn had become vacant, and the pope, willing to conciliate Frederick of Saxony, (who administered the aifairs of the empire during the interregnum,) pro- posed a friendly discussion, to be held at Leipzic between Luther and his Wittemberg friends Carlstadt and Melancthon on the one side, and the famous logician Dr. Eck on the other. Had this conference taken place before the discussion with Cardinal Caietanus, a compro- mise might perhaps have been efi'ected ; but Luther had now gone too far to retract any thing : and when, in the beginning of the year 1520, the famous papal bull "Exurge Domine," (Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered,) in which Luther and his doctrine were denounced, was sent into Germany, he publicly burned it in presence of all the professors and students of Wittemberg. The most talented and distinguished of Luther's co-workers were Philip Melancthon and Ulrich Zwingli. The first is described by dU GERMANY — THE EEFORMATIOX. Melancthon. Erasmus as a man of uncommon reading, exact knowledge of classical antiquity, and one who wrote with elegance and good taste. In 1518 Melancthon accepted an invitation to fill the Greek chair at Wittem- berg, where he distinguished himself, as he had done at other places, by his profound learning, eloquent and popular style of lecturing, and above all, by the candour and gentleness of his disposition. The first wish of his heart Avas to purify the church from its corruptions, yet he regretted the separation of the Protestants from the church of Rome, and, subsequently, the rupture between the Lutherans and Zwinglians. His " Confession of Augsburg" spread his fame through- out Europe, and procured him invitations from Francis I. of France and Henry VIII. of England. But he declined both, and resided in Germany till his death, which took place on the 19th April, 1560. Ulrich Zwingli was the leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. He had been distinguished for his diligent study of the Scriptures and his fervent zeal, and in 1511 he was made canon of the cathedral of Zurich, where he frequently preached against the errors of Rome. He opposed the sale of indulgences, and subsequently reduced his church to what he conceived to be apostolic simplicity. In point of doctrine, there seems to have been little difference between him and Luther, except upon the subject of the eucharist — Luther maintaining that the words, " This is my body," Avere to be taken literally, ZAvingli contending that the elements were only symbols of the Redeemer's body and blood. ZAvingli Avas slain on the 11th of October, 1531, in GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. 945 ZwingU. a battle between the men of Zurich and those of the Romish cantons, in which he bore the banner of the republic. His mantle fell on John Calvin, or Chauvin, a native of Noyon in Picardj, who drew up a plan of church government, which M^as accepted by the authorities of Geneva, and was the foundation of what is generally called the Gene- van or Reformed Church. Calvin was a man of iron will, deep learn- ing, but gloomy mind. His doctrine still divides the Christian world. We now return to Luther. The election of Charles V. to fill the imperial throne, in 1519, gave to the Reformation a powerful and de- termined foe. But it nevertheless advanced with sure and rapid strides. Two of Luther's pamphlets, one in Latin, addressed to the "Christian Nobility of the German Nation," and the other in German, intended for the common people, and entitled, " Of the Babylonish Captivity," gained him and his cause thousands of friends. In 1521, a diet of the empire was held at Worms, at which the new emperor presided, and proposed plans for crushing at once these he- retical proceedings, by which, as he declared, the peace of the church was threatened. Not doubting that such would be the effect of a public discussion, and willing also to oblige Luther's patron, the elec- tor of Saxony, Charles summoned the reformer to appear at the diet and defend his doctrines. Although Luther received the emperor's safe-conduct, his friends attempted to persuade him not to obey the summons. But he was prepared for martyrdom, and expressed his mighty resolution in these words: " If it please God, I am ready to be burnt to death as Huss was. But forth I shall go, in the name of 60 946 GERMANY — THE REFOEMATION. John Calvin. tlie Lord, were there a fire blazing as high as the heavens all the way between Wittemberg and Worms." On the afternoon of the ITth of April, Luther appeared before the diet with his counsel, Jerome Schurf, The commissary of the arch- bishop of Treves then opened the proceedings by asking Luther whe- ther he acknowledged a pile of books which lay on the table to be his, and whether he would retract their contents. When, by the request of the counsel, the titles of the books had been read singly, the re- former acknowledged them to be his. In reply to the second ques- tion, he asked a day to prepare and to give such a solemn matter due consideration. The emperor granted the request, and the assembly was dismissed. On the evening of the next day the diet again met, and the question whether he would retract was again put to Luther, who replied in justification of his course of action, and concluded by calling on high and low to confute him out of the gospel or the pro- phetic writings ; and if they proved him to be in error, he said he would himself throw the books into the fire. The imperial orator then told him that that was not the place for disputations, and required an answer, "Yes," or "No." Luther replied, "I will not recall what I have written, so help me God. Amen." Soon after, the assembly broke up. The next day, the emperor announced that he would pro- tect the ancient faith after the manner of his ancestors, give aid to the papal see, and pronounce against Luther and his followers the ban of the empire ; but he would not violate his safe-conduct. The discussion as to the lawfulness and expediency of treating GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. 947 Luther as John Huss had been treated at Constance, now became violent and obstinate ; but the majority were in favour of respecting the safe-conduct. Soon after, Luther was ordered to quit the town within twenty-one days, and not to preach upon the road to Wittem- berg. The successful reformer had not proceeded far upon the road, when he was surrounded by a band of friends in the disguise of robbers, and carried oif to the castle of Wartburg, belonging to his friend, Duke Frederick of Saxony. Here, under the feigned name of Squire George, he employed himself in translating the Scriptures into Ger- man, a work Avhich he executed with remarkable fidelity. In this retreat Luther remained ten months, when he was called into the field to assert the supremacy of the moderate reformers at Wittemberg; his zealous but imprudent friend Carlstadt having, in the mean time, employed himself in destroying every ornament connected with the Romish ritual, and in undoing much that his master had achieved. After eight days' thundering from the pulpit, Luther was trium- phant. The perversion of Luther's doctrine concerning Christian liberty became the cause of much bloodshed in various parts of Germany, where the peasants, who had long groaned under the feudal yoke, were beginning to persuade themselves that the overthrow of the spi- ritual supremacy was but a prelude to their emancipation from tem- poral bonds. In Swabia, Franconia, Thuringia, and Saxony, the serfs arose and committed many outrages, but were at length completely overthrown and their leaders killed. Luther, who had in vain exhorted them to lay down their arms, declared that they* ought to be put to death like mad dogs. He was ever a strenuous advocate of the doc- trine of the divine right of kings. Hitherto the princes of Germany had suspected him of aiming to overthrow all authority; but they were now convinced that he was a powerful auxiliary in enabling them to free themselves from the pope as well as the emperor. From this time, the Reformation in Germany assumed the form of a struggle for political power. In the North, Gustavus Vasa intro- duced Lutheranism to widen the breach between the Swedes and Danes. Albert of Prussia embraced Protestantism for the sake of making the grandmastership of the Teutonic order hereditary in his family. Some of the German princes were, however, swayed by motives less objectionable. In Saxony, Luther himself set about the work of organizing a new church. Monks and nuns were absolved from their vows of celibacy, and Luther married a handsome young nun named Catharine of Bora, by whom he had four children. The monastic 948 GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. Catharine of Bora. orders were entirely suppressed, and the secular clergy placed on a different footing. In 1529, a diet assembled at Speiers, where the princes of the em- pire decided, by a majority of votes, that church affairs should remain as they were until a general council should be held. The Lutheran princes immediately drew up and forwarded to the emperor a protest, from which circumstance they and all the Lutheran party were thence- forth styled Protestants. Pope Adrian, whom Charles V. placed on the papal throne in 1521, acknowledged the justice of many charges against the churchy»but he died before he could make any reforms, and his successor, Clement VII., was of a different mind. The wild and fanatical conduct of the Anabaptists, a sect of reform- ers headed by Klaus Storch, a weaver, who maintained the absolute necessity of adult baptism, caused Luther and the moderate reformers much anxiety and trouble. Mlinster was the chief scene of their ex- cesses ; that city was stormed by the imperial troops, and most of the Anabaptists put to the sword. Since that time, Mlinster has been one of the most bigoted popish cities in Europe. On the 18th of June, 1530, the diet of Augsburg was opened by the emperor in person. On the 24th, the pope's legate appeared, and, in a long Latin oration, called on the states of the empire to unite in resisting the Turks ; and, addressing the Protestants particularly, implored them not to forsake the old church. The Protestant princes then demanded that the confession of their faith, drawn up by Me- lancthon, should be publicly read in German. This was complied GERMANY — THE REFORMATION. 949 with, and a great number of persons thus became acquainted with the real doctrines of the reformers. Luther now declared open war against Charles V., and a number of the Protestant princes assembled at Schmalkelden to enter into a league, offensive and defensive, by his advice. The emperor was in- clined to use conciliatory measures, and overtures were made by the princes. In 1532, what was called a religious peace was concluded at Nurnberg, the emperor engaging to allow freedom of conscience to the Protestants in return for the aid which they should give him in the war against the Turks ; but the emperor's duplicity caused the league to be renewed. The final settlement of these disputes was to be referred to a council which the pope summoned to meet at Trent, in the Tyrol, in the month of December, 1545. In the mean time, old age and chronic disease had been gradually wasting the strength of Martin Luther. The summer before his death he had retired to the estate of Zollsdorf, near Borna, to enjoy some repose; but the university of Wittemberg had prevailed on the elector to urge his return, and Luther obeyed. He was called to Eisleben by the count of Mansfeld. The fatigue of this last journey was too much for Luther's worn-out body, yet he preached four times at Eisleben. He was soon after taken very ill, and died on the morning of the 17th of February, 1546. The body was taken to Wittemberg, and buried with great ceremony and lamentation. The Protestants felt that they had lost a mighty leader — the right arm of their cause. The great struggle but began after the death of Luther, when the pope and the emperor, aided by the order of Jesuits, founded by Ig- natius Loyola in 1539, turned their whole power against the Protest- ants. The defeat of the elector of Saxony at Muhlberg, on the 24th of April, 1547, was a crushing blow, and the Protestant party was, for the time, completely powerless. But such was the perseverance of a few princes, that in 1555, by the treaty of Augsburg, they ob- tained the condition that all subjects should follow the religion of their rulers. Frederick the Great. PRUSSIA— FREDERICK THE GREAT. jIIE foundation of the present power of Prussia "was laid by Frederick William, of Brandenburg, surnamed the Great Elector, who died on the 29th of April, 1678, after governing Brandenburg and Prussia forty-eight years. He was the ablest and most patriotic German prince of his time, and while strengthening his dominions and improving the condition of his subjects, he strove to withstand the mighty power of France. But his conduct was occasionally very arbitrary, and those who opposed his measures were often punished with extreme severity. Before the death of the Great Elector, Brandenburg and Prussia were erected into a kingdom, under the name of Prussia. This kingdom increased in power and importance, until, under the reign of Frederick William!., who ascended the throne in 1713, it possessed a well disci- plined army of seventy-two thousand men. The magnificent army, which that king spent his days in organizing and training, was never called into the field in his lifetime. He died on the 3d of May, 1740, and was succeeded by Frederick II., surnamed, from his indomitable energy and capacity, the Great. Frederick the Great w^as twenty-eight years old when he ascended the Prussian throne. During the life of his father, he had suffered 950 FREDERICK THE GREAT. 951 mucli from his violent and severe domestic rule, and had been driven into the company of rather -ndld young men. But after his father's death, he entered upon the functions of government, with an earnest wish to improve the condition of his people and to win a glorious name. The accession of Maria Theresa, in 1740, to the imperial throne of Austria, was opposed by a formidable league, consisting of the elector of Bavaria, the king of France, and the king of Prussia. Frederick, availing himself of some antiquated claims on certain dutchies in Sile- sia, invaded that country in December, and in the spring of the fol- lowing year overthrew the Austrians in a bloody battle, near Molwitz. This success caused Saxony, Spain, and Poland to join the confede- rates. A French army, under the command of Marshal Belleisle, then crossed the Rhine, overran a great part of Austria and Bohemia, and took the city of Prague, where Albert of Bavaria, whom Louis XV. had named lieutenant-general of his forces, halted to receive the homage of the Bohemians. Meanwhile, the queen of Hungary, abandoned by all her allies except England, purchased the forbearance of Frederick by the cession of Silesia, the king merely stipulating that the treaty should be kept secret for three months, to secure him from suspicion of treachery. But the treaty was respected by neither party. A formidable army of Hungarians, Croats, Pandours, and others, rallied to the support of Maria Theresa, freed the whole of Upper Austria in a week, and marching into Bavaria, captured Munich on the same day that Charles Albert, who had been elected emperor of Germany, received the imperial crown at Frankfort. Frederick renewed the war in Silesia, where he defeated the Aus- trians in 1742, and soon after granted peace to Maria Theresa on con- dition of receiving the whole of Upper as well as Lower Silesia. At the same time the elector of Saxony espoused the queen's cause. In the following year, the French were defeated at Dettingen by George II. of England, and the duke of Cumberland ; and the duke of Lor- raine ravaged the French province of Alsace. A second Silesian war between the Prussians and Austrians ended in December, 1744, by the peace of Dresden ; and in the early part of the next year Charles VII. died, and was succeeded on the imperial throne by the queen's husband, Francis I. In Flanders and Holland, the French marshal Saxe defeated the English and Dutch. At the general peace of Aix- la-chapelle, October 7th, 1748, Maria Theresa was insured in the un- disturbed possession of her dominions, according to the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, but Frederick retained Silesia. In January, 1756, an alliance was concluded between Prussia and England. France was then at war with England, and upon solicita- 952 FKEDERICK THE GREAT, tion of Maria Theresa, readily entered into an alliance with Austria in May following the treaty of Westminster. Russia also joined the cause of the empress of Austria. Frederick, gaining intelligence of the proceedings of the allies, determined to anticipate their designs, and suddenly appeared in Saxony at the head of seventy thousand men. He demanded permission to pass through that country to Bohemia, but did not receive a decided answer ; and immediately declaring war against the elector, he blockaded the little Saxon army between Pirne and Kcinigsmark. An Austrian force under General Brown advanced to the aid of the Saxons ; but was defeated by the Prussians near Lowositz. The Saxons then surrendered at discretion, and Avere drafted into the Prussian army. In the following spring, (17G7,) pre- parations were made by the allies for resuming the war on a more extensive scale. Austria and France contributed each one hundred and fifty thousand men, Russia one hundred thousand, Sweden twenty thousand, and the German empire generally sixty thousand. At the same time the ban of the empire was pronounced against Frederick by the diet at Ratisbon. Frederick opened the campaign by again invading Bohemia, and attacking the allies, who were intrenched in a strong position near Prague, under the command of Prince Charles of Lorraine, brother-in-law of the empress-queen. With his usual impetuosity the king urged his troops through a green morass, which he had mistaken for meadow ground. Marshal Schwerin implored him to delay the attack until the following morning ; but the con- temptuous retort of his master so piqued the old man, that seizing a standard, he rushed wildly forward, and fell pierced with four balls. After a protracted and bloody struggle, the Austrians fled in all direc- tions, leaving their general. Brown, among the dead. Some of the fugitives took refuge in the city of Prague, while others joined the army of Marshal Daun, who was stationed in the neighbourhood. On the 18th of June another battle was fought near Kollin, in which the Prussians were utterly routed, losing fourteen thousand men, with all their artillery and baggage. A few weeks after this disaster, Frederick received the dispiriting information that his ally, the duke of Cumberland, had been de- feated by the French, and had signed a convention at Kloster-Severn, by which he engaged to disband his troops, and to give up Hanover, Brunswick, and the whole of the country between the Weser and the Rhine. But the government of England refused to ratify the dis- graceful convention. Frederick again took the field on the 5th of November, and attacked the united army of imperialists and French who were encamped near Rossback. The enemy, who were three PRUSSIA. 953 times as numerous as the Prussians, were so confident of victory, that they filled their camp with women and French friseurs. But the first charge of the Prussian cavalry threw them into confusion, and the whole army, with the exception of a few Swiss mercenaries, fled with- out firing a shot. Exactly a month after this easy triumph, Frede- rick with only thirty thousand men defeated eighty thousand impe- rialists near Leuthen and soon after captured Breslau. He now proposed terms of peace, but Maria Theresa rejected them. When the war began afresh, the Prussian army, augmented by large reinforcements from England, was placed under the command of the duke of Brunswick. The Russians were then defeated at Zorndorf, near Frankfort on the Oder, and compelled to retreat into Poland. In 1758, the Prussians were defeated at Hochkirch ; but in the fol- lowing year, the duke of Brunswick obtained a splendid victory over the French at Minden, Frederick now experienced some severe reverses ; and in 1760, his embarrassments were increased by the refusal of George III. of England to continue the subsidy which had been paid to Prussia by his predecessor. But in 1762, Peter III. succeeded to the imperial throne of Russia, and immediately entered into an alliance with Frederick, an example which was soon followed by Sweden. A general peace was concluded at Paris on the 10th of February, 1763 ; and soon afterward, Maria Theresa, abandoned by her allies, was compelled to sign a convention, by which Silesia was again secured to Frederick. We have thus narrated the great military events of the career of the Prussian king. In the features of domestic government his reign is equally remarkable. The habits of the king were exceedingly active, and he had no drones about him. In the months of May and June, he regularly made a journey through his dominions, for the pur- pose of reviewing the troops, and ascertaining by personal inspection the efficiency of every department of the public service. Within ten years from the time of his accession, an extensive tract of swampy land in the neighborhood of Stettin, which had been hitherto unin- habitable, contained two hundred and eighty villages, swarming with industrious handicraftsmen and agriculturists. The Oder was made navigable by means of canals. Frederick also strove to promote the intellectual welfare of his people, by purchasing rare works of art, adding many thousands of volumes to the public library, and inviting celebrated literary men to his court. He was himself a poet and musician, and had a very extravagant admiration of the great French writers. The famous Voltaire was sent by Louis XV. upon a mission to the Prussian court, and he was received at Frederick's palace of 954 PRUSSIA. Sans Souci w-ith every nicark of respect and friendship. The negotia- tion was conducted in a whimsical manner ; the great poet talking of nothing but treaties and guaranties, and the great king of nothing but metaphors and rhymes. They had exchanged characters. But in secret they both laughed at each other. Frederick's death took place on the 17th of August, 1786. His death created a deep sensa- tion throughout Europe, for he had been regarded as the hero of his age, and certainly was one of the greatest monarchs who have ever come to the throne by legitimate succession. Battle of Chotusitz. Hugh Capet. FRANCE— SUCCESSION OF THE KINGS FROM HUGH CAPET TO LOUIS PHILIP. "^. UGH CAPET, duke of Francia, in 987 was raised to the French throne. With him commences the Capetian dynasty, of which all the Bourbon princes to Louis Philip were members. Hugh was a prince of marked ability. He died in 996, and was succeeded by his son Robert I. (996-1031 ;) then followed in succession Henry I. (1031-1060,) Philip L (1060-1108,) Louis VI. (1108-1137,) Louis VII. (1137-1180.) Then followed Philip IL surnamed Augustus, (1180-1223.) In his reign began the wars between France and England, arising originally out of the claims of Henry IL of England, in Anjou and Normandy, and other parts of France acquired by marriage and inheritance. These wars lasted, with intervals, for two hundred and fifty years, without final success on the part of the English. They are noticed in our historical collec- tions of England. To Philip II. succeeded Louis VIIL (1223-1226,) Louis IX. called Saint Louis, (1226-1270,) Philip HL (1270-1285,) Philip IV. surnamed the Fair, (1285-1313.) His three sons, Louis X., Philip v., and Charles IV., all reigned in succession, between the years 1314 and 1328. With the last of these ended the chief line of the Capetians, and the collateral line of the house of Valois came 955 956 SUCCESSION OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE. The Ivlaid of Orleans. in with Philip VI. (1328-1350.) His successors of the house of Valois Avere John, surnamed the Good, (1350-1364,) Charles V., sur- named the Wise, (1364-1480,) Charles VI. (1480-1422,) Charles VII. (1422-1461,) restored to his throne by Joan of Arc, the famous Maid of Orleans. Louis XL (1461-1543.) This prince was involved in constant strife with Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. Charles VIIL (1483-1498,) Louis XIL (1498-1515,) Francis L (1515-1547.) Francis I. was the formidable and constant rival of the emperor Charles V., and bloody wars were waged between them, in which por- tions of France were desolated. Henry II. (1547-1559,) Francis 11. (1559-1560,) Charles IX. (1560-1574.) During the reign of Charles IX., Catherine of Medicis, an able, ambitious, but unscrupulous woman, ruled the kingdom, and in 1572 instigated the horrible massacre of St. Bartholomew, in which thousands of Protestants fell. Henry III. (1574-1589) was murdered by a monk, named James Clement, and with him the house of Valois became extinct. The house of Bourbon, in the person of Henry, king of Navarre, now gained possession of the throne. Henry IV. overthrew the forces of the Catholic League, and established his power, but was assassinated on the 14th of May, 1610, by Ravaillac, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIIL (1610-1643,) Louis XIV. (1643-1715,) surnamed the Great, on account of his many conquests and the splendour of France during his reign. Louis XV., his great-grandson, (1715-1774,) and Louis XVL, grandson of Louis XV., an amiable but weak ruler. He made one concession after SUCCESSION OF THE KINGS OF FRANCE. 957 Charles Vni. anotiier to the liberal party of the kingdom, until they gained strength and confidence, and on the 3d of September, 1791, deprived him of his royal prerogative, and then of his life on the scafi'old, January 21st, 1793. The reign of terror ensued, and lasted from the 24th of July, 1793, to the 28th of July, 1794. The government of the five members, called the Directory, ensued, and lasted from the 26th of October, 1795, to the 10th of November, 1799, -when Napoleon Bonaparte attained the power, first as consul, and in 1804 as empe- ror, by the name of Napoleon. In 1814, the European powers forced liim to abdicate the throne of France in exchange for the sovereignty of the island of Elba, and Louis XVIII. ascended the throne of his ancestors. In March, 1815, Napoleon suddenly landed in France, and soon regained his former power. But in the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815, he was utterly overthrown, and Louis XVIII. again returned to France. On the 16th of September, 1824, Louis died, and was succeeded by Charles X. By a revolution in 1830, Charles was forced to abdicate, and Louis Philip, duke of Orleans, was pro- claimed king of the French. But he became tyrannical, and by the revolution of February, 1848, he was compelled to fly to England, and the monarchy then gave place to a republic. Napoleon, FRANCE— NAPOLEON. HE history of Napoleon Bonaparte is an account of one of the most thrilling periods of the world's progress. He gave France more power than she had possessed even in the days of Charle- magne, and covered her arms with glory. Napo- leon was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the 15th of August, 17G9. In 1786, he commenced his military career, being then appointed second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery. In 1793, he came into general notice by his skilful recommendations, which resulted in the recovery of Toulon from the English. On the same day on which Toulon was taken, he was made brigadier-general and commander of the artillery of the army of Italy. In Piedmont, he aided materially in securing the triumph of the French arms. Having rendered important service in establishing the power of the directory 958 NAPOLEON. 959 IT.n 1l at Areola. on tlie IStli Vendemiaire, Napoleon received the appointment of general-in-chief of the army of Italy. (March 30, 1796.) The cam- paign established his fame as a daring, original, and skilful com- mander. His proclamation fired his soldiers with an enthusiasm which nothing could resist, and his plan of concentrating his force to strike the foe while divided gave him triumph after triumph. In all the battles with the Austrians, his genius was conspicuous, and at Lodi, and the passage of the bridge of Areola, his undaunted bravery astonished even brave men. At the peace of Campo-Formio, October 17, 1797, the independence of the Italian republics and the supremacy of France were established. Napoleon was next placed in command of the expedition to Egypt. The capture of the island of Malta, (June 12, 1798,) and of Alexan- dria, (July 2,) were the first results of this expedition. The victory over the Turks, (July 25, 1779,) and the recovery of Aboukir, (August 2,) were Napoleon's last achievements in Egypt. He had been repulsed at Acre, and found it impossible to execute his vast designs of con- quest in the East. The critical state of affairs in France offered a fine field for his ambition and genius, and he returned home, leaving Kleber in command in Egypt. On the 9th of November, 1799, (18th Bru- maire,) he overthrew the directory. The legislature was driven from its hall the next day, and the government of three consuls established, Bonaparte being the first and the most powerful. From this time, it was the policy of Bonaparte to establish a firm government and regu- lar administration of justice at home, and to humble the enemies of 960 NAPOLEON. Louis ZVIII. the republic. Hastily collecting an army, tlie first consul, in 1800, crossed Mount St. Bernard, descended into Italy, gained the splendid victory of Marengo on the 14th of June, compelled the Austrians to evacuate Upper Italy, and then, leaving Massena in command, re- turned to Paris. Several conspiracies for the overthrow of Napoleon were now detected, and the principal conspirators executed. The numerous victories of the French armies brought about a general peace, (November 9, 1801,) and Napoleon directed his powerful mind to improving the condition of the nation. In August, 1802, he was elected, by a majority of more than three million votes, consul for life. In spite of the efforts of Napoleon to maintain peace, England declared war against France on the 18th of May, 1803. The gigantic project termed the continental system was put in force soon after, and Napoleon, being by the general voice of the French chosen emperor, found himself poAverful enough to contend with the rest of Europe if necessary. England, Sweden, and Russia only refused at first to acknowledge the emperor, and Louis XVIII. from his retire- ment issued a protest against him. The iron crown of Italy was also given to Napoleon, and he thus became the equal of Charlemagne in extent of dominion. A series of rapid and decisive victories was now gained over the forces of the allied powers, concluding with the great triumph of Austerlitz, which secured a very advantageous peace and a great accession of power to the emperor of the French. Great political changes were now made in Europe, and Napoleon's chief generals and ministers received domains in the conquered countries. In 1806, Prussia declared war against France, but was entirely NAPOLEON. 961 Kapolcon talking leave of liis to ps at Fontain'='bleau crushed in the great battle of Jena, fought October 14. Russia attempted to aid Prussia, but at Pultusk, (December 26,) Eyhau, (Feb- ruary 7 and 8, 1807,) Ostrolenka, (June 12,) and Freidland, (June 14,) her armies were completely defeated, and on the 9th of July, the treaty of Tilsit secured peace between the three nations. The almost anarchical state of Spain offering a field for the extension of Napoleon's power, he, in 1809, made Joseph, his brother, king 'of that country. Junot with a powerful army had previously taken possession of Portu- gal. In 1809, Austria declared war against France, and all Germany was filled with an insurrectionary spirit. But a series of victories, ending with that of Wagram, (July 5 and 6,) established the French supremacy, and was followed by a treaty of peace. In Spain, Napo- leon's marshals met with various success in contending with the English and Spaniards under Wellington, but they were driven out of Portugal. In March, 1810, Napoleon married Maria Louisa, arch- duchess of Austria. While the war in Spain continued, immense preparations were made for the invasion of Russia; and, in 1812, Napoleon set out with four hundred thousand men for that purpose. At first he was victorious, and he reached Moscow, the capital of Russia. But the burning of that city and other circumstances com- pelled him to retreat, and in consequence of the severity of the season, and the attacks of the Cossacks, above three hundred thousand men perished before they could be conducted beyond the limits of Russia. This was a fatal blow of fortune. The greater part of Europe now rose against Napoleon, and though he struggled manfully he was defeated at Leipsic, the allies entered France, and, on the 11th of 61 962 NAPOLEON. April, 1814, he abdicated tlie sovereignty of France, took leave of his soldiers at Fontainebleau, and retired to his island, Elba. But there his mighty spirit could not be confined. On the 1st of March, 1815, he landed near Frejus, in France. The army enthusiastically joined him, as well as its most distinguished marshals, and he was soon the sovereign of France once more. But the powers of Europe united against him, and at Waterloo his plans and hopes were entirely over- thrown. The fugitive emperor surrendered to the English, who sent him to St. Helena, where he died May 5th, 1821. His character is yet a problem, and remains for the calm measurement of a future his- torian. But it will be agreed that he was a man of the greatest reach and activity of mind, the first of soldiers, and a sagacious statesman. Napoleon as First Consul. EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848-49. GENERAL calm pervaded Europe during tlie latter part of the year 1847. But it was that death-like stillness which fills the air before the thunder-storm. Louis Philip of Orleans had been placed upon the throne of France, in 1830, as a " citizen king," and the choice of the people. It was expected from him, therefore, to respect the ^liberties of his subjects in a greater measure than his predecessors. But all history proves that a people can hope nothing from their rulers but what they bind them to give. The love of power and aggrandizement is far too strong in ° 965 966 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. tlio majority of men to let them stay from them when there is an open door. Guizot, the able minister of Louis Philip, bent his efforts to two great ends : to concentrate power in the executive of the government, and to maintain peace with the European nations. The accomplish- ment of the latter object was the defeat of the former effort. For, if the nation had been occupied in foreign war, it would not have marked executive encroachment. Being at peace abroad, it had time to note the slightest tread upon the forbidden ground of popular rights. In the latter part of 1847, Paris was strongly fortified, and defended by more than a hundred thousand troops. A revolution was not an- ticipated by the minister. But the seeds of discontent were widely sown ; murmurs, deeper for their very suppression, were heard in many quarters ; and eloquent tongues in the chamber of deputies denounced the gag of the press, the threatening of deputies, and the imprisonment of the people, under the guard of a mighty army. A desire for parliamentary reform caused the liberal party to hold many reform banquets in the fall of 1847. Emboldened by the en- thusiasm displayed at these banquets, the leaders of the opposition resolved to hold a monster one at the capital. This the government determined to prevent, and made extensive military preparations for that purpose. On the 29th of December, the chambers met. A long and ardent discussion immediately began upon the reply to the address of the king. The opposition members withdrew from the chamber when the vote was taken ; and further resolved to attend the monster banquet of the 22d of February. Early on the 22d of February, crowds of people moved towards the Champs Elysees. The banquet was dropped by the opposition, but about noon a procession was formed, and marched to the hotel where the meetings of the opposition were held. Another body of people gained the interior of the chamber of deputies. The troops ejected them ; but they retired singing the " Marsellaise Hymn," and shouting " Down with Guizot !" The mob then began to barricade the streets, and accumulated missiles. The national guard joined them in their cries for reform. The municipal guard refrained from coming in col- lision with the national guard. The people prevailed, and it was an- nounced that Guizot had dissolved his cabinet. On the night of the 23d, the troops of the line, no doubt irritated by the mob, fired upon them at the Hotel des Etrangers, and fifty of their number fell dead or wounded. This called on the storm in its full fury. Every street of importance was barricaded, and on the morning of the 24th there was not one without a strong fortress and EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 971 Odillon Barrot. a numerous garrison. The national guards attacked and carried the defences of the municipal guards. Meanwhile the attempts to form a liberal cabinet, with Thiers and Odillon Barrot as chief officers, failed. By twelve o'clock on the 24th, the military power had passed from the government. An hour later, the abdication of Louis Philip was proclaimed. But it was too late for any thing but the republic. The Palais Royal was attacked and carried. The Tuileries surrendered, the king and royal family escaping at a back door. A general ran- sacking of the royal apartments then occurred. In the chamber of deputies an exciting scene was presented. The duchess of Orleans and others of the royal family barely escaped the fury of the mob, who broke into the chamber. M. Lamartine and Ledru Rollin mounted the tribune, and wrote out the names of members of a provisional government. The deputies then retired. At the Hotel de Ville, the members of the provisional government met to decide what measures to adopt. The people demanded that the first act of the government should be communicated to them. M. Dupont de I'Eure, the aged president, could not gain a hearing. Finally, after the most strenuous exertions, the provisional govern- ment was announced to consist of Dupont de I'Eure, Lamartine, Arago, Marrast, Ledru Rollin, Gamier Pages, Flocon, and Louis Blanc ; and the democratic republic was proclaimed and received with unanimous approval. Universal suffrage was established, the death-penalty abolished ; and other popular measures adopted. On the 25th of 972 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. Ledru HoUin. February, order was in a great measure restored, through the oratori- cal exertions of Lamartine. The week succeeding the revolution was employed by the govern- ment in restoring public confidence. Peace being secured, it became necessary to adopt measures for the election of permanent officers of the republic. The 23d of April was named as the day of election for a constituent assembly of nine hundred members. Ledru Rollin op- posed the decree containing these provisions, and issued an incendiary proclamation. He even threatened to call the people to overthrow the provisional government, but was deterred by the determined con- duct of Garnier Pages. It was soon apparent that the working classes were dissatisfied with the result of the revolution. The social and communist doctrines of Fourier and Prudhomme had taken deep root among them, and their orators were clamorous for social changes. On the 16th of April, an attempt was made to overthrow the moderate section of the govern- ment ; but the plot was defeated by the prompt support which the national guard gave to the authorities. Lamartine and his colleagues now found themselves strengthened by the attempt to break down their power, and were enabled to bring the troops of the line back to Paris. Meanwhile the election for representatives occurred. The moderate republicans gained a complete triumph. On the 4th of May, the re- public was officially proclaimed, amid the firing of artillery and the shouts of the people ; and on the following day, the members of the provisional government tendered their resignations from office, and EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 975 Lamartine. received the thanks of the nation. The assembly then named five of its number — Arago, Garnier Pages, Marie, Lamartine, and Ledru Rollin — to compose an executive committee. Several serious riots, which were not suppressed without bloodshed, now denoted the approach of a great struggle between the socialists and the friends of the old order of things. Of the leaders of the socialists, Louis Blanc was decidedly the most active and influential. On the 15th of May, a large meeting was held in the capital, to ex- press sympathy for the Polish patriots, who had lately attempted a revolution. The wildest excitement reigned, and the assembly was denounced in bitter terms. About fifty thousand persons proceeded to the chamber, and demanded French interference in the Polish quarrel. The crowd rushed into the chamber, and, amid the uproar, an attempt was made to get up a provisional government, composed of socialists and communists. The assembly dispersed ; but the na- tional guard, the young men of the garde mohile, and the troops of the line promptly rallied to the support of the government. In a short time the mob dispersed, and their leaders, Barbes, Albert, Blanqui, Raspail, and Sobrier, were arrested and imprisoned. The great struggle was yet to come. The workingmen thought the revolution fruitless, while the middle classes were contented. The musket and sword alone could decide between them. On the 22d of June, a body of workingmen proceeded to the palace of Luxembourg, and demanded impossible measures of the executive committee. Being 976 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. Louis Blanc. refused, they gathered a great crowd, and paraded the streets, shouting, " Down with the executive committee !" The next morning it was found that the insurgents had erected barricades in every quarter of the city, and then the conflict began. Boys and women took part with the insurgents, and fought with surprising courage. The troops carried the barricades at the Porte St. Denis, at the point of the bayonet. The executive committee met, and appointed General Cavaig- nac, a bold, determined, and skilful soldier, commander-in-chief of all the forces in and around Paris. On Saturday, the insurgents con- tinued operations at St. Marceau, St. Antoine, St. Denis, and other points. The assembly created Cavaignac dictator, and declared Paris in a state of siege. These were wise measures. Before Saturday evening, the general had suppressed the insurrection on the left bank of the Seine and the city. At the Clos St. Lazare and the Fau- bourg St. Antoine the struggle was obstinate and destructive. At this time the aspect of affairs in Paris was gloomy indeed. At least three hundred thousand troops were under arms against one hundred and twenty thousand insurgents. One-fourth of the city had been ruined to build barricades. On Sunday, the conflict at the Pantheon was of the most determined nature. For fifteen hours the firing was incessant, and the slaughter on both sides was appalling. At length the military cleared the street. At this stage of the rebellion, the archbishop of Paris ofi'ered to go among the insurgents and restore order. The offer being accepted, EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 979 Archbishop of Paris. he proceeded upon his mission of peace ; the firing being suddenly renewed, the prelate was shot in the groin, and borne a^Yay mortally wounded. This event caused deep regret on both sides ; the insur- gents said they did not purpose to injure a hair of his head. On Monday, the conflict was renewed with desperate courage by both parties ; but Generals Cavaignac and Lamoriciere captured the barricades one after another, and before night the insurgents were entirely defeated and quiet restored. In this four-days' contest more than twenty thousand persons were slain, and the number of prisoners embarrassed the government. The remainder of the week was filled by burying the dead, repairing damages done to the city, and restor- ing confidence. Many distinguished men fell in this great struggle, but none w^as more lamented than General Negrier, a determined and talented man. On the 29th, General Cavaignac resigned his powers to the assem- bly, but was immediately made president of state, with power to name his officers. The energy of the general was then displayed in crush- ing every manifestation of riot and asserting the supremacy of lawful rule. General Changarnier was appointed commander-in-chief of the national guard. The great number of soldiers on duty in Paris and the vigorous measures of the government at length secured public order. The good results of the revolution were not appreciated by 980 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. General Negi'ier. the great mass of the French people until the 12th of November, 1848, when the constitution of the republic was proclaimed. The election for president took place in December ; eight million votes -were polled, of Avhich Louis Napoleon Bonaparte received six million : he was formally proclaimed president on the 20th of December. And thus, after a year of mighty exertion, was the change from monarchy and nobility to a constitutional republic and equality perfected. The French boast that when they move, the world moves. Their revolutions certainly do throw Europe into a ferment. The news of the February affair stimulated the Germans to strenuous efforts to secure constitutional governments. They demanded a new civil and criminal code for all Germany, ratifying, among other things, the freedom of the press, trial by jury and publicity in all judicial pro- ceedings, representative governments in the several states, with the right of voting taxes vested in the people alone, civil equality without distinction of creed, and, lastly, that the people, as well as the princes, should be represented in the council of the German confederation. These demands were the old creed of the liberal party of Germany, for which they had suffered every kind of persecution; but they were now extorted, with more or less violence, in the space of three weeks, from every sovereign in Germany. The people of Saxony, Hanover, Wurtemburg, and Bavaria gained their demands with but little vio- lence. The king of Bavaria had made himself obnoxious to his people EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 981 General Chanaaxnier. by his infatuation for a mistress named Lola Montez, who, for a time, governed his political conduct ; but she was driven from the kingdom, and the king forced to abdicate. The revolution in Vienna began on the occasion of the opening of the diet for Lower Austria. An immense crov.-d demanded a liberal government ; the ministers were obstinate, and refused them. Sud- denly the troops appeared and fired upon the unarmed multitude, killing and wounding a great number. This roused the people. The Burgher Guard prepared for the conflict, but all violence ceased upon the announcement that Prince Metternich had resigned his post of premier, and that the emperor had acceded to the popular demands. A constitution, securing the rights dearest to the people, was pro- claimed on the 25th of April. 982 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. Prince Metternioti. In Prussia, after the adjournment of the diet, the people of the Rhenish provinces broke out in loud cries for reform, and their de- mands were echoed from Breslau, Konigsberg, and Berlin. A great meeting held at the capital on the loth of March ended in a tumult, in which the troops acted with great violence. For nearly a week, the city was in continual disorder. On the 15th, though the people offered little more than a passive resistance, ten persons were killed and about a hundred wounded by the military. On the 18th, a depu- tation from Cologne arrived at Berlin, and presented a petition for reform. Frederick William having promised to accede to their de- mands, they insisted on a proclamation being issued at once to that effect, and the king submitted. A constitution based on liberal prin- ciples was proclaimed ; the people received it with every manifestation of joy. Crowds repaired to the palace and cheered the king; unhap- pily, the shouts were mistaken for signals to attack, and the dragoons, in forcing the people back, fired upon them. The masses then rushed to arms ; barricades were erected, and riflemen posted on every house- top. For fifteen hours the people fought with valour and determina- EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 985 tion, and the soldiers with a fury increased by resistance. On the morning of the 19th of March, the king desisted from the contest without being defeated. A general amnesty was proclaimed, and the monarch was cordially received. About six hundred persons had fallen in the street conflict. Frederick William had now virtually lost a battle against his own subjects ; he hoped to raise his fallen dignity, however, by a bold stroke. On the 21st of March, he issued a proclamation declaring that he would head the grand movement for the regeneration of Ger- many. On the same day the king rode through Berlin, wearing the tri-colour, and was received with enthusiasm. Soon after, Microlawski and other Poles were liberated from the prison of Berlin, and a war broke out between the people of German Posen and those of Polish Posen ; both sides displayed the most savage cruelty, and the details are too horrid to relate. The war terminated on the 10th of May by the capture of Microlawski and the defeat of his troops. The republicans of Baden took up arms, under the lead of Hecker and Struve. But they were attacked on the 20th of April by the forces of the German confederation, then supreme, and totally routed. Struve was captured, but was rescued by his friends. Fribourg was stormed on the 24th, and Constanz occupied on the same day. Her- wcgh, the poet and communist, with nine hundred men was routed, with great loss, on the 27th ; and thus the republicans were crushed. The German parliament held its first sitting at Frankfort on the 18th of May, and on the 28th of June the parliament created the provisional central power for the administration of all affairs which concern the whole German nation. Archduke John, of Austria, M'as elected regent by a large majority. He was solemnly installed in ofSce on the 12th of July. For two months after the revolution in March, Vienna was tranquil. But the spirit of revolt was alive in the public mind, and on the 15th of May a new movement was made. The students of the university took the lead. They demanded that the troops should be v/ithdrawn from the city, that the central committee of the national guard should be maintained, and that the election law should be declared null and void. The ministry withstood these demands a whole day, and were then forced to issue a proclamation, conceding all required. On the 16th of May, the emperor and his family left Vienna, and fled to Innspruck, in the Tyrol. This event threw the ministers and people into a ferment, and messengers were despatched to entreat the fugi- tives to return. But their flight was part of a reaction scheme. The aristocratic party spread stories of the ill-treatment of the emperor, 986 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. with the purpose of exciting sympathy for him. A final stroke was determined to complete the work. On the 26th of May, the aca- demical legion of Vienna was ordered to lay down arms and disband within twenty-four hours. They refused, and the gates of the town were shut and guarded. Barricades were erected in every street, and another fierce struggle ensued. This lasted till night, and ended in a triumph for the liberals, whose demands were then finally conceded. On the 12th of August, the emperor was persuaded to return to Vienna, and order was restored once more. In the mean time, the Sclavonic race attempted to assert its inde- pendence, and a congress to form a national government assembled at Prague on the 2d of June. But Prince Windischgratz, with a powerful army, took possession of Prague, and completely subdued the Sclavonians. In October, another insurrection occurred in Vienna, in consequence of an attempt to send some troops, favourable to the liberal cause, against the Hungarians. The academical legion and the national guard supported them in their refusal to go. Barricades were erected ; the imperial troops were routed in every quarter. Count Latour, the minister of war, was slain and mutilated. On the 7th of October, every thing was in the hands of the people, and they might have chosen their own form of government. The emperor fled to the Sclavonians, de- clared war against the German and Magyar rebels, and appointed Prince Windischgratz commander of all the forces of the empire, ex- cept the army of Italy. Vienna was soon invested by Windischgratz with one hundred thousand men and one hundred and forty guns, and after a four-days' conflict, reduced. No quarter was given by the savage imperialists, and the city was pillaged. Messenhauser, com- mander of the national guard, and Robert Blum, a member of the assembly, with other prominent liberals, were shot. The imperial authority was now triumphant, but all veneration for Ferdinand was at an end among the people. He saw this, and was induced to abdi- cate on tlie 2d of December, in favour of the son of the archduke Francis Charles, who succeeded him as Francis Joseph I. Of the Hungarian war which followed this abdication we have already given an account. In Italy, the year 1848 was, from the outset, marked with great events. On the 12th of January, the fete-day of King Ferdinand of Naples, the people of Palermo and all the large towns of Sicily, arose and drove out the Neapolitan troops. On the 28th the Neapolitans received a liberal constitution, but the Sicilians refused to accept it, defeated all the royal troops sent against them, elected their own EUROPEAN EEVOLUTIONS. 987 Robert Blum, parliament, and on the 13tli of April, formally declared the independ- ence of Sicily. On the 1st of February, the Tuscans obtained a con- stitution more liberal than that of the Sicilians. The Sardinians, Piedmontese, and Romans followed. But in the constitution obtained by the latter people, civil and ecclesiastical powers were united, which made it objectionable to the masses. In the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, resistance to the Austrian power began in the early part of January, 1848. On the 3d, the Austrian soldiers were inflamed to such a pitch against the people, that they killed or wounded ninety-one persons. At Pavia, the Aus- trians attacked a funeral procession. Other outrages followed, and an intense hatred of the Austrians pervaded the mass of the Italian people. When the news of the revolution in Vienna reached Milan, the people flocked to the government house, and demanded the release of all political prisoners, and the formation of a national guard. The soldiers fired on the people; and they, shouting " Vive I'ltalia !" rushed forward, overpowered the guard, captured the vice-governor, and planted the tri-colour banner on the palace. Radetski had twelve thousand Austrians under his command, and yet was compelled to act on the defensive. The conflict raged day and night until the evening of the 23d of March, when the Austrians were compelled to retire toward Vienna. The other cities of Lombardy followed the example of Milan — Venice declared itself a republic, and Mantua and Verona alone sheltered the Austrians. 988 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. A powerful Italian army was soon in the vicinity of Milan, under the command of Charles Albert of Piedmont. Peschiero was taken after a two days' siege, and the Austrians were beaten at Goito. But these successes were rendered fruitless by the weakness or treachery of Durando, the Roman general, who surrendered Yicenza to Radetski. The Austrian general then became master of all the Venetian territory except the capital. In the beginning of July, the Italian army occu- pied a line thirty miles in length, from Mantua to Rivoli. Bava de- feated four thousand Austrians near Governolo. But on the 22d of July, the wdiole Austrian force descended on La Corona, and carried the lines of Rivoli. The capture of Somma Campagna followed, and on the 25th the decisive battle was fought at that place. It lasted nearly all day. The Piedmontcse fought bravely, and the victory Avas only decided in favour of the Austrians by the arrival of Radetski, with a reserve of twenty thousand men. Charles Albert, with the remnant of his army, retreated to Milan, where he capitulated to Ra- detski, and on the 7th of August the Austrians were masters of Milan. A^enice, besieged and blockaded by land and sea, nobly maintained her republicanism and independent spirit. Manine was the republican chief, and was distinguished for energy and skill. The siege con- tinued more than five months, and then the Venetians surrendered on favourable terms. In the mean time, Charles Albert prepared for another campaign, and announced his resolution to drive the Austrians beyond the Alps, or to perish in the eftort. The conflict vras obstinate, though short. Three successive battles were fought on tlie plains of Verelli, the last on the 4th of March, 1849. Fifty thousand men on each side were engaged. Charles Albert displayed undaunted bravery, but could neither win the day nor die by the hand of an enemy. The Pied- montcse were driven to the mountains, and Charles Albert resigned the crown to his son, Victor Emanuel. The Austrians were then supreme in Northern Italy. In Rome, the demands of the people went further than the gene- rosity of the pope. The breach between the government and the people widened upon every symptom of reaction in the conduct of the pontiff. On the 24th of November, 1848, the pope, disguised as a servant of the Bavarian envoy. Count Spohr, left Rome, and hastened to the town of Gaeta, in the kingdom of Naples. From this place he issued a manifesto, condemning the republicans of Rome, and explaining the reasons for his flight. lie also nominated a governing commission, under the lead of Cardinal Castricani, to execute his orders in Rome. The people received the manifesto with an expression of contempt and EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. 989 General Garibaldi. indignation. Castricani and the others appointed to administer the government prudently left the city. The conditions demanded by the pope before he would return to Rome were so despotic, that the people at once set about organizing a government for themselves. A day was appointed for the election of a constituent assembly to frame a constitution. The pope issued a protest against the election, and excommunicated all who should vote. But excommunication had no power to control the Romans or prevent them from choosing their rulers. They laughed at it. When the newly-elected assembly met, the question came up, what form of government should be adopted by the Roman states. The debate was lengthy, but was conducted with an earnest desire to reach a wise conclusion. On the 9th of February, 1849, it was decided that the form of government should be a pure democracy, and take the name of the Roman republic, and that the pope should be guarantied his spiritual power only. Only five members of one hundred and forty- four voted in the negative. A provisional ministry, at the head of which was Armelini, was created, and the republic proclaimed. The pope now decided that it would be necessary to call upon the Catholic powers for aid, if he would be restored to authority. This proved that he had lost the confidence of that people whom he had asserted to be misled by a few bad men. The French government, afraid to avow the course it would adopt, secretly fitted out an expe- 990 EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS. clition, which set sail from Marseilles on the 22d of April, 1849, under General Oudinot. Before embarking, a proclamation was issued, which led the French to believe that the expedition was destined to support the republican cause in Italy. Oudinot landed his army at Civita Yecchia. The Austrians, under Marshal Winpan, entered the papal states on the north, an army of Neapolitans advanced on the south, and a body of Spaniards landed at Micino. Rome was sur- rounded by foes to her self-government, but her brave people Avere firm in upholding the republic. The old Roman spirit awoke from the slumber of centuries. A triumvirate was appointed, consisting of Mazzini, Saffi, and Armelini. The Neapolitans were routed at Pales- trina, and, as the Austrians and Spaniards did not hurry their march, the struggle came between the Romans and French. Oudinot, arriving before the city, sent a deputation to the govern- ment, declaring the objects of the French invasion were to prevent Austrian interference and to restore the pope to his dominions, and demanding that the gates of the city should be thrown open to the French army. The government rejected all interference, and refused to admit the enemy. Oudinot was informed that the Romans would resist his entrance with all their power. The French began the attack, but were repulsed with a heavy loss. The Romans were commanded by Garibaldi, Avezzano, and other able and energetic men. The French were soon powerfully reinforced, and on the 2d of June the attack was renewed. Battle after battle was fought, and the siege continued till the 30th of June, when the triumvirs, considering resist- ance hopeless, ceased hostilities. The last acts of the assembly were to order the constitution to be engraved on marble and placed in the capita], and that funeral service should be celebrated for those who had fallen in defence of the city. The French army entered Rome, and the republican leaders fled. Thus was the Roman republic, the free choice of the great mass of the people, crushed by a foreign soldiery. This invasion disgraced the French in the eyes of the repub- licans of the world. The pope could not be induced to return to Rome for some time after its capture, and when he did, he was coldly received. Every thing indicates that foreign influence alone can maintain him in authority. Colonel Fremont. NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 'HE territories of New Mexico and California, wliicli have lately attracted much attention in consequence of a discovery of their great resources, in 1845 formed a part of the Mexican republic. The history of the lat- ter country is interesting and important. In 1541, Ca- brillo discovered New California, which lay neglected for sixty years, until a Spanish expedition arrived to survey the coast. It was found to possess many commodious harbours, while the mari- time provinces appeared fertile and full of promise. The settlement of San Diego was then established near the junction of the peninsula of Old, and the mainland of New California, and the conquest of the region was vigorously commenced and steadily pursued. To follow the track of Spanish enterprise would be to lead the reader through a labyrinth of details. The adventurous navigators of those days were 63 993 994 NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. not SO skilful in subjugating as in exploring ; but in all cases they took nominal possession of the countries they discovered. Drake visited the shores of California, and gave the name of New Albion to the whole region ; but the claim he thus set up was never sought to be supported ; though Pinkerton, in an account of his voyage, declares that he made discoveries precisely similar to those recently made on the banks of the Rio Sacramento. These he describes in the florid language of the time : <' The land is so rich in gold and silver, that upon the slightest turning it up with a spade or pickaxe, these rich metals plainly appear mixed with the mould." In 1C02 Sebastian Visconio by chance touched at the harbour of Monterey, and there proclaimed the neighbouring provinces to be Spanish territory; but these titles to possession were seldom recognised by rival powers ; and the nations that in those times held the supremacy of commerce, struggled for the possession of California, though with weakness and vacillation. At length it appeared as though the contending powers had exhausted their vigour, and with it abandoned their ambition. Toward the close of the seventeenth century, the whole country w\as yielded to the Jesuits, who took possession of it with the design of extending their conquest by the easy, safe, and gradual means which, to their subtle discernment, appeared far better than the rough and speedy plan pursued by sailors and military navigators. They carried no arms with them, they built no fortifications, and displayed none of those instruments of war with which civilized men have habitually sought to inspire with aAve the minds of barbarian races. The subtlety of the Jesuits has passed into a proverb ; and in no period of their history do we perceive this characteristic so deeply marked as in the policy they pursued during the period of their do- minion in California. With gifts, promises, and soothing encourage- ments, they attracted the Indian's afi'ection; with mysterious rites, with solemn pomp and grave discourse, they inspired him with respect ; and thus with a soft hand drawing the aborigines within the circle of their influence, they held them there with an iron grasp until the whole country fell under their sway. They had sown the seed ; it was now their pleasant task to reap the harvest. Missions were established, and around each of these a district was marked out, where the lands were put under cultivation, and the soil was speedily so productive that the Jesuits had great reason to rejoice in their acqui- sition. A flourishing commerce was opened. Ships from the old world came to be laden with the riches of this favoured region, and gradually a lucrative trade was established and circulated through the magnificent harbours that abound along the coast. Valuable pearl NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 995 banks were discovered, and the rich lands of Alta California, crowned with peace and plenty, well rewarded the skilful energy that was expended on them ; though they still kept the secret of that exhaust- less mine of wealth which would long ago, if known, have peopled California with an avaricious population of needy adventurers brought from the four quarters of the globe. The Jesuits rose to prosperity in their Californian territories, and were little disposed to share the spoil with any rivals. To secure, therefore, the monopoly which was so profitable to them, they dis- seminated through Europe, by means of their industrious agents, accounts which represented California as a land of thirsty aridity, with an ungenial climate, a savage, intractable population, and a soil poor almost to utter barrenness. Those who circulated these reports were generally the masters of ships, that, deeply laden with the riches of California, sailed home by a circuitous route, and contained in their well-stored holds the substantial contradiction of such false assertions. Yet the Jesuits, while they laboured to monopolize the wealth of their territory, carried on at the same time a humanizing process, which at least prepared the aboriginal population to receive the im- press of a pure and enlightened civilization. They wrought the soil, they sought for precious gums, and woods, and metals ; but at the same time they taught the Indians : and under their influence the country was changed from a vast wilderness of rank vegetation to a fruitful, well-cultivated land ; and the Indian tribes, allured from their savage haunts, became orderly, industrious communities — each gathered about a missionary establishment, and subject to the tem- poral and spiritual control of a Jesuit father. At length Lord Anson, in the course of one of his buccaneering cruises, made prize of a richly-freighted ship sailing from California. This capture revealed the hidden avarice of the Jesuits ; and a series of circumstances origi- nating in that incident led to their expulsion from the country. It was then, by a revolution, transferred into the possession of the Do- minican monks of Mexico and the Franciscan friars, who shared authority between them, and, working in fellowship, divided the reward. Alta California had not progressed so well as the lower country, which already contained numerous villages ; but, from this period forward, its superior fertility and attraction placed it first. Settlers multiplied, and the germs of small towns sprang up and grew rapidly. Before 1803, eighteen missions were planted, and to each of these was attached a tribe of Indians, sometimes of more than twelve hun- dred in number ; they enrolled themselves under the protection of the 996 NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. monks, and laboured in the lands belonging to the mission. Some- times a refractory Indian family was captured, compelled to adopt the name at least of servants, and forced to labour for the mission ; but, in return, it was treated with hospitality and kindness. The neo- phytes increased in numbers, and, as the reward of their industry, the monks clothed them well, fed them, and elevated their condition to a degree of comfort to which, through ignorance, they had never before aspired. It is not remarkable that they easily abandoned their inde- pendence for a servitude that was at once so easy and so profitable. Industry and population rise together. In eleven years from 1790, the number of inhabitants in Alta California rose from 7,748 to 13,668 ; and in another year was increased by two thousand. The wheat raised increased from 15,000 to 32,000 bushels, and the oxen from 25,000 to 60,000. From this it will be seen how thinly peopled the country originally was, and what a beneficent effect was produced by the exertions of these few European settlers. The process continued until 1835, when troubles broke out, and the form of government Avas changed. A council of administrators ruled the affairs of California; the priests, whose energies had been so productive of good, were per- mitted no longer to exercise any other than the functions of simple pastors ; and the Indians, disgusted with the change, forsook the civilization that no longer afforded them assistance or protection, or added to their comforts ; and, retreating once more into their native, woods, became lost in a darker barbarism than ever. The savage once reclaimed and again degenerated is as far below the original level of untaught humanity as that level is below the elevation of civilized society. The reason lies on the surface. He abandons all the good, and clings to all the evil ; for it appears impossible to teach barbarians the amenities of civilized life, without inspiring them with the love of those polished vices that corrupt us, even in the highest stages of our existence. A Avar commenced between the Indians and the new conquerors of their land. The administrators were tyrannical in the true sense of the word ; they plundered the country instead of developing the re- sources of its soil, and robbed the natives instead of profiting by their protected and productive industry. The Indians retaliated, making frequent and fierce incursions into the mission lands, laying them waste, and cutting off whatever enemies they could surprise. To punish them, a body of Mexicans marched into their territory, wasted their valleys, burned their villages, massacred their old men, and bore aAvay their women and children into a hard and hopeless servitude. California, from the shore to the Sierra Nevada, from Cape Mendo- NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 999 cino to the point of the Lower Peninsula, was the theatre of a mise- rable and harassing contest, in -which defeat was followed hj no sub- mission, and success acquired for neither party either honour or profit. Mexico wanted either the ability or the will to pacify her subjects in California. The whole region relapsed into perfect anarchy; the missions that formerly stood in the midst of thriving and populous districts were now deserted and left tenantless, surrounded by solitary wastes ; ruins covered the country, and the whole region was rapidly sinking into its original savage state. But a change of masters was at hand. In 1846, war broke out between Mexico and the United States, and Commodore Sloat, com- mander of the United States Pacific squadron, was ordered to take possession of the ports of Upper California. This was easily effected, and without loss. Monterey, San Francisco, San Diego, and Santa Barbara were successively taken; and, in the north, Captain John C. Frdmont, who, with one hundred and seventy men, had marched overland on an exploring expedition, took possession of Sonora and San Juan, and raised a body of volunteers. Commodore Stockton, who had succeeded Commodore Sloat in command of the Pacific squa- dron, now joined his force with that of Fremont, and took possession of the Puebla de los Angeles, without meeting opposition. Thus was the whole territory brought beneath the authority of the United States. In the mean time, an army consisting of one thousand mounted riflemen, raised in the Western States, and a small regular force, under the command of General Stephen W. Kearny, marched from Fort Leavenworth to Santa F^, and took possession of the whole territory of New Mexico without opposition. George Bent was then appointed civil governor, and a code of laws drawn up for the country. Colonel Doniphan, with the western mounted men, was despatched to Chihuahua to meet General Wool, and performed one of the most astonishing marches recorded in history, traversing a great extent of unknown and hostile country, defeating superior forces in two battles at Bracito and Sacramento, and arriving at General Taylor's camp in Mexico, with little or no loss, and many trophies. The troops composing this army soon after returned to the United States. In the mean time. General Kearny left Santa Fe, and, with only one hundred dragoons, marched one thousand miles to the frontier settle- ment of Upper California, and defeated a superior force of California lancers at San Pasqual. There he learned that the people of the territory had risen against the authority of Commodore Stockton and Colonel Fremont, which caused him to hasten his march to San Diego on the Pacific. 1000 NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. In the latter part of December, 1846, decisive operations against tlie Californians were planned, and Kearny and Stockton, -with about six hundred men, chiefly sailors, left San Diego and marched towards the capital. At the Rio San Gabriel, General Flores with six hundred Cali- fornians opposed their progress, but were attacked and defeated. On the plains of the Mesa, the next day, the Californians made another effort for their capital, charging the Americans furiously ; but they were again defeated, and the next day the victors took possession of Puebla de los Angeles. Peace was then secured throughout the territory, and Kearny became military governor. By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, Upper California and New Mexico were secured to the United States. The results of this change of masters were soon obvious. During a considerable time, North America had been linked to Cali- fornia by a chain of immigration, slender but continuous, that ran through the passes of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The intercommunication between the countries beyond the Mississippi and the valley of Alta California was noAV increased to a high degree, and greatly developed a system of intercourse which may be regarded as one of the most curious features of the civilization which it served to quicken to" a more vigorous growth. Between the city of Indepen- dence, in the state of Missouri, and the city of Los Angeles, in Upper California, circulated a constant flow of intercourse, which originated about forty-five years ago in the enterprise of James Pursley, a private adventurer, who travelled much through the wilder provinces — then far wilder than now — that border the banks of the beautiful Missis- sippi. Near the waters of the Platte River, a party of Indians received him as the companion of their wanderings. With them he went to Santa Fe, a trading station on the western slope of the Rocky Range, and is supposed to have bartered some American commodities with the people of that place. Although a French Creole, it is said, had already carried on a secret commerce between America and California, James Pursley opened the regular system of intercourse ; but his desultory enterprises led at first to results of little importance. It was sixteen years before a regular caravan started from the Missouri and travelled to Santa Fe. The journey was one of uncertainty and danger. It led through a savage region, peopled by wild tribes ; and when, in 1822, a company of traders was formed, their commercial adventures were much restrained by the perils that beset their way. Roaming bands of Indians hung on the line of march, committing murders on the straggling travellers, and plundering any vehicles that might linger behind. Numerous graves soon dotted the borders of the trail, and frequent conflicts occurred. NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 1001 In 1824, eighty merchants, with a large train of wagons and mules, set out from the city of Independence, with commodities amounting in value to thirty thousand dollars ; and the successive caravans that issued year after year, and crossed the same solitary plains and deso- late country, were constantly attacked by bands of Indians that lay in ambush to rush out as the head of the wagon trains appeared in sight. At first, the traders Avent armed, and defended their own property, often repulsing their assailants with considerable vigour and success ; but in the course of five years the value of the intercourse was so great, and had attracted so many marauders to infest the trail, that it was founji necessary to send bodies of mounted riflemen to protect the caravan during a part of its progress. But the accidental development of the wealth of California now gave a mighty impetus to the country. The circumstances which led to this are as follow. A Swiss soldier. Captain Sutter, had, many years before, obtained the grant of a vast tract of land in the valley of the Sacramento, and by dint of great exertions had made it valuable for grazing and cultivation. The whole of this vast estate, when it - came into his possession, was overgrown with tall rank grass, and a few oaks or pines. It was situated on the border of the American river, above the confluence of the Sacramento and the San Joachim ; and the new owner, who was the first white man that settled in that spot, immediately busied himself with clearing and cultivating the land, and preparing for a long and prosperous settlement. He at once erected a small house, surrounded by a stockade, and, Avith his few companions, prepared to construct a fort. Two howitzers formed his armament ; but these were little needed. The Indian hordes, though they at firsf carried ofi" horses and cattle, only ventured once upon a direct attack, and then the harmless explosion of a shell above their heads inspired them with so much respect for the white man's weapons, that they thereafter left him in peace. By conciliation he attracted them to him. They consented to labour for reward, made and baked the bricks for the fort, dug the ditches to divide the fields and prevent the cattle straying, and worked at all the branches of industry to which he taught them to apply themselves. By way of precaution, he was very careful to trust few of them with arms and ammunition. They were easily brought to complete submission, for they Avere with- out pride ; and the scene which took place at their breakfast hour every morning suflBciently showed that they had lost the high spirit which has been the characteristic of some of the Indian races. Three hundred men were marshalled within the walls, long troughs were filled with a mess of boiled wheat-bran, and kneeling in ranks before 1002 NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. these, like so many horses at the manger, they fed themselves with their hands. By degrees were procured fourteen pieces of artillery to fortify his walls ; but these became gradually without use, except to fire a salute on days of rejoicing. "With his wife and daughter and his Indian labourers, the captain lived very much like an independent chief among a barbarous tribe, and at length brought seventeen hun- dred acres of land under good culture. Ultimately the discovery was made which at once gave a sudden impulse to his own fortune, and raised California from neglect to an almost universal attention. From Captain Sutter's account, we learn that in September, 1847, he erected a water-mill in a spot more than a thousand feet above the level of the lower valley. His friend, Mr. Marshall, was engaged in superin- tending an alteration in it, and Captain Sutter was sitting one after- noon in his own room writing. Suddenly Marshall rushed in with such excitement in his face, that his friend confesses to have cast an anxious eye at his rifle. His sudden appearance was sufficiently cu- rious ; but Sutter thought him mad when he cried out that he had made a discovery which would pour into their coffers millions and millions of dollars with little labour. "I frankly own," he says, " that when I heard this I thought something had touched Marshall's brain, when suddenly all my misgivings were put an end to by his flinging on the table a handful of scales of pure virgin gold. I was fairly thunderstruck." It was explained that, while widening the channel that had been made too narrow to allow the mill-wheel to work pro- perly, a mass of sand and gravel was thrown up by the excavators. Glittering in this Mr. Marshall noticed what he thought to be an opal — a clear transparent stone common in California. This was a scale of pure gold, and the first idea of the discoverer was, that some Indian tribe or ancient possessors of the land had buried a treasure. Examination, however, showed the whole soil to teem with the precious metal ; and then mounting a horse, he rode down to carry the intelli- gence to his partner. To none but him did he tell the story of his discovery, and they two agreed to maintain secret the rich reward. Proceeding together to the spot, they picked up a quantity of the scales ; and with nothing but a small knife. Captain Sutter extracted from a little hollow in the rock a solid mass of gold weighing an ounce and a half. But the attempt to conceal this valuable revelation was not successful. An artful Kentuckian labourer, observing the eager looks of the two searchers, followed and imitated them, picking up several flakes of gold. Gradually the report spread, and as the would-be monopolists returned towards the mill, a crowd met them holding out flakes of gold, and shouting with joy. Mr. Marshall sought NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 1003 to laugh them out of the idea, and pretended the metal was of little value ; but an Indian who had long worked elsewhere in a mine of the costly metal, cried, " Oro ! oro !" and " Gold ! gold !" was shouted in a lively chorus by the delighted multitude. The rumour was spread abroad, and the people of San Francisco began to leave the town, and swarm to the " diggins." A large body of Mormon emigrants had just entered Alta California through the south pass of the Rocky Mountains ; they immediately encamped near gutter's Mill, and within a few days more than twelve hundred men were at work, with buckets, baskets, shovels, spades, and sheets of canvas, seeking for gold in the sand of the south fork of the Rio des los Americanos. The first plan was to spread the sand on canvas, and blow away Avith a reed all but the gold. In the first impulse of a selfish heart the discoverer sought to monopolize his knowledge ; but as the dawn of every day revealed new stores of the metal, this feel- ing died away, for the wealth of the region seemed so great, tliat the cupidity of the world could not exhaust it. Perhaps in no other country, at any period of its history, has so sudden and wonderful a revolution taken place as tliat which followed the discovery of the gold in the American fork. Alta California, be- tween the Snowy Mountains and the sea, was then peopled by about twenty-five thousand inhabitants — of whom more than half were bap- tized natives, a third Spanish- Americans, and the remainder a motley collection of settlers from all parts of the world. • The knowledge of its auriferous soil immediately attracted to California several currents of emigration ; and as well over the Rocky Mountains as by sea, ceaseless arrivals from all quarters of the globe swelled the population. The towns on the coast were soon almost vrholly deserted, and the few residents that remained, made ample fortunes by levying exorbi- tant sums for the entertainment and supply of the travellers who came to the port. In May, 1848, the negro waiter at the San Francisco Hotel, before the mania had reached its greatest height, refused to serve his master at the rate of less than ten dollars, which is regarded here as a respect- able income for a professional man. But the universal rage was so strong, that the " mineral yellow fever," as it was termed, left San Francisco at first almost Avhoily deserted ; and at the same season a large fleet of merchant vessels lay helpless and abandoned, some par- tially, others wholly deserted. One ship from the Sandwich Islands was left with no one but its captain on board ; from another the cap- tain started with all his crew, replying to an observation on his flagrant conduct, that the cables and anchors would wear well till his return, 1004 NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. and that as every one was too busy to plunder, lie ran no risk by de- serting his duty. The " Star" and " California" newspapers, published at San Francisco, ceased appearing, as the whole staff, from the editor to the errand-boy, had gone to dig for gold : and among the most active workers in the valley was the " attorney-general to the king of the Sandwich Islands." The influence of this wonderful excitement extended all over the world, but was felt most powerfully in the neigh- bouring regions of Oregon and Mexico. There, during the early period of the excitement, the public roads — and especially the nearest way over the hills — were crowded with anxious travellers, each face bent towards the ridges of hills dividing their adopted country from the gold regions. Whole towns and villages may be seen peopled by scarcely any other than women, while the men are devoutly on the pilgrims' path to the shrine of mighty Mammon. Two peculiar results have been produced in America. The unmarried population is be- coming thinner month after month, so that wedding chimes are far less frequent than of yore ; while hypochondriacal patients, whom no sensible friends could persuade of their healthy condition, have for- gotten their aff'ected ills, and encountered all the weariness and perils of the journey between their sick-chambers and a canvas tent in the valley of the Sacramento. These were incidents which took place early after the discovery. Others followed still more curious. The population that was suddenly gathered together in the valley of the Sacramento was among the most motley and heterogeneous ever collected in any spot on the sur- face of the globe. Californian Indians, with their gay costume in gaudy mimicry of the old nobility of Castile ; rough American adven- turers, lawyers, merchants, farmers, artisans, professional men, and mechanics of all descriptions, thronged into the scene. Among them were conspicuous a few ancient Spanish dons in embroidered blue and crimson clothes, that in their own country have been out of fashion for forty years. A few gentlemen, and numbers of women, were among the delvers ; while, after some months had elapsed, even China opened her gates to let out some adventurous house-builders, who took junks at Canton, sailed across ten thousand miles of sea, arrived at San Francisco, and there betook themselves to their calling, and made large fortunes by the construction of light portable buildings for the use of the gold-finders in the hot and populous valley. Within eighteen months, one hundred thousand men arrived in Alta California from the United States, and settled temporarily in the val- ley, though, after a short period, the return steamers were as well laden with life as the others. Nine thousand immense wagons came NEW MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. 1005 through the pass of the Rockj Mountains, -with an average of five persons to each vehicle ; four thousand emigrants rode on horseback through the same route ; and of the others, many crossed the Isthmus of Panama, where the passengers have sometimes been so impatient that the government packets have been pressed into their service, and compelled to start on their voyage before the arrival of the mails. Others made the sea-voyage of seventeen thousand miles round the head of Cape Horn ; and multitudes of these have intrusted them- selves, during the passage of the turbulent world of waters heaving round the head of this gloomy promontory, to leaky and shattered barks, resembling that in which Columbus made his last voyage from the New World to Spain. The American steam-ship California was the first that ever doubled that cape into the Pacific. In a New York paper sixty sail of ships were advertised to sail for the Gold Region in one day. An analysis of the multitudes that poured, and still pour into the Gold Region, leads to a curious result, since it shows what classes are most ready to leave their habitual employments to flock round the altar of Mammon, with the chance of acquiring sudden for- tune and the risk of a ruin equally speedy. One-third of them are calculated as belonging to the tillers of the soil, an equal number is drawn from among the shopkeepers and artisans, and the remainder is made up of persons engaged in commerce, professional men, and that large and indescribable class which, for want of a more distinct term, we must comprehend under the title of adventurers. The waters lying between the coast of California and the isthmus, and further round Cape Horn to New York, were never before con- verted into such a crowded highway. Vessels were constantly passing to and fro, and all of them were peopled either by sanguine adventu- rers with the hot fever of desire upon them, or disappointed men who were returning remorsefully to their homes, moralizing in philosophic vein over the theory of the far-famed fable — that industry alone is the genius that possesses the power to turn all things to gold. IpT mL:- Havana CUBA. x-'K?"^ UBA is the largest and most ■westerly of the Antilles. Its greatest len^^th is two hundred and fifty-seven leagues, and its width thirty leagues. The Gulf of Mexico is closed by Cuba, with the exception of two narrow passages ; the one to the south between Cape Cotocho and Cape San Antonio, and the other to the north between Bahia Honda and the Florida shoals. The island has a vast extent of coast and many fine ports. Its soil is almost unrivalled in fertility, and it is rich in minerals. Recent events have directed public attention to Cuba, and a sketch of its history may therefore be acceptable. Cuba was discovered in 1492 by Columbus. In 1511, Don Diego Velasquez sailed from St. Domingo, with four vessels and about three hundred men, for the conquest of this island. He landed on the 25th of July, near the bay of St. Jago, to which he gave its name. The natives, commanded by the cacique Hatney, who had fled from St. Domingo on account of the cruelty of the Spaniards, strove to check the progress of the invaders, but in vain. The noise of the 1006 -^ B P '24 CUBA. 1007 General Narciso Lopez. fire-arms was enough to put the natives to flight. Hatney was taken and burned alive. This terrible act had the desired effect on the other caciques, and they hastened to pay homage to Velasquez. The Spaniards gained possession of Cuba without the loss of a single man. They became exasperated at not finding the mines as rich as they hoped, and gradually exterminated the natives whom they could not employ. About two centuries elapsed after the conquest, without the occurrence of any remarkable event. In 1741, the English admiral Vernon sailed in July from Jamaica, and entered the bay of Guantanamo, which he named Cumberland. He landed his troops twenty miles up the river, where they remained in perfect inaction until November, when they went back to Jamaica. But the English did not give up the idea of getting possession of Cuba. In 1762, they sent a formidable expedition, consisting of nineteen ships of the line, eighteen small vessels of war, and one hundred and fifty transports, conveying twelve thousand troops. This fleet appeared off Havana on the 6th of June. Four thousand troops went from America, in July, to reinforce them. The English were several times repelled, but on the 13th of August the Spaniards sur- rendered. The conquerors obtained an immense amount of booty. In 1763, the island was restored to Spain in exchange for the Flo- ridas. Since then, Cuba has remained a Spanish island, very pro- ductive, and strongly fortified. In the course of the latter part of 1849, reports spread through the United States, that the people of Cuba were anxious to free them- selves from the Spanish rule, and establish an independent state. 1008 CUBA. Companies of men were secretly enlisted in various quarters, muni- tions of war and the means of transportation prepared, in despite of the proclamation of President Taylor announcing his determination to maintain the neutral laws of the United States. The adventurers collected at New Orleans, under the command of General Narciso Lopez, a brave but unskilful soldier. On the 25th of April, a por- tion of the troops engaged for the expedition left New Orleans in the barque Georgiana, and sailed to the island of Contoy. There they were joined by General Lopez, with the rest of the troops, in the steamer Creole, which then sailed for Cuba. Gen. Lopez and his men, six hundred in number, landed at Cardenas on the 19th of May, and, after considerable fighting, gained possession of the town. But as fev/ of the inhabitants seemed disposed to join them, and the Spanish troops were numerous and determined, the invaders embarked the same night, and returned to the United States. Their loss was not severe, while that of the Spaniards amounted to nearly two hundred in killed and wounded. The attempt to revolutionize Cuba was renewed, under the conduct of General Lopez, in the summer of 1851, and was attended with more disastrous results. On the night of the 11th of August, Lopez, with four hundred and sixty-five men, landed at Bahia Honda, and marched for Las Posas, eight miles distant. Colonel Crittenden, with one hundred and fifteen men, was left in charge of the basfgafje and stores at Bahia Honda. At Las Posas General Lopez was atl 3ked by a force more than double his own ; but he succeeded in repulsing them with great loss on their part. In the mean time. Colonel Crit- tenden was attacked by a large body of Spanish troops, and after a brave resistance, his men were dispersed. Colonel Crittenden, with fifty-two men, attempted to escape by sea in open boats, but they were captured by the Spanish frigate Pizarro, and taken to Havana, where they were shot by order of the captain-general. Lopez and his small band, exposed to constant attacks, and without provisions, were compelled to fly to the mountains. They were nearly all killed, or captured and taken to Havana. General Lopez was publicly garotted^ while his men were condemned to a long imprisonment. So ended an expedition, undertaken with false views, and conducted with much imprudence. THE END. STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHXSOX AND CO. 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