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 IPriiLteil Vy- ReyiLoia* 
 
A 
 
 COMPENDIUM 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS: 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 A CONCISE VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORIGIN, PROGRESS, DECLINE AND FALL 
 
 OF THE MOST 
 
 CONSIDERABLE EMPIRES,; KINGDOMS, 
 AND STATES IN THE WORLD, 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT PERIOD. 
 INTERSPERSED 
 
 With a short account of the Prevailing Religions. 
 
 Ornamented ivith a Frontispiece, representing 
 
 HISTORY CONDUCTING PATRIOTISM, FORTITUDE AND 
 WISDOM TO THE TEMPLE OF FAME. 
 
 PERSONIFIED BY 
 
 Generals Washington, Greene, and Hamilton; 
 
 AND THREE OTHER PLATES. 
 
 By D? FRASER, 
 
 Author of the Columbian Monitor, Select Biography, &c. 
 
 NEW-YOKK: 
 PRINTED BY HENRY C. SOUTHWICK, 
 
 NO. 2, WALL-STREET. 
 
 1807. 
 
District of Next-York, ss. 
 
 f.** **^ b e 1T Remembered, That on the seventeenth day of October, in 
 5 ^* -J 'he thirty-seconcKyear of the Independence of the United States of 
 ******* America, Donald Fraser, of the said district, hath deposited in this 
 office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words fol- 
 lowing, to wit : 
 
 "A Compendium of the History of all Nations: exhibiting a concise view 
 " ot the origin, progress, decline, and fall of the most considerable empires, 
 " kingdoms, and states in the world, from the earliest times to the present 
 " period.... interspersed with a short account of the prevailing religions. Or- 
 " namented with a frontispiece, representing History conducting Patriotism, 
 " Fortitude and Wisdom to the Temple of Fame — personified by Generals 
 " Washington, Greene and Hamilton — and three other Pl.ites — By D. Fraser, 
 " Author of the Columbian Monitor, Select Biography, &c " 
 
 In conformity to the aft of Congress of the United States, entitled " An aft for 
 " the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts and 
 " books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein 
 " mentioned," and also to an aft entitled "An aft supplementary to an aft en- 
 " titled an aft for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of 
 " maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during 
 " the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
 ;: designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 EDWARD DUNSCOMB, 
 Clerk of the DistriQ, of New-York, 
 
 tf 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE great utility of an intimate knowledge of Histo- 
 ry is universally admitted ; to young people it is highly 
 essential, and should be studied by every one who would 
 attain a liberal education. By tracing back the great 
 events and revolutions of human affairs — the rise and 
 fall of kingdoms and states — it will tend to expand the 
 mind, enlarge the ideas, and render conversation more 
 agreeable, interesting and instructive. 
 
 History being the faithful repository of the actions of 
 men in all ages, who have performed any distinguished 
 part on the theatre of the world, adds to our own expe- 
 rience a rich stock of the experience of others, and fur- 
 nishes innumerable instances of virtues to imitate, and 
 vices to be avoided : Every law of morality, and every 
 rule of conduct, is submitted to its test and examina- 
 tion. 
 
 The accounts of the origin and progress in popula- 
 tion of all countries, are involved in great obscurity. — 
 It is little more than three thousand years since the 
 books of Moses, the most ancient and the only genuine 
 record of what passed in the early ages of the world, 
 
IV 
 
 were written. Herodotus is the oldest of the heathen 
 historians : he flourished a thousand years later than 
 Moses. If we extend our enquiries beyond the aera 
 when written history commenced, we enter upon the re- 
 gion of conjecture, of fable, and uncertainty. 
 
 In this publication, I have taken a progressive, brief, 
 but comprehensive, view of the state of mankind from 
 the earliest ages, of which we have any authentic ac- 
 count, to the present period ; and have attempted to de- 
 lineate the origin of States and Empires, the outlines of 
 their history, the revolutions they have undergone, and 
 the causes which contributed to their rise and splendour, 
 as well as those which operated to their decline and ex- 
 tinction. It is hoped that this work will prove an ac- 
 ceptable remembrancer to those already well- versed 
 in universal history ; and be of considerable service to 
 such youth as aspire at becoming the future Legisla- 
 tors and Statesmen of this country. 
 
 In compiling this work I have had recourse to some 
 of the best authorities in the English language ; parti- 
 cularly the Rev. Do 'tors Mavor and Turner, and Mr. 
 John Payne. Mr. John Crookes, of New- York, has also 
 rendered me some valuable assistance. To these gentle, s 
 men it is but common justice to acknowledge my 
 warmest obligations for the aid which they have afford- 
 ed me. 
 
 D. FRASER. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pages. 
 
 The History of Mankind from the Creation to the Deluge, . 9 
 
 From the Deluge to the Building of Babel, ..... 18 
 
 Of Egypt, 33 
 
 "Remarks relative to the difference of complexion in mankind, 42 
 
 TJie Assyrian Empire, 45 
 
 The Persian Monarchy, . . . . 48 
 
 The Grecian Monarchy, 49 
 
 Rome.... Under Kings and Consuls. — Punic Wars. ... 55 
 
 The Gracchi Marius and Sylla Pompey and 
 
 Caesar. ...Triumvirate of Octavianus...Mark Anthony and 
 
 Lepidus, 60 
 
 _— Under the Emperors.... Partition of the Empire under 
 
 Dioclesian...Constantine transfers the seat of Empire, . 63 
 
 — • Final division of the Empire between the sons of 
 
 Constantine. Establishment of the Goths in Italy...,. 
 
 Charlemagne, Emperor of the West....Fall of the Eastern 
 Empire, ^ 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGES* 
 
 Germany.... Its ancient limits... .Conrad, the first Emperor.... 
 Contentions between the Emperors and Popes.. ..Guelphs 
 
 and Gibelincs... .Charles V The Peace of Westphalia, 71 
 
 England. ...From its earliest period.. ..Heptarchy Norman 
 
 Conquest. ....Plantagenets... .Conquest of Ireland Civil 
 
 Wars of York and Lancaster. ...Reformation, .... 79 
 
 . James I.. ..Charles I. ...Usurpation of Cromwell.... 
 
 „ Charles II... James II... William III. ..Anne.. .George I... 
 
 George II. ...George III 93 
 
 A short delineation of the English constitution, . . . * 101 
 Spain.... Under the Carthaginians. ...The Romans. ...The Van- 
 dals... ..and the Moors Arragon and Castile under 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella. ...Expulsion of the Moors. ...Dis- 
 covery of America, . 102 
 
 Portugal.... Ancient Inhabitants. ..Discovery of the Portuguese 
 in the Fifteenth Century ....Freed from the Spanish Yoke, 109 
 
 Poland.... Situation Lech Dukes. ...Woy woods. ...Cracus 
 
 Piast.... Third Race of Kings.. ..Demolition, . . . . 113 
 
 Italy, 119 
 
 Holland, 127 
 
 Swisserland, 1 40 
 
 1 The Ottoman or Turkish Empire, . . 14S 
 
 Russia, 168 
 
 The Northern Kingdoms of Siveden, Denmark and Norway, . 176 
 
 China, .185 
 
 Prussia... ..Original Inhabitants. ...Name... .Subdued by the 
 Teutonic Knights... .Albert the first Duke... .Erected into a 
 
 Kingdom, ......... 202 
 
 France.... Under the Franks or Merovingian Race Carlovin- 
 
 'giavi Rare. ...Charlemagne.. ..Invasion of the Normans.,.. 
 Capetinn Race... .Conquest of France by the English, . . 206 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 PAGES. 
 
 France... Assembly of the Notables... Junction of the Citi- 
 zens and Soldiers.. ..Destruction of the Bastile.... Death of 
 the King and Queen. ...War with England.. ..Death of the 
 Dauphin. ...Descent of the French upon Egypt. ...The Eng- 
 ' Jish take the French fleet. ...Russians join the English and 
 
 Austrians.. ..Various successes in Italy, 218 
 
 Scotland, ....:..:..::;..•;: 224 
 
 Scots and Picts Kenneth II Bruce and Baliol 
 
 ....The James's, 236 
 
 Ireland, 255 
 
 United States of America, 269 
 
 Abyssinia, • 283 
 
 Indostan, . • ... 291 
 
 The Jeivs or Hebrews, . . . * . . 329 
 
 Japan or Siphon, 333 
 
 Venice, 3 64r 
 
 A Chronological Table of Principal Events, from the Crea- 
 tion to the present Period, -377 
 
 Appendix. 
 
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 
 
 HtH 
 
 Frontispiece to face the Title. 
 Wisdom to front page 79. 
 Female Captive to front page 205. 
 Sir William Wallace to front page 264. 
 
AN 
 
 EPITOME 
 
 HISTORY OF ALL NATIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The History of Mankind from the Creation to the 
 Deluge. 
 
 Wi 
 
 E shall commence our History with a concise ac- 
 count of the cosmogony, according to Moses' inspired 
 narration. 
 
 j Of the first creation of the heaven and the earth there 
 is no particular description in the sacred volume : nor 
 was it requisite that the inspired author of the Penta- 
 teuch should express hin self in any other terms than 
 those which substantiate the important truth, that they 
 were created by the immediate power of God. \ 
 
 The earth, subsequent to the creation, was a dark 
 and shapeless mass of matter ; but, at the sovereign 
 command of the Almighty, the cheerful light appeared, 
 the firmament expanded, to divide the upper from the 
 lower waters; the congregated floods retired to their 
 destined bed ; and the dry land was crowned with a rich 
 profusion of herbage, fruits and flowers. 
 
 These great occurrences having occupied the three 
 first days, the succeeding one was devoted to an illumin- 
 ation of the newly created globe : the face of heaven 
 
10 History of all Nations, 
 
 was accordingly decorated with myriads of stars, and the 
 greater luminaries were disposed so as to distinguish be- 
 tween day and night ; and to divide the seasons of the 
 year. 
 
 The waters were then replenished with an abundant 
 variety of fish ; the odoriferous air was fanned by the 
 pinions of innumerable birds ; the verdant meads were 
 stocked with cattle ; and every part of the earth was in- 
 habited with appropriate tribes. To contemplate, and 
 truly to excel the whole, God created man, on the sixth 
 day, of the dust of the ground, and infused into his body 
 the breath of life, or immortality ; in consequence of 
 which, man became a living soul. Woman was also 
 formed out of the side of the man, who was cast into a 
 profound slumber for that purpose. 
 
 {Thus,- by the creating influence of the Eternal Spirit, 
 were the heavens and the earth finished in the space of 
 six days, when that which at first was no other than an 
 unformed chaos, exhibited so exquisite and beautiful a 
 system, that the adorable Architect himself pronounced 
 it very good, and all the sons of God shouted for joy\ 
 
 God having contemplated with pleasure the work of 
 his hands, placed the man and his wife, who were named 
 Adam and Eve 7 in the garden of Eden (b. C. 4004) 
 giving them instructions to dress and keep it, allowing 
 them the free use of the fruit with which it abounded, 
 with this single reservation, that they should abstain 
 from the produce of a particular tree, denominated the 
 tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which if they 
 presumed to eat, they would incur the penalty of ine- 
 vitable death. This declaration was made in the most 
 solemn manner, and our progenitors were warned by 
 their Creator to avoid the only danger that could befal 
 them. 
 
 Fortified with such a caution, and situated in a para- 
 dise which God himself vouchsafed to honor with 
 his immediate presence, Adam and his beloved wife were 
 capable of enjoying all the blessings of creation, as 
 well as the company and converse of their beneficent 
 Maker, who is said to have brought every living creat- 
 
From the Creation to the Deluge. 11 
 
 art to Adam, to see what he would call it, and to have* 
 established those names which were then imposed by 
 his especial favorite on the various objects presented to 
 his view. 
 
 Their felicity, however, appears to have been but of 
 short duration, as the woman, being deceived by the 
 subtilty of the serpent, violated the divine injunction in 
 her own person, and afterwards enticed her husband to a 
 participation of her crime. At this moment innocence 
 forsook the human bosom ; and the hapless pair, who, 
 though naked, had hitherto lived with each other un- 
 conscious of shame, now perceived their situation with 
 the utmost confusion, and made themselves aprons of 
 fig-leaves to supply, in some degree, the want of raiment. 
 
 When God, at the accustomed time of the day, re- 
 peated his customary visit of love, an d was heard walk- 
 ing in the garden, the self convicted offenders attempted 
 to conceal themselves among the foliage of the trees ; 
 and, on being called from their retreat, Adam alledged 
 his nakedness as an apology for his disappearance. An 
 explanation now ensued, producing a full confession on 
 the part of the culprits, and terminating in the threatened 
 reward of disobedience. The offended Deity, in pro- 
 nouncing judgment, first cursed the. serpent above all 
 beasts, condemning him to go on his belly ; assigning 
 dust for his food ; and decreeing that a perpetual enmity 
 should subsist between his seed and that of the woman, 
 till, in the fulness of time, the latter should prove com- 
 pletely victorious over his adversary : — Thus shadowing 
 our redemption by a Saviour. The woman was con-^ 
 demned to bring forth her tender offspring with excru- 
 ciating pain, and to be subject to the dominion of her 
 husband : and Adam was doomed to earn his bread by 
 the sweat of his brow, in consequence of a curse, which 
 God imposed on the ground, for his sake, declaring that 
 it should bring forth thorns and thistles ; and that after 
 much fatigue and toil, he, die offender, should return to 
 the dust from whence he was originally taken. At the 
 conclusion of this awful sentence, the Creator, temper- 
 ing judgment with mercy, clothed his fallen creature s. 
 
12 History of all Nations, 
 
 and compelled them to quit the confines of paradise^ 
 lest, by imprudently eating of the fruit of the tree of 
 life, they might render themselves and their ruined pro- 
 geny eternally wretched. To av >id the possibility of 
 such a circumstance, and to obliterate every thought of 
 their return to their once blissful abode, a cherubim was 
 stationed at the eastern extremity of the garden, with a 
 flaming sword that turned every way, to guard the pas- 
 sage to the tree of life. 
 
 To what part of the earth the unhappy pair removed, 
 in consequence of this expulsion, is uncertain ; but it 
 appears that C in, the eldest son of Adam, was born in 
 the first year of the world ; and the second, named Abel, 
 the year following. These persons, notwithstanding 
 their near affinity, soon discovered symptoms of the 
 most opposite dispositions, the oldest being gloomy and 
 avaricious, the youngest virtuous and ingenuous : their 
 selected employments were also of a different nature ; 
 Cain undertaking the labours of husbandry, and Abel 
 preferring the care of the flocks. 
 
 In process of time they brought their respective offer- 
 ings to God, but with very different success ; for whilst 
 the sacrifice of Abel, consisting of the firstlings of a 
 flock, was graciously accepted, the fruits of the ground, 
 presented by Cain, were disregarded. This occurrence 
 was sufficient to rouse the native malevolence of the 
 first-born, who was, accordingly, so transported with 
 rage and envy, that he was unable to command his 
 countenance on the mortifying occasion. The Deity 
 condescended to expostulate with him upon the ab- 
 surdity of his impious behaviour, demanding what rea- 
 son he cculd produce in justification of his anger : and 
 explicitly declaring that the refusal of his sacrifice re- 
 sulted entirely from his own misconduct, without the 
 slightest attempt of Abel to supplant him in the divine 
 favour. 
 
 i Cain's heart, however, was too stubborn to brook the 
 reproof of his maker ; and, instead of profiting by his sal- 
 ■utarv counsel, he resolved to assassinate his brother 
 the first convenient opportunity, and actually accom- 
 
From the Creation to the Deluge. 13 
 
 plished his sanguinary intention, while conversing with 
 his destined victim in the field. 
 
 After the perpetration of this horrid deed (b. C. 3875) 
 Cain being questioned by God respecting his brother, 
 replied, in an evasive manner, that he knew not where he 
 was, and churlishly asked, whether he was to be con- 
 sidered as his brother's keeper ? But he was soon 
 convinced of the omniscience of his holy Interrogator, 
 who appalled his guilty soul with a full relation of his 
 transgression, and solemnly condemned him to become a 
 fugitive and vagabond on the earth, which, having recei- 
 ved the martyr's blood, would henceforth withhold the 
 blessings of her fertility from the hands of his murderer. 
 
 This sentence, though comparatively lenient, was 
 deemed so harsh by the criminal, that, in . n agony of 
 grief, he exclaimed, it was insupportable, and, at the 
 same time, intimated his apprehension of perishing by 
 the hand of some fellow creature, in consequence of the 
 wretched condition to which the Almighty had reduc- 
 ed him. This fear, however, was immediately obviat- 
 ed by a particular mark, imprinted on his person, as 
 a token that no one should presume to molest him, under 
 pain of a seven-fold punishment. 
 
 Finding it impossible to obtain any other mitigation 
 of his sentence, Cain departed from the place of his na- 
 tivity, and settled with his family in the land of Nod, 
 where he built a city, and called it after the name of his 
 son Enoch. 
 
 Shortly after the tragical scene of Cain's resentment, 
 his afflicted parents were consoled by the birth of ano- 
 ther son, to whom Eve gave the name of Seth, because 
 he was appointed instead of the murdered Abel. 
 
 The sacred historian, having confined himself chiefly 
 to the line of Seth, relates but few particulars respecting 
 that of the fratricide : it is, however, probable in itself, 
 and consonant with assertions of profane authors, that 
 his posterity were extremely iniquitous, and were, on 
 that account designated in scripture by the name of men, 
 and the daughters of men, whilst the religious children 
 of Seth were honoured with the appellation of the Sons 
 of God. 
 
14 History of all Nations, 
 
 After recording the births of Enos, Cainan, Mahala- 
 leel, and Jared, who are all extolled by the oriental wri- 
 ters for their virtuous precepts and exemplary conduct, 
 Moses presents us with the brief but interesting hisory 
 of Enoch ; a person so truly pious, that he is said to 
 have -walked with God for the space of three hundred 
 years, and at the expiration of that time to have been 
 translated to heaven, without tasting the bitter cup of 
 death. 
 
 Adam, after having beheld a numerous posterity issue 
 from his own loins to people the earth, was at length 
 compelled to sink beneath the destroying angel, whom 
 himself had introduced by transgression into the world; 
 and he accorclingly resigned his spirit into the hands of 
 his Maker* in the nine hundred and thirtieth year of his 
 age — (b. C. 3074.) The place of his sepulchre is not 
 mentioned in scripture, yet various conjectures have 
 been formed upon the subject. Thus the oriental chris- 
 tians affirm that he was embalmed by four of his descen- 
 dants, and deposited according to his desire, in a certain 
 cave on the summit of a mountain : St, Jerome stations 
 his remains in the cave of Machpelah ; and the general- 
 ity of the primitive fathers suppose him to have been bu- 
 ried on Mount Calvary, the very spot whereon Christ, 
 the second Adam, voluntarily suffered in behalf of his 
 fallen creatures. 
 
 After the decease of Adam, historians inform us, 
 that the children of Seth, abhorring the profligacy of 
 Cain and his descendants, removed to the mountain 
 where thebody was interred, and there devoted the great- 
 est part of their time to the adoration of their Creator. 
 It is also asserted by contemplation of the celestial bodies 
 they here laid the foundation of astronomy, and engraved 
 their inventions on two pillars, one of which was to be 
 seen in the time of Josephus. At length, however, the 
 integrity of these men was shaken by the enticing allure- 
 ments and personal accomplishments of the daughters of 
 Cain; and, in consequence of some intermarriages with 
 that family, their manners gradually degenerated, till, at 
 length, their wickedness was great in the earth, and ev* 
 
From the Creation to the Deluge. 15* 
 
 ery imagination of their hearts was polluted with ini- 
 quity. 
 
 There were likewise in those days persons whose ex- 
 traordinary strength and stature were equally remarkable 
 with their acts of rapine and impiety i these were most 
 probably the offspring of the murderer, both by father 
 and mother, who tyrannised over the weak, by dint 
 of superior power. A similar mode of conduct ap- 
 pears to have been adopted by some others who are 
 adverted to in holy writ under the appellation of mighty 
 men, or men of renown. 
 
 The wickedness of mankind now increased rapidly 
 with the increasing population, and the earth was lite- 
 rally filled with violence ; yet the forbearance of God 
 was continued towards them, and he mercifully resolv- 
 ed to grant them the space of one hundred and twenty 
 years for repentance ; during which time he declared his 
 spirit should strive with man, in order to awaken him 
 to a sense of his depravity, and eventually to recal him 
 to the paths of peace and virtue. 
 
 It is here proper to remark, that, notwithstanding the 
 general corruption, one man was found perfect in his 
 generation, and walking humbly with his God. This 
 person was JSoah the son of Lamech, who exerted him- 
 self, on all occasions, to introduce a reformation both 
 of worship and conduct ; and to this end undertook the 
 laborious task of public admonition, warning his audi- 
 tors of the fatal consequences that must result from their 
 enormities. His zealous counsel was however treated 
 with disdain, and the deluded race continued in the 
 practice of every vice, till God is said to have been griev- 
 ed at his heart for the reformation of his incorrigible 
 creatures, and, at the end of their fruitless probation, to 
 have decreed an universal deluge that should utterly de- 
 stroy them, together with the birds of the air and the 
 beasts of the field. From this tremendous sentence Noah 
 and his family were excluded, having " found favour in 
 the eyes of the Lord," and the venerable patriarch re- 
 ceived instructions concerning a certain vessel which he 
 was appointed to build for the preservation of his own 
 
16 History of all J\ations, 
 
 family, and for such a quantity of animals of every spe- 
 cies as would be sufficient to replenish the earth again, 
 when the threatened flood should subside. 
 
 In obedience to the divine command Noah undertook 
 the construction of this vessel, mentioned in the scrip, 
 tures by the name of the ark. With respect to its di- 
 mensions we read, that its length was three hundred cu- 
 bits, its breadth fifty, and its height thirty. Its form 
 was that of an oblong square with a flat bottom, and a 
 sloping room, elevated one cubit in the middle. It con- 
 sisted of three stories, each of which, excluding the 
 thickness of the floors, might be eighteen feet high, and 
 was divided into separate apartments. It was, in all pro- 
 bability, well supplied with light and air, and though it 
 had neither sails nor rudder, it was admirably contrived 
 for lying steadily on the surface of the water, and for 
 thus preserving the lives of its various inhabitants. 
 
 The appointed time of vengeance being come, and the 
 ark completed, Noah went on board, in the year of the 
 world sixteen hundred and fifty- six, with his wife, his 
 sons and his daughters-in-law, taking with him all kinds 
 of birds, beasts and reptiles, by pairs and by sevens, as 
 he was expressly commanded ; while the rest of man- 
 kind, regardless of his repeated warnings, continued to 
 indulge in luxury and dissipation, till the flood came and 
 overwhelmed them with a swift destruction ; for, in the 
 self same day, were the fountains of the great deep bro- 
 ken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the 
 inundation began to fall, which descended without in- 
 termission forty days and forty nights. The waters also 
 increased gradually during the space of five months, 
 when they rose to the elevation of twenty-seven feet 
 above the summits of the highest mountains. 
 
 Towards the end of the ensuing month, Noah opened 
 one of the windows of the ark, and sent forth a raven, 
 which flew to and fro till the earth was dry, but afforded 
 him no satisfactory intelligence; he therefore let 
 out a dove three successive times, allowing seven 
 days to elapse between each excursion. The first time 
 she returned quickly, having found no place suffiU 
 
From the Creation to the Deluge. 17 
 
 ciently firm to afford a resting place ; the second time 
 she came back in die evening, bringing an olive leaf in 
 her mouth, as a proof that the flood had greatly abated ; 
 and the third time she returned no more. 
 
 On the first day of the first month, or the twenty-third 
 of October, the patriarch, who was now in the six hun- 
 dred and first year of his age, removed the covering of 
 his vessel, in order to take a view of the surrounding 
 scenery, and discovered that the surface of the earth 
 was perfectly free from water ; he continued, however, 
 in the ark till the twenty-seventh of the second month, 
 or the eighteenth of December, when he came forth, in 
 pursuance of the Divine Command, together with his 
 wife, his family, and every living creature which had 
 been intrusted to his care for one year and ten days, ac- 
 cording to the antideluvian computation, or during the 
 space of three hundred and sixty- five of our present 
 time. 
 
 Having thus given a concise account of the universal 
 deluge, with a strict regard to the word of God, we 
 feel it our duty to lay such particulars before our rea- 
 ders as, being gathered from profane authors, may afford 
 collateral evidence of this dreadful catastrophe. 
 
 The Chaldeans supposed this event to have happened 
 in the reign of Xisthrus, who being warned in a dream 
 that mankind should be destroyed by a flood, built a 
 vessel of extraordinary dimensions, and by that means 
 preserved himself and his family from ruin, besides a 
 variety of fowls and quadrupeds that were recommended 
 by Saturn to his protection. This vessel rested on a 
 mountain, after being 365 days on the water. Xisthrus 
 came out with all his companions, and raised an altar, 
 whereupon he sacrificed to the gods. 
 
 The Egyptians were no strangers to this general 
 destruction by water. The history of Osiris and I'yphon 
 mentions the very day when Osiris was shut up in the 
 ark ; the name of Typhon signifies a deluge, in conse- 
 quence of which the Egyptian Priests gave that name to 
 the sea. The inhabitants of Heliopolis in Syria are said 
 
 c 
 
18 History of all Nations', 
 
 to have shewn a chasm in the earth in the temple of Juno, 
 Which swallowed up the waters of the deluge. 
 
 The classical writers had evidently some traditionary 
 account of a general deluge, from which, according to 
 Ovid, Deucalion and Pyrrha alone were saved. 
 
 The Chinese also have some notions of the flood, and 
 of the providential escape of a single family from its 
 destroying effects. The American Aborigines are said 
 to acknowledge its reality. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The General History jrom the Deluge to the Confusion 
 of Tongues at Babel, b. C. 2347. 
 
 IMPRESSED with the most lively gratitude to the 
 Author of his existence, Noah, immediately upon his 
 landing, erected an altar, and offered a burnt sacrifice 
 of every clean beast and of every clean fowl. This act 
 of piety proved highly acceptable to God, who graciously 
 affirmed, that he would no more curse the earth for 
 man's sake ; but, on the contrary, it should retain all 
 its privileges, and enjoy an uninterrupted succession of 
 seasons, till the period of its final dissolution. The pa- 
 triarch was also honored with the divine blessing, and 
 received permission to appropriate all living creatures to 
 his own use, and to eat of them as freely as of the fruits 
 and herbs of the earth : he was, however, strictly com- 
 manded to abstain from the blood of animals, and to 
 avoid shedding that of man. 
 
 God likewise vouchsafed, on this memorable day, 
 to make a solemn covenant with his favorite mortals, 
 respecting the future safety of the habitable globe ; and 
 promised, as a sacred token of his inviolable decree, to 
 set his bow in the clouds when it rained, that the posteri- 
 ty of Adam might look on it, and contemplate the ef- 
 fects of his sovereign mercy. 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 19 
 
 Having received the warmest blessings and the most 
 inestimable marks of affection from his appeased Creator, 
 Noah descended from the mountain, applied himself to 
 husbandry, and planted a vineyard. At the time of the 
 vintage he became inebriated with the juice of the grape, 
 and lay carelessly uncovered within his tent. In this 
 situation he was discovered by his son Ham, who im- 
 mediately hastened to inform his brothers of the cir- 
 cumstance, and invited them to behold the disgraceful 
 situation of their parent. 
 
 Shem and Japhet were, however, too modest in 
 themselves, and too tender of the patriarch's honour, to 
 comply with such a request; and, therefore, having pro- 
 vided themselves with a garment, they went backward, 
 and covered their father with filial decorum : in return 
 for which they were remunerated with an ample blessing, 
 whilst the posterity of Ham were loaded with the most 
 dreadful curses. 
 
 Subsequent to the recital of these particulars, Moses 
 informs us that the patriarch paid the debt of nature in 
 the nine hundred and fiftieth year of his age ; and the 
 eastern nations have a tradition that he was buried in 
 Mesopotamia, where they shew his sepulchre, in a castle 
 near Dair Abunah, or " the monastery of our Father." 
 
 Japhet, the eldest son of Noah, (b. C. 1998) was 
 particularly blessed by that patriarch, for his pious be- 
 haviour, in these terms : — " God shall enlarge Japhet, 
 and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan 
 shall be his servant." This appears to have been spoken 
 in the spirit of prophecy, and has been fully accom- 
 plished in the great possessions which fell to the poste- 
 rity of Japhet in different parts of the world : in the over- 
 throw of the Assyrian empire by the Medes, in conjunc- 
 tion with the Babylonians ; and, finally, in the subjuga- 
 tion of the Canaanites, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, 
 and other descendants of Ham, to the children of his 
 eldest brother. 
 
 Of the children of Shem there is little more to be col- 
 lected from scripture than their names and the ages of 
 the patriarchs in the line of Peleg, till we come to Tera* 
 
20 History of all J\ations, 
 
 the father of Abraham ; we must therefore have occasi- 
 onal recourse to the conjectures and tradition of Jewish 
 and christian writers, where we shall find some particu- 
 lars worthy of attention. 
 
 The birth of Shcm must have happened in the year of 
 the vvorld 1558, as, at the birth of A;phaxad, two years 
 al.er the deluge, he was one hundred years old. The 
 only action ol his life recorded by Moses, is that which 
 he performed with his brother Japhet, and for which he 
 obtained the blessing of his father. He is said to have 
 lived fi e hundred and two j ears after the flood, and to 
 have died in the six hundredth 3 ear of his age, leaving 
 behind him live sons ; viz. Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, 
 Lud, and Aram ; the second of whom became the 
 founder of the Assyrian kingdom, according to this ex- 
 press declaration of Moses — " Out of the land (Shinaar) 
 went forth Ashur, and built Nineveh and the city of 
 Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and 
 Calah, the same is a great city." 
 
 Elam may probably have been intended by the more 
 modern Persian historians, when they asserted that their 
 first king Caumarras, was a son of Shem, and this idea is 
 strictly consonant to the Mosaic accounts. 
 
 Arphaxad had once considerable advantage above his 
 brethren, in having the patriarchal line continued in him. 
 Many authors derive both the name and nation of the 
 Chaldeans from this person ; and Josephus concurring 
 in the same opinion, assures us, that he was the prince 
 of the Arphaxadeans, at present called Chaldeans. It 
 has been already observed, that he was born in the year 
 of the world 1658, and it appears from the sacred records 
 that he lived to the age of four hundred and thirty-eight 
 years. 
 
 As we find no circumstance related in scripture re- 
 specting the other sons, viz. Lud and Aram, we shall 
 dismiss our remarks en his family, and return to that of 
 Noah, whose youngest son, Ham, now demands our 
 attention. When Noah was acquainted with the indeli- 
 cacy of his son's conduct, he pronounced a heavy curse, 
 not indeed against the offender himself, but against a 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 21 
 
 branch of his posterity — " Cursed," says the patriarch, 
 " be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his 
 brethren." Thisj;curse falling upon a son of Ham ra- 
 ther than upon himself, has occasioned many conjec- 
 tures among the learned. Some have supposed that 
 Noah expressed himself in this manner to avoid cursing 
 Ham, whom God had so recently blessed on his quitting 
 the ark ; others are for extending the curse both to 
 Ham and his descendants, whom they therefore consider 
 as the progenitors of the blacks ! and a third class ima- 
 gine, with a greater appearance of truth, that Moses \ by 
 reciting his prediction, designed to raise and invigorate 
 the spirits of the Israelites, who were appointed to engage 
 and finally vanquish the children of Canaan, previous to 
 their complete possession of the promised land. 
 
 Ham, in consequence of his undutiful behaviour on 
 an occasion which should rather have excited his com- 
 passion than his ridicule, has been considered by the 
 generality of authors a? the first introducer of irr.riety 
 after the deluge ; and the infamous character attached 
 to his name in their writing, is perfectly consistent with 
 Sanchoniatho''s account of Gronus, who is supposed to . 
 have been the same person. 
 
 Canaan, whom, according to scripture, we may sup- 
 pose to have been the fourth son of Ham, is believed to 
 have lived and died in the country distinguished by his 
 name, where his tomb was formerly shewn in a cave of 
 the mountain of Leopa; ds, at a small distance from Je- 
 rusalem. We are equally at a loss to ascertain the time 
 of his birth, and the length of his life, neither of these 
 circumstances being mentioned by Moses. Some wri- 
 ters, however, have ventured to affirm, that he was born 
 in the ark, and that being the fruit of unseasonable in- 
 continence, he was himself a profligate man. That part 
 of Noah's curse, which foretold the humiliation of Ca- 
 naan, as becoming a servant of servants to his brethren, 
 seems to have been wholly accomplished in him, with- 
 out extending to the rest of his brethren ; with respect 
 to Shem, it was fulfilled in the memorable victories of 
 the Israelites, and the subsequent achievements of the 
 
22- History of all Nations , 
 
 Assyrians and Persians ; and with regard to Japhet, we 
 see a completion of the prophecy in the successive con- 
 quests of the Canaanites by the Greeks and Romans, in 
 Palestine and Phenicia, but more especially by the total 
 subjugation of the once haughty and flourishing sons of 
 Carthage. 
 
 Canaan seems to have been known to the ancient hea- 
 thens, Sanchoniatho gives the name of Chna to the first 
 man who was called a Phenician. 
 
 Nimrod, the sixth son of Cush, is mentioned in the 
 book of Genesis as a mighty one on the earth, and a 
 mighty hunter before the Lord ; and we are there told 
 that " the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, 
 Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinaar." These 
 words seem clearly to imply that he was a person of un- 
 common strength and courage. The term a mighty 
 hunter, has been variously interpreted ; some under- 
 standing that he was a great tyrant, and others account- 
 ing him a virtuous prince, who, being naturally of a mar- 
 tial disposition, and ambitious of distinguishing himself 
 by his valour, armed a number of vigorous young men, 
 and, by training them to the toils of the chase, rendered 
 them equal to the task of braving danger with unshaken 
 intrepidity. 
 
 Nimrod is supposed to have been the first man who 
 obtained the regal dignity after the flood : (b. C. 1998) 
 and the four cities mentioned by Moses constituted an 
 extensive kingdom in those early times, when few kings 
 could boast of more than one. By what means he ac- 
 quired the sovereignty we are unable to determine, but it 
 was most probably by the force of arms ; in consequence 
 of which we suppose Ashur to have been driven from 
 Shinaar, when he went and formed Nineveh, and other ci- 
 ties in Assyria. Various conjectures have been formed, 
 concerning the time and manner of Nimrod's death ; 
 some pretending that he fell by the hand of Esau, whom 
 they make his contemporary ; and others affirming that 
 he perished amidst the ruins of Babel, which was over- 
 thrown by a violent hurricane. Scripture is, however, 
 silent upon these points ; and the ancient traditions, va« 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel, f3 
 
 rying from each other, afford at best an uncertain autho- 
 rity. 
 
 It is now requisite that we should return to the imme- 
 diate descendants of Noah, who after the decease of their 
 father, thought proper to quit the vicinage of Mount 
 Ararat, and to establish themselves and their families on 
 some other part of the earth. With this design they tra- 
 velled from the east till they arrived at a plain in the land 
 of Shinaar, which they immediately designed for their 
 future abode. On this spot, which proved sufficiently 
 attractive to terminate their journey, they resolved to 
 erect a city, and a tower whose top might aspire to hea- 
 ven, for the express purpose of avoiding the dispersion 
 of their families. The building was accordingly begun, 
 bricks being used instead of stone, and slime or bitumen 
 supplying the want of mortar ; but God, whose infinite 
 wisdom had decreed the welfare of his creatures by the 
 very circumstance which the builders attempted to elude, 
 compelled them to relinquish their project, by confound- 
 ing their language, so that one could not understand 
 what another said. The city now took the name of Ba- 
 bel, or confusion, and the dispersion of mankind imme- 
 diately ensued. 
 
 Prior to this important event, which, according to 
 the Hebrew calculation, happened just before the birth 
 of Peleg, in the year of the flood 101, all mankind spoke 
 the same language and lived together in one body ; but 
 it now became indispensably necessary that they should 
 divide themselves according to their respective tongues 
 and families, in order to people the earth. 
 
 This disposition and the subsequent planting of nations 
 were performed in the most orderly manner ; for we are 
 informed with regard to the sons of Japhet, that, "By 
 these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; 
 every one aftrr their families, after their tongues, in their 
 nations. " The account given of the sons of Ham ends 
 in a similar manner, " These are the sons of Ham, after 
 their families, after their tongues, in their countries, in 
 their nations :" and that of the sons of Shem terminates 
 thus ; " These are the sons of Shem, after their families, 
 
24 History of all Nations, 
 
 after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations." 
 All which texts serve to corroborate and justify our as- 
 sertion. Notwithstanding, some writers have imagined 
 that the first plantations were made without any method 
 or regularity, every colony being settled by chance, 
 and each individual seizing on his portion as chance or 
 caprice directed. 
 
 Allowing Shem. to have spent the remainder of his life 
 after the confusion of tongues in Shinaar, we may endea- 
 vor to follow his descendants in their migration. There 
 were seven chiefs of his line, concerned in the dispersion, 
 viz. his five sons already mentioned, Selah the son of 
 Arphaxad, and Eber the son of Selah, who seem to have 
 settled from Media westward to the sea coast of Aram 
 or Syria. 
 
 Elam fixed his habitation in the country of Elam, 
 lying to the southeast of Shinaar. Ashur's territory, 
 first distinguished by his name, and known to the Greeks 
 by the name of Assyria, we find lying contiguous to 
 Elam's, on the west or northwest. Arphaxad seems to 
 have settled in Chaldea, where his descendants continu- 
 ed till the time of Abraham ; yet some authors have as- 
 signed him a place in Arrapacitus, a province of Assyria, 
 and others who confound him with Canaan, pronounce 
 him founder of the Chinese monarchy. Selah the son of 
 Arphaxad, might very probably have settled in Chaldea, 
 where we suppose there was sufficient room for his pos- 
 terity till the time of Abraham ; and for similar reasons 
 we imagine the abode of Eber to have been in the same 
 country. With respect to Lud, we are totally unable to 
 ascertain the seat of his habitation, he is indeed fixed by 
 Josephus in Lydia ; but it appears needless that he 
 should have wandered so far from his friends, and the 
 ancient name of the Lydians is a strong objection 
 against this opinion. Aram, the youngest son of Shem, 
 obtained the countries of Mesopotamia and Syria, 
 which, exclusive of Phenicia and Palestine, compre- 
 hended all the territories westward of Assyria as far as 
 the Mediterranean ; and Aram's name is accordingly 
 given in scripture both to the whole of these countries, 
 and their several regions. 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 25 
 
 Within or near ihe land of Aram the. four sons of 
 Aram may be supposed to have had their respective fam- 
 ilies. It is generally believed that, Uz, the eldest, founded 
 city of Damascus, and gave his name to the circumja- 
 cent country : Hul, is stationed by Bochart in Cholobe- 
 tene, a part of the greater Armenia : Gether may be al- 
 lowed a seat near the river Centrites, between Armenia 
 and the Carduchi ; and Mcsheck is said to have nxed in 
 Armenia, near the mountain of Masius, which is com- 
 monly supposed to be the same with Ararat. 
 
 Ham is supposed to have quitted Shinaar, on the ill 
 success of the popular undertaking, and to have obtained 
 the sovereignty of Phenicia ; this opinion is at least con- 
 sistent with the idea of Ham and Cronus being the same 
 person ; but, according to those who imagine him the 
 same with Menes, he must have reigned in Egypt, 
 which is indeed frequently mentioned in scripture by the 
 name of the land of Ham : But as we have no positive 
 authority to decide these points, we shall proceed to the 
 consideration of his descendants. Cush, his eldest son, 
 is mentioned by the ancients as the father of the Ethio- 
 pians, who in the time of Josephus was generally distin- 
 guished by the name of Cusheans. Yet, from various pas- 
 sages of holy writ, wc are rather inclined to suppose 
 that he seated himself in the south eastern part of Baby- 
 lonia, and in the adjoining part of Susiana, still called 
 Khuzestan, or the land of Chuz ; from whence his des- 
 cendants in the succeeding ages migrated to Arabia ; 
 though it is now extremely difficult to fix the quarters of 
 any of them with precision. 
 
 With respect to the nations descended from Mizraim, 
 the second son of Ham, we briefly observe, that the 
 Ludeni are supposed to be the people above Egypt, at 
 present known by the name of Abyssinians. The Leha- 
 bim are judged to be the Lybians of Cyrenaica : die 
 Naphtuhim are said to have settled in Marmarica : The 
 Philistines originally settled in Egypt, and afterwards re- 
 moved into Canaan : and the Caphtorims are regard- 
 ed by all the fathers as the Cappadocians. 
 
 All we can collect from scripture relative to Japhet is, 
 
26 History of all Nations. 
 
 that he retired with his family from Shinaar, and fixed 
 his habitation to the north of the countries occupied by 
 the children of Shem. 
 
 Gomer, his eldest son, is mentioned by Josephus as 
 the father of the Gomerites, or Gauls of Asia Minor, 
 who inhabited a part of Phrygia : Magog, in all proba- 
 bility, settled on an isthmus between the Euxine and 
 Caspian Seas : Madia, is generally supposed to have 
 planted Media ; Javan probably took up his abode near 
 Ionia, in the south west part of the lesser Asia : Tubal 
 and Mesheck are supposed to have resided near their 
 brother Magog : and Tiras is universally believed to 
 have led his colony to Thrace. 
 
 Having thus given a concise account of the nations 
 concerned in the first dispersion of mankind, we shall 
 now take a retrospective view of some particulars which 
 have been hitherto omitted in order to preserve the 
 thread of our narrative entire. 
 
 The history of the antediluvians, particularly with re- 
 gard to their religion, policy, arts and sciences, would cer^ 
 tainly be considered as a subject of great value, were it 
 passible to expatiate upon these points with strict regard 
 to truth ; but as the sacred volume affords but little 
 whereon we might ground our assertions, and the page 
 of profane history is clouded with fable, we must can- 
 didly acknowledge that our remarks are founded chiefly 
 upon conjecture. 
 
 With regard to the religious rites of the primeval 
 race of men, we can only venture to affirm, that they of- 
 fered sacrifices, both of animals and of the fruits of the 
 earth ; yet, some writers have attempted to prove that all 
 the patriarchs, from Adam, had times and places set 
 apart for the celebration of divine worship (their Sab- 
 bath was certainly instituted immediately after the crea- 
 tion, nor is it likely that its observance was ever wholly 
 discontinued) and devoted a portion of their property 
 to the maintainance of their priests. 
 
 Their politics and civil constitutions are hid in impen- 
 etrable darkness, and consequently afford no foundation 
 even for conjecture. It is, however, probable, that the 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 27 
 
 patriarchal form of government was set aside by tyranny 
 and oppression ; and that this change took place among 
 the descendants of Cain rather than those of Seth. We also 
 imagine that their communities were but few, and con- 
 sisted of vast numbers of people, previous to the union 
 of the families of Seth and Cain ; and that all mankind, 
 subsequent to that imprudent junction, constituted but 
 one great nation, divided into several disorderly associa- 
 tions, and living in a state of anarchy, which indisputa- 
 bly tended to contaminate the thoughtless race with an 
 universal depravity of manners. 
 
 Even with regard to their arts and sciences but little 
 can be said ; as they appear rather to have devoted their 
 time to luxury and dissipation, than to useful discove- 
 ries or mental improvement. The last generation of 
 Cain's line found out the art of working metal ; and 
 music seems to have been invented about the same 
 time. 
 
 The antediluvian world is commonly supposed to have 
 been exceedingly different from that which we now in- 
 habit, and to have been stocked with a greater number 
 of inhabitants than the present earth is capable of con- 
 taining : and, indeed, this idea seems tolerably well 
 founded, when we consider the surprizing length of 
 men's lives previous to the deluge, and the numerous 
 generations that were then contemporary. 
 
 Various causes have been assigned by different au~ 
 thors for this longevity. Some imputing it to the sobri- 
 ety of the antediluvians, and the extreme simplicity of 
 their diet : — others supposing that it resulted from the 
 peculiar excellence of the plants, herbs, and fruits, that 
 were first appointed for the subsistence of the human 
 race ; and others asserting that it was the natural conse- 
 quence of a strong and vigorous constitution. 
 
 Each of these opinions may be considered as partak- 
 ing of the truth, though in reality they will not bear the 
 test of strict examination: for, if we readily admit the 
 idea that some, or even many, of the antediluvians were 
 remarkable on account of their temperance and simplici- 
 ty ', we must of necessity acknowledge, that the majority 
 
28 History of all Nations, 
 
 of them were strangers to these virtues, at a time when 
 they are said to have been eating and drinking, marrying, 
 and giving in marriage, till the flood came and swal- 
 lowed them up. 
 
 The longevity of the antediluvians cannot justly be 
 attributed to the wholesome or nutritious virtues of the 
 vegetable world. As to the opinion that the long lives 
 of these men were but natural consequences of the pe- 
 culiar strength of their stamina, or first principles of their 
 bodily constitutions, we are willing to receive it as a 
 concurrent though not an adequate cause : for Shem, 
 who received his birth before the deluge, and possessed 
 all the virtues of the antediluvians, fell short of the age 
 of his forefathers by three hundred years, because the 
 greater part of his life was passed after his egression 
 from the ark. 
 
 From these considerations, therefore, we are inclined 
 to impute this longevity rather to the salubrious constitu- 
 tion of the antediluvian air than to any other cause ; and, 
 upon the supposition that this air became contaminated 
 and unwholesome after the flood, it will appear consistent 
 that the pristine crasis of the human body should have 
 been gradually broken ; and that the life of man should 
 consequently have been shortened in successive ages, to 
 the present common standard. 
 
 Whether men were permitted to regale on the flesh of 
 animals before the flood, is a question that has been long 
 and frequently controverted. Those who imagine it 
 was unlawful before that period, found their opinion upon 
 God's assigning vegetables for food to man and beasts 
 at the creation ; and upon the express permission which 
 Noah received to eat flesh after the deluge : and those 
 who entertain a contrary opinion, imagine that animal 
 food was included in the general grant of dominion gi- 
 ven to Adam over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, 
 and every living thing that moveth upon the earth : and, 
 indeed, this supposition receives a great degree of 
 strength from the facts that beasts were divided into 
 clean and unclean before the flood j and that animals were 
 sacrificed to the Deity. 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 29 
 
 With regard to commerce, it was, in all probability, 
 carried on before the flood with greater facility than af- 
 terwards ; as there was but one language in the world. 
 Yet, it is evident, they had no idea of navigation, and of 
 extending heir trade to remote parts by the assistance 
 of any kind of vessels ; or otherwise some families might 
 certainly have escaped the flood besides that of the pa- 
 triarch Noah. 
 
 It has already been observed, that the first form of 
 government was patriarchal; and, indeed, when we con- 
 template the honour that is due from a child to a parent, 
 and the natural propensity which children have to ap- 
 ply to a parent's authority for the decision of their dis- 
 putes, and the termination of their little dissensions, it 
 is sufficiently obvious that the descendants of the pa- 
 triarchs would voluntarily submit, when grown up, 
 to the government and authority of their father ; and it 
 was certainly impossible to fix the liberties, peace, and 
 fortunes of a family in greater security than while they 
 continued in the hands of a tender and affectionate pa- 
 rent. 
 
 Considering Noah as the common father of the new 
 world during his lfe, we may suppose that his posterity 
 regarded him as their supreme governor, and that his 
 sons Shem, Ham, and Japhet, were chief rulers of their 
 respective branches in particular, as their sons again 
 were heads or governors of their particular families un- 
 der their fathers ; and in case of any dispute between the 
 three chief families, an appeal must have been made to 
 Noah, as the only common and acknowledged um- 
 pire. 
 
 This unity of government was however dissolved at 
 the death of Noah, and mankind were consequently di- 
 vided into three great parties, which, having lost their 
 common ruler, regarded themselves as independent of 
 each other, and acknowledged one supreme governor to 
 lead each separate party. Upon the decease of these 
 chiefs, their descendants were again divided in their po- 
 litical state ; and thus, by degrees, they became ranged 
 under several independent rulers, which seems to have 
 
36 History of all Motions, 
 
 been the state of the world for a considerable time 
 after the confusion of tongues, and the consequent dis- 
 persion. 
 
 But when the increasing families began to extend 
 their plantations, and to build towns or villages, it be- 
 came indispensably necessary that the government of 
 each society should be settled in one person, who might 
 re-unite the chiefs under the same authority, and exe- 
 cute such laws as were best adapted to the peace and 
 prosperity of the community. The recollection of the 
 patriarchal government, and the happy effects which re- 
 sulted from it, were sufficiently impressed on the minds 
 of the people, to induce them to elect a single ruler, who 
 was accounted worthy of dominion for his paternal care 
 and tenderness, rather than to trust their welfare to the 
 hands of several individuals, who might be influenced by 
 party prejudice, or distracted by a diversity of counsel 
 and opinions. 
 
 In this beginning of political societies, almost every 
 town was governed by its respective sovereign, who 
 being attentive to the welfare of his subjects rather than 
 the aggrandisement of his own name, restrained his am- 
 bition within the precincts of his own dominions, with- 
 out attempting to invade or annoy his neighbours. 
 Sometimes, however, the jealousy of a more powerful 
 prince, a martial inclination, or some inevitable dispute, 
 led these monarchs to the field of battle, from whence 
 they seldom returned till one party was completely van- 
 quished, and his possessions were added to those of the 
 conqueror, who, elated with victory, or thirsting for fu- 
 ture glory, led forth his combatants to other enterprizes, 
 and by uniting several territories, formed a kingdom of 
 greater or smaller extent, in proportion to his ambition, 
 ability, and success. 
 
 These first conquerors regulated their mode of beha- 
 viour at these times according to their different inter- 
 ests and dispositions. Some of them regarding the objects 
 of their conquests as creatures unworthy the smallest com- 
 forts of nature, plundered them of all their possessions, and 
 condemned them to languish out the remainder of their 
 
From the Deluge to the Building of Babel. 31 
 
 days in wretchedness, labour, and disgrace ; an oppres- 
 sion which first introduced the distinction between free- 
 men and slaves. But the wisest and most politic of 
 those men, who carried war into foreign countries, con- 
 ciliated the esteem of the vanquished, by treating them 
 as subjects instead of slaves, and granting them a full par- 
 ticipation of those comforts that were lodged in the 
 hands of the conquerors. By this method the fire of 
 animosity was soon extinguished, every prejudice was 
 gradually obviated, and the interests of the contend- 
 ing parties were finally united. 
 
 Upon the supposition that Ham is designed by the 
 Cronus of the Phenician history, it will appear that am- 
 bition began to make some disturbance in the earth even 
 during the life of Noah, who was expelled from his set- 
 tlement by his ungrateful son. But the first act of usur- 
 pation recorded in the sacred volume, is that of Nim- 
 rod, who plundered Ashur of his possessions, and com- 
 pelled him to remove from Shinaar into Assyria. This 
 revolution, however, which is supposed to have hap- 
 pened about thirty years after the dispersion, extended 
 no further than to some of the newly planted nations. In 
 those settlements which lay at a greater distance, it is 
 probable that a simplicity prevailed during several: ages, 
 and that wars did not arise among them till the increas- 
 ing colonies began to press upon each other, and to ex- 
 perience that inconvenience which results from a con- 
 fined situation. 
 
 It is but reasonable to suppose that Noah and his fa- 
 mily were acquainted with some of the arts and inven- 
 tions of the antediluvians ; and it is extremely proba- 
 ble that they explained such particulars to their descend- 
 ants as were most useful in common life. But it seems 
 unlikely that any of the finer arts or more speculative 
 sciences should have been improved in any degree till a 
 considerable time after the dispersion; and we must 
 readily admit, that many inventions were swept from the 
 face of the earth by the destroying deluge, and that a 
 great length of time must of necessity have been re- 
 quired to restore those arts, and to polish the manners of 
 
32 History of all J\atiom, 
 
 those persons who, on their first settling in a new coun- 
 try, found sufficient employment in cultivating the land 
 for their subsistence, and erecting habitations for the 
 convenience of their families, without designing any far- 
 ther improvements. They were also frequently obliged 
 to wander from one place to another, in quest of a more 
 convenient residence, and therefore it is sufficiently ob- 
 vious that a considerable time must have elapsed pre- 
 vious to the erection of towns and cities, and the subse- 
 quent settlements of provinces and kingdoms. 
 
 Commerce, though rendered extremely difficult by 
 the confusion of tongues, was nevertheless carried on 
 with vigour after the dispersion ; as the necessities of 
 men were greatly increased by their separation, and 
 those who settled in new countries finding the want of 
 many conveniences they had left behind them, and at 
 the same time discovering many valuable productions in 
 their own settlement, were induced to visit the parts in 
 which they had formerly resided, for the purpose of ex- 
 changing their newly discovered commodities for such 
 articles as they stood in need of : and by this means the 
 first foundation seems to have been laid for foreign com- 
 merce, which soon diffused itself in such a manner as to 
 supercede the greatest obstacles, and finally to suggest the 
 idea of navigation, which has rendered the faithless and 
 tempestuous ocean subservient to the interests and ac- 
 commodation of distant nations. 
 
 It may perhaps be expected that we shall now enter 
 into the much controverted subjects of what language 
 was generally spoken before the building of Babel ; in 
 what manner the memorable confusion of tongues was 
 effected, and how many languages were thenfoimed. 
 This being a dry and useless controversy, we shall merely 
 observe ; — that in all probability the Hebrew tongue was 
 that which God first gave to his creatures, or at least 
 we may venture to affirm, that if the Hebrew cannot sub- 
 stantiate its claim, the primitive language was entirely 
 lost at Babel. With respect to the manner in which the 
 memorable confusion was effected, 'here is no doubt but 
 it was the immediate act of God, who is solemnly de- 
 
Egypt. 33 
 
 scribed by Moses as coming down to view the builders, 
 and to accomplish his great design ; and as to the num- 
 ber of languages then formed, we confess ourselves un- 
 able to resolve the question, and deem it of too little 
 importance to occupy either our time or attention. All 
 we know from good authority, is, that the Hebrew, Sy- 
 riac, and Egyptian languages were formed as early as 
 the time of Jacob : and it seems probable, that the lan- 
 guages of the chief families were fundamentally different 
 from each other, though the dialects between each 
 branch had a mutual affinity ; a variation which seems 
 well adapted to bring about the designs of the Almighty, 
 relative to the division of mankind into societies, com- 
 monwealths, and kingdoms. Mavor. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TO EGYPT. 
 
 WE come now to the description of a country, which 
 has always held a distinguished rank in history, and was 
 once celebrated above all others for its antiquities, learn- 
 ing, opulence, and fertility. Such, however, is the mu- 
 tability of all sublunary things, that its present bears lit- 
 tle resemblance to its former state ; and those who read 
 the ancient and modern accounts of Egypt, can scarcely 
 believe that they appertain to the same country. Its 
 learning is changed to ignorance, its opulence to poverty, 
 and its fertility to frequent scarcity. Yet Egypt affords 
 matter for admiration and pity ; the explorer of nature, 
 and admirer of art, may gratify the most boundless cu- 
 riosity, in contemplating its wonderful productions 
 and the stupendous remains of the most amazing 
 works of art with which this country abounds. At the 
 same time their compassion will be excited by the pre- 
 judic.es that the people have imbibed, and the oppression 
 beneath which they live. No country in the universe 
 has undergone greater revolutions ; and, consequently, 
 the description of none can be more gratifying to the ge- 
 neral taste, or more interesting to every passion incident 
 to the human soul. 
 
34 History of all Nations, 
 
 EGYPT. 
 
 Egypt has the Mediterranean sea on the north, Abys- 
 sinia on the south, the desert of Barca and unknown 
 parts of Africa on the west, and the Red Sea on the 
 east. It is 600 miles in length, and nearly 300 in 
 breadth. 
 
 The Egyptians, like the Chinese, and many other of 
 the eastern nations, maintain that they had a race of 
 kings, the first of whom reigned many thousand years 
 before the flood. However, it is generally agreed, that 
 the princes of the line of the Pharaohs sit on the throne, 
 in an uninterrupted succession, till Cambyses II. king of 
 Persia, conquered Egypt, 525 years before the birth of 
 Christ : and that in the reign of this race of princes 
 those wonderful structures were raised, which cannot 
 now be viewed without astonishment; and of which some- 
 thing will be said hereafter. After the death of Camby- 
 ses, Egypt continued under the Persian governmentun- 
 tii Alexander the Great subdued that empire, when it be- 
 came subject to that prince, who soon after built the ce- 
 lebrated city of Alexandria. That wonderful man pos- 
 sessed talents which qualified him not merely to con- 
 quer, but to govern the world, had not his pas- 
 sions enslaved him when every thing external was sub- 
 dued ; yet the noble plans which his original and bold 
 conceptions formed, caused a revolution in the commerce 
 of the world, equally wonderful as his conquests, and 
 much more permanent. After he had subdued and sub- 
 verted Tyre, he caused its commerce to be transferred 
 to Alexandria, which soon became the centre of the East 
 India trade. 
 
 Alexander was succeeded by Ptolemy , the son of 
 Lagus, 325 years before Christ, who again rendered 
 Egypt an independent kingdom, which it continued to 
 be for the space of 250 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
 his son, collected the Alexandrian library, said to con- 
 sist of seven hundred thousand volumes ; and the same 
 prince caused that translation of the Scriptures to be made 
 into Greek, which is now distinguished by the name of 
 
Egypt 35 
 
 " the Septuagint." His successors ever after retained 
 the name of Ptolemies, and in that line it continued, un- 
 til Cleopatra, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Dionysius, 
 the last king, ascended the throne, in whose reign Egypt 
 Was rendereda Roman povince, by Augustus, A. D. 50, 
 and thus remained till the reign of Omar, the second 
 caliph of the successors of Mahomet, who expelled the 
 Romans, after it had been in their hands 600 years. 
 Omar, actuated by the most barbarous enthusiasm, 
 which led him to consider all necessary and all valuable 
 knowledge as comprised in the Koran, caused that ines- 
 timable treasure of ancient literature, science, and know- 
 ledge, which was deposited in the Alexandrian library, to 
 be reduced to ashes. 
 
 From the time of the first Ptolemy to the conquest of 
 Egypt by the Mahomedans, Europe had been supplied 
 with the productions of the East by the Greeks of Alex- 
 andria, by the Romans while they were masters of Egypt, 
 and by the subjects of the emperors of Constantinople, 
 when the kingdom became a province of their domin- 
 ions ; through a period, extending almost to a thousand 
 years. 
 
 The caliphs of Babylon were the sovereigns of Egypt, 
 till about the year 807, when the Egyptians set up a ca- 
 liph of their own, called the caliph of Cairo, to whom 
 the Saracens of Africa and Spain were subject ; but the 
 governors of the provinces, under the caliphs of Baby- 
 lon and Cairo, soon wrested the civil power out of their 
 hands, who had hitherto enjoyed an absolute control in 
 affairs of religion and government, and left them only the 
 shadow of sovereignty. 
 
 At length, about the year 1160, Assareddin, general 
 of Norradin, the Saracen sultan of Damascus, subdued 
 the kingdom of Eg}^ : he was succeeded by his son, 
 the famous Saladin, who also reduced the kingdoms of 
 Damascus, Mesapotamia, and Palestine under his do- 
 minion ; and, about the year 1190, he took Jerusalem 
 from the Christians. This prince established a body of 
 troops in Egypt, somewhat like the present janizaries, to 
 whom he gave the name of Mamalukes ;. these became a 
 
36" History of etftJSi atiom, 
 
 very intrepid and powerful body of men. The posteri- 
 ty of Saladin sat on the throne till the year 1242, when 
 the Mamalukes deposed Elmutan, and gave the crown to 
 one of their own officers, named Turquemenius. This 
 was the first king of the race of the Mamalukes, which 
 dynasty engaged in continual wars with the Christians m 
 Syria and Palestine; till sultan Eraphus drove them en- 
 tirely out of the Holy Land. 
 
 When the Portuguese had discovered the route to In- 
 dia by the Cape of Good Hope, their great general Al- 
 buquerque endeavoured to obtain a settlement at some 
 port in the Red Sea ; after many unsuccessful attempts 
 he at length became master of the island of Ormus ; but 
 the Venetians finding that their very lucrative trade in 
 Indian commodities, which they carried on under the 
 protection of the soldan of the Mamalukes, wasin dan- 
 der of being snatched from them, it so far instigated that 
 Mahomedan prince, who w r as likewise deeply interested 
 in preserving such commerce in its former channel,- that 
 he addressed Julius II. who was then pope, and Emanu- 
 el, king of Portugal, in a haughty tone, requiring them 
 to relinquish their new course of navigation : threatening, 
 in case of refusal, to put to death all the Christians in 
 Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, to burn their churches, and 
 demolish the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. These 
 threats were however disregarded ; therefore, as his last 
 resource, he fitted out a fleet in the Red Sea, in order to 
 attack the Portuguese ships wherever they appeared. 
 This he was enabled to do by means of the Venetians ; 
 for the love of gain will cause Christians to league with 
 infidels against Christians ! The contest was sharp and 
 obstinate for a short time ; but in the end the Portuguese 
 entirely annihilated the naval, power of their rival in 
 those seas. Soon after, the dominion of the Mamalukes 
 was overturned ; and Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, were 
 subjected to the Turkish empire by the victorious arms 
 of Selirnl. in 1515, who formed a treaty with the Vene- 
 tians,, and granted them great commercial immunities. 
 Ever since this contest the Turks have retained posses- 
 -sjon. of Egvpt. ■ ■ 
 
Egypt. ,17 
 
 Ancient Egypt was supposed to contain eight millions 
 of inhabitants ; at present, its population is not suppos- 
 ed to reach half that number. Volney II. 232. 
 
 Antiquities of Egypt.] This country abounds 
 with proofs of its great antiquity and ancient grandeur. 
 Vast ruins of magnificent cities and noble temples still 
 supply scattered memorials to confirm the truth of his- 
 tory, and to exhibit specimens of the architecture of the 
 early ages, before it was improved and brought to per- 
 fection by the Greeks. 
 
 A little to the north of Cairo, where now stands as 
 Turkish village, the city of Bus iris is supposed to 
 have stood, which was renowned for its temple, dedi- 
 cated to Iris, and some exquisite pieces of sculpture are 
 still remaining, although the present wretched inhabi- 
 tants scruple not to demolish the most precious produc- 
 tions of art, when they can find in them a ready means of 
 supplying domestic accommodations. 
 
 About two leagues farther north are the remains of 
 the ancient city of He l 10 pol is, called in Scripture 0?7, 
 (See Genesis, .chap. xli. verses 45 & 50) which was dis- 
 tinguished for the worship of the sun, whose priests 
 were eminently skilled in philosophy and astronomy : 
 these first computed- time by years of 365 days. The 
 Arabs called this city, " the castle of the lights," from 
 the perpetual fire which was maintained here. 
 
 Memphis, in ancient times the capital of Egypt, 
 which in the height of its prosperity was seven leagues 
 in circumference, at present exhibits no vestiges by 
 which to determine its site, concerning which Pliny and 
 Strabo formed different conjectures : whilst Savory and 
 Volney, among the moderns, are equally wide in opinion. 
 But although its situation is not exactly determined, it 
 is however certain that it was destroyed by Cambyses. 
 This city was there sidence of the Pharaohs ; and here 
 the patriarch Joseph, when overseer of the corn of 
 Egypt, established his magazines. 
 
 The Labyrinth, according to Herodotus, was built 
 by the twelve kings of Egypt, when the government 
 was divided into twelve parts, and served as so many 
 
3 8 History of 'all A ations, 
 
 palaces to meet in, and adjust the affairs of the govern- 
 ment, and ceremonials of religion. Upon the model of 
 this very extensive and singular structure, the famous 
 labyrinth of Crete was formed. 
 
 The principal pyramids being situated near the place 
 where the ancient city of Memphis is supposed to have 
 stood, they are commonly called " The Pyramids of 
 Memphis ;" Mr. Volney calls them the " pyramids of 
 Djira." 
 
 The Pyramids of Memphis and Soccotr a.] A- 
 bout four leagues distant from Cairo are the Pyramids, 
 which were formerly ranked among the seven wonders 
 of the world, and cannot now be viewed without admi- 
 ration. They are situated upon the solid rock, at the 
 foot of the high mountains that accompany the Nile in 
 its course, and separate Egypt from Lybia. Their ar- 
 chitecture, both on the inside and without, is extremely 
 different with respect to distribution, materials, and 
 grandeur. Some of these are open, others are in ruins, 
 and most of them are inclosed ; but all have been in- 
 jured by time. The immense quantity of materials 
 used in constructing them, renders it impossible for all 
 of them to have been built at the same time, and those 
 that were last erected greatly exceed the first in magni- 
 ficence and grandeur. They are the works, says Nor- 
 den, of the most remote antiquity, and even more early 
 than the times of the first historians whose writings have 
 been transmitted to us, the very epochaof their beginning 
 being lost at the time when the first Greek philosophers 
 travelled into Egypt. Herodotus, indeed, names the 
 time when the largest was erected and makes it the work 
 of Cheops. — See Mr. Beloe's Translation, Vol. 1. page 
 262 — 370, and the notes annexed. 
 
 There are four of the pyramids that deserve the atten- 
 tion of the curious ; besides these, there are seven or 
 eight other, but these last are not to be compared with 
 the former, especially as some are in a very ruinous con- 
 dition. The four principal are nearly upon the same 
 diagonal line, at about 4000 paces distance from each 
 ©ther ; and their four faces exactly correspond to the 
 
Egypt. 39 
 
 four cardinal points. The two most northerly are the 
 largest ; and Mr. Greaves, who measured the bottom 
 of the first, found that it was exactly 633 English feet 
 square, and that its perpendicular height is about 500 
 feet ; but if it be taken as the pyramid ascends, inclin- 
 ing, then the height is equal to the breadth of the base, 
 It is a circumstance pretty generally known, that the 
 square of Lincoln's-inn-fields, in London, was laid out 
 by Inigo Jones according to the exact size of the base 
 of this pyramid. 
 
 No entrance could be gained into some other of the 
 larger pyramids, by the greatest exertions of labour, 
 and the use of every means which invention could sug- 
 gest. 
 
 This is the pyramid which Herodotus says was built 
 by Cheops. He reigned fifty years, twenty of which he 
 employed upon this vast fabric, and three-fourths of the 
 inhabitants of Egypt were employed, by forced service, 
 in hewing, transporting, and raising the stones. It is 
 supposed to have been erected about or before Solomon's 
 temple, or 860 years before Christ. M. Maillet sup- 
 poses the pyramid to be a vast Mausoleum : that in the 
 upper chamber, the body r of the king was deposited, and 
 in the lower one that of his queen. He forms this opin- 
 ion, not on any traces which have been met with of a 
 body, for none have been found, but because, on the 
 eastern side of the lower apartment, there is a niche, 
 sunk three feet into the wall, and eight feet high by three 
 wide; here, he is confident, that a mummy had been 
 placed, according to the custom in Egypt, and he is 
 equally satisfied that the king was deposited in the upper 
 hall, although there is no niche to confirm the fact. — 
 To the opinion of this learned Frenchman, may be op- 
 posed that of the Englishman Dr. Shaw, who observes, 
 that the great chest of granite found in the upper cham- 
 ber, or hall, of the pyramid, was probably intended for 
 some religious use, it being of a different form from the 
 stone coffins used in Egypt. Maillet asserts, that when 
 the body of the king who built this pyramid was depos- 
 ited in this superb mausoleum, several living persons, 
 
40 History of all Nations, 
 
 destined never to come out of it, and to be buried alive 
 with their prince, were introduced there at the same 
 time ; this he is convinced ol* from having observed two 
 holes, one toward the north, the other toward the east, 
 which are elevated three feet and an half above the pave- 
 ment, one in an horizontal direction, which he says 
 was designed to admit air to the persons enclosed in this 
 tomb, and by this they were supplied with their food. 
 When they entered this receptacle, he supposes that 
 each person was furnished with a coffin, to receive him 
 when dead, and that they successively rendered each 
 other this last pious duty, until the last survivor, who 
 must want that succour which his companions had de- 
 rived from himself and others. The other hole, which 
 descends to the bottom of tfae pyramid, served to empty 
 the dirt and filth. This conclusion, though very confi- 
 dently drawn, being neither supported by any traditional 
 evidence, nor by any thing found within the pyramid, 
 a sceptic in such an opinion might ask, where are the 
 remains of these coffins ? what is become of the skele- 
 tons? Not even a bone of those victims, who are sup- 
 posed to have been thus devoted to the manes of their 
 prince, is known to have been found, and neither ava- 
 rice nor curiosity could induce a removal of them. — 
 But though in this instance not one corroborating cir- 
 cumstance can be produced, yet it is certain that the 
 practice of immuring the living in the tomb of a deceas- 
 ed king did prevail in those times. 
 
 Which first taught souls enslav'd, and realms undone, 
 The enormous faith of many made for one. 
 
 At near ten miles distance from these pyramids are 
 those of Soccotra, written by Volney, Sakary (I. 280) 
 They extend from N. to S. and are situated at the foot 
 of the mountains, in a vast plain. 
 
 One of the pyramids, which rises above the rest, is 
 called " the Great Pyramid to the North." Norden 
 measuring this structure, found that the east side extend- 
 ed 690 feet, and the north side 710. The perpendicu- 
 lar height is 345 feet. 
 
Egypt. 
 
 41 
 
 At the distance of a mile to the S. E. is another, cal- 
 led u the Great Pyramid to the South," which is about 
 600 feet square at the bottom. It seems to have been 
 cased all the way up, and is built within of hewn stone. 
 
 On a lower ground, about two miles to the E. of 
 the last great pyramid, is one built of unburnt brick, 
 which seems to have been made of ths mud of the Nile, 
 it being a sandy black clay, with some pebbles and shells 
 in it, and mixed up with chopped straw, in order to 
 bind the clay together, as unburnt bricks are at pre- 
 sent usually made in Egypt, and other parts of the East. 
 It seems not improbable that this pyramid was built by 
 the Israelites, and that they also made the bricks of 
 which it is formed; for Josephus says, tl when time 
 had extinguished the memory of the benefits performed 
 by Joseph, and the kingdom was transferred to another 
 family, the Israelites were used with great rigour ; 
 they were odered to cut canals for the Nile, to raise 
 dykes, and to erect fantastical pyramids." Jos. Ant. 
 lib. II. chap. ix. 
 
 Many learned men have been of opinion that these 
 pyramids were erected for the purpose of making as- 
 tronomical observations, and to serve as sun-dials, by 
 which the variation of the shadow, in proportion to its 
 height, could be taken with a degree of accuracy. What 
 supports this opinion is, that two of the sides of every one 
 of these buildings stand exactly north and south, so as to 
 be true meridian lines, and the other two sides stand ex- 
 actly east and west. Plato first suggested this idea; 
 but a strong objection to it is, that the variation in the 
 position of the earth in its orbit, although extremely 
 slow and gradual, yet would, in such a prodigious rev- 
 olution of years, be found to have occasioned a consid- 
 erable deviation from the true meridian line of these 
 pyramids in modern times : perhaps no modern travel- 
 ler has taken an observation of their present position 
 with sufficient accuracy ; otherwise the objection is de- 
 cisive. M Volney objects on another ground, saying, 
 " It could not be necessary to erect eleven observatories 
 so near each other, as the pyramids of different sizes 
 
 p 
 
42 History of all J\ation$, 
 
 are;" and in support of the opinion that they were Mao 
 solea, he expresses himself as follows: "This sterile 
 spot, remote from all cultivated land, possesses the 
 qualities requisite for an Egyptian cemetry, and near it 
 was that of the whole city of Memphis, the plain of 
 Mummies. If we consider all these things we shall no 
 longer doubt that the pyramids are only tombs: we 
 shall cease to wonder that the despots of a superstitious 
 people should have made it a point of importance and 
 pride to build for their skeletons impenetrable habita- 
 tions, when we are informed, that even before the time 
 of Moses it was a dogma at Memphis, that souls at the 
 expiration of six thousand years should return to the bo- 
 dies they had quitted. It was for this reason that so 
 much pains were taken to preserve the body from pu- 
 trefaction, and that endeavours were used to retain even 
 its form, by means of spices, bandages, and every kind 
 of preservative against corrodation. Volney^s Travels, 
 I. 277. 
 
 In so symbolical a religion as that of the ancient 
 Egyptians, it is not improbable that the pyramidical 
 form might convey some sacred meaning ; and perhaps 
 the pyramids themselves might be objects of their ado- 
 ration as symbolizing the Deity. 
 
 Remarks relative to the causes of a difference of com- 
 plexion in mankind. 
 
 With regard to the deep black, which tinges the com- 
 plexion of negroes, a learned author says, " The cause 
 of this singularity has been the subject of much inquiry, 
 which has given rise to a variety of systems. Some 
 have absurdly supposed, that the negroes, being the de- 
 scendants of Cain, have had this mark of infamy stamped 
 upon them, as a punishment for the fratricide of their an- 
 cestor. If it were so, it must be allowed that his pos- 
 terity have made a severe atonement for his crime ; and 
 that the descendants of the pacific Abel have thoroughly 
 avenged the blood of their innocent father. 
 
 But, waving the discussion of such ridiculous fan < 
 
Egypt. • 43 
 
 cies, let us enquire, whether it is possible that the ne- 
 groes should derive their colour from the climate they 
 inhabit? Some philosophers, and eminent naturalists, 
 are of this opinion. There are no negroes, say they, 
 but in the hottest countries. Their colour becomes 
 blacker the nearer they approach to the equator. It be- 
 comes lighter and more bright at the extremities of the 
 torrid zone. The whole human species, in general, 
 contract whiteness from the snow, and grow tanned in 
 the sun. Various shades may be observed from white 
 to black, and from black to white, marked out, as it 
 were, by the parallel degrees which cut the earth from 
 the equator to the poles. 
 
 If the zones, imagined by the inventors of the sphere, 
 were represented by real bands, one might perceive the 
 jetty colour of the natives insensibly decrease to the 
 right and left as far as the two tropics ; from thence the 
 brown colour of the inhabitants grow paler and brighter 
 to the polar circles, by shades of white, becoming more 
 and more brilliant. But it is somewhat remarkable, 
 that nature, which hath lavished the brightness of the 
 most beautiful colours on the skin and plumage of ani- 
 mals, and on vegetables and metals, should, properly 
 speaking, have left men without colour ; since black and 
 white are nothing but the beginning and absence of all 
 colours. Whatever be the original and radical cause of 
 that variety of complexion in the human species, it is 
 agreed, that this complexion is owing to a gelatinous 
 substance, that is lodged between the cuticle and the 
 skin. This substance is blackish in negroes, brown in 
 olive, coloured, or swarthy people, white in Europeans, 
 and diversified with reddish spots in those who have ex- 
 tremely light or red hair. 
 
 Anatomy has discovered, that in negroes, the sub- 
 stance of the brain is blackish ; that the pineal gland is 
 entirely black, and their blood is of a much deeper red 
 than that of white people. Their skin is always hotter, 
 and their pulse quicker. The reason of their hair being 
 curled, is, because having to penetrate through a net- 
 work of a more dense and tenacious substance, it be- 
 
44 History of all Nations, 
 
 comes more twisted, and cannot be lengthened out, 
 The sweat of the negro diffuses a strong and disagree- 
 able odour, because it is impregnated with that thick and 
 rancid grease, which has been long lodged, and slowly 
 oozes out between the cuticle and the skin. 
 
 This substance is so palpable, that one may distinguish 
 in it, with a microscope, a sediment formed in little 
 blackish globules. Hence the perspiration of a negro, 
 when it is copious, tinges the linen cloth which wipes 
 it off. 
 
 The colour of the negroes is falsely supposed to be 
 owing to the climate, since in Africa, under the parallels, 
 the eastern coasts have no negroes, and even produce 
 white people ; and that in South America, the heat of 
 the sun, and nature of the soil, have never produced 
 any negroes. Though it should be allowed, that the 
 western coast of Africa is the hottest region of the whole 
 globe, the only inference to be deduced from this, would 
 be, that these are climates proper only to certain species, 
 or certain species adapted to particular climates ; but 
 not that the difference of climate could change the same 
 species from white to black. White people never be- 
 come black in Africa ; nor negroes white in any cli- 
 mate. An union, indeed, between the two sexes of 
 these two, produces a species who partake equally of 
 the colours, features, and complexion of both. If man 
 was originally white, it must be supposed, that having 
 been created nearer to the frigid than to the torrid zone, 
 he peopled the earth successively from the poles to the 
 equator : while, on the contrary, the fertility of the 
 globe between the tropics, is a presumption that it has 
 been peopled from the equator to the poles. 
 
 The climate inhabited by the negroes exhibits no pal- 
 pable variations, but such as may be occasioned by 
 sands or morasses. The almost insupportable heat of 
 their days is succeeded by very cool nights. The dew y 
 less profuse under a cloudy sky than under a serene ho- 
 rizon, is undoubtedly the cause of this singularity. 
 
 A' certain author recently asserted, that the Africans 
 
Egypt. 45 
 
 are equally incapable of reason and virtue. The follow- 
 ing fact will enable us to judge of this opinion. 
 
 An English ship that traded in Guinea in 1752, was 
 obliged to leave the surgeon behind, whose bad state of 
 health did not permit him to continue at sea. Murray, 
 for that was his name, was then endeavouring to recover 
 his health, when a Dutch vessel drew near the coast, 
 put the blacks in irons whom curiosity had brought to 
 the shore, and instantly sailed off with their booty. Those 
 who interested themselves for these unhappy people, in- 
 censed at so base a treachery, ran instantly to Cud joe, 
 (a black man at whose house Murray lodged) who 
 stopped them at the door, and asked them what they 
 were in search of. " The white man who is with you," 
 replied they, " who should be put to death, because his 
 brethren have carried off ours." " The Europeans," 
 answered the generous host, " who carried off our 
 countrymen, are infamous barbarians ; kill them when- 
 ever you can find them. But he who lodges with me is 
 a good man ; he is my friend ; my house is his for- 
 tress : I am his soldier, and I will defend him : — before 
 you can get at him, you shall pass over my dead body i 
 O my friends, what just man would ever enter my do 
 if I suffered my habitation to be stained with the blood 
 of an innocent man and a stranger!" This noble dis- 
 course appeased the rage of the blacks : they retired, 
 ashamed of the design that had brought them there ; 
 and some days after acknowledged to Murray himself, 
 how happy were they that they had not committed a 
 crime, which would have occasioned them perpetual re- 
 morse I 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 The Assyrian Empire. 
 
 THE most ancient of the four great empires was 
 that of Assyria, the name of which country was derived 
 
46 History of all Js at ions, 
 
 from Ashur, the first settler of it after the flood. Assy- 
 ria proper was bounded on the north by Armenia ; on 
 the west by the Tigris ; on the south by Susiana ; 
 and on the east by Media. In this country stood the 
 famous city Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. 
 
 The Assyrian chronology is extremely perplexed, and 
 the only certain light we have respecting the Assyrian 
 history, is in the sacred writings. Ninus, king of Assy- 
 ria, after conquering almost all Asia, between Tanaias 
 and the Nile, built the city of Nineveh on the river Ti- 
 gris, the circumference of which was sixty miles. 
 
 But Semiramis, his widow, being determined to eclipse 
 the glory of her husband, founded Babylon, in which 
 she employed two millions of labourers. When this 
 enormous c;ty was completed, she put herself at the 
 head of a prodigious army, and marched into Media, af- 
 ter conquering which, she proceeded to visit Persia, and 
 the rest of the Asiatic provinces, where she erected ma- 
 ny magnificent palaces, laid out extensive gardens, and 
 built a number of stately cities. For some time this 
 Assyrian heroine was successful ; but, at length Stabro- 
 bates, king of India, checked her career and compelled 
 her to sue for peace, and returned to her own country, 
 where she shortly after expired. 
 
 Semiramis was succeeded by her son Ninyas, a pu- 
 sillanimous, lascivious monarch, who shut himself up in 
 his palace, that his subjects might regard him as a God. 
 
 In this course he was followed by all his successors. 
 Sardaripalus was the last, and most vicious, of the Assy- 
 rian monarchs ; this wretch descended to such a pitch of 
 depravity as to assume the dress and manners of a pros- 
 titute. 
 
 In his time the Medes, Babylonians, and Persians, 
 assisted by the Arabians, shook off the Assyrian yoke. 
 On hearing of this revolt and confederacy, the effemi- 
 nate monarch was roused from his sloth and marched 
 at the head of his army against the rebels, whom he de- 
 feated in three different engagements. But the coalition 
 being strengthened by the accession of the Bractrains, 
 the imperial army was beaten, the camp ta'ien by sur- 
 
The Assyrian Empire. 47 
 
 prize, and Sardanapalus escaped with difficulty to the 
 city Nineveh. Here he was closely besieged for two 
 years, but finding at last that the place could hold out 
 no longer, and -knowing that no favor would be shewn 
 him by the enemy, he set fire to his palace ; and destroy- 
 ed himself with all his concubines and eunuchs. Thus 
 ended the Assyrian empire, after subsisting one thou- 
 sand four hundred years. 
 
 /- 
 Additional Remarks on the History of Assyria. 
 
 Phul, king of Assyria, subdued Israel, b. C. 771 years. 
 Tizlath Pileser, son of Phul, invaded Israel, and carried 
 the inhabitants away captives into Assyria. This mon- 
 arch was succeeded by Salmaneser, who compelled Ho- 
 sea, king of Israel, to pay him tribute. Some years 
 afterwards Hosea attempted to shake off the Assyrian 
 yoke, with the aid of So, king of Egypt. On this Sal- 
 maneser marched into the land of Israel, and after a siege 
 of three years took Samaria the capital city. He then 
 returned into Assyria, and took with him Hosea and all 
 his subjects. Sennacherib, the next king of Assyria 
 (b. C. 717) marched into Judea, and forced king Heze- 
 kiah to pay him a yearly tribute of three hundred talents 
 of silver and thirty of gold. 
 
 Notwithstanding this submission on the part of the 
 Jewish monarchy, Sennacherib shortly afterwards sent 
 his general Rabshaken, at the head of a large army, 
 against Jerusalem. While the siege was carrying on 
 with vigor, and by Sennacherib in person, he was in- 
 formed that Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia, was about to 
 enter his dominions. This intelligence compelled him 
 to raise the siege, and to march against the invader ; 
 but at his departure he sent a letter to Hezekiah, in 
 which he threatened that Judah should be added to the 
 many nations which his arms had reduced to the Assy- 
 rian empire : He soon returned to put his threat in exe- 
 cution : but a destroying angel, according to the figura- 
 tive language of Holy Writ, to express the Divine in- 
 terposition, visited his camp and slew one hundred and 
 
48 History of all Alatiotts, 
 
 eighty-five thousand of his soldiers.* This judg* 
 ment compelled the arrogant tyrant to hasten back to his 
 own country, where he exercised the most horrid cruel- 
 ties upon his subjects, but particularly upon the captive 
 Jews, in revenge for the disgrace which had befallen him 
 in his attempt to reduce their country. His conduct be- 
 came so odious and intolerable even in his own family, 
 that his own sons, Arameleck and Sharczer, conspired 
 against, and murdered him as he was offering up his de- 
 votions in the temple of his god Nisroch. 
 
 chapter v. 
 The Persian Monarchy. 
 
 The Persian monarchy, originally of small extent, 
 was founded by Cyrus the Great : let us take a view of 
 its vast dominions. It included all India, Assyria, 
 Media, and Persia, and the parts about the Euxine and 
 Caspian seas. Cyrus was surnamed the Great on ac- 
 count of his heroic and great achievements, in an ex- 
 pedition against the Scythians; this most excellent prince 
 was surprized by an ambuscade of the enemy, and slain. 
 He was succeeded by his son. 
 
 Cambyses, in scripture called Artaxerxes. He add- 
 ed Egypt to his empire ; but did not long enjoy his 
 victories ; for having plundered and demolished Jupi- 
 ter Amnion's temple, he was killed by his own sword 
 unsheathing, as he mounted his horse. His successor 
 was 
 
 Darius Hystaspes, under whom the Babylonians re- 
 volted. ;Darius besieged them, took their city, beat 
 
 * The most rational conjecture is, that this destruction was occasioned 
 by the pestilential wind common in those countries, by the name of Samid, 
 which, in passing over the deserts, is sometimes carried into the fertile 
 provinces, and instantaneously slays both man and beast. Herodotus, the first 
 heathen writer, takes notice of this catastrophe in the Assyrian army. 
 
T/ie Grecian Monarchy. 49 
 
 down their walls, and gave the inhabitants for a spoil to 
 the Persians. After a thirty-six year's reign, he declar- 
 ed Xerxes his successor and died. 
 
 Xerxes invaded Greece with an innumerable army, 
 resolved to reduce it all under his subjection, but being 
 defeated, was killed by his own subjects, who despised 
 him for his ill success. After which his son, 
 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus succeeded to the throne. — 
 And after him, Darius Nothus. Then Artaxerxes 
 Mnemon, who left the kingdom to his son Ochus. — = 
 Upon this succession great revolts were made in the em- 
 pire. He was poisoned by Bargoas, and Bargoos made 
 king in his stead. Bargoas poisoned himself also, in the 
 second year of his reign, and made Nero Codomannus 
 king, who then assumed the royal name of Darius.— 
 Alexander the Great of Macedon, being made general 
 of the Grecians against the Persians, defeated Darius in 
 the three battles of Granicus, Cilicia, and Arbela, and 
 conquered all Asia : by which means the empire of the 
 Persians was transferred to the Grecians, after it had 
 stood for upwards of two hundred years. This event 
 happened 330 years before Christ. 
 
 chapter Vi. 
 The Grecian Monarchy. 
 
 Ancient Greece, of which Macedon made a small 
 part, consisted of several principalities, every one of 
 which had its own customs, manners and laws. The 
 kingdom of Macedon was founded by a small body of 
 adventurers under Caranus, on the east of the iEgean 
 Sea. It was obscure and of no estimation in the begin- 
 ning, but acquired so much power and influence under 
 Philip, as to become the umpire of Greece. 
 
 Alexander, the son and successor of this monarch, 
 having subdued all the other Grecian states, expended 
 his victorious arms from the Hellespont to the Indies, 
 
50 History of all Nations. 
 
 and gave law to the whole eastern world. He died at 
 Babylon, of a fever, or as some historians say by poison, 
 in the 33d year of his age and 12th of his reign. The 
 untimely death of Alexander having prevented him 
 from nominating a successor, the Macedonian chiefs 
 divided v. long themselves the fruits of his victo- 
 ries and conquests. 1. Ptolemy obtained as his share, 
 Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Celosyne. 2. Cas- 
 sander seized on Macedon and Greece. 3. Lysimachus 
 reigned in Thrace, Bythinia, and a few other provinces. 
 4. Seleucus took possession of Asia to the river Indus. 
 This division of the empire of Alexander was effected 
 in the year 301 before Christ. Macedonia remained in 
 the family of Alexander the Great, or that of some of 
 his generals, till 168 b. C. when Perseus was conquer- 
 ed by the Romans, and his kingdom reduced to a Ro- 
 man province. It remained part of the Roman empire 
 till the beginning of the 14th century, when the Turks 
 entered it, under Bajazet 4th, but they did not complete 
 the conquest of it till 1429, under Amurath the second. 
 
 Of Greece in General. 
 
 Before we enter upon the History of the Roman peo- 
 ple, who established the fourth general monarchy, up- 
 on the destruction of the Grecian empire ; it will be 
 necessary for us to take a brief view of the rise, various 
 changes and declensions of the other principalities, 
 which, with Macedon, composed the Grecian nation. 
 
 Greece, in its ancient extent, contained^ 
 
 1. Athens. Cecrops is generally admitted to have 
 been the first king of Athens, in the year 1556 before 
 Christ. In ancient history he is represented as half man 
 and half serpent, to denote his prudence and strength. 
 In his reign the deluge of Deucalion is said to have 
 happened. The monarchical form of government sub- 
 sisted nearly five centuries, during which period nothing 
 mgmorable has been recorded of their kings. The last 
 
The Grecian Monarchy. 51, 
 
 king that reigned in Athens was Codrus, who sacrificed 
 his life for the good of his country ; after his glorious 
 death, the Athenians declared Jupiter to be their only 
 sovereign. 
 
 Magistrates, called Archons, succeeded the kings of 
 Athens, and were entrusted with the supreme authority. 
 This office, at first hereditary, and during life, was after- 
 wards changed into a decennial, or ten years, and after- 
 wards (b. C 684) into an annual magistracy. Nine of 
 the principal men in the city were annually elected to it. 
 The exercise of power so limited was productive of ma- 
 ny pernicious effects. Factions were daily formed ; 
 dissentions and discord broke out and raged with vio- 
 lence ; material alterations in the form of government 
 became necessary ; but these could only be effected by 
 a legislator, in the choice of which they pitched upon 
 Draco, a person of approved abilities, but rigid beyond 
 human sufferance. He published his laws, which are 
 remarked for their excessive rigour, in the 39th Olym- 
 piad, and 624 years before Christ. 
 
 Solon, the wisest and best man in Athens,, appeared, 
 and (b. C. 594) established excellent rules of justice, 
 order, and discipline. Scarcely had Athens tasted the 
 fruits of these new regulations, when, Pisistratus an 
 opulent citizen, usurped the supreme power which he 
 and his posterity exercised for 50 years. Four hundred 
 and four years before Christ, it became the prey of the 
 Spartans, who plundered the city and destroyed the for- 
 tifications. They imposed thirty tyrants on the wretch- 
 ed Athenians, who were afterwads expelled by Thrasay- 
 qulus. They submitted to the Macedonian yoke under 
 Alexander (b. C. 338) but by the assistance of the Ro- 
 mans, they regained their liberty forty years after- 
 wards. In the Mithridatic Avar, the Athenians, impru- 
 dently, espoused the cause of the king of Pontus against 
 the Romans. Provoked by their ingratitude, Sylla redu- 
 ced their town to a state of desolation. It afterwards 
 fell a prey to the Goths (A. D. 267) and, having fre- 
 quently changed its masters, it submitted to the power 
 of the Turks, about the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
 
52 History of all j\ations, 
 
 tury ; and it remains a province of the Turkish Em- 
 pire. 
 
 2d. Argos and Mycenea. — Argos, which looked 
 upon itself to be the most magnificent city in the world, 
 was built by a colony from Egypt, under the command 
 of inachus. He was styled the Son of the Ocean, be- 
 cause his origin was not known, or on account of his 
 coming by sea to Greece. His son Phoroneus insti- 
 tuted the laws of government, and on that account has 
 b.eii called the first king in Argos, the first of men, and 
 the father of mortals. Nothing of importance has been 
 reel cled of the kings of Argos, till Perseus > who trans- 
 ferred the seat oi government to Pvlycenea. In the 37th 
 year of Eurystheus, grandson of Perseus, the Argon- 
 awiic expedition happened, (b. C. 1224.) This unjust 
 and tyrannical prince had assigned to Hercules his tasks ; 
 and after the death of that hero, he banished all his chil- 
 dren. These were the Heraclidea, who fled to Athens 
 for protection, and who returned to Peloponnesus forty 
 years after the destruction of Troy. In the reign of 
 Agamemnon, the Trojan war commenced ; and, in the 
 year 1184, Troy, after ten years vigorous siege, was 
 taken. In the year 1104, (b. C.) the posterity of Her- 
 cules invaded Greece, and put an end to the kingdom of 
 Mycenea. 
 
 3d. Sp.irta, or Lacedaemon. — The kingdom of 
 Sparta is supposed to have been founded by Lelex. Ten 
 kings reigned in successsion from Lelex to Menelaus, 
 who assisted at the Trojan war. In the division of 
 Greece by the Heraclidea, Aristodemies, their general, 
 became master of Sparta. He was succeeded by his 
 two sons, Euresthemus and Proclus, who, alternately, 
 exercised the supreme authority. This form of govern- 
 ment remained entire for a number of centuries. Ly- 
 curgus at last appeared. Admirably calculated to act 
 as a king and a legislator, he new modelled the state. 
 The regal power was abridged by the institution of a 
 sonate. About 130 years after the death of this cele- 
 brated lawgiver, the order of the Ephirl was instituted : 
 live magistrates were annually elected by the people. 
 
The Grecian Monarchy. 53 
 
 and invested with extensive powers, to keep the senate 
 in awe. The strictest economy, severity of discipline, 
 public spirit, attention to the education of youth, and 
 disinterested concern for the prosperity of neighbouring 
 states, distinguished the Spartan nation. This, with 
 the other Grecian, states, submitted to Alexander the 
 Great, and at last was entirely subdued by Antigonus, 
 king of Macedon, who defeated their king Cleomenes, 
 and made himself master of the state. This happened 
 222 years (b. C.) after which Sparta scarcely deserves 
 to be mentioned in history. 
 
 4. Thebes. — This was the principal city in Boeotia : 
 it was under the government of many kings and great 
 men, famous in fabulous history. The first is said to 
 be Calydmus, and next to him reigned Ogyges, in 
 whose time all Greece was reputed to be deluged. Then 
 Cadmus (b. C. 1045) is said to have come into Boeotia, 
 and brought the use of letters with him into Phoenicia. 
 After this we read of Amphion, CEdiphus, &c. And, 
 last of all, Xanthus ; who being killed in battle, the 
 Thebans renounced monarchy, and established a com- 
 monwealth, which subsisted till it was overwhelmed by 
 the Persian empire. 
 
 5th. The Argonautic Expedition, and the 
 Siege of Troy. — Two great events, which happened 
 nearly at the same period, deserve our particular atten- 
 tion, as they are strongly characteristic of the genius and 
 spirit of the times : — the Argonautic Expedition, and 
 the Siege of Troy. This voyage of the Argonauts was 
 a most remarkable enterprize for the times. The ac- 
 count of this expedition, by an excellent writer, is briefly 
 as follow : — Phryxus, the son of Athamus, king of 
 Thebes, admonished of his step-mother Ino's design 
 against his life, fled with his sister Helle, who was like- 
 wise apprehensive of danger. Aram, with a golden 
 fleece, was sent by Juno, to carry them across the ocean. 
 Helle was drowned in the passage, but Phryxus arrived 
 safe in Cochis. Soon after Jason, with fifty or sixty of 
 the flower of Greece, undertook to recover this fleece of 
 the ram, which, on account of his essential services, had 
 
54 History of all JKations, 
 
 been consecrated to the gods. For that purpose they 
 built a long ship, the first that ever ploughed the main. 
 This ship was called the Argos, and the helm of it had 
 the faculty of speech ! ! Chiron, the preceptor of 
 Achilles, formed a sphere, on which he delineated the 
 asterisms that they might direct their course through the 
 sea by the stars. After a variety of adventures, they ar- 
 rived at Colchis ; surmounted all obstacles, carried off 
 the prize, together with Medea, the king's daughter. In 
 their return, besieged, and took the city of Troy ; passed 
 thence into other countries, triumphed wherever they 
 went, left memorials of their victories in many parts of 
 Europe and Asia, and arrived at Greece within the space 
 of four months after their departure. 
 
 Such is the expedition of the Argonauts, celebrated 
 in ancient history. The various accounts that have been 
 given of it, abound in absurdity, inconsistency, and 
 fable. Hence some have been led to call in question the 
 reality of its existence. But the evidence of it is too 
 clear and strong to be set aside. Almost all ancient and 
 modern writers admit, that the story of this adventure 
 had a foundation in fact. They differ only as to the 
 time when it should have happened, and as to several 
 circumstances relating to it ; but, from the best ac- 
 counts, we may place it about forty years before the siege 
 of Troy by the Greeks, or twelve hundred and twenty- 
 five before Christ. 
 
 This expedition was looked upon as a wonderful ex- 
 ploit, and became the subject of the finest poems : even 
 the gods themselves were amazed at the boldness of the 
 undertaking ; and, in order to eternize this event, they 
 placed in the heavens the wonderful ship, which had 
 been able to pass Iolchos to the mouth of the Phase ! — 
 a thing now, done by the smallest of the Turkish barques. 
 
 The siege of Troy by the Greeks is a proper criterion 
 by which we may form a judgment of the state of the 
 military art at that time in Greece. The occasion of 
 the Trojan war is generally known : Paris, the son of 
 Priam, king of Troy, having been sent with a fleet to 
 ravage the Grecian coast, succeeded in this bold enter- 
 
Rome, 55 
 
 prize, and returned to Troy in triumph. Among the 
 captives whom he carried off, was Helen^ the wife of 
 Menelaus. The Greeks resenting this injury, equipped 
 a powerful armament, appointed Agamemnon command- 
 er of it, set sail for Troy, and, after a siege often years, 
 (as formerly mentioned) reduced that city to ashes. The 
 memorable event happened two thousand nine hundred 
 and ninety- one years ago. No vestige of this celebrated 
 city can now be traced : the face of the country is re- 
 markably changed by inundations and earthquakes. To 
 the conclusion of this war, the Greeks referred the dates 
 of their earliest transactions ; so that it has become a re- 
 markable epoch in ancient history. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Of Rome> under Kings and Consuls. — Punic Wars. 
 
 The city of Rome, as well as its inhabitants, was, in 
 the beginning, rude and unadorned. Their houses 
 were (what the name they gave them signified) only a 
 covering for them, and a defence against bad weather. 
 These sheds of theirs were more like the caves of wild 
 beasts than the habitations of men; and were rather 
 flung together as chance led them, than formed into 
 regular streets and openings : their walls were half mud, 
 and their roofs pieces of wood stuck together: nay, 
 even this was an after improvement ; for in Romulus* 
 time their houses were only covered with straw. Thus 
 small and contemptible was the infancy of that city, 
 which was destined to be the capital of the world. 
 
 It was built by Romulus, in the year 753 before 
 the Christian asra, and was peopled by vagabond 
 slaves, and criminals, without laws, without magis- 
 trates, and at first without women. Its sovereign, Ro- 
 mulus, introduced order and discipline, which gradually 
 improved under six succeeding kings, the last of whom 
 was Tarquin the proud, whom Brutus drove into exile 
 
56 History of all J\ations t 
 
 for his tyranny, and the libidinous insolence of his son, 
 in dishonouring Lucretia, a Roman lady, and totally 
 put an end to kingly government, in the year 244 after 
 the building of the city, and 509 before the birth of 
 Christ. The people, having thus recovered their lib- 
 erty, established a republican form of government, and 
 elected annually two magistrates, whom they distinguish- 
 ed by the tille of consuls. The office of these magis- 
 trates was to superintend the ceremonies of religion, to 
 controul the finances, to levy and command the legions, 
 and to preside in assemblies. All precaution that was 
 used for the preservation of the state, could not secure 
 the people from the oppression of the nobility. The 
 former soon found that they had only changed their 
 masters, and embraced only the shadow of liberty. — 
 They murmured ; they complained. These complaints 
 were soon followed by menaces and acts of rebellion. — 
 Peace w T as restored by the interposition of a dictator, 
 who was a magistrate elected in the hour of imminent 
 danger, and invested with temporary despotism. In a 
 few years, Rome became again the scene of anarchy and 
 confusion: The people supposing their grievances not 
 sufficiently redressed, retreated from the city to Mount 
 Avenline The senate, alarmed at this gene al revolt, 
 abated their former rigour, eased the burdens of the 
 people, and to secure their future interest, created five 
 new magistrates, called tribunes ; who were to be an- 
 nually elected by the people ; whose persons were to be 
 sacred ; whose business it was to defend the oppressed, 
 to pardon offences, to arraign the enemies of the people, 
 and, when they judged it necessary, to step, by a sin- 
 gle word, the whole machine of government. 
 
 During these dissentions all tillage had been neglect- 
 ed; the natural consequence of which was a famine.-— 
 The people, pinched with want, and willing to throw 
 the blame on any but themselves, ascribed their dis- 
 tress to the avarice of the patricians, who, they alledged, 
 had purchased all the corn, and intended to sell it out 
 to great advantage. Coriolanus, a senator of austere 
 and inflexible virtue, more particularly incurred their 
 
Home. ^1 
 
 $seiitment. The tribunes summoned him to a trial, 
 and condemned him to perpetual banishment. From 
 this time perpetual contentions and discords subsisted 
 between the tribunes and patricians. The number of 
 the former was increased to (en. 
 
 Hitherto (b. C. 300) the Romans had no written or fix- 
 ed statutes. While monarchy subsisted, the will of their 
 kings was instead of a law. On the principles of natu- 
 ral equity the decisions of the consuls and of the senate 
 were founded. To supply this defect in government, 
 commissioners were appointed to bring from Athens, 
 in Greece, the laws of Solon, that such of them might 
 be adopted as suited the present constitution of the Ro- 
 man republic. On the return of the commissioners^ 
 ten persons (who were called the Decemviri) were elect- 
 ed for the institution of these new laws. They were 
 invested with absolute power for one year, during which 
 all other magistracies were suspended. These decem- 
 viri caused their laws to be engraved on ten brazen 
 tables,* and placed in the most conspicuous part of the 
 principal square in the city. Some fragments of these 
 laws are still to be found in the histories of that early 
 period. The decemviri, prompted by the ambition and 
 artifice of one of their colleagues, Appius Claudius, 
 endeavored to make their government perpetual ; but 
 the people, roused by the tyranny of these usurpers, 
 and on Claudius' offering violence to Virginius' daugh- 
 ter, inflicted the punishment their crimes merited > and 
 restored the consular and tribunitian power. 
 
 In the year of the city 396, the Gauls, under the 
 command of Brennus, taking advantage of the civil dis- 
 cords between the senate and the tribunes, invaded Italy, 
 plundered Rome, and laid it in ashes. They retired to 
 their own country, loaded with spoils. The city was 
 speedily rebuilt, but the sad effects of this calamitous 
 event were long felt. About this time the offices of 
 iEdile and Prsetor were created : the one to take care of 
 the building and reparation of the temples, and other 
 
 * Afterwards two more were added,. 
 H 
 
58 History of all J\lafions, 
 
 public structures, and to inspect provisions of ever^ 
 kind ; the other to administer justice, and decide all law- 
 suits. 
 
 Not long after this period, the Samnites, a hardy na- 
 tion, that inhabited the southern parts of Italy, invaded 
 the Romans, who, after a war of thirty years, at last en- 
 tirely subdued them under Papirius Cursor (b. C. 279.)' 
 Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, in Greece, by making a de- 
 scent into Italy, next opposed the Roman arms, but 
 with the same ill success : in this war, which lasted six 
 years, Fabricius did his country great honor in sending 
 back Pyrrhus' physician, prisoner, who had offered to 
 poison his master (b. C. 272.) 
 
 Till this time, that is for 500 years, we see the people 
 of Rome extended not their arms beyond the bounds of 
 Italy, but were continually engaged in wars with some 
 of their neighbouring states. The defeat of the Sam- 
 nites, and the retreat of Pyrrhus, terminated in the entire 
 conquest of all that tract of land. 
 
 Rome, now ambitions of foreign conquest, began to 
 turn her views to the acquisition of Sicily. Carthage, 
 possessed of considerable settlements in that island, ex- 
 cited their jealousy ; and it having given assistance to 
 the southern parts of Italy against the Romans, was al- 
 ledged by them as a reason for their commencing hostili- 
 ties. Carthage stood, in Africa, near the place where 
 Tunis now stands, and was of much greater antiquity 
 than Rome. As the Carthaginians were at that time in 
 possession of the greatest part of Sicily, that island be- 
 came first the theatre of war. Hitherto the Romans had 
 never ventured to sea. They now began to apply 
 themselves to maritime affairs ; and, by an inflexible 
 perseverance, having at length built a fleet from a model 
 of a Carthaginian vessel which in a storm had happened 
 to be driven on their shore, they intrusted the command 
 of it to their consul Drusilius, who boldly put to sea with 
 his newly constructed armament, and gained the first naval 
 victory. The enemy's fleet was dispersed, and fifty of 
 their vessels taken. In consequence of this victory, 
 the Romans immediately made a descent upon the coast 
 
Rome. 59 
 
 of Africa, from whence the war was removed into Spain 
 and Italy. The event was for some time doubtful ; but 
 the Carthaginians were constrained to sue for peace, 
 which they obtained on hard and ignominious condi- 
 tions (b. C. 242.) By this war, which lasted twenty- 
 three years, the Romans added Sicily, and all those 
 islands that lie between Italy and Africa, to their domin- 
 ions. 
 
 As the Carthaginians had made peace solely because 
 they were no longer able to continue the war, they took 
 the earliest opportunity of breaking the treaty. They 
 collected a numerous army, and intrusted Hannibal with 
 the supreme command ; who, crossing the Alps, march- 
 ed into Italy, and defeated the Romans in several bat- 
 tles. Rome was threatened with instant destruction ; 
 but Fabius Maximus, being made dictator, averted the 
 impending blow by delaying and avoiding battle. In 
 the mean time Scipio the Roman general, recovered 
 the whole province of Spain. He now transferred the 
 war into Africa. Hannibal was immediately recalled 
 from Italy, where he had been successful sixteen years, 
 and had chosen the very place where he had designed to 
 encamp, under the walls of Rome. In Africa he was 
 defeated by Scipio with such prodigious havoc that a 
 peace was concluded the following year (b. C. 202.) 
 
 The ambition of these rough warriors now exceeded all 
 bounds. Elated with success, they aspired at the con- 
 quest of the world. War was proclaimed against Philip 
 II. king of Macedon, who was defeated by Flaminius, 
 and subjected to the payment of tribute. By the sub- 
 jection of Macedon, the Romans had an opportunity of 
 showing their generosity : they ordered freedom, and a 
 liberty to live according to their own laws and institu- 
 tions, to be proclaimed to all the states of Greece that 
 had been subjected to the dominion of the kings of Ma- 
 cedon. 
 
 Antiochus, king of Syria, was next brought to bow 
 to the Roman eagles. Not long after this, the unhappy 
 Perseus was defeated by Paulus Emilius. He refused 
 to submit to the conditions that had been imposed upon 
 
£0 History of all Nations* 
 
 his father Philip ; and his kingdom, which had subsisted 
 700 years, became a Roman province. 
 
 Not long after this, the Carthaginians took up arms 
 against Massinissa, king of Numidia, a friend and ally of 
 Rome. This occasioned the third Punic war, in which 
 Carthage, once renowned for arts, opulence, and extent 
 of dominion, was plundered, lamed, and levelled to the 
 ground (b. C. 146.) The same year Corinth was re- 
 duced to ashes, and Greece became a Roman province 
 under the title of Achaia. They then subdued Lusita- 
 nia, now Portugal ; and after that, the Numantines, the 
 chief people of Spain. In the space of one century, the 
 Romans extended their conquests over the three divisi- 
 ons of the continent. Thrace, Greece, Africa, Syria, 
 and all the kingdoms of Asia Minor, became members 
 of this vast empire. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 ROME. 
 
 The Gracchi — -Marias and Sylla — Pompey and Ccesar 
 — Triumvirate of Octavianus, Mark Anthony, and 
 LepidiLs. 
 
 The fall of Carthage, and conquest of the Grecian 
 states, though seemingly the most fortunate events in 
 the Roman history, contributed to the extinction of 
 Roman liberty. No sooner were their fears from abroad 
 removed, than the people grew altogether ungoverna- 
 ble ; 'effeminacy, debauchery, profligacy, and every 
 atrocious vice, succeeded to temperance, severity of 
 life, and public spirit. As the Romans gradually ex- 
 tended their victorious arms over the weaker states of 
 Italy, they were accustomed to take a certain portion of 
 the conquered lands into their own possession ; part of 
 which was sold by auction for the use of the public, and 
 the rest divided among the poorer citizens on the pay- 
 
Uome. 61 
 
 ment of a small quit-rent to the treasuiy. For the bet- 
 ter regulation of these distributions, various laws had 
 been passed from time to time, under the title of the 
 Agrarian. By these laws it had been ordained, that no 
 citizen should possess more than 500 acres ; but the 
 richer citizens getting possession of large tracts of waste 
 land, and adding to these likewise, either by force or 
 purchase, the smaller pittances of their poor neighbours, 
 by degrees, became masters of territories instead of 
 farms, threatening the utter ruin of the industrious 
 husbandmen, and the extinction of popular liberty. 
 
 While avarice and rapine were thus raging at free 
 quarters over the patrimony of the poor, one strenuous 
 effort was made to repel their hostile invasions, by the 
 virtue and courage of the famous Tiberius Gracchus : 
 melting with pity at the desolate view of the Etrurian 
 plains, and animated. by the cries of the whole people, 
 who importunately demanded the restitution of the 
 alienated lands, he resolutely stood forth the advocate of 
 their deserted cause. He proposed the execution of 
 the Agrarian law. This produced a civil war, in 
 which he fell an illustrious victim to a rapacious and 
 implacable senate. — Caius Gracchus, pursuing the 
 same step, shared the fate of his brother. The Numi- 
 dian war, which commenced b. C. Ill, and lasted five 
 years, affording many instances of the injustice, insolence, 
 and shocking corruption of the Roman Senate. — Ju- 
 gartha, who had usurped the kingdom of Numidia, was 
 put to death, and that country, with all Mauritania' in 
 Africa, fell under the Romans. Soon after, the violence 
 of civil war, between Sylla and Marius, two artful aspi- 
 ring patricians, shook the foundation of Rome. Fac- 
 tions were formed. Sylla, after having defeated Mith- 
 ridates, the most powerful and warlike monarch in the 
 east, marched to Rome, prevailed over Marius, but 
 sullied the glory of his victories by the horrid massacre 
 of his enemies. He assumed the title of dictator ; but 
 possessing unlimited power, he used it with moderation, 
 resigned the dictatorship, and died a private citizen. 
 
 After the death of this unfeeling tyrant, the flame of 
 
62 History of all JSatiom, 
 
 civil discord again burst out, and raged with fury. 
 Pompey and Cas sar raised themselves to the highest dig- 
 nities, and neither of them would admit of a rival. The 
 conspiracy of Cataline was quelled by Cicero, and him- 
 self defeated and killed. Caesar subdued all Gaul, and 
 carried his conquests as far as Britain. Returning 
 into Italy, he was created dictator, and pursuing his ri- 
 val, Pompey, they met in the plains of Pharsalia in Thes- 
 saly ; a battle ensued, which decided the fate of Pompey 
 and that of the empire forty- eight years before Christ. 
 Caesar was triumphant. No vestige of a republic now 
 remained ; the senate was dispossessed of all its power, 
 and Rome henceforward was never without its masters. 
 Caesar now, possessed of absolute authority, distin- 
 guished himself by acts of clemency and munificence, 
 and in the space of two years gave law to the known 
 world. His astonishing success accelerated his ruin. 
 His enemies, excited by Brutus and Cassius, attacked 
 and murdered him (b. C. 44) in the senate-house, at the 
 foot of Pompey 's statue. Mark Anthony seized the favora- 
 ble opportunity , and made himself master of the common- 
 wealth ; but Octavianus arriving at Rome, and declaring 
 himself the adopted son and heir of Caesar, a civil war 
 arose, during the course ol which Octavianus and An- 
 thony united their interest, and associated Lepidus with 
 them in power. These three usurpers made a partition 
 of the provinces. The liberty of Rome was only to be 
 found in the camp of Brutus and Cassius. Anthony 
 and Octavianus marched against them as conspir- 
 ators, and defeated them on the plains of Philip- 
 pi. Victorious over the republican army, Octavia- 
 nus got rid of Lepidus, and quarrelled with Antho- 
 ny, who intoxicated by his passion for Cleopatra, in 
 Egypt, had abanboned himself to pleasure and indo- 
 lence. War ensued, and the victory of Actium con- 
 firmed Octavianus master of the Roman world. We 
 may date the end of the commonwealth thirty-one 
 years before Christ, and 722 from the foundation of 
 Rome. 
 
Rome. 6S 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 ROME UNDER THE EMPERORS. 
 
 Partition of the Empire under Dioclesian. — Constantine 
 transfers the Seat of Empire. 
 
 The constitution of states and empires, like the hu- 
 man body, is in continual progress, and has necessarily 
 a period of growth, maturity, declension, and extinction. 
 No nation has afforded us a more striking example of 
 this than the Romans. Octavianus, surnamed Caesar 
 by his uncle's adoption, and having the titles of Emper- 
 or and Augustus conferred on him by the flattery of the 
 senate, added to his empire, now arrived at maturity, all 
 the yet unsubdued parts of the known world ; its boun- 
 daries extending on the west to the Atlantic Ocean, to 
 the Rhine and Danube on the north, the Euphrates on 
 the east, and to the sandy deserts of Arabia and Af- 
 rica on the south. * At this time the annual revenue 
 of the Roman empire amounted to forty millions English 
 pounds sterling. The city of Rome was fifty English 
 miles in circumference, and its inhabitants exceeded four 
 millions. Augustus was a consummate politician, with- 
 out any of the virtues of a great man. He new-mo- 
 delled the state, flattered the people, and rendered mo- 
 narchy supportable to republicans. Long peace, an 
 uniform government, and prevailing luxury, introduced 
 a slow poison into the vitals of the empire. The na- 
 tional character was changed. All ranks became ef- 
 feminate ; the senate was contemptible ; the magistrates 
 without authority or honour ; the people oppressed, in- 
 solent, and servile. These were sad but sure symptoms 
 of approaching ruin, f In the .year 14, Augustus was 
 
 * It will impress our minds witha juster image of the greatness of Rome, 
 by observing, that the empire was above two thousand miles in breadth, 
 and that it extended in length more than three thousand : that it was si- 
 tuated in the finest part of the temperate zone, between the 24th and 56tb 
 degrees of northern latitude ; and that it was supposed to contain above 
 1,600,000 square miles, for the most part of fertile and well cultivated 
 land ! 
 
 f Playfair. 
 
64 History of all Nations, 
 
 succeeded by Tiberius, whose tyranny became insup* 
 portable, and he was assassinated in the 23d year of his 
 reign, A. D. 37.* Caius Caligula succeeded ; a de- 
 testable tyrant. He proclaimed his horse consul ; fed 
 it at his table, introduced it to the temple in the vest- 
 \ sentsof the priests of Jupiter, &c. He was assassinated 
 iu the fourth year of his reign. 
 
 The senate and people would now gladly have seen 
 the restoration of the republican constitution, but the 
 army preferred a military government, under an em- 
 peror. 
 
 Claudius was elected ; who made an expedition into 
 Britain, defeated the brave Caractacus, and carried him 
 prisoner to Rome. He was poisoned after a reign of 
 fourteen years, by his empress, Agrippina, to make 
 room for her son, Nero ; a dissolute and cruel tyrant, 
 who, after fourteen years of the greatest extravagances 
 and vices, put an end to his miserable life ; and was suc- 
 ceeded by his general, Galba, whose injustice and ava- 
 rice caused him to be assasinated, after a short reign of 
 seven months. Otho, the next emperor, reigned three 
 months ; and Vitellius, a brutal tyrant, reigned eight 
 months. Vespasian followed; he rose by his merit 
 from a mean original, and in an advanced age, to the em- 
 pire. He made war with the Jews ; and, seventy years 
 after Christ, Jerusalem was taken, and destroyed. Ves- 
 pasian reigned nine years and eleven months, and was 
 succeeded by his son Titus, celebrated for his uncom- 
 mon virtues and talents, and for his mild and excel- 
 lent administration. He died in the third year of his 
 reign, with the character oidelicice humani generis — the 
 delight of mankind ! A monster of vice and cruelty 
 succeeded in Domitian. Under the oppression of this 
 tyrant, Rome groaned for fifteen years. He died 
 A. D. 9c. 
 
 Nerva had scarcely accepted the purple from the as- 
 sassins of Domitian, before he discovered that his feeble 
 
 * In the 18th year of Tiberius, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered death, 
 on the cross-. 
 
Rome. 65 
 
 age was unable to stem the torrent of public disorders, 
 which had multiplied under the long tyranny of his pre- 
 decessor ; after a short reign of sixteen months, he 
 adopted Trajan his successor, a prince possessed of 
 every talent and virtue that can adorn a sovereign. Hap- 
 py in his private life, and universally respected, he died 
 altera reign of nineteen years, A. D* 117. His kinsman 
 Adrian succeeded, under whom the empire flourished in 
 peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed 
 the laws, asserted the military discipline, and visited all 
 his provinces in person. He died, after a reign of twenty- 
 two years, and left the Roman throne to Titus Aurelius 
 Antoninus, an amiable as well as a good man. He re- 
 stored the ancient dignity and authority of the senate ; 
 and, after a glorious reign of twenty-two years, died, 
 A. D. 161, having adopted Marcus Aurelius Antoni- 
 nus, a virtuous, wise, and philosophic prince. He 
 died, after a reign of nineteen years. 
 
 " If a man were called to fix the period in the history 
 of the world, during which the condition of the human 
 race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without 
 hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of 
 Domitian to the accession of Commodus,"* the son of 
 the late emperor Marcus, a wretch, in whose mind every 
 sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct. This 
 hated tyrant, after having oppressed his subjects thir- 
 teen years, perished by poison, given him by his favou- 
 rite concubine, Marcia. The vacant throne was in- 
 stantly filled by Pertinax, prefect of the city, an ancient 
 senator, of consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had 
 broken through the obscurity of his birth, and r ised 
 him to the first honours of the state. The hasty zeal of 
 this virtuous prince to reform the corrupted state, proved 
 fatal to himself and to his country. The soldiers, dread- 
 ing the strictness of the ancient discipline, which he was 
 preparing to restore, and regretting the licence of the 
 former reign, raided a general sedition ; and on the 
 — ■ - -* 
 
 • Gibbon. 
 I 
 
66 History of alligations, 
 
 eighty- sixth day only after the death of Commodtisv 
 Pertinax fell by the hand of one of his guards. 
 
 The empire was now openly exposed to sale by the 
 praetorian guards, and purchased by Didius Julianus. 
 The provinces revolted ; and new competitors offering 
 their claims, Severus, the highest bidder, was hailed 
 Augustus, and Julianus was beheaded by a sentence of 
 the senate, as a common criminal, after having pur- 
 chased, with an immense treasure, an anxious and pre- 
 carious reign of only sixty-six days. Having obtained 
 the purple by means of cruelty and bloodshed, Severus 
 secured himself in the government, by inculcating the 
 principles of despotism and passive obedience. His will 
 was the law of the empire. The senate no longer pos- 
 sessed the shadow of authority in the civil or military 
 department ; so that Severus may be considered as the 
 principal author of the decline of the Roman empire. 
 He made an expedition into Britain, with the design of 
 completing the long- attempted conquest of that island, 
 and expired at York, in the 65th year of his life, and in 
 the 18th of a glorious and successful reign, A. D. 211. 
 
 From this period we behold a train of emperors, vi- 
 cious or impotent ; either wilfully guilty, or unable to 
 assert the dignity of their station. The empire itself 
 gradually decayed, harrassed on all sides by powerful 
 invaders, and convulsed by the furious contests of do- 
 mestic foes. On the death of Severus, Caracalla and 
 Geta, his sons, agreed to divide the empire. Such a di- 
 vided form of government would have proved a source 
 of discord between the most affectionate brothers. It 
 was impossible that it could long subsist between two 
 implacable enemies. It was visible that one only could 
 reign, and the other must fall. The unfortunate Geta 
 was assassinated, and Caracalla, after a series of cruel- 
 ties, was murdered, in the sixth year of his reign. Such 
 was the end of a monster, whose life disgraced human 
 nature. 
 
 The disorders of the empire, which began with Corn- 
 modus, continued for about a century, till the accession 
 of Dioclesian ; we will therefore pass over the unin- 
 
Ron*. 67 
 
 structive reigns of Heliogabalus, Maximinus, Gordianus, 
 Decius, Galbus, &c. 
 
 Dioclesian, like Augustus, may be considered as the 
 founder of a new empire. As his reign was more illus- 
 trious than that of any of his predecessors, so was his 
 birth more abject and obscure. His parents had been 
 slaves; nor was he himself distinguished by any other 
 name than that which he derived from a small town in 
 Dalmatia, from whence his mother deduced her origin. 
 The strong claims of merit procured his elevation. The 
 first considerable action of his reign was, to divide the 
 wide extent of the imperial dominions into four govern- 
 ments, over which presided two emperors, Dioclesian 
 and Maximian ; and two Caesars, Galerius and Constan- 
 tius : a ruinous plan of policy, which nothing but the 
 superior genius of Dioclesian could support. The nor- 
 thern Germanic nations now began to invade the em- 
 pire. Peace being restored, Dioclesian, in the 21st 
 year of his reign, and his colleague, Maximian, abdi- 
 cated the empire. 
 
 As soon as Dioclesian and Maximian had resigned 
 the purple, their station was filled by the two Caesars, 
 Galerius and Constantius, who immediately assumed 
 the title of Augustus. Constantius dying soon after, in 
 the imperial palace at York, his son Constantine was 
 proclaimed in Britain, who, after the death of Galerius, 
 and the defeat of several competitors for the throne, be- 
 came sole master of the Roman world. He removed the 
 seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he 
 enlarged and beautified with the most magnificent edifi- 
 ces, and gave it the title of Constantinople. Italy was 
 desolated by the change. Robbed of its wealth and in- 
 habitants, it sunk into a state of the most annihilating 
 languor ; changed into a garden by an Asiatic pomp, 
 and crowded with villas, now deserted by their volup- 
 tuous owners, this once fertile country was unable to 
 maintain itself, Constantine enjoyed an uninterrupted 
 flow of private as well as public felicity, till the 30th 
 year of his reign, when he end^d his memorable life at 
 
68 History of all Nations, 
 
 the palace of Aquyrion, in the suburbs of Nicomedia, 
 whither he had retired for the benefit of the air. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 ROME. 
 
 Final Division of the Empire between the Sons of Con- 
 stantine. — Estailishment of the Goths in Italy. — 
 Charlemagne, Emperor of the West. — ball of the 
 Eastern Empire. 
 
 We are now arrived at a dreary and melancholy peri- 
 od of the Roman history. Rome, now in her old age, 
 is become a languishing, decrepid, and worn-out body, 
 which glories, notwithstanding, in the greatness of an 
 august name, whose dignity she is no longer able to 
 support. Rome herself is a prey to barbarous nations. 
 Both east and north join to share her spoils. 
 
 On the death of Constantine the Great, a new divis- 
 ion of the provinces took place between his three sons, 
 Constantine, Constantius and Constans. Constantine, 
 the eldest, obtained, with a certain pre-eminence of 
 rank, the possession of the new capital, which bore his 
 own name and that of his father. Thrace, and the 
 countries of the east, were allotted for the patrimony of 
 Constantius ; and Constans was acknowledged the law- 
 ful sovereign of Italy, Africa, and the western Illyrium. 
 After this partition of the empire, three years had 
 scarcely elapsed, before the sons of Constantine seemed 
 impatient to convince mankind how unqualified they 
 were to govern the dominions intrusted to them. They 
 murmured about the limits of their shares of the empire. 
 Intestine wars, arose, and Constantine was slain by the 
 troops of Constans, who soon after met the same fate. — 
 The divided provinces were a gain united by Constantius, 
 who reigned thirty-eight years : a prince composed of 
 pride and weakness, of superstition and cruelty. 
 
Rome. 69 
 
 Julian succeeded. From his hatred of Christianity, 
 and artful policy to extirpate that religion, he has been 
 called the Apostate. His civil administration was ex- 
 cellent. He fell in battle at the age of thirty-one, A. D. 
 363. — Jovian, who was no more than first domestic to 
 Julian, was immediately invested with the imperial or- 
 naments by the soldiers. This prince died suddenly, 
 after eating a plentiful, perhaps an intemperate, supper. 
 
 The throne of the Roman world remained ten days 
 without a master ; when Valentinian, a native of Ciba- 
 lis, in Pannonia, who from an obscure condition raised 
 himself, by matchless strength and dexterity, to the mil- 
 itary commands of Africa and Britain, was elected by 
 the soldiers. In his reign, the fierce inhabitants of the 
 vast countries in the north of Europe abandoned their 
 own forests and mountains in quest of new settlements. 
 Valentinian was succeeded by his son Gratian, and his 
 brother Valens. On the death of Valens, who was kil- 
 led by the Goths, A. D. 378, Gratian invested Theodo- 
 sius with the empire of the eastern provinces. Valenti- 
 nian II. succeeded his father Gratian in the western ; 
 who being put to death, Theodosius reigned solely over 
 the empires of the east and west. 
 
 The final division of the Roman empire now took 
 place between the sons of Theodosius, Arcadius and 
 Honorius, who after the death of their father were saliu- 
 ted, by the unanimous consent of mankind, as the law- 
 ful emperors of the east and west. Arcadius, in the 
 east, reigned over Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and 
 Egypt, from the Lower Danube to the confines of Per- 
 sia and Ethiopia. Honorius, in the west, assumed the 
 government of Italy, Africa, Gaul, Spain, and Britain. 
 The eastern empire subsisted for many ages ; but the 
 western soon became the prey of barbarians. 
 
 The frail and mouldering edifice of the republic is 
 now hastening to its fall. Under the reign of Honorius, 
 the Gothic army invaded Italy ; and Alaric, their king, 
 formed the siege of Rome. This unfortunate city 
 gradually experienced the distress of scarcity, and at 
 length the horrid calamities of famine. Their last re- 
 
70 History of all Nations, 
 
 source was in the clemency of the king of the Goths, 
 who was prevailed on to accept a large ransom, and to 
 raise the siege. The Huns, who had migrated from 
 the confines of China to those of Germany, under the 
 command of that formidable barbarian Attila, became 
 the terror of the world : they defeated the Roman ar- 
 mies, A. D. 452, laid waste the territories of the east 
 and west, and urged the rapid downfall of the Roman 
 empire. — Another eruption of uncivilized tribes, from 
 unknown regions, soon followed. Villages, cities, pro- 
 vinces, were plundered and destroyed ; and the western 
 world was re-peopled by those rapacious invaders. 
 
 Africa was seized by the Huns ; Spain by the Goths, 
 Alans, and Suevi ; Gaul by the Franks ; and Great Bri- 
 tain by the Saxons. 
 
 Odoacer conducting the Heruli, Turcilingae, &c. 
 from Prussia into Italy, A. D. 476, put an end to the 
 ■western empire, in the reign of Augustulus, whom this 
 successful barbarian compelled to resign the purple, and 
 caused himself to be proclaimed king ; but in 493 he 
 was defeated, and put to death by Theodoric, king of 
 the Ostrogoths, who erected a new kingdom in Italy. 
 
 This first Gothic king of Italy, and several of his 
 successors, were princes of great prudence and human- 
 ity. Ravenna was the seat of their court, and in real 
 magnificence vied with ancient Rome, as their equitable 
 administration did with the reigns of Trajan and Anto- 
 ninus. They were at last subdued by Belisarius, the 
 general cf Justinian, emperor of the east, who had the 
 pleasure of uniting Italy once more to the Roman east- 
 ern empire. 
 
 Soon after the expulsion of the Ostrogoths, great 
 part of Italy was seized by the Lombards, under the 
 command of Albinus, their first sovereign. He and 
 his successors made Pa via the place of their residence. 
 The government of Italy was now entirely changed. 
 Albinus settled the principal officers of his army, under 
 the name of dukes, in the chief cities of every province. 
 On the death of Albinus, who was slain by the trea- 
 chery of his wife Rosamond, kingly power was abolished 
 
Germany, 71 
 
 for the space of twelve years and a half, and each duke 
 became sovereign of his own city and its district. The 
 Lombards during this interregnum extended their con- 
 quests in Italy, but being threatened by foreign enemies, 
 they saw the necessity of a close unity, and of commit- 
 ting the care of the war to one person. 
 
 Twenty- one Lombard kings reigned in Italy ; the last 
 of whom, the unfortunate Desiderius, was defeated and 
 imprisoned by Charlemagne, king of France, A. D. 774, 
 who put an end to the kingdom of the Lombards, after 
 it had subsisted two hundred and six years. 
 
 The duration of the eastern empire reached from the 
 year 395 to the year 1453, in which year Constantinople 
 was taken by the Turkish sultan, Mahomet II. In the 
 course of this period it never equalled the ancient Roman 
 empire in power or splendour ; and it presented always 
 a spectacle of weakness, folly, superstition, and crimes. 
 It was gradually dismembered, and rent in pieces. The 
 Bulgarians claimed one part of it ; and the Saracens, a 
 race of people who inhabited the deserts of Arabia, con- 
 quered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and other neighbouring 
 countries. On the ruins of the eastern Roman monar- 
 chy, Mahomet II. established the Turkish empire, and 
 his descendants still possess the finest country on the 
 globe. Greece, where civil liberty was first known, 
 and where arts and sciences were first brought to per- 
 fection, continues to this day to be the seat of ignorance.* 
 barbarism, and despotism. — Turner, 
 
 Chapter xi. 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 Its ancient Limits. — Conrad, the first Emperor. — Con- 
 tentions between the Emperors and Popes. — Guelphs 
 and Gebe lines. — Charles V, — The Peace of West- 
 phalia. 
 
 The warlike Germans, who first resisted, then inva- 
 ded, and at last overturned, the western monarchy of 
 Rome, have the next clainv to our attention 
 
12 History of all Nations. 
 
 Ancient Germany extended over one third of Eu- 
 rope. It included almost the whole of Germany, Den- 
 mark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Prussia, and 
 the greater part of Poland. This extensive empire was 
 governed by an infinite number of independent princes, 
 and peopled by a variety of tribes under different 
 names, whose complexion, manners, and languages, de- 
 noted a common origin. 
 
 In the fifth and sixth centuries many of these nations 
 left their native country, and, founded empires of their 
 own under the general or chieftain who led them forth. 
 Wherever these barbarians marched* their route was 
 marked with blood. The most fertile and populous 
 provinces were converted into deserts. Italy, and Rome 
 itself, were often pillaged. New invaders, from regions 
 still more remote and barbarous, drove out or extermi- 
 nated the former settlers, and Europe was successively 
 laid waste, till the North, by pouring forth its myriads, 
 w T as drained of people, and the sword of slaughter tired 
 of destroying. * 
 
 The first proper emperor of Germany, after it was 
 wholly detached from France, and the imperial dignity 
 became elective, was Conrad. This extensive country 
 was at that time nearly confined within its present boun- 
 daries. 
 
 Conrad, at the time of his election to the empire, was 
 count of Franconia. His reign was one continued scene 
 of troubles, though he took every necessary measure to 
 support his authority, and preserve the tranquility of 
 the empire. He died without male heirs in 919, after 
 recommending to the Germanic body, as his successor, 
 Henry, surnamed the Fowler, a prince of great abilities, 
 who re-established the affairs of Germany. His son 
 Otho I. triumphed over many rivals, subjected Denmark 
 and Bohemia to tribute, and became the most powerful 
 prince of his age. He had the honour of re-uniting 
 Italy to the imperial dominions ; and he procured a de- 
 cree from the clergy, that he and his successors should 
 
 • Modern Europe 
 
Germany. 73 
 
 have the power of nominating the pontiff, and of granting 
 m vestures to bishops. He died in 973, after a reign of 
 thirty- six years; during which, by his generosity and 
 courage, he had justly acquired the appellation of Otho 
 the Great. 
 
 Otho II. surnamed the Sanguinary, on account of the 
 blood spilt under his reign, succeeded his father at the 
 age of eighteen. Nothing of importance happened dur- 
 ing this, or the reigns of several succeeding emperors, 
 till 
 
 Henry IV. surnamed the Great, who at the age of 
 five years succeeded his father, in 1056. This prince 
 maintained a perpetual struggle with the popes through 
 the whole of his reign. These troubles were occasioned 
 by a famous decree passed in a council of one hundred 
 and thirteen bishops, ordaining, that, for the future, the 
 cardinals only should elect the pope, and 'that the election 
 should be confirmed by the rest of the Roman clergy, 
 and the people. This Henry opposed ; and on being 
 accused of still continuing to nominate bishops and ab- 
 bots (a right which his predecessors, in common with 
 almost all princes, enjoyed, notwithstanding the apostolic 
 decree to the contrary) the formidable sentence of ex- 
 communication was pronounced against him by Gregory 
 VII. and his subjects withdrew their allegiance. — 
 Alarmed and astonished, he undertook a journey to Ita- 
 ly, in the midst of winter, accompanied only by a few 
 domestics, to ask absolution of his tyrannical oppressor. 
 Being stripped of his clothes, and wrapped in sackcloth, 
 he approached the haughty pontiff a -i a suppliant, and 
 with difficulty obtained forgiveness Henry V. his son. 
 surrendered up the right of investiture, (A. D. 1122) 
 to the disgrace of the imperial dignity. This unnatural 
 brute, at the instigation of the popes, caused his father's 
 body, as the carcase of an excommunicated wretch, to 
 be dug out of the grave where it was buried, in the ca- 
 thedral at Liege, and be carried to a cave at Spire. He 
 married Maud, or Matilda, daughter of Henry I. king 
 ©f England, by whom he had no children ; so that the 
 
 ■K 
 
74 History of all JSiations, 
 
 empire after his death, which happened in 1125, was 
 left without a head. 
 
 The states conferred the imperial dignity on Lotha- 
 rio, duke of Saxe-Suplembourg, distinguished by a pas- 
 sionate love of peace, and an exact distribution of jus- 
 tice. Being seized with a dangerous distemper, which 
 carred him off in the 12th \ear of his reign, he was suc- 
 ceeded by 
 
 Conrad III. nephew to Henry V. But the imperial 
 throne was disputed by Henry the Haughty, duke of 
 Bavaria, the name of whose family was Guelph : hence 
 those who espoused his party were called Guelphs ; an 
 appellation afterwards usually bestowed on the enemies 
 of the emperors. The imperial army was commanded 
 by Frederic, duke of Suabia, the emperor's brother, 
 who being born at the village of Hieghibelin, gave his 
 soldiers the name of Gibelines ; an epithet by which the 
 imperial party was distinguished, while the pope's adhe- 
 rents grew famous under that of Guelphs.* Conrad 
 increased the authority and influence of the prince. His 
 nephew and successor, Frederic, duke of Suabia, sur- 
 named Barbarossa, extended the prerogative, and sup- 
 ported the dignity of the empire, with equal courage and 
 reputation. He died in an expedition to the Holy Land j 
 and was succeeded, A. D. 1190, in the imperial throne, 
 by his son Henry VI. who copied his example. This 
 prince detained Richard I. king of England, on his re- 
 turn from the Holy Land, prisoner, and loaded him with 
 irons ; but afterwards ransomed him for 150,000 marks 
 of pure silver, about 300,0001. English money — an 
 enormous sum in those days ! — The Normans rebelled ; 
 and on being conquered by Henry, he condemned their 
 chiefs to perish by the most excruciating tortures. One 
 Iornandi, of the house of the Norman princes, was tied 
 naked on a chair of red hot iron, and crowned with a 
 circle of the same burning metal, which was nailed to 
 his head^ The empress, shocked at such cruelty, re- 
 nounced her faith to her husband.. Henry soon after 
 
 • Modem Europe.. 
 
Germany. 75 
 
 (A. D. 1197) died of poison. The power which these 
 emperors had acquired was lost by Frederic II. (the 
 son and successor of Henry VI.) the last assertor of the 
 privileges of the empire, in opposition to the pretensions 
 of the pope. 
 
 After the death of Conrad, Frederic's son, a variety of 
 candidates appeared for the imperial throne, and several 
 were elected by different parties; among whom was 
 Richard, duke of Cornwall, brother to Henry III. king 
 of England ; but no emperor was properly acknowledged 
 till the year 1273, when Rudolph I. count of Hapsbourg, 
 was unanimously raised to the vacant throne, whose 
 reign was one continued scene of troubles, and at last 
 ended in his deposition. 
 
 The fiercest contests were carried on for many years, 
 by those families that aspired to the supreme power; 
 and the quarrel of the emperors with the popes was like- 
 wise prosecuted with rigour. Benedict XII. having re- 
 fused absolution to Lewis V. the princes of the empire 
 assembled at Franckfort, A. D. 1338, and established 
 the famous constitution called the Pragmatic Sanction, 
 by which it was irrevocably fixed *' that the plurality of 
 the suffrages of the electoral college confers the empire 
 without the consent of the holy see* that the pope has 
 no authority over the emperor of Germany, nor any 
 right to approve or reject his election." 
 
 Nothing worthy notice occurred during the reigns of 
 the several succeeding emperors, till Albert II. whose 
 short reign may be considered as the epoch of the gran- 
 deur of the house of Austria ; for in the space of one 
 year, (A. D. 1438) this emperor received three crowns, 
 viz. those of Hungary, of the Empire, and of Bohemia. 
 
 In the succeeding reign, under Frederic III. the art 
 of printing was invented by John Gottemberg, of Mentz, 
 and America was discovered. 
 
 His successor, Maximilian I. by his marriage with 
 Mary, princess of Burgundy, added the Netherlands to 
 his dominions. During this reign Germany was di- 
 vided into circles, in each of which a provincial and par- 
 ticular jurisdiction was established. On his death, 
 
76 History of all JKations, 
 
 Charles V. succeeded to the throne in 1516, whose 
 reign abounded in great and important events. He was 
 grandson to Maximilian, and heir to the kingdom of 
 Spain in right of his mother Joanna. 
 
 This tvas the period of the reformation of religion 
 that took place in several parts of Germany. Pope 
 Leo X. to supply the luxuries of his court, had recourse 
 to a public sale of indulgences. This traffic excited 
 just abhorrence in Martin Luther, professor of divinity 
 at Wirtemberg, who published his Theses, Sept. 30^ 
 1517. Tlie interest and power of the court of Rome 
 we e exerted to destroy so daring an opponent, and to 
 suppress his doctrines, but in vain. Such was the begin- 
 ning of tlie reformation, which extended its effects not 
 only to ail the kingdom of Europe, but likewise to the 
 most distant part of the globe. 
 
 Charles V. had been successful in above thirty bat- 
 tles, where he commanded himself ; but in the decline 
 of life his good fortune began to forsake him ; and 
 being highly chagrined at this change, and oppressed by 
 sickness, he resigned the empire to his brother Ferdi- 
 nand ; and the kingdom of Spain, the Netherlands, Ital- 
 ian dominions, &c. &c. to his son Philip II. in 1556, 
 and passed the remainder of his days in a monastery. 
 
 During the reigns of several of the succeeding em- 
 perors, nothing of great importance is recorded, except 
 the violent commotions which were excited by the 
 Catholics and Lutherans, and which desolated the em- 
 pire till the year 1648, when Ferdinand III. concluded 
 the peace of Westphalia, by which the Catholic and 
 Protestant religions were equally established. This 
 peace preserved the empire from destruction ; and Ger- 
 many, from that time, has been gradually increasing in 
 power and splendor. 
 
 Ferdinand was succeeded in the imperial dignity by 
 his son Leopold, in the year 1658 ; against whom the 
 Hungarians rebelled, and put themselves under the pro- 
 tection of the Turkish emperor, Mahomet IV. who 
 proclaimed war against the house of Austria. The 
 Turks in the beginning ^were irresistible, and wouUJ 
 
Germany. 77 
 
 have taken Vienna, had not the siege been raised by So- 
 bieski, king of Poland, who obliged the infidels to so 
 precipitate a retreat, that they abandoned not only their 
 tents, artillery, and baggage, but left behind them the 
 famous standard of Mahomet, which was sent as a pre- 
 sent to the pope. — The Turks were again defeated in 
 the plains of Barean, and all Hungary was recovered by 
 the imperial arms (A. D. 1683.) 
 
 On the death of Leopold, in the year 1705, his son 
 Joseph I. was raised to the vacant throne. During this 
 reign, the war was carried on against France by the 
 Imperialists, in conjunction with Great Britain, Portugal, 
 and the States of Holland. The duke of Marlborough 
 commanded the English, and prince Eugene the impe- 
 rial troops. These two generals never engaged in 
 any battle but what they gained, nor besieged a town 
 which they did not make themselves masters of. 
 
 Joseph died suddenly, A. D. 17i 1, after a reign which 
 had been one continued flow of success. 
 
 He was succeeded in the imperial throne by his broth- 
 er, Charles VI. who dying without male issue, the 
 house of Austria was extinguished, after it had governed 
 Germany upwards of three centuries. 
 
 The succession to the whole Austrian dominions be- 
 longed to the archduchess Maria Theresa, the emperor's 
 eldest daughter, by virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction. — 
 The kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, the provinces 
 of Silesia, Suabia, Upper and Lower Austria, Stiria, 
 Carinthia, Carniola, the four finest towns, Burgaw, 
 Brisgaw, the Low Countries, Friuli, Tirol, the duchy 
 of Milan, and the duchies of Parma and Placentia, 
 formed that immense inheritance. 
 
 After great opposition, the elector of Bavaria, under 
 the name of Charles VII. was invested with the imperial 
 ensigns, Jan. 4, 1742. This prince, worn out by a 
 complication of bodily ills and a long train of misfor- 
 tunes, died in the beginning of the year 1745, when 
 Francis I. the grand-duke of Tuscany, husband to Ma- 
 ria Theresa queen of Hungary, daughter of Charles VI. 
 was raised to the head of the.empire, in spite of the op- 
 
78 History of all Nations. 
 
 position of the house of Bourbon. He was an unsuccess- 
 ful but wise and prudent prince. Francis I. dying sud- 
 denly, Aug. 18, 1765, his son Joseph Benedict- Augus- 
 tus II. was elected, who dying in 1790 was subceeded 
 by Leopold duke of Tuscany. Leopold II. after a 
 short reign of two years, died suddenly on March 1, 
 1792, and was succeeded by the present emperor Fran- 
 cis II. — Turner. 
 
 Formerly there were nine electors, in whom were vest- 
 ed the right of electing the emperors of Germany. — 
 The three ecclesiastical were the archbishops of Mentz, 
 Treves and Cologne. 
 
 The secular were, Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburgh, 
 the Palatinate, Bavaria, and Hanover. The heir appa- 
 rent to the empire must be chosen by the electors king 
 of the Romans, to secure his succession. 
 
 In 1791 the French revolution attracted the attention 
 of all the European powers ; and a conference was held 
 at Pilnitz between the emporor of Germany, the king 
 of Prussia, and the elector of Saxony : At this con- 
 ference a coalition was formed, with a view of restoring 
 of Monarchy in France. 
 
 By the definitive treaty concluded at Luneville, on 
 the 9th of February, 1801, between the French repub- 
 lic and the emperor of Germany, the house of Austria 
 was compelled to relinquish the sovereignty of the Bel- 
 gic provinces, the grand duchy of Tuscany, and all the 
 fine domains on the left Bank of the Rhine. 
 
 Thus ended a contest which lasted ten years, and oc- 
 casioned such a prodigious waste of blood and treasure. 
 
 Bonaparte, the present emperor of the French, who 
 has assumed the right of creating and dethroning kings, 
 has lately made great revolutions among the German 
 princes, and considerably curtailed the former extent of 
 the Germanic empire. 
 
 Religion. — The Germans became acquainted with 
 some principles of the Christian religion towards the 
 close of the seventh century, by means of the Irish 
 Killian. The reformation began in Germany about 
 the year 1517; for, the archbishop of Mentz being 
 
Wisdom 
 
 Murphy ™<J« 
 
 
England. 79 
 
 unable to pay the large sums the pope exacted from 
 him, procured leave of his holiness to sell his pardons 
 and indulgences to all the great towns in Germany. 
 Dr. Martin Luther, hearing of this, protested against 
 the proceeding, and openly disputed at Wirtemberg 
 and Leipsic against those who asserted the power of the 
 pope to grant pardons' and indulgences, notwithstanding 
 his being threatened with excommunication, and his 
 being condemned as a heretic. The elector of Saxony 
 approving of his doctrines, he boldly propagated them 
 in other parts of Germany, where the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick and Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and the Marquis 
 of Brandenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the inha- 
 bitants of most of the imperial cities, became his disci- 
 ples ; and, in 1529, protested against the conclusion of 
 the diet of Spire, by which all innovations in religion, 
 till the decree of a future council should be obtained, 
 were declared unlawful. From this protest they re- 
 ceived the name of " Protestants." 
 
 The Roman, the Lutheran, and Calvinist religion 
 only tolerated in Germany. 
 
 chapter XII. 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 From its earliest period. — Heptarchy. — Norman Con- 
 quest. — Plantagenets. — Conquest of Ireland. — Civil- 
 Wars of York and Lancaster. — Reformation. 
 
 The accounts of the first population of all nations are 
 extremely uncertain; the early seras, and the transactions 
 of the immediately succeeding periods, are generally 
 enveloped in thick darkness, or involved in fable. 
 
 Britain was little known before the invasion of Julius 
 Cs&sar : and its inhabitants were then remarkable only for 
 their ferocity or barbarism. It received the name of 
 Albion, from its white rocks ; and Britain from Britt, an 
 old word, signifying, at that time, painting the s/cin, 
 which was much used by the first people. 
 
80 History of all Nations, 
 
 Julius Caesar conducted his army into this unknown 
 country, which was divided into several small states, 
 governed by petty princes, fifty-five years before Christ. 
 The emperor Claudius conquered a great part of the 
 island, and carried their chief prince, Caractacus, to 
 Rome in triumph. Under Nero, the Britons rebelled ; 
 but at last they were finally subdued by Julius Agricola. 
 
 Five hundred years Britain continued a Roman pro- 
 vince ; when, by the decline and fall of the Roman em- 
 pire, they again recovered their liberty. The South 
 Britons were left in a defenceless state, suffering continual 
 depredations from their neighbours, the Picts and Scots, 
 who had not, like themselves, been reduced by the 
 Romans to a state of civilised and peaceful servitude. — 
 These two great tribes, into which the inhabitants of 
 the northern region of the island were then divided, 
 uniting, made frequent and destructive inroads into 
 the territories of the Britons, which they plundered and 
 laid waste. 
 
 About forty years after the dissolution of the Roman 
 government, (A. D. 449) Vortigern appears to have 
 obtained the supreme command of the princes and cities 
 of Britain. This unfortunate monarch, harrassed by 
 the continual invasions of a domestic foe, was at length 
 reduced to the necessity of inviting the Saxons, a Ger- 
 man nation, to protect his throne and people from the 
 fury of those barbarians.* Hengist and Horsa, two 
 Saxon chiefs, as they ranged along the eastern coast 
 with three ships, were engaged, by the promise of an 
 ample stipend, to embrace the defence of Britain ; and 
 their intrepid valour soon delivered them from their ene- 
 mies. The isle of Thanet, a secure and fertile district, 
 was allotted for the residence of those German auxilia- 
 ries, and they were supplied, according to the treaty, 
 with an allowance of clothing and provisions; Having 
 repulsed the Scots and Picts, the perfidious Hengist, 
 being joined by successive colonies of his own coun- 
 
 • Gibbon. 
 
England. 81 
 
 irymen,* turned his arms against the Britons, and perpe- 
 trated a treacherous massacre during the security of a 
 feast. After a long and violent contest, the Saxons ex- 
 tirpated or enslaved those whom they had engaged to 
 protect. Different parts of the island being subdued 
 by different chieftains or leaders — seven independent 
 thrones — the Saxon heptarchy — were founded by the 
 conquerors. 
 
 The history of the Saxon heptarchy is obscure and 
 uninteresting. It is sufficient to mark the duration of 
 the several kingdoms, till their union under Egbert. 
 
 The kingdom of Kent began A. D. 455, and con^ 
 tinued till A. D. 827, during which period the Saxons 
 were converted to Christianity. 
 
 Northumberland began A. D. 547, and continued 
 till A. D. 926. 
 
 East Anglia began A. D. 575, and continued till 
 A. D. 928. 
 
 Mercia began A. D. 582, and continued to A. D. 
 827. - 
 
 Essex began A. D. 527, and ended A. D. 827. 
 
 Sussex began A. D. 491, and ended A. D. 687. 
 
 Wessex, which ultimately subdued and united the 
 whole heptarchy, began A. D. 519, and ended A. D. 
 827. 
 
 Egbert, king of Wessex. having acquired the art 
 of war and government at the court of Charlemagne, 
 united these seven independent kingdoms, A. D. 827, 
 and thus laid the foundation of the kingdom of England. 
 His reign was disturbed by the Normans or Danes, 
 who from time to time ravaged the coast, but were as 
 often totally defeated (A. D. 838.) He left his kingdom 
 to his son 
 
 Ethelwolf, a prince better fitted to wear the 
 cowl than the crown, during whose feeble reign the 
 Danes returned, and continued their depredations un- 
 molested. 
 
 Alfred the Great, his youngest son, succeeded to 
 
 * These colonies were principally composed of three valliant tribes o 
 nations of Germany — the Jutes, the old Saxons, and the Angles. 
 
82 History of all Nations, 
 
 the throne, in consequence of the death of his elder broi- 
 thers. The Danes landed in great numbers, made 
 themselves .masters of the sea-coasts, and of the most 
 fertile provinces. They were at last defeated with great 
 slaughter ; and Alfred allowed a body of the vanquished 
 enemy to settle in Northumberland, on their consenting 
 to submit to his government, and embrace Christianity. 
 This great prince established a regular militia for the de- 
 fence of his kingdom ; divided England into hundreds 
 and tithings ; appointed trials by jury and county courts. 
 He encouraged learning, navigation, and commerce. 
 
 On the death of Alfred, A. D. 899, England relapsed 
 into barbarism. During the weak administration of 
 several of his successors, the Danes renewed their inva- 
 sions, till Ethel red, a weak prince, at first endea- 
 voured meanly to compound with them for his safety, 
 and afterwards, with a cruelty incident to weak minds, 
 formed the design of massacreing the Danes in the king- 
 dom, A. D. 1002, which he carried into execution. 
 Sweyn, king of Denmark, took vengeance on the Eng- 
 lish for the slaughter of his countrymen, and compelled 
 Ethelred to seek refuge in the court of his brother-in- 
 law, Richard, duke of Normandy, A. D. 1013. 
 
 His son, Edmond Ironside, after having bravely 
 struggled for the independence of his kingdom, was 
 at last betrayed by his general, Edric, and obliged to di- 
 vide his dominions with Canute, son of the Danish king 
 Sweyn. Edmund survived this division only a month, 
 beino; murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, 
 A. D. 1017, whose treachery made way for the acces- 
 sion of Canute, the Dane, to the throne of England. 
 This prince, by the conquest of Norway, became the 
 most powerful monarch of his time ; being sovereign 
 of Denmark, Norway, and England. 
 
 Of Haruljd Harefoot, and Hardicanute, his 
 sons and successors, nothing is recorded that merits at- 
 tention : only, that on the death of Hardicanute, the 
 English shook off the Danish yoke, and placed on the 
 throne of his sucessors, Edward, surnamed the Con- 
 fessor, son of the unfortunate Ethelred. Though an 
 
England. 8S 
 
 excellent prince, he disgusted the English by his par- 
 tiality to the Normans, among whom he had been edu- 
 cated -, and he declared William, duke of Normandy, 
 his cousin, to be his successor. 
 
 On the death of Edward, Harold, the son of earl 
 Godwin, usurped the vacant throne ; but his right was 
 disputed by the duke of Normandy, who landed on the 
 coast of Sussex, at the head of 60,000 men. The bat- 
 tle of Hastings, A. D. 1066, won by the Normans, 
 placed William the Conqueror on the throne of Eng- 
 land, and terminated the Anglo-Saxon monarchy in 
 Britain. 
 
 William, thus possessed of the crown, by a pre- 
 tended will of king Edward, abetted by force of arms, 
 with a prudent policy, endeavoured to conciliate the af- 
 fections of the nobility and gentry, by confirming them 
 in the possession of their lands and dignities ; but every 
 where disarmed the natives, and placed ail real power in 
 the hands of the Normans. He established the feodal 
 government, divided the kingdom into baronies, and 
 ordered a general survey to be taken of all the lands of 
 England ; their extent in each district, their proprietors, 
 tenures, value ; the quantity of meadow, pasture, wood, 
 and arable land, which they contained ; and, in some 
 counties, the number of tenants, cottagers, and slaves of 
 all denominations, who lived upon them, A. D. 1081* 
 This valuable piece of antiquity, 'called Domesday Book, 
 is still preserved in the Exchequer, and helps to illus- 
 trate to us the ancient state of England. William died 
 A. D. 1087, and was succeeded in the duchy of Nor- 
 mandy by his eldest son Robert, and the kingdom of 
 England by his second son, 
 
 William, surnamed Rurus, whose violent and 
 tyrannical reign continued thirteen years, when on his 
 death, Henry I. usurped the throne, which was the 
 inheritance of his elder brother Robert of Normandy. — 
 This prince, governed with severity. His domestic 
 misfortunes were very great. His only sen William, 
 who had attained his 18th year, had accompanied him 
 on an expedition into Normandy, but perished on his 
 
84 History of all Nations. 
 
 return, with all his retinue. The royal youth was anx- 
 ious to get first to land ; and the captain of the vessel, 
 being intoxicated with liquor, heedlessly ran her on a 
 rock, where she was immediately dashed to pieces. — 
 The king was so much affected by the news, that he 
 is said never to have smiled mure (A. D. 1120.) His 
 daughter Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of 
 the Count of Anjou. Henry, dying A. D. 1135, des- 
 tined the succession of the kingdom to his daughter; 
 bin his nephew 
 
 Stephen usurped the throne. The despotism of the 
 king, the licentiousness of the nobles, and the oppres- 
 sion, of the people, invited and encouraged the earl of 
 Gloucester, and David king of Scotland, to take up 
 arms in suppoi t ol Matilda's right (A.D. 1138.) A long 
 ant 1 bloody war ensued , which, after various successes, 
 terminated in the succession being secured to Henry of 
 Aivjou, Matilda's son. The usurper died the year after, 
 when 
 
 Henry II. (surnamed Plantagenet) was invested with 
 the supreme power. He was the greatest prince of his 
 time. He began his reign with re-establishing justice 
 and good order, to which the English world had been 
 long a stranger. He attempted next to reform the abu- 
 ses o! the church, but was opposed in all his measures 
 by Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. The Roman 
 pontiff, and the king of France, espoused the caue of 
 this haughty prelate. — Henry, dreading the sentence of 
 excommunication, submitted with reluctance; and 
 Becket w T as soon after murdered at the altar (A. D. 1170) 
 and canonized. Having soothed the pope, who threat- 
 ened to avenge the archbishop's murder, the king un- 
 dertook the conquest of Ireland ; an enterprise which 
 he had long meditated, and for which he had obtained a 
 grant from pope Adrian IV. but which had been de- 
 ferred by reason of his quarrels with the primate. This 
 expedition proved successful. Though victorious in all 
 quarters, and crowned with glory, this best and most 
 indulgent of parents was obliged to maintain war against 
 his own family. His sons rebelled, am] v:erQ support- 
 
England. 85 
 
 ed by the kings of France and Scotland. This barba- 
 rous behaviour preyed on his spirits, and soon put a pe- 
 riod to his life (A, D. 1189.) 
 
 Richard I. (Cceur de Lion, or Lion-hearted Hero) 
 succeeded his father. This romantic prince embarked 
 in the crusades. After a variety of adventures which 
 occurred in his journey to Palestine, he defeated the 
 Saracen emperor, Saladin, and arrived within sight of 
 Jerusalem ; but being abandoned by his associates, he 
 was obliged to relinquish his enterprise, and to conclude 
 a truce with the infidels. On his return to Europe, he 
 was shipwrecked near Ragusa, and put on the habit of a 
 pilgrim, with an intention of taking his journey secretly 
 through Germany. He was betrayed, and delivered 
 to the emperor, Henry VI. who had taken offence at 
 Richard's alliance with Tancred king of Sicily. Thus 
 the gallant king of England, who had filled the whole 
 world with his renown, found himself, during the most 
 critical state of his affairs (his brother John having form- 
 ed a rebellion in his absence) confined to a dungeon in 
 the heart of Germany, loaded with irons, and entirely 
 at the mercy of his enemy, the basest and most sordid 
 of mankind!* Upon his releasement from captivity, he 
 declared war against France, in which he was killed, in 
 the 10th year of his reign, A. D. 1199. Leaving no 
 issue, he was succeeded by his brother 
 
 John, — an odious tyrant. He lost his continental 
 dominions ; and soon after embroiled himself with the 
 see of Rome, concerning the election of an archbishop 
 of Canterbury. The kingdom was laid under the sen- 
 tence of an interdict, and John excommunicated and 
 deposed ; but by his despicable submission to the Ro- 
 man pontiff, (A. D. 1213) by which he became still 
 more contemptible, was restored. The English barons, 
 taking advantage of the king's meanness and debase- 
 ment, had recourse to arms, and extorted from him 
 Magna Char ta, or the Great Charter, which was 
 
 * M. Paris, Chron. T. Wjkes. 
 
86 History of all Aations. 
 
 signed at Runnymede, between Windsor and Stains, 
 (A. D. 1215,) a spot ever since deservedly celebrated, 
 and ever hallowed by every zealous lover of liberty. — 
 The perfidious monarch soon after attempted to recal 
 the privileges he had granted.- The barons invited the 
 French to their aid, and swore fealty to Lewis, son of 
 Philip of France. John died, universally despised, 
 A. D. 1216. The principal barons agreed to acknow- 
 ledge the authority of his son Henry III. and obliged 
 Lewis to evacuate the kingdom, 
 
 Henry III. was a weak and contemptible prince. — 
 To this reio;n we are indebted for the first rude outlines 
 of the British house of commons. A parliament was 
 held at Oxford, (A. D. 1259) and returns ordered to be 
 made, not only of two knights from every shire, but 
 also of deputies from the boroughs.* A second order 
 of men was then introduced into the national council. — 
 The earl of Leicester rebelled ; but, at the battle of 
 Evesham, was defeated and killed. — Henry died A. D. 
 1272, in the 56th year of his reign, the longest in the 
 British annals, but which had been one continued scene 
 of disorder and anarchy. 
 
 Edward I. (Longshanks) his son, remarkable for the 
 intrepidity of his character, succeeded. He confirmed 
 Magna Charta, and attacked the Welch, who, uncon- 
 quered by the Saxons, had preserved their independence. 
 He obliged their prince, Lewellyn, after a desperate re- 
 sistance, to submit — and united Wales to the crown of 
 England, (A. D. 1282,) the principality of the king's 
 eldest son. By a barbarous policy he ordered all the Welch 
 bards to be collected together and put to death. Ed- 
 ward afterwards meditated the subjection of Scotland ; 
 but expired at Carlisle, A. D. 1307, in advancing to 
 complete the conquest. 
 
 The feeble and indolent Edward II. though enjoined 
 by his father with his latest breath to prosecute the war, 
 and never to desist till he had finally subdued the king- 
 
 * Rymer, vol. i. M.Paris. Kerning'. Knvg-htom 
 
England. 8f7 
 
 dom of Scotland, after a few weak efforts, relinquished 
 the project. He disgusted the nation by his attachment 
 to mean favorites. His queen, Isabella, entered into a 
 conspiracy against him with one Roger Mortimer, her 
 gallant, and other dissatisfied barons, who accused the 
 king of incapacity for government, deposed and inhu- 
 manly murdered him in prison, by holding him down 
 violently with a table which they flung over him, and 
 thursting into his fundament a horn, through which 
 they burnt his bowels with a red hot iron.* Thus per- 
 ished the unfortunate Edward II. — a prince born to 
 obey ministers, not to govern a kingdom. 
 
 Edward III. had spirit and abilities enough to avenge 
 the death of his father. His mother's paramour, Mor- 
 timer, was seized by his order, and perished by the hand 
 of the hangman. This youthful and ambitiou s monarch 
 claimed the kingdom of France, in right of his mother, 
 the daughter of Philip the Fair. A war with France 
 ensued (A. D, 1338) the event of which was prosper- 
 ous. His heroic son, called the Black Prince, from the 
 colour of his armour, won the battle of Cressy, A. D. 
 1346. The French were again defeated at the battle of 
 Poictiers, and John their king taken prisoner and 
 brought to London. These splendid successes w T ere of 
 no real advantage to England. In the conclusion of 
 Edward's life, his fortunes declined. An extravagant 
 attachment to Alice Pierce, a young lady of wit and 
 beauty, gave such general disgust, as to become the ob- 
 ject of a parliamentary remonstrance. The king did 
 not long survive the death of his amiable son, the prince 
 of Wales. He expired in the 51st year of his reign; 
 one of the longest, and though the latter days of it were 
 indeed somewhat obscured by the infirmities and follies 
 of age, yet it certainly was one of the most glorious, in 
 the English annals. 
 
 His successor, Richard II. son of the Black Prince, 
 was little able to recover what had been lost through the 
 
 * Walsingham. T. de la Moore, 
 
88 History of all JSations. 
 
 dotage of his grandfather. A poll-tax of three groats 
 a- head on every person, male and female, above fifteen 
 years of age, excited a most formidable insurrection, 
 headed by Wat Tyler, which was quelled by the pru- 
 dence and courage of Richard. His spirited behaviour 
 at this juncture raised the highest expectations concern- 
 ing him. But the presages of youth are often fallacious f 
 He was a slave to unworthv favorites. Havinar confisca- 
 ted the estate of his kinsman, Henry duke of Lancaster, 
 he rebelled against, deposed and murdered the king. * 
 Thus began the contest between the houses of York and 
 Lancaster. 
 
 The duke of Lancaster ascended the English throne 
 under the name of Henry TV. A. D. 1399. He was 
 the son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, fourth son 
 of Edward III. In his turbulent reign occurred little 
 worthy of notice, except the act for burning the follow- 
 ers of Wickliffe, a secular priest educated at Oxford, 
 who during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. 
 had preached the doctrine of reformation. 
 
 Henry V. his son, began his reign with applause. 
 He had passed his youth in the riot of pleasure, debauch- 
 ery and extravagancies of every kind ; but on his com- 
 ing to the throne, the cloud which his wild conduct 
 had thrown over his character, vanished and it appear- 
 ed brighter than if it never had been shaded by any er- 
 rors. The first step of the young king was to suppress 
 all party dissentions : he then, taking advantage of the 
 civil disorders of France, determined to prosecute the 
 English claim to the crown of that kincdom. He col- 
 lected a considerable force, and gained the glorious vic- 
 tory of Agincourt, A. D. 1415. He pursued these suc- 
 cesses, and having recruited his forces and finances, 
 marched to the gates of Paris. A treaty of peace fol- 
 lowed, in which Henry was nominated regent, and ac- 
 knowledged heir to the crown ; and marrying Catha- 
 rine, the daughter of the French king, Charles VI. re- 
 
 • F. Walsingham. Frcissard. 
 
England. 8Q 
 
 eeived the kingdom of France as her dowry. The glory 
 of Henry, now at the height, was suddenly restrained by 
 the hand of nature : he was seized with a malady, which 
 the surgeons of that age wanted skill to treat with judg- 
 ment, namely, a fistula, which put a period to his life 
 in the tenth year of his reign. * 
 
 Henry VI. was only nine months old when he was 
 proclaimed king of England and of France. A weak 
 and contemptible prince. The French monarch Charles 
 VII. gradually recovered his kingdom. Joan of Arc, 
 called the Maid of Orleans, a pretended prophetess, 
 compelled the English to raise the siege of Orleans, and 
 established Charles on his throne. — England was now 
 rent to pieces by intestine commotions. The incapaci- 
 ty of the king appeared every day in a stronger light, — 
 Richard, duke of York, descended by his mother from 
 Philippa, only daughter of the duke of Clarence, second 
 son of Edward Hi. aspired to the throne. Hostilities 
 commenced ; and, after various success, the duke per- 
 ished in the battle of Wakefield, Dec. 24, 1460. Ed- 
 ward, his son, prepared to revenge his father's death. 
 A bloody war succeeded, which terminated in the im^ 
 prisonment of the unfortunate Henry, and the promo- 
 tion of Edward duke of York to the throne. 
 
 The animosity between the two contending families 
 became implacable ; and the nation, divided in its affec- 
 tions, took different symbols of party. The adherents 
 of the house of Lancaster chose, as their mark of dis- 
 tinction, the red rose; those of York assumed the 
 white. And these civil wars were thus known over 
 Europe by the name of the quarrel between the two 
 roses, f 
 
 * Catherine of France, his widow, married soon after his death, sir Ow- 
 en Tudor, a gentleman of Wales, said to be descended from the ancient 
 princes of that country. She bore him two sons ; the eldest of whom was 
 created earl of Richmond ; the second, earl of Pembroke The family of 
 Tudor, first raised to distinction by this alliance, afterwards mounted tc» 
 the throne of England, in the person of Henry VII. 
 
 ( f Modern Europe. 
 
 M 
 
90 History of all J\ations« 
 
 Edward IV. having made his way to the throne 
 through a scene of war, havoc, and devastation, endeav- 
 oured to establish himself by acts of tyranny and cruelty. 
 Crowned king by the hands of Guy, earl of Warwick, 
 Edward was ungrateful to his champion and benefactor. 
 The earl, resenting his ungenerous conduct, rebelled, 
 deposed the king, and replaced Henry on the English 
 throne. Edward fled to Holland. This revolution was 
 of short duration. The young king soon returned, 
 and gaining the victory ofBarnet, in which Warwick 
 was killed, recovered his kingdom. From this time 
 he sunk into indolence and pleasure. A violent dis- 
 temper, occasioned by his irregularities, terminated his 
 life, at the age of forty-two, A. D. 1483. 
 
 His pon, Edward V. in his thirteenth year succeed- 
 ed. This young prince, with lis brother the duke of 
 York, were privately assassinated by their uncle, Rich- 
 ard, duke of Gloucester, who usurped the throne. 
 
 The multiplied crimes and atrocious vices of this 
 usurper and murd rer, who was stiled Richard III. fil- 
 led the kingdom with so much horror, that a conspiracy 
 was formed in favor of the young earl of Richmond, A. 
 D. 1470, who by his mother was descended frcm John 
 of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, son of Edward III. and 
 was the only remaining branch of the Lancastrian fami- 
 ly. Richmond encountered the tyrant at Bosworth, and 
 obtained a complete victory. Richard fell, and the crown 
 was placed on Henry's head. 
 
 Henry VII. confirmed in his title by the parlia- 
 ment, immediately married the princess Elizabeth, eldest 
 daughter of Edward IV. and thus united for ever the 
 jarring claims of York and Lancaster. His adminis- 
 tration was wise and politic. The singular enterprizes 
 of Lambert Simnel (A. D. 1486) and of Perkin War- 
 beck (A. D. 1492) who were made to personate Rich- 
 ard duke of York, who had been murdered in the tower 
 by Richard III. are the only events during this reign 
 worth recording. He died of a consumption, at his fa- 
 vorite palace of Richmond, in the 52d year of his age» 
 and the 23d vear of his rei^n. 
 
England. 91 
 
 His second and only surviving son succeeded, under 
 the name of Henry VIII. Religious disputes form 
 the important object of this period. — Wickliffe, in the 
 reign of Richard II. was the first who combated in 
 England the errors of the church of Rome. His doc- 
 trines prepared for a subsequent revolution of opinions; 
 but he had few open followers. The intemperate pas- 
 sions of Henry were the immediate cause of the reforma- 
 tion in England. His affections having been estranged 
 from his queen, Catherine, he solicited a divorce : the 
 pope hesitated, and Henry prevailed on the archbishop 
 of Canterbury to annul the marriage, as a necessary 
 step before he could marry Anne Boleyn. The pope 
 condemned the sentence of the archbishop, and Henry 
 in return shook off the authority of the see of Rome, 
 and declared himself head of the national church. The 
 unfortunate Anne was beheaded on a charge of infidelity, 
 after whom the king successively married Jane Seymour, 
 Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. 
 His whole reign abounded in acts of violence and tyran- 
 ny, from which the nation was happilv delivered by his 
 death, A. D. 1547. 
 
 During the short reign of his only son, Edward 
 VI. the protestant religion prevailed. 
 
 Mary succeeded to the throne of England. The 
 young, beautiful, and innocent lady Jane Grey, induced 
 by her ambitious father-in-law, accepted the crown, and 
 lost her head. Mary restored the Romish religion, and 
 a most sanguinary persecution of the protestants filled 
 the whole of this short, bigotted reign. Archbishop 
 Cranmer ; Hooper, bishop of Gloucester ; Farrar, bishop 
 of St. David's ; Ridley, bishop of London ; Latimer, 
 bishop of Worcester ; and several other protestant di- 
 vines, suffered martrydom. The loss of Calais to the 
 French, affected Mary so deeply, that she fell into a slow 
 fever, which put an end to her inglorious reign. 
 
 The accession of her sister Elizabeth was followed 
 by a firm establishment of protestantism. A liturgy 
 was framed, and the hierarchy settled by archbishops, 
 bishops, priests, and deacons. The affairs of Scotland 
 
92 History of all Nations. 
 
 are deeply intervoven with those of England during this 
 reign, occasioned by the rivalship and personal enmity 
 between Mary, queen of Scots, and Elizabeth. Mary- 
 was grandchild to Henry VII. by his eldest daughter, 
 Margaret, and consort to the dauphin of France. Her 
 attachment to the catholic religion was the principal 
 cause of her misfortunes. A conspiracy formed by 
 Babington, A. D. 1586, and the adherents cf the church 
 of Rome, for the assassination of Elizabeth, and ihe es- 
 tablishment of popery, to which Mary was accused of 
 being privy, brought this amiable, accomplished, but 
 unfortunate queen to the scaffold, A. D. 1587, a victim 
 to the jealousy and fears of an offended rival : an act by 
 which the English queen has for ever sullied the glory of 
 her reign. Elizabeth's attention was now called to more 
 distant dangers. Philip II. of Spain, determining to 
 execute his ambitious project of the entire conquest of 
 England, prepared a grand armada, vainly denominated 
 Invincible, which was defeated, A. D. 1588, by the 
 English fleet, under the earl of Effingham and sir Fran- 
 cis Drake. The earl of Essex, the queen's favourite, 
 was sent as deputy-lieutenant to Ireland, to quell a re- 
 bellion which had been raised by the earl of Tyrone, 
 who had assumed the title of king, A. D. 1599. Essex 
 returned to England unsuccessful, and entered into a 
 conspiracy against the queen, for which he was behead- 
 ed, A. D. 1600. The queen's affection for him was so 
 violent, that she became pensive, peevish, and melan- 
 choly, and expired two years after, her body being to- 
 tally wasted by anguish of mind and abstinence. 
 
 With Elizabeth ended the house of Tudor. The 
 accession of the family of Stuart, in the person of her 
 successor, James I. forms a memorable sera in the his- 
 tory of Great- Britain, and will furnish the subject of 
 another chapter. 
 
England. 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 James I. — Charles I. — Usurpation of Cromwell. — Charles 
 II. — James II. — William III. — Anne. — George 
 I. — George II. — George III. 
 
 By the accession of James I. who was the sixth king 
 of Scotland of that name, and grandson of Margaret, 
 eldest daughter of Henry VII. the two kingdoms were 
 united, which had been divided from the earliest ac- 
 count of time, but destined by their situation to form 
 one great monarchy. And by this junction of its whole 
 native force, Great-Britain hath risen to an eminence 
 and authority in Europe, that England and Scotland se- 
 parately could never have attained. * 
 
 This prince came to the crown with high notions of 
 the regal power, which often betrayed him into impru- 
 dencies and errors. The people began to aspire after a 
 greater portion of liberty than they had hitherto en- 
 joyed. The domestic tranquility was interrupted at 
 the commencement of this reign, by the conspiracy of 
 Cobham, Grey, and Raleigh. Their intention was to 
 raise the king's cousin, Arabella Stuart, to the throne. 
 The conspirators were executed. This was followed 
 by the gunpowder treason ; a plot which excited uni- 
 versal astonishment and horror. Its object was, the de- 
 struction of the king and parliament This dreadful 
 scheme was happily detected, and the authors of it were 
 punished- The pacific disposition of James was unfa- 
 vourable to the glory of the nation, and his attachment 
 to young and unworthy favourites rendered him 
 contemptible. He died A. D. 1625, in the 59th year 
 of his age, and the 23d of his reign. 
 
 Charles I. succeeded to the crown of his father at 
 a very critical period, and with ideas of the royal peroga- 
 tive much averse to the spirit of the times. Unable to 
 obtain supplies from his first parliament, for the prose- 
 
 * Robertson. 
 
94 , History of all A r atio?is. 
 
 cution of a war in defence of his brother-in-law, the 
 elector palatine, he quarreled with, and afterwards dis- 
 solving them, endeavoured to raise money by loans 
 from his subjects. The new parliament that succeeded 
 was less complying than the former : they framed a pe- 
 tition of rights, requiring the abolishment of loans from 
 the subject, and taxes raised without parliamentary aid. 
 To this the king reluctantly assented ; but still continu- 
 ing imprudently to levy the imposts on tonnage and 
 poundage,* without a new grant, the commons urged 
 this as a violation of the petition of rights, and were dis- 
 solved. A new parliament assembled, but being still 
 less obsequious to the royal will, was once more dis- 
 solved, and the king summoned his fifth and last par- 
 liament. The discontents of the nation were now very 
 great, and Charles, sensible of his errors, assented to a 
 bill fixing the right of parliament alone to levy taxes, 
 and consented to summons one every third year. His 
 ministers the earl of Stafford and archbishop Laud, were 
 impeached and beheaded. The conduct of the com- 
 mons, hitherto laudable, became now unconstitutional 
 and unjustifiable. They passed a bill to render their 
 assembly perpetual, and arrogated to themselves the mi- 
 litary and executive authority of the crown, the power 
 of nominating the governors and lieutenants of all the 
 fortified places, and declared it a breach of privilege to 
 dispute the laws framed by parliament alone. The 
 king issued proclamations against this usurpation. A 
 civil war was the consequence, A. D. 1643. Charles 
 was at first successful, bm the decisive battle of Naseby, 
 A. D. 1645, in which the royal army was totally de- 
 feated, gave the rebels the command of -the state. Hav- 
 ing in- vain attempted a reconciliation, the king fled to 
 Scotland, and was shortly afterwards delivered up by the 
 commanders of the Scots army, for reasons best known 
 to themselves ! Cromwell, who had headed the par- 
 liamentary forces, which now consisted of a set of mili- 
 
 * Tonnage was a duty upon all wines imported : poundage was a duty 
 imposed, ad valorem, at the rate of I2d in the pound, on all other merchan- 
 dize whatsoever. 
 
England. 95 
 
 tary hypocrites and enthusiasts, seized the unfortunate 
 monarch's person, and appointing a court of justice, 
 proceeded with deliberate solemnity to the trial 
 of his sovereign. The execution of this unfortu- 
 nate prince, A. D. 1649, was followed by the dissolu- 
 tion of monarchy. The commons passed an act, 
 abolishing kingly power as useless, burdensome, and dan- 
 gerous, and annulled the house of peers. 
 
 A republican form of government was established on 
 the ruins of monarchy, under the direction of the parlia- 
 ment ; but the army very scon took the power out of 
 their hands, and Oliver Cromwell, a private gen- 
 tleman of Huntingdonshire, who had been appointed 
 their commander-in-chief, usurped the government, with 
 the title of Lord Protector of the three kingdoms. 
 His administration was rigorous, but arbitrary. A slow 
 fever put a period to his iife, Sept. 3, 1658. 
 
 His eldest son, Richard, succeeded in the protec- 
 torship ; but, from his Weaknees and incapacity, could 
 not keep it. On the first appearance ofdifficulti.es, he 
 resigned the government, and Henry Cromwell, lord- 
 lieutenant of Ireland, followed his brother's example. — • 
 Disorder and anarchy ensued. General Monk, then at 
 the head of the army in Scotland, marched into England, 
 procured the summons of a free parliament, and Charles, 
 the eldest son of the unfortunate monarch, who had ta- 
 ken refuge in France, sent a declaration of indemnity 
 and liberty of conscience to the House. They received 
 it, and proclaimed him king, A. D. 1660. 
 
 The reign of Charles II. was the sera, of taste and 
 genius ; though his court was the residence of voluptu- 
 ousness and prodigality. — Guided by the worst of mi- 
 nisters, his domestic administration was turbulent. He 
 lived uneasy with his parliament, which, as he could 
 not controul, he dissolved, and governed with abso- 
 lute authority, and was at last poisoned. As he died 
 without children, his brother, the duke of York, suc- 
 ceeded to the throne by the title of 
 
 James II. He openly encouraged popery, and was 
 himself directed solely by romish priests. He adopted 
 
96 History of ail J\ations. 
 
 the most despotic measures, invaded every part of th6 
 constitution, committed the bishops to prison, and re- 
 ceived the pope's nuncio in London. The nation, ex- 
 asperated atthese incroachments upon their civil and re- 
 ligious liberties, solicited the aid of the prince of Orange, 
 nephew and son-in-law of James. He arrived in En- 
 gland, and being received with general satisfaction, 
 James, abandoned by all, abdicated the throne, and re- 
 tired to France.* The parliament settled the crown on 
 the prince and princess of Orange, who were proclaim- 
 ed sovereigns of Great Britain, &x. by the title of 
 
 King William and Queen Mary. — Both hou- 
 ses passed a bill, or instrument of settlement, which 
 regulated the line of succession, and provided against 
 the return of those grievances which had driven the na- 
 tion to the fiercest extremity, and effectualh secured 
 from the future incroachments of the sovereign the most 
 essential rights of the people. Thus was happily ter- 
 minated the great struggle of privilege and prerogative, 
 between the crown and the people, which commenced 
 with the accession of the family of Stuart to the throne 
 of England, and continued till their expulsion, when 
 almost a century had elapsed. This revolution forms 
 a grand eera in the English constitution. 
 
 The unfortunate monarch, having obtained assistance 
 from the French king Louis, embarked for Ireland ; 
 but his attempt was not attended with success. The 
 rebels were defeated near the Boyne, (A. D. 1690) and 
 James returned to France. 
 
 William was a prince of great vigour of mind, firm- 
 ness of temper, and intrepidity of spirit. He was mak- 
 ing vast preparations for carrying on war against the 
 French, who, on the death of James II. had, in viola- 
 tion of a treaty, acknowledged the son of that exiled 
 prince king of Great Britain and Ireland, under the title 
 of James III. when a fall from his horse threw him in- 
 to a fever, which put a period to his life (A. D. 1702.) 
 
 He died an exile in France, August 6, 1701. 
 
England* 97 
 
 Anne, eldest surviving daughter of James II. and 
 sister to queen Mary, succeeded to the English throne. 
 Her reign was made illustrious by the success of her 
 arms against France, under her general the great duke 
 of Marlborough. She was married to prince George of 
 Denmark, by whom she had several children; but none 
 surviving her, George, son of Ernest Augustus, first 
 elector of Brunswick, and Sophia, grand-daughter to 
 James I. pursuant to the act of settlement, succeeded to 
 the vacant crown, A. D. 1714. 
 
 The first and second years of the reign of George 
 I. were disturbed by an invasion of the kingdom in fa- 
 vor of the pretender. This rebellion was fortunately 
 suppressed, and the remainder of his reign was prosper- 
 ous to his people, and glorious to himself. A declara- 
 tion of war against Spain, for the protection qf com- 
 merce, took place A. D. 1718. The success^ of the 
 English brought on a suspension of arms. When 
 peace was restored to the continent, England was thrown 
 into disorder by the South- Sea scheme, and by other 
 aerial projects for the increase of the national wealth, A. 
 D. 1720.— The king died on the road to Hanover, and 
 left the vacant throne to his son, 
 
 George II. At this time Great-Britain was in a 
 most flourishing condition, both at home and abroad, and 
 had a powerful influence in all the courts of Europe, 
 Spain excepted ; but a congress had been agreed to for 
 terminating the differences between the two crowns, and 
 for the general pac.fication of Europe, which was acconru 
 plished in 1729. The Spaniards, in violation of the 
 treaty, continued to make depredations on the British 
 commerce in America. This fired the nation with re- 
 sentment, and brought on a declaration of war, which, 
 on the part of the English, was attended with signal 
 success. The French having assisted Spain, hostilities 
 commenced between Great Britain and F;ance. While 
 war raged with fury on the continent, a rebellion broke 
 out in Scotland, A. D. 1745. The young pretender, 
 being encouraged by many of the principal Scotch fami- 
 lies to land there, was received with open arms, his 
 
98 History of all J\ations, 
 
 father proclaimed king of Great Britain, and himself 
 prince regent. Many persons of distinction embraced 
 his cause. But the decisive battle of Culloden, A. D. 
 1746, put a period to this dangerous insurrection, and 
 the pretender, after suffering incredible hardships, made 
 his escape to France. " 
 
 In the year 1748, the war with France and Spain was 
 concluded, and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle bigned; but 
 the French incroaching on the boundaries of the English 
 provinces in North America, orders were sent to the 
 governors of the British settlements to oppose force by 
 force, A. D. 1754. War was accordingly declared. — 
 Minorca was lost, and admiral Byng, who had been sent 
 to the relief of it, was tried, condemned, and shot, for 
 neglect of duty in an engagement with the French fleet, 
 which covered the siege. This misfortune was most 
 amply compensated by the success of the British arms 
 in the reduction of Surat and Pondicherry, in the East- 
 Indies. The English likewise made themselves mas- 
 ters of Guadaloupe, Quebec, Montreal, and every other 
 place within the government of Canada; Goree, and 
 the other French settlements on the river Senegal, in 
 Africa. In the midst of these rapid and extensive con- 
 quests, George II. finished his long career of glory, 
 dying on the 25th of October, 1760, in the 77th year of 
 his age, and the 34th year of his reign. 
 
 His Britannic Majesty was succeeded in his regal and 
 electoral dominions by his grandson, George III. in the 
 23d year of his age. He came to the crown beyond all 
 dispute the most powerful monarch in Europe. The 
 war was carried on with vigour. The island of Belle- 
 isle, on the coast of France ; Martinico (the most im- 
 portant of the French West- India islands) the Havannah, 
 in the west; and Manilla, with the whole range of the 
 Philippines, in the east, among other valuable acquisi- 
 tions, submitted to the English. Hostilities continued 
 till 1763. 
 
 In 1776, the colonies in North America declared 
 themselves independent of Great-Britain. This circum- 
 stance involved England in a new war. France, Spain, 
 
England. 99 
 
 and Holland, joined the Americans. Peace was con- 
 cluded between all the contending powers in 1783 ; 
 when the independence of the United States was acknow- 
 ledged by the British king and parliament. In the year 
 1793, England engaged in another war with France : at 
 the commencement, the Spaniards and Dutch declared 
 themselves on the side of Great-Britain ; but one French 
 army took entire possession of the Netherlands ; and 
 another, marching into Spain, compelled a change of 
 politics in that kingdom. During this contest, the 
 British were not always successful in their battles by 
 land, but their naval victories were unprecedentedly 
 splendid. The principal of them were, that of Lord 
 Howe over the French fleet, on the 1st of June, 1794 ; 
 that over the Spaniards, by Sir John Jervis, (now Lord 
 St. Vincent) on the 14th of February, 1797; another 
 in the same year, by Admiral Duncan, over the Dutch 
 fleet, October 11th ; and the total defeat of the French 
 fleet in the Nile, by Admiral Nelson, on the 1st of Au- 
 gust, 1798. On the 21st of October, 1805, the British 
 fleet, consisting of 27 sail of the line and 4 frigates, un- 
 der the command of Admiral Lord Nelson, engaged the 
 combined fleets of France and Spain, off Trafalgar, 
 near Cadiz, consisting of 33 sail of the line and 4 fri- 
 gates, 18 French and 15 Spanish : after a desperate 
 conflict of 4 hours, 19 of the combined fleet struck their 
 colours, and a French 74 was blown up. In this me- 
 morable engagement, Admiral Nelson was killed about 
 the middle of the action, by a ball in his left breast. 
 From these, and a number of inferior conquests, nearly 
 the whole of the French, Dutch, and Spanish marine, 
 have fallen into the hands of the British. 
 
 The union of Great- Britain and Ireland took place on 
 the 1st day of January, 1801 ; and the Imperial Par- 
 liament met at Westminster, on the 22d of January, in 
 the same year. 
 
 From the late failure of the coali-ion, upon the conti- 
 nent, Great-Britain must now contend with the gigantic 
 power of France, and probably with a part of that very 
 coalition, single handed. 
 
100 History of all hations.' 
 
 The official return of the volunteer force in England, 
 as made out at the war-office, on the 4th of November, 
 1804, biates the whole number to be three hundred and 
 thirty -five thousand two hundred and nine effective men ; 
 oi whom two hundred and ninety-seven thousand five 
 hundred and two are infantry, thirty-one thousand five 
 huudred cavalry, and six thousand two hundred and se- 
 ven artillery ; making, with the regulars and militia, an 
 army of five hundred thousand. 
 
 irom this statement, we should naturally draw the 
 conclusion, that if the emperor of the French, in an 
 evil hour, should seriously attempt to invade b ngland, 
 and by some astonishing caprice of fortune, evade its 
 " wooden walls," he will meet with a warm reception, 
 from so many sturdy John Bulls, aided by heroic sans- 
 culottes Caledonians, and the gallant sons of hibernia* 
 Let us rather hope 
 
 That blood and carnage -will subside, 
 And Europe's sons in peace abide : 
 That commerce, like the wind, be free, 
 And mankind live in amity: 
 
 However desirable such an event may be, we can 
 never expect the consummation of our present philan- 
 thropic wishes, till the gospel of truth (which inculcates 
 fraternal benevolence towards our fellow men of every 
 hue and clime) shall influence the minds of the rulers 
 of nations. 
 
 Ancient history furnishes us with numerous instances 
 wherein rulers have felt power and forgot right. * 
 What the emperor of the French has recently done, and 
 is doing by land, and Great-Britain b} sea, fully corro- 
 borates what the historic page relates of the natural ten- 
 dency of the human mind to inordinate ambition and 
 the abuse of power. 
 
 Language.— The English language is compounded 
 of several others, but more particularly of Saxon, Cel- 
 tic, French, and Latin ; but the former predominates. 
 This, instead of rendering it defective, gives it innume- 
 
 * The American government has hitherto been an honourable exeeptiqs. 
 
England. 101 
 
 rable graces, since it has incorporated most of the 
 beauties, and rejected the defects of the languages of 
 which it is composed. Hence, it is said, to be more 
 energetic than the French, more manly than the Italian, 
 more copious than the Spanish, and more elegant than 
 the German. 
 
 (Religion. — The established religion of England is 
 a protestant episcopal church ; but all sorts of religions 
 are either connived at or tolerated. The king of Great- 
 Britian is acknowledged as supreme head of the Angli- 
 can church, governed by two archbishops and twenty- 
 four suffragans, each of these enjoying the title of lord, 
 and have precedent immediately after viscounts, in par- 
 liament, &c. The two archi-episcopal sees, are those 
 of Canterbury and York. The archbishop of Canter- 
 bury is stiled the primate of all England, is ihe first peer 
 in the kingdom ; precedes all dukes and great officers 
 of the crown, next to the royal family ; and performs 
 the ceremony of the coronation. 
 
 A short delineation of the English constitution as it stands 
 at present. 
 
 The legislative power resides in parliament, and the 
 constituent parts of parliament are king, lords, and com- 
 mons. Each house has a negative on the other, and the 
 king on both. 
 
 The executive power of government is lodged in the 
 crown — the king is the chief magistrate — the chief of 
 all courts of judicature — the fountain of honor — super- 
 intendant of commerce — head of the church — comman- 
 der- in-chief of the sea and land forces — arbiter of peace 
 and war — and responsible to no judicature. 
 
 These powers of the crown are thus limited and res- 
 trained : The king is dependent on parliament for all 
 subsidies — the parliament must be assembled once in 
 three years— the king cannot alter the established reli- 
 gion — he cannot interfere with the courts of judicature 
 in the administration of justice — cannot alter the standard 
 of money — cannot raise land forces, without the consent 
 
102 History of all Nations. 
 
 of parliament. — The king's ministers are responsible 
 for all public measures. Freedom of debate in parlia- 
 ment cannot be questioned, &c« &c. 
 
 chapter xiv. * 
 
 5PAIN. 
 
 Under the Carthaginians, — The Romans, — The Vandals, 
 — And the Moors. — Arragon aud Castille under Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella. — Expulsion of the Moors — Disco- 
 very of America. 
 
 At the western extremity of the ancient world, is 
 situated Spain ; once a great and powerful kingdom. It has, 
 in every age, invariably preserved the same natural lim- 
 its ; the Pyrenaean mountains, the Mediterranean, and 
 the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 Its native inhabitants were divided into a number of 
 small independent tribes, of which those called the 
 Celtiberians, Cantaberians, and Asturians, were the most 
 powerful. 
 
 Prior to the conquests of the Carthaginians, we know 
 nothing of the transactions of these barbarians. This 
 opulent and powerful state subdued all the southern 
 parts of Spain, where they built Gades, now called Ca- 
 diz. They were dispossessed by the Romans, b. C. 
 191, who gradually reduced the whole country to a Ro- 
 man province, in which situation it flourished four cen- 
 turies under the protection of the emperors. 
 
 During this period, Spain enjoyed perfect tranquility 
 and domestic happiness. Its cities were numbered 
 with the most illustrious of the Roman world. The va- 
 rious plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and the mine- 
 ral kingdoms, was improved and manufactured by the 
 skill of an industrious people ; and the peculiar advanta- 
 ges of naval stores contributed to support an extensive 
 and profitable trade. 
 
Spain. 103 
 
 Orrthe decline of the Roman empire, in the beginning 
 of the fifth century, this remote and sequestered coun- 
 try became a prey to the Suevi, the Vandals, and the 
 Alani ; barbarians that poured with an irresistable tor- 
 rent from the frontiers of Gaul to the sea of Africa, and 
 fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country. 
 In the division which they made of the kingdom, Galli- 
 cia was shared between the Suevi and the Vandals ; the 
 Alani were scattered over the provinces of Carthagena 
 and Lusitania, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic 
 Ocean ; and the fruitful territory of Bcetica was alloted to 
 the Silingi, another branch of the Vandalic nation.* 
 
 At the request of the Roman emperor, Honorius, the 
 Gothic king, Adolphusf (or Athulosus,) who had mar- 
 ried his sister Placidia, A. D. 414, turned his arms 
 against the barbarians of Spain, whom he subdued, and 
 founded the kingdom of the Goths, called the Visigoths, % 
 A. D. 411. His palace was at Barcelona. 
 
 The last of the Gothic kings in Spain was Roderic, § 
 The Mahometan religion was already established in ma- 
 ny countries. Mahomet, its founder, who had erected 
 at Mecca a spiritual and temporal kingdom, died in 
 632 ; and his countrymen, the Arabs or Saracens, 
 soon after over- ran great part of Asia. They were 
 masters of Mauritania, || now Barbary, when count Ju- 
 lian, whose daughter king Roderic had dishonored, im- 
 plored their aid. With a powerful army they crossed 
 the Straits, invaded vSpain, and, by the decisive battle of 
 Xeres in Andalusia, A. D. 712, subverted the kingdom 
 of the Visigoths, in that region of Europe. Muza, vice- 
 roy of Africa, under the caliph Walid, completed the 
 conquest of Spain. 
 
 A small remnant of the Gothic monarchy maintained 
 itself among the mountains of Asturia, where Pelagius, 
 
 • Idacius. Mariana. Gibbon. Playfair. 
 
 ■j- Brother-in-law of Alaric. 
 
 j Or Western Goths : Ostrogoths were those who settled east. 
 
 §. Isidor. Chron. Goth. &c. 
 
 f\ From thence called Maures, or Moors. 
 
104 History of all Nations. 
 
 the successor of Roderic, retired in the year 718, with 
 a multitude of Christians, and founded the little king- 
 dom of Asturias, or Oviedo, as it was afterwards called, 
 which he defended by his valor, and transmitted to his 
 posterity. Garcias Ximenes also, in 758, founded tie 
 kingdom of Navarre, which became one of the most 
 considerable Christian principalities in Spain. 
 
 Spain, thus conquered by the Saracens, was alloted to 
 governors dependent on the vicero}^ of Africa till 750, 
 at which time a revolution happened in the Mahometan 
 government, which gave birth to another in Spain. Ci- 
 vil wars arose among the Moslem themselves, which the 
 caliphs, or vicars, the successors of Mahomet, were 
 unable to quell. At length that august dignity, which 
 included both the highest regal and sacerdotal eminence, 
 passed from the family of the Omniades to that of the 
 Abassides.* 
 
 Abdurrahman, called also Almanzor, a prince of 
 the Omaadline, not finding himself secure in Africa, fled 
 into Spain, where he founded an independent ki gdcm, 
 including all the provinces that had been subject to the 
 Moorish government. He fixed his residence at Cor- 
 doua, which he made the seat of the arts, of magnifi- 
 cence, and pleasure. This family kept possession of the 
 throne about 300 years. 
 
 In the beginning of the eleventh century, the race of 
 Abdurrahman being extinct, the kingdom of Cordoua 
 was dismembered. The haughty grandees usurped the 
 title of king, and many petty principalities were founded 
 on the ruins of this great empire. Toledo, Valentia, 
 Seville, Saragossa, and almost every city in Spain, were 
 governed by an independent sovereign. The provinces 
 were changed into kingdoms, which multiplied in the 
 same manner among the Christians, who had a king of 
 Leon, of Navarre, of Castille, of Arragon, Sec. &c. 
 
 In this divided state, Spain long remained ; and wars 
 were continually carried on between the Christ- 
 
 * Modern Europe. 
 
Spain. 105 
 
 sans and Moors. This was the age of gallantry and 
 knight-errantry . f 
 
 In the 15th century, all the kingdoms in Spain, Portu- 
 gal excepted, were united, by the marriage of Ferdinand, 
 king of Arragon, to Isabella, sister of Henry IV. king 
 of Castille. In 1492, Ferdinand conquered Grenada, 
 which completed the extinction of the kingdom of the 
 Moors in Spain, after it had continued about eight years. 
 The expulsion of the Jews followed, and the establish- 
 ment of the inquisition prevented their return. Ferdi- 
 nand took the title of King of Spain and Catholic Ma- 
 jesty. 
 
 At this time Christopher Columbus, patronised by 
 the Spanish queen Isabella, sailed from the port of Palos 
 in Andalusia, and discovered the Archipelago of Ameri- 
 ca, to which he gave the name of West-Indies. In a 
 second and third voyage he discovered the continent of 
 the New World, to which Americus Vespusius after- 
 wards gave his own name. 
 
 Charles I. grandson of Ferdinand by his daughter 
 Joanna, who had married Philip, archduke of Austria, 
 succeeded to the crown of Spain in the year 1516, and 
 was afterwards elected emperor. After a long and tur- 
 bulent reign, he formally resigned the crown to his son 
 Philip II. January 1556, and shut himself up in a mon- 
 astery, where he died. 
 
 Philip II. thus became possessed of Spain, the 
 Netherlands, and some Italian states, together with all 
 his father's dominions in Africa and America. The 
 reign of this monarch is an interesting object of atten- 
 tion. He was a gloomy, jealous, haughty, vindictive and 
 inexorable tyrant. He married Mary of England, and 
 
 f Besides the many kings at this time in Spain, who amounted to near 
 the number of twenty, there were also many independent lords, who came 
 on horseback completely armed, and followed by several 'squires, to offer 
 their service to the princes and princesses engaged in war. The princes 
 with whom these lords engaged, girded them with a belt, and presented 
 them with a sword, with which they gave them a slight blow on the 
 shoulder ; and hence the origin of knight-errants, and of the number of 
 single combats which so long desolated Spain. — Turner. 
 
 O 
 
106 History of all Nations. 
 
 by his influence involved that kingdom in a war with 
 France. Italy and the low countries were the scene of 
 hostilities ; and the French being defeated by the com- 
 bined armies of England and Spain, in the famous bat- 
 tle of St. Quintin, Philip erected the Escurial, a palace 
 in the neighborhood of Madrid, in honor of the victory. 
 Zealous for the catholic religion, he resolved to extirpate 
 heresy from his dominions. A sanguinary persecution 
 followed ; and seven provinces of the Netherlands formed 
 a league of union in the common defence of their civil 
 and religious liberties. They chose William I. prince 
 of Orange, their general, admiral, and chief magistrate, 
 with the title of Stadtholder. This treaty was signed at 
 Utrecht, A. D. 1579. On the death of Don Henry, 
 king of Portugal, there arose a competition for the va- 
 cant throne. Philip, victorious over his competitors, 
 obtained that kingdom, and annexed it to his own do- 
 minions, A. D. 1580. The Spanish monarch afterwards 
 projected the conquest of England, and equipped the 
 Invincible Armada. The Spaniards were defeated, and 
 their armament totally destroyed. In the midst of 
 forming new plans for the support of popery, Philip 
 died, A. D. 1598. 
 
 Spain, which during the reign of Philip II. had been 
 one of the most formidable powers of Europe, declined 
 in her influence in the succeeding reigns. 
 
 Philip III. succeeded to the crown. The finances 
 were in a most disordered state. He was compelled to 
 conclude a disadvantageous peace with the Dutch. He 
 expelled the remaining Moors and Jews from Spain ; and 
 his court became a scene of faction and intrigue. 
 
 Under Philip IV. who succeeded in 1621, the 
 disorders of the kingdom increased. The losses and 
 defeats of the Spaniards in all parts were very great. 
 Brasil was taken by the Dutch, and Catalonia revolted 
 to France. Portugal, exasperated with the load of their 
 taxes, rebelled. The duke of Braganza* caused him- 
 
 * Whose grandfather had been deprived of his right to the erown of 
 Portugal by Philip II, 
 
Spain. 10T 
 
 self to be proclaimed king, and was acknowledged by 
 the whole nation under the title of John IV. From 
 this period, Portugal has been independent.. He died 
 A. D. 1665, leaving the Spanish crown to his infant 
 son, 
 
 Charxes II. two years old. His continual sickly 
 bad state of health made his death daily expected. 
 There being no prospect of issue, a secret treaty of par- 
 tition was entered into by William of England, Louis 
 of France, and the states of Holland, that on the event- 
 ual demise of the king of Spain, his dominions should 
 be divided among them. Charles, to defeat this scheme, 
 signed a will, by which he left the whole to Philip duke 
 of Anjou, second son of Louis, dauphin of France, who 
 succeeded under the name of 
 
 Philip V. The emperor* refusing to acknowledge 
 hip title, entered into a treaty with the king of England, 
 and the States General of the United Provinces, the 
 avowed object of which was, " To procure satisfaction 
 " to his imperial majesty, in regard to the Spanish suc- 
 *' cession; to obtain security to the English and Dutch 
 " for their dominions and commerce; to prevent the 
 " union of the two great monarchies of France and 
 " Spain ; and to hinder the French from possessing the 
 * ' Spanish dominions in America, t ' ' This confederacy, 
 which was called the grand alliance, kindled the 
 flames of war, and involved great part of Europe in 
 blood, till the peace of Utrecht, A. D. 1713, confirmed 
 him in his dignity. This weak but virtuous prince, 
 the first of the house of Bourbon who sat on the Spanish 
 throne, died 1746, leaving the crown to his son, 
 
 Ferdinand VI. a mild pacific prince, whose reign 
 is, in consequence, barren of events. He was thrown 
 into a deep melancholy by the death of his queen, and 
 breathed his last on the 10th of August, 1759. 
 
 * Philip IV. left two daughters ; the eldest, Maria Theresa, married to 
 the king of France, and the other to the emperor ; both these princes, there- 
 fore, took up arms about the right of succession. 
 
 ( f Voltaire, Lamberti, D« Torcy, 8cc, 
 
108 History of all hatiom. 
 
 His brother, Charles III. succeeded to the govern- 
 ment of Spain. In 1761, he entered into a cor- 
 respondence with the court of Versailles, which ter- 
 minated in the famous family compact, concluded 
 by the four sovereigns of the house of Bourbon, against 
 England and her allies. This compact produced mu- 
 tual declarations of war by the courts of London and 
 Madrid, and the greatest preparations were made by 
 both for commencing hostilities with vigour and effect. 
 The year following terminated the war, and restored 
 peace to Europe. The year 1767 is memorable for the 
 expulsion of the Jesuits. Spain renewed hostilities with 
 England in the year 1779, and failed in the favourite ob- 
 ject of the war, the recovery of Gibraltar. Peace was 
 concluded with England in 1783, and Charles III. died, 
 and was succeeded by his son, 
 
 Charles IV. who is the present reigning sovereign. 
 The indecent reception of the interference of the court 
 of Madrid in favour of Louis XVI. and the subsequent 
 execution of that unfortunate monarch, induced his ca- 
 tholic majesty to declare war against France on the 22d * 
 of March, 1793. 
 
 The repeated defeats of the Spanish armies by the 
 French, obliged his catholic majesty, in 1795, to de- 
 tach himself from the confederacy. This conduct gave 
 the greatest pleasure to the generality of the Spanish na- 
 tion ; France was delighted with so great a dimunition 
 of the coalition, and a treaty of peace was concluded at 
 Basle, in the month of July, by which his catholic ma- 
 jesty ceded ail his part of Hispaniola, in the West- In- 
 dies ; and the convention agreed to restore all their con- 
 quests in Spain. It was also agreed that Spain should 
 recognize the French and Batavian republics. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1796, Spain was drawn 
 into an alliance with the French republic, and persuaded 
 to declare war against Great- Britain. Spain is at present 
 at war with Great- Britain ; and so great is the influence 
 of the emperor of the French over the king of Spain, 
 that he dare not make peace without his permission 1 
 
Portugal 109 
 
 Religion. — The religion of the church of Rome is 
 practised in Spain with the greatest scrupulosity and 
 pomp. In no country is there more praying and cere- 
 mony, and less real Christianity. The Spaniards are in- 
 deed mere slaves to the clergy, who so artfully hood- 
 wink them, that they do not perceive the chains they 
 wear; or, if they perceive them, bear them willingly ; 
 and, when -they gall them, dare not so much as vent a 
 sigh after freedom. Under any disappointment, either 
 in views of avarice or ambition, the clergy have their 
 dreadful inquisition at hand, which seizes both on ho- 
 nour asd life ; so that the most unspotted innocence es- 
 teem it a great favour to come off only with the loss of 
 their ibrtune. But the power of this horrible and ty- 
 rannical tribunal is now much reduced by the interposi- 
 tion of the late and present kings of Spain. 
 
 chapter xv. 
 
 PORTUGAL. 
 
 Ancient Inhabitants — Discoveries of the Portuguese hi 
 the Fifteenth Century — Freed from the Spa?iish 
 Yoke. 
 
 The kingdom of Portugal now fills the place of the 
 warlike country of the ancient Lusitanians, in that great 
 peninsula at present so unequally divided between two 
 sovereigns, and shared the fate of the other Spanish pro- 
 vinces in the fall of the Roman empire, being succes- 
 sively subject to the depredations of the Suevi, the 
 Goths, and the Moors. 
 
 It regained its liberty about the middle of the twelfth 
 century, by the valour of Henry of Lorraine, grandson 
 of Robert king of France. This young prince assisted 
 Alphonso, king of Castile and Leon, so effectually 
 against the Moors, that the Castilian monarch rewarded 
 him with Theresa, his natural daughter, and that part of 
 
1 10 History of all Nations. 
 
 Portugal which had been recovered by the Christians 
 from the Saracen invaders, with the title of Earl, for her 
 fortune. 
 
 His son Alphonso Henriquez succeeded as earl A. 
 D. 1095 ; and having obtained a decisive victory over 
 five Moorish kings,* July 25, 1129, his soldiers pro- 
 claimed him king, and the holy see confirmed his regal 
 dignity. t The kings of Portugal, like those of Spain, 
 long spent their force in combating the Moors, and had 
 no connexion with the rest of Europe. A detail of 
 those barbarous wars would be equally void of instruc- 
 tion and amusement. I shall therefore only observe 
 that the succession continued uninterrupted in the house 
 of Alphonso, till the death of Ferdinand, in 1383, 
 when John of Castile, who had married the infanta of 
 Portugal, claimed the crown, as the king had left no male 
 issue. But the states of Portugal, after an inter-reg- 
 num of eighteen months, gave it to John, natural broth- 
 er of their deceased sovereign. 
 
 This John, surnamed the Bastard, no less politic 
 than enterprising, proved worthy of his new dignity. — 
 Under the direction of his son, prince Henry, a bold and 
 enlightened genius, the Portuguese first projected dis- 
 coveries in the Western Ocean. The island of Madei- 
 ra A. D. 1442, the Azores, and the Cape de Verd isl- 
 ands, were discovered, and added to the dominions of 
 Portugal. 
 
 His great grandson, John II. a prince of the most 
 profound sagacity and extensive views, first made Lis- 
 bon a free port. The Portuguese under this reign prose- 
 cuted their discoveries with ardour and success. The 
 river Zara, on the other side of the Line, conducted 
 them to the kingdom of Congo, in the interior part of 
 Africa, where they made easy conquests, and establish- 
 ed an advantageous commerce A. D. 1484. Captain 
 Diaz passed the extreme point of Africa, to which he 
 
 * On this occasion he assumed the present arms borne by the kings ot 
 Portugal ; viz. five Moors" heads. 
 \ Neufville, Hist, gen de Port. 
 
Portugal. Ill 
 
 gave the name of the Stormy Cape ; but the king, who 
 saw more full) 7 the importance of that discovery, styled 
 it the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Emanuel adopted the plan of his predecessors. He 
 sent out a fleet under the command of Vasco de Gama, 
 who encircled the eastern coast of Africa, and ranging 
 through unknown seas, happily arrived at the city of 
 Calicut, on the coast of Malabar, on the higher part of 
 the western side of the great peninsula of India A. D. 
 1498.* Other vessels were sent out under the com- 
 mand of Alvarez de Cabral A. D. 1580, who discover- 
 ed Brasil, &c. 
 
 His son John III. admitted the new-founded order of 
 the Jesuits A. D. 1510, of which he was a member, 
 previous to any other European prince. — He sent a 
 multitude of missionaries to convert the eastern nations, 
 and among the rest, the famous Francis Xavier, founder 
 of the order. 
 
 Sebastian, his grandson, began to reign A. D. 
 1557. Smit with a passion for military glory, this 
 prince determined to signalize himself by an expedition 
 against the Moors in Africa, where his ancestors had ac- 
 quired so much renown, in which he and his army per- 
 ished. Leaving no issue, 
 
 His uncle, cardinal Henry, ascended the throne ; who 
 also dying without children, many competitors for the 
 crown appeared ; among whom were Philip II. king of 
 Spain, nephew to Henry by the mother's side; the duke 
 of Braganza, married to the grand-daughter of Emanuel ; 
 Don Antonio, prior of Crato, bastard of the infant Don 
 Lewis ; the duke of Savoy, the duke of Parma, Cathe- 
 rine of Medicis, and pope Gregory XIII. who, extraor- 
 dinary as it might seem, attempted to renew the obsolete 
 claim of the holy see to the sovereignty of Portugal. 
 Philip prevailed over his rivals, and was proclaimed 
 king of Portugal, Sept. 12, 1580. 
 
 Portugal remained sixty years under the dominion 
 of the kings of Spain. Irritated by the despotic rule of 
 
 * Modern Europe. Hist . Ge'n. des Voyages, torn. i. 
 
112 History of all Nations. 
 
 their Spanish governors, they had long sought to break 
 their chain. At length the dissatisfaction became so 
 general, that a plot was formed in favor of the duke of 
 Braganza, whose grandfather had been deprived of his 
 right to the crown by Philip II. The revolt began at 
 Lisbon, December 1, 1664. John duke of Braganza 
 was raised to the throne under the title of John IV. 
 almost without bloodshed, and Portugal became again 
 an independent kingdom. The recovery of Brasil, 
 which had been conquered by the Dutch, restored it, in 
 a great measure, to its former lustre. 
 
 His son, Alphonso VI. succeeded in 1665, but, on 
 account of his cruelties, was deposed, and the sceptre 
 was transferred, A. D. 1668, to his brother, 
 
 Peter II. who, by a dispensation from the pope, 
 married the daughter of his brother Alphonso. He 
 reigned peacefully thirty years, and left the crown to his 
 son, 
 
 John V. under whose mild government the arts began 
 to flourish. 
 
 Joseph II. his son, filled the throne on the death of 
 his father, A. D. 1750. In this reign Portugal was 
 visited by a more dreadful calamity than even war itself. 
 A violent earthquake, November 1, 1755, laid the city 
 of Lisbon in ruins. About ten thousand persons lost 
 their lives, and many of the survivors, deprived of their 
 habitations, and altogether destitute of the means of sub- 
 sistence, were obliged to take up their abode in the open 
 fields. But they were not obliged to perish. The 
 British parliament, though pressed with new demands to 
 prosecute a war they had just entered into against 
 France, generously voted one hundred thousand pounds 
 sterling, for the relief of the unhappy sufferers; and 
 this noble instance of public liberality was enhanced by 
 the manner of conferring the benefit. A number of 
 ships, laden with provisions and cloathing, were imme- 
 diately dispatched for Lisbon, where they arrived so 
 opportunely, as to preserve thousands from dying of 
 hunger and cold, f 
 
 ■f Smollet. 
 
Poland. 113 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1777, Joseph died, and 
 was succeeded by his daughter, 
 
 Mary Frances Isabella, who married, by a dis- 
 pensation from the pope, her uncle, Don Peter, brother 
 to the late king, and is the present reigning sovereign ; 
 but the deranged state of her mind is such, that the king- 
 dom is manuged by a regency. 
 
 Religion. — The Portuguese, like the Spaniards,, 
 believe that Christianity was made known to them by 
 the apostle James the elder : in their religious notions 
 they are very bigotted. The Inquisition, which was in- 
 troduced by king John III. and has since been set up in 
 all the Portuguese dominions, except Brazil, is very ac- 
 tive in detecting those they call heretics, and no less ri- 
 gorous in punishing them. Impious, cruel, and inhu- 
 man as this tribunal is, yet its festivals or solemn burn* 
 ings, called auto da fe, or the act of faith, used to af- 
 ford the highest delight to the infernal bigots, who, 
 while their fellow creatures, the supposed heretics, were 
 burning in the flames, cried aloud, " Oh, what great 
 goodness! Praised be the holy office ! !" Blasphemy, 
 sodomy, heresy, and the conversion of the Jews, at pre- 
 sent come under the cognizance of this terrific tribunal. 
 
 POLAND. 
 
 Situation — Lech — Dukes — Woy woods — Cracus Piast 
 — Third Race of Kings — Demolition. 
 
 Poland, anciently called Sarmatia, is bounded on the 
 north by the Baltic and the province of Livonia ; on the 
 east by Russia and Tartary ; on the south by Hungary ; 
 and on the west by Germany. 
 
 This extensive tract of land being abdicated by its 
 original inhabitants, who, on the fall of the Roman em- 
 pire, joined the plunderers of the north, and migrated 
 in hopes of obtaining a more fertile and cultivated 
 
114 History of all Nations . 
 
 country, fell into the hands of a vagrant people, who, un- 
 der Lech, had left the dreary coasts of the Cimmerian 
 Bosphorus. This revolution took place, it is supposed, 
 in the year of the Christian aera five hundred and fifty. 
 His descendants kept possession for two centuries, under 
 the title of Dukes. The events that we find recorded dur- 
 ing this period, may be justly considered as fabulous. 
 
 On the extinction of the family of Lech, Poland was 
 governed by twelve Palatines, or Woywoods, who 
 divided the kingdom into the same number of provinces, 
 erected a kind of aristocracy, and in a great measure po- 
 lished this rude and barbarous people. Parties and 
 dissentions soon after arising, their former government, 
 under a duke or prince, was re-established, and the su- 
 preme command given to Cracus, who expelled the 
 East-Franks out of his country, built the city of Cra- 
 cow, and restored the republic to its tranquility, A. D. 
 700. 
 
 After his posterity (who enjoyed the ducal crown 
 till the commencement of the ninth century) failed, 
 anarchy and confusion for some time succeeded; at 
 length the Poles, to put a period to the horrors of a ci- 
 vil war, invested Piast, at that time a low peasant, 
 with supreme power. He governed with singular suc- 
 cess, and his family flourished for several ages after in 
 Poland. It is remarkable, that all the natives of the 
 country, who are chosen kings, are to this day called 
 Piasts. 
 
 BoleslausCbobray, the fifth in succession from 
 Piast, having made great additions by conquest, solici- 
 ted the emperor, Otho III. to erect his ducal dominions 
 into a kingdom, for which he did the emperor ho- 
 mage, and agreed to hold his territories of him as a fief 
 of the empire. This happened in the year 1000 ; from 
 which time the sovereigns of Poland, who before had 
 been satisfied with the title of Duke, assumed the more 
 honourable appellation of King. 
 
 Little is recorded of the immediate successors of Bo- 
 leslaus, except the civil wars and intestine commotions, 
 which were very frequent. 
 
Poland. 115 
 
 With Casimer III. A. D. 1370, the dynasty of the 
 Piasts ended, after it had continued five hundred and 
 twenty-eight years. 
 
 His nephew, Lewis, at that time king of Hungary ^ 
 succeeded to the throne of Poland. On his demise, 
 his youngest daughter, Hedwigis was crowned queen. 
 She married Jag ell o Uladislaus, duke of Lithua- 
 nia, who was elected king, A. D. 1384, and annexed 
 his paternal dominions to the Polish monarchy. This 
 prince was the founder of the third race of sovereigns, 
 called the Jagellonic line, which, though the crown is 
 elective, sat on the throne till A. D. 1572, under whose 
 administration, Poland, which had been till then a scene 
 of anarchy, began to be of some consideration in the 
 north. 
 
 On the death of Sigismund, the last of the Jagello fa- 
 mily, without issue, two powerful competitors ap- 
 peared ; Henry, duke of Anjou, brother to Charles 
 IX. king of France ; and Maximilian, duke of Austria. 
 Henry prevailed, A. D. 1574 ; but his brother dying 
 the next year, he quitted Poland to ascend the throne of 
 France. 
 
 He was succeeded, at the request of the Turks, by 
 Stephen Battori, prince of Transylvania. This 
 monarch governed with great wisdom ; he instituted the 
 two courts of judicature at Peterkaw and Lublin, and 
 subdued the Cossacks. He was succeeded, A. D. 
 1586, by Sigismund IH. the son of John, king of Swe- 
 den, by Catharine, sister of Sigismund II. who being 
 afterwards elected king of Sweden, and aspiring to the 
 crown of Russia also, was engaged in long and bloody 
 wars, but was at length obliged to rest satisfied with the 
 throne of Poland. 
 
 His son, Uladislaus, who succeeded him, A. D. 
 1632, saw the beginning of the fatal defection of the 
 Cossacks. These people inhabit the borders of the Bo- 
 risthenes, or Nieper, one of the largest rivers in Europe, 
 which has its source in a morass, in the Walshouskei 
 forest, runs in a great many windings through Lithu- 
 ania, and empties itself into the Black Sea, between 
 
116 History of all Nations, 
 
 Oczakow and Kilburn. The lives of these rude and 
 uncivilized people are, in every respect, like those of 
 the ancient Scythians and Tartars. All this part of the 
 world, to the north-east of Europe, was then in a savage 
 state. It was the exact image of the heroic ages, when 
 mankind were contented with the necessaries of life, 
 and pillaged those necessaries from their neighbours. 
 The Polish nobility treated these Cossacks, after they 
 had been conquered by Battori, as their vassals and 
 slaves. These oppressions at length caused the whole 
 Cossack nation to revolt; and, joining the Russians and 
 Turks, for a long time they continued to commit hor- 
 rid depredations on the territories of Poland. 
 
 Uladislaus died without issue. He had two brothers, 
 both in holy orders ; the one a cardinal, the other bishop 
 of Breslau and Kiow, who pretended to the vacant 
 throne. 
 
 John CasimiR, the cardinal, was elected in opposi- 
 tion to his brother. This prince having been spectator 
 for upwards of twenty years to the desolation of his 
 kingdom, by factions at home, and by the incursions of 
 the Swedes, Russians, and Cossacks, abdicated the go- 
 vernment, and retired to Paris, where he died abbot of 
 St. Germain des Pres A. D. 1687. 
 
 Poland was equally miserable under his successor 
 Michael Coribut, whose reign was one continual se- 
 ries of misfortunes. The Turks conquered Podolio, 
 and Volhinia, and became so formidable that Poland 
 could not support itself, but by becoming tributary to 
 the Ottoman Porte. The grand marechal (general) of 
 the crown, John Sobieski, washed out this stain in the 
 famous and bloody battle of Chockzim, in which the 
 Turks were totally defeated, and Poland delivered from 
 its tribute, 
 
 This signal victory secured Sobieski's election to the 
 crown on Michael's death. This martial prince entered 
 into an alliance with the emperor of Germany, for the 
 common defence of the Christian cause against the 
 Turks. He defeated them with great slaughter, and 
 obliged them to raise the siege of Vienna with the ut* 
 
Poland. 117 
 
 most precipitation, leaving behind them their tents, 
 artillery, and baggage. Sobieski died, after a glorious 
 reign, A. D. 1696. 
 
 Frederic-Augustus, elector of Saxony, was next 
 chosen king, in opposition to his competitor, the prince 
 of Conti. The state was at this time distracted by the 
 most violent convulsions. Augustus having entered 
 into an alliance with Peter I. of Russia, against Charles 
 XII. king of Sweden, the Swedish monarch resolved 
 to dethrone him. After having experienced the great- 
 est reverses of fortune, Augustus was compelled to re- 
 sign the crown in favor of Stanislaus Leezinski, prince 
 of Posnania, supported by the king of Sweden, A. D. 
 1705. Peter, czar of Russia, chastised the arrogance 
 of Charles ; and after the famous battle of Pultowa, in 
 which the king of Sweden lost in one day the fruits of 
 nine years successful warfare, invited the elector of 
 Saxony to re-ascend the throne. — Stanislaus was thus 
 forced to relinquish his authority, and Augustus found 
 himself once more in possession of the Polish throne. 
 
 On his death,* Stanislaus (now become father-in-law 
 to Lewis XV.) was a second time chosen king. But 
 the emperor, assisted by the Russians, obliged the 
 Poles to proceed to a new election. The elector of Sax- 
 ony, son of the late king of Poland, who had manied 
 the emperor's niece, was invested with the sovereignty, 
 under the name of Augustus III. and Stanislaus, as 
 formerly, was forced to abandon his crown. 
 
 After the death of Augustus, which happened A, D. 
 1763, a diet was summoned to deliberate on the elec- 
 tion of a new king. The principal candidates for the 
 crown were prince Czartorinski, count Poniatowski, 
 General Braniki, and prince Xavierus of Saxony son of 
 the former king. After several tumultuous meetings, 
 
 * A. D. 1733. Augustus was endowed with extraordinary bodily 
 strength, a sound understanding, a social disposition, and many princely 
 accomplishments. It was this Augustus who in a fit of galantry twisted a 
 horse-shoe in the presence of a fine woman, in order to give her some 
 idea of his personal powers ; and at the same time presented to her a purse 
 of gold, to make her sensible of his k generosity. Lore perhaps never 
 epoke a more eloquent language 
 
1 18 History of all Nations, 
 
 count Poniatowski was, by the influence of Russia, pro- 
 claimed king, A. D. 1764, by the title of Stanislaus- 
 Augustus. 
 
 The reign of this monarch was one continued scene 
 of confusion and distress ; and, in the year 1792, the 
 same power that elevated him to the throne was the cause 
 of his overthrow. It was to no purpose that he had for- 
 merly been one of the paramours of the empress of 
 Russia. Lust was a feebler passion than ambition, in 
 the breast of Catherine. She had formed the design of 
 subjugating Poland, and she was not to be turned from 
 it, by either justice to the country, or tenderness for 
 the favourite of her early years. The perfidy of the 
 court of Berlin led it to become an associate of Russia ; 
 and the emperor of Germany soon joined in this dis- 
 graceful operation. The consequence was, that Poland 
 is now no more ; that unfortunate country has been par- 
 titioned amongst its rapacious neighbours. Stanis- 
 laus died at Petersburg, on the 11th of February, 
 1798. 
 
 Religion. — The Poles were first converted from 
 idolatry to the Christian religion about the year 964, by 
 St. AJdebert, afterwards archbishop of Gnesna. The 
 reformation began very early to make great progress in 
 Poland, and the majority of the senators and nobility 
 became members of either the Lutheran or Calvinisti- 
 cal communion. To remove all the dangers arising 
 from different religious persuasions, a law was passed in 
 the Diet of Valna, in 1563, by which every subject 
 professing the Christian religion was entitled equally to 
 the rights, privileges and immunities, as well as the 
 honors and dignities of the kingdom. This law was 
 confirmed five years after, at the Diet of Grodno, A. D. 
 1568. 
 
 The moderation which subsisted for a long time 
 among the different persuasions was uninterrupted, and 
 served as the strongest cement to the state ; this close 
 union was the more meritorious, as the most civilized 
 and best regulated governments in Europe were at that 
 period deeply embroiled in religious contentions. In 
 
Italy. 119 
 
 1586s, Sigismund, began his reign. He was a weak and 
 bigotted man, educated by the Jesuits, and through his 
 influence the Roman Catholics gained the ascendancy : 
 During the whole of his long and inglorious reign he 
 persecuted his Protestant subjects with unrelenting se- 
 verity. By the new constitution of Poland in 1768, 
 the Catholic faith was declared to be the established 
 religion of the country, with a toleration to all religious 
 persuasions. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 ITALY. 
 
 The ancient inhabitants of Italy were the triumphant 
 conquerors and rulers of the world. The softer arts 
 have now taken place, and seem the chief employment 
 of the modern Italians. Painting was indeed introduced 
 at Rome by CaiusFabius, and was brought to consi- 
 derable perfection before the time of Augustus ; but a 
 corrupt taste soon after prevailing, the politer arts were 
 obliterated, and by degrees sunk into oblivion. Since 
 the decay of the Roman empire, painting paid Italy a se- 
 cond visit, and the masters that excelled in it for a long 
 time preserved an unrivalled reputation. 
 
 Italy has produced great men in all sciences, and for- 
 merly gave birth to those generals, orators, poets, and 
 historians, whose actions and writings will be revered 
 as long as manly fortitude, polite learning, and elegant 
 composition, are considered as the ornaments of human 
 nature. Yet its state of literature cannot now be deemed 
 considerable, though encouraged not only by several 
 universities > but by a multiplicity of academies or lite- 
 rary societies, which are to be found in almost every 
 city. 
 
 The Italian language was originally derived from the 
 Latin, with which the many nations of Goths, Huns, 
 Vandals, &c. that overran Italy, so mingled their dia- 
 
120 History of all Nations. 
 
 lect as to give birth to a new language, at first very 
 harsh, but gradually polished, and softened into its pre- 
 sent agreeable smoothness. Its genius seems particu- 
 larly adapted to poetry and music ; for which the Itali- 
 ans are also famous ; and hence the Italian singers are 
 more admired and more liberally paid than those of any 
 other nation. 
 
 The Popish is the only religion generally tolerated in 
 Italy, and here the pope has his seat, in quality of head 
 of the church of Rome. The Jews indeed are indulged 
 with a kind of toleration ; but it is in most places under 
 great restrictions; except that they enjoy an entire liber- 
 ty respecting religion in the city of Leghorn. 
 
 The pope is chosen from among the cardinals ; and 
 before we describe the manner of his election, it will be 
 proper to take some notice of those dignitaries. The 
 word cardinal was a name common, in ancient times, 
 to the presbyters and deacons of great churches ; but in 
 the eleventh century the presbyters and deacons of the 
 church of Rome restricted the appellation to themselves, 
 and their power increased in proportion to that of the 
 pope. The first dawn of their grandeur appeared under 
 pope Nicholas IL who began his pontificate in the year 
 1058. Innocent IV. at the council of Lyons, in 1243, gave 
 them the red hat ; Boniface VIII. the red vestments, 
 about 1294 ; and Urban VIII. in 1631, the title of Emi- 
 nentissimi, but before they were only styled Illustrissi- 
 mi. Sixtus V. at the council of Basil, fixed their num- 
 ber at seventy, in allusion to the number of Christ's dis- 
 ciples ; but this number is seldom complete. 
 
 The conclave is the theatre on which the cardinals 
 principally display their genius and address. The de- 
 cease of the pope is made known to the people of Rome 
 by tolling the great bell of the capitol, firing the 
 cannon of the castle of St. Angelo, and opening the 
 prisons; and, soon after, circular letters are sent to fo- 
 reign cardinals by the cardinal cammerlingo to invite 
 them to the approaching conclave. Mean while the 
 cammerlingo acts as regent, is attended by the pope's 
 life-guard, and orders every thing necessary for opening 
 
Italy. 121 
 
 the conclave, which is held in the galleries and some of 
 the anti- chambers of the Vatican, and consists of a num- 
 ber of small rooms, separated by wooden partitions, 
 and distributed by lot both among the cardinals then in 
 Rome, and those that are absent. Each has usually 
 two, one for himself, and one for two attendants called 
 conclavists. 
 
 On the eleventh day after the pope's demise, all the 
 cardinals in the city meet in the morning, at St. Peter's 
 church, where the mass Sancti Spiritus is celebrated ; 
 and after a sermon on the duties to be observed in the 
 election of a pope, they proceed two by two into the con- 
 clave, which is then shut up by the governor and mar- 
 shal of the conclave, none being let out, unless in case 
 of illness, till a new pope is elected, and the person so 
 let out is not allowed to return. The governor of the 
 conclave is always previously chosen by the cardinals, 
 and, together with the marshal, resides at the entrance 
 of the Vatican, and without their express licence no 
 person is suffered to go in or out. 
 
 While the cardinals sit in conclave, refreshments are 
 brought them in baskets, or boxes, which are searched, 
 though not with much stricfriess. Each cardinal or- 
 ders his conclavist to write down on a slip of paper the 
 name of the person to whom he gives his suffrage. — 
 This is thrown into a chalice, on the altar of the chapel 
 of the conclave, and two cardinals, appointed for that 
 purpose, successively read aloud the notes, making the 
 number of votes for every cardinal. He who has two- 
 thirds is declared pope ; otherwise the scrutiny is repeat- 
 ed till this number is complete. If this mode of elec- 
 tion does not prove effectual, recourse is had to another, 
 called AccessuSy whereby the notes of the former scruti- 
 ny being set aside, every cardinal must give in writing 
 his vote to another ; and if by this way two-thirds do 
 not appear, there is still another resource called Inspira- 
 tio, in virtue of which those of the cardinals w T ho are 
 unanimous come out of their cells and call aloud to each 
 other, " Such a one shall be pope, such a on© shall be 
 pope;" upon which, others, to avoid incurring the 
 
122 History of all A ations. 
 
 displeasure of the newly elected pope, frequently join ia 
 the cry, and thus the election is sometimes carried ; but 
 if this also fails, the scrutiny begins again, and a con- 
 clave in this manner sometimes proves a tedious and 
 perplexed business. 
 
 The emperor, with the kings of France and Spain, 
 are allowed to put a negative upon the person thus cho- 
 sen to the popedom ; but this protest must be made 
 before the complete declaration of the votes for such a 
 person. It is required that the pope be an Italian, and at 
 least fifty years of age, though the age most commonly 
 insisted upon is between sixty and seventy. When the 
 election is over, and the pope elect has declared what 
 name he will bear in future, the chief of the cardinal- 
 deacons proclaim him to the people. His coronation 
 with a triple crown is generally performed eight days 
 after. 
 
 The revenues of the pope are very large, the coun- 
 tries of which he is sovereign as a temporal prince being 
 considerable. No person in Rome must sell any wine 
 or fruit till the pope and his nephews, as they are called, 
 with their dependants, have disposed of what is consign- 
 ed to them from their domains and estates. The an- 
 nates, or first fruits and masses of the great consistorial 
 benefices, the pallia, and investitures of archbishops and 
 bishops, the jubilee year indulgences, dispensations, 
 canonizations, promotions of cardinals, subsidies of the 
 clergy, convent collections, &c. continually bring vast 
 sums into the papal treasury from all Roman catholic 
 countries. The annual income of the pope is generally 
 computed at eight millions seven hundred thousand 
 scudi ; (or, 1,848,750/. sterling.) 
 
 In 1791, Pope Pius excommunicated those bishops, 
 who admitted the ecclesiastical constitution established 
 by the national assembly of France. This measure was 
 treated with contempt by the French ; it exposed the 
 vanity of the pretensions of the pontiffs, and shewed 
 how low their power was fallen. The effigy of Pius, 
 clad in his pontifical robes, and holding in his hand the 
 
Italy. 12,3 
 
 brief of excommunication, was publicly burnt in Paris. 
 Avignon was shortly after incorporated with France. 
 
 The court of Rome now joined the confederation 
 against the Republic of France, in 1796. Bonaparte led 
 his victorious troops over the Alps. He was every 
 where successful, and the battle of Lodi decided the 
 fate of Lombardy. Verona, Mantua, &c. quickly 
 yielded to his arms. He menaced even imperial Rome ! 
 Terrified at this invasion of his territories, the pope sued 
 for an armistice, which was granted to him on these, 
 among other conditions — -that his holiness should sur- 
 render to the conquerors a great many pictures and sta- 
 tues, and some hundreds of the most curious manu- 
 scripts, from the Vatican library. 
 
 But Bonaparte had no sooner retired, than the few 
 French who remained at Rome, were insulted by the 
 populace, at the instigation of the monks, and their lives 
 greatly endangered. The court of Rome, also, began 
 to use more haughty language ; and by sending troops 
 into the field, to infringe the treaty they had lately con- 
 cluded. 
 
 In the following year (1797) a division of the French 
 army, commanded by general Victor, entered the papal 
 territories. The pope's troops, consisting of four thou- 
 sand foot, and one thousand horse, posted on an advan- 
 tageous ground, waited his arrival. The Senia was in 
 front of their strong entrenchments ; but as the season 
 was dry, the French forded the river, and came upon 
 their rear. They broke the line of the papal army at 
 the point of the bayonet. After a defence by no means 
 contemptible, the papal troops were routed ; five hun- 
 dred were slain and wounded, above a thousand made 
 prisoners, and fourteen pieces of cannon taken. The 
 loss of the French did not exceed one hundred men. 
 This battle decided the fate of the ecclesiastical states. 
 The banners of imperious France now waved triumphant 
 over the patrimony of the church. 
 
 The pope was compelled to cede to the French re- 
 public Avigon and Venaissm, Bologna, Ferrara, and 
 Romagna, He engaged likewise to pay thirty thousand 
 
124* * History of all JSations, 
 
 French livres to the republic, and to fulfil the condi- 
 tions of the treaty of armistice formerly agreed to. In 
 order to prevent the future power of the Roman pontiff, 
 the newly ceded territories, together with those of Reg- 
 gio and Modena, which have already confederated them- 
 selves, were now formed into one republic, while the 
 Milanese, and other districts of Lorn bardy, were formed 
 into another. Thus the power and importance once an- 
 nexed to the see of Rome, were annihilated. Thus 
 the influence of France in Italy was established on the 
 surest foundation — the necessity of a faithful adherence 
 to it by those states that depended on it for their preser- 
 vation. 
 
 Joseph Bonaparte now arrived, as ambassador from 
 the directory to the court of Rome ; and with resolution 
 and firmness, demanded that the pope should expel the 
 French emigrants from his dominions, diminish his mi- 
 litary force, and set at liberty all persons arrested for 
 their opinions on political subjects. 
 
 The democratic party in Rome were now embold- 
 ened : they aimed not at the reformation, but at the to- 
 tal suppression of the papal government. In their en- 
 deavours, they requested assistance from the French 
 ambassador, who, however, gave them no encourage- 
 ment, and exorted them to desist from an attempt, 
 which he represented to them as rash and impractica- 
 ble, forbidding them, at the same time, to apply to him 
 for countenance in any such undertaking. Notwith- 
 standing this, trusting to the protection of France, in 
 case of success, the revolutionary party assembled, on 
 the 27th of December, 1797 ; but being hardly one 
 hundred in number, they were entirely dispersed bv 
 the military, of whom however they wounded some, 
 and killed two or three. In this affray the insurgents 
 wore the French cockade, and a suspicion arose that 
 they had acted at the instigation of the French ; but the 
 ambassador of the republic disclaimed all the individuals 
 who, on that occasion, had assumed it. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day the insurrection 
 was '"renewed, and became more serious. About twenty 
 
Italy. 125 
 
 of the insurgents repaired to the palace of the French 
 ambassador, and, proclaiming the Romans a free people, 
 begged the protection of France. The ambassador or- 
 dered them to depart, and advised them to proceed no 
 further in a frantic resistance to a government that was 
 able instantly to crush them. Meanwhile the insurrec- 
 tion was increasing, and the invirons of his palace were 
 filling with crowds, that shouted, " Live the republic, 
 live the Roman people!" The ambassador now pre- 
 pared to exert his authority to disperse the multitude ; 
 but before he could address them, they were fired upon, 
 through the gates of the palace, by the military, 
 who pursued the flying crowd into the court. The 
 French ambassador, demanding by what authority they 
 entered his precinct, bid them instantly retire. His or- 
 ders were disregarded ; they again fired upon the in- 
 surgents, and killed and wounded many of them. As 
 they seemed preparing another volley, General Dupho f , 
 who accompanied the ambassador, marched up to them ; 
 but while expostulating with them, while seizing the 
 musket of one, and preventing another from firing, he 
 was shot through the body by a soldier, and when dead 
 was treated with the utmost indignity. To avoid the 
 fury of the soldiers, the ambassador and his attendants 
 made the best of their 4 way through a private path, 
 that led to the gardens of his palace ; there, on his re- 
 turn, he found many of the insurgents dead or wounded, 
 and ordered the gates to be shut. 
 
 The French ambassador, however, retired to Flo- 
 rence, and the republican party at Rome began to con- 
 sider itself in the certain road to success. They were 
 not disappointed. Under pretence of avenging the af- 
 front offered to the French nation, in the person of its 
 ambassador, General Berthier, with a large division of 
 the French and Cisalpine army, marched to the city of 
 Rome, and on the 11th of February, 1798, took posses- 
 sion of the castle of Angelo. A proclamation was now 
 issued by Berthier, in which he declared the intent of 
 his mission was to bring to justice the authors of the 
 assasination of General Duphot, and of Basseville, se- 
 
126 History of all Nations, 
 
 cretary of legation to the French embassy at Rome, in 
 1795, and to take the citizens of Rome under his pro- 
 tection. The insurgents soon after proclaimed the 
 Roman republic, and planted the tree of liberty in the 
 most public places of the city. In compliance with 
 their desire, Berthier likewise entered the city in much 
 state and splendour, and proceeded to the capitol, amidst 
 an immense multitude. There, after invoking the 
 manes of Brutus, Cato, Cicero, and other illustrious 
 names of antiquity, he declared that the French re- 
 public, professing the principles of national sovereignty, 
 acknowledged the independence of the Roman republic. 
 The organization of the new commonwealth was im- 
 mediately proceeded upon. Communes, principalities, 
 and national guards, were, under the auspices of Ber- 
 thier, instituted in every part of the Roman state, and 
 liberty of conscience was allowed. On the entrance of 
 the French into Rome, the Pope was confined in the Va- 
 tican, where he was guarded by five hundred men : 
 seals were also placed on the apartments of all the ponti- 
 fical palaces, and upon those of all the cardinals that were 
 absent. A contribution of four millions livres in specie, 
 two millions in provisions, and three in horses, were 
 demanded. In order to secure the payment of this re- 
 quisition, four cardinals, four bishops, and four princes, 
 were detained as hostages. 
 
 In the year 1799 the aged father of the catholic church 
 was torn from his retirement by the French, who now 
 yielded to the triumphant arms of SuvorrofF, and carr 
 ried by them to Valence, whither as he passed through 
 Dauphiny, he was every where received, by multitudes 
 of people, with sentiments of sympathy, respect, and 
 veneration. They fell on their knees, and demanded his 
 blessing ; which he bestowed in a kind, affecting, and 
 graceful manner. After an indisposition of several days,, 
 he expired at Valence, on the 19th of August, in the 
 82d year of his age. 
 
 Not long after, General Gamier, French commander 
 in Rome, surrendered the Roman territory, by capitula- 
 tion, to the English commodore, Trowbridge ; and in 
 
Holland. 127 
 
 the year 1800, notwithstanding the rapid conquests of 
 Bonaparte, the papal government was restored. The 
 conclave for the election of a successor to Pope Pius 
 VI. was held under the auspices of the emperor, at 
 Venice. The ecclesiastic honoured with the pontificate, 
 was Cardinal di Chiaranionte, a man of good sense, and 
 mild and unassuming manners. As it was customary 
 for the new pontiff to assume the name of the pope who 
 had promoted him to the dignity of cardinal, Chiar- 
 anionte took that of Pius VII. The emperor, on his 
 election, presented him with a sum of money ; but did 
 not at first restore any part of the papal dominions. 
 However, after the battle of Marengo, when he became 
 apprehensive of the loss of his power and influence in 
 Italy, he resolved to have the credit of delivering up to 
 the Pope the greater part of the ecclesiastical state, ra- 
 ther than that it should fall into either the possession or 
 disposal of other hands. Pius VII. took possession of 
 the see of Rome in July, and began to exercise the func* 
 tions of sovereignty with great dignity and moderation. 
 He was soon after acknowledged by the French repub- 
 lic, and had the satisfaction to conclude with Bonaparte, 
 the convention or concordat, (1802) which, under cer- 
 tain limitations, established the Roman catholic religion 
 in France. 
 
 The pope, it is said, has been solicited to resign. The 
 papal chair is to be occupied by Bonaparte^s Uncle 
 cardinal Fesch, who is to reside at Avignon and the 
 states of the church, which together with the kingdom of 
 Etruria (Tuscany) are to be united to the kingdom of 
 Italy. 
 
 CHAPTER XVH. 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 The Netherlands, with that part of Germany which 
 lies west of the Rhine, was possessed by the Romans, 
 who called it Gallia Belgica : but upon the decline of the 
 Roman empire, the Goths, and other northern people, 
 
128 History of all Nations. 
 
 took possession of these provinces, as they passed 
 through them in their way to France and Spain, and 
 here erected several small governments which were a 
 kind of limited monarchies, whose sovereigns were 
 stiled dukes, counts or lords. These provinces were 
 seventeen in number: viz. four dukedoms; Brabant, 
 Limburg, Luxemburg and Guelders i seven earldoms ; 
 Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Holland, Zealand, Namur 
 and Zutphen : five lordships ; Friesland, Malines, U- 
 trecht, Overyssal and Groningen; beside Antwerp, 
 which has the title of marquisate of the Roman empire. 
 The people enjoyed great privileges under these princes, 
 who were contented with preserving them, because the 
 smallness of their dominions made their greatest strength 
 consist in the affection of their subjects ; but afterwards, 
 when all these provinces became subject to the house of 
 Burgundy, which held large dominions elsewhere, the 
 people were treated with less indulgence. From Bur- 
 gundy they passed to the house of Austria : Charles V. 
 was the first prince of this house, and, as he was king 
 of Spain, emperor of Germany, and duke of Burgun- 
 dy, he had different interests from those of his prede- 
 cessors ; and being engaged in a war with France, he 
 brought foreign forces from his other dominions into 
 the Netherlands, notwithstanding the express laws to 
 the contrary. 
 
 At length the Reformation gaining ground here, that 
 prince published very rigorous edicts against those who 
 separated from the Romish church ; and Grotius 
 affirms, that during his reign above a hundred thousand 
 persons suffered death for their religion ; but the num- 
 ber and courage of those who embraced the doctrines 
 of the Reformation, instead of being diminished by the 
 horrors of persecution, daily increased, and sometimes 
 the people rescued out of the hands of the officers those 
 who were leading to execution. Thus the Netherlands 
 became extremely alienated from the house of Austria, 
 and their discontents increased on Charles' abdicating 
 his throne in favor of his son Philip II. This prince, 
 who treated his Flemish subjects with much more auster- 
 
Holland. 129 
 
 iy than his father had done, would admit only of the 
 Polish religion ; and a sanguinary persecution against 
 the heretics, as they were called, was carried on With 
 fresh rigour ; a court, resembling that of the inquisition, 
 was erected, and these cruelties were aggravated by 
 insupportable taxes ; but at the time when Philip left 
 the Netherlands, he appointed the prince of Orange 
 governor over four of those provinces. 
 
 The house of Nassau, of which the prince of Orange 
 was, derives its chief title from the eleven counties 
 of the principality of Nassau, in the imperial circle of 
 the Upper Rhine. 
 
 These oppressions being exercised with the most 
 tyrannical fury by Ferdinand of Toledo, duke of Alva, 
 whom Philip had created governor, the Netherlands 
 made a strong effort for their freedom, and William 
 prince of Orange, in conjunction with his brother 
 count Louis of Nassau, undertook the defence of the 
 inhabitants, in their noble struggles for religion and 
 civil liberty. Accordingly the states of Holland, in 
 their own names, conferred the stadtholdership, a title 
 equivalent to lieutenant, on the former, and several 
 other towns and provinces declared for him. He first 
 united them, in 1576, in one general association, under 
 the title of " The Pacification of Ghent." But this un- 
 ion being soon dissolved, the prince laboured to the ut- 
 most of his power to form a more durable alliance, 
 which he happily accomplished in 1579. In that year 
 the celebrated league of Utrecht was concluded, which 
 gave name to the United Provinces, and became the 
 basis and plan of their constitution. The prince of 
 Orange was afterwards on the point of being nominated 
 the sovereign of these countries, but was treacherously 
 shot in 1584, by an assassin named Belthazar Gerhard, 
 who had assumed the name of Francis Guyon. This 
 man was supposed to have been hired to perpetrate the 
 murder by the Spanish ministry, but no tortures could 
 force a confession from him. The United Netherlands, 
 however, continued to maintain, sword in hand, that 
 liberty to which they had raised themselves: queen 
 
 R 
 
130 History of all Nations. 
 
 Elizabeth of England took them under her protection, 
 and rendered them essentia), assistance. When the earl 
 of Leicester, the favourite of that queen, was sent over 
 by her to the Netherlands, in the year 1685, the states 
 appointed him governor and captain -general of the Uni- 
 ted Provinces, or in other words their stadtholder ; but 
 his haughty carriage, and unskilful manner of conduct- 
 ing the war, soon rendered him unpopular, and the 
 next year he returned to England. The Dutch, being 
 afterwards better supported by the English, baffled all 
 the attempts of the Spaniards, and their commerce ar- 
 rived at such a pitch, that in 1602 their celebrated East 
 India company was established ; and Spain being both 
 weakened and discouraged by the ill success of a tedious 
 war, in 1609 agreed to an armistice for twelve years, 
 and in the very first article of the treaty acknowledged 
 the United Netherlands to be a free and independent 
 state. During this truce the republic attained to a de- 
 gree of power which it has never since exceeded. — 
 These signal successes were principally obtained by the 
 able conduct of prince Maurice of Nassau, the second 
 son of the first stadtholder, and to the same dignity this 
 prince was chosen when only twenty -one years of age. 
 He conducted the affairs of the states, during twenty 
 years, with great ability and success. The latter part of 
 this prince's government was sullied by cruelty and in- 
 gratitude ; for he procured the condemnation and death 
 of the pensionary Barnevelt, to whose influence he owed 
 his elevation. This man was sacrificed to his opinions, 
 for he was an Armenian in religion and a republican in 
 politics, but his death caused the political principles for 
 which he suffered to spread more widely. Those who 
 opposed the stadtholder were afterwards t ailed "the Lou- 
 vestein party," from De Witt, burgomaster of Dort, 
 and five other members of the states general, being im- 
 prisoned in that castle for maintaining such sentiments. 
 In 1621 the war was again renewed, during which the 
 stadtholder, prince Frederic Henry, youngest son of the 
 first William, who succeeded on the death of his half 
 brother prince Maurice, in 1625, greatly distinguished 
 
Holland. 131 
 
 himself. This war was brought to a period in 1648, by 
 the peace of Minister, by which treaty Philip IV. king 
 of Spain, renounced all claim to the United Nether- 
 lands. 
 
 In 1652 a war broke out between the United Pro- 
 vinces and England, which latter country was then 
 brought under a republican form of government. This 
 war was terminated two years after, by a treaty, in which 
 the states of Holland engaged for ever to exclude the 
 house of Orange from the stadtholdership of their pro- 
 vince. 
 
 In 1665 another war was kindled with England, at 
 which time that country had regained its regal constitu- 
 tion : this war continued until the treaty of Breda.— - 
 The states of Holland and West Friesland then pas ed 
 an edict, by which they abolished the stadtholdership in 
 their province. This was effected by the influence of 
 the grand pensionary De Witt. When France formed 
 a design to seize on the Spanish Netherlands, the United 
 Provinces entered into an alliance with the crowns of 
 England and Sweden for the defence of those countries : 
 by which France was, in 1668, compelled to agree to 
 the peace of Aix la Chapelle ; but soon took a severe 
 revenge by breaking that alliance, and inducing England, 
 with some other powers, to enter into a league against 
 the United Provinces, on which a war ensued. In this 
 critical juncture the republic, in 1672, nominated Wil- 
 liam, the young prince of Orange, captain and admiral 
 general : and the populace compelled the states of Hol- 
 land to invest him with the stadtholdership, which two 
 years after was declared hereditary in his family. 
 
 He was the fifth stadtholderand the third of that name : 
 he married the princess Mary, eldest daughter of James 
 II. of England, and became king of England. 
 
 In 1678 a peace was concluded with France, atNime- 
 guen ; but it was of no long continuance, for in 1688, 
 the states supporting their stadtholder in his expedition 
 to England, with a fleet and a large body of troops, 
 France declared war against them, which continued till 
 the peace of Ryswic in 1097. At length, on the death. 
 
132 History of all J\ations. 
 
 of Charles II. king of Spain, in the year 1700 the 
 Spanish provinces fell to the share of the house of Aus- 
 tria, and the republic became involved in a war respect- 
 ing that succession, which continued till the peace of 
 Utrecht, in 1713. 
 
 William died king of England and stadtholder of the 
 United Provinces in 1 702. He appointed John William 
 Fiizo, prince of Nassau Dietz, his sole heir, who was 
 born 1687, and was drowned in crossing an arm of the 
 sea at Mardyke, 14th July, 1711. Three months after 
 his death his widow was delivered of a son, who was 
 christened William, and afterwards became stadtholder* 
 but on the death of William III. that office was laid 
 aside, until, in 1722, the province of Guelders elected 
 him their stadtholder, notwithstanding the remonstran- 
 ces of the other provinces. 
 
 In the general war which broke out in Europe in 
 1756, the Dutch, by taking no part in the quarrel, were 
 perhaps the greatest gainers, supplying the belligerent 
 powers with naval and military stores ; and when the 
 dispute between Great-Britain and the American colo- 
 nies rekindled the flames of war, the most essential as- 
 sistance was procured both to America and France, by 
 means of the Dutch settlement at St. Eustatius, and of 
 the freights brought by their ships. At length it was 
 discovered, by the capture of an American packet, that 
 a treaty between the American states and the province 
 of Holland was actually adjusted, and that Mr. Laurens, 
 late president of the congress, was appointed to reside 
 at Amsterdam in a public capacity. This occasioned the 
 court of London first to cancel all treaties of commerce 
 and alliance which then subsisted between that kingdom 
 and the United States, and soon after, in December 
 1780, to issue a declaration of hostilities against the re- 
 public. The resentment of Great-Britain proved ex- 
 tremely fatal to the possessions and wealth of the Dutch ; 
 the island of Sl Eustatius, with a large fleet of valuable 
 merchant ships, fell an easy prey to a naval and military 
 force under the command of Admiral Rodney and Ge- 
 neral Vausrhan ; several homeward bound East- India 
 
Holland. 13'3 
 
 ships, richly laden, were either taken by the English or 
 destroyed. JKegapatnam, on the Coromandel coast, and 
 their chief settlement on the island of Ceylon, were 
 wrested from them. 
 
 Con stitution . — The Seven United Provinces form 
 seven republics, or independent sovereign states, united 
 together for their common defence in a close alliance ; 
 but on conditioa that all shall enjoy their own respective 
 laws, liberties, and privileges. As they are confede- 
 rated and allied together, it is requisite that they should 
 meet, in order to consult on the most proper method of 
 promoting their common interest ; but it being impos- 
 sible for all the members of the several states to meet 
 together, each particular state appoints some person to 
 represent it ; and the assembly of these representatives 
 is called " The Assembly of the States General. " 
 
 The States General, however, not only make peace or 
 war in their own name, but send and receive ambassa- 
 dors and other public ministers. The commander in 
 chief, and all other military officers, take an oath of fide- 
 lity to them ; and, during a war, some of their members, 
 or of the council of state, follow the army, sit in the 
 council of war, and their consent is requisite previous 
 to any thing of importance being undertaken. In time- 
 of war the States likewise grant licences and protec- 
 tions. 
 
 Thus the States General appear at first view to be the 
 sovereigns of the country : but most of these deputies 
 are appointed only for a few years, and though they 
 have the power of debating on the most important af- 
 fairs that may tend to secure or promote the preserva- 
 tion or happiness of the state, yet they have not power 
 to conclude any point of great consequence, without 
 previously communicating it to their respective provin- 
 ces, and receiving their express consent. This renders 
 the resolutions of the republic so tedious and dilatory, as 
 to tire the patience of those powers who have affairs to 
 negociate with the states ; but though this slow method 
 of proceeding is attended with many inconveniences, it 
 has some advantages : it affords leisure for caution and 
 
134 History of all Nations. 
 
 mature deliberation, and is sometimes an unexception- 
 able pretence for protracting business, and waiting to see 
 what events may turn up. 
 
 In the assembly of the States General each pro- 
 vince presides weekly in its turn, beginning with 
 Guelderland, who had the precedency before the union ; 
 then Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Overyssel, 
 and Groningen. He who is first named in the deputa- 
 tion of his province, presides, and is from that called the 
 " President of the week." They sit throughout the 
 whole year without adjournment, and their meetings are 
 always held at the Hague. 
 
 The highest office in this country is that of Stadt- 
 holder, for he is at the same time governor- general of 
 the Seven UnitecFProvinces, captain-general, and grand- 
 admiral ; but his power is extremely limited. He 
 swears to obey the States General, and can neither make 
 peace nor war without their consent. He may come to 
 their assembly, to lay before them any business in which 
 the public is concerned ; but has not ordinarily a seat in 
 it. He may pardon criminals condemned to suffer 
 death, and has the right of choosing the magistrates of 
 cities upon a double nomination of their respective se- 
 nates, excepting only Amsterdam, with several other 
 important privileges. 
 
 The title assumed by the States, is that of " High 
 and Mighty Lords," or, " The Lords of the States Ge- 
 neral of the United Netherlands;" and in public ad- 
 dresses they are stiled " their High Mightinesses." 
 
 The council of state consists of twelve deputies of the 
 several provinces, and their office is either triennial or 
 during the pleasure of their principals. In this coun- 
 cil the deputies of Holland have the greatest weight, 
 that province being possessed of three votes, while none 
 of the others have more than two, and some of them only 
 one. The presidentship indeed is held alternately by 
 the twelve members, each in their week. The title of 
 this council is " Noble and Mighty Lords." 
 £ The foregoing History has reference to the state of this 
 country previous to the French Bovohition.~\ 
 
Holland. 135 
 
 In the year 1791, the emperor of Germany seized 
 the Dutch forts in the neighbourhood of Sluys, and de- 
 manded the opening of the Scheldt, and ordered a ship 
 of his to sail down that river, and upon its seizure by 
 the Dutch, lost no time in putting his army in motion, 
 with all the appearance of commencing an immediate 
 war. This demand of the emperor was finally settled by 
 the Dutch paying ten millions of florins. 
 
 An intimate alliance was formed in 1784, be- 
 tween the courts of Versailles and the Hague, which 
 stipulated that either party should supply the other with 
 an auxiliary force upon being attacked. In 1785, the 
 internal commotions on the United Provinces greatly 
 attracted the attention of Europe. Two parties, for the 
 last two centuries, had been continually struggling for 
 superiority. The first of these was the family of Or- 
 ange; the second, that of the states and of the town 
 councils. 
 
 From the death of the patriotic De Witts, Barnevelts, 
 and of William the second, the republic had declined, 
 and instead of venerable patriots and distinguished con- 
 querors, Europe had been accustomed to regard them 
 as a nation of merchants, pursuing wealth, in contempt 
 of every other quality and accomplishment. It is well 
 known that the oligarchy, for a number of years previ- 
 ous to 1785, entertained the design of excluding the 
 stadtholder, and of stripping him of his disproportionate 
 authority. 
 
 The first efforts of liberty appeared in the city of 
 Utrecht. The citizens formed the plan of entirely ex- 
 cluding the stadtholder from any influence in the nomi- 
 nation of the four governments ; and at the same time 
 to communicate to the people a certain degree of authori- 
 ty, and to share in the election of the senates and magis- 
 trates, as well as several other prerogatives of no consi- 
 derable^ importance. The first measure adopted was to 
 present a petition to the states of the province of Utrecht, 
 demanding the abolition of the regulation of regency 
 established in 1674, which was the foundation of the 
 principal part of the obnoxious authority of the stadt- 
 
136 History of all Nations* 
 
 holder in the election of the town governments, and by 
 which he was accustomed arbitrarily to obtrude what* 
 ever person he pleased to a seat in the senate. Six de- 
 puties were appointed by the assembly of the magis- 
 trates of Amsterdam to mediate the differences which 
 had arisen at Utrecht ; and the projected reform was at 
 length published, which was certainly intended as a con- 
 ciliatory measure : but it was by no means attended 
 with the success expected. The spirit of reform which 
 began at Utrecht soon communicated its influence to 
 other towns and provinces, and the violence of the peo- 
 ple, at length, induced four of the council committee to 
 send a requisition to the stadtholder, demanding a body 
 of troops to restrain the citizens. The compliance of 
 the prince of Orange with the demand of troops pro- 
 duced the most unbounded spirit of indignation and 
 resistance in various parts of the republic. 
 
 The senate urged by the representatives of the peo- 
 ple shut their gates, brought out the cannon of their for- 
 tifications, and prepared for resistance. The people 
 were every where incensed at the conduct of the stadt- 
 holder, in endeavouring to silence their complaints, by 
 the introduction of an armed force. The stadt- 
 holder now called upon the states to support him, but 
 finding that he could obtain no answer to his remon- 
 strances, he withdrew from the Hague on the 14th Sept. 
 1785, with a resolution never to return to the palace of 
 his ancestors, till he should be reinstated in his prerog- 
 atives. 
 
 The troops had now yielded implicit obedience to the 
 provincial assembly, and formed a border along the 
 province of Utrecht; and soon afterwards the states 
 passed a resolution, depriving the prince of Orange of 
 the situation of captain- general. 
 
 The misunderstanding between the Stadtholder and the 
 republic had now (1787) gone so far, that it did not ap- 
 pear possible to terminate it in any other way than by the 
 sword. The king of Prussia and the court of France 
 both tried to mediate. The refusal of any concession, 
 however, by the Prince of Orange, brought the con- 
 
Holland. 137 
 
 ferences to a rapid conclusion. All the provinces were 
 now nearly unanimous, in refusing to yield to the stadt- 
 holder's pretensions, but Utrecht was still distracted. 
 Hostilities, however, soon commenced, when a rencoun- 
 ter happened between a party of the prince's forces and 
 the volunteers of Utrecht, on the former attempting to 
 secure the post of Vreeswyck^ in which they were de- 
 feated; In the mean time a terrible riot broke out in 
 Amsterdam, in favour of the stadtholder, which was 
 with much difficulty suppressed by the association of 
 the burghersj but not until much damage had been done 
 to the persons and properties of the inhabitants. A ge- 
 neral revolt broke out among the troops of the provinces ; 
 and for the purpose of co-operating with the revolters* 
 the prince of Orange took the field with his little army, 
 and encamped in the vicinity of Utrecht. While things 
 were in this state, the princess of Orange, sister to the 
 king of Prussia, a woman of a masculine, active, and ad- 
 venturous character, undertook a journey to the Hague, 
 from what motive never distinctly appeared, except, in- 
 deed the courts of Prussia and London wished for some 
 more immediate cause to go to war than what had yet 
 occurred. The princess was stopped in her journey by 
 the deputies of the patriots, and compelled to return ; 
 upon which she wrote to the states of Holland, charging 
 them with distrusting her intentions, and demanding an 
 ample and public reparation for the insults oifered 
 her. 
 
 The military interference of Prussia had already been 
 determined upon, and her armies had been put in mo- 
 tion. The states of Holland came to the resolution of 
 suspending the prince from the functions of stadtholder. 
 The duke of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian 
 forces, after several ineffectual remonstrances, at lengtli 
 began, his march, which resembled more a triumph than 
 a campaign. All the principal towns submitted upon 
 his appearance ; the volunteers were disbanded, and the 
 deputies came to the resolution of restoring the stadt- 
 holder to all his honours and prerogatives, and of invit- 
 ing him to repair to his former place of residence. Am- 
 
 s 
 
138 History of all Nations* 
 
 sterdam for some time made an ineffectual resistance, 
 but was at length obliged to surrender, together with 
 every other place in the hands of the patriots. 
 
 Thus, after a short campaign, the prince of Orange 
 made his triumphant entry at the Hague, and in the 
 space of twenty days 20,000 Prussians overcame that 
 republic which had so gallantly and successfully con- 
 tended with Philip the Second for its liberties, and Louis 
 the Fourteenth fGr its independence. 
 
 The revolution which occurred in France reinspired 
 the hopes of the patriots, and obtained for them promises 
 of support and assistance. Upon the execution of the 
 king of France, the French ambassador was ordered to 
 depart from the Hague ; war was declared against 
 Great- Britain and Holland jointly, but the complaints 
 against the latter were solely confined to the prince of 
 Orange, for ordering a Dutch squadron to join the Eng- 
 lish, &c. &c. 
 
 In 1793, the French sent an army under Dumourier, 
 to expel the stadtholder. By the aid of the British 
 troops, under the duke of York, the French were com- 
 pelled to retire within their own territories. 
 
 In the year 1794, the French having been very suc- 
 cessful against the Austrians, once more commenced 
 their march towards Holland, under the command of 
 two of their ablest generals, Pichegru and Moreau* 
 Sluys was speedily taken, and the English repulsed at 
 Boxtel. On the 19th of October the duke of York was 
 attacked and defeated at Puffleck, after which he imme- 
 diately retired behind the Waal with his army , while the 
 invading army prepared to besiege the neighbouring' 
 garrisons, notwithstanding the advanced season of the 
 year. Maestricht soon afterwards surrendered, as did 
 Nimeguen on the 8th of November, after a short siege, 
 though covered by the army of the duke of York. The 
 discontented patriots now began to raise their heads ; and 
 the stadtholder, finding it impossible to resist the im- 
 pending storm, desired leave to withdraw. He shortly 
 after sailed for England, where he met with a hospitable 
 reception. 
 
Holland. 139 
 
 In 1795, a French officer, with dispatches from general 
 Pichegru, entered Amsterdam, and repaired to the 
 house of the burgomaster. The tree of liberty was 
 planted next morning, while De Winter took possession 
 of the fleet which he was afterwards destined to command. 
 A complete revolution was thus effected through the Se- 
 ven United Provinces. Pichegru now entered Amster- 
 dam in triumph, and was received with transports of joy. 
 The principal cities were next occupied by French 
 troops. The States General, yielding to imperious ne- 
 cessity, now negociated with the invaders, and issued 
 orders to all the governors to deliver up all the fortifica- 
 tions on the first summons of the French, who, instead 
 of disarming the garrisons, only required them to take an 
 oath not to carry arms against the republic. 
 
 After the lapse of a short period, a treaty ' of alliance, 
 offensive and defensive, was concluded between the re- 
 public of France and that of the Seven United Provinces. 
 The conquest of Holland by the French, and the treaty 
 of alliance which speedily followed this event, produced 
 an entire change in the connection between that,country 
 and England. War was consequently declared by the 
 latter, and a great number of Dutch vessels were de- 
 tained, and all the property of that nation seized in Eng- 
 land. All the Dutch colonies in Asia were also either 
 obtained by stratagem, or seized after a short and inef- 
 fectual resistance. The capture of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, in 1796, produced a considerable sensation in Hol- 
 land. 
 
 Holland, or the late Batavian republic, has lately un- 
 dergone another revolution, and is now recognized un- 
 der the name of " the kingdom of Holland ;" of which 
 Louis Bonaparte, brother to the emperor of the French., 
 is sovereign. 
 
145 History of all Nations\ 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 SWISSERLAND. 
 
 The ancient Helvetians were a Gaulish or Celtic peo 
 pie ; and Helvetia, which received its name from them, 
 was divided into four cantons or territories. Julius 
 Caesar first reduced the inhabitants under the dominion 
 of die Romans, who founded colonies here ; and their 
 dominion continued till the fifth century, when the coun- 
 try was over-run by the Burgundians and Germans, and 
 at length became united to the German empire ; but 
 about the year 1300 the emperor Albert I. not only refus- 
 ed to confirm their ancient privileges, without deigning 
 to assign any cause for his refusal, but set over the 
 Swiss two noblemen who were alike stigmatized for 
 their avarice and arrogance ; their administration be- 
 coming insupportable, the people addressed their peti- 
 tions and complaints to the emperor, but without suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Thus countenanced, the tyrants gave a loose to their 
 disposition. One of them, Grisler, who was governor 
 of Underwald, set his hat upon a pole at Altorff, and 
 in the wantonness of power demanded that the same 
 respect should be paid to it as to himself. The histories of 
 Swisserland relate, that a man named William Tell 
 refused to submit to this indignity. Grisler gave orders 
 that he should be brought before him ; when, telling 
 him that he had heard he was an excellent marksman, 
 he commanded him to shoot an arrow at an apple which 
 he caused to be placed upon the head of Tell's son, 
 declaring at the same time that if he failed to hit it he 
 should be hanged. Tell, though with a trembling 
 hand, struck off the apple without touching his son, and 
 Jiereby saved his life ; but Grisler perceiving that the 
 marksman, though he was ordered to have but one 
 arrow, still retained one in his belt, demanded the rea- 
 son ; on which the intrepid archer declared, that had he 
 feeen so unfortunate as to have killed his son, the other 
 
Swisserland. 141 
 
 arrow he meant to have directed at the tyrant's heart. — 
 Grisler, who had promised to give him his life on his 
 acknowledging the truth, now ordered him to be bound, 
 and carried prisoner for life to a place on the lake of 
 Lucern ; but Tell happily escaped out of the boat in 
 crossing the lake, retired into the mountains, where he 
 waited for an opportunity of destroying the tyrant, and 
 at length shot him as he was passing along the road. 
 
 The people now universally expressed their abhor- 
 rence of the tyrants, and the inhabitants of Uri, Schwitz 
 and Underwald, who had from time immemorial posses- 
 sed the right of being governed by their own magis- 
 trates, with other important privileges, united in order 
 to defend themselves to the last extremity. For this 
 purpose they chose three commanders, gentlemen of 
 approved courage and abilities ; these were Wernber 
 Stauffach, Walter Furst, and Arnold Melchthal, who 
 secretly agreed to surprise and demolish the castles m 
 which the imperial governors resided. 
 
 These with the gen'rous rustics sate 
 
 On Uri's rock in close divan, 
 And winged that arrow sure as fate 
 
 Which ascertained the sacred rights of man. 
 
 This resolution being effected, these three places 
 joined again in a league for ten years, which gave birth, 
 to the Helvetic confederacy. The emperor Albert 
 thinking this a proper time for totally reducing these pla- 
 ces by force of arms, hastened to Baden to begin the pre- 
 paration ; but being on his return murdered by John of 
 Hapsburg, the design was dropped till the house of 
 Austria invented another pretence for falling on the Uni- 
 ted Cantons. These and other parts of Swisserland ad- 
 hering to the emperor Lewis of Bavaria, Frederick of Aus- 
 tria, his competitor, was so incensed, that he put the 
 inhabitants of Schwitz under the ban of the empire, be- 
 cause during their contest with the abbey of Einsidlen 
 they had made some of the monks prisoners : they were 
 accordingly excommunicated by the bishop of Con- 
 stance. Soon after, Leopold duke of Austria, in 1315, 
 
142 History of all Nations . 
 
 attacked the Confederates with an army of twenty thou- 
 sand men ; but was defeated at Morgarten in the canton 
 of Schwitz, notwithstanding the whole Swiss army did 
 not amount to more than 1300 men. Upon this event, 
 on the eighth of December in the same year, they en- 
 tered into a perpetual alliance. As this signaFvictory 
 was gained in the canton of Schwitz, and the men of 
 that district particularly signalized themselves in the ac- 
 tion, the other two cantons were from that time joined 
 to it by the common name of Switzers ; which name 
 has been since extended to all the other cantons and their 
 allies, on their being received into the union. The 
 firmness and intrepidity with which the Switzers con- 
 ducted themselves in the recovery of their liberties, were 
 equalled by nothing but the moderation with which they 
 behaved to their tyrannical rulers, whom they conduct- 
 ed out of their territories, and contented themselves 
 with exacting an oath from them that they would never 
 more set foot in the country. 
 
 In 1332 Lucern acceded to this alliance; in 1351 
 they were joined by Zurich and Glaris; and in 1352 
 their number was increased, by their being joined by 
 Zug and Bern. For the space of 125 years this con- 
 federacy was composed only of these eight cantons ; but 
 in 1481 Freyburg and Soluthurn, and in 1501 Basil and 
 Schaffhausen were admitted into the confederacy ; and 
 in 1513 Appenzel also acceded to it. 
 
 The federal union, however, extends no farther than 
 is necessary for their mutual defence, and accommoda- 
 ting differences that may arise between two or more 
 towns or cantons, and in all other affairs they are left to 
 their liberty, particularly with respect to concluding alli- 
 ances with foreign powers, their granting auxiliaries, re- 
 ceiving subsidies, permitting a passage to foreign troops, 
 and also in their transactions among each other ; as the 
 sending of envoys to foreign states, adjusting the value 
 of their coins, or calling them in, and other matters of 
 public concern ; though, both in their foreign and do- 
 mestic affairs, great pains are taken to produce ail una- 
 nimity of opinion, in order to add the geater weight to 
 
Swisserland* 143 
 
 their resolutions. Besides, every town and canton \s r 
 in itself, an independent state, enjoys the privilege of 
 modelling its own form of government, and of making 
 laws, without any obstruction from the other members 
 of the confederacy. 
 
 Thus the whole Helvetic confederacy properly con- 
 sists of thirteen distinct republics, or free states, united 
 by oath for their mutual security and defence. It has. 
 now for some centuries supported itself in an absolute 
 freedom and independency ; made wars, concluded trea- 
 ties, received and sent envoys from and to the several 
 European powers ; entered into alliances with them j 
 given what form they thought proper to their constitu- 
 tion; enacted laws and ordinances, both in temporal 
 and spiritual affairs ; and exercised all the variouspre- 
 rogatives of sovereignty. 
 
 By the peace of Westphalia in 1643, the Helvetic 
 confederacy was acknowledged to be a free state, even 
 by the emperor and empire ; at which time they were 
 so addressed by the French king, the king of Great 
 Britain, the king of Sweden, the king of Prussia, and 
 the Pope. 
 
 The form of government in the states of the Helve- 
 tic republic is in some aristocratieal, and jh others de- 
 mocratieal. Two of the former have supreme heads* 
 who are princes of the empire ; as the bishops of Ba- 
 sil, and abbot of St. Gall. The aristocratieal govern- 
 ments are the cantons of Zurich, Basil, and Schaffhau- 
 sen, with some incorporated places, as the towns of St. 
 Gall, Muhihausen, and Biel, which are governed by six 
 burgomasters ; the cantons of Bern, Lucern, Freyburg,. 
 and Solothurn, or Soleure, over which are appointed 
 justiciaries ; and Neuenburg and Geneva, where the 
 supreme power is lodged in bailiffs. The democratical 
 form of government prevails in the six cantons of Uri, 
 Schwitz, Underwald, Zug, Glaris, and Appenzel, which 
 are under the direction of landammen, and also some 
 variation in the eight acceding places, as the Grisons 
 and the Valais ; but in all of them every male from 
 sixteen years of age has a vote. Whether the govern- 
 
144 History of all Aatiorif. 
 
 ment be aristocratical, democratical or mixed, absolute! 
 or limited, a general spirit of liberty pervades and actu- 
 ates the several constitutions. 
 
 The revenues of the states are the usual imports, 
 tythes, annualincomes, payments annexed to the sove- 
 reignty, and their subsidies. 
 
 A general diet of the cantons usually meets once a 
 year, and continues in common not above a month. — 
 Their business is to consider of the methods most pro- 
 per to be taken for the common good and safety of the 
 whole Helvetic body. Besides which annual diet, each 
 canton has the liberty of summoning an extraordinary 
 one ; or a foreign minister may convoke one. The diet 
 is composed of two deputies from each canton, who 
 rank according to the order of their canton. The abbots 
 of St. Gall and Bienne send their deputies to it as allies. 
 One of the deputies from Zurich always presides on 
 these occasions. 
 
 Beside these general diets, there are two particular 
 ones : the one held at Arrow, in which are settled the 
 concerns of all the Protestant cantons; the other at Lu- 
 cern, in which the Roman catholic cantons transact the 
 affairs of their body. If the thirteen cantons send am- 
 bassadors to a foreign court, they do not delegate one 
 man to represent them all, but each canton appoints its 
 own ambassador, to shew its distinct and independent 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Stanyan, who seems to have studied the govern* 
 ment of the Swiss, as well as the genius of the people, 
 with great impartiality and discernment, passes the se- 
 verest censure upon their corrupt administration of jus- 
 tice. The code of Charles V. which is known by the 
 name of " the Caroline code," forms in each of the 
 republics the principal basis of the penal laws.-— 
 Mr. Coxe says much too great a latitude is allowed to 
 the judges. The regulations respecting their prisons- 
 the same traveller much commends. Criminals are 
 there confined in wholesome and separate wards, and are 
 brought to trial soon after their commitment, The trial 
 by torture is not yet abolished. Drunkenness, stupidi- 
 
Swisserland. 145 
 
 tjr, and mercenary valour, which are the defects com- 
 monly charged upon them, he takes great pains to clear 
 them of. Their women, he asserts, want no charms 
 either in their persons or conversation ; especially in 
 the three most polished cantons of Berne, Freyburg, and 
 Soleure or Solothurn. 
 
 At an early period of the French revolution, the cries 
 of liberty and equality were echoed, with a martial voice, 
 in the sequestered vales and mountains of Swisserland ; 
 where peace, content, and industry, had resided for some 
 ages. 
 
 In 1797, the French directory made certain menacing 
 demands on the Swiss cantons* The senate sent an em- 
 bassy to Paris, with an offer to accommodate all existing 
 disputes in any manner " not inconsistent with the in- 
 dependence of a free people :" but the deputies were or- 
 dered to return ; and it was intimated, as the price of 
 peace, " that the ancient magistrates were to be dismis- 
 sed, and a new constitution, founded on democratical 
 principles, established." On hearing this degrading 
 proposition* the patrician families determined upon re- 
 sistance* An army of twenty -five thousand men was in- 
 trusted to baron d'Erlach, who was too eager to decide 
 the fate of his country in a pitched battle. In the mean 
 time the management of the war was confided by the di- 
 rectory to general Brune : he immediately entered the 
 territories of Berne, and published a flattering proclama- 
 tion, which concluded with these words : " Be free— - 
 France invites, nature commands it; and to employ 
 this precious advantage, you have only to express the 
 wish !" 
 
 As the troops of Berne retired, and those of France 
 advanced towards the capital of the cantons, mutiny and 
 disaffection became prevalent in the former, while terror 
 and dismay preceded the march of the latter. At 
 length, the magistrates, perceiving that the levy of the 
 peasantry, instead of meliorating, rendered their own 
 situation more desperate, determined on abdicating 
 emploj^ments which they had no prospect of maintain- 
 ing ; and the popular party, headed by Tiller and Bay, 
 
146 History of all Nations o 
 
 having obtained the superiority in the council, a provi- 
 sional regency was nominated, and intelligence of this 
 sudden revolution conveyed to the French general 
 
 A treaty was now formed, but being dictated partly 
 from policy and partly from necessity, (as the French 
 met with a defeat from the confederates) it was neither 
 agreeable to the French nor to the Helvetic directory ; 
 and, unfortunately, a pietext was speedily afforded lor 
 the renewal of hostilities, as Underwalden, exhibiting a 
 fastidious perseverance, obstinately refused to accede 
 to any conditions whatever. On this the French marched 
 
 targe army into that canton, and, after a terrible battle 
 of two days duration, during which clubs and spears 
 were in vain opposed to muskets and bayonets, and 
 fragments of rock to a regular artillery, the hardy moun- 
 taineers were overcome, the town of Standtz taken by 
 assault, the houses in its beautiful valley destroyed by 
 fire, and the inhabitants nearly exterminated by a furious 
 and implacable soldiery. After this all the Swiss sub- 
 mitted to the new constitution. 
 
 Thus, after enjoying the sweets of independence since 
 the beginning of the fourteenth century, when the fortu- 
 nate issue of a contest with Albert of Austria laid the 
 foundation of their liberties, and also produced, perhaps, 
 the revolutions of England, America, and France, the 
 federate republics of Swisserland w T ere overcome by 
 a foreign enemy, and compelled to change the form of 
 their government. The pretext for their ruin originat- 
 ed in the notorious injustice of the canton of Berne to 
 the small states subjected to its controul : and this in- 
 tolerable yoke, instead of being lightened, was increased 
 during a war which had effected so many memorable 
 changes. 
 
 The allied powers, Austria and Russia, sent a numerous 
 army to dispossess the French of their influence in 
 Swisserland, under the command of two brave and expe. 
 rienced generals, the archduke Charles and prince So- 
 warroff i But, after a number of bloody battles, the 
 French under generals Massena and Lecourbe succeed- 
 ed in expelling the allied forces out of Swisserland. 
 
Swisserland. 147 
 
 OF one hundred thousand men who had left Russia 
 with Sowarroff, or joined him afterwards, scarcely forty 
 thousand retreated with him to the Lech. After thus 
 losing nearly sixty thousand of his best warriors (with 
 whom he had formerly massacred and conquered the un- 
 fortunate Polanders) the veteran marshal, for the first 
 time in his life, was forced to retreat before the French 
 republicans ; overwhelmed with grief, he retired to his 
 native country, where, being exposed at the same time 
 to the frowns of fortune and the indignation of his capri- 
 cious master, he shortly perished, either by poison or 
 despair ! 
 
 The treaties of Lunenville and Amiens, which gave 
 the semblance of peace to Europe, at the expence of 
 the gigantic acquisitions of France, and the establish- 
 ment of her military chief, held out to the Helvetic con- 
 federacy a guarantee of her ancient freedom and inde- 
 pendence. Such however is the present situation of the 
 European powers, that the faith of treaties is no longer 
 a pledge of security to the weaker states, against the am- 
 bition and power of the strong; when the hour of action 
 arrives, plausible pretences are never wanting to furnish 
 a prologue to the tragedy of oppression and injustice. 
 Unhappy Swisserland has lately furnished a melancholy 
 proof of this observation. 
 
 Internal disputes have been alleclged as the cause of the 
 late interference of the French government in the affairs 
 of Swisserland. This interference of France, among 
 some other causes, has paved the way to the present Eu- 
 ropean war. Let us be grateful to our beneficent Crea- 
 tor, for placing the wide Atlantic betwixt us and the . 
 contending powers of Europe. 
 
 Religion.] The two prevailing religions are the 
 Calvinistical and Popish ; the former is professed by 
 four cantons, five annexed places, and three govern- 
 ments : the latter is established in seven cantons, three 
 incorporated districts, twelve governments, and the 
 like number of protected places. In two cantons 
 among the Grisons, five governments, and two 
 protected places, both religions are on an equal footing. 
 
148 History of all Nations, 
 
 Each town, place, and state, has its own particular 
 constitution, for the management of its churches, 
 schools, and other ecclesiastical afFairs. — Payne. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 OTTOMAN OR TURKISH EMPIRE. 
 
 The Turks are of Tartarian or Scythian extraction \ 
 and this appellation was first given them in the middle 
 ages as a proper name ; it being a general title of honor 
 to all the nations comprehended under the two principal 
 branches of Tartar and Mongol, who therefore never 
 use it as a proper name of any particular Scythian or 
 Tartarian nation. The word tur, as an adjective, signi- 
 fies sublime and pre-eminent ; and, as a substantive, 
 a governor. The Scythian or Tartarian nation, to 
 which the name of Turks have been peculiarly given, 
 dwelt betwixt the Black and Caspian Seas, and became 
 first known in the seventh century, when Heraclitus, 
 emperor of the east, took them into his service ; in 
 which they so distinguished themselves by their fidelity 
 and bravery in the conquest of Persia, that the Arabian 
 and Saracen caliphs had not only select bodies of them for 
 guards, but their armies were composed of them. Thus 
 gradually getting the power into their hands, they set 
 up and dethroned caliphs at pleasure. By this strict 
 union of the Turks with the Saracens or Arabs, the for- 
 mer were brought to embrace the Mahometan religion, 
 so that they are now become intermixed, and have jointly 
 enlarged their conquests ; but as the Turks became su- 
 perior to the Saracens, they subdued them. 
 
 Prince Cantemir gives the following account of the 
 origin of the Ottoman empire. 
 
 Genghiskan, at the head of his horse, issued out of 
 Great Tartary, and made himself master of a vast tract of 
 land near the Caspian Sea, and even of all Persia, and 
 Asia Minor. Incited by his example and success ? 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 149 
 
 Schah Solyman, prince of the town of Nera, on the 
 Caspian Sea, in the year 1214, passed Mount Cauca- 
 sus with fifty thousand men, and penetrated as far as the 
 borders of Syria ; and though liis career was stopped 
 there by the Genghiskan Tartars, yet in the year 1219 
 he penetrated a second time into Asia Minor, as far as 
 the Euphrates. Othman, his grandson, made himself 
 master of several countries and places in Lesser Asia, 
 belonging to the Grecian empire : and having, in the 
 year 1300, at the city of Carachifer, assumed the title 
 of Emperor of the Othmans, called his people after his 
 own name. This prince, among many other towns, 
 took, in the year 1326, Prusa, in Brythnia, now called 
 Bursa, which Orchan, his son and successor, made the 
 seat of his empire. Orchan sent Solyman and Amu- 
 rath, his two sons, on an expedition into Europe ; the 
 former of whom reduced the city of Gallipolis, and the 
 latter took Tyrilos. Amurath succeeded his father in 
 the government in 1360, took Ancrya, Adrianople, and 
 Philippopolis ; and, in 1362 over-ran Servia, and invad- 
 ed Macedonia and Albania. Bajazet, his son and suc- 
 cessor, was very successful both in Europe and Asia, 
 defeating the Christians near Nicopolis ; but, in 1401, 
 he was routed and taken prisoner by Tamerlane. His 
 sons disagreed ; but Mahomet I. enjoyed the sovereign- 
 ty, and his son Amurath II. distinguished himself by 
 several important enterprizes, and particularly in the 
 year 1444 gained a signal victory over the Hungarians 
 near Varna. Mahomet II. the greatest of all the empe- 
 rors, in 1453, made himself master of Constantinople^ 
 and reduced the whole Grecian empire under his domin- 
 ion, subduing twelve kingdoms and two hundred towns. 
 After this, Bajazet II. and Selim I. enlarged the Turkish 
 empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa ; and Solyman I. 
 became not less famous for his victory over the Hunga- 
 rians than for his body of laws. 
 
 The succeeding emperors were less successful ; for 
 though Mahomet IV. subdued Candia, and laid siege 
 to Vienna, he met with ill success in Hungary ; and in 
 the reigns of Solyman II. Achmet II, and Mustapha, 
 
150 History of all Aations: 
 
 the Hungarians and Venetians were so successful against 
 the Turks, that Mustapha II. in 1699, was glad to con- 
 clude the peace of Carlowitz. Mahomet III. in 1718, 
 agreed to the peace of Passarowitz ; but Achmet V. by 
 the peace of Belgrade, in 1739, re-annexed Servia, a 
 part of Walachia, and Choczin, to the empire. 
 
 Government. — The titles of the emperor, accord- 
 ing to the customs of the East, are very prolix and mag- 
 nificent, as will appear from the following specimen. 
 We, the servant and lord of the most honoured and 
 blessed cities, the venerable houses, and sacred places, 
 before which all nations bow ; of Mecca, which God 
 delights to honour ; of the splendid Medina, and the 
 holy city of Jerusalem ; of the imperial and desirable ci- 
 ties of Constantinople, Adrianople, and Bursa, emper- 
 or ; also of Babylon, Damascus, of the fragrant Paradise 
 and the incomparable Egypt ; of all Arabia, Aleppo, 
 Antioch, and many other highly and celebrated places, 
 cities, and faithful vassals, emperors ; emperor of em- 
 perors, the most gracious and all-powerful sultan, &c. 
 
 The Turkish arms are a crescent. ^ 
 
 In the succession to the empire no regard is paid to 
 age or birthright, the Turks deeming it sufficient, if, in 
 their elections, they keep to the Othman family : but 
 women are excluded from the throne. Though the go- 
 vernment is purely monarchical and despotic, yet if the 
 emperor is inattentive to gratify the humours of the peo- 
 ple, and especially of the mutinous janizaries, he is not 
 only in danger of being deposed, but also of being mur- 
 dered. 
 
 The emperor's divan, or council of state, meets 
 twice a- week in the emperor's palace, that is, on Sun- 
 days and Thursdays. The grand vizier, who sits as 
 president, has on his right hand the cadinlaskier of Ro- 
 rnelia, and on his left that of Natolia. The mufti also 
 assists when expressly summoned. All the other viziers 
 have likewise a seat here, and next to them stand on 
 one side the testerdar, or high treasurer, the reis-effendi, 
 or secretary of state, and other commissioners of the ex- 
 chequer; but the military officers, as the aga of the ja- 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire, 151 
 
 nizaries, the aga of the spahis, the aga of the siluds, &c. 
 sit within the divan. These several members wear a 
 particular habit. The sultan does not enter the room, 
 but hears what passes from an adjoining chamber, which 
 looks into the divan. 
 
 When he'convenes a general council, to which all the 
 great persons of the empire are summoned, as the clergy,; 
 the military, and other officers, and even the old and. 
 most experienced soldiers, such a divan is called ajak 
 divani, the whole assembly standing. 
 
 The highest office, next to the sultan, is the vizier 
 azem, or grand vizier, who has the whole care of the 
 empire, and is not only intrusted with the management 
 of the revenue, with foreign affairs, and the administra- 
 tion of justice in civil and criminal concerns, but also* 
 with the conduct of wars, and the command of armies. 
 When the sultan nominates this great officer, he puts 
 into his hand the seal of the empire, upon which is 
 engraven his name. This is the badge of his office,, 
 and he always carries it in his bosom. With this seal 
 he dispatches all his orders, without consulting any one. 
 His power is unlimited, except with respect to the 
 troops, which he cannot punish without the consent of 
 the commanders. All affairs are decided by his judg- 
 ment ; and he disposes of all the posts in the empire^ 
 except those of judicature. 
 
 The grand vizier lives in the utmost splendour; he 
 has above two thousand officers and domestics in his 
 palace, and when he appears in public has his turban 
 adorned with two plumes of feathers, enriched with di- 
 amonds and precious stones ; the harness of his horse is 
 usually set with rubies and turquoises, and his housing* 
 richly embroidered with gold and pearls. His guard is 
 composed of about four hundred Bosnians, or Albani- 
 ans, some of whom attend him on foot when he goes to 
 the divan ; but when he marches into the field, they are 
 all well mounted, and carry a lance, a sword, a hatchet, 
 and a brace of pistols. He is preceded by three horse- 
 tails, on the top of which is a go!4 ball. This is the 
 
152 History of all A atiom* 
 
 military ensign of the Ottomans ; for one of their gene- 
 rals being at a loss how to rally his troops^ who had lost 
 all their standards, cut off a horse's tail, and erecting it 
 on the point of a lance, the soldiers flocked to this new 
 ensign, renewed their attack, and became victorious. 
 
 When the sultan honors the grand vizier with the 
 command of an army, he takes out one of the plumes 
 of his own turban, and delivers it to him to place in his 
 own. Upon his receiving this mark of distinction, the 
 soldiers acknowledge him for their general. The grand 
 vizier's income, without being guilty of any injustice, 
 amounts to about six hundred thousand dollars a year, 
 (135,000/. sterling,) exclusive of presents and other 
 perquisites. But notwithstanding the greatness of his 
 revenue, and the splendor in which he lives, he is expo- 
 sed to continual danger ; it being the usual policy to 
 screen themselves from the clamors of the people, by 
 throwing the whole blame of any instance of mal-ad^ 
 ministration on this officer, and giving him up to the 
 public resentment. 
 
 Next to the grand vizier are six others, styled " viz- 
 ier of the bench or council," and " bashas of three 
 horse-tails;" because, when they march, three horse- 
 tails are carried before them, while only one is carried 
 before the ordinary bashas. These viziers ought to be. 
 men distinguished by their wisdom, and their know- 
 ledge of the laws. They assist at the divan, but never 
 deliver their opinion upon the affairs which are discus- 
 sed there, unless required by the grand vizier. These 
 have each two thousand crowns a year, and the grand 
 vizier often refers matters of small consequence to them, 
 as well as to the ordinary judges. Cady is a word used 
 for all judges of a province or particular place. 
 
 A beglerbeg is a viceroy, with several provinces un- 
 der his command, the name itself signifying a prince of 
 princes. The three principal are the beglerbeg of Ro- 
 inelia, who resides at Sophia; the beglerbeg of Natolia, 
 the seat of whose government is at Cutabia; and the 
 beglerbeg of Damascus, who keeps his court in that 
 
-Ottoman or 'Turkish Empire. 153 
 
 city. Under these are the bashas or governors, whose 
 posts are very considerable, but precarious ; and subor- 
 dinate to these are the sangiacs, who may be termed de- 
 puty-governors. These are all military officers. 
 
 The reis-effendi, also called the reis-kital, is lord 
 chancellor and secretary of state. His name signifies 
 chief of the writers. He attends on the vizier to pass 
 orders, decrees, patents, and commissions, into all parts 
 of the empire, which are daily dispatched in incredible 
 numbers, and therefore he employs a multitude of clerks 
 in his office. 
 
 The public treasury is under the management of the 
 testerdar, or high treasurer. The money of this trea- 
 sury, called the public money of the mussulmans, is not 
 to be touched even by the emperor but in the greatest 
 exigency, much less for private occasions. The sul- 
 tan's private treasury, which he disposes of according 
 to his own pleasure, is under the care of the hasnadar 
 basehi, who is the next person in rank to the kislar in 
 the seraglio. Prince Cantemir says, that, in his time, 
 twenty- seven thousand purses, amounting to thirteen 
 millions and a half of rix-dolkrs, were annually return- 
 ed to both treasuries. The confiscations of the estates 
 and effects of the bashas, and other officers, together 
 with the money arising from the escheats of Turks dy- 
 ing without male issue, make also a very considerable 
 article. 
 
 The janizaries are the flower of the Turkish forces - T 
 they are all infantry, and were first formed of captive 
 Christians, by the emperor Amurath I. about the year 
 1360. Their number generally amounts to forty thou- 
 sand, divided into a hundred and sixty-two companies, 
 or chambers, called odas, in which they live together at 
 Constantinople, as in a convent. The janizaries are of 
 a superior rank to all other soldiers ; and are also more 
 arrogant and factious, whence it is that by them the 
 public tranquility is chiefly disturbed. " The govern^ 
 ment," says the lady Wortley Montague, " is entirely in 
 the hands of the army. The grand seignior, with all 
 his absolute power, is as much a slave as any of his sub- 
 
1 54 History of all Nations. 
 
 jects, and trembles at a janizary's frown. Here is, in- 
 deed, a much greater appearance of subjection than 
 amongst us: a minister of state is not spoken to but upon 
 the knee ; should a reflection on his conduct be dropped 
 in a coffee-house (for they have their spies every where) 
 the house would be razed to the ground, and perhaps 
 the whole company put to the torture. Yet, when a 
 minister here displeases the people, in three hours time 
 he is dragged even from his master's arms. They cut 
 off his hands, head, and feet, and throw them before 
 the palace gate, with all the respect in the world ; while 
 the sultan, to whom they all profess an unlimited ado- 
 ration, sits trembling in his apartment, and dares nei- 
 ther defend nor revenge his favorite." 
 
 The Rise, Progress and Establishment of Mahome~ 
 tanism. 
 
 • A subject so curious and important as the religion 
 established by Mahomet, which has been professed for 
 more than eleven centuries by many millions of the hu- 
 man race, and which at present prevails from the Ganges 
 to Morocco, exclusive of a vast number of very popu- 
 lous islands, and every country where the tribes of Ma- 
 lays settle, in one direction, and from the southern ex- 
 tremity of Arabia, to the borders of Hungary, in another^, 
 deserves to be particularly enlarged upon. 
 
 Mahomet, or more properly Mohammed, the founder 
 of this singular and spreading faith, was born in the year 
 569 of the Christian era; he sprung from the tribe of 
 Koraish, and the family of Hashem ; his grandfather, 
 uncles, and lineal ancestors were princes ; his family 
 possessed by hereditary right the custody of the Caaba 
 at Mecca, which was a place of worship resorted to by 
 the Arabians long before the time of Mahomet, Not- 
 withstanding the respectability of his descent, being left 
 an orphan when very young, and being in low circum- 
 stances, he was recommended to Khadijah, a noble and 
 rich widow, for her factor, he having been bred to mer- 
 chandise, in which capacity he acquitted himself so well, 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 155 
 
 that he gained the affections of his mistress, and by 
 marrying her, became as rich a merchant as any in 
 Mecca : his kindness, attachment, and strict fidelity to 
 his wife, who was much older than himself, during more 
 than twenty years, bespeak a susceptible heart, and a 
 generous and noble nature. His natural strength of 
 mind, and intrepidity of spirit, prompted him to form 
 great designs when his fortunes improved, although it 
 is said that he was so illiterate as not to be capable of 
 reading or writing. This want of learning was so far 
 from proving an impediment to him in effecting his de- 
 signs, that it very strongly promoted them ; for the 
 crafty Arab, who must unquestionably have merely 
 affected this gross ignorance, insisted that the writings 
 which he produced as revelations from God, were clear- 
 ed of all imputation of being forgeries, for such elegance 
 of style and excellence of doctrine could not originate 
 from a man incapable alike of writing or reading ; for 
 this reason his followers, instead of being ashamed of 
 their master's ignorance, glory in it, as an evident proof 
 of his divine mission, and scruple not to call him, as he 
 is called in the Koran itself, " the illiterate prophet." 
 Sir William Jones relates a traditional story concerning 
 the celebrated poet Lebid, who was a contemporary 
 with Mahomet, and an avowed enemy to his new doc- 
 trine at its first promulgation ; who, to express his op- 
 position to it, hung a poem on the gate of the temple, as 
 was then customary to be done, which poem contained 
 a strong implied contempt of the new religion ; this 
 piece appeared so sublime that none of the poets chose 
 to attempt an answer to it, till Mahomet, who was like- 
 wise a poet, having composed a chapter of the Koran, 
 placed the exordium of it by the side of Lebid's poem, 
 who no sooner read it, than he declared it to be some- 
 thing divine, confessed his own inferiority, tore his 
 verses from the gate, embraced the religion he had stig- 
 matized, and became afterwards essentially serviceable in 
 replying to the satires of Amralkeis, who was unwearied 
 in his attacks upon the doctrine of Mohammed. Essay 
 on the Poetry of the Eastern JSations, p. 137. 
 
1 56 History of all Nations. 
 
 The state of the world at that time was highly favour- 
 able to the introduction of a new religion : it had been 
 the will of heaven to permit the purity and simplicity of 
 the doctrines of Christ to be contaminated and perverted 
 by the crafty wiles of priestcraft, which caused the gros- 
 sest impositions to be practised upon an ignorant laity ; 
 pomp, splendour, and unintelligible worship, were sub- 
 stituted for the devotion of the heart, whilst the prayers 
 offered up to imaginary and fictitious saints had effaced 
 all just notions of the attributes of the Deity. Moham- 
 med had made two journies into Syria, where he had 
 informed himself of the principles of Judaism, and the 
 jargon which bore the name of Christianity ; it is probable 
 that his mind was naturally prone to religious enthusi- 
 asm, and that he was a devotee before he became an 
 impostor. His first design seems to have extended no 
 farther than to bring the wild, intractable, and ardent 
 Arabs to acknowledge one God and one King, and it 
 is probable that for a considerable time his ambition ex- 
 tended no farther than to become the spiritual and tem- 
 poral sovereign of Arabia. He began his eventful pro- 
 ject by accusing both Jews and Christians with corrupt- 
 ing the revelations which had been made to them from 
 heaven, and maintained that both Moses and Jesus 
 Christ had prophetically foretold the coming of & prophet 
 from God which was accomplished in himself, the last 
 and greatest of the prophets; thus initiated, he proceed- 
 ed to deliver detached sentences, as he pretended to 
 receive them from the Almighty, by the hand of the 
 angel Gabriel. These pretensions to a divine mission 
 drew on him a requisition from the inhabitants of Mecca 
 that he would convince them by working a miracle : but 
 lie replied, " God refuses those signs and wonders that 
 would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the 
 guilt of infidelity." The unity of God was the grand 
 and leading article in the creed he taught, to which was 
 closely joined his own divine mission : Allah il alla/i, 
 Muhamed rescul Allah, is their preface to every act of 
 devotion, and the sentence continually in their mouths : 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire, 157 
 
 which is, " there is but one God, and Mohammed is 
 his prophet." 
 
 The Arabian tribes, who occupied the country from 
 Mecca to the Euphrates, were at that time known by 
 the name of Saracens ; their religion was chiefly gross 
 idolatry, Sabianism having spread almost over the whole 
 nation, though there were likewise great numbers of 
 Christians, Jews, and Magians interspersed in those 
 parts. The essence of that worship principally con- 
 sisted in adoring the planets and fixed stars ; angels and 
 images they honoured as inferior deities, whose inter- 
 cessions with the Almighty in their favour they im- 
 plored : they believed in one God, in the future punish- 
 ment of the wicked, for a long series of years, though 
 not for ever ; and constantly prayed three times a day ; 
 namely, at sun-rise, at its declination, and at sun -set : 
 they fasted three times a year ; during 30 days, 9 days, and 
 7 days : they offered many sacrifices, but ate no part of 
 them, the whole being burnt : they likewise turned their 
 faces, when praying, to a particular part of the horison : 
 they performed pilgrimages to the city of Harran, in 
 Mesopotamia, and had a great respect for the temple of 
 Mecca and the pyramids of Egypt, imagining the latter 
 to be the sepulchres of Seth, also of Enos and Sabi, 
 his two sons, whom they considered as the founders of 
 their religion. Beside the book of Psalms, they had 
 other books which they esteemed equally sacred, par- 
 ticularly one, in the Chaldee tongue, which they called 
 " the book of Seth." They have been called " Chris- 
 tians of St. John the Baptist," whose disciples also they 
 pretend to be, using a kind of baptism, which is the 
 greatest mark they bear of Christianity : circumcision 
 was practised by the Arabs, although Sale is silent on 
 that practice, when describing the religion of the Sa- 
 bians ; they likewise abstained from swine's flesh. So 
 that in this sect we may trace the essential articles of the 
 creed of the Mussulmen. 
 
 Mahomet was in the 40th year of his age when he as- 
 sumed the character of a prophet ; he had been accus- 
 tomed for several years, during the month of Ramadan, 
 
158 History of aU Nations. 
 
 to withdraw from the world, and secrete himself in a cave 
 three miles distant from Mecca ; " conversation," says 
 Mr. Gibbon, " enriches the understanding, but solitude 
 is the school of genius." During the first three years, 
 he made only fourteen proselytes, among which were 
 his wife Khadijah ; his servant, or rather slave, Zeid 
 Ali, who afterwards married the prophet's favourite 
 daughter Fatima, and was sumamed " the lion of God :" 
 Abubekar, a man distinguished for his merit and his 
 wealth ; the rest consisted of respectable citizens of 
 Mecca. The Koreishites, although the tribe from 
 which he sprung, were the most violent opposers of the 
 new religion. In the 10th year of his prophetic ofiice 
 his wife died, and the next year, his enemies having 
 formed a design to cut him off, and he being seasonably 
 apprized, fled by night to Medina, on the 16th of July, 
 622, from which event the, Hegira commenced ; he was 
 accompanied only by two or three followers, but he 
 made a public entry into that city, and soon gained 
 many proselytes, on which he assumed the regal and sa- 
 cerdotal characters. As he increased in power, that mo- 
 deration and humility which had before distinguished 
 his conduct, were gradually erased, and he became fierce 
 and sanguinary : he began to avow a design of propa- 
 gating his religion by the sword, to destroy the monu- 
 ments of idolatry, and, without regarding the sanctity 
 of days or months, to pursue the unbelieving nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 The Koran inculcates, in the most absolute sense, the 
 tenets of faith and predestination ; the first companions 
 of Mahomet advanced to battle with a fearless confidence, 
 their leader having fully possessed their minds with the 
 assurance that paradise awaited those who died fighting 
 for the cause of their prophet, the gratifications of which 
 were held out to be such as best suited the amorous 
 complexions of the Arabians : Houries of black- eyed 
 girls resplendent in beauty, blooming youth and virgin 
 purity ; every moment of pleasure was there to be pro- 
 longed to a thousand years, and the powers of the man 
 were to be increased an hundred fold to render him ca- 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 159 
 
 pable of such felicity: to those who survived, rich 
 spoils and the possession of their female captives were to 
 crown their conquests. Mahomet was present at nine 
 battles or sieges, and fifty enterprizes of war were at- 
 chieved in ten years by himself or his lieutenants. Seven 
 years after his flight from Mecca he returned to that city, 
 where he was publicly recognized as a prince and pro- 
 phet : the idolatrous worship of the Caaba was immedi- 
 ately abolished, and succeeded by the simplicity of the 
 Mahometan establishment. This Arab lawgiver retain- 
 ed both-his mental and bodily powers unimpaired till he 
 reached his sixtieth year, then his health began to decline, 
 and he himself suspected that a slow poison had been 
 administered to him by a Jewess, under the effects of 
 which he languished; but his death was caused by a 
 fever, in the 63d year of his age, the 632d of the Chris- 
 tian era, and 10th of the Hegira. There are some par- 
 ticulars told respecting Mahomet, which have gained 
 general belief although void of all foundation; such is the 
 story of the tame pigeon, which the people were taught to 
 believe imparted religious truths to the ear of the pro- 
 phet; the epileptic fits, which have been said to cause him 
 to fall down as in a trance, he is not supposed to have 
 been subject to; and the suspension of his iron coffin 
 at Mecca is a most absurd falsehood, it being well 
 known that he was buried at Medina in a stone coffin. 
 
 Mahometan religion - . — The most amiable fea- 
 tures in the religion which Mahomet established, are, 
 profound adoration of one God, whose names, or rather 
 titles, are amazingly diversified in the Koran ; (these are 
 collected, to the amount of nine hundred and ninety - 
 nine, and serve as a manual of devotion ; ) the daily of- 
 fering up of prayers to him, which consist of short eja- 
 culations, stated fasts, and a constant distribution of a 
 large portion of personal property to the relief of the in- 
 digent and distressed. Nor is the charity which is en- 
 joined confined to alms giving, but comprehends, in its 
 fullest extent, general humanity and acts of beneficence 
 to all mussulmen. A general resurrection of the dead 
 is another article of belief reiterated in the Koran. 
 
160 History of all JSatiom. 
 
 Whatever superstitious practices adhere to it, cannot be 
 imputed to priestcraft, for no religion that ever was pro- 
 mulgated to the world, the unadulterated religion of Je^ 
 sus Christ excepted, so entirely excluded the influence 
 of the priesthood ; it may indeed be called emphatically, 
 " the laical religion," since its founder had the address- 
 to obtain the most enthusiastic regard to his dogmas, 
 without giving wealth or consequence to those who 
 were appointed to illustrate and enforce them ; indeed 
 the Koran reproaches the Christians for taking their 
 priests and monks for their lords beside God. The pil- 
 grimage to Mecca, praying toward that place, and the 
 ablutions which are enjoined on the most ordinary acts 
 and occasions, together with the adoption of that reli- 
 gious sophism predestination, in its most extravagant 
 extent, seem to comprehend the superstitious parts of 
 this religion ; but it has other characteristics which be- 
 tray its spurious origin, and prove its destructive ten~ 
 dency. 
 
 To compensate for the rigid fastings which it enjoins, 
 and the disuse of wine which it requires, a most licen- 
 tious indulgence is allowed in the use of women ; and 
 though they may not, as has been imputed to them^ 
 deny to that sex a future state of existence, yet, as they 
 consider women merely as instruments of gratification, 
 all those amiable qualities which the sex is capable of 
 displaying when its faculties are properly dilated, by a 
 judicious and liberal course of education, are suppressed 
 as soon as formed. 
 
 Another foul taint in this religion is, the abhorrenc e 
 which it creates against all those who do not embrace the' 
 same doctrines, and the direct tendency of that faith to 
 consign the human mind to a state of arrogant and incu- 
 rable ignorance by considering the Koran as comprising 
 every thing worthy of being known. The Arabs, from 
 the genial influence of their climate, as well as from ha- 
 bits transmitted through so many generations as to be 
 formed into innate principles, were libidinous beyond 
 most of their species, and no individual among them 
 felt that propensity stronger than their prophet j neither 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 161 
 
 policy nor inclination therefore prompted him to bring 
 his principles under severe restraints with respect to 
 women; he ought not, however, to be denied the praise 
 Which is due to having in some measure tempered the 
 lustful fierceness of his countrymen, and he may be said 
 to have effected some reformation, when he restrained 
 his followers even to four wives, when he forbad inces- 
 tuous alliances, entitled a repudiated wife to a dower 
 from her husband, made adultery a capital offence, and 
 rendered fornication punishable by law. 
 
 Beside the Koran, which is the written law to the 
 Mahometans alike as to belief and practice of religion, 
 and the administration of public justice, there is the 
 Sunnah, or oral law, which was selected two hundred 
 years after the death of Mahomet, from a vast number 
 of precepts and injunctions which had been handed 
 down from age to age, as bearing the stamp of his au^ 
 thority , In this work the rite of circumcision is enjoin- 
 ed, concerning which the Koran was silent, nor was it 
 necessary to be there commanded, as the Arabians ad- 
 hered to it before this establishment. By the express 
 command of their founder, the Mahometans set apart 
 Friday in each week for the especial worship of God. — • 
 They are ever assiduous to make converts to their faith, 
 nor can they reject the most abject or profligate wretch, 
 who declares his desire of becoming a true believer, 
 even although they know him to be ignorant alike of 
 their language and the principles of their religion. 
 
 We cannot quit the subject of this very remarkable 
 religion without observing, that the Romanists, in ex- 
 plaining the book of Revelation, insist that the religion 
 of Mahomet is pointed out by the predicted \ antichrist ; 
 and they have, with much apparent reason, explained 
 that mystical number 666, which has been so variously 
 unravelled, and is expressly said to be the number of a 
 man, or the number of the name of a man, to apply to 
 the name of Mahomet ; which, when expressed in the 
 Greek, in which language the Apocalypse was written, 
 is maometis or moametis- as Euthymius and. the 
 Greek historians Zonares and Cedrenus write so. The 
 
 w 
 
162 History of all Nations * 
 
 letters which compose this word, according to the 
 Greek numeration, are thus : 
 
 M , - 40 
 
 O 70 
 
 A 1 
 
 M ...... 40 
 
 E 5 
 
 T 300 
 
 I .10 
 
 S 200 
 
 666 
 
 which must be confessed to be a remarkable coinci- 
 dence. Bellarmine, Pastorini's (Bp. Walmesley's) 
 History of the Christian Church, p. 366. 
 
 Charity is enjoined in the strongest terms in the Ko- 
 ran ; and the Turks are remarkable for acts of benevo- 
 lence to the poor and distressed, and are even careful 
 to prevent the unfortunate being reduced to necessities. 
 They repair highways, erect cisterns of water for the 
 convenience of travellers, build kanns or caravanseras 
 for their reception ; and some devout people, it is said, 
 erect sheds by the way side, that the weary traveller may 
 sit under the shade, and take his refreshment. In chap* 
 iv. of the Koran, are the following injunctions : " Shew 
 kindness to thy parents, to thy relations, to orphans, to 
 the poor ; to thy neighbour who is related to thee, and 
 to thy neighbour who is a stranger ; to thy familiar com- 
 panion, to the traveller, and to the captive whom thy 
 right hand has taken ; for God loveth not the proud, 
 the vain- glorious, the covetous, or those who bestow 
 their wealth in order to be seen of men." 
 
 They name their children as soon as they are born ; 
 when the father, putting some grains of salt into its 
 mouth, and lifting it on high, as dedicating it to God, 
 cries out, " God grant, my son Solyman, that his holy 
 name may be as savoury in thy mouth as this salt, and 
 that he may preserve thee from being too much in love 
 with the world." As to the infants who die young before 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 163 
 
 tfiey are circumcised, they believe they are saved by the 
 circumcision of their father. 
 
 Their children are not circumcised, like those of the 
 Jews, at eight days old, but at eleven or twelve, and 
 sometimes at fourteen or fifteen years of age, when they 
 are able to make a profession of their faith. On the day 
 fixed for the ceremony, the boy is set on horseback, and 
 conducted, with music, about the town ; and on his re- 
 turn, is circumcised in his father's house. 
 
 The imaum or priest makes a short exhortation, and 
 causes him to make his profession of faith, by saying, 
 " There is no God but God, and Mahomet is his pro- 
 phet ;" then orders the surgeon to place him upon a so- 
 pha, and perform the operation. Two servants hold 
 a cloth spread out before the child's face, and the sur- 
 geon having drawn the fore- skin as low as he can with- 
 out prejudice, holds it with his pincers, while he cuts it 
 with a razor ; and shewing it to the assistants, cries out, 
 " God is great." The child cries out with pain, but 
 every one comes to congratulate him on his being ad- 
 mitted into the rank of mussulmen, or believers ; and 
 on this occasion a feast is made for all the relations and 
 friends, who are very merry, and spend their time in 
 dancing and singing ; and the next day those who are 
 invited make presents to the child. When a renegado 
 Christian is circumcised, two basons are usually carried 
 after him, to gather the alms which the spectators freely 
 give. Those who are uncircumcised, whether Turkish 
 children or Christians, are not allowed to be present at 
 their public prayers ; and if they are taken in their 
 mosques, they are liable to be impaled or burnt. 
 
 The fast of Ramadan is observed by the Turks ex- 
 actly in the same manner as by the Persians. The 
 feast of Bairam begins with the next new moon after 
 that fast, and is published by firing of guns, bonfires, 
 and other rejoicings. At this feast the houses and shops 
 are adorned with their finest hangings, tapestries, and 
 sophas. In the streets are swings ornamented with fes- 
 toons, in which the people sit, and are tossed in the air, 
 while they are at the same time entertained with vocal 
 
164 History of all Nations, 
 
 and instrumental music performed by persons hired by 
 the masters of the swings. They have also fire-works; 
 and, during the three days of this festival, many women, 
 who are in a manner confined the rest of the year, have 
 liberty to walk abroad. At this time they forgive their 
 enemies, and become reconciled to them ; for they think 
 they have made a. bad Bairam, if they harbour the least 
 malice in their hearts against any person whatsoever. 
 
 They regularly pray three times a day, and are obliged 
 to wash before their prayers, as well as before they pre- 
 sume to touch the Koran. As they make great use of 
 their fingers in eating, they are required to wash after 
 every meal, and the more cleanly among them do it before 
 meals. Every time they cohabit with their women, 
 they must go to the bagnio before they presume to pray ; 
 thus thev are never lone' together out of water. 
 
 By the Mahometan law a man may divorce his wife 
 twice, and if he afterwards repents, he may lawfully take 
 her again ; but Mahomet to prevent his followers from 
 divorcing their wives upon every slight occasion, or mere- 
 ly from an inconstant humour, ordained, that if any man 
 divorces his wife a third time, it is not lawful for him to 
 take her again, till she has been married and bedded by 
 another, and divorced from that husband. The Koran 
 allows no man to have more than four wives and concu- 
 bines, but the prophet and his successors are laid under 
 no restriction. 
 
 Church government, by the institutions of Mahomet, 
 appears to have centered in the Mufti, and the order of 
 the Moulahs, from which the Mufti must be chosen. 
 The Moulahs have been looked upon as ecclesiastics, 
 and the Mufti as their head : but the Turks consider the 
 first rather as expounders of the law, and the latter as the 
 great law officer. Those who really act as divines are 
 the Imaums, or parish priests, who officiate in, and are 
 set aside for the service of the mosques. No church re- 
 venues are appropria-ed to the particular use of the 
 Moulahs ; the Imaums are the ecclesiastics in immediate 
 pay. Their Scheiks are the chiefs of their Dervises, 
 (Dervishes) or Monks, and form religious communities s 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire* 165 
 
 or orders, established on solemn vows ; they 1 consecrate 
 themselves merely to religious offices, domestic devoti- 
 on, and public prayer and preaching : there are four of 
 these orders, the Bektoshi, Mevelevi, Kadri, and Seyah, 
 who are very numerous throughout the empire. The 
 monks of the first of these orders are permitted to marry, 
 but are obliged to travel through the empire. The Me- 
 velevi, in their acts of devotion, turn round with such 
 velocity for two or three hours incessantly, that not even 
 a trace of their countenance is perceivable by a spectator. 
 They are passionately fond of music, particularly a flute 
 formed of an Indian reed : they live in their monastery ; 
 profess poverty and humility ; entertain kindly all stran- 
 gers, of whatever religion, who visit them ; and receive 
 alms. They sometimes even offer to wash the feet of a 
 mussulman. The Kadri express their devotion by la- 
 cerating their bodies ; they walk the streets almost naked 
 with distracted and wild looks ; they hold their hands 
 joined together, as if in the act of prayer, except when 
 they perform their religious dances, which they con- 
 tinue many hours, and sometimes the whole day, re- 
 peating incessantly, Hu! hu! hu! hu! one of their names 
 of the deity ; until at last, as if they were in a violent 
 rage or phrensy, they fall to the ground, foaming at the 
 mouth, and every part of the body bathed in sweat. — 
 The Seyahs are, like the Indian Fakiers, mere vaga- 
 bonds. Sir James Porter's Observations on the Turks, 
 p. 40, &c. 
 
 The Turks appropriate to themselves the name of 
 Moslemim, which has been corrupted into Mussulman, 
 signifying persons professing the doctrine of Mahomet. 
 They also term themselves S mnites, or observers of 
 the oral traditions of Mahomet and his three successors; 
 and likewise call themselves True Believers, in oppo- 
 sition to the Persians and others, the adherents of Ali, 
 whom they call a wicked and abominable sect. Their 
 rule of fairii and practice is tne Koran. Some externals 
 of their religion, beside the prescribed ablutions, are 
 prayers, which are to be said five times every twenty - 
 four hours, with the face turned towards Mecca; alms 
 
166 History of all J\atiom. 
 
 which are both enjoined and voluntary ; the former con- 
 sists of paying two and an half per cent, to charitable 
 uses out of their whole income. Their feasts have 
 been already spoken of: and every Mahometan must, 
 at least, once in his life-time, go in pilgrimage, either 
 personally or by proxy, to the Caaba, or house of God 
 at Mecca. 
 
 Drinking wine is evidently prohibited in the Koran, 
 yet the Turks make use of it occasionally without any 
 scruple ; but generally substitute sherbet in its stead, a 
 liquor made of honey, spices, and the juice of fruits.— 
 Other things interdicted are games of chance, prophe- 
 sying with arrows, and certain foods, as blood, pork, or 
 the flesh of any beast that has died of sickness, or been 
 killed by a wild beast, or by a fall or a stroke. Like- 
 wise the worshipping of idols, usury, and some super- 
 stitious and Pagan practices. 
 
 The chief officer is the mufti, which name signifies an 
 expounder of the law : and his office is of such dignity, 
 that when he comes to court, the emperor himself rises 
 from his seat, and advances seven steps to meet him. — 
 He alone has the honor of kissing the sultan's left shoul- 
 der ; while the grand vizier, with a most profound incli- 
 nation of the body, kisses only the edge of the empe- 
 ror's vest, who advances no more than three steps to 
 meet him. The law requires, that the mufti should be 
 consulted on all emergencies, particularly in those rela- 
 ting to peace or war ; but the peculiar regard shown to 
 him is little more than mere form ; for were he either to 
 give a disagreeable interpretation of the law> or while in 
 council to presume to traverse the emperor's designs, 
 he would be instantly deposed, and his place supplied 
 by one of a more compliant disposition. On conviction 
 of treason, or any other capital crime, he is put into a 
 mortar, kept for that purpose in one of the seven towers 
 in Constantinople, and pounded to death ; but such an 
 act of cruelty has not been committed since the reign of 
 Amurath IV. towards the beginning of the last century. 
 
 A revolution took place at Constantinople, on the 
 24th of May, 1807. The discontents occasioned among 
 
Ottoman or Turkish Empire. 1&7 
 
 the people by the scarcity of provisions, and among the 
 janizaries by the European exercise and discipline, fur- 
 nished the enemies of the government with an occasion 
 to excite an insurrection, which cost the unhappy Selim, 
 the sultan, his throne and liberty.* On the 24th of May, 
 the mufti, at the head of the malcontents, repaired with 
 three hundred janizaries to the seraglio, and read to him 
 a list of his pretended offences, recited passages from the 
 koran, which declared him, on account of those offences, 
 unworthy of the throne, and ordered him to sign a re- 
 nunciation of it. Selim, seeing no means of resistance, 
 signed the deed of renunciation, and begged his life. 
 The mufti promised to intercede for him. His person 
 was then secured, and fourteen of his principal ministers 
 were put to death, Couriers were sent to the camp and 
 the Dardenelles, to arrest and strangle the grand vizier 
 and the captain pacha. On the 25th of May a procla- 
 mation was published in Constantinople, to announce 
 to the people that the sultan had been dethroned, and 
 to make known his offences, and the passages of the- 
 Koran which condemned those offences. The people 
 were invited to remain tranquil, and mind their affairs. 
 On the 26th, Mustapha, the son of Achmet, was pro- 
 claimed grand seignior. During the whole of this revo- 
 lution, but few disorders were committed. The mass 
 of the people took no part at all ; so that we attribute this 
 catastrophe to some chief of parties yet unknown to the 
 janizaries. All foreigners had been ordered to be respect- 
 ed. We are assured that the grand vizier made no re- 
 sistance to the order sent him, and was strangled. Of 
 the captain pacha we know nothing. 
 
 The grand vizier had gained some successes before 
 he died ; he passed the Danube at Ismail, and forced 
 general Michelson to retire from Wallachia to Foksany 
 and Rimnick. The new administration is entirely com- 
 
 * He is at the present time, (September) according to the latest and most 
 authentic account of him, a prisoner to his cousin and successor, who has 
 passed his honour for the inviolability of the person of Selim. 
 
168 History of all Nations. 
 
 posed of persous devoted to the janizaries. We know 
 not what disposition it will shew towards foreign pow- 
 ers. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 The empire of Russia is the largest upon the whole 
 globe. Its boundaries are Poland and the Frozen Sea, 
 Sweden and China. It is so extensive that when it is 
 noon in the western, it is nearly midnight in the eastern 
 parts of this extensive empire. 
 
 The foundation of this vast empire, which was civili- 
 zed by the extraordinary labors of Peter the Great, and 
 of those princess who have borne the sceptre since, 
 and made so conspicuous a figure in the theatre of the 
 world, was not laid till the ninth century of the Chris- 
 tian sera. 
 
 The same origin is usually ascribed to the inhabitants 
 of this country, as to those of Poland, &c. All the 
 colonies of the ancient and extensive nation of Sarmatia r 
 took in the sixth century the general name Sclavi, by 
 which these plunderers meant to express that they were 
 pursuers of glory, for such is the signification of that 
 word in the Sclavonian language. That of Russia, 
 or Rossaia, implies a people that are dispersed or divi- 
 ded. 
 
 The earliest authentic account of this country begins 
 in the ninth century, when oppressed by the Khosares, a 
 tribe of wanderers who inhabited the coast of the 
 Black Sea, they implored the aid of the Varages, anoth- 
 er numerous and powerful tribe on the confines of the 
 Baltic. Rurick, the Varagean general, at the head of a 
 large army, penetrated into^Russia, and re-established 
 peace, acquired the supreme dominion, and united the- 
 several provinces of the empire, A. D. 861. The 
 
Russia. 169 
 
 family of Rurick were styled Grand Dukes* of Kiow, 
 from the province in which they resided. 
 
 Wolodimer first introduced Christianity, A. D. 981. 
 
 We know little of the succeeding sovereigns. They 
 remained buried in barbarism and obscurity till John 
 Basilowitz I. great duke, threw off the yoke of the 
 Tartars, A. D. 1486, to whom Russia had been, during 
 the space of two centuries, tributary; expelled the 
 Tartar officers from Moscow ; invaded their territories ; 
 made himself master of Novogorod, and also of Cassan , 
 where he was crowned with the diadem of that country ; 
 and assumed the title of Tzar, which in the Sciavonian 
 language signifies king or emperor. The reign of this 
 prince is the epoch of the grandeur of the Russian em- 
 pire. 
 
 To these 'acquisitions his grandson John Basilow- 
 itz II. added Astracan, and also Siberia, hitherto as 
 little known to the Russians as Mexico was to the Span- 
 iards before the expedition of Cortez, and as easi- 
 ly conquered. This prince died A. D. 1584, and 
 was succeeded by a race of weak despotic sovereigns; 
 in the course of whose reigns the kingdom was torn in 
 pieces by civil wars, and became the prey of the Poles 
 and Swedes. 
 
 At length Michael Theodorowitz, son of Ro- 
 mano w, bishop of Rostow, afterwards patriarch, relat* 
 ed by females to the tzar John Basilowitz, was raised 
 to the throne; and this prince, having concluded a 
 peace with Sweden and Poland, in 1618, restored tran- 
 
 * The sovereigns of Russia bore, in their own language, the name of Ve- 
 Uk Knez, i. e. great prince, great lord, great chief, which in Christian 
 countries was afterwards rendered by that of grand duke. The czar Mi- 
 ohael Federovitz, on occasion of the Holstein embassy, assumed the titles 
 of Great Knez and Great Lord, Conservator of all the Russias, Prince of 
 Wolodimir, Moscow, Novogorod, &.c. Tzar of Casan, Tzar of Astracan, 
 Tzar of Siberia. The name of Tzar was, therefore, the title of those 
 Oriental princes, and therefore it is more probable for it to be derived 
 from the Tshas of Persia, than from the Roman Csesars, whose name 
 ▼ery likely never reached the ears" of the Siberian tzars on the banks of the 
 Oby.— See Dr. Turner's epitome. 
 
 X 
 
170 History q/'allJStations* 
 
 quility to Russia, and transmitted the crown to his des- 
 cendants.* 
 
 His son Alexis Michaelowitz (or son of Michael) 
 succeeded in 1645, and published the first code of 
 Russian laws. He likewise introduced both the linen 
 and silk manufactures, which were not indeed of any 
 long continuance, yet he had the merit of their first 
 erection. He peopled the deserts towards the Wolga 
 and the Kama with Polish and Tartarian families which 
 had been made prisoners of war. Before his reign the 
 several captives were reduced to slavery; but Alexis 
 employed them in tilling' the lands. He died suddenly, 
 at the age of 46, A. D. 1675, after shewing himself 
 worthy of being father to Peter the Great. 
 
 Alexis left behind him three sons, and a daughter 
 who was a woman of great intrigue and spirit. Feodor 
 or Theodore, the eldest, ascended the throne at the 
 age of fifteen ; a prince of a weak and sickly constitu- 
 tion. On his death, his two brothers 
 
 John and Peter were proclaimed joint sovereigns, 
 associating their sister Sophia in the government, as 
 co-regent. John died in 1689, and Sophia having been, 
 confined to a monastery, Peter reigned sole sovereign, 
 under the title of Peter I. or Peter the Great. 
 
 This was one of the most extraordinary men that ever 
 appeared on the stage of human life. Animated by the 
 noble ambition of acquiring instruction, and of carrying 
 back to his people the improvement of other nations, he 
 quitted his dominions, in 1697, as a private gentleman, 
 in the retinue of three ambassadors, whom he sent to dif- 
 ferent courts of Europe . 
 
 As soon as Peter arrived at Amsterdam, he applied 
 himself to the study of commerce and the mechanical 
 arts ; and in order more completely to acquire the art 
 of ship- building, he entered himself as a carpenter in one 
 of the principal dock-yards, and laboured and lived, in 
 all respects, as the common journeymen. At his lei- 
 
 * Modem Europe — Ludolf— Euffendorf— Petreius, &c. 
 
JRussia. 171 
 
 sure hours he studied natural philosophy, navigation, 
 surgery, and other sciences, as may be necessary to the 
 sovereign of a barbarous people. From Holland he 
 passed into England, where he perfected himself in the 
 art of ship-building. King William, in order to gain 
 his favour, entertained him with a naval review, made 
 him a present of an elegant yacht, and permitted him to 
 engage in his service a number of ingenious artificers. 
 Thus instructed, and attended by several men of science, 
 Peter returned to Russia, after an absence of near two 
 years, with all the useful and many of the ornamental 
 arts in his train. * 
 
 Under the wise government of this prince, the whole 
 face of things was changed ; and Russia, before the seat 
 of ignorance and barbarity, was raised to the highest 
 pitch of strength and glory. He assumed the title of 
 emperor, which was formally acknowledged by all the 
 European powers ; and by his noble institutions, liberal 
 attempts to civilize his people, and admirable regulation 
 of the courts of justice, he deserves to be called the 
 founder of the Russian empire. , 
 
 Peter died A. D. 1724, and was succeeded in his 
 throne by Czarina Catherine, who reigned in a manner 
 becoming the widow of Peter the Great. 
 
 Peter II. (grandson o|" Peter L) succeeded to the im- 
 perial crown, on the death of Catherine, A. D. 1727. 
 The reign of this prince was turbulent, though short, 
 for he fell a victim to the small-pox, A. D. 1730. 
 
 The male issue of Peter the Great being now extinct, 
 the Russians raised Anne, duchess of Courland, se- 
 cond daughter of John, Peter's eldest brother, to the 
 throne. Her reign was glorious and happy. Dying 
 without issue, 
 
 John, the son of her niece Catharine, princess of 
 Mecklenburg, by Anthony Ulric, duke of Brunswick- 
 Woolfenbuttle, was invested with the imperial ensigns 
 
 Voltaire's Russia. Mod. Europe. 
 
172 History of all hatiom* 
 
 at the age of two years. He was soon after deposed, 
 sent into Siberia, and murdered. 
 
 Elizabeth, A. D. 1740, second daughter of Peter 
 the Great, was, on this revolution, raised to the throne. 
 The reign of this empress was uncommonly glorious. 
 She abolished all capital punishments, and introduced a 
 spirit of lenity, in the operations of government, before 
 unknown in Russia. Her fleets and armies were every 
 where victorious. 
 
 She was succeeded, A. D. 1762, in the august 
 throne, by her nephew, the duke of Holstein, under the 
 name of 
 
 Peter III. This prince began his reign with regu- 
 lating, on the most generous principles, his interior go- 
 vernment. He freed the nobility and gentry from all 
 slavish vassalage, and put them on a footing with those 
 of the same rank in other European countries. He re- 
 called many unhappy exiles from Siberia, and lessened 
 the taxes upon certain necessaries of life, to the great re- 
 lief of the poor. These first measures seemed well cal- 
 culated to procure him the affections of his people ; but 
 being of a rash and irregular turn of mind, he in many 
 instances shocked their prejudices, even while he consult- 
 ed their interests. He disgusted both the army and the 
 church, the two chief pillars of absolute sway ; the for- 
 mer by the manifest preference which he gave to his 
 Holstein guards, and to all the officers of that country ; 
 the latter, by his contempt of the Greek communion, 
 having been bred a Lutheran, and by certain innova- 
 tions in regard to images ; but more especially by an 
 attempt to moderate the revenues of the clergy, and an 
 order that they should no longer be " distinguished by 
 beards " 
 
 These were high causes of discontent, and threatened 
 the throne with all the violence of civil war. But Pe- 
 ter's misfortunes immediately arose from a matrimonial 
 feud— from the bosom of his own family. He had long 
 slighted his concert, Catherine, of the house of Anhalt 
 Zerbst, (a woman of a masculine disposition and sound 
 understanding, by whose councils he might have pro- 
 
fiussia. 173 
 
 fited) and now openly lived with the countess of Wo- 
 rowzoff, niece to the chancellor of that name. To this 
 lady he seemed devoted with so strong a passion, that it 
 was generally believed he had some thoughts of shut- 
 ting the empress up in a convent, and of raising the 
 countess to a partnership of his throne. The dissatis- 
 fied part of the nobility, clergy, and chief officers of the 
 army, taking advantage of that domestic dissension, 
 assembled, on the 28th of June, 1762, in the absence 
 of the czar ; deposed him formally, and invested Ca- 
 therine with the imperial ensigns. 
 
 The new empress marched at the head of the male- 
 contents in quest of her husband. Peter was solacing 
 himself with his mistress at one of his houses of plea- 
 sure, and expressed the utmost surprise at being told 
 the sceptre was departed from him. When convinced 
 of the fatal truth, he attempted to escape to Holstein, 
 but was seized and thrown into prison, where he expir- 
 ed a few days after, of what was called an hcemorrhoidal- 
 colic, to which he was said to have been subject. His 
 death, by reason of the steps that had preceded it, occa- 
 sioned no speculation. » It was indeed an event univer- 
 sally expected. Princes dethroned by their subjectSj 
 are seldom allowed to languish long in the gloom of a 
 dungeon. The jealousy of the successor, or the fears 
 of some principal conspirator, commonly make few 
 their moments of trouble. 
 
 The reign of Catherine II. was the admiration of 
 Europe. She triumphed over the Turks, defeated a 
 formidable impostor; extended the commerce and 
 greatly increased the navy of Russia. But the life of 
 this great woman was not without its blemishes. Her 
 ambition was unbounded, and her amours a disgrace to 
 her memory. She died the 17th of November, 1796, 
 and was succeeded by her son 
 
 Paul Petrowitz. The reign of this prince was 
 directly the reverse of that of his mother. Occupied 
 about trifles, he was the perpetual plague of his army. — 
 With him it was a heinous offence to wear a round hat. 
 or to deviate in the least from military etiquette ; b 
 
174 History of all J\ations« 
 
 his soul was not formed for daring exploits. His no- 
 bles and great officers, wearied by his tyrannies, seized 
 him, in order to his deposition ; but he struggling against 
 their attempts they strangled him with a sash on tl>e 25th 
 March, 1801. 
 
 His son, Alexander Paulowitz, the present 
 emperor, who ascended the throne of Russia at the age 
 of 24, is a young prince greatly admired for the suavity 
 of his disposition. 
 
 I Religion of the Russians. — The Russians 
 proiess the religion of the Greek church, which was 
 first embraced by the great Duchess, Ogla, sovereign of 
 Russia, in 955. The external part of their religion 
 consists in the number and severity of their fasts, in 
 which they greatly surpass the Romish church, amount- 
 ing to two-thirds of the year. Their usual weekly 
 fas's are on Wednesdays and Fridays. In Lent, they 
 neither eat flesh, milk, eggs, nor butter, but confine 
 themselves to vegetables, bread, and fish fried in oil. 
 
 The eighth week before Easter, is called " The but- 
 ter week," and may be considered as the Russian car- 
 nival : : being spent in all kinds of entertainments and 
 every species of licentiousness.^ 
 
 A late writer, who made a journey into Siberia, des- 
 cribes the state of religion in Russia in the following 
 manner : " The common people are bigoted even to 
 fanaticism in favour of the Greek religion : this extrava- 
 gance increases the farther we get from the capital ; but 
 these people are so little acquainted with their religion, 
 that they are persuaded they follow all its duties by 
 complying with some external ceremonies, and especial- 
 ly by keeping Lent fasts with the greatest strictness. In 
 other respects, they give themselves up to debauchery, 
 and to every kind of vice. Morality is less to be met 
 with among the Russians, than among the Pagans their 
 neighbors. The opinions of the Russians with regard 
 to Christianity are so extraordinary, that it should seem 
 as if that religion, so well adapted in itself to the happi- 
 ness and good order of society, had only served to make 
 "his people more wicked. A murderer was taken and 
 
Russia. 175 
 
 condemned ; and being asked in the course of his trial s 
 whether he kept the Lent fasts? he appeared as much sur- 
 prised as the most upright man would have been if his 
 honesty had been called in question. He immediately- 
 answered with warmth, that he was incapable of neg- 
 lecting the duties of his religion. Yet this man was at 
 the head of a set of ruffians, and whenever they seized 
 upon any traveller, he readily gave up all the booty to 
 his companions, on condition they delivered up to him 
 the unhappy victims alive. He first undressed them, 
 and tied them naked to a tree, without any regard to 
 their sex : he then opened their breast near the heart, 
 and drank their blood. He declared that he took great 
 pleasure in seeing the dreadful contortions and convul- 
 sions of these wretched people." — -Chappe. 
 
 iThe Russian parish priests are called Papas, or popes, 
 a word signifying father, and indiscriminately applied, in 
 the early ages of Christianity, to all ecclesiastics, with- 
 out distinction, until it was confined to the bishop of 
 Rome, by an edict of George VII. but this order was 
 not acceded to by the clergy of the Greek communion. 
 
 The parochial clergy in Russia are generally the re- 
 fuse of the people ; and indolent and illiterate, f 
 
 The nobility of Russia never enter into the church, 
 the priesthood is composed entirely of the common peo- 
 ple. This disjunction of the different orders of the 
 state tends greatly to debase the manners, and contract 
 the pursuits of each. The alliance between church and 
 state is a political axiom not yet understood in this em- 
 pire; and where adapted, may be said to " savour more 
 of the things that be of man than of those which be of 
 God," although it may promote general science, and. 
 tend to polish manners. — Dr. King, 
 
176 History of ail Nations, 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE NORTHERN KINGDOMS OF SWEDEN, DENMARK, 
 AND NORWAY. 
 
 The northern peninsula of Europe, which compre- 
 hends the present kingdoms of Sweden, Denmark, and 
 Norway, formed part of ancient Scandinavia. 
 
 The rude and warlike inhabitants of this desert, 
 known by the general name of Goths, seeking a milder 
 climate, and lands more fertile than their forests and 
 mountains, made frequent incursions on the continent, 
 and at last became so formidable that they broke the 
 Roman empire, and established powerful monarchies in 
 Gaul, Spain, and Italy. 
 
 The Religion of the ancient Goths, or Scandinavians, 
 if the wild opinion of savages can deserve that name, 
 was like themselves, bloody and barbarous ; but formed 
 to inspire the most enthusiastic courage, and the most 
 unremitted perseverance in toil. Odin, whom the 
 Saxons called Woden, was their supreme divinity. — 
 They painted him as the god of terror, — the author 
 of devastation, — and the father of carnage — And they 
 worshipped him accordingly. They sacrificed human 
 victims to him ; they believed those would stand high- 
 est in his favour who had killed most warriors in the 
 field ; that after death the brave would be admitted in- 
 to his palace, and, have the happiness of drinking 
 beer (their favourite liquor) out of the skulls of their 
 enemies.* 
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 That part of Scandinavia, now called Sweden, is 
 bounded by the Baltic sea on the south, by the Nor- 
 wegian Lapland on the north, by Russia on the east, and 
 on the west by the mountains of Norway. 
 
 * Modern Europe, Gibbon, ike. 
 
Sweden . 177 
 
 No authentic annals of its early inhabitants are now 
 extant. In the first periods of its history, we find it, 
 like the other northern countries of Europe, parcelled in- 
 to small independent states, which were governed by 
 their own respective general or chieftain, who was com- 
 monly stiled king. 
 
 There is no relying on what has been written concern- 
 ing Sweden, till Christianity was introduced, about the 
 middle of the ninth century . 
 
 From this period to A..D. 1150, when king Eric IX. 
 compelled the Finlanders to receive the Christian faith, 
 and ordered the ancient laws and constitutions of the 
 kingdom to be collected in one volume, bearing the title 
 of " King Eric's laws," — nothing occurs in the Swe- 
 dish history that merits particular attention. The chro- 
 nology of this kingdom, which before was very doubt- 
 ful, from this time is more certain. 
 
 Magnus Ladulas, crowned in 1276, appears to be 
 the first king of Sweden who pursued a regular system 
 to increase his authority, and with this view made the 
 augmentation of the revenues of the crown his particu- 
 lar study. This able and judicious prince succeeded 
 in making himself independent of his people ; but his 
 successors not maintaining their authority with equal 
 ability, the kingdom was thrown into the greatest disor- 
 der, and continual revolutions followed till the union 
 of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, in the fourteenth 
 century, under the celebrated Margaret Waldemar, 
 commonly styled the Semiramis of the north. 
 
 Margaret was daughter of Waldemar III. king of 
 Denmark. She had been married to Hacquin, king of 
 Norway, and son of Magnus III. kii.g of Sweden. On 
 the death of her son Olaus, the last male heir of the three 
 northern crowns (which were at that time more elective 
 than hereditary ) she succeeded, by the consent of the 
 states, to the Danish throne. She was elected queen of 
 Norway, which she governed as regent, and the Swedes, 
 being oppressed by their king, Albert, made Margaret a 
 solemn tender of their crown. She marched to their as- 
 sistance, expelled Albert, and assumed the reins of 
 
 y 
 
178 History of aU Nations* 
 
 government, A. D. 1394. Thus possessed of three 
 kingdoms, she formed the grand political design of a 
 perpetual union, which she accomplished {pro tempore 
 only) by the famous treaty of Calamar, A. D. 1397. — 
 This union proved to be the source of those wars which 
 raged in Sweden and Denmark for an hundred years. 
 
 Under Eric, the successor of Margaret, the Swedes 
 revolted, choosing their grand marshal Charles Canutson, 
 king. They, however, returned to their allegiance un- 
 der Christiern I. of Denmark. But they again revolted 
 from the same prince — Again renewed the union of 
 Calamar, under John his successor — Revolted a third 
 time, and were finally by the arms of Christiern II. 
 reduced to the condition of a conquered people. 
 
 To secure himself on the throne of Sweden, Chris- 
 tiern IL commanded the Senators and chief of the no- 
 bility to be massacred at Stockholm, November 9th, A. 
 D. 1520. This, perhaps, was one of the most tragical 
 scenes in the history of the human race. Under the 
 disguise of friendship, he had invited the senators and 
 grandees to a sumptuous entertainment. In the unsuspi- 
 cious hour of convivality, the hall was filled with armed 
 men, and ninety-four persons of distinction were 
 led from the paldce to the scaffold erected before the 
 door, and executed.* 
 
 From his tyrannical government the Swedes were de- 
 livered by the fortitude and zeal of Gustavus Vasa > 
 a descendant of the ancient kings, and whose father had 
 been put to death in the late massacre. 
 
 This brave prince, to escape the fury of the tyrant, 
 concealed himself among the mountains of Dalecarlia. — 
 There, bewildered, destitute of every necessary and 
 ready to perish with hunger, he entered himself among 
 the miners, and worked under ground for bread. He 
 afterwards made himself known to them at their annual 
 feast, and exhorted them to assist him in restoring the 
 liberties of his country. Animated with rage against 
 
 * Vertot. Revolat. Sweden. 
 
Sweden. 179 
 
 their oppressors, they fled to arms. Gustavus gaining 
 many partizans in all corners of the kingdom, saw him- 
 self every where victorious. Every thing yielded to 
 his valor and good fortune, and the regal dignity was 
 conferred on him as the reward of his merit, A. D„ 
 1523. 
 
 This brave and patriotic prince introduced and esta- 
 tablished by law the Protestant religion, and made com- 
 merce and the arts flourish by his wise policy. The 
 affairs of the kingdom being thus happily settled, the 
 crown was declared to be hereditary by the states of 
 Westeraas, A. D. 1544. 
 
 John, his son, ventured to introduce a new Lit- 
 urgy, A. D. 1577, and attempted in vain to re-establish 
 the Catholic religion. Dying in 1592, he left the crown 
 to his son 
 
 Sigismund, who five years before had been elected 
 king of Poland. This prince, like his father, being a 
 zealous catholic, endeavored to restore popery, for 
 which he was dethroned, 1604, and his heirs ex- 
 cluded from the succession. His uncle, Charles IX. 
 was raised to the sovereignty by the states. He had 
 been chiefly instrumental in preserving their religious 
 liberties. On his death, in 1611, the sceptre passed to 
 his son, the celebrated 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, whose reign is one of the 
 most illustrious periods in the annals of this or any other 
 kingdom. He subdued Ingria, Livonia, and Pomera- 
 nia ; but, in the midst of all his victories over the ablest 
 of the Austrian generals, he was unfortunately killed at 
 the battle of Lutzen, in 1632. 
 
 His daughter Christina succeeded. She was not less 
 memorable for her passion for literature, and generous 
 patronage of learned men, than for her resignation of 
 the crown, in 1654, to her cousin 
 
 Charles Augustus, who ascended the throne 
 of Sweden under the name of Charles X. This prince 
 was successful against the Poles, and drove the Danes 
 out of the provinces of Sconen, Smaland, Haland, Ble- 
 
1 gO History of all Nations . 
 
 kingen, and Bohus-Lehn, which he added to his domin- 
 ions. He was succeeded, in 1660, by his son Charles 
 XL in whose reign the power of the Swedish monarchs 
 became absolute, 1671 In 1697, Charles died, and the 
 vacant throne was filled by his son 
 
 Charles XII. one of the most extraordinary men 
 that ever appeared on the earth. This young hero, 
 when scarcely nineteen, had successively defeated Fred- 
 erick IV. of Denmark, Augustus king of Poland, 
 whom he afterwards dethroned ; and the czar Peter the 
 Great — His restless ambition suggested to him the en- 
 tire conquest of Russia. With this view he collected 
 a powerful army. The Muscovites in all quarters fled 
 before him ; and after several advantages gained over 
 the czar's forces, he marched towards the Russian capi- 
 tal Moscow : but at the battle of Pultowa he was defeat- 
 ed, his army cut to pieces, himself wounded, and obli- 
 ged to fly into Turkey. The Ottoman court giving 
 him no hopes of assistance, he fortified himself in his 
 small retreat at Bender, and, with only about fort)' do- 
 mestics, defended it against the Russians, not abandon- 
 ing it till they had set it on fire. From Bender he fled 
 to Demotika , but displeased with his situation there, 
 he resolved to keep his bed as long as he was obliged to 
 stay in it. This he actually did for ten months feigning 
 himself sick. At length travelling post, with only two 
 companions, through Franconia and Mecklenburgh, he 
 arrived at Stralsund in November, 1714. Besieged in 
 this city, he escaped to Sweden in the most deplorable 
 condition. Yet these misfortunes did not abate his rage 
 for fighting : he raised a new army, attacked Norway, 
 and laid siege to Frederickshall, where he was killed by 
 a half pound ball, irom a cannon loaded with grape shot, 
 as he was viewing their approaches by star-light, Octo- 
 ber, 1718. 
 
 On the death of Charles, the states of the kingdom, 
 by a free and voluntary choice, elected his sister, Ulic a 
 Eleanor a, for their queen. But they obliged her, by a 
 solemn act, to renounce all hereditary claim to the crown, 
 that she might hold it entirely by the suffrage of the peo- 
 
Sweden, 181 
 
 pie ; while she bound herself by the most sacred oaths 
 never to attempt the re-establishment of arbitrary power : 
 and sacrificing, soon after, the love of royalty to conju- 
 gal affection, she married the prince of Hesse, who was 
 chosen by the states, and mounted the throne, A. D. 
 1720. 
 
 Frederic. By the new plan of government which 
 was established, the legislative authority was placed in 
 the diet, and the executive rested in the senate. The 
 king's consent was necessary for making war or peace ; 
 and all laws and ordinances w T ere published in his name. 
 Frederic dying without issue, (1751) the states elected 
 
 Adolphus Frederic, a near relation to the late 
 monarch, a prince of very moderate abilities. His reign 
 was made troublesome by the factions in the senate. 
 On his death, in 1771, the Swedish sceptre was given 
 to his son, 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus III. who with a bold hand 
 seized upon that power, which, it must be confessed, 
 had been greatly abused while lodged in the hands of 
 the states. In 1772, the Swedish monarch declared 
 himself absolute, notwithstanding the solemn oath to 
 the contrary, that had been administered to him at his 
 coronation. This act of perjury and perfidy brought 
 along with it its own punishment. The remaining 
 twenty years of the life of Gustavus were spent in jealous 
 watchings and fears of his nobles ; and he was reduced 
 to the necessity of becoming a tool of the court of Ver- 
 sailles, in order to obtain from France those supplies 
 which he was afraid to ask from the states of Sweden ! 
 On the 16th of March, 1792, the king received an ano- 
 nymous letter, advising him not to go to the masquerade 
 of that evening, for which he was then preparing. He 
 neglected the caution, and was shot in consequence* 
 The assasin, a nobleman of the name of Ankarstrom> 
 when apprehended, seemed to glory in what he termed 
 an act of patriotism ! The wounded monarch lingered 
 till the 29th of the same month, and then expired. He 
 was succeeded by his son, Gustavus IV. who is the 
 present reigning sovereign. Turner. 
 
182 History of all Nations. 
 
 Religion. — The religion of the Swedes was for- 
 merly involved in the greatest ignorance and idolatry. 
 The city of Upsal was the seat of their superstitious wor- 
 ship. Until the end of the eleventh century, a cele- 
 brated temple remained at Upsal, which was enriched 
 with the gold which the Scandinavians had acquired in 
 their piratical adventures, and sanctified by the uncouth 
 representations of their three principal deities, the god 
 of war, the goddess of generation, and the god of thun- 
 der. In the general festival that was solemnized every 
 ninth year, nine animals of every species, without ex- 
 cepting the human, were sacrificed, and their bloody 
 bodies suspended in the sacred grove adjacent to the 
 temple. This temple was destroyed in the year 1075 ; 
 and afterwards a christian cathedral was erected on its 
 ruins. 
 
 The emperor Charlemagne sent hither the celebrated 
 Herbert, who preached the gospel in East Gothland. 
 In the middle ages the clergy had obtained the posses- 
 sion of several large estates ; and the pope assumed a 
 great power over the temporal concerns of the kingdom. 
 These abuses procured Olaus Petri, a disciple of Lu- 
 ther, a favourable reception in Sweden, where he pro- 
 mulgated the pure doctrines of the gospel ; and that 
 great king, Gustavus Vasa, happily introduced the re- 
 formation into Sweden. In 1741, the king, by a royal 
 edict, directed that the Calvinists and members of the 
 church of England should enjoy the free exercise of their 
 religion in all the sea-ports, except that of Carlscroon. 
 
 When I^utheranism became the established religion 
 in Sweden, the Swedes, to express their resentment 
 against the Romish priests, by whom they had been 
 grievously oppressed, and to render the vows of chastity 
 made by that order of men, more certainly, though less 
 meritoriously, observed, passed a law, that every ec- 
 clesiastic of that church, found in the kingdom, should 
 undergo castration. Prior refers to this in his tale of 
 Paul Purganti and his wife, when he makes the lady 
 
JSorthern Kingdoms. 183 
 
 express her resentment against unfaithful husbands, by 
 saying — 
 
 " They should be hanged, or starv*d,or flayed, 
 Or serv'd like Romish priests in Swede." 
 
 DENMARK. 
 
 This kingdom, which is part of the ancient Scandi- 
 navia, is at present bounded on the south by Holstein, 
 on the north and on the west by the German Ocean, 
 and on the east by the Baltic. 
 
 The old inhabitants of this northern region of Europe 
 were rude, fierce, and martjal. Strangers to art and 
 industry, they subsisted by riunting, pasturage, and 
 plunder ; neglecting agriculture, their uncultivated ter- 
 ritories soon became over stocked, and colonies issued 
 forth from time to time, under chieftains or generals, 
 which at last almost deluged every part of Europe. — 
 In these migrations they occasionally bore the appella- 
 tion of Cimbres, Goths, Lombards, Angles, and Danes: 
 
 These northern adventurers, after having harrassed 
 the coasts of France, with their robberies, and piracies, 
 and depredations, under the name of Normans, from 
 their northern situation, extended their ravages to 
 Britain, where they were known by the general name 
 of Danes. 
 
 They first landed in the isle of Shepy, pillaged it, 
 and carried off their booty with impunity. The plun- 
 derers continued their incursions till the year 1012, 
 when their king, Seveno, made a complete conquest of 
 England, and left it to his son Canute, who was king 
 of England, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 
 
 During the whole of this period, the history of Den^ 
 mark is involved in great uncertainty. But few impor- 
 tant and interesting events have been recorded that may 
 be relied upon, prior to the reign of the famous Mar- 
 garet Waldetnar, who as we have already mentioned,, 
 united in her own person the crowns of Sweden, Den- 
 mark, and Norway, A. D. 1397. 
 
184 History of all ISattons. 
 
 This union did not last longer than the beginning of 
 the 16th century, when Christiern II. one of the great- 
 est tyrants that have disgraced the annals of history, was 
 obliged to renounce all claim to Denmark, and Nor- 
 way. — From this period nothing worth remark occurs 
 in the history of Denmark. 
 
 The present king of Denmark is Christian VII. He 
 married Caroline Matilda, sister to king George III. of 
 England. She, though an amiable and faithful wife, 
 was made prisoner through the unwarrantable intrigues 
 of the queen dowager, January 16th, 1772, and con- 
 ducted by a British squadron in the May following, to 
 the fortress of Zell, where she died of a broken heart. 
 
 The Danish crown has been hereditary since the year 
 1600, and absolute power is annexed to it. Norway 
 was originally divided into small independent principa- 
 lities, which continued till the ninth century, when they 
 were all united under Herald Harfager. 
 
 This kingdom was united to the crown of Denmark 
 by Margaret, and has ever since been governed by vice- 
 roys. It is a very barren and uncultivated country, and 
 the regal power is absolute. 
 
 Religion. — The Danes, in ancient times, paid reli- 
 gious worship to the gods Fryer, Thyr, Freya, Thor, 
 and Odin ; and in the Danish language, four days in the 
 week still retain the names of four of these deities, of 
 which Odin was the chief. Several attempts were 
 made, at different times, in the middle ages, to convert 
 the Danes to Christianity ; and in the year 812, Ebbo, 
 the bishop of Reims, preached the gospel in Denmark. 
 King Herald Clag, who fled for refuge to the emperor 
 Lewis, consenting to be baptized, was attended back to 
 his kingdom by several monks, who founded churches 
 at many places in Denmark. But the succeeding kings 
 were the inveterate enemies of the Christians, and most 
 cruelly persecuted the new converts. After various 
 vicissitudes of fortune, they at length obtained a free 
 toleration from king Siveno, about the year 1000. 
 
 In the reign of Frederick I. in 1537, at the diet held 
 at Copenhagen, the Lutheran was made the established 
 
• China. 185 
 
 religion. Other religious sects, as the Calvinists, the 
 Jens, the Quakers, &x. enjoy the free exercises of 
 worship throughout the Danish dominions. 
 
 The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is under bishops : there, 
 are six in Denmark, four in Norway, and two in Ice- 
 land. The revenue of the Danish clergy, (which arises 
 partly from tythes, and partly from the liberality of their 
 respective iiocks) is very considerable. In Denmark 
 the living seldom exceeds 400/. or is less than 60/. a year* 
 A preacher's widow in Denmark receives half the 
 benefit of the first year, and the eighth part of the in- 
 come every year after, from the successor of her de- 
 ceased husband. In the principal towns of every dio- 
 cese is also a widow's-box, in which every preacher 
 puts a certain sum ; and if his widow survives him, she 
 enjoys an annuity in proportion to what he has contri- 
 buted. — Coxe's Travels. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 CHINA. 
 
 The extensive empire of China is situated in the fin- 
 est part of Asia, on its eastern extremity : it has Tarta- 
 ry to the N. ; Pegu, Siam, and Cochin-China, to the 
 S. ; Tibet to the W. ; and the Pacific Ocean to the E. 
 Its extent from N. to S. is about twenty-two degrees of 
 latitude, being from 42 to 20 ; and from E. to W. about 
 twenty degrees of longitude, that is from 101 to 121. 
 It is composed of sixteen very large provinces, fifteen 
 of which are within the great wall, and one without. 
 
 The origin of the Chinese empire is extremely ob- 
 scure. The common traditional history of that mon- 
 archy is undoubtedly false, as forty thousand years are 
 supposed to have passed' since its foundation ; but ac- 
 cording to their regular history, in which the learned 
 are pretty well agreed, the dynasties, or royal fiimilies of 
 China, whence their kings have sprung, are supposed to 
 
186 History of all Nations. 
 
 have commenced about 2207 years before the Christian 
 aera. Some have conjectured that Noah retired to Chi- 
 na after the flood ; others that some of his descendants, 
 in the second or third generation, first settled there ; 
 whilst some learned men have supposed, particularly* 
 M. Hiet, and M. de Guignes, that China was first peo- 
 pled by colonies from Egypt, others have stren- 
 uously maintained the contrary opinion, namely, that 
 Egypt was peopled from China. Each of these con- 
 clusions are founded on the great conformity which ap- 
 pears between the Chinese and Egyptian customs. The 
 foundation of the Chinese monarchy is said to have been 
 laid by Yu or Hya, whose virtue, wisdom, and power, 
 added to his great age, induced the people to listen to 
 him as to an oracle ; and as he regulated all private, as 
 well as political and religious affairs, the state soon be- 
 came in a flourishing condition. 
 
 The first dynasty of Kings in China, M. de Guignes 
 supposes to have been a succession of the kings of 
 Thebes in Egypt, but that no Egyptian colony settled 
 in China until about the year 1122 before the Christian 
 sera. The same learned inquirer seems fully to have 
 satisfied himself, that he had discovered a very striking 
 conformity between the ancient Phoenician alphabet and 
 that of the Chinese; he has likewise taken great pains to 
 convince the world, that the hieroglyphics of the Egyp- 
 tians are equally manifest in the Chinese writings. 
 
 Among the Chinese philosophers some have main- 
 tained the eternity of the world, and the boasted anti- 
 quity of the Chinese empire agrees very well with such 
 an opinion, some computations carrying up their tradi- 
 tions of the first man, whom they call Poan-Kou, very 
 near one hundred thousand years before the time of Con- 
 fucius. This marvellous assumption, in itself so very 
 incredible as to stand in need of the most satisfactoiy 
 proof, is in fact very feebly supported, and blended 
 with most absurd fictions; such as that in the reign of 
 the emperor Yau the sun was observed not to set for 
 ten days. Father Fouquet, bishop of Eieutheropolis, 
 
China. 187 
 
 who examined this subject deeply, makes the result 
 of his enquiries to be, that the aera of the Chinese his- 
 tory, so far as it is genuine, should commence about 
 four hundred years before Christ; some, he says, who 
 have investigated the matter, adduce strong reasons for 
 bringing it still lower. It must be observed, however, 
 that the period settled by the bishop involves in fable 
 even the time of Confucius. He admits, indeed, that 
 the Chinese nation may be nearly as old as the deluge; 
 but then he contends their history deserves very little 
 credit any farther back than the period he assigns. — 
 See a Chronological Table, consisting of three sheets*, 
 published at Rome in the year 1729. 
 
 Of the literature of China, the largest collection in Eu- 
 rope is preserved in the imperial academy at Petersburg ; 
 according to Mr. Coxe it is composed of 2800 different 
 pieces ; but in the late French king's library was de- 
 posited a copy of the great annals of the Chinese em- 
 pire, which consists of near 700 volumes, of which pro- 
 digious work a chronological abridgment was published 
 at China the beginning of the present century, in one 
 hundred volumes, from which, and from other materi- 
 als, the Abbe Grosier has published in French the An- 
 nals of China, in twelve quarto volumes. The same 
 laborious examiner and able writer has lately favored 
 the world with much valuable information concerning 
 the Chinese, in a work entitled Description General de la 
 Chine, from which the reader will find that we have fre- 
 quently drawn our information. 
 
 Upon a close and impartial examination of the proofs 
 on which the claim of the Chinese to an almost incon- 
 ceivable antiquity is raised, nothing appears of sufficient 
 force to invalidate the Mosaic account of the creation of 
 the world and the Hebrew chronology, though some 
 writers have urged them for that purpose. Having 
 premised thus much, we shall proceed to give a short 
 sketch of the history of China. 
 
 The form of government in China appears to have 
 been invariably monarchical, and the succession general- 
 ly hereditary. The history divides the emperors into 
 
188 History of all Nations . 
 
 twenty -two dynasties, or epochas of each imperial fami- 
 ly that has successively filled the throne. 
 
 China is reported to have been first visited by an Eu- 
 ropean in the thirteenth century, it being then discovered 
 by Marco Paulo, a Venetian, who travelled thither over 
 land. His account was afterwards confirmed by the 
 Portuguese, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 when the famous Albuquerque, in the reign of Eman- 
 uel, visited the remote coast. An earlier visit to China 
 we shall however speak of in the sequel. 
 
 The history of China, till the middle of the last centu- 
 ry, furnishes very few interesting events ; it is little bet- 
 ter than a dry narrative of the names and successions of 
 their different emperors, and the frequent different civil 
 wars which arose between them and the petty princes. — 
 These occasioned no revolutions in the form of goven- 
 iheht, and furnished no important facts for the historian. 
 
 The Abbe Grosier, speaking of the great wall, which 
 was built more than 2100 years since, to prevent the in- 
 cursions of the Tartars, says, " This prodigious work 
 effaces the most wonderful and gigantic performances of 
 antiquity ; the pyramids of Egypt are nothing in com- 
 parison with a wall that extends through three great pro- 
 vinces, and traverses an extent of country for five hun- 
 dred leagues." The Abbe Raynal has the following 
 remark on this erection, " The fortifying such a work 
 proves that the empire must then have been prodigi- 
 ously populous. If the Chinese had been men of cour- 
 age they would themselves have attacked the roving- 
 tribes, or have kept them in awe by well disciplined ar- 
 mies : if they had been skilled in the art of war, they 
 would have known that lines continued through such an 
 extent could not be defended in every part, and that if 
 they were broken out in one place, all the fortification 
 would become useless. " Hist. Politique liv. v. This wall is 
 about 26 feet high ; at its base it is about 20 feet thick ; 
 its breadth at top is about 15, where it is well paved and 
 has a parapet on each side. Towers are erected on it at 
 about 100 yards distance, the number of which is com- 
 puted at 45,000. The Tartars indeed seem to have 
 
• China. 189 
 
 been the only foreign enemy of the Chinese until about 
 the thirteenth century -, when the conquest of Japan was 
 projected by some of their emperors, which occasioned 
 frequent wars between the two states. 
 
 Towards the end of the thirteenth century the emperor 
 Shi-tsu undertook the conquest of Japan, for which 
 purpose he transported thither an army of 100,000 
 men: but the design miscarried, and the whole arma- 
 ment being shipwrecked was totally lost ; so that after 
 a conflict continued for several years, he was at length 
 obliged to abandon his enterprise, and retire into his 
 own territories. 
 
 In 1628 Way-Tsong, or Zun Ching, mounted the 
 imperial throne of China; in him the Chinese race of 
 emperors terminated, and the 22d dynasty began in the 
 person of his successor Tsing, the Tartarian conqueror, 
 who effected the greatest revolution in the empire of 
 China that their annals record. 
 
 This event happened in the year 1644, when the em- 
 pire was torn and enfeebled by domestic dissentions. 
 The discontented parties were then so numerous, that 
 there were no less than eight different armies under the 
 command of as many chiefs. In this season of general 
 anarchy, the Tartars, who had become powerful by 
 being incorporated with the Manchews, having ravaged 
 the northern provinces of the empire with impunity, 
 seized upon the capital in the year 1644, and soon after 
 subjected the whole kingdom. 
 
 It is truly wonderful that so powerful an empire, al- 
 most equal to Europe in extent, and containing double 
 its number of inhabitants, (Osbeck computing^the em- 
 pire to contain fifty-eight millions of people from twenty 
 to sixty years of age) should, in the course of a very fe v/ 
 years, be brought under subjection to a foreign prince : 
 but the moderation and wisdom of the Tartarian em- 
 perors effected as much as their arms ; and the attach- 
 ment which they shewed to the established laws and 
 forms of government, and their impartiality in dispen- 
 sing honours and emoluments, completed their con- 
 quest. 
 
190 History of all Stations. 
 
 Of the history of China, and the succession of em- 
 perors, for the last forty years, we have no certain ac- 
 counts. The only Europeans who resort to Pekin are 
 the Russians, who carry on a very lucrative inland trade 
 with the empire, particularly in furs, which are obtained 
 from Kamptschatka, some islands between the conti- 
 nents of Asia and America, and the western coast of the 
 latter continent. The English and Americans have of 
 late years brought furs to Canton, which have found a 
 good market there. 
 
 The reigning emperor of China was born on the 17th 
 of September, 1710; he is named, according to some 
 writers, Kam-hi. When lord Macartney was introduced 
 in 1793, this prince had reigned 57 years. 
 
 Government. — The emperor is an absolute mo- 
 narch, and the respect paid to him is a kind of adora- 
 tion ; his commands are as readily and as strictly obeyed 
 as if they came from heaven, nor are any admitted to 
 speak to him but on their knees ; not even his eldest 
 brother, unless it be at his command. None, except 
 the lords who attend him, are allowed to stand in his 
 presence ; but when they speak to him, they put only 
 one knee to the ground. 
 
 The officers receive the same honours when they re- 
 present the emperor's person, or give his orders, either 
 as mandarines of the presence, or as envoys. His go- 
 vernors also receive the same honours when they admi- 
 nister justice, because they are his representatives. In- 
 deed such respect is paid to the emperor, that the princes 
 of the blood, and all the grandees of the court, not only 
 kneel before him, but before his chair, his throne, his 
 Clothes, and every thing made for his particular use. 
 
 Persons of the highest rank are not allowed to ride on 
 horseback, or to pass in a chaise before the gates of his 
 palace, but are obliged to alight at a place appointed for 
 that purpose. If the emperor falls dangerously ill, it 
 creates a general alarm ; the mandarines assemble in one 
 of the courts of the palace, and pass whole days and 
 nights, without regard to the inclemency of the air or 
 
China. 191 
 
 the rigour of the season, imploring heaven on their 
 bended knees to restore his health. 
 
 Yellow is the imperial colour, and none are allowed 
 to wear it but the emperor and those who attend his per- 
 son. His vest is adorned with dragons that have five 
 claws : this is his coat of arms, which none else must 
 bear. He has the disposal of the lives and fortunes of 
 his subjects, nor can any criminal suffer death till he 
 has confirmed the sentence. 
 
 In order to preserve their reputation, the emperors 
 are continually enquiring into the state of the empire, 
 affecting a kind of paternal care for their people ; parti- 
 cularly when any of the provinces are afflicted with ca- 
 lamities, the emperor shuts himself up in his palace, ab- 
 stains from all pleasures* and publishes decrees to ease 
 such provinces of their usual taxes. 
 
 The revenues of the emperor are amazingly great ; 
 but it is not easy to give an exact account of them, be- 
 cause the annual tribute is paid partly in money and 
 partly in commodities; it particularly arises from the 
 produce of the lands, as rice, wheat, and millet ; from 
 salt, silks, stuffs, linen, cotton, with innumerable other 
 articles. All these, together with the customs and for- 
 feited estates, annually amount to above twenty-one 
 millions sterling. Osbeck says, that a poll-tax is levied 
 on each person in China from the age of twenty to that 
 of sixty, and he makes the number from whom it is col- 
 lected to amount to fifty-eight millions. 
 
 The troops constantly kept in pay amount to about 
 seven hundred thousand soldiers ; these are stationed 
 near the great wall, and other fortified places ,- a part of 
 these also compose the emperor's guards, and those of 
 the mandarines, whom they escort on their journies, 
 and at night keep watch about their barks or at their 
 inns. Near five hundred and sixty-five thousand horses 
 are retained to remount the cavalry, and for the use of 
 the posts and couriers who convey the king's orders, 
 and those of the tribunals, into the provinces. 
 
 The Abbe Grosier speaks very particularly concern- 
 ing the military state of this empire. No troops he says 
 
192 History of all Nations. 
 
 are better paid, better clothed, or better armed : but 
 they have less dicipline than the European troops, and 
 are totally deficient in courage. According to Haynal, 
 the art of war is one of the arts in which the Chinese 
 have made the least progress. " It is natural to imagine," 
 continues that writer, " that a nation, whose whole con- 
 duct is influenced by ceremonies, precepts and customs, 
 either of private or public institution, should of course 
 be pliant, moderate, and inclined to tranquility and 
 peace. The spirit of humanity which they imbibe in their 
 tender years, makes them look with abhorrence on those 
 sanguinaryscenes of rapine and massacre, that are so fami- 
 liar to nations where the hero and the warrior are formed. 
 When a nation possesses the art of subduing its con- 
 querors by its manners, it has no occasion to overcome 
 its enemies by force of arms." Hist. poL liv. I. Gro- 
 sier observes, that the military profession is here held 
 in little estimation. The foot soldier is armed with 
 a pike and a sabre : some have firelocks, and others a 
 bow and arrow. The arms of the cavalry consist of an 
 helmet, a breast-plate, a lance, and a large sabre. — 
 The pay of a foot soldier is five sous of fine silver, or 
 twopence English, and a measure of rice a day. The 
 hcrsemen have ten sous and two measures of beans, 
 beside arrears, which are paid every two months. — 
 The best soldiers of the empire are drawn from the three 
 northern provinces. If the use of artillery was ever 
 known in ancient times, it was totally lost at the com- 
 mencement of the last century. Grosicr says, there 
 are still to be seen at Nanking three or four mortars, 
 bat not a single Chinese could be found to use them. — 
 In the year 1621 the city of Macao presented three pie- 
 ces of cannon to the emperor, but it was necessary to 
 send three men to manage them. Afterwards Father 
 Adam Schaal, a Jesuit missionary, first instructed the 
 Chinese in the management of cannon ; another Jesuit 
 named Verbiest, superintended, by order of the empe- 
 ror, a foundery, from which they were supplied with 
 upward of three hundred pieces of artillery. The same 
 father likewise instructed tjtem in the art of fortification, 
 
China. 193 
 
 and introduced among the Chinese the modern Euro- 
 pean rules of architecture. — Description general de la 
 Chine par PAbbe Grosier. 
 
 Here are two sovereign councils ; one called the ex- 
 traordinary council, which is composed of princes of 
 the blood ; the other, called the council in ordinary, 
 has, besides the princes, several ministers of state named 
 colaos, who examine all state affairs, and make their 
 report to the emperor, who gives directions accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 The pomp with which he goes to make his offerings in 
 the temple of Tien is very extraordinary. The proces- 
 sion begins with twenty-four drums, ranked in two files, 
 and twenty-four trumpets, formed of a wood greatly es- 
 teemed by the Chinese. After them follow twenty-four 
 men in a line, armed with red staves, seven or eight feet 
 long, varnished and adorned with gilt foliages. Next to 
 these are a hundred soldiers carrying halberts, the iron 
 part of which terminates in a crescent. Then follow an 
 hundred men with red maces ornamented with flowers, 
 and gilt at the end. Then advance four hundred very 
 fine lanterns ; four hundred flambeaux, consisting of 
 wood which burns a long time, and yields a great light ; 
 two hundred men with spears, some adorned with tufts 
 of silk of various colours, others with the tails of foxes, 
 leopards, and other animals; twenty four banners, on 
 which are painted the signs of the zodiac, which the 
 Chinese divide into twelve parts ; fifty-six other ban- 
 ners, whereon are represented the fifty-six constella- 
 lations, to which the Chinese reduce all the stars ; two 
 hundred fans, on which are painted various figures of 
 dragons, birds, and other animals ; these are supported 
 by long gilt sticks : twenty-four umbrellas richly adorn- 
 ed, and a beaufet supported by the officers of the kitchen, 
 and furnished with gold utensils, such as ewers, basons, 
 Sec. Then appears the emperor on horseback, richly 
 dressed, and on each side is held a magnificent umbrella, 
 large enough to shade both him and his horse : he is sur- 
 rounded with ten led horses ; these are always white, 
 with the saddles and bridles enriched with gold and 
 
 2 A, 
 
194 History of all Nations. 
 
 jewels ; and also by a hundred spearmen, and pages of 
 the bed-chamber. 
 
 After them the princes of the blood, the reguloes, the 
 chief mandarines, and the lords of the court, appear in 
 the same order, and in their proper habits, together 
 with five hundred young gentlemen belonging to the 
 palace, richly clad, followed by a thousand footmen in 
 red gowns bordered with flowers, and stars of gold and 
 silver ; immediately after thirty-six men carry an open 
 chair, followed by another that is much larger and close, 
 supported by a hundred and twenty chairmen; then 
 appear four large waggons, two of which are drawn by 
 elephants, and two by horses covered with embroidered 
 housings : every chariot and chair is followed by a com- 
 pany of fifty men to guard it. This procession is closed 
 by two thousand mandarines of letters, and two thousand 
 mandarines of arms, or oflicers of war, richly dressed in 
 their proper habits. The same order is always inva- 
 riably observed. 
 
 Nobility. — None but those who belong to the 
 reigning family have any title of distinction ; these pos- 
 sess the rank of princes, in whose favour five honorary 
 degrees of nobility are established, much like those of 
 dukes, marquisses, earls, viscounts, and barons, in Eu- 
 rope. These titles are granted to the children of the 
 emperor, and those to whom he gives his daughters in 
 marriage, who have revenues assigned them equal to 
 their dignity, but not the least power. When the 
 founder of the present Tartarian family was settled on 
 the throne, he conferred on his brothers, who were nu- 
 merous, and had contributed by their valour to the con- 
 quest of many countries, several titles of honour, to 
 which the Europeans have given the appellation of re- 
 guloes, or princes of the first, second, and third rank, 
 and it was then determined, that from among the chil- 
 dren of every regulo, one should be chosen to succeed his 
 father in the same dignity. 
 
 But the family esteemed the most noble in China, is 
 that of the celebrated Confucius, of whom we shall 
 give some account in treating of the religion of the Chi- 
 
China* 195 
 
 nese. The honours conferred on that great man have 
 been continued in a direct line for more than two thou- 
 sand years in the person and descendants of one of his 
 nephews, who is called, " The nephew of the Great or 
 Wise Man." 
 
 The mandarines, who are the governors of provinces 
 and cities, and, according to their different ranks, enjoy 
 all the posts under the government, are chosen for their 
 proficiency in learning. But the children even of those 
 who enjoy the highest offices under the emperor, are in 
 danger of sinking to the rank of the vulgar, and are often 
 obliged to follow the meanest professions. The son of 
 a mandarine may succeed to his father's wealth, but not 
 to his dignity or reputation : he must rise by the same 
 steps as those by which his father rose ; and by applying 
 himself to study, be, like him, advanced on account of 
 his learning. 
 
 There are three ways of punishing with death in Chi- 
 na, of which strangling is looked upon as most honora- 
 ble : this is,, frequently done by a bow-string. In some 
 places they put a cord of seven or eight feet long, with a 
 running knot round the criminal's neck. Two servants 
 belonging to the tribunal draw it hard at each end, then 
 loose it a moment, and drawing it again the second time, 
 dispatch the criminal. 
 
 Another kind of punishment is extremely cruel ; this 
 is inflicted on rebels and traitors, on a son who strikes 
 his father, and on merciless robbers. It is called " cut- 
 ting in ten thousand pieces." The executioner fastens 
 the criminal to a post, then flaying the skin off his head, 
 pulls it over his eyes, and afterwards mangles him by 
 cutting pieces from all parts of his body ; and when he 
 is weary of this barbarous exercise, he delivers him to 
 the cruelty of the populace. 
 
 The other punishment is beheading ; which is inflict- 
 ed for crimes of great enormity, as murder, and is look- 
 ed upon as very shameful, because the head, which is 
 the principal part of man, is seperated from the body ; 
 and because in dying they do not preserve the human 
 form as entire as it was when they received it from their 
 
196 History of all Nations. 
 
 parents. The party condemned to suffer this punish- 
 ment, is not, on the day of execution, exposed on a 
 scaffold, but being made to kneel in some public place, 
 with his hands tied behind him, a person holds him so 
 fast that he cannot move, while the executioner coming 
 behind, takes off his head at one stroke, and at the same 
 time lays him on his back with such dexterity, that not 
 a drop of blood falls on his clothes, which on that occa- 
 sion are generally better than ordinary : for his relations 
 and friends, though ashamed to own him in those unhap- 
 py circumstances, usually send him new clothes, and 
 cause provisions and driuk to be offered him by the 
 way. 
 
 The executioner is commonly a soldier; and his 
 office is so far from being scandalous, that at Pekin he 
 accompanies the criminal girt with a sash of yellow silk, 
 and his cutlass is wrapped in silk of the same colour, to 
 shew that he is vested with the emperor's authority. 
 
 Those who suffer death by decapitation are also sen- 
 tenced to be deprived of common burial, which in Chi- 
 na is considered as dreadfully infamous ; the execution- 
 er therefore, after having stripped the body, throws it into 
 the next ditch. 
 
 If the criminal happens to have wealthy relations who 
 regard him, they frequently buy the body at a great 
 price from the executioner, and sew r on the head again 
 with abundance of lamentations. 
 
 R e l i g i o n. — The religion of China is two-fold. One 
 as ancient as the empire itself, and probably introduced 
 by its founders : the other of much later date, and deri- 
 ved from India, not long after the birth of Christ. The 
 latter has idols, temples, sacrifices, priests, monks, festi- 
 vals, and many external rites and ceremonies ; the for- 
 mer is exempt from all these, and is, perhaps, as artless 
 and simple as any religion that was ever taught in the 
 world. It prescribes reverence to an invisible Being, 
 residing in the visible heaven, and distributing thence 
 happiness and misery among mankind ; but it enjoins 
 no particular worship to him : so that temples, priests, 
 assemblies, sacrifices, and rites, are things entirely for- 
 
China. 197 
 
 eign to it. In this religion there is no term for God, 
 and in an imperial edict, published in the year 1710, it 
 is said, " It is not to the visible and material heaven that 
 we offer our adoration, but to the Lord of heaven." — 
 The emperor alone, at certain times, offers a sacrifice to 
 this powerful Being, in the name of his people. The 
 emperor, who is sole pontiff, is likewise the only judge 
 in religious matters. 
 
 The latter religion, of that idolatry which was intro- 
 duced by jPo, or Foe, a celebrated Indian impostor, has 
 many adherents among the lower ranks of people, but is 
 only tolerated in the state. The wise men, and those of 
 distinction, profess the old morality, which is the nation- 
 al religion, protected by the laws of the empire, and 
 preached by the emperor himself. 
 
 This ancient religion maintained, that, as well for the 
 preservation of order as -to maintain purity of manners, 
 those who command should imitate the conduct of Tien, 
 in treating their inferiors as their children ; and those 
 who obey ought to consider their superiors as their fa- 
 thers. 
 
 The religion of China is comprehended in some an- 
 cient and valuable books, which they call " the Five 
 Volumes;" it appears from one of these ancient books, 
 that this Tien, the object of public worship, is the prin- 
 cipal of all things, the father of the people, independent, 
 almighty, omniscient ; to whom the secrets of the heart 
 are fully known, and who watches over the conduct of 
 the universe. 
 
 Fohi, who was one of the heads of the colony which 
 came to settle in this part of the east, and is acknowledg- 
 ed to be the founder of the Chinese monarchy, gave pub- 
 lic marks of his profound veneration for the Supreme 
 Being. Chinnong, Fohi's successor, added to these sac- 
 rifices two offerings at the equinoxes. 
 
 His successors, in general, followed his example; 
 and it is asserted by the Chinese writers, that for the 
 space of two thousand years the nation acknowledged, 
 reverenced, and honoured with sacrifices the Supreme 
 Being and Sovereign Lord of the universe. 
 
198 History of all Nations. 
 
 At length the troubles which arose in the empire, the 
 civil wars which distracted it, and the corruption of man- 
 n< which became almost universal, had very nearly 
 su .'pressed the ancient doctrine, when Confucius arose 
 aid revived it. 
 
 This great philosopher made a collection of the most 
 excellent maxims of the ancients, which he adhered to 
 himself, and taught to the people. He preached up a 
 severe morality, and endeavoured to prevail upon men 
 to contemn riches and wordly pleasures, and to esteem 
 temperance, justice, and other virtues: he strove to 
 inspire them with such magnanimity as to be proof 
 against the frowns of princes, and with a sincerity inca- 
 pable of the least disguise. The thing most to be ad- 
 mired is, that he preached more by his example than by 
 his words, whence he reaped considerable fruits from 
 his labours; kings were governed by his counsels, and 
 the people reverenced him as a saint. Yet he frequent- 
 ly met with reverses of fortune, which obliged him to 
 travel from province to province, and he was often re- 
 duced to such extremities, as to be in danger of perish- 
 ing by hunger. 
 
 He sent six hundred of his disciples into different pla- 
 ces of the empire to reform the manners of the people, 
 and used frequently to say, " It is in the West where the 
 true saint is found." This sentence was so imprinted 
 in the minds of the learned, that sixty -four years after 
 the birth of Christ, the emperor Ming-ti sent ambas- 
 sadors into the West, with strict orders to continue 
 their journey till they should meet this saint. Other 
 authors assert, that he was induced to send these am- 
 bassadors, from a dream which reminded him of this 
 sentence of Confucius. 
 
 This philosopher seems to have carried the religion 
 of nature as far as unassisted reason could possibly reach. 
 After his death he was revered by the greatest part of 
 the nation as an eminent saint, as a messenger inspired 
 and sent by heaven to instruct mankind, and almost as 
 a god; but interpreters soon arose, who explained away 
 the simplicity and purity of his doctrine, and, by intrp- 
 
China. 199 
 
 ducing idle distinctions and superstitious observances, 
 by perverting and wresting his meaning as well as by- 
 giving false interpretations of the ancient books, they 
 destroyed the worship due to the Supreme Being, and 
 formed a system of religion and philosophy equally im- 
 pious and absurd. This is now the religion of the learn- 
 edj who, while they pay homage to the memory of 
 Confucius, are far from following his precepts or imita- 
 ting the innocence and sanctity of his life. Yet though 
 the purity of doctrine is not retained, the memory of 
 their great teacher is still held in the highest reverence 
 by the Chinese, and the emperors have even ordered 
 that the literati should annually celebrate a festival to his 
 honour. 
 
 The Chinese in their persons are far from being such 
 grotesque figures as they represent themselves in their 
 paintings ; and we may form a pretty distinct idea of 
 them in general, by considering what they esteem beau- 
 ty. This they imagine consists in having a large fore- 
 head, small eyes, a short nose, a broad face, a mouth 
 of a moderate size, large ears, and black hair; together 
 with a certain symmetry and proportion between all the 
 parts. As their garments are wide, and do not fit so 
 close to the body as those of the Europeans, they have 
 formed no idea of the beauty resulting from a genteel 
 and easy shape. On the contrary, they esteem a man 
 well made when he is fat, bulky, and handsomely fills 
 his chair. Their complexion, in the southern parts of 
 China, where the weather is excessively hot, is of an 
 olive colour; but, in the northern provinces, they are 
 naturally as fair as the Europeans, and, in common, 
 their faces are not disagreeable : the men of learning, 
 and young people, particularly, not being exposed to 
 the sun, have a fine skin and a beautiful complexion. — 
 Such as are professedly men of letters, especially if they 
 are well descended, affect to let the nails of their fingers 
 grow an inch long or more, from the vanity of shew- 
 ing that they are not employed in manual labour; a cus- 
 tom which prevails in Otaheite, among the erie$ r or 
 men of rank. 
 
200 History of all A at ions. 
 
 As for the women, they are commonly of the middle 
 size ; their noses are short, their eyes little, their mouths 
 well made, and with rosy lips ; their ears are long, their 
 hair black, and their complexion florid ; their features 
 are regular, and their countenances full of vivacity. — 
 The smallness of their feet is, in the opinion of the 
 Chinese, none of the least charms of that sex : there- 
 fore, when a female infant is born, the nurses are very 
 careful in binding her feet extremely hard, to prevent 
 their growing ; and they are ever after subjected to this 
 constraint ; but whatever pain a child suffers from this 
 violence offered to nature, it appears that its health is not 
 materially affected by it ; and such is the force of cus- 
 tom, that the Chinese women, when adult, are so far 
 from complaining of it, that they pride themselves in 
 this whimsical perversion of nature, and always affect to 
 shew their feet as they walk, or rather hobble along with 
 tottering and unsteady steps. 
 
 The men shave their heads, leaving only one lock of 
 hair growing on the crown. Osbeck says, " If a Chi- 
 nese is asked what sum of money would induce him to 
 part with his tuft of hair? he replies by asking the in- 
 quirer, what he would take for his head?" 
 
 It is generally agreed that the silk- worm was first bred, 
 and its curious web first manufactured, in China, and 
 for a great many centuries formed a most lucrative 
 branch of trade ; no other part of the world haying any 
 knowledge of that insect, or of its wonderful properties. 
 The ancients in all ages were supplied with ihat cosdy 
 article of luxury, silk, from India, whither it was 
 brought from China. It was about the middle of the 
 sixth century, in the reign of Justinian, that two Persian 
 monks, who had been employed as missionaries in some 
 of the Christian churches, which were established, as we 
 are informed, by Cosmas, in different parts of India, 
 had penetrated into the country of the Seres, or China. 
 There they observed the labours of the silk -worm, and 
 became acquainted with the whole progress of working 
 up its productions in such a variety of elegant fabrics. 
 The prospect of gain, or perhaps an indignant zeal, 
 
China. 201 
 
 excited by seeing this lucrative branch of commerce en- 
 grossed by unbelievers, prompted them to repair to 
 Constantinople ; there they explained to the emperor the 
 origin of silk, as well as the various modes of preparing 
 and manufacturing it : mysteries until then unknown, 
 or very imperfectly understood in Europe. Encouraged 
 by his liberal promises, they undertook to bring to the 
 capital a sufficient number of those wonderful insects, to 
 whose labour man is so much indebted. This they ac- 
 complished by conveying the eggs of the silk- worm in a 
 hollow cane ; which were hatched by the heat of a dung- 
 hill ; the insects, so procured, were fed with the leaves 
 of the wild mulberry-tree; and they multiplied and 
 worked in the same manner as in those climates where 
 they first became objects of human attention and culture. 
 Vast numbers of these insects were soon reared in dif- 
 ferent parts of Greece, particularly in the Peloponesus. 
 Sicily afterwards undertook to breed silk-worms with 
 equal success, and was imitated, from time to time, by 
 several towns in Italy. In all these places extensive 
 manufactures were established, and carried on with silk 
 raised in the country. The demand for silk from the 
 East diminished of course. The subjects of the Greek 
 emperors were no longer obliged to have recourse to 
 the Persians for a supply of it, and a considerable change 
 took place in the nature of the commercial intercourse 
 between Europe and India. — Dr. Robertson's Historical 
 Disquisition concerning ancient India, page 88. 
 
 It was ten centuries after the Chinese had lost their 
 monopoly of silk, that tea became adopted into general 
 use in European countries. The demand for this favou- 
 rite leaf has continually increased since its first intro- 
 duction, which is little more than a century ago. In 
 the year 1785, when the British ministry introduced re- 
 gulations respecting the duties on this important article, 
 it was stated in the house of commons, that the whole 
 quantity of tea imported into Europe from China, was 
 about nineteen millions of pounds weight, of which it 
 was conjectured that twelve millions were consumed in 
 Great Britain and its dependencies. — Payne. 
 
 2 b 
 
202 History of all Nations. 
 
 Two splendid embassies from England and Holland 
 have been undertaken within these few years past ; 
 that of lord Macartney, in 1793, and that of Mr. Tit- 
 sing, in 1795. A full account of the former was pre- 
 sented to the public by sir George Staunton, and of the 
 latter by N. Van Braam, both of them acting secreta- 
 ries to their respective embassies. To these works we 
 must necessarily refer the inquisitive reader for full 
 and accurate accounts of the present condition of this 
 populous, extensive, and flourishing empire. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 Original Inhabitants. — JSame. — Subdued by the Teuto- 
 nic Knights. — Albert the first Duke. — Erected into a 
 Kingdom. 
 
 Prussia, which has lately made so great a figure in 
 the affairs of Europe, is one of the most recent and limited 
 monarchies on the continent. It was originally inhabited 
 by a powerful race of people, called the Venedi, who 
 extended themselves all along the south side of the Bal- 
 tic. On the Venedi removing to the more western prov- 
 inces, the Borussi, who had migrated from the foot of 
 the Riphgen mountains, possessed themselves of this 
 country, which they called Borussia, now corrupted to 
 Prussia. 
 
 It was divided into twelve provinces by Venedus, 
 one of the Borussian princes, who is recorded to have 
 given them to his twelve sons. 
 
 They made a noble stand against the kings of Poland, 
 a brother of one of whom (Boleslaus IV.) was defeated 
 and slain by them in battle, A. D. 1166. This bold 
 and warlike nation continued independent, and pagans, 
 till conquered by the knights of the Teutonic order, A. 
 D. 1227, who, returning to Europe after the expulsion 
 
Prussia. 2Q3 
 
 of the Christians from the Holy Land by Saladin, ob- 
 tained grants of settlements in Italy, Germany, Hunga- 
 ry, &c. 
 
 A long series of wars ensued, in which the original 
 inhabitants of Prussia were almost extirpated by these 
 religious and military knights- The remainder, op- 
 pressed beyond all human tolerance by their conquerors, 
 at last revolted, and implored the aid of Casimir IV. 
 king of Poland, A. D. 1454, who invaded Prussia; and, 
 after a bloody war of twelve years duration, a peace 
 was concluded, in which it was agreed that the part cal- 
 led Polish Prussia should continue under the protection 
 of Poland, and that the Teutonic knights should pos- 
 sess the other parts, but to acknowledge themselves vas- 
 sals to the sovereign of Poland. The knights, disdain- 
 ing the vassalage, made frequent attempts to shake it off, 
 till at last Albert, margrave of Brandenburgh, grand- 
 master of the order, embracing the doctrines of Luther, 
 and willing to aggrandise himself at the expence of the 
 knights, agreed to share Prussia with his uncle, Sigis- 
 mund I. king of Poland, on condition of paying hom- 
 age for the protection of that crown. The proposal 
 was accepted. Albert took the title of Duke, A. D. 
 1525, in his new territory; hence the present kingdom 
 is called Ducal Prussia, and that part in possession of 
 Poland, and on the western side of the Vistula, Regal 
 Prussia. * Thus ended the sovereignty of the Teuton- 
 ic order in Prussia, after it had subsisted three centu- 
 ries. 
 
 Brandenburg remained long in subjection to Poland; 
 and the investiture of Prussia was granted by the Polish 
 kings to each succeeding margrave. 
 
 Frederic- William, elector of Brandenburg, surnamed 
 the Great, had Ducal Prussia confirmed to him and his 
 heirs, being freed from vassalage (A. D. 1657) by Casi- 
 mir, king of Poland ; and he and his descendants were 
 
 Mem. de Brandenburg, torn. i. 
 
204 History of all ^Nations. 
 
 ■ 
 
 declared independent and sovereign lords of this part of 
 Prussia. 
 
 With these titles, and as grand-masters of the Teuto- 
 nics, they continued till A. D. 1701, when 
 
 Frederic, son of Frederic- William the Great, raised 
 the duchy of Prussia to a kingdom , and on Jan. 18, 
 1701, in a solemn assembly of the states of the empire, 
 placed the crown, with his own hands, upon his head 
 and that of his consort ; soon after which he was ac- 
 knowledged as king of Prussia by all the other Chris- 
 tian powers. In memory of this event, he instituted 
 the order of the Black Eagle. 
 
 His son, Frederic- William, succeeded to the crown 
 A. D. 1713 ;- — a wise and political prince, who, by ri- 
 gid economy, amassed a prodigious treasure, though he 
 maintained for his own security an army of 60,000 men, 
 which he prudently left his son to employ. A number 
 of useful and magnificent foundations rendered his reign 
 glorious. — u If we may be said to owe the shade of the 
 " oak," observes the royal historian, " to the acorn 
 " from which it sprung ; in like manner we may dis- 
 " cern, in the sagacious conduct of Frederic- William, 
 '■' the source of the future greatness of his succes- 
 tc sor .»* 
 
 This prince died A. D. 1740, when Frederic III. as- 
 cended the throne, who will justly be celebrated by fu- 
 ture historians, as one of the first military, political, and 
 literary characters that ever graced a throne. He dying 
 in 1786, was succeeded by his son 
 
 Frederic IV. The conduct of this monarch convinc- 
 ed Europe that the aggrandisement of his kingdom was 
 of more importance, in his estimation, than to keep his 
 word, or maintain the rights of those with whom he was 
 in alliance. He helped to plunder Poland, which he 
 Wlis bound to protect ; and broke his treaty with Eng- 
 land and Germany against France, as soon as he found 
 
 * Mem,, tie Brandenburg^, torn. ii. 
 
France. * 205 
 
 it convenient. He, November 16, 1797, was succeeded 
 by his son 
 
 Frederick V. the present emperor, whose tempori- 
 sing policy had nearly lost him his kingdom ; being de- 
 featedatthe decisive battle of Jena, by the emperor of the 
 French, who shortly after took Berlin, his capital. — 
 [See more of Prussia in the Appendix. ] 
 
 Religion. — The Prussians are in general Luthe- 
 rans ; but as a great number of the colonists are Calvin- 
 ists, they have also their churches, not only in the cities 
 and towns, but in some villages they have a particular 
 church appropriate to their use ; and in some places 
 they perform divine service in the Lutheran churches. 
 The Roman catholics have a few churches in this king- 
 dom. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 INTRODUCTION TO FRANCE. 
 
 This country, more than any which has yet come un- 
 der our notice, has a particular claim to attention. In 
 the course of the last eighteen years, it has undergone 
 more astonishing revolutions than any other on the face 
 of the globe. Situated in the heart of Europe, boasting 
 a population of between thirty and forty millions, inde- 
 pendent of the petty sovereignties which it has either 
 created or has brought within its influence ; flushed 
 with conquest, and commanded by an ambitious chief, 
 who places at an immense distance perhaps all the heroes 
 of ancient and modern history, and aspires (as is generally 
 believed) to universal domination. We have devoted to 
 this article as great a proportion of our work as the im- 
 portance of the subject and our circumscribed limits 
 would allow us. 
 
206 History of all Nations. 
 
 TRANCE. 
 
 Under the Franks y or Merovingian Race. — Carlovingian 
 Race. — Charlemagne. — Invasion of the J\ or mans. — 
 Capetian Race. — Conquest of France by the Fnglish. 
 
 This extensive country was, in the early ages, known 
 under the name of Gaul, and received a colony of Belgas 
 from Germany about 200 years before Christ It was 
 afterwards shared by the Romans, Visigoths, and the 
 Burgundians, when Clovis, king of the Franks, a tribe 
 of Germans who inhabited the other side of the Rhine, 
 defeated the Roman general, Syagrius, and by obtaining 
 a complete victory over the Visigoths, in which their 
 king Alaric was slain, fully established the French mo- 
 narchy in Gaul. 
 
 He was converted by his queen Clotilda, and the 
 Franks under his reign embraced Christianity. 
 
 On the death of Clovis, A. D. 511, his kingdom was 
 divided among his sons, and on that account involved in 
 civil wars. 
 
 A series of weak sovereigns succeeded, under whom 
 the maires du palais, the mayors of the palace, a kind of 
 viceroys, amid the disorders of civil war and anarchy, 
 extended their authority over both king and nobles, and, 
 possessed of the power of sovereigns, assumed at length 
 the title. 
 
 Pepin le Bref was the first maire du palais who made 
 his way to the throne, and assumed the sovereignty in 
 name as well as in reality, excluding for ever the de- 
 scendants of Clovis, or the Merovingian race,* from 
 the crown of France, after they had possessed it 270 
 years. 
 
 * So called, from Merovsus, grandfather of Clovis. 
 
France, 207 
 
 Pepin, the founder of the Carlovingian race of kings, 
 was succeeded by his two sons, Charles surnamed 
 Charlemagne, and Carloman. On the death of his 
 brother, A. D. 771, Charles became sole monarch of 
 France, and, during a reign of forty-five years, subdu- 
 ed to his dominion the greatest part of Europe. The 
 beautiful domestic character, the heroic enterprises and 
 exploits, the victories and conquests of this prince, 
 have been greatly celebated in history; but the most 
 important transactions of his reign are those which re- 
 gard Italy. 
 
 He subdued all Lombardy, entered Rome in tri- 
 umph, and was crowned emperor of the Romans on 
 Christmas- eve, A. D. 800. 
 
 Charlemagne died in the 72d year of his age, A. D. 
 814. 
 
 Lewis (le Debonair) was his only lawful son who sur- 
 vived him ; on whose death a partition of this extensive 
 empire took place, between his three sons. Charles 
 surnamed the Bald, obtained the kingdom of France; Ger- 
 many, finally separated from the empire of the Franks, 
 was the share of another son, Lewis of Bavaria; and 
 Italy fell to Lotharius, with the title of emperor. 
 
 The concluding period of the history of the degene- 
 rate posterity of Charlemagne, is uninteresting and ob- 
 scure. The most memorable event that has been record- 
 ed is the incursions of the Normans, or rather the Nor- 
 wegians. — At the end of the eighth century, these fierce 
 people, who collectively bore the name of Normans, 
 migrating from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, ven- 
 tured in light barks, hollowed out of large trunks of 
 trees, to brave the ocean. — They penetrated into Eng- 
 land, Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the 
 Western Isles, and even to Ireland; all which places 
 they made the subjects of their depredations, marking 
 their rout by desolation and slaughter. — The booty and 
 wealth which those ravagers carried home, excited oth- 
 ers among them to advance along the coast of Britain 
 to France, where they first landed in 820. Under one 
 of their most illustrious leaders, Rollo, they sailed up 
 
208 History of all JSfations. 
 
 the Seine ; and, taking the city of Rouen, soon became 
 so formidable, that Charles the Simple offered Rollo his 
 daughter in marriage, and ceded to him Normandy, 
 Bretagne, and Neustria. 
 
 Rollo had a son called William, who succeeded him 
 in the ducal throne of Normandy, and from whom the 
 Norman kings of England descended. 
 
 Hugh Capet, the most powerful nobleman in France, 
 and the founder of the third race of French kings, as- 
 cended the throne in the conclusion of the 10th century. 
 The weakness and domestic misery of the kingdom, 
 during this and several succeeding reigns, were too 
 shocking to be described. 
 
 In the reign of Philip I. which began A. D. 1060, 
 the phrenzy of crusading broke out. — An enthusiastic 
 priest, known by the name of Peter the Hermit, having 
 in his pilgrimage to Jerusalem been eye-witness to the 
 injuries and oppressions under which the Christians in 
 the east, as well as the pilgrims, groaned ; his own 
 heated imagination, the persuasion of the patriarch of 
 Jerusalem, and the approbation of pope Urban, anima- 
 ted him to run from province to province, through ail 
 the countries of Europe, with a crucifix in his hands, and 
 tears in his eyes, stirring up the superstitious people to 
 wreak their vengeance on the enemies of Christianity , and 
 to rescue the Holy Land from the possession of the Infi- 
 dels. Every individual, even to the children, was fill- 
 ed with holy rage, and people of all ranks flew to arms 
 with the utmost ardor. Thousands of them perished 
 miserable ; and, having undergone many hardships, the 
 Christians got possession of a wild waste country,, with- 
 out either cultivation or inhabitants, in which, however, 
 lay Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and many other 
 places of sacred fame. 
 
 The crusades chose Godfrey of Bouillon king of Je- 
 rusalem, and settled him in their new conquests. 
 
 Philip was succeeded in the year 1108 by his son 
 Lewis, who is generally called by the old historians Lew- 
 is the Gross, from his great size, and who was the 
 sixth Lewis that sat on the throne of France. Soon. 
 
France. 209 
 
 after his coronation, he engaged in a war against Henry 
 I. of England, a powerful vassal, whom it was his inter- 
 est to humble. The war was carried on with a variety 
 of fortunes during the greater part of this reign, but 
 without producing any remarkable event. The history 
 of this period affords little instruction or entertainment. 
 
 Philip II. the successor of Lewis, and Richard I. of 
 England, undertook a joint expedition to the Holy Land. 
 The king of France returned to Europe in disgust ; and 
 the king of England, being abandoned by his associ- 
 ates, was obliged to relinquish his enterprise, after he 
 had defeated the infidel emperor, Saladin, within sight 
 of Jerus-tlem ; and, on his return, was made prisoner by 
 the duke of Austria, and confined in a dungeon in Ger- 
 many, from whence he purchased his release by a very 
 large ransom. 
 
 The short reign of Lewis VIII. who succeeded his 
 father Philip in the year 1226, was chiefly sr ent in cru- 
 sades against the Albigenses, in the prosecution of which 
 he died. 
 
 He was succeeded by his son Lewis IX. commonly 
 called St. Lewis, who engaged in a new crusade, in 
 which himself, with his nobility, were taken prisoners, 
 and ransomed at an immense expence. He afterwards 
 led a new army against the infidels of Africa, where he 
 was seized with an epidemic distemper, and died. His 
 sort and successor, Philip III. kept the field against the 
 Moors, and saved the remains of the French army, 
 which procured him the name of the Hardy. 
 
 The reign of Philip IV. surnamed the Fair, the son 
 and successor of Philip the Hardy, is distinguished by 
 the institution of the supreme tribunals, called parlia- 
 ments, and the suppression and extirpation of the 
 Knights Templars, who were originally an order of 
 monks that settled near the temple of Jerusalem when it 
 was first taken by the champions, of. the cross. In a 
 short time they acquired from the piety of the faithful, 
 ample possessions in every Ch istian country, but more 
 especially in France. The great riches of those knights 
 had relaxed the severity of their discipline. Being all 
 
 2c 
 
210 > History of all Nations.. 
 
 men of birth, they at last scorned the ignoble occupa- 
 tions of a monastic life, and passed their time wholly in 
 the fashionable amusements of hunting, gallantry, and' 
 the pleasures of the table. 
 
 By these means the Templars lost that popularity 
 which first raised them to honor and distinction ; and 
 Philip, in concert with Pope Clement V. judged them 
 unprofitable to the church, and dangerous to the state. 
 
 The race of Capetine kings ended with Charles IV. 
 surnamed the Fair, who left only one daughter. The 
 states of the kingdom by a solemn decree declared all 
 females incapable of succeeding to the crown ; and 
 Philip de Valois, the grandson of a brother of Philip 
 IV. the next male heir, in consequence of that decree, 
 was unanimously raised to the throne A. D. 1328. 
 
 Edward III. of England, claimed the French crown, 
 as grandson of a daughter of Philip. Hostiilties com- 
 menced. The English triumphed over the French 
 at Cressy, A. D. 1346, and after a long siege took Ca- 
 lais ; but in 1360, a peace was made, by which the 
 king of France granted Guienne, Poictou, Santoigne^ 
 and several other territories in the neighbourhood of 
 Calais, to. Edward, in compensation for Normandy, 
 which he relinquished. About the end or the fourteenth 
 century, the French recovered all that the English pos- 
 sessed in France, except Calais. 
 
 In the beginning of the fifteenth century, a civil war 
 raged with great violence between the Burgundians and 
 Armagnes. Henry V. king of England, resolving to 
 take advantage of those disorders, invaded France. Inu 
 mediately on his landing, A. D. 1415, he invested Har- 
 fieur, which was taken by storm, after a six weeks siege, 
 and the garrison put to the sword. The famous battle 
 of Agincourt followed, in which Henry obtained a glo- 
 rious victory. The loss of the French wzs incredible. 
 Seven princes were slain. Five princes were taken pri- 
 soners, together with fourteen thousand persons of dif- 
 ferent ranks ; and about ten thousand Frenchmen were 
 left dead on the field of battle. 
 
France. ill 
 
 Henry returned to England, but landed about two 
 years after in Normandy ; and in 1420 concluded a 
 treaty, by which the succession to the throne of France 
 was secured to the king of England ; and in consequence 
 of this treaty, his son, Henry VI. was crowned king of 
 France at Paris. 
 
 Charles VII. who had succeeded his father, Charles 
 VI. in the year 1422, by slow degrees recovered pos- 
 session of his kingdom. Joan of Arc, a pretended pro- 
 phetess, raised the siege of Orleans, defeated the Eng- 
 lish, but was taken prisoner, and burnt for sorcery. 
 Charles, by a vigorous perseverance, expelled the Eng- 
 lish from France. This monarch rendered his kingdom 
 flourishing within itself, and formidable to its neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 Lewis XI. an insidious, artful, and tyrannical mo- 
 narch, seized on Burgundy, A. D. 1477, and made that 
 duchy an appendix of the crown of France. 
 
 His successor, Charles VIII. conquered the kingdom 
 of Naples, but was afterwards driven out of Italy, and 
 stripped of all his conquests. He was the last prince 
 of the first line of the house of Valois. On his death, 
 in the year 1498, the duke of Orleans ascended the 
 throne, under the tide of Lewis XII. whose humanity, 
 generosity, and indulgence to his subjects, obtained him 
 the appellation of Fattier of the People. 
 
 Francis I. his son-in-law, was a prince of the greatest 
 abilities, but with many defects. He undertook the 
 conquest of Naples ; and for that purpose led a strong 
 army into Italy, and besieged Pavia, where his army 
 was routed, and himself taken prisoner by the impe- 
 rialists, Feb. 24, 1525. After two years captivity, he 
 obtained his enlargement on the most rigorous condi- 
 tions. 
 
 The severity of his successor, Henry II. drove the 
 protestants into rebellion. The death of Henry II. and 
 the accession of Francis II. at that time only thirteen 
 years of age, was the sera of those civil commotions which 
 harassed France for thirty years. The duke of Guise 
 and his brother, inveterate enemies to the protestant 
 
212. . History of all Nations. 
 
 religion, assumed the direction of public affairs. By 
 their instigation, the king resolved on the extirpation of 
 heretics. Animated with zeal, and inflamed with re- 
 sentment, the protestants, or Hugonots, as they were 
 stiled by way of reproach, resolved, by some bold ac- 
 tion, to anticipate the schemes of their enemies. Hence 
 the famous conspiracy of Amboise, where they intended 
 to seize the king, and wrest the government out of the 
 hands of the Guises, if not to dispatch tljem. Their 
 design was discovered and disappointed. Soon after 
 the young king was suddenly carried off, in the seven- 
 teenth year of his age. 
 
 Charles IX. was only ten years of age at his acces- 
 sion. His mother* Catheri e of Medicls, was appointed 
 his guardian, and invested with the administration of the 
 realm. This prince's minority and reign exhibit a se- 
 ries of treacheries, commotions, and assassinations. 
 Five civil wars rent the kingdom to pieces, and France 
 became a scene of tumult and bloodshed. 
 
 The massacre of Paris commenced on the eve of St. 
 Bartholomew, August 24, 1572, to which there is no- 
 thing parallel in the history of mankind, either from the 
 dissimulation that led to it, or the deliberate cruelty and 
 barbarity with which it was perpetrated. Seventy thou- 
 sand protestants were murdered.* 
 
 Though the author of so many atrocious crimes, 
 Charles IX. was only twenty-four years old, when he 
 was removed by a violent disorder, and was succeeded 
 in the throne of France by his brother, the duke of An- 
 jou, under the title of Henry III. 
 
 This was a weak and debauched prince. He devoted 
 himself to his pleasures, and entrusted the entire direc- 
 tion of public affairs to his mother. The disturbance 
 between protestants and catholics still continued. Henry 
 being suspected of favouring the former, was assassinated 
 by a Dominican monk, August 1, A. D. 1589 ; and in 
 him the line of Valois finished, which had governed 
 France 161 years. 
 
 * See Memoirs of the Duke de Sully. 
 
France. 213 
 
 Qo the death of Henry III. the crown devolved to the 
 house of Bourbon, in the person of Henry IV. king of 
 Navarre, justly styled the Great. He was the best and 
 most amiable of princes. Being a protestant, he was 
 opposed in his pretensions to the crown by the catholic 
 league. War was declared, in which Henry was suc- 
 cessful, and triumphed over his enemies; and in order 
 to please the majority of his subjects, he embraced the 
 catholic religion — a step which the security of his crown, 
 and the happiness of his people, made necessary. Edu- 
 cated a protestant, he continued, after he became a cath- 
 olic, to be the patron of the reformed. Generous and 
 free in his own principles, he endeavoured to promote a 
 spirit of love and charity among his subjects, to allay all 
 bitterness and animosities, and to put an end to all per- 
 secution. In the year 1598, he passed the famous edict 
 of Nantz ; which "not only secured to the protestants the 
 free exercise of their religion, but a share in the admin- 
 istration of justice, and the privilege of being admitted 
 to all employments of trust, profit and honour. Henry's 
 grand schemes, in the conclusion of his reign, were to 
 humble the House of Austria ; and to erect a balance of 
 power; which, by dividing Europe into fifteen associated 
 states, modelled as a great republic, or Christian com- 
 monwealth, to expel the Turks, would establish perpe- 
 tual peace. When all was in readiness to carry into 
 execution these chimerical projects, an end was put 
 to them by the hand of a desperate fanatic, named 
 Ravilliac, who stabbed the king to the heart in his coach, 
 in the streets of Paris, A. D. 1610. Thus perished 
 Henry IV. the ablest and best prince that ever sat upon 
 the throne of France. 
 
 Under the minority of Lewis XIII. who succeeded 
 his father at the age of nine years, and the weak regen- 
 cy of his mother Mary de Medicis, France returned to 
 that state of disorder and wretchedness, out of which it 
 had been raised by the mild and equitable but vigorous 
 government of Henry the Great.* Excited by his.min- 
 
 Modern Europe. 
 
214 History of all Nations, 
 
 ister, the famous cardinal Richlieu, who was an enthu^ 
 siast in popery, the king besieged the protestants in the 
 town of Rochelle, which was at last reduced by famine ; 
 but by the loss of Rochelle, and other fortified places, 
 which had been given the Hugonots for their security, 
 their strength was much impaired. This whole reign 
 was very turbulent, chiefly from the ambitious views of 
 Richlieu, who had the sole direction of public affairs. — 
 He introduced absolute government into France, and 
 amazingly increased its power. Lewis XIII. died A. 
 D. 1643. 
 
 Lewis XIV. surnamed the Great, succeeded his fa- 
 ther at the age of five years, under the regency of his 
 mother, Ann of Austria, who chose cardinal Mazarine 
 to be her minister. This was a long and brilliant reign. 
 To divert or dissipate the factions which had involved 
 the kingdom in civil and domestic quarrels, war was 
 declared against Spain. The celebrated duke d'En- 
 ghien was made general of the French armies, and so 
 signal was the success of this young hero (afterwards 
 honoured with the title of the Great Conde) that his 
 victories brought about the memorable peace of West- 
 phalia, signed atMunster, October 24, in the year 1648, 
 between France, the emperor Ferdinand III. and Chris- 
 tina queen of Sweden. Though this treaty established 
 a calm in part of Europe, France was torn by civil dis- 
 sentions. The cardinal Mazarine having been declared 
 by the parliament "A disturber of the public peace, and 
 an enemy to the kingdom," was dismissed by the king, 
 on his coming to age, A. D. 1654 ; but was soon af- 
 ter recalled and reinstated in the administration. The v 
 war was carried on with vigour against Spain, till the 
 treaty of the Pyrenees, A. D. 1659, when peace was 
 procured to both the exhausted monarchies by the mar- 
 riage of the French king with the infanta Maria Theresa. 
 The death of Mazarine, in little more than a year after, 
 left the reins of government to Lewis. The young sove- 
 reign no w became the idol of France, and the admira- 
 tion of Europe. His restless ambition, and insatiable 
 thirst of glory, began to disturb the peace of the contU 
 
France. 215 
 
 nent. He invaded the Spanish Netherlands, which he 
 reduced, and immediately afterwards made himself mas- 
 ter of Franche-Comte. A progress so rapid, filled Eu- 
 rope with terror and consternation ; and a triple alliance 
 was formed, A. D. 1668, by England, Holland, and 
 Sweden, to check his arms. This measure was effect- 
 ual ; the victorious Lewis thought it necessary to limit 
 his ambition for the present ; and a treaty of peace was 
 signed at Aix-la-Chapelle the same year. 
 
 France increased in glory and national strength. Lew- 
 is, still ambitiously determining on the conquest of 
 Holland, entered that country in the beginning of the 
 year 1672, and made himself master of no less than 
 forty strong towns in about two months. The distress 
 and consternation of the Dutch cannot be described. — 
 As the last resource, the sluices were opened by the 
 command of the magistrates of Amsterdam, and the 
 neighbouring country was laid under water, without re- 
 gard to the fertile fields, the numerous villas, and flour- 
 ishing villages, which were overwhelmed by the inun- 
 dation ! The war was continued to the peace of Nime- 
 guen A. D. 1679. 
 
 His unbounded ambition made him odious, or formi- 
 dable, to every prince in Europe. The league of Augs- 
 burg, in which the continental powers joined their forces 
 for restraining this ambitious monarch, was formed in 
 1689. — -A long and bloody war ensued. — To repel this 
 storm, Lewis assembled two armies in Flanders ; he 
 opposed a third to the Spaniards in Catalonia; and, in 
 order to form a barrier on the side of Germany, he laid 
 waste the Palatinate with fire and sword. This barba- 
 rous policy can never be held in too much detestation. 
 Men, women, and children, were driven, in a severe sea- 
 son (February 1689) out of their habitations, to wander 
 about in the fields, and to perish of hunger and cold ; 
 while they beheld their houses reduced to ashes, their 
 goods seized, and their possessions pillaged by the rapa- 
 cious soldiers ! 
 
 The Dutch were defeated with great slaughter by 
 mareschal Luxemburg. Every where victorious, the 
 
216 History of all Nations. 
 
 glory and greatness of Lewis were now at their height. 
 But the united forces of England and Austria, under 
 the command of Marlborough and prince Eugene, at 
 last prevailed, and the subsequent part of his reign exhi- 
 bits a mortifying reverse of fortune. France derived 
 no solid advantage from her successes. Her finances 
 were exhausted ; and tranquility was restored to Eu- 
 rope by the peace of Ryswick A. D. 1697. From the 
 year 1702, when Lewis endeavored to establish the Pre- 
 tender's title to the crown of England, to 1711, his 
 reign was a continued series of defeats and calamities. 
 The peace of Utrecht, the terms of which Were glori- 
 ous for England, took place A. D. 1713. He died 
 Sept. 1, 1715. 
 
 Discord seemed to have left the earth with the restless 
 spirit of Lewis XIV. His great grandson ascended the 
 throne at the age of five years, under the title of Lewis 
 XV. The general tranquility of Europe met with lit- 
 tle interruption from the peace of Utrecht till the year 
 1734. At that period a flame broke out, in consequence 
 of the death of Augustus II. king of Poland, and scon 
 spread itself through every part of Europe. The 
 French king supported the pretensions of Stanislaus, 
 whose daughter he had married, in opposition to the 
 elector of Saxony, whose cause was supported by the 
 Russians and Au'strians. After a war of two years, a 
 treaty was concluded, by which it was agreed that 
 Stanislaus should renounce his claim to the throne of Po- 
 land, and should be put in possession of Lorraine and 
 Bar. — The death of the emperor, Charles VI. (1740) 
 involved France in another war, from a desire of break- 
 ing the power of the House of Austria, and exalting 
 that of Bourbon on its ruins, by dismembering the do- 
 minions of Maria Theresa, and placing on the imperial 
 throne Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, stipendiary of 
 his most Christian majesty. 
 
 The cause of the archduchess, Maria Theresa, was 
 warmly espoused by the king and people of Great Bri- 
 tain, who voted her liberal supplies ; and 16,000 Bri- 
 tish troops were sent over to her assistance. 
 
France. 217 
 
 At the battle of Dettingen, June 27, 1743, the En- 
 glish were victorious. In the year 1 744, Lewis concert- 
 ed an invasion of England, under the young Pretender. 
 May 11, 1745, the king and dauphin had their vanity 
 highly gratified by their troops gaining the battle of Fon- 
 tenoy. An end was put to the progress of this war by 
 the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, April 30, 1748, the basis 
 of which was, a restitution of all the places taken on 
 both sides. 
 
 In the year 1756, hostilities were again renewed, and 
 the storm raged with violence over the greater part of 
 Europe. Germany, France, Russia, and Sweden, were 
 combined against Prussia and Great Britain. In 1757, 
 Jan. 6, Damien, a native of Arras, attempted to kill 
 the king. The death this poor fanatical wretch suffered is 
 shocking to humanity; and, although the act of a people 
 who pride themselves in civility and refinement, might fill 
 the hearts of savages with horror. He was conducted 
 to the common place of execution, amidst a vast con- 
 course of the populace ; stripped naked, and fastened 
 to the scaffold by iron gyres. One of his hands was 
 then burnt in liquid flaming sulphur. His thighs, legs, 
 and arms, were torn with red hot pincers. Boiling 
 oil, melted lead, rosin, and sulphur, were poured into 
 the wounds : and, to complete the awful catastrophe, 
 tight ligatures being tied round his limbs, he was torn 
 to pieces by young and vigorous horses ! 
 
 After a very active, splendid, and universal war, 
 perhaps the most bloody between disciplined armies, 
 peace was concluded at Paris on the 10th of February 
 1763, as humiliating to France as it was honourable t6 
 England. 
 
 Lewis XV. died May 10, 1774, and was succeeded 
 by his grandson Lewis XVI. The events subsequent 
 to this period have been productive of a revolution, 
 which has shaken all Europe to its foundation : we will 
 therefore reserve them for the matter of another Chapter, 
 
 2 D 
 
ifistory of all Nations. 218 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Assembly of the Rotables. — Junction of the Citizens 
 and Soldiers.— Destruction of the Bastile. — Death of 
 the King and Queen. — War with England. — Death 
 of the Dauphin. — Descent of the French upon Egypt, 
 — The English take the French fleet. — Russia joins 
 the English and Austrians. — Various successes in 
 Italy. 
 
 From the increase of pecuniary embarrassment, and 
 a dissatisfaction at the system of taxation, particularly 
 a declaration of a new stamp-duty, the parliament of Pa- 
 ris began seriously to remonstrate with the king in the 
 year 1787. On the 22d of February, 1788, the notables 
 were assembled by Lewis, who informed them of his 
 intention to ameliorate the burden of revenue by a more 
 equal taxation ; but owing to the party spirit of the 
 friends of M. Necker and M. de Calonne, two contend- 
 ing ministers, the king and the assembly did not agree 
 in their plans of finance. From this aera may be dated 
 the commencement of the French revolution. 
 
 In the month of July, 1791, the Parisians assembled 
 in large bodies, and enrolled themselves as a regular mi- 
 litia for the protection of their private properties and the 
 capital at large. Sixty thousand citizens were soon in 
 motion ; and they were as soon spontaneously joined by 
 the French guards. The armourers shops were pillaged 
 of their weapons. The guards trained the citizens to 
 arms ; and they took on themselves, when thus consoli- 
 dated, the name of ' National Guard. '* On the 14th 
 of the month, they entered the hospital of invalids, and 
 seized on 30,000 muskets, and 20 pieces of cannon ; 
 and shortly after they besieged and gained possession of 
 the prison and fortress of the Bastile. 
 
 • La Garde Nationale, 
 
France* 21g 
 
 During the remainder of this year, and through the 
 whole of the next, a disposition towards republicanism 
 increased evidently among the people. Te Deum was 
 solemnly sung at Notre Dame in commemoration of tak- 
 ing the Bastile. The nobility were persecuted, together 
 with the priests. The aristocratic members of the as- 
 sembly found it expedient to quit the kindom. His ma- 
 jesty's title was changed from king of France to king of 
 the French, A new division of the kingdom was made 
 into eighty-three departments, instead of provinces, as 
 formerly. The lands of the church were sequestered 
 to serve the exigencies of the state. And all the titles 
 of the nobility, together with the use of liveries and ar- 
 morial bearings, were abolished by a decree of the as- 
 sembly. 
 
 The mild spirit of Lewis induced him to accept a coiv 
 stitution, thus altered, in order to preserve peace in the 
 nation ; but it had not the desired effect. A decree of 
 sequestration was passed on the property of the emi- 
 grants. Ecclesiastical distinctions were first done away, 
 and afterwards the clergy were banished. And, to 
 complete the whole, a memorial was presented from the 
 Parisians, by Pethion, the mayor of that capital, de- 
 manding the deposition of the king. 
 
 On the 10th of August, 1792, after a dreadful mas- 
 sacre of the Swiss-guards, and other persons at the 
 Thuilleries, the national assembly pronounced the de- 
 position of the unfortunate monarch. Shortly afterwards 
 he was confined with his family in the prison of the Tem- 
 ple. On the 11th day of December, he was brought up 
 for trial to the bar of the convention ; and on the 21st 
 of January following, he was put to death by the guil- 
 lotine. 
 
 The French nation was now become a republic The 
 queen was tried and condemned on the 15th of October ; 
 and on the 16th she was brought out from the Concier- 
 gerie, and deprived of life by the same sort of instrument 
 that had beheaded her unfortunate husband. 
 
 Previously to this disputes had arisen between Great- 
 Britain and France relative to the navigation of the 
 
220 History of all J\ations. 
 
 Scheldt; for, on the 1st day of February, 1793, war 
 was declared by the republic against the kingdom of 
 Great-Britain. 
 
 Impiety at this period became a prominent feature in 
 France . On the 7th of November, Gobet, bishop of 
 Paris, with other priests, abjured, in the convention, 
 the Christian religion. Fanciful deities, such as Liberty, 
 Equality, &cc. were consecrated as objects of worship ; 
 and the further to promote this paganism, the old ca- 
 lender was destroyed, and a new one formed. In it, the 
 year, beginning the 23d of September, was divided into 
 twelve months, ot thirty days each, and the remaining 
 five days were devoted to national festivity. The Chris- 
 tian sabbath was ordered to be discontinued, and the day 
 of rest fixed for every decadi, or tenth day. 
 
 February the 4th, 1792, the convention passed a de- 
 cree, which, in the midst of all their atrocities, will be 
 for ever remembered to their honor. Three deputies, 
 two of them natives of St. Domingo, and the other a 
 negro, were received it the bar, as representatives of that 
 place. After they had given an account of the distur- 
 bances and troubles on their island, a motion was made 
 by La Croix, and carried into a law, without one dis- 
 senting voice, that slavery should be entirely abolished 
 within every part of the French dominions. The con- 
 sular government of France, however, thought fit to 
 attempt a privation of that liberty which the Convention 
 granted to the negroes ; and the consequence is, that 
 the extensive and important Island, St. Domingo, is now 
 a free state ; styled the Empire of Hayti. 
 
 A treaty of peace was concluded in 1795, between 
 the French nation and the kingdoms of Spain and Prus- 
 sia, On the 9th of June, the dauphin expired in the 
 Temple, not without suspicion of violence. He and 
 his sister had been confined in that prison in the year 
 1792 ; but, shortly after his death, the princess was de- 
 livered up to her relations in Germany. On the 27th 
 of October the convention ended, and a new form of 
 legislation was established ; it consisted of a ' council of 
 
France. 221 
 
 ancient's, a 'council of five hundred,' and five rulers 
 called a 'directory.' 
 
 In Ju ne 1796, the French army entered the dominions 
 of the pope, and thereby became possessed of many of 
 those exquisite pieces of painting and ancient sculpture, 
 with which they have since so richly adorned their capi- 
 tal. They landed a small force on the coast of Pem- 
 brokeshire on the 23d of February, 1797 ; but it was 
 too insignificant to commit any depredations. This 
 year is famous for the banishment of the accused mem- 
 bers, and for the reduction of all Italy by the French 
 troops under General Bonaparte. 
 
 Admiral Brueys, with the Touloh fleet under his com- 
 mand, left that port the latter end of May 1798, accom- 
 panied by Bonaparte and an army of 40,000 men. This 
 vast force proceeded to Egypt. The army was safely 
 landed, and continued masters of that country till 1801 ; 
 but the fleet was attacked at anchor, on the 1st of Au- 
 gust, by admiral Nelson ; and all the line of-battle ships, 
 except one, taken or destroyed. This was not the only 
 check the French were now to experience. In the be- 
 ginning of the year 1799, the emperor of Russia sent 
 an army, under the command of field-marshal Suwar- 
 off, to join the Austrian forces in Italy. The Russian 
 troops were divided by their leader into three bodies ; 
 and with them, for a considerable time, he vanquished 
 the enemy at every point. The fears of the directory 
 increased with the repeated defeats of the army; but 
 their minds were restored to tranquility the January fol- 
 lowing, when Suwaroff received an order from the 
 court of St. Petersburg, as unexpected as it was sudden, 
 to lead his soldiers into Poland. After various success 
 in Egypt, Bonaparte received accounts of the disasters 
 of the French in Italy. He therefore meditated a secret 
 return to Paris, which, strange as it may appear, his good 
 fortune enabled him to accomplish. On the 24th of Au- 
 gust, 1799, he left the road of Aboukir in a small ship ; 
 and, notwithstanding the English fleets covered the 
 Mediterranean, he landed safe at Frejus in the month 
 of October following. On his return to the capital, the 
 
122 History of all Nations. 
 
 unstable government of France was once more changed. 
 The directory was abolished, and the executive power 
 committed to three consuls, Bonaparte, the first of 
 these, was invested with more than regal authority : the 
 other two, little better than cyphers, were Ducos and 
 the abbe Sieyes. — Turner. 
 
 The difficult passage of the French army of reserve, 
 commanded by Bonaparte, over the mountains of St. 
 Bernard, was followed by the entry of the French into 
 Milan, and by the re-establishment of the Cisalpine Re- 
 public. — This event lead:- us 10 ihe memorable battle of 
 Marengo, vi hich procured a peace to the European con- 
 tinent. The Austrian General Melas had disputed the 
 field against the French with a most obstinate courage, 
 and had thrice forced them to fall back and retreat; 
 when General Desaix came up and decided the battle in 
 favour of the French. This heroic officer was slain. 
 
 By the armistice, in July, which was concluded in 
 two days after, a considerable number of fortresses 
 were delivered up to the French. The definitive treaty 
 of peace between Austria and France was concluded on 
 the 9th of February, 1806. 
 
 On the 18th of May, 1804, the Legislative body of 
 France conferred the imperial dignity on the first con- 
 sul; which was presented to him, by the Senate in a 
 body, in the following words — " Napoleon Bona- 
 parte is declared Emperor of the French, and the im- 
 perial dignity hereditary in legitimate descent from male 
 to male, in the order of primogeniture, to the exclu- 
 sion of females and their descent. The laws are to be 
 promulgated thus: — Napoleon, by the grace of God, 
 and the constitution of the republic, emperor of the 
 French." 
 
 This decree of the legislative body, was submitted 
 to the French people, and a register opened in each dis- 
 trict, for 12 days, to obtain their sentiments thereon ; 
 having obtained a great majority of votes throughout 
 the republic, it was finally sanctioned by the legisla- 
 ture. 
 
France. 223 
 
 In April, 1805, Bonaparte was proclaimed king of 
 Italy, at Milan. 
 
 In June, 1805, Bonaparte annexed Genoa, and the 
 Ligurian republic, to France ! 
 
 Bonaparte crossed the Rhine, on the 1st of October, 
 180S, with the whole of the Grand Army, and on the 
 4th hostilities commenced between the French and Aus- 
 trians ; the latter was defeated at Guntsburgh, and the 
 Duke of Brunswick mortally wounded. On the 19th 
 the imperial city of Ulm was attacked by the French, 
 and the Austrians completely defeated ; the whole line 
 of the Iller forced, the city and vast magazines, cannon, 
 &c. taken, and the Austrian commander General Mack : 
 had he been a Mack Donald^ or a Macknamara, the 
 strong city of Ulm and its numerous garrison of brave 
 Germans would not have been so easily conquered. 
 
 December the 2d, 1805, a most bloody battle was 
 fought, between the French and the combined Austrian 
 and Russian army at Austerlitz, in which the combined 
 forces were defeated with great loss. The combined 
 and French armies engaged in this dreadful contest are 
 said to have amounted to nearly three hundred thousand 
 men. This battle is remarkable for having three empe- 
 rors present at it. The emperors of Germany, Russia, 
 and France ; a circumstance we believe unprecedented, 
 at least in modern history. 
 
 Six days after the battle of Austerlitz, an armistice 
 was signed between the emperors of France and Aus- 
 tria ; by which the latter was compelled to consent to 
 another dismemberment of his dominions. 
 
 The following is a list of new kings and princes crea- 
 ted by Bonaparte. — The Elector of Bavaria, king of 
 Bavaria ; Elector of Wirtemberg, king of Wirtemberg ; 
 Elector of Hesse, king of the Catti ; Elector of Baden, 
 king of Baden ; Joseph Bonaparte, king of Naples ; 
 Louis Bonaparte, king of Batavia ; Jerome Bonaparte, 
 king of Westphalia ; Eugene Beauharnois (son-in-law 
 to the emperor) viceroy of Italy ; Murat (brother-in-law 
 to Bonaparte) duke of Cleves and Berg ; M. Talley- 
 rand, prince of Benevento; cardinal Fesh, (uncle to 
 
224 History of all J\atiatis. 
 
 Bonaparte) prince primate of the Rhenish confederacy ; 
 M. Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo; Marshal Le- 
 fevre, duke of Dantzick ; and Marshal Berthier duke of 
 Neufchatel. 
 
 On the 14th of June, 1807, a most bloody battle was 
 fought between the Russians, Prussians and the French 
 armies, at the town of Friedland on the River Alle. In 
 this engagement, it is said, that the French had thirty 
 thousand men killed and wounded ,* the Russians in 
 this, and some previous engagements, lost about sixty 
 thousand men, in killed, wounded and taken prisoners. 
 An armistice took, place shortly after this action. — See 
 more of France in the Appendix. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 INTRODUCTION TO SCOTLAND. 
 
 This country, anciently called Caledonia, lies between 
 the 54th and 59th degree of north lat. and the 1st and 7th 
 degree of west longitude from London. The River Te- 
 ved on the eastern coast, and the Sol way Firth on the west, 
 determine the limits between England and Scotland. — • 
 The German ocean, with the Deucaledonean and the 
 Irish Seas, flow around its eastern, northern, and west- 
 ern coasts. The isles of Orkney and Shetland lie con- 
 tiguous to its most northern extremity ; the Hebrides 
 are adjacent to its north-western shores. 
 
 The highest mountain in Scotland is Ben-Nevis, in 
 Inverness-shire, near Fort- William ; on the north-east 
 it is fifteeen hundred feet in height. 
 
 The principal rivers in Scotland are the Tay, the 
 Clyde, and the Forth. The chief source of the Tay is 
 the lake of the same name. Soon after this noble river 
 issues from the lake, it is joined by several less streams ; 
 after passing the beautiful town of Perth, it is navigable ; 
 and flows byT)undee, below which it forms a grand es- 
 tuary, or frith. The mouth of the Clyde, below Glas* 
 
Sir. "William: Wallace the Svct* Patriot 
 
 rejectmc' the overtures of _Z$T/~JV£? J£ JD TidJriJ^ . 
 
Scotland. 225 
 
 gow, is equally advantageous to navigation. The falls 
 of the Clyde, near Lanerk, are objects well deserving the 
 attention of the traveller. The Frith of Forth is a re- 
 markable guiph, formed by the mouth of that river. 
 The Dee, the Don, and the Spey, are other rivers most 
 worthy of notice in the north. 
 
 Throughout Scotland there are a great many beautiful 
 lakes, but the chief in extent and magnificence, is that 
 of Loch Lomond, studded with romantic islands, and 
 adorned with shores of the greatest diversity * The 
 depth of this lake, near the bottom of Ben Lomond, is 
 from sixty to eighty fathoms. Loch Leven, in Fife- 
 shire, attracts observation from historical fame. Loch 
 Tay is a grand and beautiful expanse of water. Loch 
 Ness rivals Loch Tay in extent and reputation ; its 
 great depth, being 139 fathoms, is the reason that it 
 never freezes ! Both sides of Lock Ness are beautifully 
 variegated with woods of majestic oaks, birch, hazel, 
 poplar, ash, beach, &c. On the north side of this loch, 
 opposite to the famous fall of Foygers, stands a remarka-^ 
 ble mountain; in the Gaelic tongue called, " Maull 
 Fonrnvonny ;" on the top of which is a small lake, which 
 is frequently covered with ice throughout the whole 
 year, and so deep that it never could be fathomed. 
 
 The chief minerals of Scotland are lead, iron, and 
 coal. In passing to the less important minerals, Ben 
 Nevis aifords a beautiful granite ; a black marble, fretted 
 with white, like lace-work, occurs near Fort- William, 
 in the Highlands ; and jasper is found in various 
 places. 
 
 Several beautiful species of marble have been lately 
 found in the western isles, especially in those of Tirey 
 and Cob, near the isle of Mull : no similar marble being 
 found any where, French naturalists have called it Tirite, 
 from the name of the island. It is of a rose colour, pe- 
 netrated with small irregular crystals of green por- 
 blende. 
 
 One of the most surprising objects of curiosity is the 
 vast basaltic of the isle of Stqffa, called now Fingal's 
 
 2 E 
 
226 History of all Nations. 
 
 Cave. The entrance of the cave is fifty-six feet in 
 height, and thirty-five in breath : the whole length or 
 depth is one hundred and forty feet. It is supported on 
 each side by beautiful columns, disposed in the most ex- 
 act order, and in form resembling the most regular pil- 
 lars of architecture. The whole south-west of the island 
 is likewise supported by ranges of these pillars, above 
 fifty feet high, and some above sixty feet thick, standing 
 in natural colonades. 
 
 The aurochs, whose bones and horns are yet found in 
 some places, buried under many layers of earth, were 
 the largest of the Caledonian quadrupeds : although not 
 nourished by carnage, yet the slightest provocation was 
 at any time enough to exasperate them to rage, and their 
 rage was death to almost every inhabitant of the forest. 
 The stag and the roe, particularly the latter, are nume- 
 rous in the Highlands. The eagle, the falcon, the sky- 
 lark, the thrush, the mevis, Sec. are not unknown here : 
 The shores and islands present numerous kinds of sea- 
 fowl. 
 
 Scotland abounds with all kinds of scale and shell-fish, 
 and contributes greatly to the supply of the English 
 market, in lobsters, salmon, &c. On the northern and 
 western coasts are numerous seals, (or sea dogs) and it 
 appears from the life of St. Columba, that the ancients 
 had a method of rendering those amphibious animals 
 tame and obedient to call I The herrings appear off 
 Shetland in innumerable columns in the month of June, 
 altering the very appearance of the ocean, which ripple 
 like a current : These columns have been computed to 
 extend five or six miles in length, by three or four in 
 breadth. They afterwards divide to the east and west 
 of Great Britain, furnishing a providential supply of 
 food to many sterile districts : How bountiful is our 
 Beneficent Creator ! May our hearts ever vibrate with 
 fervent gratitude to so good a Benefactor I 
 
Scotland. 227 
 
 The cities of Edinburgh* and Glasgow would do 
 honor to any country. In each of these is an old and 
 new town, which form a pleasant contrast. 
 
 There are other towns, where trade and industry are- 
 rapidly increasing : such as Aberdeen, Dundee, Inver- 
 ness, Perth, Montrose, &c. 
 
 The law of Scotland differs in many instances from 
 that of England, being founded in a great measure upon 
 the civil law. The session consists of a President and 
 fourteen Senators, is the highest court of Justice ; they are 
 all appointed for life by the king. In civil matters there 
 are no juries as in England; criminal causes are deter- 
 mined by the majority, not by the unanimity of the jury 
 as in England. 
 
 Since the Revolution of 1688, the ecclesiastical gov- 
 ernment of Scotland is of the Presbyterian form, an es- 
 tablishment long opposed by its monarchs as unfavor- 
 able to the royal influence. To the general assembly lay- 
 men also are admitted under the name of Hiding Elders, 
 and constitu te about one thirdjof this venerable^body » All 
 clerical matters are discussed in this court, from which 
 there is no appeal but to the British parliament. In gene- 
 ral the present clergy merit the greatest praise, as men of 
 enlightened minds and moderate conduct. Among the 
 higher orders, generally, the church of England and 
 the episcopal church of Scotland are the prevailing reli- 
 
 * Edinburgh is the metropolis of Scotland, and situated in Latitude 56. 
 It was called by the ancient Scots, Dun-Eden, on the hill o f Eden, allu- 
 ding as I suppose, to the garden of Eden. For this country (Mid-Lothian) 
 with respect to its beauty, being adorned with a number of Noblemen and 
 Gentlemen's seats, which are truly superb and elegant, a very fertile and 
 well inhabited soil, and the prospect of one of the finest rivers in Europe, 
 may justly be termed the Eden or Paradise of Scotland. This city is 
 reckoned the most populous of any of its size in Europe, the houses being' 
 remarkably lofty (some more than ten stories high) and contiguous to 
 one another. Edinburgh is situated upon a hill. On the west end of the 
 city there rises a hill and a rock, on which is built a castle, inaccessible up- 
 on all sides but that towards the city. It was anciently called the Maiden 
 Castle, because the Picts kept their daughters in it : and it was thought to 
 be the winged castle mentioned by Ptolemy. 
 
228 History of all Nations. 
 
 gion. There are but few Roman catholics, and these 
 chiefly In the Highlands. 
 
 The Scottish language in the Lowlands is the Anglo 
 Saxon, biended with the ancient Scandinavian. In the 
 Highlands it is the Gaelic or Erse, a dialect of the Cel- 
 tic. English, however > is understood every where, and 
 spoken by all people of education with great accuracy. 
 The national characters bestowed upon the inhabitants 
 of different countries, must be received with large allow- 
 ances ror exaggerations and prejudice.* 
 
 The shrewdness, cunning, and selfishness imputed 
 to the people of Scotland, give merely the unfavourable 
 aspect of that sagacity which enables them to discover 
 their own interest, to extricate themselves from difficul- 
 ty, and to act upon every occurrence with decision and 
 prudence. 
 
 The national spirit of Scotchmen has been often taken 
 notice of, insomuch, that they are all supposed to be 
 in a confederacy to commend and extol one another. — 
 We may remark, that, as candidates for fame, or for 
 profit in London market, they are greatly the minority, 
 and it is not surprising that in such a situation they 
 should feel a common bond of union, like that of stran- 
 gers in a hostile country. — Mavor. 
 
 "The ancient geographers, as Strabo observes, di- 
 vided the then known world into four parts. The eas- 
 tern they called India ; the southern Ethiopia ; the 
 
 * We perceive a strong propensity in most men to think more favorably 
 of their own Country than of any other. This principle appears natural and 
 just ; but when they ascribe peculiar virtues and talents to their own coun- 
 trymen, which they are not willing to allow others to possess, it is carry- 
 ing the amor patria too far. Though America can boast of a Washington 
 and a Franklin ; England, of a Marlborough and a Newton ; Scotland, of a 
 Wallace and a Buchanan ; Ireland, of a Montgomery and a Boyle ; and France, 
 of a Turenne and a Montesquieu ; yet the excellence of a few, or the baseness 
 of some, ought not to stamp the general character of any Nation. — F.dit'*. 
 
Scotland 229 
 
 western Celtia, and the northern Scythia. In the 
 European parts they knew but of two nations besides the 
 Greeks, and those were the Celtse and the Scythze. 
 Those that inhabited the northward, says Strabo, were 
 called Scythse, and those to the west Celtse. The in- 
 habitants of the higher Asia, situate above Media, 
 Mount Taurus, and Caucasus, were all of them, from 
 the beginning, called Scythians, and this name was 
 known to the most ancient Greeks, though it had not its 
 first rise from them, but from their dexterity in shoot- 
 ing of arrows,* darting their javelins, and such like ex- 
 ercises. These Scythians were formerly reputed the 
 most ancient nation in the world, which made Justine, f 
 after Trogus Pompus, say that they were before the 
 Egyptians ! who disputed the prerogative of antiquity 
 with them, and from whom our antiquarians make the 
 Scots to be descended. And nothing can be more cer- 
 tain, for, by the sacred scriptures, we find that the Scy- 
 thians came from Magog, the second son of Japhet ; 
 whereas the Egyptians were the descendants of Miz- 
 raim, the second son of Shem, and consequently the 
 former must have the pre-eminence, since Japhet was 
 Shem's eldest brother, and the first begotton of Noah- 
 Perron has clearly proved, that the Gomerians, or the 
 descendants of Gomer, were called Sacae, while they 
 continued in the Upper Asia, and that this name was an- 
 ciently given to all the Scythians. 
 
 These Sacae made great incursions towards the north 
 part of Asia, and all over Europe ; and being in quest 
 of some proper place to fix themselves, they took a re- 
 solution, after their frequent rovings, to settle above the 
 Euxine Sea ; here they changed their names into that 
 of Cimbrians, or Cimbri. Being thus settled about 
 Paulus Maeodidus, they communicated their name to 
 that famous strait called the Cimbrian Bosphorus.| — • 
 
 * See M. Perron's Antiquities of Nations. 
 
 f See History, chapter 1. 
 
 \ See Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, and Plutarch. 
 
236 History of all Nations. 
 
 "Now these Cimbrians," says bishop Stillingfleet, "hav- 
 ing no skill in navigation or astronomy, and the woods 
 in the first ages of the world impassible, the people still 
 went furthe r and further by the river's sides, till at last, 
 finding themselves bounded by the vast mountains in 
 these northern countries, and the sea beyond them, 
 they sat down there, and in time so replenished those 
 parts, that they were desirous to discharge themselves, 
 by sending colonies abroad ; to which end they accus- 
 tomed themselves to the sea, and thence these Scythians 
 came into the northern parts of Britain, where they had 
 the name of Caledonians. Now, Ireland being the next 
 adjacent country to them, and in their view, it was very 
 natural for them, when they were overstocked with peo- 
 ple, to send a colony thither. 
 
 To confirm (this conjecture of the peopling of Ire- 
 land from the north of Britain, and that both are des, 
 cended from the ancient Scythians, the learned Stra- 
 bo, in his first book, gives the name of Celtae and Iberi, 
 or rather that of Celti-Berians and Celti- Scythians, to 
 those people who lived towards the western parts of Eu-' 
 rope; and from the Celti-Berians in Ireland, is that 
 country called Ibernia ; as theScyths being in the north 
 of Britain, was the reason of its being called Scotia, or 
 Scotland ; also Alfred, in the English translation of Oro- 
 sius, calls them Scytan, and the Germans call both the 
 Scythians and Stots, Scutten. Another strong argument 
 for this conjecture, is, the conformity that is to be ob- 
 served betwixt the customs and manners of the ancient 
 Celtae -Scyth as and the Scots Highlanders. The CeltEe 
 wore a small cap, or rather a little round bonnet, upon 
 their head 5 so do the Highlanders. They were natu- 
 rally valiant, inured to hardships, agile and expert in all 
 manly exercises ; so are the Highlanders. The arms 
 of the Celts were a head piece, a target, bows and ar- 
 rows, and a short sword like a bayonet ; and some of 
 our Highlanders have these arms to this very day. If 
 the Celtae had their bards or poets, who sung the il- 
 lustrious actions of their ancestors, so have the High- 
 
Scotland. 231 
 
 landers. If the Celtse, by misfortune, were beaten, 
 they chose rather to die with their swords in their hands, 
 than to be taken prisoners ; so did the Highlanders in 
 former days. The Celtav when they went to battle, 
 encouraged their men to fight by music ; so do the 
 Highlanders. The Celtae were abstemious and plain 
 in their way of feeding ; so were our Highlanders. 
 The Celtae, that they might make their children hardy, 
 robust, and healthy, used to wash them in cold water ; 
 so do the Highlanders. The language of the Celtae is 
 still retained by the Highlanders. And lastly, the Cel- 
 tae were clothed in plaids, after the same manner that the 
 Scots Highlanders are, as appears from what is said of 
 them by Cains S. Appolonius, in the fourth book of 
 his Epistles. 
 
 Tacitus, in the life of his father- in- law Agricola,* says 
 that in his time the northern parts of this island were 
 well inhabited, as will appear by the following account 
 that he has given of them. The Brigants, who extend- 
 ed as far as the river Tine, were, as he saith, subdued by 
 Petilius Cerealis ; the Silures by Julius Frontinus ; the 
 Ordorices by Julius Agricola, in his first entry upon 
 this province ; but in his third campaign he went as far 
 as the river Tay. In his fifth he says that he fought 
 with and discovered nations before unknown ; and in 
 his sixth he applied himself to the conquest of these na- 
 tions, among whom a general insurrection was appre- 
 hended, and all the passages by land were supposed to 
 be beset ; and, therefore, Agricola sent out a fleet to 
 discover the country, the very sight of which struck 
 them with great terror and amazement — And then, says 
 he, the Caledonians armed themselves, and set upon the 
 Romans with all the force they could make, and falling 
 upon the ninth legion unexpectedly, they had totally 
 defeated them if the army had not come up very timely 
 to rescue them ; by which good success the Roman ar- 
 
 Tac. Tit. Agr. chap. 17, 18. 
 
232 History of all Nations, 
 
 my, being much encouraged, cried out to march into 
 Caledonia, that they might, at last, come to the utmost 
 part of Britain. But the Caledonians, not ascribing 
 this to the valor of the Romans, but to the bad conduct 
 of their general, resolved to fight it out bravely ; and 
 having disposed of their wives and children in places of 
 safety, after several meetings and solemn sacrifices, they 
 entered into a strict confederacy to stand to the utmost 
 against the Romans. They shortly raised an army of 
 thirty thousand men, under the command of Galgacus, 
 or Galdus, whom historians make the twenty-first 
 king of Scotland. This excellent prince, being ready 
 to give them battle, told them, in his masterly oration , 
 so much commended by Justin Lipsius, "that they 
 were the last of the Britons, there being no nation be- 
 yond them ; and he calls them the most noble of the 
 Britons, who had never beheld the slavery of others."* 
 Upon this a bloody battle was fought at the foot of the 
 Grampian hills, where Galgacus had ten thousand of 
 his men killed and the rest dispersed ; after which Agri- 
 cola was recalled. 
 
 This is the substance of what Tacitus says concern- 
 ing the inhabitants of North- Britain. From Tacitus' 
 account it is evident that our countrymen at that time, 
 were not inconsiderable for their numbers and valor, 
 who were able to oppose the whole Roman army, and 
 make their victory so doubtful. 
 
 Rudbeck has undertaken to prove that Ptolomy was 
 extremely mistaken in the situation of the northern na- 
 tions, removing them several degrees more eastward 
 than they ought to have been, and so very much strait- 
 ening Scandinavia ; which for its vast population, Jirandes 
 calls the work-house of nations. These European Scyth- 
 ians made frequent expeditions by sea; and Tacitus says 
 
 * Thus the pen of an enemy has conferred immortality upon the renown- 
 ed Galgacus ; and the laurel which was intended for the brow of Agricola, 
 imparted a verdant and ever blooming wreath to his illustrious victim. 
 
Scotland. 233 
 
 particularly of the Sueonos,* that they were well pro- 
 vided with shipping. And also, Olans Rudbeck, from 
 the old Gothetic historians,! tells us, " that it was a cus- 
 tom for them to go abroad by sea. Therefore, as Stil- 
 iingfleet has justly observed, $ there can be no improba- 
 bility that these northern nations should people that part 
 of Britain which lay nearest them." 
 
 From these, and a number of other arguments that 
 might be adduced if necessary, it is much more proba- 
 ble that the ancient Scyts or Scots first peopled Ireland 
 than that it was peopled from Egypt or Spain, as some 
 authors have attempted to prove. 
 
 Agricola, with a numerous army, made another at- 
 tempt to conquer the Caledonians. Upon which Gal- 
 dus made an excellent^and animated speech to his sol- 
 diers, which concluded thus: " In short, here is the 
 general, and here is the army. There you see tributes 
 and slavery: here death or liberty — Therefore let us 
 consider the glory of our intrepid ancestors, and the 
 fate of our posterity." 
 
 This speech being delivered with the fierceness of a lion, 
 and darting on the Romans like a flash of lightning, was 
 immediately seconded with the acclamations of the 
 whole army. Agricola, on the other side, encouraged 
 his men with all the force and charms of the Roman 
 eloquence; and fearing to be flanked, he drew out his 
 flank to the utmost length, and advanced himself at the 
 head of his foot. The battle began at some distance 
 from the main body, wherein the Caledonians shewed 
 great art and courage, by means of their broad swords 
 and targets, with which they warded off the darts of the en- 
 emy. To prevent which inconveniency, Agricola order- 
 ed the Batavian and Tungrian cohorts to advance against 
 
 * De Mor. Germ. Chap. 44. 
 
 t Atlan. Chap. 7 
 
 X Orig". Brit. chap. 5, p. 247. 
 
 2 
 
•234 History of all Batumi. 
 
 them, with their'sharp-pointed bucklers, which rendered 
 their pointless swords useless, and so mangled their faces, 
 that they were obliged to retire. This advantage being 
 seconded by the emulation of the other cohorts, the 
 main body of the Scots army, which had till now staid 
 upon the tops of the mountains, came down, thinking 
 to surround the Romans. But Agricola, suspecting 
 this event, opposed them with four wings of horsemen, 
 which he had reserved in case of any sudden stratagem. 
 Then the battle was fought by both parties with the 
 utmost valor and fury ; and all the bravest men of the 
 Caledonians being slain, Galdus was compelled to retire 
 with the remaining part of his army to the mountains. 
 In this battle twenty thousand Caledonians and twelve 
 thousand Romans were slain. After the victory Agri- 
 cola was called home by the emperor Domitian. 
 
 Shortly after his departure, sedition arose in the Ro- 
 man camp. Upon which, the Scots and Picts raised a 
 new army, under the command of Galdus, attacked 
 the Romans, obtained a signal victory over them, and 
 pursued them to the country of the Brigants, where 
 the Romans were forced not only to sue for peace, but 
 to content themselves with those parts of South Britain 
 which they had reduced to the form of a province, leaving 
 the Caledonians in peaceable possession of all the north- 
 ern parts. After this, Galdus reigned a number of 
 years, in great peace and happiness ; and died at Epiack, 
 which was then the principal city in Scotland, in the 
 thirty-fifth year of his reign, and in the year of our Lord 
 one hundred and three. 
 
 To Galdus succeeded his son Luctacus, a prince who 
 gave himself up to all manner of excesses and debauch- 
 eries. In the third year of his reign, having called his 
 counsellors together at DunstafFage, the most wise and 
 grave men among them began to exhort him to imitate 
 the virtues of his father, the brave and worthy Galdus, 
 and not to suffer such acts of cruelty and oppression 
 to be committed as were daily done by his authority. — 
 But he, instead of taking their advice, commanded 
 
Scotland. 235 
 
 them to prison. The people being informed of this act 
 of arbitrary power, assembled and killed their king and 
 all his favorites. 
 
 Mogallus, or Mogaldus, the grandson of the noble- 
 Galdus by his daughter, succeeded Luctacus. In the 
 beginning of his reign he reformed all the abuses that 
 his subjects complained of ; and having settled all 
 things in good order, he raised an army to oppose the 
 Komans, who had made several incursions upon his do- 
 minions. In a pitched battle he gave the Romans a 
 signal overthrow. The emperor Hadrian being inform - 
 ed of this, sent over Julius Severus to oppose Mogaldus. 
 But he being suddenly recall ed, on account of some 
 insurrection in Syria, the emperor himself was obliged 
 to come over with an army ; and he being a greater lover 
 of peace than war, desired rather to retain the bounds 
 of his empire than to enlarge them. When he came to 
 York, and found the country beyond it harrassedby war, 
 he resolved to take a particular view of the devasta- 
 tion, and marched his army to the river Tyne ; where, 
 being informed by the old soldiers that followed Agrico- 
 la, of the great difficulty that he would have in conquering 
 the Caledonians, he built a wall and trench, in the year 
 one hundred and twenty one, extending eighty miles in 
 length, and by it excluded the Scots and Picts from the 
 Provincial Britons. * 
 
 According to bishop Elphinston's history, now in. 
 the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, it appears that Fergus, 
 a native of Ireland, was the first king of Scotland, who 
 was crowned three hundred and thirty years before the 
 incarnation of our Saviour ! Fergus having totally de- 
 feated Coilus the king of the Britons, on the banks of 
 the river Don, the southern and eastern parts of Scot- 
 land were called Coil, or Kyle, which name the n> 
 habitants of those parts still retain in the Highland 
 tongue. 
 
 See the learned Dr. Geo. Mackenzie's Works. 
 
236 . History of all Nations, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Scots and Picts.— -Kenneth II — Bruce and BalioL*— 
 The James's. 
 
 In the reign of Constantine, Caledonia was divided 
 between the Scots and Picts, whose ruling passion 
 was the love of arms ; and their warriors, who stripped 
 themselves for the day of battle, were distinguished 
 in the eyes of the Romans by the strange custom of 
 painting their naked bodies with gaudy colours and fan- 
 tastic figures,* like the inhabitants of England before 
 the invasion of Julius Csesar. 
 
 On the final departure of the Romans from this island, 
 the northern tribes made cruel depredations on their 
 southern neighbours. 
 
 The Scots and Picts long continued separate ; and 
 the hand of nature had contributed to mark the distinc- 
 tion. The former were the men of the hills, and the 
 latter of the plains. At length Kenneth II. about 
 the middle of the ninth century, who was the 69th king 
 of the Scots, completely subdued the Picts, and united 
 into one monarchy the whole country, from the wall of 
 Adrian to the Northern Ocean, when his kingdom be- 
 came known by its present name, Scotland. 
 
 The successors of Kenneth were engaged in contin- 
 ual contests with the Saxons, Danes, and other barbarous 
 nations, that had settled in the northern counties of 
 England. 
 
 No pretence was made by the English monarchs to a 
 claim of sovereignty over Scotland, till the Scottish 
 king, William, surnamed the Lion, in an incursion into 
 the bordering counties of England, was taken prisoner 
 by Henry II. and compelled to do homage for his king- 
 dom. This claim was renounced bv Richard I. but 
 
 Gibbon, 
 
Scotland. 237 
 
 again renewed by Edward I. upon the death of Alex - 
 der III. From this period the history of Scotland be- 
 comes more interesting. 
 
 Alexander leaving no male issue, two competitors ap- 
 peared for the vacant throne, John Baliol and Robert 
 Bruce, descendants of David, earl of Huntington, third 
 son of David I. Bruce was the third son of Isabel, earl 
 David's second daughter ; and Baliol was the grandson 
 of Margaret, the eldest daughter. 
 
 Edward of England was chosen umpire of the con- 
 test. This monarch, with artful policy, first prevailed 
 on the Scottish barons to admit his claims of sovereign- 
 ty, and afterwards, finding Baliol the most obsequious 
 of the two, put him in possession of the crown. Ba- 
 liol soon after, exasperated at the haughty superiority 
 which Edward . assumed, renounced his feudal depen- 
 dency, and was compelled to abdicate the throne. 
 
 The English king now attempted to seize the king- 
 dom, as fallen to himself by the rebellion of his vassal, 
 but was baffled in his attempts by the heroic valour of 
 sir William Wallace, who nobly took up arms in defence 
 of the freedom of his country ;* and Robert Bruce, 
 who, as grandson of Baliol's competitor, asserted his 
 claim ; and at length having established himself on the 
 throne, A. D. 1307, restored the independency of the 
 kingdom of Scotland. He settled the crown, in failure 
 of his own male issue, on his daughter Margery, mar- 
 ried to the high steward of Scotland. 
 
 His son, David Bruce, was a weak but virtuous 
 prince. The beginning of his reign was disturbed by 
 the usurpation of Edward Baliol, who, after nine years, 
 was driven out of the kingdom. David was afterwards 
 involved in continual war with Edward III. by whom 
 
 * This worthy patriot (like the great Cine innatus and Washington) re- 
 turned to his farm, after securing the freedom of his country. It is de- 
 voutly to be wished that modern and future warriors would imitate such 
 exemplary characters ! 
 
23 8 History of all Nations . 
 
 he was taken prisoner at the battle of Durham, and con- 
 veyed to England. He died A. D. 1370. 
 
 Robert II. the son of Margery Bruce, succeeded, and 
 was the first of the house of Stewart. This was an un- 
 important reign. 
 
 Robert III. ascended the throne of his father. His 
 infirmities and weakness obliged him to resign the go- 
 vernment inio the hands of his brother, the duke of 
 Albany. The unnatural ambition of the regent, who as- 
 pired to the crown, involved him in the murder of Da- 
 vid, the king's eldest son, A. D. 1401. The unhappy 
 father, fearful lest the same should befal James, his se- 
 cond son, attempted to convey him to France , but the 
 young prince was intercepted by the English, though in 
 the time of a profound truce, and ungenerously detained 
 a prisoner nineteen years. Robert died of grief, A. D. 
 1405. 
 
 James I. returned from captivity to the throne of 
 Scotland, A. D. 1424. His reign was remarkable for 
 the excellence and wisdom of his administration. He 
 reformed the laws, and restrained the inordinate power 
 of the nobles. These regulations alarmed the haughty 
 barons. They conspired with the earl of Athol, and 
 assassinated their monarch, in the fifty-fourth year of 
 his age, and the thirteenth of his reign, A. D. 1437. 
 
 James II. a prince of an impetuous temper, pursued 
 the plans of his father for the humiliation of the nobles. 
 He reigned with absolute authority ; civilized and im- 
 proved his kingdom, and was killed at the siege of Rox- 
 burgh in 1460. 
 
 James III. was a feeble and impolitic prince. He 
 quarrelled with the barons, and attached himself to mean 
 favourites. The nobles revolted, and compelled the 
 "king's son to head the insurrection. The unfortunate 
 James was defeated, and killed at the battle of Bannock- 
 burn, in 1488. 
 
 James the IV. was an accomplished monarch, res- 
 pected by his nobles, and beloved by his people. He 
 married Margaret, daughter of Henry 7th. A rupture 
 
Scotland. 239 
 
 happening in England, he invaded Northumberland, 
 and was slain in the rash and unfortunate battle of Flow - 
 den, in 1513. He was succeeded by 
 
 James V. a great but uncultivated spirit. Though 
 his education had been neglected, he was an encourager 
 of learning; promoted new manufactories, and invited 
 foreign artificers to reside in his kingdom. His reign 
 was long and turbulent. He humbled the nobles by- 
 conferring all offices of trust on the clergy, refusing to 
 imitate the conduct of Henry VIII. in throwing off the 
 jurisdiction of the Pope, the English monarch turned 
 his arms against him at the battle of Solway — Moss, 
 which followed, James was deserted by his army. — 
 This had such an effect upon him that he abandoned 
 himself whollv to despair, which terminated his life in 
 1542. 
 
 Mary, his daughter and successor, was born only 
 eight days before her father's death. The intrigues, 
 amours, and misfortunes of this truly accomplished but 
 unhappy Queen, are familiar to every one. She was 
 beheaded in England, by order of Queen Elizabeth, 
 in 1587. 
 
 James VI. succeeded his unfortunate mother in Scot- 
 land, and on the death of Elizabeth, ascended to the 
 throne of England by the title of James 1st. By this 
 removal of the court, trade was for a time checked, ag- 
 riculture neglected, and the people impoverished. But 
 in the reign of queen Anne (1707) the affairs of Scotland, 
 were placed on a more prosperous footing than ever, by 
 an act of union, which consolidated the two kingdoms 
 into one, under the title of Great Britain : from this pe- 
 riod the Scottish is one and the same with England. — 
 Turner. 
 
 The following remarks, copied from Dr. Mavor's Uni- 
 versal History* will give our readers an idea of some 
 
 A work of gTeat merit. 
 
240 History of all Nations. 
 
 of the sanguinary contests which took place between 
 two brave nations, now, and for a century past, happily 
 united. 
 
 From Margaret of JSorway to the death of Bruce. 
 
 Margaret was an infant and in a foreign country. — 
 Faction and anarchy distracted the kingdom. Edward, 
 one of the most valiant and polite monarchs that ever 
 sat on the English throne, was ambitious of adding 
 Scotland to the dominions of his crown. 
 
 He applied to the court of Rome, to authorise a mar- 
 riage between his son and his grand niece, and having 
 gained the consent of Eric, he intrigued with the Scot- 
 tish nobles to obtain their concurrence. Every thing 
 served to favor his views, when one fatal event rendered 
 his well concerted plan entirely abortive. 
 
 The child sickened on the passage from Norway, was 
 brought on shore in Orkney, and there languished and 
 died. 
 
 The consternation of the Scots can be more easily 
 imagined than described : they saw full before them the 
 unhappy prospect of a disputed succession, war with 
 England and intestine discord. The anarchy attending 
 an interregnum rendered the exigency pressing ; it was 
 evident, that if the decision was left to the claimants, 
 the sword alone must determine the dispute. In order, 
 therefore, to avoid the miseries of a civil war, Edward 
 was chosen umpire, and both parties agreed to acquiesce 
 in his decree. 
 
 The chief or rather the only competitors for the crown 
 were Bruce and Baliol, the descendants of David, Earl 
 of Hunting don, who was brother to the two kings, 
 Malcom and William. Bruce was the grandson, and 
 Baliol the great-grandson of David. But Bruce was 
 descended of the younger, and Baliol of the elder 
 sister. Both had considerable property in England, and 
 each had his adherents in Scotland. Edward carrying 
 a great army advanced to the frontiers, whither he invi- 
 
Sbofland. Ml 
 
 exi the nobility and all the competitors to attend him. — = 
 He opened the conferences by informing them that he 
 was come to determine the right among the competitors 
 to the crown, not in virtue of the reference made to him, 
 but in quality of superior, and liege lord of the realm. 
 
 He then produced his proofs of this superiority, and 
 required of them an acknowledgment of it. The 
 Scottish deputies, astonished at so new a pretension, an- 
 swered only by their silence. One bolder than the rest 
 at last replied — " that, concerning this claim of feudal 
 supremacy, no determination could be made while the 
 throne should be vacant.;" " By holy Edward, whose 
 crown I wear," said the monarch with stern impa- 
 tience, 
 
 *' I will vindicate my just rights, or perish in the attempt." 
 
 At their request he granted them a delay till the mor- 
 row, in order that they might deliberate. Next day the 
 deputies declined giving any answer to a question which 
 could only be decided by the whole community. In 
 consequence of this remonstrance Edward gave them a 
 further delay of three weeks for taking the sense of their 
 constituents. On the second of June following the assem- 
 bly resumed its session. 
 
 Robert Bruce was first to acknowledge the superiority 
 of Edward, in which he was followed by all the compe- 
 titors. Barnet, on the part of Edward, protested, that 
 although now the, acknowledged lord paramount of 
 Scotland, he did not finally relinquish his right to the 
 immediate sovereignty of that kingdom. One hundred 
 and four commissioners were nominated to examine the; 
 several claims against the ensuing year. 
 
 Meanwhile, Edward demanded possession of all the 
 fortresses, which were shamefully given up to him ; and 
 to crown their disgrace, the prelates and barons present 
 swore fealty to the king of England ; and the like oath 
 was required of those who were absent. 
 
 The commissioners, upon examination, gave their 
 verdict in favor of Baliol, who was crowned accordingly, 
 
 2<? 
 
242 History of all Actions, 
 
 and did homage to Edward ; but this royal vassal was 
 not to hold the sceptre long. Edward pretended to rule 
 in Scotland over king and subjects by English laws. 
 Baliol remonstrated. Edward summoned him to the 
 bar of his tribunal as a private person. Baliol, though 
 a prince of gentle disposition, returned into Scotland, 
 provoked at this usage, and resolved at all hazards to 
 vindicate his liberty : with this view, he concluded a 
 secret treaty with France. The niece of that king was 
 given in marriage to the son of Baliol, and they mutual- 
 ly engaged to assist each other against Edward. 
 
 Notwithstanding this treaty Philip de Valois made a 
 truce with Edward, and left the Scots to bear the brunt 
 of the English armament by sea and land. 
 
 The war commenced by an invasion of England. — 
 The Highlanders ravaged all the country as far as Car- 
 lisle, to which they laid siege. Edward attacked Ber- 
 wick : he found it well garrisoned and defended. We 
 are told that in a sally the garrison burnt eighteen of his 
 ships, and put the crews to the sword. But Edward's 
 land army were at the gates ; they assaulted, took, and 
 sacked the town, massacreing its inhabitants without 
 distinction. 
 
 Elated with success, Edward dispatched an army 
 against Dunbar. The Scots hastened to its relief, 
 a fatal battle was fought, in which the Scots lost 10, ©GO 
 men. Dunbar was taken. Its fall was followed by 
 that of Rossburgh. Edinburgh and Sterling opened their 
 gates to the enemy ; and in a short space all the south- 
 ern parts were subdued. % 
 
 Still, however, might a valiant prince have found re- 
 sources : but the feeble and timid Baliol, disgusted 
 with his own subjects, overawed by the English, hast- 
 ened to make his submission, and made a solemn and 
 irrevocable resignation of his crown into the hands of 
 Edward, He was carried prisoner to England, and 
 committed to the tower. Earl Warrene was left gov- 
 ernor of Scotland : the other officers were all entrusted 
 to England. 
 
Scotland. 243 
 
 Among the barbarous expedients devised to humble 
 and reduce Scotland for ever, was that of destroying or 
 carrying away every record, every monument of na- 
 tional history or national independence. Robert Bruce 
 had contributed to the overthrow of Baliol, in hopes of 
 advancing his own preferment. When he humbly ven- 
 tured to mention his claims to Edward, " What," 
 said the king to him, " have we nothing else to do but to 
 conquer kingdoms for you?" The temptation was too 
 strong for the virtue of the English monarch to resist, 
 and he determined to hold fast what his arms and policy 
 had gained. 
 
 National animosities, and the insolence of victory, 
 now conspired to render the English government intol- 
 erable to the Scots, who bore with the utmost impa- 
 tience a yoke to which, from the earliest period of their 
 monarchy, they had been unaccustomed, Warrene 
 retiring into England, on account of his bad state of 
 health, left the administration in the hands of Ormesby, 
 who was appointed justiciary of Scotland, and Creping- 
 ham, who held the office of treasurer. With these there 
 remained a small military force to secure their precarious 
 authority. 
 
 At this distressing period (1296) arose a true hero, 
 a disinterested patriot, in the person of Sir William 
 Wallace, whose magnanimous soul could no longer 
 brook to see his country torn by factions, deserted by 
 its chiefs, and oppressed by foreigners. Robust, active 
 and brave, he stept forth to reunite the friends of liberty 
 under his banner. 
 
 The lustre of his birth is lost in that of his actions : 
 the rapidity of his victories, and the frequency of his 
 exploits, have disordered the chronology of his history. 
 Many of his noblest actions were, no doubt, performed 
 before his reputation found access to the annals of his 
 country. 
 
 In May 1297 he made a bold attempt to surprize Or- 
 mesby, the English justiciary, then holding a court at 
 Scone. Ormesby, with difficulty, escaped to Eng- 
 
244 History of alt ]\ations, 
 
 land. He was soon followed by all the officers of Ed- 
 ward, so that Wallace and his men, with an astonishing 
 rapidity, became masters of Lanerk, Dundee, Forfar, 
 Brekin, and Montrose; the castle ofDurotters, reck- 
 oned impregnable, received a Scottish garrison; and 
 Aberdeen being set on fire by the English, was aban- 
 doned to the patriotic band. 
 
 Every new enterprise added to the glory of his name, 
 and to the number of his followers, till at last he found 
 himself at the head of a numerous army. 
 
 Well aware that they should meet with no mercy at 
 the hands of Edward, who would treat them as rebel- 
 lious subjects, the Scots were rendered desperate, 
 and, by necessity, forced to the cruel expedient of put- 
 ting to the sword every Englishman that they found in 
 arms. King Edward, then in France, ordered the earl 
 of Surrey to suppress this daring insurrection. An 
 army of forty-thousand, led on by lord Henry Percy, 
 marched against Wallace. They found him advantage- 
 ously posted near Irwin. 
 
 But the jealousy and discontent of the nobles ruined 
 their cause : they saw with envy the growing reputation 
 and authority of a private gentleman ; confusion and 
 irresolution ensued : in short, the most eminent made 
 their submission and obtained their pardon from Ed- 
 ward's officers. Wallace and his faithful band scornful- 
 ly refused to follow his fickle associates, declaring they 
 would never lay down their arms till the country was 
 restored to liberty and independence. They even har- 
 rassed the rear of the English army, but were repulsed 
 with the loss of a thousand men. 
 
 Still undaunted and unsubdued, Wallace retreated 
 northwards, where he was joined by new adherents. 
 
 When Warrene advanced to Stirling, he found Wal- 
 lace encamped in excellent order on the opposite bank 
 of the Forth. Willing to try again the same arts of ne- 
 gotiation, he sent two friars to Wallace to offer condiU 
 aons of peace. 
 
Scotland- 245 
 
 " Go, (said Wallace) tell your masters, we came 
 not here to treat, but to assert our rights, and to set 
 Scotland free ; let them advance, they will find us pre- 
 pared." 
 
 Indignant at this defiance, Crepingham, at the head 
 of his forces, prepared to cross the river by a wooden 
 bridge that was laid over it. Wallace slowly led down his 
 troops, and advanced to meet them ; but ere half the 
 army had passed, he attacked them before they could 
 form ; put them to rout, and obtained a complete vic- 
 tory. 
 
 This success merited to Wallace the title of Guardian ; 
 but he still acknowledged the captive king Baliol. Fa- 
 mine, the unavoidable consequences of so long a civil 
 war, now threatened Scotland. Wallace led his troops 
 into England, in order to subsist at the expence of the 
 enemy ; and having met with no opposition, returned 
 in triumph, loaded with booty. 
 
 This was to be the last of Wallace's successful enter- 
 prises. 
 
 King Edward returned from France, and marched 
 into Scotland at the head of seventy thousand men. No- 
 thing could save the Scots but an entire union among 
 themselves. The elevation of Wallace was still an ob- 
 ject of envy to the nobles. Sensible of their discontent, 
 the patriotic hero voluntarily resigned his authority. 
 
 The chief command now devolved on the steward of 
 Scotland and the cumyn of Badenock. Wallace only 
 retained one corps that refused to fight under any other 
 leader. The English army came up with them near 
 Falkirk. 
 
 The Scottish bowmen were soon driven off the field 
 by the English archers, who surpassed those of odier 
 nations. The pikemen, cooped up in their entrench- 
 ments, were so galled by the arrows, that they were 
 thrown into disorder; in short, the whole Scottish 
 army was broken and dispersed with great slaughter. 
 Wallace's military skill and presence of mind enabled 
 
246 History of all Nations* 
 
 him to keep his troops entire, and, retreated behind the 
 Carron, he marched in safety along its banks. 
 
 Young Bruce, then serving in the English army, de- 
 sired a conference with him from the opposite side of the 
 river. He represented to him the folly of continuing so 
 bloody and fruitless a contest with a powerful monarch, 
 and endeavoured to bend the inflexible spirit of Wal- 
 lace to submission, insinuating that nothing but ambi- 
 tion could prompt him to continue in arms. 
 
 The hero disclaimed any ambitious views, but re- 
 proached Bruce for his degeneracy and indolence. — 
 *' To you," said he, " are owing the miseries of your 
 country. You left her overwhelmed with woes, and I 
 undertook the cause you betrayed — a cause which I 
 shall maintain as long as I breathe ; while you live with 
 ignominy, and court the chains of a foreign tyrant." 
 
 These sentiments sunk deep into the mind of Bruce, 
 and at last produced that heroism which made him a wor- 
 thy successor of Wallace, in the deliverance ot his 
 country. 
 
 After this we find no trace of Wallace in the Scottish 
 historians for two years. Some pretend that he went 
 over to France ; others, that he still ranged among the 
 hills: be that as it may, Edwardyvith much ado completed 
 at last the conquest of Scotland, without being able to 
 sieze or subdue the patriotic knight. 
 
 Disappointed in all his schemes for that purpose, he 
 did not disdain to stoop to treachery— Sir William was 
 basely betrayed by a traitor in whom he trusted, and was 
 sent in chains to London ; here he was tried as a rebel 
 against a sovereign whom he had never acknowledged, 
 and whose power was founded on tyranny and injustice. 
 All this and more was urged by Wallace in his defence : 
 his remonstances were disregarded, -and he was condemn- 
 ed to suffer the death of a traitor, which sentence was 
 put in execution, to the indelible disgrace of Edward's 
 memory. This was the unworthy fate of a hero who, 
 through a course of many years, had w r ith signal con- 
 duct, intrepidity, and perseverance, defended the liber- 
 
Scotland. 247 
 
 ties of his native country against a public and oppres- 
 sive enemy. 
 
 We have been more particular in the history of this 
 remarkable character than our limits would admit of in 
 general. 
 
 A person of no less illustrious fame now claims our 
 attention. Robert Bruce, the restorer of the Scot- 
 tish throne, and father of a new race of kings, was the 
 grandson of the competitor for the crown. He was in 
 the bloom of life, when he resolved to quit Edward's 
 court to make good his family's claims. His motions 
 were watched with a jealous eye ; yet he contrived to 
 escape, and to join the Scots patriots at Lochmaben. 
 
 Among these was Cumyn, a man of great power, 
 but in whom Bruce could put no trust. Historians do 
 not agree as to the causes of this difference : but the 
 first act of Bruce was to murder Cumyn, which he did 
 in a church at Dumfries, by stabbing him with a dag- 
 ger. This violation of the sanctuary, and at least of 
 the forms of justice, was what afterwards drew down 
 on his head the anathemas of the church. Obliged now 
 to have recourse to arms, he hastened to collect what 
 forces he could, attacked the English, who where un- 
 prepared, and having got possession of several castles 9 
 he was solemnly crowned at Scone. 
 
 King Edward lost no time to check this new insur- 
 rection. He dispatched immediately A\mer de Val- 
 ence into Scotland, who falling in with Bruce at Mith- 
 ven, attacked him, and, notwithstanding a most vigo- 
 rous resistance, totally defeated the Scottish army. 
 
 Bruce fled, almost unattended, to the western isles, 
 where he wandered about for some time in great dis- 
 tress. 
 
 Opportunely for his cause, Edward died on his way 
 to Scotland, whither he was again conducting a nume- 
 rous army. Thus delivered from a powerful enemy, 
 Bruce's party daily increased. He was soon master 
 of the western highlands, and after a continued train of 
 success, forced Edward II. to a truce, 
 
248 History of all Nations. 
 
 On the renewal of the war, Edward inarched intd 
 Scotland with an army so powerful, that Bruce found it 
 prudent to retire to the mountains. The English were, 
 however, obliged to retreat, partly for want of provi- 
 sions, and partly on account of discontents at home. 
 The year following, Edward assembled his whole forces, 
 amounting, say the Scottish historians, to one hundred 
 thousand men. 
 
 Robert's army did not exceed thirty thousand men ; 
 but they were men of tried valour. He encamped beside 
 a rivulet, called Bannock-burn, near Stirling. 
 
 The castle being in the hands of the English, had 
 been long besieged by the Scots. Edward was deter- 
 mined to relieve it. He arrived in sight in the evening, 
 and immediately an engagement took place between the 
 two bodies of cavalry. 
 
 In this action Robert encountered Henry de Bohun 5 
 and with one' stroke of his battle-axe, cleft his adversary 
 to the chin. From this favourable event, the Scots prog- 
 nosticated a happy issue to the battle of the ensuing 
 day. All night the troops rested on their arms. About 
 dawn the English advanced to the- attack, the earl of 
 Gloucester led the van, and impetuously rushed on the 
 foe : the cavalry which he commanded, fell among co- 
 vered pits which Bruce had prepared, and were put into 
 disorder. Gloucester himself was overthrown and 
 slain. Randolph on the left wing of the Scots, and 
 Douglas and Walter Stewart in the centre, soon brought 
 into action the corps under their command. 
 
 The English archers greatly overmatched the Scots* 
 But 500 light horsemen, detached, under Sir Robert 
 Reith, armed with battle axes, dispersed or hewed them 
 to pieces. All this while a great part of the English 
 forces were prevented by the disadvantages of the 
 ground from sharing in the engagement. Bruce, with 
 the Scottish reserve, now appeared in the front of the 
 battle, and at the same moment the English beheld on 
 the heights what they took to be a fresh reinforcement 
 arriving to the aid of the Scots. These were the at- 
 
Scotland. 249 
 
 tendants of the camp, whom Bruce had ordered to appear 
 in battle arrav, with colours flying. Panic- struck at the 
 sight, the English gave way, and soon betook themselves 
 to flight. The Scots pursued and made a great slaught- 
 er. King Edward with difficulty escaped to Dunbar : 
 but the flower of his nobility fell on that day, and the li- 
 berty of Scotland triumphed. 
 
 This memorable day did not however restore peace ; 
 continual inroads were made on England, and even- an 
 attempt on Ireland, by the warlike followers of Bruce. 
 
 But first a parliament was convened at Ayr, where 
 the rights of that hero to the crown were fully acknow- 
 ledged, and the succession established. The princess 
 Margery, presumptive heir of Robert, was given in 
 marriage to Walter Stewart ; and their son Robert was 
 afterwards king, and the first of the Stewart race. 
 
 Edward Bruce, chosen chief of the expedition into Ire- 
 land, was received as king by the Irish. Reinforced re- 
 peatedly by his brother, he had penetrated to the walls 
 of Dublin ; famine alone compelled him to retreat, and 
 to risk his all on the fate of one day ; he fell a victim to 
 his ardent valour, and was found among the dead at the 
 battle of Dundalk. 
 
 Hostilities were still carried on between the Scots and 
 English with unremitting ardour. The pope thought 
 himself called upon to put a stop to the effusion of hu- 
 man blood : he therefore proclaimed a truce, A. D. 
 1318, but his proclamation was not attended to. 
 
 Nor was any truce agreed to till 1323. Then the 
 papal legates were admitted into Scotland, where they 
 pronounced sentence of excommunication against Bruce 
 and the Scots. 
 
 The barons justified their defence of their liberties ; 
 their remonstrance had its effect at Rome. The holy- 
 father felt that Edward had great share of the blame in 
 the calamities of the war. 
 
 It was however again renewed, and the truce of thir- 
 teen years was not concluded till after two campaigns 
 more. During this suspension of hostilities, Robert 
 
 2h 
 
250 History of all Nations* 
 
 obtained absolution from the sentence of excommuni- 
 cation, and crushed a conspiracy at home : but on the 
 deposition of king Edward, he renewed the war, wrest- 
 ed at length from England a solemn renunciation of all 
 claims on Scotland, and secured a peace by marrying 
 his son David to Han, sister of Edward III. 
 
 Thus ended the glorious conflict of Robert Bruce 
 for the independence of his crown, after a reign of 
 twenty- four years. 
 
 A concise view of the principal towns, rivers, and most 
 
 ancient families, in all the shires or counties in Scot- 
 
 land. 
 
 The shire of Merse — principal towns, Dunse and 
 Lauder : rivers, the Tweed, Whitter, and Ednem. 
 The most ancient families are, the Humes, Gordons, 
 Spotswoods, and Wedderburns. 
 
 Roxburgh-shire. — Towns, Zedburg, Kelso, andMel- 
 ross : rivers, Tweed, Teviot, Zed, and Eal : ancient 
 families, Douglasses, Scotts, Riddles, Elliots, and 
 Turnbulls. 
 
 Dumfries. — Towns, Dumfries and Annan : most 
 ancient families, Maxwells and Hunters : rivers, Neth 
 and Loch'ar. This county abounds with excellent 
 timber, particularly the wood of Drumlanick, of good 
 oak, &c. 
 
 Wigton, or Galloway-shire. — Chief towns are, Kirk- 
 cudbright and Wigton. This county is watered by 
 five rivers, the Ne, Dee, Ken, Cree, and LefFee. The 
 most ancient families here are, the Maxwells, Arm- 
 strongs, Clendennings, Irvins, Bells, Christies, John- 
 stons, Mackees, M 'Donalds, and Brodies. 
 
 Kyle, or Ayr- shire. — The principal town in this 
 county is Ayr. This town is famous for its antiquities ; 
 it is thought to be the same which Ptolomy calls Vido- 
 gora. The most ancient families here are, the Camp- 
 bells, Hyslops, Cunninghams, Wallaces, Dunbars, and 
 Murdochs. The other towns of note here are, Irwin, 
 
Scotland. 251 
 
 and Largis. The latter is famous for the total defeat of 
 the Norwegians by king Alexander III. 
 
 Renfrew. — Principal towns are, Renfrew, Paisley, 
 Greenock, and Port- Glasgow. Most ancient families, 
 the Stuarts, Cathcarts, Shaws, and Maxwells. Rivers, 
 Blackcart, Whitecart, and Grise. 
 
 Lanerk, or Clydesdale. — The principal town here is 
 Glasgow, situated in latitude 55, 52, longitude 4, 51, 
 from London ; a populous and elegant city, and for 
 wealth and commerce is the second in the nation ; it is 
 pleasantly situated on the banks of the Clyde. The most 
 ancient families in this county are, the Douglasses, Bu- 
 chanans, Thomsons, Ramsays, and Hunters. Princi- 
 pal river, the Clyde, which is navigable from Glasgow 
 to the ocean. 
 
 Dunbarton. — The principal town in this county is 
 Dunbarton. The most ancient families are the Campbels ,' 
 Napiers, Hamiltons, Newlands, and Buchanans. In 
 this county the famous poet, historian, and wit, George 
 Buchanan, was born. The town of Kilpatrick here, is 
 famous for being the birth place of St. Patrick, arch- 
 bishop of Armagh, and the apostle of the Irish nation. 
 
 Linlithgow, or West- Lothian. The principal town 
 is Linlithgow. The most ancient families are, the 
 Hamiltons, Hays, Seatons, Scotts and Douglasses. 
 
 Stirling. — The principal city here is Stirling. The 
 principal rivers are, the Forth, Avon, Carron and Ban- 
 nockburn. The most ancient families are, the Living- 
 stons, Bruces, Murrays, Gardners, Stirlings and Gra- 
 hams. 
 
 Clackmanan shire. — The principal town Clackma- 
 nan. 
 
 The shire of Fife. — The principal town here is Saint 
 Andrews, so called from the relicts of the Apostle St. 
 Andrew, whose bones are said to have been brought 
 hither from Patros in Peloponesus, in the year 368. — 
 The other towns here are Cooper, Dunfermline, Kin- 
 ross, Kinghorn and Innerkeithing. The principal ri- 
 vers here are Eden and Levin. The most ancient fami- 
 
252 History of all Nations. 
 
 Kilmarnock , ! lies here are'the Erskines, Lyons, Sinclairs, 
 Gibsons, Barclays, Hopes, Forbesses, Woods, Colvils, 
 Braces, and Lindsays. 
 
 Perth. — The principal town here is Perth, pleasantly- 
 situated on the banks of the river Tay. Dunkeld, 
 another town in this county, is thought to have been the 
 principal seat of the ancient Caledonians. Scoon ; in 
 this county also, is the place where the kings of Scot- 
 land were crowned. The principal rivers here are, 
 Tay, Allan, Earn. The most ancient families are the 
 Campbells,. Ruthvens, Blairs, Stuarts, and Drum- 
 monds. 
 
 Angus-shire, or Fairfax. — The principal towns here 
 are Dundee, Brechin, and Forfax. The most ancient 
 families, the Erskines, Kings, Mauls, Grays, Ogilvies, 
 and Hunters. 
 
 Herns, or Kincardin. — The principal towns are 
 Kincardin and Stonhive. The most ancient families, 
 the Keiths, Duncans, Mavors, Strahans, Burnets, and 
 Smiths. 
 
 Aberdeen- shire contains Mar, Brise, Glenmick, 
 Strathdee, part of Buchan, &c. It is bounded by Gow- 
 ry and Merns on the south ; by Buchan on the north ; 
 Perth and Inverness shire on the west, and the German 
 ocean on the east. The chief towns are New and Old 
 Aberdeen ; the new town, in point of trade, popula- 
 tion and elegance, is justly deemed the third town in 
 Scotland. In each of these towns is a well endowed 
 seminary, the one called King's college, and the other 
 Mareschal college ; both are called the University of 
 Aberdeen. Many gentlemen eminent for literary and 
 scientific abilities, have been educated at this university. 
 Among others, now living, might be mentioned, Doc- 
 tors Kemp and Wilson, and James Hardie, A. M. : the 
 two former have been for some years distinguished pro- 
 fessors of mathematics and languages, in Columbia Col- 
 lege, in the city of New-York, and the latter author of 
 several useful publications. The principal rivers in 
 Aberdeenshire are the Dee and Don ; two of the richest 
 rivers in Britain for salmon. 
 
Scotland, 253 
 
 Abeerdeen- shire abounds with all the necessaries of 
 life ; the mountainous part of it affords good timber 
 and pasturage, and the level part excellent wheat and 
 other small grains. The most ancient families here are 
 the Gordons, Erskines, Hays, Keiths, Ogilvies, Sea- 
 tons and Abercrombies. 
 
 The shire of Inverness formerly contained all the 
 country from Lochleven to the Orkney islands ; it com- 
 prehends, at present, Lochabar, Badenock, Strathspey, 
 Stratherick, Strathglass and Glenmorrison. It is boun- 
 ded by the Brae of Mar and Athol on the 'south ; by 
 Argyle shire on the west; by Ross and Murray Firth on 
 the east, and by the western sea on the north. The 
 length of it from Inverness to Inverloky is-50 miles. 
 Principal town is Inverness, which is situated on the 
 south side of the river Ness, and has a commodious 
 harbour. There was formerly a strong castle here, 
 wherein the kings of Scotland resided. The most an- 
 cient families here are the Mackenzies, Frasers,* 
 Mackintoshes, Macdonalds, Grants, M'Leods, M'Pher- 
 sons and Camerons. 
 
 Bamf-shire. — The principal towns in this shire are 
 Bamf, Cullen, Frazerburg, and Keith. The most ancient 
 families here are the Cummings, Gordons and Aber- 
 crombies. There is a cave in this county, where the 
 water that drops from it turns into stone, as soon as it 
 reaches the ground. 
 
 Murray- shire, or Nearne ; the principal towns here 
 are Elgin, Foress, Nearne, and Crommertie ; the largest 
 rivers are the Spey, Nearne, and Findorn, the first 
 mentioned is the most rapid river in Europe. The 
 most ancient families, here are, the Brodies, M'lntosh- 
 es, Roses, Dunbars, Grants, Stuarts, Frasers and 
 M'Kenzies. 
 
 * The Frasers emigrated thither from France nine hundred and sixty 
 years ago. 
 
254 History of all Nations. 
 
 Argyle-shire is bounded on the north by Lochaber ; 
 on the east by Lenox ; on the West by the ocean, and 
 the firth of Clyde on the south. The principal towns 
 in Argyle-shire are Inverary, DunstafFnage and Cam- 
 bletown. There are a number of rivers and. lakes in 
 this county ; the principal lake is Lochfine, which is 
 about sixty miles in length and four in breath: this 
 loch is famous for the great quantity of excellent her- 
 ring which are caught in it. Lochow is a fresh water 
 loch, twenty-four miles long and one broad; in it 
 there are twelve islands ; and from this loch the fam- 
 ily of Argyle had their ancient title of Lairds of Loc- 
 how. The most ancient families in this shire are the 
 Campbells, Lamonds, Macdonalds, MacDougals, Mac- 
 Intyres, MacQueens, MacEuens and MacFarlanes. 
 
 Ross-shire, the principal town here is Tayn; the most 
 ancient families in this shire are the M'Kenzies (who 
 emigrated thither from Ireland in the fifth century) 
 Munros, Rosses, Bethunes, and Dunbars. 
 
 Sutherland- shire, chief town here is Dornock. — 
 Dunrobin castle, the principal seat of the Earl of Suth- 
 erland, is situated in this county, upon a mote near 
 the sea. The most ancient families here are the Suth- 
 erlands, Mackays, Gordons, Glanguns or Gunns, Mur- 
 rays and Grays. This county in general is fruitful in 
 corn and pasturage ; and abounds with fish, fowl, sheep, 
 black cattle and deer. The vallies are very pleasant 
 and well inhabited ; and what proves the climate and 
 soil to be much better than could be expected, from its 
 northerly situation, is, that saffron grows very well here 
 and comes to maturity. Here are many commodious 
 harbours for exporting the commodities of the country, 
 which are corn, salt, salmon, beef, wool, hides, butter, 
 cheese, tallow, &c. All that tract of land lying be- 
 tween Portnecouter and Dunsbay, is called Caithness. 
 The principal towns in Caithness are Weik and Thur- 
 so. At Dunsbay-head in the north east of Caithness 
 is the ferrv to Orknev. 
 
Ireland. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 IRELAND. 
 
 Ireland, called also Hibernia and Erin, is situated to 
 the west of Great-Britain ; and for salubrity of air, fer- 
 tility of soil hospitality and intrepidity of its inhabitants, 
 is excelled by no country on earth. 
 
 The pride of ancestry has a peculiar effect upon the 
 Irish. No nation, in fact, now in existence, can boast 
 of such certain and remote antiquity. It has been a 
 mean and pitiful prejudice of some English, and other 
 writers, to endeavour to throw discredit upon the early 
 parts of the Irish history. That many fabulous ac- 
 counts are to be met with in the Irish annals, is undoubt- 
 edly true ; but the possession at this present hour of a 
 vernacular language ', which was in general use above three 
 thousand years ago, is a strong coroboration of their an- 
 cient decent, that the people of Ireland can singly boast 
 among all the nations of the universe.* 
 
 * The ingenious and learned colonel Vallancey has given an accurate 
 collation of the Punic speeches with*the Irish as now spoken. The cu- 
 rious reader will be gratified with the following' specimen of this wonder- 
 ful similarity, or rather identity, of the Phoenician and Irish languages. 
 
 Carthaginian. 
 
 Bythlym mothymnocto thij nelechthanti diasmachon, 
 
 Irish. 
 
 Beithliom ! mo thyme noctaithe niel aitheanti 
 
 English. 
 
 Be with me ! My real fears are unknown. 
 
 I am of opinion that the Erse spoken by the Scots Highlanders, and the 
 Welsh, were originally the same with the Irish, from their great analogy 
 therewith, having frequently conversed with Irishmen and Welshmen in 
 their native tongue. During the prevalence of the yellow fever in the city of 
 New-York in 1798, a vessel arrived here from Europe, withanumberof pas- 
 sengers from Wales. Some of them landed near the State Prison. I happen- 
 ed to be present, among others, and conceiving them to be Irish, I spoke to 
 one of them in the Irish tongue. He shook his head, signifying that he did 
 not understand me. I then spoke to him in English, but he could not speak 
 a word. Having givea a sixpence to 9, little boy who was with him, he 
 
256 History of all Nations. 
 
 There appears no reason to doubt that the ancestors 
 of the Irish were Scythians; or, as they were afterwards 
 called, Phoenicians. That the Carthaginians were a 
 Phoenician colony, has never been doubted, and like 
 other colonies they carried their language with them. 
 
 Besides the common use of the Phoenician language 
 by the native Irish, there are other proofs, which make 
 it no longer doubtful, that a Phoenician colony settled tn 
 Ireland. The warlike instruments which have been 
 found in Ireland exactly resemble the weapons discov- 
 ered aboutCaunse, some of which are in the British Mu- 
 seum : the brazen swords and spears are the same form 
 and substance, being a composition of brass and tin. 
 Proofs of the similarity of habit, manners, and customs, 
 between the colony and the mother country, might be 
 adduced from the historians of each. Suffice it howe- 
 ver to remark, that to this day the Irish peasants have 
 an annual custom of lighting upon certain hills, on the 
 eve of midsummer, what they still call Bel's fire, though 
 totally ignorant that Bel was the God of their Phoenician 
 ancestors. 
 
 All historians agree that hordes of Scythians em- 
 igrated to Egypt, and from thence to Spain; and there 
 
 thanked me in a way similar to what a Highland hoy would have done on a 
 like occasion. This induced me to address the father in Erse ; he replied to 
 jne with seeming great joy : we made out to understand each other tolera- 
 bly well, and when we parted, he remarked, that I must have left Wales 
 when young, as I spoke Welsh very ill ! 
 
 Being struck with this seeming affinity of the Erse and Welsh tongues, I 
 obtained a translation of the following sentence into Welsh, by the reverend 
 Mr. Williams, and into Erse, by Mr. John M'Intyre, of this city. 
 
 Welsh. 
 
 Bydd gida mi ! mau fy ofnau widi ei dat giddio, nid oes genuff' un dibea 
 arall ond gwaradigaeth fy merch. 
 
 Erse. 
 
 Bithiah learn ! tha aover m'eagil follachadh, cha n'eil rane eil agam ach 
 jno nigheanan chu antkaca. 
 
 English. 
 
 Be with me ! my fears being discovered, I have no other intention but 
 recovering my daughter. 
 
Ireland. 1S1 
 
 has been no one objection of any force brought against 
 the Irish annalists, who are unanimous in their asser- 
 tions that a colony of these Scythians from Spain settled 
 in Ireland. The Irish have always prided themselves 
 upon having kept up a longer succession of monarchs 
 than any other kingdom in the world. This race of 
 kings they call Milesian, all of them having descended 
 from Heber, Eremore, and Ith, the three sons of 
 Milesius, who headed the expedition from Spain. 
 
 It is certain that Ireland was colonized by a civilized, 
 a learned, and warlike people, nearly one thousand 
 years before the birth of Christ : and that during that 
 period they were characterized by their robust frame of 
 body, by their valour, by their pride of ancestry, by 
 the strength of their imagination, and their enthusiastic 
 love of glory. 
 
 The obscurity, however of this period ended with 
 the introduction of Christianity ; when a new set of 
 historians or annalists sprang up, new repositories of 
 learning were established, foreign connections were 
 much extended, and the learned languages were 
 brought into use. All respectable writers ancient and 
 modern agree, that the gospel was first preached in 
 Ireland by St. Patrick, who was sent thither with twenty- 
 other missionaries by Celestine bishop of Rome, in the 
 fifth century of the Christian asra. Whether the facility 
 with which the divine doctrines of the missionaries 
 were propagated was, as some assert, in a great degree 
 owing to the superior state of letters and other civil cul- 
 tivation in Ireland, is now difficult to determine. The 
 fact however is certain, that in no land did the Gospel 
 make such rapid progress, or was so slightly opposed at 
 its first introduction : and it is remarkable that within 
 the short space of five years after St. Patrick had opened 
 his mission, he was summoned to sit and assist in the 
 convention or parliament of Tarah. He was appoint- 
 ed of the famous committee of Nine, to whom was 
 entrusted the reform of the ancient civil history of the 
 nation, so as to render it instructive to posterity. — 
 
 2 i 
 
258 History of all Nations. 
 
 Christian schools and seminaries were established in 
 opposition to those of the Druids ; and Paganism de- 
 clined in proportion as the institutions and doctrines of 
 Christianity nourished ; insomuch that from the fifth to 
 the latter end of the ninth century the Irish nation was 
 pre-eminently distinguished in Europe as the chief seat 
 of literature and science. Venerable Bede not only 
 confirms this fact, but states, that the youth of the most 
 respectable families of every nation in Europe were sent 
 to Ireland to receive their education, on account of the 
 pre-excellence of the learning of the Irish clergy. The 
 same writer adds, that such of the Anglo Saxons as 
 went over to Ireland, either for education, improvement,, 
 or for an opportunity of living up to the strict ascetic 
 discipline, were maintained, taught and furnished with 
 books, without fee or reward. Several illustrious per- 
 sons received their education there. Among the other 
 virtues which the establishment of Christianity fostered 
 and extended among the Irish, the generous spirit of 
 hospitality, for which from the earliest periods they 
 were characterised, was peculiarly enforced. " The 
 most holy men of heaven," say the Irish laws, " were re- 
 markable for hospitality ; and the gospel commands us 
 to receive the sojourner, to entertain him, and to relieve 
 his wants." We have thus seen that the Irish were a 
 people endowed with great powers of body and mind, 
 lovers of the arts and sciences, and enthusiastic encour- 
 agers of talents, attached to religion and its ministers, 
 and in a word, super-eminently gifted by nature with all 
 those active principles of public virtue, which, if pro- 
 perly directed, insure the attainment of national happi- 
 ness, prosperity, and importance. But unfortunately it has 
 ever been the bane of Ireland to be distracted with civil 
 discord. 
 
 The latter part of the Irish history, immediately pre- 
 ceding the invasion of the kingdom by the English, 
 presents one continued scene of intestine dissention, tur- 
 bulence, and faction. They experienced during several 
 centuries, the miserable effects resulting from their want 
 
Ireland. 259 
 
 of union among themselves, in the success of the re- 
 peated formidable invasions of their island by the Danes, 
 Norwegians, and other Scandinavian adventurers, who 
 roved about in search of settlements. Ireland became 
 to these piratical hordes a most inviting object, as the 
 country was fertile, and the inhabitants by their intes- 
 tine divisions rendered feeble defenders of their soil. 
 Such was the situation of Ireland, with little variation of 
 feature in its history, during a period of nearly four hun- 
 dred years. About the year of Christ 1166, Roderick 
 O'Connor, of undoubted Milesian stock, was raised to 
 the monarchy, with the general consent of the nation. 
 His prospect of a happy reign was soon clouded by the 
 revolt of several petty kings and princes who had sworn 
 allegiance to him. 
 
 Scarcely had he reduced them to obedience, when he 
 was called upon by O'Rourke, king of Breffny, to assist 
 him in avenging himself of Dermod, king of Leinster, 
 by whom he had been grossly injured. While O'Rourke 
 was absent on a pilgrimage, his wife, who had long con- 
 ceived a criminal passion for the king of Leinster, eloped 
 with him, and lived in public adultery. There could 
 not have existed a greater excitement to revenge in the 
 breast of an Irish prince, whose spotless purity of blood 
 was their highest glory. O'Rourke succeeded in rous- 
 ing the monarch to avenge his cause, and immediately 
 led a powerful force to his assistance. The whole king- 
 dom took fire at the perfidy and iniquity of Dermod, 
 who looked in vain for support from his own subjects. 
 He was hated for his tyranny; and the chieftains of 
 Leinster not only refused to enlist under his banner in 
 such a cause, but openly renounced their allegiance, 
 Dermod, thus deserted by his subjects, was inflamed 
 with rage at the disappointment, and resolved to sacri* 
 fice every thing to the gratification of his personal re- 
 venge. Unable to meet the approaching storm, he took 
 shipping secretly, and repaired to Henry II. of Eng- 
 land, who was then in France, to solicit his protection 
 •and aid in accomplishing his revengeful intention. 
 
26® History of all Nations. 
 
 Dermod made a most humiliating address, and cant- 
 ing hypocritical representation of his sufferings, to 
 Henry, whom he found in Aquitaine ; promising that if 
 through his powerful interposition he should recover 
 his lost dominions, he would hold them in vassalage of 
 Henry and his successors forever. Such an offer accord- 
 ed well with the ambitious views of the British mon- 
 arch ; but his situation at that time prevented him from 
 engaging personally in the cause of the guilty fugitive. 
 He, however, encouraged him by promises of vigorous 
 support, and gave him letters of credit and service to 
 such of his subjects as might be willing to assist him in 
 the recovery of his dominions. With these credentials 
 Dermod repaired to Bristol, which was in those days the 
 chief port of communication between England and 
 Ireland. 
 
 Invasion and Conquest of Ireland, under Henry II in 
 
 1172.* 
 
 That Henry had conceived the design of invading 
 Ireland previously to the degrading application of Der- 
 mod, is unquestionable. A very superficial knowledge 
 of the state of Ireland at that period was sufficient to ex- 
 cite the ambition of a powerful and popular sovereign, 
 in those days, when it was deemed reproachful to a prince 
 to be unemployed in some scheme of gallant enter- 
 prize. 
 
 A pretence alone was wanting to give some colour of 
 justice to the design ; and the courtiers of Henry were 
 fertile in their invention of imaginary claims to the 
 throne of Ireland, which they asserted the kings of Eng- 
 land possessed by inheritance from the time of Arthur, 
 or even earlier. 
 
 At the period, however, of Dermod's application, 
 Henry was engaged in suppressing the insurrection of 
 
 Six hundred and thirty -five years ago. 
 
Ireiana. 261 
 
 his brother Geoffry, and in supporting his own claims 
 to Anjou. He had a sufficient employment for his abi- 
 lities in regulating his own affairs in England. The un- 
 settled state of Wales at this period, and the long and 
 painful contest which Henry maintained against Thomas 
 Becket and the church, were additional motives to in- 
 duce the ambitious monarch to suspend the execution 
 of his designs against Ireland, which would probably 
 never have been put in execution, had not accident, or 
 rather the factions and competitions of an unorganised 
 people, opened a way for the English arms to penetrate 
 and subdue their distracted country. Henry, though 
 invested with papal authority for the purpose, would 
 perhaps never have invaded Ireland, had not the intes- 
 tine broils of the Irish princes, or kings, as they were 
 termed, severed those resources which ought to have 
 been united for defence, and driven Dermod to invite 
 that interference of a foreign power, which ever is, and 
 must be fatal to the liberties and independence of a 
 nation. 
 
 Such was the situation of Ireland, when Dermod 
 proffered at the feet of the English monarch to hold his 
 dominions in vassalage of him, and acknowledge him his 
 liege lord, if by his means he should himself be rein- 
 stated in them. This flattering petition awakened the 
 slumbering hopes of Henry, and revived the pleasing 
 ideas which he had formerly conceived of conquering 
 Ireland. 
 
 His own immediate affairs were, however, still much 
 perplexed. Becket had then recently afforded him a 
 further proof of his violence and obstinacy, while the in- 
 surrection of his subjects in the provinces of France, 
 secretly fomented by Lewis, engaged him incessantly in 
 war and negociation. It was therefore his obvious po- 
 licy to act as he did, and to receive the proffered alle- 
 giance of the Irish prince in a gracious manner, to give 
 him every encouragement and assurance short of his per- 
 sonal appearance in his cause, and to grant him those 
 letters of licence and credence to his subjects in Eng- 
 
262 History of all Nations. 
 
 land, who might be willing to adventure on an expedition 
 against Ireland, under the banners of king Dermod. 
 The fugitive prince, highly elated with his reception, 
 repaired from Aquitame to England, and upon his arri- 
 val at Bristol made public the letters of Henry, repeated 
 his piteous story, and lavished promises upon all who 
 would aid the friend and vassal of their sovereign. The 
 cause or character of Dermod must, doubtless, have ob- 
 tained a bad report in England, or such was the spirit 
 of enterprise and adventure in these days, the days of 
 the crusades, that but for such a reason, it may be pre- 
 sumed multitudes would have flocked to his standard, 
 whereas not one individual was found to listen to his 
 flattering promises, or to take arms in his cause. 
 
 A month elapsed without any prospect of obtaining 
 succours, and Dermod began to abandon all hopes of re- 
 storation, when he was persuaded to address himself to 
 Richard, earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, on 
 account of his skill in archery. Richard was distin- 
 guished by his military genius as much as by his station 
 and alliances : he was attended by a powerful train of 
 followers, whose affection he had gained by his courtesy 
 and generosity ; but being estranged from the royal fa- 
 vour, and retired and unemployed, his fortune dissipat- 
 ed, his distresses urgent, and his prospects gloomy, be 
 was pointed out to Dermod as likely to comply with his 
 overtures, and the Irish prince accordingly pressed him 
 with the most urgent solicitations. He even engaged to 
 give him his daughter Eva in marriage, and to make 
 him heir of his kingdom, though sensible by the ancient 
 customs of his country he had no power to nominate his 
 heirs. Richard was overcome by these seducing offers, 
 and agreed to assist Dermod with a considerable force 
 in the ensuing spring, provided he could obtain the 
 king's particular license and approbation. 
 
 Elevated by the success of this negotiation, Dermod 
 conceived that he had already most effectually provided 
 for his restoration; and proceeded to St. David's, in 
 South Wales, intending to return privately to Ireland. 
 
Ireland. 263 
 
 In Wales he added to his adherents, Robert Fitz- Ste- 
 phen, an active, brave, and skilful soldier, who con- 
 sented to engage, with all his followers, in the service of 
 Dermod, who, on his part, promised to cede to Fitz- 
 Stephen and Maurice Fitzgerald, the entire dominion of 
 the town of Wexford, with a large adjoining territory, 
 as soon as he should be reinstated in his rights. Such 
 was the origin of an invasion, which in the event proved 
 of so great importance. A criminal and despised fugi- 
 tive, driven from his province by faction and revenge, 
 obtained in this manner the assistance of a few adventu- 
 rers in Wales, whom youthful valour, and ruined for- 
 tune, led to seek for advantageous settlements in Ireland. 
 In the mean time Dermod embarked in disguise for Ire- 
 land, where he landed in safety ; and, passing through 
 the quarters of his enemies, spent the winter in the mo- 
 nastry at Ferns, which he himself had founded. Here 
 he occupied himself in preparations for the intended in- 
 vasion in the ensuing spring, when the promised suc- 
 cours were to be sent from England. They did arrive, 
 and, after various turns of fortune, Dermod was rein- 
 stated in his ancient rights. 
 
 The British forces employed in this expedition have 
 been variously stated ; but the largest number named 
 is three thousand, including the adherents of Dermod, 
 who joined them after their landing. This force has 
 been represented by some writers in such formidable 
 colours as if nothing in Ireland could stand against it ;. 
 but experience has sufficiently evinced the incalculable 
 advantages of discipline over strength and valour. The 
 Irish nation did not in fact oppose this invasion; but 
 separate septs or families made each a separate resistance, 
 and their divided efforts were of course of no avail. It 
 is also well authenticated that several chiefs sent over 
 deputies to invite Henry to Ireland : the men of Wex- 
 ford, O'Bryan of Thomond, and all the inferior chiefs 
 of Munster, vied with each other in the alacrity of their 
 submission. Henry, jealous of the successful progress 
 of his own subjects, sent orders to recall all the Eng- 
 
264 History of all Nations. 
 
 lish, and made preparations to attack Ireland in person 
 (1172.) He at length landed in that Island at ihe head 
 of five hundred knights besides other soldiers ; but so 
 dispirited were the Irish, that in his progress he had 
 nothing more to do than to receive the homage of his new- 
 subjects. He left most of the native princes in posses- 
 sion of their territories, invested the earl of Pembroke 
 with the government of Ireland, and returned in triumph 
 to England Yet notwitfistanding the apparent submis- 
 sion which the English monarch had received in all parts 
 of Ireland, he had not by his expedition won one heart 
 to his interest, or added one true and loyal subject to 
 the number of those whom he found there on his land- 
 ing. 
 
 The Irish chieftains waited only for a favourable op- 
 portunity of openly disavowing their submission ; and 
 when the earl of Pembroke retired into Ferns to sol- 
 emnize the marriage of his daughter, they threw off all 
 show of allegiance to Henry, and boldly denounced 
 vengeance against the invaders. 
 
 To give an account of the succeeding periods of the. 
 History of Ireland, or to trace the origin and progress 
 of thelastunhappy occurrences in that country, does not 
 comport with the brevity of our plan. 
 
 A concise account of the principal Towns, JRivers, £sfc. 
 in Ireland. 
 
 Ireland h divided into four grand divisions, namely, 
 Leinster, Ulster, Connaught and Munster ; and sub-di- 
 vided into thirty-two counties, twelve of which are in 
 Leinster. Dublin County, principal city Dublin, the 
 metropolis of Ireland ; and is the largest town in the 
 British dominions, London excepted. It is said to 
 contain upwards of two hundred thousand inhabitants. 
 And is situated nearly seven miles from the sea, at the 
 foot of a spacious bay, on the river Liffey. 
 
 Louth, chief town Drogheda ; Wicklow, chief town 
 Wicklow ; Wexford, principal town Wexford ; Long- 
 ford, chief town Longford ; East-Meath, chief town 
 
Ireland. 26.5 
 
 Trim; West-Meath, mostpopuloustown Mullingar ; 
 King's-County, Philips-town is the principal ; Queen's- 
 County, chief town is Maryborough ; Kilkenny, prin- 
 cipal town of the same name ; Kildare, chief town 
 Naas ; and Carlow, most populous town of the 
 same name. 
 
 Ulster, contains nine counties : Down, principal 
 town Down Patrick ; Armagh, head town of same 
 name ; Cavan, chief town of the same name; Antrim, 
 Carrick Fergus ; Londonderry, chief town Deny ; 
 Tyrone, head town Omagh; Fermanagh, head town 
 Enniskillen, and Donegal, principal town Lifford. 
 
 Connaught has five counties, namely, Leitrim, chief 
 town Carrick ; Roscommon, head town of the same 
 name ; Mayo, chief towns Castlebar and Ballinrode ; 
 Sligo, head town bears the same name ; Galiow, head 
 town Galiow. 
 
 Munster, has six counties ; Clare, head town Ednis ; 
 Cork, principal town Cork. The city of Cork lies 
 about one hundred and thirty miles south-west from. 
 Dublin on the banks of the river Lee, and for popula- 
 tion, wealth and commerce is reckoned the second in 
 Ireland. The county of Kerry, head town Tralee ; 
 Limerick, chief town of the same name ; Tipperary, 
 head town Clonmell ; Waterford, chief town of the 
 same name. Waterford is a town of very considerable 
 trade, and a place of great strength. Belfast, Limerick 
 and Londonderry are handsome towns and carry on a 
 considerable trade. This country abounds with charm- 
 ing lakes, spacious bays and excellent harbours ; the 
 Shannon is the largest river in Ireland, and runs a course 
 of 150 miles from its source, at Lough Allen in Lei- 
 trim, till it falls into the atlantic ocean at Kerry point ; 
 the other rivers here are the Boyne, the LifFee, the Ban, 
 the Barrow, the Nore and the Suin. 
 
 The nobility and most wealthy class of people in Ire- 
 land in their language, dress and manners cannot be said 
 to differ, but very little, if any, from those of the same 
 rank in England. The poorer sort of people in Ireland 
 
 2k 
 
266 History of all Nations: 
 
 differ something in their mode of living and customs, 
 from the lower class of people in England. 
 
 Some writers have erroneously asserted, that the 
 best informed people in Ireland always retain a disagree- 
 able tone in their pronunciation. This I know from 
 personal observation, to, be ill-founded* having convers- 
 ed with gentlemen from that country who, in my hum- 
 ble opinion, pronounced the English language with great 
 accuracy. Indeed, the author of the English standard 
 of pronunciation, Mr. Sheridan, was an Irishman. I 
 am not a native of Ireland, and therefore cannot justly 
 be supposed to be over partial to that nation ; yet I was 
 sorry to meet with the following invidious remark in a 
 book which has, in a few years, passed through thir- 
 teen editions in Europe and America: " The common 
 Irish, in their manner of living, seem to resemble the 
 ancient Britons, as described by Roman authors, or the 
 present Indian inhabitants of America ! !" Hence* ac- 
 cording to this writer's opinion, the difference betwixt 
 the higher and lower class of the Irish people, must be 
 vastly great indeed ! Since* among the former, we 
 find an archbishop Usher, a Boyle* a dean Swift, an 
 O'Leary, a Steele, a Sterne, a Parnel, a Goldsmith, a 
 Berkley, a Grattan, a Montgomery, &c. While the 
 lower class of people in Ireland are represented to be 
 no more refined at the present day* than the Britons 
 were two thousand years ago* or the tawny sons of the 
 Birdtail king among the Cherokees, or the Little Tur- 
 tle's tribe among the Mohawks. And yet we are told 
 by the learned Mr. Camden (who was not an Irish- 
 man) that " the Irish scholars of St. Patrick profited so 
 nobly in Christianity, that in the succeeding age, Ire- 
 land was termed Sanctorum Patria. Their monks so 
 greatly excelled in piety and learning, that they sent a 
 number of learned men into all parts of Europe, who 
 were the founders of Abbies in Italy, Switzerland, 
 France and Britain." Bede says, that about the mid- 
 dle of the seventh century, many nobles and others of 
 the Anglo-Saxons, retired from their own country and 
 
Ireland. 267 
 
 went to Ireland for instruction, and that the Scots (as he 
 styles the Irish) maintained them, taught them and fur- 
 nished them with books gratis — " A most honorable 
 testimony, says Lord Lyttleton, not only of the learning 
 but also of the hospitality and bounty of the Irish na- 
 tion." 
 
 Dr. Mavor thus concludes his history of Ireland. 
 
 The benefits of a political union of Ireland with Great 
 Britain (which we sincerely hope may be perfectly real- 
 ized) have been so admirably well depicted by the bish- 
 op of Landaff, that we cannot better describe them than 
 in the words of the learned prelate in a debate in the 
 house of Lords, on this important topic. 
 
 " It would enrish Ireland, and would not impover- 
 ish Great Britain. The consolidation of Ireland with 
 this country would render it the strongest empire in 
 Europe. 
 
 Ireland, (he further observed) as a shoot from the 
 stem of Great-Britain, has brought forth fruit : but that 
 as a separate plant it would neither strike its root down- 
 wards, nor spread its branches above: it would bear 
 no fruit for at least a hundred years. It must either be 
 shaded by the British oak, or it must be poisoned by the 
 pestilential vapor of the tree of French liberty. Ireland 
 could not stand alone. In the present state of Europe, 
 she must be united either to England or France. Eng- 
 lish capital would, in the event of union, seek employ- 
 ment in Ireland, and diffuse improvement and wealth. 
 The bogs would be converted into fruitful fields, the 
 barren mountains covered with cattle, the old sources 
 of wealth would be extended, new ones discovered, 
 and the inhabitants be rendered rich, industrious, and 
 happy." 
 
 Coinciding, as we sincerely do, with this most elo- 
 quent elucidation of the union, it is with pleasure we 
 add to this just picture of the right reverend prelate, 
 the sanction of a nobleman to the union, whose opinion 
 on all subjects is of infinite weight, but upon the con v 
 
268 History of all Nations* 
 
 cerns of Ireland, is, perhaps, preponderant to any in 
 the British dominions, on account of his extensive and 
 intimate knowledge of that part of the empire, as well 
 as the sound wisdom and unimpeachable integrity which 
 are his characteristics. The earl of Moira declared 
 that his early objections to the union were in a great 
 measure removed by the kite determination of the Irish 
 parliament ; and he was ready to admit, that the points 
 of detail were founded, for the most part, on just and 
 equitable principles. 
 
 With such an exalted testimony of the justice of the 
 execution of this great national measure, and with such 
 a display of its general advantages, we conclude this his- 
 tory of Ireland. In reviewing the annals of this brave and 
 generous people, if we have erred, it has not been from 
 motives of partiality to any party or to any sect It is 
 indeed to be lamented, that the sacred cause of religion 
 should be ever alluded to for any other purpose than the 
 furtherance of piety and virtue ; for the dissemination 
 among men of those duties which they owe to their 
 Creator and their fellow creatures. May the happy 
 event of a political union between Great-Britain and 
 Ireland, which commenced with the nineteenth century, 
 continue for countless centuries, unbroken by faction or 
 disloyalty, a most noble monument to the world at large, 
 of the blessings resulting from a true and loyal union of 
 civilized brethren, enjoying the benefits of rational free- 
 dom, on the basis of a constitution, which wisdom and 
 virtue have consolidated, and which genuine patriotism 
 defends." 
 
 Religion. — The established religion and ecclesiasti- 
 cal dicipiine of Ireland is the same with that of England : 
 But, Four-fifths of the people are said to be Roman 
 catholics. There are, besides, a number of Presbyte- 
 rians, Baptists, Quakers and Methodists, who are all 
 tolerated. 
 
 Government. — As Ireland is subordinate to En- 
 gland, the government of it is much the same. The king 
 sends a viceroy, who is styled lord-lieutenant ; and who 
 
United States of America, 269 
 
 comes as near the grandeur and dignity of a king, as 
 any viceroy in the world. The parliament of Ireland 
 previous to the union of that country with England was 
 convened, prorogued, and dissolved at the pleasure of 
 the king, and the laws made by the parliament were 
 sent to England for the king's approbation ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 The English, conducted by John Cabot, in the year 
 1497, (although the discovery has generally, but erro- 
 neously, been attributed to his second son, Sabastian, 
 who at that time could not have been more than twenty 
 years of age) found the way to North-America soon 
 after Columbus had successfully crossed the Atlantic ( 
 but as the torrents in that country brought down no 
 gold, and the Indians were not bedecked with any costly 
 ornaments, no attempts were made to explore the coun- 
 try for near a century after its dicovery. Sir Francis 
 Drake, who traversed the whole circumference of the 
 globe in one voyage, and in one ship, A. D. 1577, &c. 
 which had never been achieved before, when afterwards 
 annoying the Spaniards in the West- Indies, and on the 
 main, gained some knowledge of the eastern shore of 
 the northern continent, as he had before of the western 
 parts on the Pacific Ocean, about the same parallel. Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, however > was the first navigator who 
 explored the coast, bestowed on it a name, and at- 
 tempted to settle a colony, A. D. 1584; but the lands 
 were overspread with thick woods, the caprices of a sa- 
 vage race were to be soothed, their jealousies of new 
 settlers to be removed, or their power to be opposed ; 
 and, when all these difficulties should be surmounted, 
 the colonists must continue subject to the first condem- 
 natory sentence denounced on the human race, " by the 
 sweat of their brow to eat their bread. " 
 
270 History of all Nations. 
 
 At that time colonization made no part of the system 
 of government, so that there were few stimulants to 
 abandon a native soil for the purpose of seeking posses- 
 sions in another hemisphere. At length a powerful in- 
 centive arose, stronger than the influence of kings, than 
 the love of ease, than the dread of misery. Religion, 
 which had long been converted into the most powerful 
 engine which human subtilty ever made use of to sub- 
 jugate the mass of mankind, no sooner ceased to be so 
 perverted, than by its own proper force it impelled large 
 bodies of people to renounce every present enjoyment, 
 the instinctive love of a native soil, rooted habits, and 
 dearest connections, and to settle in the dreary wilds of 
 a far distant continent. 
 
 When England, by a very singular concurrence of cir- 
 cumstances, threw off the papal yoke, state policy so 
 predominated in the measure, that the consciences of 
 men were still required to bend to the discipline, con- 
 form to the cd'emonials, and assent to the doctrines 
 which the governing powers established. Although a 
 dissent from the church of Rome was considered as 
 meritorious, yet a dissent from the church of England 
 was held to be heretical, and an offence to be punished by 
 the civil magistrate. The human mind, somewhat 
 awakened from a long suspension of its powers by a 
 Wickcliffe, farther enlightened by an Erasmus and 
 Melancthon, and at length called forth into energy by 
 the collision of those two ardent and daring spirits, Lu- 
 ther and Calvin, then began to bend all its attention to- 
 ward religious enquiries, and exercised all its powers in 
 such pursuits. Hence arose a vast diversity of opinions, 
 which gave rise to numerous sects and denominations 
 of Christians ; but as the Protestant establishment in 
 England held it essential to preserve a unity of faith, 
 those novel opinions obtained no more quarter there than 
 under papal power. 
 
 The eastern coast of North America, comprehending 
 a vast extent of country, was considered as of right be- 
 longing to England, and was then known by no other 
 
* United States of America. 271 
 
 names than those of North and South Virginia, which 
 it had received from Sir Walter Raleigh. The perse- 
 cuted and desperate religionists easily obtained a royal 
 grant of a very extensive tract of land, whither they re- 
 paired, not to amass wealth, or to exterminate the in- 
 habitants, but to subsist by industry, to purchase secu- 
 rity by honorable intercourse with the natives, and to 
 acquire strength under the auspices of freedom. The 
 establishment made by the quakers, under the conduct 
 of Penn, realized these professions ; in other parts a 
 spirit of intolerance too much prevailed, and insidious 
 arts were practised on the Indians, which soon excited 
 rancorous animosity in those tribes. The Spaniards 
 had found the southern divisiou of this vast continent 
 peopled with a pusillanimous and defenceless race of 
 men, whom they sacriliced without scruple or remorse 
 to their ambition and avarice ; the European settlers on 
 the coast of North- America were not actuated by such 
 a cruel and exterminating spirit ; they had juster no- 
 tions of the rights of man : they also found the inhabi- 
 tants of that country possessing very different character- 
 istics, less numerous indeed than toward the south, but 
 subsisting by hunting, expert in the use of offensive 
 weapons, sagacious, persevering, not insensible of kind- 
 nesses conferred, but implacable when offended, and 
 ever gratifying their revenge by means the most artful,, 
 concealed, and cruel. An acquaintance with Europe- 
 ans has ever been baneful to uncivilized communities in 
 all parts of the globe. These Indians soon discovered 
 a fondness for spirituous liquors, with which the artful 
 traders were too ready to supply them ; by the exces- 
 sive use of these, their natural ferocity had been increas- 
 ed, their passions inflamed, their best principles pervert- 
 ed, diseases never before known introduced, their lives 
 shortened, and their numbers rapidly reduced. 
 
 The attention and assistance which Great-Britain gave 
 to these colonies increased with the increasing commer- 
 cial spirit of the nation ; indeed the English Americans 
 may be said to have been, like Minerva, born adult : no 
 
11% History of all hat'tons-, 
 
 age of barbarism involved in obscurity and ignorance 
 the early period of their existence. Arts and sciences 
 were cultivated ere their woods were cleared ; their 
 minds were enlarged without their manners being de- 
 praved. The fostering hand of Great- Britain nursed 
 the rising genius of the colonies, and an immense ex- 
 panse of country taught them to contemplate on 
 futurity with exultation. Their towns were built far 
 from the din of war ; their people had multiplied amidst 
 the blessings of peace ; their situation and employments 
 rendered them robust and enterprising, without becom- 
 ing sanguinary. The inroads of the Indians, those 
 aborigines, whose territory they had in most instances 
 rather seized upon than honorably purchased, were con- 
 lined to their back settlements, and served to keep them 
 attentive without endangering the general safety. The 
 apprehensions from the encroachments of the French 
 were dispelled soon after they had been seriously enter- 
 tained, and the fortunate termination of that four years 
 conflict served to teach them to value a security which 
 then became permanent. Civil commotions and intes- 
 tine wars have stained with blood every kingdom and 
 state, both in ancient and modern times : the Americans 
 were not to expect an exemption from the common lot 
 of humanity ; and the time at length arrived, when the 
 horrors and desolations of war were to overspread the 
 country. 
 
 Perhaps no event in the history of the world has been 
 more important than the revolution in America, which 
 the contentions between the mother country and the 
 colonies produced, by the erection of so many indepen- 
 dent, but confederate republics on that continent. The 
 pursuits of America must now be directed to different 
 objects. Whilst colonists, they were perhaps become 
 too much a commercial people; as states, agriculture 
 will demand their first and chief attention. The im- 
 mense country to the westward is now likely to be 
 brought much sooner into a state of cultivation than if 
 they had continued colonies ; population may be expect- 
 
United States of America. i 273 
 
 ed to advance in a proportion hitherto unknown ; and, 
 among a people enjoying such advantages, the human 
 mind ought to be exercised, and its powers enlarged, 
 without being depraved; simplicity of manners, uncon- 
 taminated by the impatience of becoming rich, 'should 
 prevail; and the favoured Americans be known as a 
 people exemplary for integrity in their dealings, for hon- 
 our, and public virtue. 
 
 Boundaries.] By the definitive treaty of peace 
 between the king of Great Britain and the United States 
 of America, which was executed at Paris, on the 3d of 
 September, 1783, the boundaries of these states are 
 fixed to extend on the N. from Nova- Scotia, across the 
 four great lakes of Ontario, Eric, Huron, and Su erior, 
 assigning to the states the southern half of each, and in 
 the latter the islands Royal and Phillipeaux : lake Mi- 
 chigan they possess entire : though these lakes have 
 ever been considered as making a part of Canada, and 
 no new regulation of limits has excluded them. This 
 boundary is farther extended through the centre of the 
 lake of the Woods to its most western point. It may- 
 be supposed that a want of acquaintance with he geo- 
 graphy of the country has caused it to be added ' ' from 
 thence on a due West course to the river Mississippi :'» 
 for if the boundary is carried due West, it will reach 
 the Pacific Ocean, about one degree of latitude South 
 of Nootka Sound. The line, in order to touch the 
 Mississippi, should have been carried from the western 
 side of the lake of the Woods due South. In conse- 
 quence of this inaccuracy no boundary is settled through- 
 out a space of near three degrees of latitude ; it being 
 resumed along the middle of the river Mississippi to 
 thirty-one degrees North latitude, where that river be- 
 gins to divide West Florida from Louisiana. The Ameri- 
 can States are bounded on the South by the two Flori- 
 das. They possess all the eastern coast from die mouth 
 of the river St. Croix, in the bay of Fundy, to St. 
 Mary's river, which divides Georgia from East Florida, 
 
 2 L 
 
274 History of all Nations * 
 
 and all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the 
 shore. 
 
 The states with whom the king of Great-Britain con- 
 cluded this treaty, were, New -Hampshire, Massachu- 
 setts-Bay, Rhode-Island with Providence Plantations, 
 Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- Carolina, South- 
 Carolina, and Georgia. 
 
 These states, in their fullest extent, comprise eigh- 
 teen degrees of latitude, and thirty-three degrees of 
 longitude ; they are described as being 1250 miles in 
 length, and 1030 in breadth: reaching from thirty -one 
 degrees to forty -nine degrees North latitude, and from 
 fifty-one degrees to eighty-four degrees West longitude 
 from Greenwich ; but as the Americans have fixed their 
 meridian at the city of Philadelphia, the extent in longi- 
 tude from that city is, from nine degrees East to twenty- 
 four degrees West. 
 
 Although the longitudinal extent is laid down to be 
 nearly double to the latitudinal, yet the limits are so in- 
 tersected on the northward, that toward the N. W. coast 
 it lies in forty-five degrees, except a small district of 
 land, which reaches to almost forty-seven degrees ; 
 but in the interior country, on lake Erie, the boundary 
 is on forty -two degrees: its greatest extent is on the 
 coast, toward the N. E. where only it is 49 degrees. Its 
 longitudinal extent, from New England on the E. to a 
 little below r Nootka Sound on the W. comprehends the 
 whole continental breadth, from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific Ocean ; and it is only in that part that its breadth is 
 1030 miles. 
 
 Mr. Hutchins, the late geographer of the United 
 States, computed that the surface contained within the 
 boundaries so described, is one million of square miles, 
 which comprehends six hundred and forty millions of 
 acres ; and he computes that of these, forty-one millions 
 are water, or about tw^o twenty-fifth parts of the whole : 
 so that the land within the United States amounts to 
 five hundred and eighty-nine millions of acres ; about 
 
United States of America. 27 5 
 
 three-fifths of which is comprised within the states 
 which now compose the union ; the remaining two hun- 
 dred and twenty millions of acres, which lie West of the 
 northern and middle states, and N. W. of the river 
 Ohio, and extend to the river Mississippi, together with 
 an extensive territory South of the Ohio, originally ce- 
 ded to the United States by North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, and Georgia, form what is usually denomi- 
 nated " the western territory. " 
 
 Government. — A general Congress was first held 
 at Philadelphia, in September 1774, and was composed 
 of delegates chosen by the houses of representatives of 
 each of the twelve old colonies ; Georgia alone being 
 unrepresented in that assembly, but it afterwards acceded, 
 and the number of members then amounted to fifty-four, 
 and a president; two years after, the number was redu- 
 ced to forty-eight. In this assembly each colony had 
 no more than a single voice, whether its deputation was 
 more or less numerous : so that a contrariety of opin- 
 ion among the deputies from any particular colony, if the 
 majority were in favour of the measure, did not occasion 
 a dissenting voice in the congress ; the sense of any 
 colony could not be taken if its deputies were equally 
 divided in their opinions : which was likely frequently 
 to occur, as seven of the colonies sent either two or four 
 deputies ; the other five were represented by three, five, 
 seven, or nine, 
 
 In the year 1776 Congress, by a solemn act, renoun- 
 ced allegiance to the king of Great Britain, and declared 
 the American colonies to be Independent States. In 
 March, 1781, articles of confederation were ratified; 
 and the style of the confederation was settled to be " Uni- 
 ted States of America." 
 
 The old confederation was essentially defective, being 
 destitute of almost every principle necessary to give ef- 
 fect to legislation. 
 
 In the month of May, A. D. 17S7, delegates from all 
 the states, except Rhode- Island, assembled at Philadel- 
 
276 History of all Nations. 
 
 phia, called the general convention, and chose general 
 Washington president. After four months deliberation, 
 the convention agreed to recommend the plan of a fede- 
 ral government. 
 
 As soon as the federal constitution was submitted to 
 the legislatures of the several states, they proceeded to 
 take measures for collecting the sense of the people 
 upon the propriety of adopting it. In 1789, it was ra- 
 tified by the conventions of eleven of the original thirteen 
 states ; and shortly after North Carolina and Rhode- 
 Island acceded to the union. 
 
 The constitution having been ratified by the states 
 and senators, and representatives having been chosen 
 agreeably to the articles of it, they met at New- York, 
 and commenced their proceedings. The old congress 
 and confederation expired, and a new one, with more 
 ample powers, and a new constitution, partly national, 
 and partly federal, succeeded in their place, to the great 
 joy of all who wished for the happiness of the United 
 States. 
 
 Though great diversity of opinions had prevailed 
 about the new constitution, there was but one opinion 
 about the person who should be appointed its supreme 
 executive officer. All parties turned their eyes on the 
 late commander of their armies, as the most proper per- 
 son to be their first president. Unambitious of farther 
 honours, he had retired to a farm in Virginia, and hoped 
 to be excused from all future public services. However, 
 that honest zeal for the public good that had uniformly 
 influenced him, overcame his love of retirement, and 
 induced him to undertake the office. 
 
 The intelligence of his election being communicated 
 to him, while on his farm, like the great Cincinnatus of 
 old, he set out for New- York. A day was fixed, soon 
 after his arrival, for taking the oath of office, which 
 was in the following words: " I do solemnly swear, 
 that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of 
 president of the United States ; and will, to the best of 
 
United States of America. 277 
 
 my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution 
 of the United States." The oath was administered by 
 the honourable Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of the 
 state of New- York. An awful silence prevailed among 
 the spectators during this part of the ceremony. It 
 was a minute of the most sublime political joy. The 
 chancellor then proclaimed him president of the United 
 States. John Adams was at the same time elected vice- 
 president. 
 
 There is nothing more striking in the whole character 
 of general Washington, and which distinguishes him 
 from other extraordinary men, than the circumstances 
 which attended his promotion and retreat from office* 
 He eagerly courted privacy, and only submitted to exer- 
 cise authority as a public duty. The promotion of many 
 men is a triumph of ambition over virtue. The pro- 
 motion, even of good men, has generally been sought 
 by them from motives that were very much mixed. 
 The promotion of Washington, almost alone, seems to 
 have been a victory gained by his conscience over his in- 
 clination. To despise what most other men eagerly hunt 
 for, and to shew himself equal to the highest places, 
 without ever seeking any, w 7 ere the peculiar character- 
 istics of this truly great man. 
 
 Events occurred during his chief magistracy which 
 convulsed the whole political world, and which severely 
 tried his moderation and prudence. The French revo- 
 lution took place ; and it was during its most turbulent 
 period, when the people of all countries were divided 
 into parties, that Washington was a second time chosen 
 president of the United States, A. D. 1792, but not una- 
 nimously, as in the former instance. The disposition 
 which he had shewn to take no part in favour of the 
 perpetual changes in France, had created him enemies 
 among those who espoused the cause of the French as 
 the cause of mankind. He had, however, a decided 
 majority ; and the honourable John Adams was again 
 elected vice-president. 
 
27i 
 
 History of all Nations. 
 
 In Oct. 1796, president Washington publicly announc- 
 ed his resolution of retiring from public life. The resig- 
 nation of this great man at this period was deplored by- 
 all the moderate party in America, and by the govern- 
 ment party in Great Britain. By the latter he was con- 
 sidered as a steady friend ; and was indeed regarded as 
 the leader of what was ca led the English party in Amer- 
 ica. Such are the vicisitudes of political connections. In 
 1776, he was considered in England as a proscribed 
 rebel : in 1796 he was regarded as the best friend that 
 the English had in the United States. In 1776 his 
 destruction was thought the only means of preserving 
 America to Great- Britain ; in 1796 his authority was 
 esteemed the principal security against her falling under 
 the yoke of France. At the former period he looked 
 to the aid of France as his only hope of guarding the 
 liberties of America against England; at the latter he 
 must have considered the power of Great-Britain as the 
 main barrier of the safety of America against France. 
 The election of the first successor to President 
 Washington was the most important event in the histo- 
 ry of the infant republic. Nothing could be conducted 
 in a more dignified manner : the choice fell upon John 
 Adams as President, and upon Thomas Jefferson as 
 Vice-President (A. D. 1797.) The functions of the 
 new president were to commence the 4th of March, 
 previous to which he repaired to the house of represen- 
 tatives to take the necessary oaths. At this ceremony 
 were a multitude of spectators of high rank ; one of 
 whom, after minutely describing all that passed, adds 
 these words : " Nothing can be more simple than the 
 iceremony of this installation ; but this very simplicity 
 lias something in it so delightful, so noble, and so nearly 
 resembling the grandeur of antiquity, that it commands 
 our reverence, and seizes on our worthiest affections. 
 I speak at least of the effect it produced on my feelings. 
 This change of the Persons exercising the most awful 
 functions of the state, with so little pomp, but with so 
 great solemnity ; and which places a man, who the 
 
United States of America. 279 
 
 evening before was among the crowd of simple citizens, 
 at the head of the government ; while he who held the 
 first office of the state the preceding evening, is return- 
 ed again to the class of simple citizens — is full of the 
 qualities that constitute true greatness."* 
 
 After various and repeated insults from the French 
 government (in A. D. 1798) the United States found it 
 necessary to arm in their own defence. They had for 
 years endured with a patience of which there is scarcely 
 any example in the history of states, all the contumely 
 and wrongs which successive administrations in France 
 had heaped upon them. Their ships were every where 
 captured ; their ministers were but prisoners at Paris ; 
 while agents, some of whom were indeed clothed in the 
 sacred character of ambassador, had endeavored to ex- 
 cite in America the seeds of civil war . The United States 
 resolved to arm by land and by sea. The command of the 
 army was bestowed on General Washington, which he 
 accepted because he said he was convinced " that every 
 thing they held dear and sacred was threatened ; though 
 he had flattered himsel that he had quitted for ever the 
 boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and 
 high responsibility in which he had so long acted so con- 
 spicuous apart." In this office he continued the short 
 period of his life. On the 12th day of December, 
 1799, he was seized with an inflammation in his throat ; 
 which terminated his valuable life in two days, in the 
 68th year of his age and in the 23d year of American 
 Independence ; of which he may justly be regarded as 
 the founder. He died fully impressed with those senti- 
 ments of piety which had given vigour and consistency 
 to his virtue, and had adorned every part of a life blame- 
 less and illustrious. 
 
 In 1801, came on the election for a new President of 
 the United States, and Thomas Jefferson was elected 
 President, and Aaron Burr Vice-President. The 
 
 * Duke de la Rochefaucault Liancourt 
 
280 History of all Nations. 
 
 next election took place 1804, when Thomas Jefferson 
 wa..< elected President, and George Clinton Vice-Presi- 
 dent, 
 
 At the time of the completion of the new constitution, 
 and the first sitting of the new congress in 1789, the 
 union consisted of no more than thirteen States ; but 
 since that period seven others have been added, in the 
 manner prescribed by the Constitution. Kentucky, 
 which was formerly a part of the state of Virginia; 
 Vermont which was a part of New- Hampshire, were 
 raised into states in the year 1791: and in 1796 Ten- 
 nesse, formerly a part of North Carolina, was admitted 
 as an independent state. Since that period the Maine, 
 the territory north-west of Ohio, the Indian territory, 
 and Mississippi territory, have been recognized as states 
 belonging to the federal government; and in 1803, Lou- 
 isiana was ceded by Spain to the United States of Amer- 
 ica for fifteen millions of Dollars. Louisiana was 
 discovered by Juan Ponte cle Leon in 1512; it after- 
 wards came into the possession of the French, who 
 about the middle of the last century claimed and pos- 
 sessed, as Louisiana, all that part of the new continent 
 which was bounded on the south by the Gulf of Mexi- 
 co, on the north by Canada, and on the east and west 
 indefinitely, comprehending a greater extent than the 
 United States. 
 
 The new system of Republican government in these 
 states, secures to individuals two important privileges; 
 the security of their persons and property by the ha- 
 beas corpus act, and trial by jury. It unites the res- 
 pective states of the union in a much closer confedera- 
 tion than the helvetic union brought the Swiss Cantons, 
 or even the compact which united the seven united prov- 
 inces of the Netherlands, formerly : In many important 
 points, it may be justly said, to be such a form of govern- 
 ment as the world had not before seen. 
 
 The president, the senate and house of representa- 
 tives, form the executive and legislative body. 
 
United States of America. 281 
 
 No specific portion of property, whether real of 
 personal, is required to be possessed as a qualification: 
 for a representative, a senator, or president : nor is 
 any one excluded on account of the religious principles 
 which he professes; Jews, and Roman Catholics, are 
 as eligible as any other class of citizens. The house 
 of representatives is chosen every two years by the 
 people of the several states ; every person who has resid- 
 ed for six months in any county, rented a tenement 
 worth forty shillings per annum* and paid taxes, is qual- 
 ified to vote for a delegate to Congress. The only le- 
 gal requisites in a candidate are, his having attained 
 twenty-five years of age ; having been seven years a 
 citizen of the United States ; and at the time of his elec- 
 tion, an inhabitant ot the state by which he is chosen. 
 The holding any place of honour or emolument, is an 
 absolute disqualification. In this representation, there 
 is no distinction of knights, citizens, and burgesses, it 
 not being made out of counties, cities, and borrougl* 
 towns ; fqr exclusive rights and peculiar privileges of 
 corporations (as in England, and elsewhere) are un- 
 known in the United States. 
 
 The design of the federal constitution is, that the 
 number of representatives in congress shall not exceed 
 one to every thirty thousand, but that each state shall have 
 at least one representative. 
 
 The senate of the United States is composed of two 
 senators from each state, chosen, not from the people 
 at large, but from the legislatures of the several states. 
 No one can be chosen a senator who has not attained 
 thirty years of age, who has not been nine years a citi- 
 zen, and is not a resident of the state where he is cho- 
 sen : he cannot hold any place of honor, trust, ©r profit, 
 These senators, when assembled, are to be divided into 
 three classes ; those of the first class shall vacate their 
 seats at the expiration of the second year ; those of the. 
 second class, at the end of the fourth year, and of the 
 third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, 
 
 .3 to 
 
28f History of all JS attorn. 
 
 The President of the United States, in whom is 
 vested the executive power, and who must not be un- 
 der thirty-five years of age, is chosen by the nomination 
 of each state, which, for this purpose names two, and the 
 person upon whom the largest number of suffrages falls 
 obtains this rank, which is held for four years. In like 
 manner the Vice-President is to be elected, and for the 
 same term.* The latter is president of the senate. All 
 the officers of the federal government are to be paid for 
 their services at a rate to be settled by law, and out of 
 the treasury of the United States. 
 
 The most effectual precautions have been adopted by 
 the patriotic and judicious framers of the federal consti- 
 tution, to repress the spirit of ambition, and views of 
 aggrandizement, inherent in human nature, by every in- 
 dividual being chosen for a short term, from his being 
 inhibited from enjoying any kind of post, or receivings 
 without permission, any kind of present. 
 J Religion. — Every person in this country enjoys 
 the fullest privilege of following that manner of worship, 
 which he deems most acceptable to the Deity} 
 
 The population of the United Slates at present is six 
 millions,! of this number five millions two hundred and 
 fifty thousand are employed in cultivating the Soil.-— 
 The remaining seven hundred fifty thousand persons 
 reside in cities or pursue avocations other than agricul- 
 tural. Of this last number five hundred thousand are 
 mechanics or artificers. The remaining two hundred 
 and fifty thousand persons are supported by trade, by 
 exercise of learned professions, by independent fortunes^ 
 and avocations neither agricultural or mechanical. 
 
 * Those highly distinguished offices are at present filled by Thomas Jefv 
 
 ferson and George Clinton. 
 
 f Upwards of half a million of whom are slaves, or black people ! ! — ■ 
 But, to the honour of the two countries, and the great satisfaction of all the 
 friends of humanity, the nefarious traffic in human flesh, is now wisely abol- 
 ished by the American and British governments ; the act of abolition to be 
 sarriediuta eflect after a certain period of time, which is now nearly elapsed. 
 
Abyssinia. 28S 
 
 According to a statement of the Secretary of the trea- 
 sury, the following foreign goods are annually consu- 
 med in the United States, viz. 
 
 Dollars. 
 Rum, - - - - 5,992,000 
 
 Wines, .... 1,859,000 
 
 Salt, - - - - 1,500,000 
 
 Teas, . - . 1,256,000 
 
 Sugar, coffee, and molasses, - 4,900,000 
 
 All other articles, dry goods, &c. Sec. 40,000,000 
 
 Total, 55,507,000 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 ABYSSINIA^ 
 
 The empire of Abyssinia is indifferently called Abys- 
 sinia, Abasi, or Habessinia, from the Arabic Herbesh, 
 which signifies a mixture, the country being peopled 
 by various nations ; but the inhabitants themselves call 
 it Itjopia, or Ethiopia. It has also been known, though 
 absurdly, by the name of Prester John's country. It ex- 
 tends from thirty-two degrees to forty -five degrees E, 
 longitude, and from seven degrees twenty minutes to 
 about sixteen degrees N. latitude. It is bounded on 
 the north by the kingdom of Nubia ; on the E. by Aza- 
 mia, and a vast chain of mountains which separate it 
 from the Red Sea ; on the S. it is bounded by Alaba, 
 called by Mr. Bruce., Galla ; and on the W. by parts 
 little known. 
 
 The Abyssinian empire appears to have been from 
 its first foundation entirely despotic ; and, according to 
 their annals, there never was a period of time since its 
 first origin, when the princes of this country did not 
 claim an absolute right over the lives, liberty, and for- 
 tunes of their subjects, as well as an uncontrolable au- 
 
234 History of all Nations-. 
 
 thority in all ecclesiastical affairs ; and it is not knows, 
 that there ever were any written laws to restrain this ex- 
 orbitant power, or secure the liberties of the subject. 
 
 These princes boast their being descended from 
 Mentiehech, the son of Solomon, king of Israel, by the 
 queen of Sheba. According to them this princess 
 reigned twenty-five years after her return from Judea, 
 and was succeeded by this son, from whom descended 
 a series of princes in a direct line down to the year nine 
 hundred and sixty, when the crown passed into another 
 family, but was afterwards restored to the former. 
 Hence the emperor still retains the pompous titles of 
 " the Beloved of God," " Son of the Pillar of Zion," 
 " Kinsman to the race of Judah," " Son of David and 
 Solomon," and " Emperor of the Great and high 
 Ethiopia, its kingdoms and provinces," &.c. They also 
 bear in their arms a lion holding a cross, with this in- 
 scription in the Ethiopic tongue, " the lien of the tribe 
 of Judah is victorious." 
 
 The respect paid to this prince amounts almost to 
 adoration ; those who are admitted to his presence fall 
 prostrate before him, and kiss the earth as they approach 
 his person ; and it is said, that even in his absence, they 
 never hear his name mentioned without bowing very 
 low, and touching the ground with their hand. The 
 other marks of grandeur chiefly consist in the retinue 
 with which he is attended ; for he is not only accompa- 
 nied by his own household and guards, which are very 
 numerous, but by all the grandees and officers of the 
 empire, who strive to outvie each other in the greatness 
 and splendour of their retinue, in the richness of their 
 dress, and the magnificence of their pavilions. 
 
 Since the time that these accounts were written, the 
 empire has been greatly weakened by long and fierce in- 
 testine commotions, and the grandeur of the emperor 
 consequently much diminished ; but Mi% Bruce gives 
 the following instances of his despotic power, and of 
 the servile homage which is paid to him. It is death to 
 Strike, or lift the hand to strike in the king's presence. 
 
Abyssinia. 285 
 
 Travels, IV. 70. Sitting on the king's saddle, or in 
 his seat at Gondar, is high treason. III. 586. In all pla- 
 ces where a governor is invested with supreme power, 
 it is customary to have an arm-chair left empty in the 
 middle of the hall where justice is administered, which 
 represents the sovereign, and to which obeisance is 
 made. IV. 357. 
 
 There is an officer named Kal Hatze who sits always 
 upon the steps, at the side of the lattice window, where 
 there is a hole, covered in the inside with a curtain of 
 green taffeta : behind this curtain the king sits, and 
 through the hole sends, by this officer, what he has to 
 say to the board, who arise, and receive the messenger 
 standing. Travels, IV. 76. 
 
 When the king was marching with his army, the 
 Shum or lord of a district through which he passed 
 and his son were both hanged, because a branch of a 
 tree which reached across a piece of water had taken off 
 the king's cap, and left him bare-headed. IV. 66. 
 
 Although the crown of Abyssinia is hereditary, and 
 must be preserved in the same family ; yet the emperor, 
 if he pleases, may choose any one of his children whom 
 he thinks most worthy to succeed him. This probably 
 gave birth to the severe custom, formerly observed in 
 this empire, of confining all the princes of the blood 
 to the forties?, or rock, called Ambageuxen, which 
 some have described as a severe and disagreeable place 
 of confinement, on the summit of a lofty mountain ; 
 while others represent it as an earthly paradise, in which 
 these princes enjoyed every blessing except liberty, and 
 were educated in a manner suitable to their birth. This 
 custom, according to Lobo, was established in the year 
 1260, and had been abolished some time when he was in 
 the empire. From it the late Dr. Johnson founded his 
 pleasing romance of Rasselas. 
 
 The Abyssinian monarchs, like their ancient proge- 
 nitor Solomon, king of the Jews, allow themselves a 
 plurality of wives ; and not only imitate him in that, but 
 in taking those of different religions, even Mahomedans 
 
286 history of all Nations. 
 
 and Gentiles ; and some have carried this so far, as t« 
 allow their heathen wives to have their own temples and 
 idols; so that on one side might be seen the church of 
 God, and on the other a pagan temple. Others, how- 
 ever, have had so much regard to' their religion, as to 
 cause those Pagan or Mahomedan ladies to be instruct- 
 ed and baptized before they married them. The gene- 
 rality of these princes, however, choose to marry the 
 daughters of noble families among their subjects ; while 
 others pay a greater regard to the natural endowments of 
 the mind, or the beauty of the person, than to their no- 
 ble extraction. 
 
 It was formerly the custom for the emperors never to 
 appear in public, and they were seldom known to trou- 
 ble themselves with the affairs of government, the care 
 of which was committed to two ministers, called bablu- 
 ded, or favourites : but this custom has been long abo- 
 lished, and they shew themselves to their subjects at 
 least three or four times a year, though none is allowed 
 to see them eat, except the pages who feed them, for 
 both they and all the great have their meat cut into small 
 pieces and conveyed to their mouths by young pages. 
 When they give audience to foreign ambassadors, they 
 alwayssit out of sight behind the curtain. 
 
 Notwithstanding the despotic power which prevails in 
 Abyssinia, and no less in Nubia, yet the king of Sen- 
 naar, a country between them, possesses his sovereign- 
 ty, subject to a condition which renders him entirely at 
 the mercy of his nobles ; and yet the first title of nobili- 
 ty in the country is that of slave ; " there is indeed," 
 says Mr. Bruce, " no other. Upon any appearance of 
 your undervaluing a man at Sennaar, he instantly asks 
 you, if you know who he is ? If you do not know he 
 is a slave ? with the same idea of aristocratical impor- 
 tance, as would be expresed in England, upon a like oc- 
 casion, Do you know to whom you are speaking? Do 
 you know that I am a peer ? All titles and dignities are 
 undervalued and precarious, unles they are in the hands 
 
Abyssinia ,287 
 
 of one that is a slave ; slavery in Sennaar is the only true 
 nobility." IV. 459. 
 
 The restriction alluded to above, under which the 
 king of Sennaar reigns, is as follows : when a king 
 ascends the throne, he receives his dignity upon this ex- 
 press condition, that he may be lawfully put to death by 
 his own subjects or slaves, upon a council being held by 
 the great officers, and they decreeing that it is not for 
 the advantage of the state that he should be suffered to 
 reign any longer. There is one officer of his own fami- 
 ly, who alone can be the instrument of shedding his 
 sovereign's and kinsman's blood : this officer is called 
 Sid el Coom, which means, master of the king's house- 
 hold or servants, but he has no vote in deposing the 
 king, nor is any guilt imputed to him, aldiough he 
 should thus officially murder many of his sovereigns. — 
 Achmet Sid el Coom y with whom Mr. Bruce was upon 
 the most intimate terms while he continued at Sennaar 
 resided in the king's (Ismain's) palace : he had put to 
 death the late king, Nasser, and two of his sons, who 
 were well grown, beside a child at its mother's breast, 
 and he was expected every day to be directed to act the 
 same part by Ismain, though at that time there was no 
 malice on the one part or jealousy on the other. — 
 Mr. Bruce believed each of them had an apprehension 
 of what was likely to happen. This royal executioner 
 told our traveller with great coolness, in answer to the 
 question why he murdered Nasser's sons in his father's 
 presence ? that he did not dare to do otherwise from 
 duty to Nasser, whose right it was to see his sons slain 
 in a regular and lawful manner, and this was by cutting 
 the throat with a sword, and not by a more ignominious 
 and painful death, which if it had not been done in his 
 father's sight, the vengeance of their enemies might 
 have suggested and inflicted. He said that Nasser was 
 very little concerned at the spectacle ©f his two sons' 
 death, but very loth when it came to his turn to die., 
 earnestly conjuring Achmet to suffer him to escape ; but 
 finding all entreaties vain, he submitted without resistance. 
 
2.88 History of all Nations. 
 
 Mr. Bruce asked Achmet, if he was not afraid, when he 
 entered into the king's presence, lest he too might take it 
 into his head to shew- him that to die or to be slain was 
 not so slight a matter as he made of it ? He said by no 
 means ; that it was his duty to be with the king the great- 
 est part of the morning, and necessarily once very late 
 in the evening. That the king knew he had no hand in 
 the harm that might be done to him, nor any way advan- 
 ced his death ; but being come to the point that he must 
 die, the rest was only a matter of decency, and it would 
 undoubtedly be the object of his choice rather to be 
 slain by the hands of his own relation in private, than by 
 those of an hired assassin, an Arab, or a Christian slave 
 in public view. Travels, IV. 462. 
 
 Religion of the Abyssinians. — It has already 
 been intimated, that the Abyssinians boast their having 
 received both their kings and the Jewish religion from 
 Solomon. Of this they have an ancient record, whieh 
 gives the following account of this singular event : 
 " That a great and potent queen, named Azeb, or Ma- 
 queda, reigning in Ethiopia, being informed by a mer- 
 chant, named Tamerin, of the great power and wisdom 
 of Solomon, travelled to Jerusalem, attended by a reti- 
 nue of the greatest princes and nobles of Ethiopia, and 
 with immense treasure. There Solomon instructed 
 her in the knowledge of the true God ; and upon her 
 return home, at the end of nine months, she was de- 
 livered of a son, who was called Menilehech, and also 
 David. This son afterwards going to Jerusalem, to 
 see his father Solomon," was magnificently entertained 
 by him, and anointed king of Ethiopia, by Zadoc, 
 the high-priest ; and when he was thoroughly instructed 
 in the law of God, which he was to cause to be observed 
 in his dominions, Solomon assigned several of the first- 
 born of Israel to attend and serve him in Ethiopia, and 
 furnished him with officers and servants belonging to 
 the house of Judah, with a high-priest, levites, and 
 doctors in the law of Moses." 
 
Abyssinia. 289 
 
 There is nothing in this account very improbable ; 
 but the same record adds many circumstances that are 
 evidently false ; as, that the first-born of Israel, at the 
 instigation of Azariah, the son of Zadock, went to Jeru- 
 salem, and fetched the ark out of the temple ; and being 
 assisted by a train of miracles, escaped the pursuit of 
 Solomon, and arrived with it in Ethiopia ; it is not, 
 however, improbable, that the prince of Abyssinia 
 might cause another ark to be made like that formed by 
 Moses ; and that this story might be afterwards invented,, 
 in order to procure it a more general veneration. Such 
 an ark is said to be still kept, but is so closely concealed, 
 that even their monarchs are not admitted to a sight 
 of it. 
 
 The Abyssinians maintain, that they were converted 
 to Christianity by the eunuch or prime minister of their 
 queen Candace, or, as they call her, Handake who, 
 after his conversion by Philip, they say returned into 
 Ethiopia, and gave his queen a full account of all that 
 had passed ; upon which that princess also believed in 
 the gospel. However this may be, Athanasius, pa- 
 triarch of Alexandria, in the year 335, ordained Fru- 
 mentius, bishop of Auxuma, and sent him to preach 
 the gospel in Ethiopia. This he performed with great 
 success; the discipline of the church was then settled 
 eonformably to that of Alexandria ; priests and deac ns 
 were every where ordained ; liturgies, articles, and can- 
 ons were settled and confirmed; and the Abyssinian 
 church was brought to acknowledge herself wholly 
 subject to, and dependent upon that of Alexandria. 
 
 The early travellers to the east, such as Rubruquis, 
 Marco Paulo, and others, gave to the empire of Abys- 
 sinia the name of Prester, or Presbyter John's country, 
 from the great power and authority which was possess- 
 ed by the chief ecclesiastic ; but Lobo accounts for this 
 name being given to Abyssinia, because the country 
 was confounded by the Portuguese with an ancient 
 and famous Christian state called by that name in the 
 Indies, which is now known as the country of the 
 
 2 N 
 
290 History of all A attorn* 
 
 Grand Lama. Voyage to Abyssinia, p. 44. There- 
 port which had been spread in Europe of Christ ianity 
 being professed in this remote and secluded country, indu- 
 ced John II. king of Portugal, when intent upon open- 
 ing a communication with the East- Indies, to at- 
 tempt to gain some knowledge of Abyssinia also. — 
 To effect both these purposes, he sent Pedro de Covil- 
 lam and Alphonsode Payva, about the year 1488, who 
 were both thoroughly versed in the Arabic language, 
 into the East. The two travellers repaired to Cairo, 
 whence they travelled in company with a caravan of 
 Egyptian merchants, and crossed over to Aden, on the 
 Red Sea, where they separated. Payva sailed directly 
 towards Abyssinia, Covillam embarked for the East 
 Indies. The latter completed his travels successfully 
 and safely, but the former was unfortunately murdered, 
 and the country remained entirely unknown to Euro- 
 peans until some missionaries were hardy enough to vi- 
 sit it early in the last century . 
 
 The Abyssinians, however, retain many of the Jewish 
 ceremonies. They circumcise not only the male but 
 the female infants, which last is done by cutting off a 
 small piece of skin from the clitoris. They abstain 
 from blood, things strangled, the flesh of swine, and 
 the other animals prohibited by the Mosaic law. Ac- 
 cording to Mr. Bruce, hares are likewise interdicted for 
 food. They use purifications and washings after certain 
 defilements. They oblige a man, if his brother die 
 without male issue, to marry his widow, and raise up 
 seed to his name ; and they keep the seventh day sab- 
 bath. 
 
 On the other hand, they believe the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, and that Christ shall come again in glory to 
 judge the quick and the dead, when the just shall inherit 
 the kingdom of heaven, and unrepenting sinners be sent 
 into hell. Mr. Bruce relates, that a dwarf belonging to 
 Ras Michael, prime minister of Abyssinia, whose name 
 was Dono, constantly spent his time in reading the 
 scriptures, the acts of the councils, the works of St 
 
Indostan* 291 
 
 John Chrysostom, and other such books as they have 
 among them. — Travels IV. 101. 
 
 The Abyssinian clergy are allowed to marry. The 
 people never enter their churches without pulling off 
 their shoes or sandals. The divine service consists of 
 a set of prayers, psalms, and hymns suitable to the 
 seasons, and for the most part is performed with great 
 decency and devotion, without any of that pomp and ce- 
 remony used in the church of Rome. They have no 
 bells, but call the people to the church by the sound of 
 wooden hammers. They have neither pews, benches, 
 nor hassocks, but continue standing ail the time. In 
 /lone of these edifices, whether sumptuous or mean, 
 are any statues or carved images of any kind, except 
 pictures : they will not suffer any crucifixes, whether 
 •arved or cast in metal, to be seen in them. — Payne. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 INDOSTAN.* 
 
 This once extensive, populous, powerful, and cele- 
 brated empire, although at present entirely subverted, 
 yet constitutes a very interesting subject for oriental 
 history. The court of the prince, who was known in 
 Europe by the title of the " Great Mogul." was splen- 
 did beyond rivalship, even amidst eastern grandeur. 
 There magnificence was displayed to the fullest degree 
 that human pride and human ingenuity, assisted by a 
 profusion of every species of dazzling wealth, employed- 
 under the most propitious climate, to gratify the most 
 luxurious habits, could supply. The city of Delhi, 
 
 * The history of Indostan being-, we presume, but little known to most of 
 our readers, (especially the younger class, for whose benefit this work is 
 principally intended) we have devoted a greater portion rf this publication, 
 to it than to any other country. 
 
292 History of all JSations. 
 
 the residence of the emperor, was of vast extent, and 
 its riches countless ; for hither the contributions, which 
 were drawn from the widely extended provinces of the 
 empire, were continually flowing. 
 
 Various are the names by which the country forming 
 this empire w T as known ; such as India, Mogulstan, In- 
 dostan, Hindostan, and Hindoostan. Its extent and 
 boundaries, when at the height of power, may be laid 
 down from thirty-five degrees to nineteen degrees N. 
 latitude, and from sixty-eight degrees to ninety-two 
 degrees E. longitude. Bounded on the W. by the In- 
 dus, on the E. by the Ganges, northward by Cashmere, 
 and the chain of mountains which stretch along Lahore ; 
 southward by the Decan, or Deccan, and Golconda ; in- 
 cluding a vast extent of country, populous, fertile, 
 highly cultivated, and abounding with manufactures. 
 
 When Alexander undertook his expedition into India, 
 the powerful empire which afterwards arose there was 
 not established, but the country consisted of several 
 independent and extensive monarchies. After the death 
 of Alexander, the conquests which he had made in In- 
 dia continued under the dominion of the Macedonians, 
 being first governed by Pytho and afterwards by Seleu- 
 cus. Soon after the death of the latter, which was 
 about two hundred and fifty years before the Christian 
 asra, Dr. Robinson supposes the Macedonians were 
 compelled to abandon their possessions in India. His- 
 torical Disquisition concerning Ancient India, p. 33. 
 
 Some Greeks, however, still retained the kingdom of 
 Bactria, a; d even extended their conquests very consi- 
 derably. There were six princes who at one time reign- 
 ed in Bactria, some of whom were distinguished by the 
 title of " the Great King ;" a mark of pre-eminence 
 assumed by the monarchs of Persia when inflated by 
 the plenitude of power. At length these potent princes 
 were overwhelmed by a vast body of Tartars, which 
 poured in upon them from the north, and the dominion 
 of the Greeks in India was entirely subverted. 
 
Indostcw. 293 
 
 With their expulsion all knowledge of the internal 
 state of the country was entirely lost, during the vast 
 space of sixteen centuries. It was not until the Portu- 
 guese became acquainted with India, by sailing round 
 the southern point of Africa, and boldly adventuring 
 across the Indian ocean, that any knowledge of the his- 
 tory of India was obtained in Europe ; although the 
 spices, silks, porcelaine, pearls, and diamonds, which it 
 yielded, had been obtained in all ages. Since the com- 
 merce of the East has been transferred successively to 
 the maritime nations possessing the western coasts of 
 Europe, the history of the powerful empires which oc- 
 cupy those regions has been gradually developed. Con- 
 cerning many of these countries, the Romish missiona- 
 ries have g-ven very copious information ; but of the 
 empire we are now to describe, the researches of En- 
 glish gentlemen, who have been long resident in some 
 of its parts, have furnished the most full and satisfactory 
 accounts ; who, amidst commercial pursuits and military 
 occupations, have found leisure to gratify a taste for lite- 
 rature, in a manner the most useful and laudable. Of 
 these the indefatigable and discerning Major Rennell 
 has taken, beyond compare, the most extensive survey 
 of the face of the country, and of its general history : 
 he has, indeed, rendered Englishmen as well acquainted 
 with the empire of Indostan, as with that of Great- 
 Britain. From the general mass of information the fol- 
 lowing sketch has been made. 
 
 The Mahomedan government, which afterwards ex- 
 tended itself to Indostan, arose at first from a very small 
 beginning among the mountains which divide Persia from 
 India. The Afghans, or Patans, a warlike race of men, 
 who had been subjects of the vast empire of Bcehara, 
 revolted under their governor Abstagi, in the fourth 
 century of the Higera, or tenth of the Christian sera, 
 and laid the foundation of the empire of Ghizni or 
 Gazna. 
 
 The Afghans were divided into distinct communi- 
 ties, each of which was governed by a prince, who was 
 
294 History oj all Nations. % 
 
 considered by his subjects as the chief of their blood as 
 well as their sovereign. They obeyed him without re- 
 luctance, as they derived credit to their family by his 
 greatness. They attended him in his wars with the at- 
 tachment which children have to a parent; and his gov- 
 ernment, though severe, partook more of the rigid dis- 
 cipline of a general, than of the caprice of a despot. — 
 Rude, like the face of their country, and fierce and wild 
 as the storms which covered their mountains, they were 
 addicted to incursions and depredations, and delighted 
 in battle and plunder. United firmly to their friends in 
 war, to their enemies faithless and cruel, they placed 
 justice in force, and concealed treachery under the name 
 of address. Dow^s History: Dissertation prefixed to 
 Vol. Ill pag. xi. 
 
 Under a succession of warlike Patan princes, this 
 empire rose to a surprising magnitude. In the begin- 
 ning of the fifth century of the Higera, it extended from 
 Ispahan to Bengal, and from the mouth of the Indus to 
 the banks of the Jaxertes ; which comprehends half of 
 the great continent of Asia. 
 
 The Charisman empire, which arose on the confines 
 of Persia and Great Tartary, circumscribed the kings 
 of the Ghiznian Patans toward the north, and obliged 
 them to transfer the seat of their empire to Lahore, and 
 afterwards to Delhi. Zingis Chan, who subverted the 
 Charisman empire, further reduced the emperor's do- 
 minions, which became entirely confined within the lim- 
 its of Hindoostan. Amir Timur, or Tamerlane, a Tar- 
 tarian emperor, distinguished for extensive and rapid 
 conquests, invaded Hindoostan, A. D. 1397, and com- 
 mitted numberless acts of cruelty. In one day he caused 
 all his prisoners, amounting to one hundred thousand, 
 to be massacred in cold blood ; which execrable deed 
 was only a prelude to the slaughter which ensued upon 
 taking of Delhi. The conqueror, however, contented 
 himself with reducing the emperor to a tributary depen- 
 dence upon him, and evacuated the country. From 
 him the natives gave the country the name oiMogulstan, 
 
Indostati. 295 
 
 and the missionaries have denominated it " the empire 
 of the Great Mogul," the throne having been long held 
 by descendants from Tamerlane, who was a Mogul 
 Tartar. 
 
 In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Baber, a 
 descendant of Tamerlane, possessed himself of the im- 
 perial dignity, and became emperor of Mogul. This 
 prince was the wonder of the age in which he lived ; 
 he ascended the Tartarian throne when only twelve 
 years of age, and, with various turns of fortune, reign- 
 ed thirty-eight years. He was generous and humane, 
 a patron of learned men, and himself a scholar; he wrote 
 his own commentaries in the Mogul language, which 
 are universally admired. In a military capacity he was 
 equalled by very few; he rendered the most daring en- 
 terprizes easy by his undaunted courage and persever- 
 ance, which rose above all difficulties, and made him 
 much more the object of admiration in his adversity, 
 than in the height of his prosperity. Nor did he forget 
 himself in the latter, but always behaved with that mod- 
 eration and equanimity which characterize a great soul. 
 But, notwithstanding a considerable part of his life 
 was spent in the field, he found intervals in which he 
 gratified his passion for wine, women, and all the de- 
 lights of courts. When disposed to give himself up 
 to pleasure, he used to cause a fountain to be filled with 
 wine, upon which was inscribed a verse to this effect. 
 "Jovial days! blooming springs! old wine and young 
 maidens! enjoy freely, O Baber, for life is not twice 
 to be enjoyed." He died A. D. 1530. Humaicoon, 
 the son of this great man, reigned about twelve years, 
 when he was dethroned, and obliged to seek safety by 
 retiring into Fersia. Shere Shaw, an Afghan prince, 
 then ascended the throne in 1542; but Humaicoon re- 
 covered the kingdom of Indostan twelve years after- 
 wards, during which period three more Patan princes 
 had successively reigned. The empire, on the resto- 
 ration of Humaicoon, was again transferred from the 
 Afghans to the Moguls. Mahummet Akbar succeeded 
 
296 History of all Nations. 
 
 his father on the throne, A. D. 1555, when he was only 
 fourteen years of age. He was the sixth in descent 
 from Tamerlane ; contemporary with Shah Abas, king 
 of Persia, surnamed " The Great," with Elizabeth 
 queen of England, and Henry IV. of France; four 
 other such illustrious contemporary sovereigns history 
 perhaps does not exhibit. The reig;. of this prince has 
 been very elaborately written by his vizier Abul Fazil, 
 except the two last years of it, the author having been 
 cut off by ruffians in the year 1603. The encomiums he 
 pays the prince his master, are dictated in the most 
 sublime style of oriental adulation; but neither that, 
 nor the violent death which overtook him, can support 
 a suspicion that he was a gross flatterer instead of a faith- 
 ful historian; for the memory of Akbar has been trans- 
 mitted from age to age with the highest renown. This 
 valuable piece of history has been lately translated into 
 English by Mr. Gladwin. 
 
 In the reign of Akbar, the empire of Indostan was 
 divided into twelve Soubahs, or vice-royalties. The 
 internal regulation of the empire was much attended to 
 by this prince. Inquiries were set on foot, by which 
 the revenues, population, produce, religion, arts, and 
 commerce of each district were ascertained, as well as 
 its extent and relative position. Many of these inter- 
 esting and useful particulars were, by Abul Fazil, col- 
 lected into a book, called, " the Ayin Akbaree, or, In- 
 stitutes of Akbar, which to this day forms an authentic 
 register of these matters. "Akbar," says Major 
 Rennell, "began by dividing Indostan proper into 
 eleven Soubahs or provinces, some of which were in ex- 
 tent equal to large European kingdoms. The soubahs 
 were again divided into circars, and these subdivided 
 into purgunnahs ; resembling provinces, counties, and 
 hundreds, as few circars are of less extent than the 
 largest English counties. The names of the eleven 
 soubahs were Lahore, Moultan (including Sindy) Agi- 
 mere, Delhi, Agra, Oude, Allahabad, Bahar, Bengal, 
 Malioa, andGuzerat: a 12th, viz. Cubal, was formed 
 
Indostan. Wl 
 
 ©ut of the countries contiguous to the western sources 
 of the Indus, and included Candahar and Ghizni; three 
 additional ones were erected after the conquests in the 
 Deccan, viz. Berah, Candeish, and Amednagur." — 
 Memoir of a Map, Introd. ex. It is said that this 
 prince, who possessed strong natural endowments, and 
 a great thirst for knowledge, was extremely desirous of 
 being informed concerning the various religions which 
 prevailed in the world : a Portuguese missionary in- 
 structed him in the religion of the church of Rome, 
 called Christianity ; an account of all the other systems 
 of religion which prevailed in the world was easily ob- 
 tained, except that of his own subjects, the Hindoos, 
 who, as they admit no proselytes, scrupulously conceal 
 the articles of their faith, and even the language of their 
 scriptures. By the help of his minister Abul Fazel, a 
 youth was imposed upon a Brahmin, as an orphan of that 
 tribe, and was sent to the seminary of learning at Be- 
 nares to be instructed in the sacred language and myste- 
 ries of the Hindoos' religion, for the purpose of impart- 
 ing them, when acquired, to the emperor ; but the 
 youth, when qualified for the task assigned him, was so 
 struck with horror at the intended profanation, that he 
 discovered the whole design to his foster father, and the 
 emperor remained ignorant of this mysterious faith to 
 the day of his death. He reigned fifty-one years, (dying 
 A. D. 1606) in which time the wealth and consequence 
 of his kingdom rose to an height before unknown.— 
 Upon the death of Akbar, his son Selim ascended the 
 throne in Agra, who assumed the title of Jahangire ; he 
 reigned twenty-two years, and dying, Shah Jehan obtain- 
 ed the musnud, who, after a reign of thirty-two years, 
 was deposed by his third son the famous Aurengzebe, 
 cr Aurungzebe, who murdered or banished his two 
 brothers, and took the name of Allumguire in 1659. 
 . To Aurungzebe, or Allumguire, business was^ an 
 amusement ; he added to an extensive knowledge of 
 the affairs of the empire, sn unremitting application. 
 He punished judges severely for corruption and par- 
 
 2 o 
 
298 History of all Nations, 
 
 tiality. His penetrating eye followed oppression to its 
 most secret retreats, and his stern justice established 
 tranquility, and secured property all over his extensive 
 dominions. 
 
 During the first nineteen years of his reign a profound 
 peace prevailed throughout his extensive empire, which 
 at length became interrupted by the attempts of the em- 
 peror to subdue the Deccan, an extensive country in 
 the middle of the Indian peninsula, which, after a severe 
 conflict, he nearly effected ; but this acquisition proved 
 the downfal of the empire to his successors. The 
 enemy which alone was capable of opposing him in 
 the field was Sevagee, who had acquired an extensive 
 territory in those parts> and became the founder of the 
 Mahratta power. He dying in 1680, his son Sambajee, 
 who succeeded him, was betrayed into the hands of 
 Aurungzebe, who put him to death. 
 
 That part of his conduct which reflected the greatest 
 disgrace from his reign, was the severe persecution 
 ■which he carried on against the Hindoos. The Rajpoot 
 tribes in Agimere, irritated by the insults offered to their 
 religion, rose in arms, and the emperor in person led an 
 army against them ; in which expedition he was inclosed 
 among the mountains, and narrowly escaped being made 
 prisoner, with all his troops : his empress was captured, 
 but not detained. Notwithstanding, after this, in 1681, 
 he took and destroyed Chitore, the famous capital of the 
 Rana ; he likewise destroyed all the objects of Hindoo 
 worship found there ; yet the spirits of these intrepid, 
 people remained invincible, and Aurungzebe found it 
 necessary to conclude a peace. There is a letter ex- 
 tant, written by Jeswont Sing, Rajah of Joudipoor, to 
 the emperor, which has been translated by sir Charles 
 Boughton Rouse, and is inserted in Mr. Orme's Histo- 
 rical Fragments of the Mogul Empire, note 49 ; it ex- 
 postulates with the emperor on the unjust measures he 
 was pursuing with respect to the Hindoos. " This let- 
 ter," says Major Rennell, " breathes the most perfect 
 spirit of philanthropy, and of toleration in matters of 
 
Indostan. 299 
 
 religion, together with the most determined resolution 
 to oppose the meditated attack on the civil and religious 
 rights of the Hindoos." Memoir of Map, Introduct. 
 p. Ixiu J\ote, 
 
 This renowned emperor died 1707, in the ninetieth 
 year of his age, at Amednagur, in the Deccan. 
 
 " Under his reign," says major Rennell, " the em- 
 pire attained its full measure of extent. His authority 
 reached from the tenth to the thirty-fifth degree of lati- 
 tude ; and nearly as much in longitude. His revenue 
 exceeded thirty -two millions of pounds sterling in a 
 country where the products of the earth are about four 
 times as cheap as in England. But so weighty a scep- 
 tre could only be wielded by a hand like Aurungzebe's ; 
 and we accordingly find, that in a course of fifty years 
 after his death, a succession of weak princes and wicked 
 ministers reduced this astonishing empire to nothing." 
 
 The following letter which Aurengzebe (or, accord- 
 ing to Rennell, Aurungzebe) wrote to his second son, 
 Azim, (called by major Rennell, Azem) may serve as a 
 striking and salutary lesson to ambitious prinpes. It is 
 preserved in the Memoirs of Eradut Khan, a noble- 
 man in the court of Aurungzebe, who wrote in the 
 Persian language. A translation of these memoirs, by 
 captain Scott, was published in 1786, and which is now 
 perfixed to his History of the Deccan from Ferishta's 
 original, in 2 vols. 4to. 
 
 To Shaw Azim Shair. 
 
 " Health to thee; my heart is near thee; old age has 
 arrived; weakness subdues me; and strength has for- 
 saken all my members. I came a stranger into this 
 world, and a stranger I depart. I know nothing of 
 myself, what I am, and for what I am destined. The 
 instant I passed in power has left me only sorrow behind 
 it. I have not been the guardian and protector of the 
 empire : my valuable time has been passed vainly. I 
 had a patron in my own dwelling (conscience) but his 
 
300 History of all Nations. 
 
 glorious light was unseen by my dim sight. Life is 
 not lasting, there, is no vestige of departed breath, and 
 all hopes of futurity are lost. The fever has left me, 
 but nothing of me remains but skin and bone. My 
 son (Kaun Bulsh) though gone toward Bejapore, is still 
 near; and thou, my son, art still nearer. The worthy, 
 the esteemed Shaw Aulum, is far distant, and my 
 grandson Aziem Ooshaun, by the orders of God, is 
 arrived near lndostan. The camp and followers help- 
 less and alarmed, are, like myself, full of affliction ; 
 restless as the quicksilver; separated from their lord, 
 they know not whether they have a master or not. 
 
 I brought nothing into this world, and, except the 
 infirmities of man, carry nothing out. I have a dread 
 of my salvation, and with what torments I ma)^ be pun- 
 ished. Though I have strong reliance on the mercies 
 and bounty of God, yet, regarding my actions, fear 
 will not quit me ; but when I am gone, reflection will 
 not remain. Come then what may ; I have launched 
 my vessel to the waves. Though Providence will pro- 
 tect the camp, yet, regarding appearances, the endea. 
 vours of my sons are indispensably incumbent. Give 
 my last prayers to my grandson (Bedur Bakht) whom I 
 cannot see. But the desire affects me. The Begum 
 (his daughter) appears afflicted; but God is the only 
 judge of h arts. The foolish thoughts of women pro- 
 duce nothing but disappointment. Farewell ! Farewell ! 
 Farewell!" 
 
 To the prince Kaun Bulsh, his third son (mentioned 
 in the foregoing) he wrote at the same time, and much 
 in the same strain. In it he makes use of this strong 
 expression: " The fever which troubled me for twelve 
 days has left me. Wherever I look I see nothing but 
 the Divinity." 
 
 The accounts which are given by Colonel Dow, to- 
 gether with other writers, and those by Major Rennell, 
 concerning the affairs of the empire during the life-time 
 
Indostan* 301 
 
 of Aurengzebe's sons, differ in a variety of particulars i 
 the latter writer is chiefly followed here. 
 
 His sons were, Mauzum, who became emperor, un- 
 der the title of Bahader Shah, (or Shaw) Azim, Kaun 
 Bulsh, and Acbar : the latter had engaged in a rebellion 
 during his father's reign, and fled to Persia, which ac- 
 counts for his not being mentioned in the emperor's 
 farewell letter. The contest for power, when Aureng- 
 zebe resigned his breath, first arose between Bahader 
 Shah and his next brother Azim. The armies which 
 they commanded, for the purpose of deciding this 
 mighty contest, are said to have consisted of about 
 300,000 men each (Rennell, Introd. lxiv.) a battle was 
 fought near Agra, in which Azim was slain. Bahader 
 Shah is described, by some writers, as a prince of con- 
 siderable ability, and great attention to business ; but the 
 distracted state of public affairs, and the short interval 
 which elapsed between the death of Azim and the ap- 
 pearance of his next brother, Kaun Bulsh, in arms to 
 dispute with him the empire, caused his government to 
 be imbecile and inefficient, although the death of this 
 competitor suppressed that commotion. He died in 
 1712, as some writers assert, of discontent and grief, 
 chiefly brought on by the restless ambition of his own 
 sons. He left four, each of whom, on their father's 
 death, seized upon what he could most readily acquire. 
 Aziem Ooshaun, the second, obtained the treasures, 
 but he was presently slain : the youngest Jehaun Shah, 
 fell in the next battle. The contest then lay between 
 Jehaunder Shah, the eldest, and Bedur Bakht, the third, 
 which was decided in favor of the former through the 
 intrigues of Zoolfecar Khan, an omrah of vast influence. 
 No sooner were Jehaunder's apprehensions of rivalship 
 buried in his brother's grave, than, agreeable to the gen- 
 eral practice of these voluptuous Asiatics, he abandon- 
 ed himself wholly to the pleasures of the seraglio ; but 
 a revolution, brought about by Houssein Ali Khan, and 
 Abdoolla Khan, brothers, and omrahs of great power, 
 placed Feroksere, or Furrukhsir, son of the deceased 
 
302 History of all ftatiom. 
 
 Aziem Ooshaun on the musnud. This event toot 
 place nine months after the elevation of Jehaunder, ac- 
 cording to Rennell ; others say eighteen months. 
 
 Furrukhsir was now declared emperor; but whilst 
 he was invested with the external appendages of rule, 
 the omrahs, who were the means of his advancement, 
 reserved to themselves every essential act of power. 
 The emperor, dissatisfied at being made the mere stalk- 
 ing-horse of state, meditated revenge ; which, accord- 
 ing to the pusillanimous malignity which stamps the 
 genius of this people, is among them always hidden and 
 perfidious. The nobles were apprised of his intentions, 
 and by superior address counteracted his designs, and 
 caused him to be strangled ; at the same time raising 
 Raffael el Dirjaat, or Ruffieh-ul-Dirjat (a prince seven- 
 teen years old, a grandson of Bahader Shah) to the 
 throne ; but finding that they had mistaken the genius 
 of this youth, they took him off by poison, and advan- 
 ced his elder brother Raffael el Dowlat, or Ruffieh-ul- 
 Dowlat, to the same dignity. All these transactions 
 happened in the course of the year 1717. 
 
 It was in the reign of Feroksere that the English 
 East-India company obtained the famous firman, or 
 grant, by which their goods of export and import were 
 exempted from duties or customs; and this was re- 
 garded as the company's commercial charter in India, 
 while they stood in need of protection from the princes 
 of the country. — Rennell, p. Ixvi. 
 
 The exclusive power assumed by these lords in con- 
 sequence of their creation and destruction of princes, 
 became intolerable to such great families as w r ere not in- 
 cluded in their junto : these united, and in order to co- 
 lour over their proceedings, undertook to release Ni- 
 cosir, a prince of the blood-royal, from a forty years 
 imprisonment in the castle of Agra, and to make him 
 king ; but this attempt terminated in their defeat ; and 
 the unhappy prince, who was drawn in by the ambition 
 of others to bear a part in the insurrection, was deprived 
 of sight, and delivered over to his former confinement. 
 
Indostaii. 303 
 
 He soon after died a natural death at Delhi, 1719. The 
 same great omrahs maintaining their influence, caused 
 Mahommed Shah, another grandson of Bahader Shah, 
 to be proclaimed emperor ; who, in a short time, by 
 an adroit exercise of his power, effected the destruction 
 of the principal family whose influence had adanv- 
 ced himself and so many of his predecessors to the 
 Musnud. The two brothers, who had been the princi- 
 pals in bringing about these successions, were defeated 
 and slain, and the emperor found himself actually a so- 
 vereign. Too weak to withstand the seductions of un- 
 bounded power, he gave himself up to the most crimi- 
 nal excesses ; grew quite regardless of the welfare of 
 his kingdom ; and permitted the most destructive enor- 
 mities to be practised with impunity. The distracted 
 state of the kingdom induced Nadir Shah, at the instiga- 
 tion of Nizam-al-Muluck, viceroy of the Deccan, who 
 was then ninety-four years of age, to invade it in 1738. 
 The Nizam died in 1748, at the great age of one hun- 
 dred and four years. 
 
 The cruelties committed by this invader, in the city 
 of Delhi and its environs, cannot fail to excite horror in 
 the most insensible breast. The slightest tumult or 
 commotion among the inhabitants, when starving for 
 want of provisions, produced orders for a promiscuous 
 carnage. Mr. Dow relates, that in one day, in conse- 
 quence of an officer being killed by the side of Nadir 
 Shah by a musket-shot, one hundred thousand, without 
 distinction of age, sex, or condition, were laid dead in 
 their blood. " Such were the panic-terror and confusion 
 of these poor wretches, (continues he) that instead of 
 bravely opposing death, the men threw down their arms, 
 and with their wives and children submitted themselves 
 like sheep to the slaughter. One Persian soldier often 
 butchered a whole family, without meeting with any re- 
 sistance. 
 
 The Hindoos, according to their barbarous custom, 
 shut up their wives and children, and set fire to their 
 apartments, and then threw themselves into the flames ;_ 
 
304 History of all Nations* 
 
 " death," continues the same author, " was seen in ev- 
 ery horrid shape ; and at last seemed rather to be sought 
 after than avoided." This massacre was succeeded by 
 a general plunder of the city ; the public treasury and 
 regalia being first secured. The throne of the emperor, 
 known throughout Indostan by the name of " Tukhte- 
 Taoos," or " the peacock throne," which was valuer at 
 ten crores of rupees, or about twelve millions and a half 
 sterling, together with the other regalia, treasures, and 
 valuables, amounting to no less than from seventy to 
 eighty millions sterling, were all transferred to the con- 
 queror. Great cruelties were exercised in extorting a 
 discovery of concealed wealth. The damage done to 
 the capital and the surviving inhabitants, on this occa- 
 sion, was prodigious. 
 
 Ruin and desolation being spread over the city, the 
 conqueror thought this a suitable season for celebrating 
 the nuptials of his son Mirza Nasir Alii with the daugh- 
 ter of Ezidan Busth, grandson of the famous Aureng- 
 zebe ; during which transaction the^gates of the city were 
 kept shut. Famine began to rage every day more and 
 more, but the Shah was deaf to the miseries of mankind. 
 The public spirit of Tucki, a famous actor, deserves 
 to be recorded upon this occasion. He exhibited a play 
 before Nadir Shah, with which that monarch w r as so 
 well pleased, that he commanded Tucki to ask what he 
 wished should be done for him ; Tucki fell on his face 
 and said, " O king, command the gates of this city to 
 be opened, that the poor may not perish." His request 
 was granted,. and half the city poured into the country, 
 and was plentifully supplied, in a few days, with provis- 
 ions. 
 
 The king of Persia having obtained all the money 
 which could be procured in Delhi, after reinstating Ma- 
 hommed Shah in the empire with great solemnity and 
 pomp, returned into his own country. A general de- 
 fection of the provinces soon after ensued ; none were 
 willing to yield obedience to a prince deprived of the 
 power to enforce it. The provinces to the north-west of 
 
Indostan. 305 
 
 the Indus had been ceded to Nadir Shah, who being as- 
 sassinated in 1747, Achmet Abdalla, his treasurer, a 
 man of great intrepidity, who, like most other Asiatic 
 chieftains, knew no restraints from the dictates of con- 
 science, when occasions for grasping at power, however 
 dishonorable, presented themselves, in the general con- 
 fusion occasioned by the tyrant's death, found means to 
 carry off three hundred camels loaded with wealth, 
 enabled him to assume a sovereignty, and he actually 
 became king of Candahar ; after which he put himself 
 at the head of an army, and marched against Delhi, ha- 
 ving fifty thousand horse at his command. Thus was 
 the wealth drawn from Delhi made the means of con- 
 tinuing those miseries of war which it had at first 
 brought upon them. The affrighted Delhians were 
 struck with an universal panic. Ahmed Shah, the 
 priuce royal, Kimmer ul Diel, the vizier, with ether 
 leading men, in this extremity, took the field with eighty- 
 thousand horse, to oppose the invader. The war was 
 carried on with various success, and before its termina- 
 tion, Mahommed Shah deceased, A. D. 1747, in the 
 same year as his cruel conqueror, Nadir Shah. Ahmed 
 Shah, the son of Mahommed, then mounted the impe- 
 rial throne at Delhi. The empire grew every day more 
 into decay. The Mahrattas, a warlike nation, possess- 
 ing the western peninsula of India, had, before the inva- 
 sion of Nadir Shah, exacted a chout, or tribute, from 
 the empire, arising out of the revenues of the Bengal 
 province, which being withheld, in consequence of the 
 enfeebled state of the empire, they became clamorous. 
 The empire began to totter to its foundation ; every petty 
 chief, by counterfeiting grants from Delhi, laid claim to 
 jaghiers and to districts. The country was rent and 
 defaced by civil wars, and groaned under every spe* 
 cies of domestic confusion.— -Villainy was practised in 
 every form ; all law and religion were trodden under 
 foot; the bands of private friendship and connections, 
 as well as of society and government, were broken; 
 and every individual, as if among a forest of wild beasts, 
 
 2 p 
 
306 History of all Nations. 
 
 could rely upon nothing but the strength of his own 
 arm. 
 
 Ahmed Shah reigned only seven years, being depo- 
 sed, in 1753, by Gazi, an omrah of great capacity and 
 power; who set Allumguire, a lineal descendant from 
 Aurengzebe, as a nominal emperor, upon the throne, 
 whom for that purpose he had released from confine- 
 ment. The emperor finding himself destitute of the 
 authority properly annexed to his dignity, determined 
 at any rate to destroy the influence of Gazi ; for which 
 purpose he invited Abdalla to support him on the 
 throne ; which produced such consequences as the call- 
 ing in a foreign hostile power to adjust dissensions has 
 ever done. The Persian, after seizing every thing va- 
 luable which he could procure, retired, and left Allum- 
 guire to weep over his exhausted treasures. At length, 
 Gazi seeing no means of maintaining his authority whilst 
 the king lived, by a stratagem caused him to be assassi- 
 nated, 1760. 
 
 The factions among the great, which rose on the death 
 of the emperor, left the country exposed to a fresh inva- 
 sion from Abdalla : this was the sixth time he had en- 
 tered it. He once more laid the city of Delhi under 
 heavy contributions, and enforced the collection with 
 such rigour and cruelty, that the unfortunate inhabi- 
 tants, driven to despair, took up arms. The Persian, 
 on this, ordered a general massacre, which, without in- 
 termission, lasted for seven days. A great part of the 
 buildings were at the same time reduced to ashes, and 
 many thousands, who had escaped the sword, suffered a 
 lingering death by famine, sitting upon the smoaking 
 ruins of their own houses. Thus the imperial city of 
 Delhi, which in the days of its glory extended itself 
 seventeen crores, or coss, or about thirty-four miles 
 in length, and was said to contain two millions of peo- 
 ple, became almost an heap of rubbish. Abdalla now, 
 considering himself arbiter of the fate of Indostan., 
 marched against the Mahrattas, who alone obstructed 
 his views. These had created Jewan Bucht, then 
 
Indostan. 307 
 
 thirteen years of age, grandson of Allumguire, and son 
 of Shah Aelum, emperor. Abdalla defeated these peo- 
 ple in a decisve battle, in which the Mahomedan force 
 is said to have amounted to 150,000 men, and the army 
 of the Mahrattas to 200,000 : the records of Indostan 
 do not take notice of any action so obstinate and bloody 
 as this. The conquerer then confirmed the young 
 Jewan Bucht on the throne, now circumscribed in au- 
 thority to the provinces of Delhi. He previously invit- 
 ed the father of this youth to Delhi, promising to seat 
 him on the throne of his ancestors ; but Shah Allum, 
 who was then in Bahar, did not choose to put himself 
 in the power of this maker of emperors. After the de- 
 parture of Abdalla, Shah Allum made several unsuc- 
 cessful attempts to engage the English in his interests. 
 At length, says Mr. Bolt, after experiencing various 
 calamities, the English company condescended to create 
 him their Great Mogul. Dow's History of Indostan. 
 HolweWs Interesting Events, part 1. Bolt's Consider- 
 ations. 
 
 Recent accounts from India have made us acquainted 
 with the melancholy end of this unfortunate emperor. — 
 The Rohilla chief, Golam Cawdir, having taken pos- 
 session of Delhi in the year 1789, put out the eyes of 
 Shah Allum, who soon after suffered an excruciating 
 death. Rennell, 365. 
 
 Having spoken of the extent and wealth of Delhi, cu- 
 riosity will certainly be gratified by giving some general 
 description of that renowned city. 
 
 Delhi, the capital of the province of the same name, is 
 situated in 79 degrees E. longitude from London and in 
 28 degrees N .latitude, and stands on the river Jemma, 
 which divides it into two parts, that last built was erected by 
 Shah Jehan, and from the founder was called Jehanabad ; 
 but the Europeans give to both the common name of Delhi . 
 In the part built by that emperor all the houses enclosed spa- 
 cious courts, and in the inner part of these buildings 
 the people lodged, to prevent any from approaching the 
 place appointed for their women. Most of the great 
 
308 History of all Nations. 
 
 men had houses without the city, on account of the con- 
 veniency of the waters. 
 
 The entrance into the city was by a long street, on 
 each side of which were regular arches, under which 
 the merchants had their shops. This street led to the 
 palace, which was above a mile and a half in circumfe- 
 rence. The wall was built of hewn stone, with battle- 
 ments, and at every tenth battlement was a tower. 
 
 The extensive stables which were attached to this pa- 
 lace, whilst the splendour of the Mogul was at its height, 
 were always filled with the finest horses, in which the 
 monarch took great delight ; these were brought from 
 Arabia, Persia, and Tartary, at a great expence. Before 
 every stable-door hung a kind of mat made of reeds, 
 and bound together with silk, twisted in the form of 
 flowers. These were intended to prevent the flies from 
 entering ; but they were not satisfied with this precau- 
 tion ; every horse having two grooms, who relieved 
 one another, and fanned the animal continually. All 
 the day they had carpets over them, and at night they 
 lay upon a litter made of their own dung, dried in the 
 sun and well pounded. 
 
 In modern times no instance occurs of devastation 
 brought on a magnificent city equal to that which over- 
 whelmed Delhi ; and perhaps in wealth it was superior 
 to the boasted cities of antiquity, whose ancient grand- 
 eur is yet to be traced in their stupendous ruins. Du- 
 ring the latter part of the last century, it is reported to 
 have contained two millions of inhabitants. Nadir Shah 
 is supposed to have plundered it of sixty-two millions 
 sterling : and even after that, ample gleanings accrued 
 to Abdalla. 
 
 The Hindoo or Gentoo History.] "There is no 
 known history of Hindoostan," says major . Rennell, 
 " (that rests on the foundation of Hindoo materials or 
 records) extant, before the period of the Mahomedan 
 conquests : for either the Hindoos kept no regular histo- 
 ries, or they were alldestroyed, or secluded from com- 
 mon eyes by the Pundits. We may judge of their tra- 
 
Indostan. 309 
 
 ditions in general by that existing concerning Alexan- 
 der's expedition: which is, that he fought a great battle 
 with the emperor of Hindoostan, near Delhi ; and though 
 victorious, retired to Persia across the northern moun- 
 tains. So that the remarkable circumstance of his sail- 
 ing down the Indus, in which he employed many 
 months, is sunk altogether : and yet perhaps few events 
 of ancient times, rest on better foundations than this part 
 of the history of Alexander. It is chiefly to Persian 
 pens that we are indebted for that portion ot Indian his- 
 tory which we possess." Memoir of a Map, third 
 edition, Introd. p. xl. 
 
 The empire of the Hindoos or Gentoos over all India, 
 as tradition maintains, came down from the darkest and 
 most remote antiquity to the one hundred and seventieth 
 year before the Christian aera, when it was dissolved by 
 civil discord and war. Bengal, like many other provin- 
 ces, started up into an independent kingdom, and was 
 governed by successive dynasties of rajahs, who chiefly- 
 resided at the now-deserted capital of Ghor. Under 
 these princes it continued a powerful and opulent king- 
 dom to the beginning of the thirteenth century, when 
 it was first invaded by the Mahomedans, under a prince 
 of the race of Chillagi, who possessed the countries 
 near the source of the Oxus (the modern Jihon.) — 
 The name of this Tartar invader was Easuldien. 
 But he was soon after reduced to subjection by Al- 
 tamsh, the Patan emperor of Delhi, who formed Ben- 
 gal into a province, which was governed by a lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 Bengal, during the dominion of the Patan s in In- 
 dia, was frequently subject to revolution and change. 
 Akbar, the great, by the expulsion of Daood, the 
 last king ; of Bengal of the Patan race, annexed it in 
 the year 1574 to h s empire. 
 
 It then became governed by a viceroy, known by the 
 names of Nabob, Subah, and Nazim. This officer 
 held his dignity only during pleasure. 
 
3 10 History of all Nations. 
 
 Dreadful have been the oppressions practised on the 
 defenceless natives of Indostan : enormous were the 
 depredations on the wealthy, and severe the sufferings 
 of the poor ; to the latter, destructive monopolies, and 
 artificial scarcities, caused a want of those very few ne- 
 cessaries which the most abstemious habits of life requir- 
 ed. The British legislature was impelled, by every 
 principle of humanity and justice, as well as of political 
 wisdom and sound policy, to correct such a flagrant abuse 
 of power ; for which purpose many salutary laws have 
 been passed, and the most effectual measures have been 
 taken, with a view to check the rapacity of individuals, 
 and to establish a mild and equitable government in the 
 country ; in consequence of which, the accounts brought 
 for some time past, bear testimony to the good effects 
 already produced, and to the tranquility, harmony, and 
 prosperity which prevail. 
 
 When France thought fit to interfere in the contention 
 between Great-Britain and her American colonies, Pon- 
 dicherry first fell a sacrifice to this intriguing spirit; 
 but a formidable enemy arising to the English, in the 
 person of Heider Alii, a wasteful, destructive, and in- 
 glorious war was maintained on the peninsula of India. 
 The British fleet was no longer commanded by a Po- 
 cock, and admiral sir Hyde Parker, who was sent out 
 to restore the tarnished lustre of the nation in those 
 seas, was most unhappily lost on his passage thither,' 
 Pondicherry once more reverted to France at the peace 
 of 1783, but its fortifications had been previously rased, 
 and its consequence lost. 
 
 Possessions of the English in Iwdia.— Bengal 
 is well known by giving its name to the greatest gulf in 
 Asia, which separates the two peninsulas of the Indies. 
 This kingdom, which is situated at the N. W. extre- 
 mity of the gulf, extends six hundred miles from E. to 
 W. and three hundred from N. to S. It consists of one 
 vast plain, of the most fertile soil in the world, which, 
 in common with other parts of Indostan, renders two, 
 and in some parts three crops a year. Its chief produce 
 
Indostan. 311 
 
 Is sugar, silk, fruits, pepper, opium, rice, salt-petre, 
 gum-lack, and civet. It is usually compared to Egypt 
 for its fertility., the river Ganges here dividing itself into 
 several branches, and annually overflowing the country 
 as the Nile does Egypt. 
 
 The British nation possesses, in full sovereignty, the 
 whole soubah of Bengal, and the greatest part of Bahar ; 
 but in that province there are several pergunnahs on the 
 S. W. which are now in possession of the Mahrattas : 
 in Orissa they possess only the districts of Midnapour ; 
 the rest being entirely in the hands of the Mahrattas, or 
 their tributaries. The British possessions in these three 
 provinces contain about 150,000 square British miles of 
 land, to which, if we add the district of Benares, the 
 whole will be 162,000 miles, which is 30,000 more than 
 are contained in Great-Britain and Ireland. The native 
 inhabitants are estimated at eleven millions. The reve- 
 nue, including that of Benares, (which, since the depo- 
 sition of Cheit Sing, in 1783, has been fixed at four 
 millions of sicca rupees, or 380,000 pounds sterling) 
 major Rennell states to have been, in the year 1786, 
 about 278 lacks of sicca rupees, valued at 2s. l~d. 
 which may be reckoned to 3,790,000 pounds sterling. 
 This includes customs, mint, &c. clear of charges, 
 120,000 pounds ; salt revenue 430,000 pounds ; and 
 opium 60,000 pounds. The subsidy from the nabob 
 of Oude is a farther amount of 420,000 pounds, which 
 increases the whole to 4,210,000 pounds. The 
 various charges arising from collecting the revenue, ci- 
 vil and military establishments, marine, and fortifica- 
 tions, amount to 2,540,000 pounds. So that the net 
 revenue arising from these provinces amounts to 
 1,670,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 Government of the Mogul.] The emperor was 
 absolute and sole arbiter of every man's fate, and under 
 the control of no law. All the lands in India were con- 
 sidered as the property of the king, except some dis- 
 tricts which were the hereditary possession of certain 
 Hindoo princes. The title of Great Mogul appears to 
 
312 History of all Natio?isX 
 
 have been adopted upon no other authority than that of 
 the French missionaries, who in the first publi- 
 cation of their travels to the east, have been pleased to 
 stile him the Grand Mogul. No appellation or title giv- 
 en this monarch in the empire serves to confirm this 
 description of him, where he is called simply Shah, or 
 Padshah; in Persian meaning king. Bolt's Considera- 
 tions, page 22. 
 
 According to the opinion of the Indians, the right of 
 succession is vested in the eldest son ; but the last will of 
 the Shah very often counteracted this claim of primo- 
 geniture. All children born in the haram were alike 
 legitimate, whether the issue of wives or concubines. 
 
 The vizier was generally first minister of state. All 
 edicts and public deeds were used to pass under his seal, 
 after the royal signet was affixed to them. He super- 
 intended the royal exchequer, and in that capacity kept 
 accounts with the dewans or receivers- general of the pro- 
 vinces, in every diing respecting the finances. 
 
 A Vakiel Mutuluck was an officer elected only in 
 times of exigency ; and during his continuance the Shah 
 delegated to him his whole power, reserving only to 
 himself the imperial title and ensigns of royalty. 
 
 The Mogul system of government admitted of no 
 hereditary honours. The ranks and degrees of nobility 
 were for the most part official, excepting those of the 
 military kind. The nobles, or omrahs, consisted of 
 three orders : the Emirs, who were the first officers of 
 state, and the viceroys of provinces ; the Chans, who 
 held high posts in the army ; and the Bahadurs, who 
 may in some measure be compared to our knights. — 
 The number of which these three orders consisted was 
 arbitrary, and each of them had peculiar privileges in 
 the empire. 
 
 No princes in the world patronized men of letters 
 with more generosity and respect than the Mahomedan 
 emperors of Indostan. A genius for literature was not 
 only the means to acquire a degree of wealth which must 
 astonish Europeans, but an infallible road for rising to 
 
Indostan. 313 
 
 the first offices in the state. The character of the learned 
 was at the same time so sacred, that tyrants, who made 
 a pastime of embruing their hands in the blood of their 
 other subjects, not only abstained from offering violence 
 to men of genius, but stood in fear of their pens. And, 
 however amazing it may seem in absolute governments, 
 it is certain, that the historians of that division of the 
 world have written with more freedom, concerning per- 
 sons and things, than writers have dared to do in the 
 west. Dow y s Indostan, 
 
 The great officers of state, by a kind of prescription, 
 formed a council, similar to the British cabinet. The em- 
 peror asked their advice upon affairs of moment; he heard 
 their sentiments ; but nothing was decided by vote. — < 
 They were his advisers, but they had no controul on his 
 power. He frequentlycalled to this council men ininferior 
 departments ; and when the deliberation concerned any 
 particular province, the nobles best acquainted with that 
 part of the empire were admitted into the cabinet. The 
 offences of the first rank of nobility came under the 
 cognizance of this council, as well as other matters of 
 state. They were a kind of grand jury, who found the 
 matters of fact, and the sovereign pronounced the sen- 
 tence. He might, by his despotic power, issue out a 
 warrant of death without their advice ; but the known 
 opinions of mankind on that subject bound him like a 
 law. 
 
 When the empire was in its vigorous state, as often 
 as the king took the field, the provincial nabobs with 
 their troops were bound to repair to the imperial stand- 
 ard. Each nabob erected his own standard, and formed 
 a separate camp, subject to the imperial orders only. — 
 There are but few traces of real discipline to be met 
 with among those myriads with whom the emperors of In- 
 dostan often took the field. The forces of the great Sultan 
 Baber alone were formed on a regular and masterly plan. 
 The disposition of his battles was extremely judicious; 
 and the signal victories he obtained over immense ar- 
 mies, with a handful of men, are sufficient to convince 
 
 2 a 
 
3 14 History of all Nations.. 
 
 us that military discipline has not always been unknown 
 in Asia. 
 
 " It may be matter of surprise to an European," 
 says Mr. Dow, " how eastern armies of two or three 
 hundred thousand horse, and triple that number of sol- 
 diers and followers, could be supplied with provisions 
 upon their march, and in their standing camps. To 
 account for this," continues he, " it is to be observed, 
 that every provincial nabob, when he takes the field, 
 appoints an officer called the cutwal, whose business it is 
 to superintend the bazars, or markets, which shall be- 
 long to his camp. Every commander of a body of 
 troops obtains at the same time permission to hoist a 
 flag for a bazar, and to appoint a cutwal of his own, 
 under the direction of the cutwal- general. These cut- 
 wals grant licences to chapmen, sutlers, and corn deal- 
 ers, who purchase the protection of the different flags 
 by a stipulated tax. The pay of the soldiery in Indos- 
 tan is very great ; this enables them to give high 
 prices for provisions, and the countries round run all 
 hazards for such a prospect of advantage. The natural 
 fertility of the country enables the inhabitants thus readi- 
 ly and plentifully to furnish the armies. 
 
 The Mahomedans, as well as the warlike nations of 
 the Hindoos, are fond of the parade of cavalry, of which 
 most of their armies are composed; but a great and 
 strange defect reigns in these armies : every soldier pro- 
 vides his own horse ; if his horse is killed (as it is gene- 
 rally impossible for him to furnish another) he is no 
 longer a soldier ; his livelihood depends upon his horse 
 more than on himself, and according to the value of 
 that he receives his pay. It is astonishing that Maho- 
 medan princes should ever adopt this maxim; for, al- 
 though a Mahomedan, from his faith in predestina- 
 tion, ought not to run away to save his own life, he will 
 most likely avoid all danger to save his horse; which 
 occasions mighty and insurmountable obstacles to their 
 ever conquering Europeans. Mrs. Kinder sley" 1 s Letters*, 
 page 203. 
 
Indostan. 315 
 
 Revenues of the Mogul Empire.— The reve- 
 nues of the Mogul arose from the produce of the 
 ground, the customs of the sea- ports, the estates of 
 the great men at their death, wfoch devolved to the 
 crown, the presents from his subjects, who never ap- 
 proached their prince or governor empty ha: ded, and 
 the treasures produced by the diamond mines. The 
 viceroy or governor of every province which owned 
 subjection to him, was obliged to supply the crown 
 with a certain sum, which he raised out of the ma- 
 nufactures and produce of the soil. This, added to the 
 other revenues, is said to have amounted annually to 
 between forty and fifty millions sterling, before Nadir 
 Shah ravaged the empire. 
 
 Religions in India. — Mahomedans. — Of the 
 Mahomedan religion in India little need be said, as the 
 rise, progress, and establishment of Mahomedanism, 
 has already been treated of in a former chapter. 
 
 The people of Indostan do not approve of calling 
 God good, righteous, merciful, thinking such epithets 
 superfluous and impertinent ; as if one was emphatically 
 to say of a man that he had a head, or any other mem- 
 bers necessary to the human form : for they conceive it 
 a profanation of the name of God to associate it with hu- 
 man attributes and conceptions ; and that nothing fills 
 the idea due to that Being so well as the name itself, 
 " a substantive singularity, and forever above the junc- 
 tion of an adjective." If this is superstition, it is the 
 sublimity of it. 
 
 The ancient and venerable city of Benares, has, from 
 time immemorial, been the principal university of Bra- 
 minical learning. Major Rennell supposes that towards 
 the close of the twelfth century , when Mahomed Gori 
 perpetrated the most shocking cruelties upon the Brah- 
 mins in that city, and committed every kind of outrage 
 and violence upon the objects of their worship, that the 
 Sanscrit had, until then, been the current language in 
 Hindoostan, and from that period it began to decline in 
 its purity, by the admission of words from that of the 
 
3 IS History of all Jsatiom. 
 
 conquerors, until the language of Hindoostan became 
 what it now is ; the original Sanscrit preserved in their 
 ancient writings becoming a dead language. Memoir 
 of a Map, Introd. page xlvii. 3d edition. 
 
 A remarkable and interesting circumstance in the tra- 
 ditional belief of the Hindoos, is, the inconceivable anti- 
 quity of the world. In the extent of their belief of this 
 fact, they even exceed their neighbours the Chinese, 
 and do not fall short of them in circumstantiality of re- 
 lation. They reckon the existence of the world by four 
 Jogues, or ages. The first they call '■' The Suttee Jo- 
 gue." or age of purity ; which they hold to have lasted 
 3,200,000 years, and that the life of a man was, in that 
 age, extended to 100,000 years, and that his stature was 
 twenty-one cubits. The second they call " Tirtah 
 Jogue," or the age in which one-third of mankind were 
 reprobated. They suppose its duration to have reached 
 2,400,000 years, and that men then lived to the age of 
 10,000 years. The third they call " The Dwapaar 
 Jogue," in which half of the human race became de- 
 praved ; this period, they say, continued 1,600,000 
 years, and mens lives were reduced to 1000 years. 
 The fourth, or " Colle Jogue," in which all mankind 
 are corrupted, or, rather lessened, (for such is the 
 meaning of Collee) is the present sera, which they 
 suppose is ordained to exist for 400,000 years, of which 
 near 5000 are already passed; man's life in this pe- 
 riod is limited to 100 years. Halhed's Preface, page 
 xxxviii. 
 
 To reconcile such wonderful extravagances with the 
 sober scriptural relation of the origin of things, would 
 be a solution devoutly to be wished, and therefore 
 prompts to hazard the following conjectural explanation. 
 Let us then consider the first age, or the Suttee Jogue, 
 as an angelic state ; and both the Jewish and Christian 
 scriptures warrant a belief of such beings existing long 
 before mankind was produced. We can only conceive 
 of angels as of beings possessing intellectual faculties, 
 not differing in their nature, but merely in their degree, 
 
Indostav. 3 If 
 
 from men ; and the mental powers of men seem to have 
 been so enlarged, in the notions of the Hindoos, during 
 that period, that they may as well be called embodied 
 angels as men. The second age, or Tirtah Jogue, 
 bears no essential disagreement with the relation of the 
 fall of angels, to which the Jewish and Christian oracles 
 bear testimony. The third may be considered as a far- 
 ther defection in the angelic host ; and the fourth cor- 
 responds, very remarkably, with the Mosaic account 
 of the duration of this globe. 
 
 The Hindoos know of no tradition respecting a ge- 
 neral deluge. 
 
 The Gentoos have, in all ages, believed in the trans- 
 migration of souls, which they denominate Ka , apre- 
 waesh and Kayapelut. This latter literally answers to 
 the word Metempsychosis. An ancient Shaster, called 
 *" TheGeeta," written by Adhea Doom, has a beauti- 
 ful stanza upon this system of the transmigration, which 
 he compares to a change of dress. 
 
 Thus in English : 
 
 As, throwing 1 aside his old habits, 
 A man puts on others that are new j 
 So, our lives, quitting the old, 
 Go to other new animals. 
 
 Halhed's Preface, p. xlv. 
 
 Hence it is highly probable, that the doctrine of the 
 Metempsychosis, by which Pythagoras was so particu- 
 larly distinguished, was derived from them, with many 
 other articles and modes of worship and opinion, which, 
 from certain resemblances, might be traced from the 
 same source. Thus, among many other conjectural 
 instances, may be quoted the Paphian Venus ; for the 
 form of which Tacitus could not account, it rising from 
 a broad basis to a narrow point at the top, which is ex- 
 actly the figure of the idol in India consecrated to such 
 an office as that heathen deity was supposed to preside 
 
318 History of all A ations. 
 
 over, and to which, on the borders of the Ganges, the 
 Gentoo virgins are brought to undergo a kind of super- 
 ficial defloration, before they are delivered up to their 
 husbands. Mr. Holwell confirms this sentiment ; see 
 his Interesting Events in India ; and Raynal has adopt- 
 ed it. 
 
 The passage in Tacitus is as follows: " Dea non 
 effigie humana, continuus orbis latione initio tenuum in 
 ambitum- mete modo exungens, et ratio in obscuro." 
 Tacit. Hist. lib. ii. 3. 
 
 This idol, which is worshipped by the Gentoos under 
 the name of Jaggernaut, is represented by captain 
 Hamilton as pyramidicai black stone, fabled to have 
 fallen from heaven, or at least to have miracuously ap- 
 peared in the place where they have erected, his temple. 
 It appears that this stone is meant for the power presi- 
 ding over universal generation, which they attribute to 
 the genial heat and influence of the sun acting in subor- 
 dination to it, and to whom is addressed the following 
 prayer, which the Brahmins especially often repeat 
 in a day, with their eyes lifted up toward the sun: 
 <( Thou power, which illuminates that resplendent orb, 
 deign also to illuminate my mind, so as that I may 
 thereby be directed to walk in the way which is most 
 pleasing to thee." 
 
 Religion of the Parsees. — There seem to be 
 two distinctions necessary to be made in the religion of 
 the Parsees, or Gaures, who transplanted themselves 
 from Persia, when the Mahometans conquered that 
 country : the first, the pure religion, as taught by Zo- 
 roaster ; and the second and more modern one, dis- 
 figured by various adulterations, as it is at present prac- 
 tised among the Parsees of India and Persia. 
 
 Zoroaster flourished under the reign of Hystaspes, 
 king of Persia, about five hundred years before the 
 birth of our Saviour, and was profoundly versed in 
 mathematics and natural philosophy, hence he probably 
 derived those sublime notions in relation to fire, on 
 
Indostan. 319 
 
 which he founded the basis of his religion, and which 
 his followers still retain. 
 
 It is however evident that he found an homage paid to 
 that element already established in the country, since 
 Pyrasums, or conservatories of perennial fire were known 
 to be there long before his time ; but whether such 
 worship of it was a religious act, or whatever it might 
 be, it was accompanied by many idolatrous rites ; and 
 Zoroaster exerted himself to purge it of its gross er- 
 rors, and reduce it to the two grand points on which he 
 founded his religion ; namely, the belief of one Su- 
 preme God, and of the sun, or element of fire, being* 
 the first minister, and also the symbol of his purity ; 
 from these principles the rest of his opinions flowed. 
 
 Some writers maintain that there were two Zoroas- 
 ters ; and that the last, arising six hundred years after 
 the first, explained and. new modelled his religion, 
 which he stripped of the errors and superstitious practi- 
 ces by which it had been disfigured. 
 
 Be that as it may, agreeably to the above doctrine, 
 the followers of Zoroaster are still so penetrated with 
 the idea of the immensity and omnipresence of God, 
 that they may esteem it a proof of great narrowness of 
 sentiment to erect temples to him, as conveying the 
 groveling idea of confining him who fills all space be- 
 tween four walls ; hence they make use of that celebrat- 
 ed saying, that " There is no temple worthy of the 
 majesty of God, except the whole universe, and the 
 heart of an honest man." Of all their opinions, they 
 esteem.that most sacred, that God was the sole necessa- 
 ry self-existent Being from all eternity, and is the su- 
 preme author of all good. Hence they detest the 
 schism of those Persians who admit the co-eternity of the 
 two principles of good and evil, and all the absurdities 
 of Manicheism. 
 
 They maintain, since many effects in nature, which 
 at the first view appear to be evils, are justified as to the 
 wisdom of their causes, by their ultimately issuing in a 
 known superior good, therefore it is just we should be- 
 
32(3 History of all J\ations. 
 
 lieve that all the rest are so, though their ends, probably 
 for very wise reasons, are concealed from us. Hence 
 they allege, that it is the utmost rashness and impiety to 
 infer absolute evil from some individuals occasionally 
 appearing to suffer, from those primordial laws to which 
 God had subjected all his works in general, without ex- 
 cepting man, whose good has been as much consulted 
 as was fitting it should be, of which God ought surely 
 to be esteemed a competent judge. Hence they deny 
 that omnipotence has introduced real evil into nature ; 
 and maintain, that no evil actually exists but what is 
 imaginary, temporary, and bearing no proportion toreal, 
 infinite, and eternal goodness. 
 
 As to fire, they place its source in the sun, to which 
 they pay a very high reverence, out of gratitude for 
 the numerous benefits which flow from it ; but they 
 are so far from confounding the subordination of the 
 servant, with the majesty of the Creator, that they attri* 
 bute no degree of sense to the sun, or fire, in any of its 
 operations ; but consider it as a purely passive, blind in- 
 strument, directed and governed by its Creator. They 
 even give thatluminary, all- glorious as it is, no more than 
 the second rank among his works, reserving the first for 
 that stupenduous production of divine power, the mind 
 of man. 
 
 They believe the immortality of the soul, and found 
 the doctrine of rewards and punishments in the other 
 life on the light of reason, which enables them to per- 
 ceive the difference between right and wrong; or, to 
 speak in their figurative style, the conflict between 
 Oroozm the good principle, and Harryman the evil 
 one ; or between the flesh and the purer spirit. As to 
 future punishments, they exclude material burning from 
 forming any part of them, and esteem the element of fire 
 too pure and too noble to be employed in the office of 
 an executioner. They even pretend, that the fire of 
 divine love will moderate the punishments inflicted by 
 justice. 
 
 The modern Parsees represent the place of future 
 suffering as a dark, dreary, disconsolate region, re- 
 
IndostaiU 32 1 
 
 plete with horror, pain, and disgust ; caverns abound- 
 ing with serpents, water thick like melted pitch, and 
 cold as snow. They do not, however, hold these pun- 
 ishments to be eternal, but imagine that the guilty suf- 
 ferers will be at length delivered, and even placed in a 
 state of bliss, but inferior to that of the good, from 
 whom they will also be distinguished by a brand in their 
 foreheads. In fine, they imagine that, both in degree 
 and duration, these punishments will be proportioned 
 to human frailty ; but that rewards, like the divine 
 goodness, will be infinite and unbounded. 
 
 It is said, that the greatest honour the Parsees think 
 they can do to the remains of their deceased friends, is 
 to expose them to be devoured by birds of prey ; for 
 these living tombs they esteem preferable to any kind of 
 sepulchre. About a mile from the city of Surat, they 
 have a place to which they carry their dead ; this is 
 w r ithin a circular wall, open at the top, twelve feet high, 
 and one hundred in circumference. The ground within 
 is raised about four feet, and made sloping, that all mois- 
 ture may drain from the carcases into a sink made for 
 that purpose ; nothing can exhibit a more shocking ap- 
 pearance than this burying ground, as it is called, where 
 are seen a multitude of dead bodies, loathsome and dis- 
 coloured ; some green, some yellow, some with their 
 eyes torn out by the vultures, and some with all the flesh 
 of their cheeks pulled of; great holes eaten in different 
 parts of their bodies, and carcases torn and mangled. 
 The vultures, it is observed, will place themselves 
 down the wind, in order to enjoy the smell of these car- 
 cases; and sometimes cram themselves with human 
 flesh till they are scarce able to fly. 
 
 The punishments for crimes chiefly consist in fines ; 
 yet, in exact agreement with the Jewish laws, it is 
 said, " If a man deprives another of life, the magis- 
 trate shall deprive that person of life." If a Brah- 
 min deprives any person of life, his life shall not be ta- 
 ken in return, but he shall be fined one hundred Ash- 
 rufies {which is the most valuable gold coin. ) If a mats 
 
 2 it 
 
$22 History of all Nations. 
 
 has put out both the eyes of any person, the magistrate 
 shall deprive that man of both his eyes, condemn him to 
 perpetual imprisonment, and fine him 800 puns of cow- 
 ries, (each pun consisting of 80 cowries. ) But although 
 in these laws Brahmins are exempted from capital pun- 
 ishment, yet they may be degraded, branded, im- 
 prisoned for life, or sent into perpetual exile ; but it is 
 every where ordained that a Brahmin shall not be put to 
 death on any account whatever. In chap. hi. sect. 3 r 
 page 109, is the following passage: " If a Brahmin 
 should come with intent to murder another, and that 
 person has no means of escaping, and cannot save his 
 own life but by the death of the Brahmin, in that case, 
 if he should kill the Brahmin, the magistrate shall not 
 take a fine from him : also, if a cow should attempt to 
 kill any person, and there is no way of escaping, that 
 person may kill the cow, for the preservation of his own 
 life, and in this case he shall not be amenable." It is 
 well known, though not expressed in this body of laws, 
 that among the Gentoos, criminals sentenced to death 
 are not to be strangled, suffocated, or poisoned, but to 
 be cut off by the sword, because, without an effusion 
 of blood, malefactors are supposed to die with all their 
 sins about them ; but shedding their blood is considered 
 as expiating their crimes. The unjust punishment of 
 Nundcomar, who was hanged on a gibbet, in violation 
 of the laws of his country, and even by an ex post jacto 
 English law, was aggravated by that circumstance of 
 horror, that he died without an effusion of blood. 
 Amongst a people so gentle, mild, and compassionate, 
 one would not expect to find so cruel a punishment de- 
 creed for beating or ill treating a magistrate who had 
 been detected in committing a crime : it is decreed that 
 the magistrate shall thrust an iron spit through the of- 
 fender, and roast him at the fire. So high a sense is en- 
 tertained of the sacredness of magistracy, even when the 
 magistrate has committed a crime, that one of the most 
 cruel deaths, which human ingenuity can invent, is in- 
 curred by insulting it, and the offence is expressly com- 
 
Xndostan. 323 
 
 pared to the greatest act of human depravity which these 
 people can conceive of, namely, the murdering of an 
 hundred Brahmins ! but a Brahmin thus offending is not 
 to suffer death, but to be fined 100 Ashrufies. 
 
 The laws respecting women being extremely curious, 
 we shall select the following ; — " If a man by force 
 commits adultery with a woman of an equal or inferior 
 cast, against her consent, the magistrate shall confiscate 
 all his possessions, cut off his privy members, and cause 
 him to be led round the city, mounted upon an ass. " If 
 a man by cunning or deceit commits the act with a wo- 
 man of an equal or inferior cast, the offender shall lose all 
 his possessions, be branded in the forehead, and banished 
 the kingdom. If, either by force or cunning, a man 
 commits the act with a woman of a superior cast, the 
 magistrate shall deprive him of life. " If a woman of 
 bad character, (except the wife of a Brahmin) who has 
 no master, of her own accord goes to a man for a crimi- 
 nal purpose, that man, after having given information to 
 the magistrate, may have carnal knowledge of her, and 
 is not liable to punishment." " It is proper for a wo- 
 man, after her husband's death, to burn herself in the 
 fire with his corpse ; every woman v/ho thus burns her- 
 self shall remain in paradise with her husband three crore 
 and fifty lacks of years, by destiny : if she cannot burn, 
 she must, in that case, preserve an inviolable chastity : 
 if she remains always chaste she goes to paradise ; if she 
 does not preserve her chastity, she goes to hell." See 
 a particular account of the several instances of the cere- 
 mony attending these self-devoted victims, in Payne's 
 System of Geography, vol. 1. page 191, 192, and 
 193. 
 
 The ordeal trials of melted lead, or boiling oil, as 
 practised here, are considered by the Gentoos as a 
 standing miracle. The ceremony is performed with 
 great solemnity. The party who has appealed to this 
 trial, for his innocence, whether on suspicion of mur- 
 der, theft, conjugal infidelity in the women, or even in 
 
324 History of all Nations. 
 
 denying a debt, is publicly brought to the side of the 
 fire,' on which is a cauldron, or ladle-full of boiling wa- 
 ter, or oil, but most commonly melted lead ; the prince 
 or magistrates of the country being present, his hand is 
 previously clean washed, and a leaf of the bab-tree, with 
 the accusation written upon it, is girt round his waist ; 
 and then on the solemn invocation of the Deity by a 
 Brahmin, the person plunges in his hand, scoops up the 
 boiling fluid, and if he draws it out unhurt is absolved, 
 otherwise he receives the punishment prescribed by the 
 laws for the crime against which the accusation lay ; 
 and so firm is the belief in this method of purgation on 
 the coast of Malabar, that even some of the Indian 
 Christians and Moors, fearless of pain, maiming, and 
 disgrace, have voluntarily submitted their cause to that 
 decision ; but such no doubt had previously taken the 
 prober measures to secure this miraculous confirmation 
 of their innocence. 
 
 This method of discriminating between guilt and in- 
 nocence, is mentioned in the third chapter of the code of 
 Genfoo laws, (which treats of justice) under the name 
 of Purrekch, and Mr. Halhed says, in his preface, p. 
 lviii, that, ** the modes of this ordeal are various in In- 
 dia, according to the choice of the parties, or the nature 
 of the offence ; but the infallibility of the result is, to 
 this day, as implicitly believed as it could have been in 
 the darkest ages of antiquity. " 
 
 Singular as this practice is, the Gentoos do not appear 
 to be the only people who retain it, for we are told that 
 the Poglizans, a people inhabiting some of the islands 
 and a part of the coast of Dalmatia, at this day make use 
 of proofs by fire and boiling water, to discriminate 
 between suik and innocence, and the victims of this 
 institution are sometimes seen disabled and half roast- 
 ed. See Abbe Fortis 1 Travels into Dalmatian page 
 251. 
 
 Tribes or Casts of the Gentoos, or Hin- 
 doos. — Gentio is a Portuguese word, meaning Gen? 
 tile, by which general appellation all the natives of India 
 
Indostan. 325 
 
 were at first called, whether they were Mahomedans or 
 Hindoos: but the English, and other nations, have 
 adopted the term Gentoo, to distinguish the Hindoos, 
 or followers of Brimha, from the Mahometans, or Mus- 
 sulmans, whom they commonly, though improperly, 
 called Moors, or Moormen. Bolts' Considerations on 
 Indian Affairs. 
 
 The Hindoos have from all antiquity been divided 
 into four great tribes, each of which comprehends a va- 
 riety of inferior casts. These tribes do not intermarry, 
 eat, drink, or in any manner associate with one another, 
 except when they worship at the temple of Jagganaut, 
 (the being who is said to preside over the present pe- 
 riod) in Orissa, where it is held a crime to make any 
 distinction. 
 
 The first and most noble tribe are the Brahmins, who 
 alone can officiate in the priesthood, like the Levites 
 among the Jews. They are not, however, excluded 
 from government, trade, or agriculture, though they are 
 strictly prohibited from all menial offices by their laws. 
 They derive their name from Brimha, whom they alle- 
 gorically say produced the Brahmins from his head 
 when he created the world. The second in order is the 
 Chehteree tribe. They, according to their original in- 
 stitution, ought to be all military men, but they fre- 
 quently follow other professions. Brimha is said to have 
 produced the Chehteree from his heart, as an emblem 
 of that courage which warriors should possess. The 
 name of Beise, or Bice, is given to the third tribe. They 
 are for the most part merchants, bankers, and cunias, 
 or shopkeepers. They are figuratively said to have 
 sprung from the belly of Brimha ; the word Beish sig- 
 nifying a provider or nourisher. The fourth tribe is 
 that of Sooder. They ought to be menial servants, 
 and they are incapable of raising themselves to any su- 
 perior rank. These are said to have proceeded from 
 the feet of Brimha, in allusion to their low degree. But 
 indeed it is contrary to the inviolable laws of the Hin- 
 doos, that any person should rise from an inferior cast 
 
326 History o f all Nations . 
 
 into an higher tribe. If any, therefore, should be ex- 
 communicated from any of the four tribes, he and his 
 posterity are for ever shut out from the society of every 
 cast in the nation. This severity prevents all intermix- 
 ture of blood between the tribes, so that in their appear- 
 ance they seem rather four different nations than mem- 
 bers of the same community. 
 
 The attachment of an Hindoo to the peculiar tenets of 
 his religion as well as to his tribe, cannot be more strongly 
 instanced than in the following anecdote, from Mr. Ve- 
 relsVs account of Bengal. 
 
 " An Hindoo had been bribed to procure some pa- 
 pers belonging to a gentleman who died in the compa- 
 ny's service. The son caught him in the fact; and, in 
 revenge of his treachery, compelled him to swallow a 
 spoonful of broth. Ridiculous as the punishment may 
 seem, it was attended with very serious consequences. 
 No sooner was his pollution known, than he was degrad- 
 ed from his cast, lost all the benefits of society, and was 
 avoided as a leper by his tribe. " When a man is thus 
 disgraced, he is henceforth obliged to herd with the 
 Hallachores, " who (says Mr. Scrafton) can scarcely 
 be called a tribe, being the refuse of all tribes. These 
 are a set of poor unhappy wretches, destined to misery 
 from their birth. They perform all the vilest offices in 
 life, bury the dead, and carry away every thing that is 
 polluted. They are held in such abomination, that on 
 the Malabar side of India, if one of these chances to 
 touch a man of a superior tribe, he draws his sabre and 
 cuts him down on the spot, without any check from his 
 own conscience, or from the laws of the country." In 
 this miserable situation was the above poor Hindoo, 
 when lord Clive prevailed on the Brahmins to assemble, 
 and consult if there could not be a remission of an invo- 
 luntary deviation from their law : after much delibera- 
 tion, the Brahmins affected a compliance, but the man 
 was never restored to his tribe. According to Mr. 
 Halhed, a man born of a mixed cast is called a JBiirrun- 
 bunker. Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 42. 
 
Indostan. 327 
 
 The Mahometan governors often take advantage of 
 this principle, when they want to extort money ; and 
 so highly do the Hindoos value their religious purity, 
 that after they have borne the severest corporeal punish- 
 ment rather than discover their wealth, a threat of defile- 
 ment will effect what torture has attempted in vain. Ve- 
 relsfs Present State of Bengal, p. 142. 
 
 From the difference of casts, (a Portuguese word, 
 importing a class or tribe) of the Hindoos in Indostan, 
 there arises a difference of education ; but even the in- 
 ferior classes are taught reading, writing, and arithme- 
 tic. The youth are taught, not within doors, but in 
 the open air ; and it is a spectacle, no less pleasing than 
 singular, to see, in every village, a very old man, re- 
 clined on a terraced plain, teaching a number of sur- 
 rounding boys, who regard him with the utmost reve- 
 rence and attention. In those simple seminaries, the 
 gentle Hindoos are not only prepared for the businesses, 
 but instructed in the duties oflife ; consisting in a pro- 
 found veneration for the object or objects of religious 
 worship, reverence for their parents, respect for their 
 seniors, justice and humanity towards all men, but a 
 particular affection for those of their own cast. Mack- 
 intosh'' s Travels, \. 323. 
 
 This distinction of the Gentoos into casts or tribes, 
 forms a remarkable peculiarity in their religion and go- 
 vernment, and has both its conveniencies and inconve- 
 niencies. Thus great injustice is frequently done to 
 genius and talents, to which they pay no regard, nor 
 make any allowance for that infinite diversity produced 
 by nature. Thus some are confined to make an insig- 
 nificant figure in one sphere, who might shine in ano- 
 ther. 
 
 As most of these tribes have a chief, who is in some 
 measure accountable for the conduct of the individuals 
 of which his tribe is composed, this regulation gratifies 
 the views of government ; the individuals, on any ne- 
 cessary occasion, being either numbered or assembled 
 with ease and expedition. 
 
328 History of all Nations. 
 
 Among the nairs, or nobles, principally prevails the 
 strange custom of one wife being common to a num- 
 ber ; in which the great power of custom is seen, in its 
 never producing any jealousies or quarrels among those 
 who possess the same woman. Beside, the number of 
 these husbands is not so much limited by any specific 
 law, as by a kind of tacit convention, by which it seldom 
 happens that it exceeds six or seven. The woman is, 
 however, under no obligation to admit more than a sin- 
 gle attachment, though she is not the less respected for 
 using her privilege in the utmost extent ; and they are 
 sometimes said to have twelve husbands ; but they, as 
 well as she, must be all of the same tribe. 
 
 When the daughter of a nair is married to the first of 
 her husbands, he builds her a house, in which he alone 
 cohabits with her, till she takes a second. The hus- 
 bands all agree, and cohabit with her by turns, accord- 
 ing to their priority of marriage, each eight or ten days, 
 or as they can fix the term among themselves ; and he 
 who lives with her during that time provides for her 
 support. When the man who cohabits with her goes 
 into her house, he leaves his arms at the door, and none 
 dare remove them, or enter the house, on pain of death ; 
 but if there are no arms to guard the door, any of them 
 may freely visit her. During the time of cohabitation, 
 she serves her husband as purveyor and cook ; she also 
 takes care to keep his clothes and arms clean. When 
 she proves with child, she nominates its father, who 
 takes care of its education, after she has suckled it, and 
 taught it to walk and speak ; but from the impossibility 
 of assigning the true heir, the estates of the husbands 
 descend to the sister's children, and if there are no such 
 heirs, then to the nearest in blood to the grandmother.-— 
 Payne. 
 
Jew s^ or Hebrews. 329 
 
 SHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS, OR HEBKEWS. 
 
 This rich and beautiful tract of country was first called 
 the land of Canaan, from Noah's grandson, by whom it 
 was peopled : but in latter ages it has been distinguished 
 by various other names ; such as the Land of Promise, 
 the Holy Land, Palestine, Judea, and the Land of 
 Israel.* 
 
 The serenity of the air, the fertility of the soil, and 
 the incom parable excellence of the fruits of Palestine, 
 induced Moses to describe it "as a land that flowed 
 with milk and honey, &c." But in consequence of the 
 just anger of God, the greater part of it is now reduced to 
 a mere desart, and apparently incapable of cultivation. 
 
 In the reign of king Solomon it was divided into 
 twelve districts, each under a peculiar officer ; and, in 
 the time of his unfortunate son, Rehoboam, a more fa- 
 tal division was effected by the revolt of ten tribes, who, 
 under the conduct of Jeroboam, established a new mo- 
 narchy, which they called the kingdom of Israel, in op- 
 posrion to that of Judah. " 
 
 The Jews were originally wandering shepherds. The 
 Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Phoenicians, 
 were long established before them ; they did not ac- 
 quire a fixed establishment till uheir return from Egypt. 
 The Jews, confined to a small territory, and from prin- 
 
 * This country once extended from the rive!* Euphrates to the Mediter- 
 ranean sea ; its present extent is only two hundred miles in length, and 
 eighty in breadth. Palestine is peculiarly famous, as being the place of 
 our Saviour's incarnation, miracles, and death. In this country is the river 
 Jordan, famous for the baptism of Christ, and for several other remarkable 
 ©rents recorded in scripture. The present inhabitants of Palestine are 
 Christians. Jews, ajid Mahometans. 
 
 2 s 
 
330 History of all Nations. 
 
 ciple unwilling to mix with other people, they continued 
 long in obscurity. They lived under a theocratical go- 
 vernment,* directed by the immediate orders of the Su- 
 preme Being : a chain of miracles subverting the order 
 of nature, and a train of uncommon actions, explained 
 by supernatural principles, rendered them a peculiar 
 people. " Their religious laws were blended with their 
 civil laws ; indeed the whole was a religious duty, be- 
 cause it was ordained by God ; but as that salutary re- 
 straint, the fear of the Lord, does not always check the 
 passions ; and as the Jews guarded themselves only by 
 the senses, they had scarcely any idea of a future state ; 
 therefore, there were dreadful threatenings and severe 
 punishments denounced against offenders. He who 
 broke the sabbath was stoned ; and it was a breach of 
 the sabbath to perform any sort of work, to make any 
 kind of purchase, or even to light a fire ! Children who 
 obstinately disobeyed their parents, were punished with 
 death. A blasphemer, an idolater, or an adulterer, 
 might be instantly stoned without any form of trial. 
 Such executions were called the decree of zeal, but 
 might they not sometimes become the decrees of ha- 
 tred and fanaticism? Insolvent debtors were madeslaves. 
 Crimes which were looked upon as trivial by other na- 
 tions, were frequently punished with death by the 
 Jews. 
 
 An endless number of expiations, legal ceremonies, 
 and precepts, served to keep this fickle people in sub- 
 jection. There were a number of animals which they 
 were forbidden to eat, such as the hog, the hare, the 
 rabbit ; crawling insects, and fish without fins or scales. 
 These animals were reputed to be unclean. 
 
 The ashes of a red heifer were absolutely necessary 
 in the greatest part of their expiations ; and the waters 
 of jealousy, which were employed when a man suspect- 
 ed his wife of infidelity, seem very much to resemble 
 
 * Namely : a government under God himself. 
 
Jews, or Hebrews. 331 
 
 our ancient judicial trials. Bitter herbs mixed with 
 holy water, and a form of imprecation, accompanied 
 with some religious ceremonies, made the bellies of the 
 guilty swell and burst.* The law of grace has abolished 
 all these customs, as well as circumcision, which was 
 positively commended to the Jews. They, like most of 
 other nations, offered human sacrifices. Every seventh 
 year was sabbatical, and then all the labours of agricul- 
 ture were suspended ; they gave their harvest to the 
 poor, to strangers, and to orphans, and freedom to their 
 slaves, discharging all debts which were owing to them 
 by Israelites They likewise did the same at their jubi- 
 lee, which was celebrated every fiftieth year. At that 
 period, every one resumed his property, in whatever 
 manner it had been alienated. The desire of perpetuat- 
 ing families occasioned this law, which could not be 
 reconciled with the common course of transactions, in 
 a great and wealthy nation. They had six cities of re- 
 fuge, but they served as sanctuaries to protect those who 
 fled to them from the severity of justice, in case of in- 
 voluntary homicide ; but assassins might be torn, even 
 from the altar, to suffer death. 
 
 Though the tribe of Levi, according to Jacob's pro- 
 phecy, was to be dispersed among the others, and the 
 Priests andLevites, according to a law in Deuteronomy, 
 could have only the tythes, the offerings, and the ran- 
 som of the first born for their portion, yet the priests 
 seem to have been very well provided for. They had 
 the possession of forty cities; they collected several 
 kinds of tythes ; the first fruits and offerings were very 
 considerable. Things vowed to God, except lands and 
 cattle, and the fruits of the earth, might be redeemed by 
 money : and these vows added greatly to the wealth of 
 the priesthood. The chief priests exercised very great 
 powers even in civil affairs : and Moses ordained that, 
 in all difficulties, the people should have recourse to the 
 
 * See Numbers, chap. 5 & 24, &c. 
 
532 History df all Nations. 
 
 priests and judges, and, upon pain of death, abide by 
 their decisions. From different regulations, which are 
 proper for a theocracy, many false consequences, con- 
 trary to sound government, have been deduced. 
 /All strangers, their language, history, arts* and sci- 
 ences, were looked upon with horror or contempt by 
 the Jews. They were entirely ignorant of navigation 
 and astronomy, when they returned from Babylon. 
 However, they certainly brought from Egypt some of 
 the natural knowledge and customs of that country. 
 They always concealed their sacred books from the rest 
 of mankind ; and Ptolomy Philadelphia having pro- 
 cured a translation of them, they instituted a solemn 
 fast for what they deemed a vast misfortune. 
 
 The religion of the Jews, though formerly clouded 
 with mysterious ceremonies, and now totally eclipsed 
 by the radiance of the Gospel, must ever be considered 
 as an object of veneration ; since its institution, benefits, 
 and great rewards, arc wholly attributed to God. Their 
 laivs were admirably adapted to honour their Creator, 
 and to render themselves completely happy ; sacrifices 
 were at once calculated to remind them of their failings, 
 which required a diurnal atonement, and to shadow 
 forth the vicarious sacrifice that should, " in the fulness 
 of time," be offered for the sins of the world ; and even 
 their most trivial ceremonies were replete with instruc- 
 tion, or typical of the giacious designs of the Al- 
 mighty. 
 
 Their customs, both civil and religious, were chiefly 
 founded upon their laws. S- me of the most particular 
 are here selected for the gratification of the curious. 
 
 The rite of circumcision was always accon panied 
 with great feasting and other demonstrations of joy. 
 At this time the child was named in the presence of the 
 company ; after which the master of the house took a 
 cupful of wine, blessing his Creator, sipped a little of 
 it, and passed it round to his friends. 
 
 Whether thejr sat or lay down at their repasts, is a 
 controversy of small importance ; the former custcm 
 
Jews, or Hebrews. 33S 
 
 iseems to have prevailed before the captivity ; but the 
 latter was certainly adopted at the time of our Saviour's 
 institution of the holy sacrament. 
 
 Marriage does not appear to have been accompanied 
 with any religious ceremony ; such as going to the tern* 
 pie, offering sacrifices, or requiring the benediction of a 
 priest. When a contract was formed by the parties and 
 relations on both sides, the bridegroom was introduced 
 to his bride, a solemn agreement was signed before wit- 
 nesses ; and the bride, after some time, was sent to her 
 new habitation, with songs, dances, and the melodies of 
 various musical instruments. 
 
 Their diet, except on festivals, seems to have been 
 extremely plain ; for Boaz, a man of considerable pro- 
 perty, complimented Ruth with eating of the same 
 bread, drinking of the same water, and dipping her mor- 
 sel in vinegar with him. The present of victuals 
 brought to David, whilst he laboured under the perse- 
 cution of .Saul, consisted of bread, raisins, parched 
 corn, a few sheep, and two bottles of wine. Honey was 
 esteemed a peculiar delicacy, and the milk of the goats 
 and the fleece of the flock, were pronounced by the wise 
 men sufficient for food and raiment, both for the master 
 and his family. 
 
 Their high places were of two sorts : those where 
 they burned incense and offered sacrifices to the 
 true God ; and those where they committed various 
 abominable idolatries. Both the^e became so common 
 and universal, that few kings had the courage to destroy 
 the latter, notwithstanding the repeated admonitions of 
 the holy prophets. 
 
 The same spirit of dissipation, which induced the Is- 
 raelites to direct their worship to dumb idols, led them 
 gradually into the practice of divination and necromancy, 
 though the law of Moses expressly enjoined, that such 
 persons should be put to death. 
 
 Their mourning for the death of any near relation, or 
 for any melancholy accident, was expressed by rending 
 their garments, tearing their hair, heaping dirt or ashes 
 
334 History of all Nations. 
 
 upon their heads, wearing sackcloth next their skin, and 
 lying upon the bare ground. 
 
 Their language was the Hebrew ; the genius of which 
 is pure, primitive, natural, and strictly conformable to 
 the simplicity of the Jewish patriarchs : and it is highly 
 probable, that not only they, but all their trading neigh- 
 bors, had the art of writing very early ; though it is 
 impossible to determine whether each nation had a pecu- 
 liar character of their own, or the same in common to 
 them all. 
 
 The arms like those of the ancient nations, were 
 either offensive or defensive. The former consisted 
 of broad crooked swords, javelins, slings, bows and ar- 
 rows, and two-edged swords ; the latter were shields, 
 helmets, coats of mail, breast plates, and targets. — 
 These arms were commonly made of brass and some- 
 times of iron or steel. 
 
 Few trades or manufactures were carried on among 
 the Jews before the reign of Solomon, except such as 
 were absolutely necessary. They built their own houses, 
 and their wives and servants attended to all domestic 
 avocations. The dress of the men consisted of linen 
 drawers and tunics, over which they threw a loose gar- 
 ment of woollen when they went abroad. 
 
 The dress of the women, especially the higher class, 
 was more curious, as they bestowed more ornament up- 
 on it, chiefly of needle- work, which was within their own 
 province. They also wore jewels of gold and silver, which 
 were first brought from Egypt, and afterwards augment- 
 ed by the spoil of their enemies, and their commerce 
 with Tyre : After Solomon's time pride and luxury 
 increased so rapidly, that the prophet Isaiah has spent a 
 whole chapter in enumerating the costly ornaments 
 with which the female Israelites used to decorate their 
 persons. 
 
Jews, or Hebrews, 335 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF PALESTINE. 
 
 Among the remarkable curiosities of Palestine 
 may be justly reckoned various petrifactions in the 
 neighborhood of Mount Carmel, which bear the most 
 exact resemblance to citrons, melons, olives, peaches, 
 and other vegetable productions. Here are also found a 
 kind of oysters, and bunches of grapes of the same 
 consistence. Small round stones, resembling peas, have 
 been frequently seen on a spot of ground near Rachel's 
 tomb, not far from Bethlehem. On the same road is a 
 fountain, honored with the name of et Apostle's Foun- 
 tain ;" and a Uttle farther is a barren, rugged, and dis- 
 mal solitude, to which our Saviour retired, and was 
 tempted by the devil. In this desart appears a steep 
 and craggy mountain, on the summit of which are two 
 chapels. There are also several gloomy caverns in the 
 neighborhood, formerly the solitary retreat of Christian 
 anchorite. 
 
 Among the artificial varieties may be considered the 
 ruins of Ptolemais, or St. John D'Acre which still retain 
 many vestiges of ancient magnificence ; such as the 
 remains of a noble Gothic cathedral, formerly dedicated 
 to St. Andrew ; the church of St. John, the titular saint 
 of the city ; the convents of the knights hospitallers ; 
 and the palace of their grand master. The remains of 
 Sebaste, the ancient Samaria, though long ago laid in 
 ruins, and great part of it turned into arable land, exhi- 
 bit some marks of those sumptuous edifices with which 
 it was adorned by king Herod. Towards the north side 
 is a large square piazza, encompassed with marble pil- 
 lars, together with the fragments of strong walls at some 
 distance. But the most remarkable object is a church, 
 said to have been built by the empress Helena over the 
 place where St. John the Baptist was beheaded, the 
 dome of which, together with some beautiful columns, 
 capitals, and mosaic work, prove it to have been a noble 
 fabric. 
 
33§ History of all Nations. 
 
 Jacob's well is highly venerated by Christian travel- 
 lers, on account of its antiquity, and of our Redeemer's 
 conference with the woman of Samaria. It is hewn 
 out of the solid rock, about thirty -five yards in depth, 
 and three in diameter, and is at present covered with a 
 stone vault. 
 
 The famous pools of Gihon and Bethesda may be 
 ranked among the most stately ruins; the former is situ- 
 ated about a quarter of a mile from Bethlehem gate 
 westward : Its length is a hundred and six paces, and 
 its breadth sixty-seven. It is lined with wall and plaister, 
 and contains a considerable store of water. The other, 
 at Jerusalem, is one hundred and twenty paces long, 
 forty broad, ad eighty deep ; but at present dry. 
 
 In the city of Bethlehem they pretend to shew the 
 stable and manger where the adorable Messiah lay at 
 the period of his nativity ; and exhibit a grotto hewn 
 out of a chalky rock, in which they affirm the blessed 
 virgin concealed herself and holy child from the perse- 
 cution of Herod. 
 
 At Nazareth is a magnificent church under ground, 
 said to occupy the very cave where the virgin Mary re- 
 ceived the angel's salutation, and where two beautiful 
 pillars of granite are erected in commemoration of that 
 interesting event. At a small distance are some fine re- 
 mains of a larger chu v ch, supposed to have been erected 
 in the time of the empress Helena. But this is much 
 inferior to the great church built over our Saviour's se- 
 pulchre, by the same empress, and called the church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 The last class of artificial curiosities worthy of no- 
 tice, is that of the sepulchral monuments, which are 
 scattered all over the country ; and of which the most 
 remarkable are selected for the reader's gratification. 
 
 The tomb of the holy virgin, situated near Jerusalem, 
 iu the valley of Jehosaphat, to which there is a de- 
 scent by a magnificent flight of steps, has on the right 
 hand side the sepulchre of St. Anna, the mother, and on 
 the left, that of Joseph, the husband of Mary. In each 
 
Jews, or Hebrews, 337 
 
 division are altars for the celebration of divine worship ; 
 and the whole is cut out of the solid rock. 
 
 But the most curious and magnificent pieces of anti- 
 quity of this kind are royal supulchres without the 
 walls of Jerusalem : they are all hewn out of the solid 
 marble rock, and contain several spacious and elaborate 
 apartments. On the eastern side is the entrance leading 
 to a stately court, about one hundred and twenty feet 
 square, neatly wrought and polished. On the south side 
 of it is a sumptuous portico, embellished in front with a 
 kind of architrave, and supported by columns; and on 
 the left of the portico is a descent into the sepulchral 
 apartments. 
 
 The first of these is a handsome room, about twenty- 
 four feet square, formed with such neatness and accuracy 
 that it ma}^ justly be stiled a beautiful chamber, hollow- 
 ed out of one piece of marble. From this room are 
 three passages leading to other chambers of a similar 
 fabric, but of different dimensions ; in each of which 
 (the first excepted) are stone coffins placed in niches, 
 that were once covered with semi-circular lids, embellish- 
 ed with flowers, garlands, &c. but now broken to pieces. 
 The door-cases, hinges, pivots, &c. are all of the same 
 stone with the other parts of these rooms, and even the 
 doors appear to have been cut out of the very piece 
 to which they hang. Why these grots are honored with, 
 the appellation of the sepulchres of the kings is not ex- 
 actly known, but whoever views them with any de- 
 gree of attention must be induced to pronounce them a 
 royal work, and to regard them as the most authentic 
 remains of the old regal splendour, that are to be met 
 with in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. 
 
 2 $ 
 
338 History of all JSations. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 JAPAN OR SIPHON. 
 
 The empire of Japan is called by the natives Niphon, 
 which signifies the foundation of the sun ; the largest 
 island giving its name to the two smaller ones which be- 
 long to it. By the Chinese this country is called Zip. 
 pon, or Siphon. 
 
 The government and religion of the Japanese are so 
 closely connected with their pretended origin, that it is 
 impossible to separate them. These people are highly 
 offended at the supposition of their being descended from 
 the Chinese, or any other nation ; for they assert that 
 they arose within the compass of their own empire, and 
 esteem themselves the offspring of their gods, who dur- 
 ing an inconceivable number of ages, governed that em- 
 pire, in a regular succession from father to son. Of 
 these gods they imagine there were two races ; the first 
 perfectly divine ; and the last, which descended from 
 the former, partly divine and partly human. But who 
 were the subjects of these imaginary deities, they do 
 not presume to determine ; for they imagine that the 
 present inhabitants were descended from Awase Dsu 
 No Mikotto, the last of this second race ; and that their 
 original ancestors were all of them his children by his 
 wife the goddess Isarami No Mikotto. Thus, though 
 they trace their original, as descended from the gods, even 
 higher than the Chinese (for each of these imaginary 
 deities reigned during a long succession of ages) yet 
 they date the origin of the present inhabitants so late as 
 about 600 years before Christ, when the genuine history 
 of Japan begins with the reign of Sin Mu Ten Oo, the 
 eldest son of Awase Dsu No Mikotto. To the dairi, 
 or ecclesiastical hereditary emperors, who were said to 
 descend in a direct line from the eldest branch of their 
 fabulous ancestors, the people attributed an almost di- 
 vine power, and an unlimited authority over their fellow- 
 
Japan or Siphon. 339 
 
 creatures ; while these emperors, proud of their illus- 
 trious and divine extraction, assumed a superstitious 
 holiness, supported by the utmost pomp and magnifi- 
 cence. As they were respected as gods, they thought 
 it beneath their dignity to trouble themselves with the 
 management of political affairs ; these therefore they 
 left to the laity. In consequence of this, the power of 
 the nobility increased ; and those princes of the empire 
 not only made themselves sovereign and independent in 
 the provinces committed to their government, but quar- 
 relling among themselves, attempted by force to dispos- 
 sess each other of their dominions. Hence were pro- 
 duced all the train of evils which spring from ambition, 
 jealousy, rancorous hate, and the thirst of revenge. 
 
 At length, in order to stop the defection and check 
 the ambition of the princes of the empire, the crown- 
 general was sent against them at the head of the impe- 
 rial army. The important post of commander in chief 
 was commonly intrusted to one of the emperor's sons, 
 and in course of time this post gave rise to the secular 
 monarchy: for about 500 years ago, Joritomo, the 
 crown- general, being disappointed in his hopes of suc- 
 ceeding to the imperial throne, assumed the sovereignty 
 in secular affairs ; and is therefore mentioned in the his- 
 tory of Japan as the first secular sovereign. The pow- 
 er of the ecclesiastical monarch was, however, still very 
 great; and he retained the privilege of nominating the 
 person who should succeed to the secular authority ; 
 but, in the sixteenth century, the person who at that 
 time held this great oifice made himself absolute in the 
 secular government of the empire. He was the dairi's 
 second son ; and the laws of primogeniture depriving 
 him of the hope to attain absolute authority from heredi- 
 tary or divine right, he availed himself of the military 
 force of the country, which he held under his control, 
 to wrest from the emperor, his father, all authority 
 over secular affairs. But the functions which he had 
 thus assumed he did not quietly exercise, for several of 
 the powerful princes of the empire contended for their 
 
340 History ofallJ\atio?is. 
 
 wonted independence; till at length in the year 1583, 
 a common soldier, named Taico, or Tayckoy, a man 
 of an obscure birth, but of a bold and daring spirit, 
 assisted by strong natural talents, obtained the crown. 
 At first, indeed, he had only fifty soldiers, who were 
 of intrepid courage; but their number soon increased 
 to a numerous army, and he carried on his conquests 
 with great celerity and uninterrupted success: so that 
 in a few years he subdued all the petty princes, took 
 their cities and castles, seated himself on the imperial 
 throne, and the dairi, or ecclesiastical emperor, was 
 compelled to yield him the entire possession of the se- 
 cular government; while he, sensible how dangerous 
 the attempt would be to combat those deeply- rooted 
 prejudices which both the military and the people at 
 large cherished in favour of their ancient monarchs and 
 high priests, readily acknowledged him to be supreme 
 in spirituals, and to enjoy those high honours and pre- 
 rogatives which had ever been inseparable from his 
 office. To reduce the pride of the nobility, and hold 
 them in subjection, he obliged them to bring their 
 wives and families to his court at Jedo, where they were 
 to remain as hostages of their fidelity whilst they resid- 
 ed on their governments, and they themselves were re- 
 quired to attend him six months in the year, and annu- 
 ally to renew their oath of fidelity. 
 
 This great revolution was completed in the year 1617. 
 His son Tayckossama was a minor at the time of his 
 father's death ; he was murdered by the prince who had 
 been appointed by Tayckoy regent during the minority. 
 By this murder the crown passed to the family of Jejas- 
 sama, in which it still continues. Taico and his suc- 
 cessors contented themselves with the title of cubo, 
 which under the dairi was that of prime minister. 
 
 The ambition of the princes of the empire being thus 
 curbed, and their power broken, Taico proceeded to se- 
 cure the new-modelled government from the seditious 
 rage of the licentious vulgar, by a new system of laws; 
 which were perhaps the most severe that ever were en- 
 
Japan or Siphon* 341 
 
 acted since the days of Draco, and like them may be 
 said to be written with blood ; for there is scarcely a 
 crime that is not publicly punished with death, except 
 the criminal be a prince, and then he has only the privi- 
 lege of dispatching himself in private, which is com- 
 monly done by ripping up his own bowels. In this case 
 the emperor sends his order by letter, which if not im- 
 mediately complied with, the person is either put to the 
 most excruciating tortures, or, if he be a prince of the 
 royal blood, banished to some barren island, where he 
 is perhaps forced to lead a life more severe and painful 
 than death itself. But in other cases, the criminal is no 
 sooner found guilty than he is hurried to execution. 
 Kempher asserts, that a lie, or prevarication ; theft, 
 though of the slightest kind ; a breach of the peace ; a 
 blow with a sword, even though sheathed in the scab- 
 bard ; cheating, even at play ; detraction, or any other 
 injury done to a man's character, are all punished with 
 death : for mere chastisements are seldom used but by 
 the lords to their slaves. In some provinces, lathers of 
 families, except those of the lower rank, have power 
 over the lives and limbs of their wives, children, and 
 domestics. But in crimes against the government, as, 
 neglecting ro obey the emperor's edicts, defrauding him 
 in his revenue, counterfeiting the coin, setting a house 
 on fire, robberies, burglaries, debauching a married 
 woman, or ravishing an unmarried one ; injustice, or 
 maladministration in public officers, whether in go- 
 vernors, judges, or magistrates, the punishment is not 
 confined to the criminals, but inhumanly extended to his 
 parents, brethren, children, and more distant relations, 
 all of whom are put to death at the same hour though at 
 ever so great a distance from each other. This is done 
 by respiting the execution of those who are near, till the 
 sentence can be conveyed by proper couriers to the other 
 places ; and then, on the appointed time, all are brought 
 forth, and executed at mid-day ; but the lives of the fe- 
 male relations are generally saved, and they are sold to 
 slavery, for a longer or shorter term of years, accord- 
 
342 History of all Nations. 
 
 ing to the nearness of their relationship to the offender ; 
 except in cases of high-treason, where the wives and 
 daughters are put to death. For thefts and robberies, 
 the unhappy criminals are crucified with the head down- 
 ward, and consigned to a longer or shorter torture, ac- 
 cording to the degree of their criminality : so that in 
 cases of aggravated guilt, they are left to hang on the 
 cross till they expire, which in some instances is not in 
 a shorter time than three or four days : but if the theft 
 admits of a milder death, they are dispatched by a dag- 
 ger, or by strangling. In cases of high-treason, not 
 only all the relations, but the whole ward in which they 
 live, undergo they same dreadful fate ; the law suppos- 
 ing them to be worthy of death for suffering such ene- 
 mies to society to live among them. This cruel punish- 
 ment of the innocent is an effectual means of causing the 
 criminal, when known, to be immediately discovered, 
 since the informer not only saves himself, but his whole 
 family. 
 
 These laws, contrary as they are to every sentiment 
 of equity and humanity, are said to be still in force, and 
 executed with the greatest rigour ; but criminals, as 
 soon as they find they are discovered, frequently com- 
 mit an act of suicide, to escape the tortures which await 
 them. 
 
 As a farther security to the new established govern- 
 ment, and the safety of the empire, Taico enacted, that 
 the empire should be rendered inaccessible for ever, and 
 thoroughly purged from foreigners and foreign customs. 
 No foreigners had so firm a footing in the empire as the 
 Portuguese, who first discovered the country in the year 
 1543 ; when, induced by the prospect of gain, they 
 made large settlements in Japan. Their foreign com- 
 modities, with the doctrine taught by the missionaries, 
 by which it is said they gained over one- third of the 
 people, and even several of the princes of the empire, 
 and the marriages contracted between them and the new 
 converts, so ingratiated them into the favour of the nation, 
 
Japan or Siphon, 343 
 
 that, flushed with their success, they projected a revolu- 
 tion in the government. 
 
 In the year 1582, several princes of the empire sent 
 some of their nearest relations, with letters and presents, 
 for the express purpose of paying homage to Gregory 
 XIII. who then filled the Papal chair. A circumstan- 
 tial account of this embassy is given by Thuanus. Lib, 
 LXXXI. Sect. 25. Ed. Lond. 1733. Tom. IF. 
 
 Two letters, written by the Portuguese, one of which 
 was intercepted by the Dutch, laid open their treache- 
 rous designs. The Dutch, who were then at war with 
 Portugal, seized this opportunity of discovering their 
 treason, in hopes of gaining this profitable branch of trade 
 to themselves. Other considerations concurred to excite 
 in the Japanese an implacable hatred towards their Eu- 
 ropean guests. Their priests could not, without the ut- 
 most discontent and resentment, see their old religion, 
 with all its powerful attractives of profit and popular es- 
 teem, daily losing ground ; and strong representations 
 were made at court by one of the chief counsellors of 
 state, who being met on the road by a Jesuit bishop, the 
 haughty prelate refused to pay him the same deference 
 and respect which he was accustomed to receive from, 
 the natives. The excessive profits the Portuguese re- 
 ceived, and the immense treasures they sent out of the 
 country, also alarmed the government, while the rapid 
 progress made by the new religion, the union of the con- 
 verts, and the hatred they bore to the gods and religion 
 of the country, filled the emperor and his court with 
 dreadful apprehensions. 
 
 Taico, the emperor, therefore began to put a stop to 
 the increase of the Portuguese interest, and the propa- 
 gation of their religion ; he however made a slow pro- 
 gress, and left the work to be finished by his success- 
 ors, who placed him among the gods, by the name of 
 the Second Fatzman, or Mars of the country. The 
 Portuguese, with their clergy and Japanese kindred, 
 were ordered to depart the country, under the penalty 
 of suffering death by crucifixion ; all the other Japanese 
 
344 History of all J\aiions. 
 
 were commanded to remain in the kingdom ; those who 
 were actually abroad were to return within a certain li- 
 mited time, after which they should, if taken, be liable 
 to the same punishment, and those who had embraced 
 the new religion were commanded to forsake it. These 
 orders were the beginning of a most dreadful persecu- 
 tion ; for the new converts being unmoved by the weak 
 reasons that were urged against their faith, the sword, 
 the halter, the cross, and the flames, were barbarously 
 and vainly made use of to compel them to retract their 
 opinions and change their conduct, instead of argument 
 to convince their understandings, and to render them 
 sensible of their error. Yet death, in all these various 
 forms, was far from shaking their fortitude, for they 
 bravely sealed their faith with their blood, and shewed 
 such amazing examples of constancy, that their enemies 
 were filled with surprise and admiration. According to 
 the letters of the Jesuits, 20,570 persons suffered death 
 for the faith of Christ in the year 1590 only. This cruel 
 persecution, which exceeded every thing of the kind 
 mentioned in history, lasted about forty years, when at 
 last all the remains of Christianity in Japan were exter- 
 minated in one day ; for upwards of 37,000 Chris- 
 tians being reduced to despair at beholding the in- 
 sufferable torments endured by their brethren, took up 
 arms, and got possession of the castle of Simabra, seated 
 upon the sea-coast, with a firm resolution of defending 
 their lives to the utmost extremity ; but, after a siege 
 of three months, the castle was taken, on the 12th of 
 April, 1638, and all who remained alive were cruelly 
 butchered. 
 
 Thus was Christianity suppressed in the Japanese em- 
 pire by the extermination of the Christians ; and that coun- 
 try rendered impassible to the natives, and inaccessible to 
 foreigners. The Portuguese at Macoa a fterwards sent 
 thither a splendid embassy ; but although the law of na- 
 tions, and the practice of every civilized community, in 
 conformity to that law, render the persons of ambassa- 
 dors inviolate, yet, in this instance, the ambassadors, and 
 
Japan, or Siphon. 343 
 
 ttteir whole retinue, to the number of 6 1 persons, were be- 
 headed, by the special command of the emperor, except 
 a few of their meanest servants, whom they saved, that 
 they might carry to their countrymen the tidings of this 
 butchery. 
 
 The Dutch, allured by the advantageous trade of the, 
 Portuguese, first landed in Japan about the year 1600, 
 where they met with all possible opposition, and every 
 ill office, from the European rival in commerce. Por- 
 tugal was then subject to the king of Spain, with whom 
 the Dutch were at war; and this war was rekindled be- 
 fore the Dutch discovered the designs of the Portuguese 
 against the government of Japan, and then they assisted 
 the Japanese, as hath been already mentioned, in driving 
 out their insidious rivals, and afterwards in exterminat- 
 ing the Romish religion out of that empire. After these 
 events, which, however unchristian, shewed them to 
 be the friends, or at least the tools of the Japanese, they 
 enjoyed considerable privileges ; till, having built a fac- 
 tory and warehouse of hewn stone, stronger, more lofty, 
 and more extensive than the buildings of that country, 
 while they were unlading one of their ships into their ca- 
 pacious warehouse, it is said, the bottom of a large box 
 started, and, instead of merchandize, a brass mortar fell 
 out. The Japanese government, ever watchful for the 
 safety of the state, were alarmed, and the Dutch received 
 immediate orders, under pain of death, to demolish all 
 their buildings, and remove from the port of Firando, 
 where they were then established, to the little island De- 
 sima ; which may properly enough be called the Dutch 
 prison in Japan. 
 
 About the year 1663, the English attempted to open a 
 traffic with Japan ; but the Dutch, dreading such a rival- 
 ship, took the most effectual method to alienate the minds 
 of the Japanese from these new European merchants, 
 by informing them, that the king of that country, 
 Charles II. had married a daughter of the king of Portu- 
 gal. Since that time the English have entirely given up 
 all trade directly with Japan. 
 
 2u 
 
346 tiistory of all Nations. 
 
 In the third voyage of discovery by captain Cook, in 
 which he unfortunately perished, and his successor, 
 captain Clerk, died, captain Gore became the conductor 
 of the expedition. On his return home, he came within 
 six or seven miles of the eastern coast of Japan, but the 
 weather being tempestuous, the coast known only by a 
 Dutch chart, published by Jansen in his atlas, and 
 Keempfer having described it as the most dangerous 
 coast in the world ; the natives too being known to be 
 abhorrent to strangers ; he therefore did not think it pru- 
 dent to attempt to land ; the sails and cordage of the 
 ships being also in a very decayed condition. Some 
 Japanese vessels bore down towards the ships, one of 
 which came within the distance of about half a mile. 
 The narrative says, " It would have been easy to have 
 spoken with this vessel, but as the manoeuvres of the 
 Japanese testified that they were much alarmed, captain 
 Gore was unwilling to augment their terror, and con- 
 cluding that he should have better opportunities of com- 
 munication with these people, suffered them to go off 
 without interruption." Cook's Third Voyage, III. 401. 
 No such opportunity however presented itself whilst the 
 ships continued on the coast. 
 
 Mons. Pages, who made the circuit of the globe in a 
 very uncommon manner of travelling, relates, in the ac- 
 count which he has published of that voyage (Vol. I. p. 
 231, Lausanne Edition) that some time since (he travel- 
 led in the year 1761) the Manillans sent deputies and 
 presents to Japan, with proffers of friendship and propo- 
 sals of forming a commercial intercourse, founded upon 
 such principles as should be mutually beneficial. The 
 Japanese received the deputies very kindly, accepted 
 their presents, and made them others in return of much 
 higher value, but absolutely rejected all connections, 
 whether commercial or political, however beneficial or 
 alluring the terms might be. 
 
 At present the emperors of Japan are as despotic as 
 any of the dairi ever were. It has been already observ- 
 ed, that as the emperor has a great number of petty prin- 
 
Japan or Siphon. 347 
 
 oes and nobles, who have absolute power in their several 
 governments, the greatest care is taken to keep them in 
 due submission. Of these twenty- one bear the title of 
 kings, six are princes, four are dukes, seventeen are 
 counts, and forty-one are lords, or something equivalent 
 to these dignities, besides a great number of noblemen 
 of inferior rank. The emperor's council consists of the 
 former, who are obliged to attend in their turns, and 
 have always four of the kingly dignity at their head. — 
 The emperor's standing forces, including garrisons, &c. 
 consist of 100,000 foot, and 20,000 horse ; but in time 
 of war each of the governors of the provinces is oblig- 
 ed to bring into the field a body of horse and foot com- 
 pletely armed, proportionable to the extent of his pro- 
 vince, or to the pension he receives from the emperor ; 
 which,in the whole, amount to 368,000 foot, and 38,000 
 horse. Their weapons are fire-arms, javelins, bows 
 and arrows, sabres and daggers. The cavalry wear cui- 
 rasses; and the foot helmets, finely wrought. 
 
 From what has been before observed, the reader may 
 form some idea of the numerous court of this monareh 
 in his capital, since it must consist of one half of the 
 princes and nobility of the empire, together with all 
 their families, beside his own officers and guards, which 
 generally amount to about 5 or 6000 men. He has 
 many palaces magnificently built and furnished, in 
 which the royal apartment, halls of audience, &c. are 
 enriched with every thing curious and costly in art or 
 nature. The ceilings are generally plated with gold, 
 finely wrought, and embellished with precious stones; 
 and the beds, screens, and cabinets, with the gardens, 
 walks, ponds, fountains, terraces, groves, and sum- 
 mer-houses, are answerable to the grandeur of the 
 place. But of all the royal palaces that of Jedo is the 
 largest and noblest : the rest, though grand and sump- 
 tuous, are used as houses of pleasure, for his diversion 
 in hunting, fishing, and other recreations. 
 
 To this time the emperors allow the dairi to be 
 treated with the same profound veneration that was 
 
348 History of all Nations. 
 
 formerly paid him in ancient times : for though he has 
 lost the greatest branch of his power, and is only head 
 over all religious matters, while the emperor enjoys 
 not only the imperial dignity, but the government both 
 in civil and military affairs, yet he is allowed to pre- 
 serve his pristine grandeur. He is not suffered to set 
 his foot on the ground, and wherever he goes, is car- 
 ried on men's shoulders. He is kept so retired, that 
 the sun is not thought worthy to shine on his head, or 
 the wind to blow upon him. He never wears the t «ame 
 clothes above one day, or eats above once out of the 
 same dishes, all the vessels and utensils of his table be- 
 ing new every day : but these, though very clean and 
 neat, are made only of common clay, and are gener- 
 ally broken ; for they imagine, that if any layman should 
 presume to eat his food out of those sacred dishes, it 
 would swell and inflame his mouth and throat. He is 
 addressed in pompous titles little short of blasphemy ; 
 and all, except the emperor, when they speak to him in 
 public, prostrate themselves fiat on the ground; beside, 
 as every thing belonging to his person is esteemed sa- 
 cred, he never shaves his beard, cuts his hair, or pares 
 his nails. He is chiefly served by his twelve wives, 
 whom he marries with great solemnity ; and, like the 
 other monarchs of the east, keeps them as much as 
 possible concealed. 
 
 Upon the decease of the dairi, the ministry of that 
 ecclesiastical court choose for his successor the next 
 heir, without regard to age or sex ; hence it has often 
 happened, that a prince under age, or a young un* 
 married princess, has ascended the throne; and there 
 are instances where the deceased dairi's relict has suc- 
 ceeded her husband. 
 
 All who belong to the dairi's court are clothed after a 
 particular manner, and their habits are very different 
 from those of secular princes, whom they scorn and 
 despise, as descending from a mean and unholy extrac- 
 tion. They wear long wide drawers, and a large gown 
 With a sweeping train, which they. trail after them on the 
 
Japan or Siphon, 349 
 
 ground. Their heads are covered with a black lacker- 
 ed cap, by the shape of which, among other marks of 
 distinction, their degree of rank is known, as well as 
 what post they enjoy. Some have a large band of black 
 silk or crape sewed to their caps, which either hangs 
 down behind their shoulders, or is tied up. Others 
 have a kind of flap, like a fan, standing out before their 
 eyes. Some have a sort of scarf hanging down before 
 from their shoulders, the length of which differs accord- 
 ing to the quality of the wearer : for it is the custom of 
 this court, that nobody bows lower than just to touch 
 the floor with the end of his scarf. The dress of the 
 women of this court is also different from that of secu- 
 lar women ; particularly the dairi's twelve wives, who 
 when full dressed, are so loaded with large wide gowns of 
 silk, interwoven with flowers of gold and silver, that 
 they are quite embarrassed in walking. 
 
 An application to different kinds of learning form the 
 chief amusement of the dairi's court ; and not only the 
 courtiers, but many of the fair sex, have acquired great 
 reputation by their poetical, historical, and other writ- 
 ings. All the almanacks were formerly made there; 
 but though this is not now the case, they must receive 
 the approbation of the court. Here a taste for music 
 prevails, and the women in particular play with great 
 dexterity on all the musical instruments they are ac- 
 quainted with ; the young noblemen also divert them- 
 selves by riding, running races, dancing, and other 
 exercises. The Japanese lay claim to the invention of 
 gun-powder ; they greatly excel the Chinese in the use 
 of fire-arms, and are good engineers. Their ingenuity 
 and skill are likewise eminently displayed in their fire- 
 works. 
 
 When the dairi was sole master of the country, he ho- 
 noured with his sacred presence whatever city he pleas- 
 ed ; and it seldom happened that two succeeding em- 
 perors chose the same place of residence. The dairi's 
 court is now fixed at Miaco, where he has a large and 
 spacious palace, which is distinguished by a lofty and 
 
550 History of all JSiations* 
 
 magnificent tower. His imperial consort lives with him 
 in the same palace, and the palaces of his other wives 
 are situated next to his. At a small distance are the 
 houses of the lords whose offices require a constant and 
 more immediate attendance on his person ; there are also 
 a number of other palaces and streets, divided among 
 the officers belonging to the court according to their 
 rank, all of which are separated from Miaco, and defend- 
 ed against the sudden approach of an enemy, by walls, 
 gates, ditches, and ramparts. The secular monarch 
 constantly keeps a strong guard of soldiers at the dairi's 
 court, in appearance out of tenderness and care for the 
 preservation and safety of his sacred person and family ; 
 but, doubtless, with a view to prevent all attempts for 
 the recovery of the supreme authority. 
 
 Every imperial city is committed to the care of two 
 governors ; Nagasaki alone has three. These have the 
 command of the city by turns, each generally for the 
 space of two years. When that time is expired, the 
 presiding governor delivers up his rower and apartment 
 in the palace to his successor, and immediately sets out 
 for Jedo, to make the usual presents, and give an ac- 
 count of the most material transactions in his govern- 
 ment. He continues at Jedo about six months, during 
 which time he is permitted to live with his family : but 
 as soon as he receives orders from the council of state to 
 repair to his last government, or to any other, he must 
 depart, leaving his wife and children at Jedo till his re- 
 turn, in a manner as hostages for his fidelity ; nay, while 
 he is in his government, he is to admit no woman within 
 the space of his residence, on pain of incurring the 
 imperial displeasure ; the fatal consequences of which 
 are no less than imprisonment, banishment, or death, 
 •with the entire ruin of his family ; it being esteemed 
 beneath the majesty of the emperor to inflict slighter pun- 
 ishments on the least disregard shewn to his commands. 
 The salary of each governor is but small ; but his per- 
 quisites are so considerable, that in a few years he might 
 amass great estates, but for the presents which must be 
 
Japan or Siphon. 351 
 
 made to the emperor and the grandees of his court ; and 
 being obliged to keep up all that state and grandeur 
 which is thought becoming the dignity of the employ- 
 ment, and the majesty of the supreme head. 
 
 Under the imperial governors are four magistrates, 
 and their deputies. These magistrates hold their office 
 a year; but they are obliged daily to communicate to 
 the governor every thing that comes before them ; and 
 in difficult cases, or where they cannot agree among 
 themselves, to lay the cause before the emperor's bench 
 or court of justice, or, with the consent of that court, 
 to leave it to the determination of the governor in the 
 last resort. All civil affairs are brought before this 
 imperial court of judicature, which, having examined 
 the parties and their witnesses, gives judgment accord- 
 ing to the laws of the empire, and their imperial or- 
 ders and proclamations. From this court there is no 
 appeal ; but those who have received sentence of death 
 cannot be executed without a warrant signed by the 
 council of state at Jedo, which council must be also con- 
 sulted in all affairs of great moment. 
 
 The deputies of the magistrates are next to them in 
 authority, but enjoy their posts for life. It is one branch 
 of their office to compose differences of small conse- 
 quence arising in that part of the town committed to 
 their care. 
 
 Next to these are four officers, who enjoy their post 
 only one year, and are appointed by the magistrates to 
 make a faithful report in their name to the governor, of 
 the daily transactions in the execution of their office ; 
 and being also a kind of representatives of the people, 
 whose interest they are to promote at the governor's 
 court, they have a small room assigned them in his pa- 
 lace, where two of them constantly attend till the go- 
 vernor is at leisure to receive the messages they are to 
 deliver in the name of the magistrates, or the petitions 
 they present to him in the name of private persons. 
 
 The police and regulations observed in every street, 
 in order to keep a watchful eye over the conduct of 
 
352 History of all hattons. 
 
 the inhabitants, and to relieve the governors, magis- 
 trates, and other chief officers, in the discharge of their 
 duty, are very strict. For these purposes the follow- 
 ing officers are appointed for every street : the principal 
 is the ottona, who gives the necessary orders in case of 
 lire, sees that a regular watch be kept at night, and that 
 the orders of the governors and magistrates be punc- 
 tually executed. He keeps books, in which he regis- 
 ters marriages, the births of children, deaths, persons 
 who travel, or remove out of the street; and the names, 
 births, and trades, of such new inhabitants as settle in 
 it. When slight differences arise between the inhabi- 
 tants of his street, he summons the parties before him 
 and, in conjunction with the deputies of the magistrates, 
 endeavours, if possible, to reconcile them. He pun- 
 ishes small crimes by seizing the criminals, and put- 
 ting them in irons. He causes criminals to be taken up 
 by his own people within his district, and confines 
 them till he receives farther orders from the superior ma- 
 gistrates, before whom he lays all criminal affairs and 
 cases of moment; and is himself answerable for what 
 accidents happen within the street under his inspection. 
 He is chosen by the inhabitants of that street from 
 among themselves, each of them writing upon a piece 
 of paper the name of the person who is the object of 
 his choice, adding his own name and seal. The votes 
 are all taken in, the papers opened, and the names of 
 the two who have most votes are laid before the go- 
 vernor, with the petition of the inhabitants, that he 
 would be pleased to nominate one of them as ottona. 
 
 Every ottona has three deputies, who give him 
 their advice and assistance in the execution of his 
 office. 
 
 The inhabitants of every street are divided into com- 
 panies, from each of which five men are selected : there 
 are ten or fifteen companies in every street : but though 
 these are termed companies of five, a few more of the 
 neighbours are frequently added, so that they consist of 
 ten' or fifteen heads of families, all of whom must be the 
 
Japan or Siphon* 355 
 
 proprietors of the ground and houses in which they live ; 
 for those who have no houses of their own, notwithstand- 
 ing their being inhabitants of the street, are not admitted 
 into those corporations, but considered as tenants de- 
 pendent on the landlords, and are therefore exempted 
 from taxes and other burdens, except the night-watch 
 and round, in which they are obliged to serve them- 
 selves, or procure a substitute, it being a duty which all 
 the inhabitants are required to observe in rotation. 
 These tenants have no vote in the election of the officers 
 of the street, nor any share in the public money. Each 
 of these little companies has one of its own body at its 
 head, who is answerable for its actions ; and if they be 
 contrary to law, he shares with the rest of the members 
 the penalty they are sentenced to undergo by the su- 
 preme magistrate. 
 
 There is likewise a secretary, or public notary, in 
 every street, who writes and publishes the commands of 
 the ottona to the inhabitants of the street, and gives pass- 
 ports, testimonials, and letters of dismission. The 
 next officer is the treasurer of the street, who keeps the 
 public money, and from time to time accounts for it to 
 the rest of the inhabitants, specifying the sums he has 
 received and paid. The inhabitants serve this office 
 each a year in turn. There is another officer, named 
 " the messenger of the street," who is to give informa- 
 tion of every death, or any occurrence that is thought 
 worth noticing. He also delivers to the chief officers 
 the petitions of the inhabitants of the street, collects the 
 contribution money for the present which at certain 
 times is made to the governors and chief magistrates, 
 delivers the commands of the magistrates to the heads of 
 the companies, and publishes them in the street. 
 
 If an inhabitant designs to remove from the house and 
 street in which he lives, to another, he must first apply 
 to the ottona of the other street, and making him a pre- 
 sent of a dish of fish, give him a petition, expressing 
 his desire to be admitted among the inhabitants of that 
 street. The ottona, upon this, makes inquiry into 
 
 2 w 
 
354 History of all Nations. 
 
 his life, character, and conduct, and then sends his mes- 
 senger of the street to every one of the inhabitants, de- 
 siring to know if they will consent to admit the petitioner 
 as a neighbour ; and if any one of the inhabitants opposes 
 his admission, urging that he is a drunkard, quarrelsome, 
 or addicted to any other irregularity, and that he will 
 not be answerable for the consequences, it is sufficient 
 to exclude him. But if he obtains all their consents, the 
 petitioner must apply to the public notary ol his former 
 street for a certificate of his behaviour, and obtain a let- 
 ter of admission, both signed by the ottona, and these 
 must be carried by the street -messenger to the ottona 
 of the street to which the petitioner intends to remove ; 
 upon which he receives him under his protection, and 
 incorporates him among the inhabitants of his street. 
 Meanwhile he is not answerable for the petitioner's be- 
 haviour before his delivery of those instruments ; and 
 should he be found guilty of any crime committed be» 
 fore that time, it would be laid to the charge of the street 
 in which he formerly lived. After his being admit- 
 ted among the inhabitants of the new street, and his 
 name entered in the register-book, he solemnises his en- 
 try with a handsome dinner, which he gives either to the 
 company of five, or, if he pleases, to the whole street. 
 His greatest trouble, however, still remains, and that 
 is selling his old house ; for this cannot be done without 
 the consent of all the inhabitants of the street, who often 
 oppose it for upwards of a year, the buyer, for whose 
 crimes they are for the future to suffer, not being suffi- 
 ciently known, or not agreeable to them. Supposing 
 all obstacles at length removed, the buyer is to pay an 
 eighth part of the price into the public treasury of the 
 street, five parts of which are to be equally distributed 
 among the inhabitants, for the pains they have taken on 
 account of the purchaser's admission, and the three re- 
 maining parts are allotted for a public dinner. This, 
 however, is seldom given : but the new inhabitant has 
 no sooner taken possession of his house, than all his 
 
Japan or Siphon. 355 
 
 neighbours come to wish him joy, and to offer him their 
 services. 
 
 When an inhabitant of a street is accused of any mis- 
 demeanor, his case is laid before the street council, that 
 is, the ottona, his three deputies, and the heads of the 
 small companies ; when, if the affair be too intricate for 
 them to determine, they lay it before the council of the 
 town ; if they meet with the same difficulties, the Nen- 
 giosi, or four annual officers under the magistrates, are 
 desired to confer upon the affair, assisted by some of the 
 stewards of the governor's household, and if they find 
 it necessary, to communicate it to the governor him- 
 self. 
 
 If quarrels or disputes arise in the street, either be- 
 tween the inhabitants or strangers, the next neighbours 
 are obliged to part them ; for if one should happen to be 
 killed, though it were the aggressor, the other must in- 
 evitably suffer death, notwithstanding his alledging it was 
 done in his own defence ; and he knows no other method 
 of preventing the shame of a public execution, than by 
 ripping up his own belly. Nor is his death thought 
 sufficient satisfaction to their laws : three of those fami- 
 lies who live next to the place where the accident hap- 
 pened, are shut up in their houses for three, four, or 
 more months, and rough boards nailed across their doors 
 and windows, after they have prepared for ibis imprison- 
 ment by providing necessary provisions ; and the rest 
 of the inhabitants of the same street are sentenced to 
 pass some days or months in hard labour upon the pub- 
 lic worksi These penalties are inflicted in proportion 
 to their guilt, in not endeavouring to the utmost of their 
 power to prevent the fatal consequences of such a quar- 
 rel. A like punishment, but greater in degree, is in- 
 flicted on the heads of the companies of five in that 
 street where the crime was committed; and it is an 
 high aggravation of their guilt and punishment, if they 
 knew before-hand that the persons were of a quarrel- 
 some disposition, or, in other cases, were inclined to 
 the crime for which they suffer. The landlords, and 
 
356 History of all Nations. 
 
 also the masters of the criminal, partake of the pun- 
 ishment inflicted for the misdemeanors of their lodgers 
 and servants. Whoever draws his sword, though he 
 does not hurt or even touch his enemy, must, if the 
 fact be proved, suffer death. If an inhabitant flies from 
 justice, the head of the company of five to which he 
 belongs must pursue him, or hire people to follow him 
 till he be found, and delivered up to the civil magis- 
 trate, under pain of corporal punishment. 
 
 Religion of the Japanese.] Their religion is 
 in general the grossest heathenism and idolatry ; but 
 religious liberty, so far as it has no interference with 
 the interest of the secular government, or does not af- 
 fect the peace and tranquility of the empire, has always 
 been allowed in Japan: hence foreign religions have 
 been easily introduced, and propagated with success; 
 there are therefore many religions in Japan, the princi- 
 pal of which are the three following. 
 
 I. The Sinto, or ancient idol- worship of the Ja- 
 panese. 
 
 II. The Bubso, or foreign idol-worship, introduced 
 into Japan from the empire of China and the king- 
 dom of Siam ; and, 
 
 III. The religion of their philosophers and moral- 
 ists. 
 
 I. The religion of the Sintos deserves to be first 
 spoken of, more on account of its antiquity, than for the 
 number of its professoi s. These have some obscure 
 and imperfect notions of the immortality of the soul, 
 and a future state of bliss or misery, and yet worship 
 only those gods whom they believe are peculiarly con- 
 cerned in the government of the world; for though they 
 acknowledge a Supreme Being, who they believe 
 dwells in the highest heaven, and admit of some infe- 
 rior gods, whom they place among the stars; yet they 
 do not worship and adore them, nor have they any fes- 
 tival-days sacred to them, thinking that beings so much 
 above mankind will concern themselves but little about 
 human affairs. They, however, swear by these su- 
 
Japan or Siphon. 357 
 
 pcrior gods ; but they worship and invoke those gods 
 alone whom they believe to have the sovereign control 
 over this world, its elements, productions, and ani- 
 mals; these they suppose will not only render them 
 happy here, but, by interceding for them at the hour 
 of death, may procure them a happy condition in the 
 next state of existence, in reward of their proper con- 
 duct here. Hence their dairis, or ecclesiastical empe- 
 rors, being esteemed lineally descended from the eldest 
 and most favoured sons of these deities, the supposed 
 heirs of their excellent qualities, are considered as the 
 true and living images of their gods, and possessed of 
 such an eminent degree of holiness, that none of the 
 people dare presume to appear in their presence. In 
 short, the whole system of the Sinto's divinity is a 
 lame and ridiculous jumble of absurdities, and most 
 probably would not have subsisted so long, had it 
 not been so closely connected with those civil customs, 
 in the observance of which this nation is scrupulously 
 exact. 
 
 The temples of the Sintoists are exceedingly mean ; 
 within them is hung up white paper, cut into small 
 pieces, as emblems of the purity of the place; and 
 sometimes there is a large mirror in the middle, that 
 the worshippers, when they behold themselves, may 
 consider, that as distinctly as all their bodily defects 
 appear in the mirror, so conspicuously do the secret 
 stains of their hearts appear before the eyes of the im- 
 mortal gods. These temples are frequently without 
 any visible idols of the gods to whom they are conse- 
 crated, they being locked up in a case at the upper end, 
 and to this case the people bow. These temples are not 
 attended by priests, but by seculars, who are, with very 
 few exceptions, utterly ignorant of the principles of the 
 religion they profess, and unacquainted with the his- 
 tory of the gods they worship. These, when they go 
 abroad, are dressed, for distinction sake, in large 
 gowns, commonly white, but sometimes yellow, and 
 of other colours ; occasionally under these they wear 
 
358 History of all Nations. 
 
 their common secular dress. They shave their beards; 
 but let their hair grow, and wear a stiff, oblong, lack- 
 ered cap, resembling in shape a ship, tied under their 
 chins with twisted silk strings, terminated with tas- 
 sels, which hang lower or higher according to the 
 office or quality of the person who wears them, who is 
 not obliged to bow lower to persons of superior rank 
 than to make these tassels touch the floor. Their su- 
 periors have their hair twisted under black gauze or 
 crape, in a very particular manner; and have their ears 
 covered by a kind of flap, which stands out or hangs, 
 according to the dignities or honourable titles conferred 
 upon them by the dairi. They are under his direc- 
 tion in spiritual affairs; but in temporals they, and all 
 the other ecclesiastical persons in the empire, are un- 
 der the command of two imperial judges, appointed 
 by the secular emperor. Their haughtiness and pride 
 exceed description; when they appear in a secular 
 dress, they, like the nobles, wear two sabres, and think 
 it becomes their station to shun all communication and 
 intimacy with the common people. 
 
 The Sintoists do not adhere to the doctrine of the 
 transmigration of souls ; yet abstain from killing and eat- 
 ing those beasts that are of service to mankind, because 
 they imagine that slaying them would be an act of cruelty 
 and ingratitude. They believe that the soul, after quit- 
 ting the bod}, is removed to the high sub-celestial fields, 
 seated just beneath the thirty-three heavens, the dwelling 
 places of their gods ; that those who have led a good 
 life find an immediate admission, while the souls of the 
 wicked and impious are denied entrance, and con- 
 demned to wander till they have expiated their crimes ; 
 but they do not believe in a hell or place of torment. 
 One of the essential points of their religion, is, that they 
 ought to preserve an inward purity of heart, and to prac- 
 tice or abstain from whatever the dictates of reason, or 
 the express command of the civil magistrate, direct or 
 forbid. They have no formulary, either by divine or 
 ecclesiastical authority, for regulating their social con- 
 
Japan or Siphon. 359 
 
 duct. Hence it might be imagined, that they would in- 
 dulge, without scruple, the gratification of their wishes 
 and desires, unrestrained by the dread of acting contrary 
 to the will of the gods, and feeling no apprehension of 
 incurring their displeasure ; but they have an active 
 principle in their own breasts, which preserves them in 
 the habitual exercise of virtuous and good actions, and 
 restrains them from the practice of vice. 
 
 Another essential point of the Sinto's religion, is a 
 rigorous abstinence from whatever renders a man im- 
 pure. This consists in abstaining from blood, from 
 eating flesh, or being near a dead body ; by which a 
 person is for a time rendered unfit to go to the temples, 
 to visit holy places, and to appear in the presence of the 
 gods. Whoever is stained with his own or another's 
 blood, is for seven days unfit to approach the holy places ; 
 and if, in building a temple, one of the workmen hap- 
 pens to receive a hurt, by which blood is drawn, he is 
 from thenceforward, incapacitated from w r orking on that 
 sacred building ; but if the same accident should happen 
 in building or repairing any of the Sinto's temples at 
 Isje, the temple itself must be pulled down and rebuilt. 
 Whoever eats the flesh of any four-footed beast, deer 
 only excepted, is unclean for thirty days : yet who- 
 ever eats of a wild or tame fowl, water-fowl, crane, 
 or pheasant, is unclean only a Japanese hour, which 
 is equal to two of ours. Whoever kills a beast, or 
 is present at an execution, attends a dying person, or 
 enters a house where a dead body lies, is unclean for 
 that day ; and the nearer a person is related to the de- 
 ceased, so much the greater is the impurity. By the 
 neglect of these precepts, people are rendered guilty 
 of external defilement, which they say is detested by 
 the gods, and renders men unfit to approach their tem- 
 ples. 
 
 The Budso, or foreign pagan- worship introduced 
 into Japan, probably owes its origin to Budha, whom 
 the Brahmins of India believe to be Wisthnu, their 
 deity, who, they say, made his ninth appearance in the 
 
#60 History of all J\atiort$. 
 
 world under the form of a man of that name. Th£ 
 Chinese and Japanese call him Buds and Siaka, which 
 names indeed at length became a common epithet for 
 all gods and idols in general brought from foreign coun- 
 tries, and sometimes they were given to the pretended 
 saints who preached these new doctrines. 
 
 The most essential points of this religion, are, that 
 the souls of men and animals are immortal, and both 
 of the same substance, differing only according to the 
 bodies in which they are placed ; and that after the 
 souls of mankind have left their bodies, they shall be 
 rewarded or punished according to their behaviour in 
 this life, by being introduced to a state of happiness or 
 misery. This state of happiness they call a place of 
 eternal pleasures; and say, that as the gods differ in their 
 nature, and the souls of men in virtue, so also do the 
 degrees of pleasure in the state of bliss, in order that 
 every one may be rewarded according to his deserts : 
 yet they consider the whole place as so entirely filled 
 with felicity, that each happy inhabitant thinks his por- 
 tion best, and is so far from envying the superior hap- 
 piness of others, that all his wishes are confined to hav- 
 ing his own happiness rendered perpetual. Their god 
 Amida is the sovereign commander of these blissful 
 regions, and is considered as the patron and protector 
 of human souls, but more particularly as the god and 
 father of those who are happily removed to a state of 
 felicity. These maintain, that leading a virtuous life, 
 and doing nothing contrary to the five commandments, 
 is the only way to become agreeable to Amida, and 
 to render themselves worthy of eternal happiness. 
 
 On the other hand, all persons, whether priests or 
 laymen, who, by their sinful lives and vicious actions, 
 have rendered themselves unworthy of the pleasures pre- 
 pared for the virtuous, are, after death, sent to a place 
 of misery, there to be confined and tormented during a 
 certain indefinite time, where every one is to be punished 
 according to the nature and number of his crimes, the 
 number of years he lived upon earth, his station there, 
 
Japan or Siphon* 361 
 
 and his opportunities for becoming good and virtuous. 
 To Jemma, who is the severe judge of this place of mis- 
 ery, the vicious actions of mankind appear with all their 
 aggravating circumstances, by means of a large mirror, 
 called " the mirror of knowledge," which is placed be- 
 fore him. Yet the miseries of the unhappy souls confi- 
 ned to these gloomy prisons, they imagine, may be 
 greatly alleviated by the good actions and virtuous lives 
 of their family, their friends and relations, whom they 
 left behind ; but nothing, they are taught, is so condu- 
 cive to this desirable end, as the prayers and offerings 
 of the priests to the great and good Amida, who can 
 prevail on the almost inexorable judge to treat the im- 
 prisoned souls with somewhat less severity than their 
 crimes deserve, and to send them speedily again into the 
 world. For when they have been confined in these in- 
 fernal prisons a time sufficient to expiate their crimes, 
 they are sentenced by Jemma to return to this earth, and 
 animate those creatures whose nature is most nearly al- 
 lied to their former sinful inclinations ; as, for instance, 
 toads, serpents, insects, four-footed beasts, birds, and 
 fishes. From the vilest of these, transmigrating into 
 others and nobler, they at last are suffered again to enter 
 human bodies, and thus have it in their power, either by 
 their virtue and piety to obtain an uninterrupted state of 
 felicity, or, by a new course of vices, once more to ex- 
 pose themselves to all the miseries of confinement in a 
 place of torment, succeeded by a new unhappy transmi- 
 gration. 
 
 The five commandments of the law of Buds, or Sia- 
 ka, which are the standing rule of the life and behav- 
 iour of all his faithful followers, are, . I. Not to kill 
 anything that has life. 2. Not, to steal. 3. Not to 
 commit fornication. 4. To avoid lies, and all false- 
 hood: and, 5. Not to drink strong liquors: which last 
 Siaka very strongly enjoins upon his disciples. 
 
 Beside these chief and general commandments, there 
 are ten counsels or admonitions, which are only these 
 five laws amplified, and applied to more particular ac- 
 
 2 x 
 
362 History of all Nations. 
 
 tions, all tending to a stricter observance of virtue. A 
 still father subdivision hath been made of these laws into 
 five hundred counsels and admonitions, in which are 
 specified, with the utmost exactness, whatever, accord- 
 ing to their notions, has the least tendency to virtue or 
 vice. But the number of these admonitions being so 
 very great, it is not surprising that those who are dis- 
 tinguished for observing them are very few ; the rather, 
 as they tend to such a thorough mortification of their 
 bodies, as to measure and prescribe the minutest part of 
 their diet, and scarcely to allow them the food necessary 
 to support life. 
 
 Of the followers of Siaka there are several sects, all 
 of w T hich have their temples, their convents, and their 
 priests : and of all their religious buildings in the coun- 
 try, these temples, with their adjoining convents, are 
 the most remarkable, as being far superior to all others, 
 from their stately height, curious roofs, and numberless 
 ornaments, which agreeably surprise the beholder; 
 such as are built within cities or villages generally stand 
 on arising ground, and in the most conspicuous places. 
 They are all most agreeably situated : a fine view of 
 the adjacent country, with the neighbourhood of a 
 wood, a clear rivulet, and pleasant walks, being essen- 
 tial requisites in the site of these temples : for with such 
 situations, they say, the gods are delighted; and the 
 priests readily adopt the same opinion. Beauiful stair- 
 cases of stone lead up to these structures, and several 
 small temples, or chapels, are built within the court; 
 these are adorned with gilt images, lackered columns, 
 gates, and pillars, all very neat, but rather pretty than 
 magnificent. Both the principal temple, and those 
 smaller ones that are dependent on it, are built of the 
 best cedars and firs ; and in the midst of the large tem- 
 ple stands a fine altar, with one or more gilt idols upon 
 it, and a beautiful candlestick with sweet scented can- 
 dies burning before it. These temples are frequently- 
 supported by a great number of pillars, and are so neatly 
 adorned, that a man might fancy himself transported 
 
Japan or Siphon, 363 
 
 into a Romish church, did not the monstrous shape of 
 the idols convince him of the contrary. One of these 
 temples, erected at Miaco, is esteemed the most sump- 
 tuous in the empire. It is built with free- stone; the 
 roof is bold and lofty. It stands on the top cf a hill, 
 and on each side of the ascent are lofty pillars of free- 
 stone, ten paces distant from each other; and on the 
 top of each a large lantern, which makes a fine appear- 
 ance at night, being then lighted up. The temple 
 itself is supported by a number of pillars, and contains 
 many idols, among which is one of gilt copper, of a 
 prodigious size, seated in a chair eighty feet broad, and 
 seventy feet in height. No less than fifteen men may 
 stand on the head of this colossus, whose thumb is 
 fourteen inches in circumference, and the body and 
 limbs of this monstrous figure in proportion. Indeed 
 the whole country abounds with idols, which are to be 
 found not only in temples, but in public and private 
 buildings, in streets, markets, and along the highways. 
 People are, however, not required to prostrate them- 
 selves before them, or to pay them any other than vo- 
 luntary respect. 
 
 III. The religion of the philosophers and moralists is 
 very different from that of the two former ; for they pay 
 no regard to any of the forms of worship practised in 
 the country. The supreme good, say they, consists in 
 that pleasure and delight that arises from the steady prac- 
 tice of virtue ; they maintain that men are obliged to be 
 virtuous, because nature has endowed them with rea- 
 son, that by living according to its dictates they might 
 shew their superiority to the irrational inhabitants of the 
 earth. They do not admit of transmigration of souls, 
 but believe that there is an universal soul diffused 
 through all nature, which animates all things, and which 
 re-assumes departed souls, as the sea does the rivers. — 
 This universal spirit they confound with the Supreme 
 Being. These philosophers not only admit of self-mur- 
 der, but consider it as an heroic and commendable ac- 
 tion, when it is the only honourable means of avoiding a 
 
354 History of all Nations, 
 
 shameful death, or of escaping from the hands of a vic- 
 torious enemy . 
 
 They conform to the general custom of the country 
 in commemorating their deceased parents and relations, 
 by placing all sorts of provisions, both raw and dressed, 
 on a table provided for that purpose ; and by monthly or 
 anniversary dinners, to which are invited the family and 
 friends of the deceased, who ail appear in their best gar- 
 ments, having previously washed and purified them- 
 selves, for three days, during which they abstain from 
 lying with their wives, and from every thing held to be 
 impure. 
 
 They celebrate no other festivals, nor pay any respect 
 to the gods of the country. Being formerly suspected 
 of favouring the Christian religion, they are obliged to 
 have each an idol, or at least the name of one, put up 
 in a conspicuous and honourable place in their houses, 
 with a flower- pot and censer before them ; but in their 
 public schools is hung up the picture of Confucius. 
 This sect was formerly very numerous. Arts and sci- 
 ences were cultivated among them, and the most enlight- 
 ened part of the nation was of that profession ; but the 
 dreadful persecution of the Christians greatly weakened 
 it, and it has been declining ever since : the extreme ri- 
 gour of the imperial edicts makes people in general cau- 
 tious of reading their books, which were foi merly the 
 delight and admiration of the nation, and held in as great 
 esteem as the writings of Socrates and Plato are in Eu- 
 rope, — Payne, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 VENICE. 
 
 The same cause which overthrew the Roman empire, 
 gave existence to Venice. About the middle of the fifth 
 century, the Venetii, a people inhabiting a small district 
 
Venice. 365 
 
 of Italy, a few Paduans, and some peasants on the banks 
 of thePo, to escape from the fury of Attila, repaired to 
 the marshes a;id small islands which lay on the western 
 coast, at the bottom of the Adriatic gulf. All the inha- 
 bitants they found here were some fishermen, who had 
 erected a few huts on one of those islands, which had 
 received the name of Rialto. Soon after, the city of Pa- 
 dua sent a coiony thither, ad appointed some of their 
 citizens to act as magistrates, who held their dignity for 
 a year, and were succeeded by others. On the taking of 
 Aquiieia by the Huns under Attila, a vast resort of 
 wretched fugitives increased the population of the place, 
 and in the \ ear 452 the city of Venice was founded. The 
 Paduans, considering that little settlement as having been 
 established by their patronage, claimed a right of so- 
 vereignty, which was soon disputed by the new state* 
 and shortly after renounced on the part of the claimants, 
 through inability to enforce their pretensions. The Ve- 
 netians then became an inde; endent republic, and, such 
 is the vicissitude of states, became in a few years masters 
 of the territories of Padua. Even the commotions which 
 agitated, in a greater or less degree, most parts of the 
 continent of Europe, during the three centuries which 
 succeeded its establishment, so far from involving Ve- 
 nice in wars, or endangering its security, signally pro- 
 moted its wealth and its power. The genius of the peo- 
 ple, stimulated by unparalleled advantages of situation, 
 prompted them to commercial pursuits, and they soon 
 became the greatest maritime state on the globe. 
 
 Its original form of government was purely democra- 
 tical : magistrates were chosen by a general assembly 
 of the people, who gave them the name of Tribunes : 
 one of whom was appointed to preside on each island, 
 but to hold his office only for a year ; then another gene- 
 ral election was made ; and each tribune was account- 
 able for his conduct while in office, to the general assem- 
 bly of the people. This form of government subsisted 
 for about one hundred and fifty years ; it then appeared 
 expedient to make choice of a chief magistrate, and on 
 
366 History of all A ations. 
 
 him the title of Duke was conferred, which has since 
 been corrupted to Doge : this dignity was elective, 
 and held for life : he was even entrusted with the power 
 of nominating to all offices, and of making peace and 
 declaring war. Paul Luke Anafesto was the first duke, 
 who was elected in the year 697. Such was the confi- 
 dence which the people reposed in their duke, that he 
 was at liberty to use his own discretion how far he would 
 avail himself of the advice of the citizens. In the coun- 
 cils which he called on any matters of importance, he 
 sent messages to those citizens for whose judgment he 
 had the greatest esteem, praying that they would come 
 and assist him with their advice. This form was retained 
 by succeeding doges, and the citizens so sent for were 
 called Pregadi (from the Italian word pregare, to pray.) 
 The third doge, whose talents for war had proved suc- 
 cessful in extending the power of the republic, at length 
 meditated to assume a more absolute sway, and to ren- 
 der the supreme authority hereditary in his family ; but 
 su h conduct excited a general alarm in the people : he 
 was assaulted in his palace, and there put to death. This 
 event caused the government of Venice to be new mo- 
 delled, and a chief magistrate, who was now called 
 " Master of the Militia," was elected annually; but 
 his power whilst in office was the same as before. — 
 Such form of government continued only five years, 
 when the title of doge was revived, A. D. 730, in the 
 person of the son of him who had been assassinated. 
 
 About the latter end of the twelfth century, when 
 every other part of the Christian world was seized with 
 a frantic rage for recovering the holy land, the Venetians 
 were so far from contributing any forces for the cru- 
 sades, that they did not scruple to supply the Saracens 
 with arms ? ammunition, and every other necessary. As 
 the power of the state augmented by the acquisition of 
 Istria, and many parts of Dalmatia, the jealousy of the 
 people towards their doge became stronger. At that 
 time the only tribunal at Venice consisted of forty judg- 
 es ; these were called " The Council^of Forty ;" but in 
 
Venice, 367 
 
 the year 1173, another doge, named Michieli, being as- 
 sassinated in a popular insurrection, the council of forty- 
 found means to new model the government, by gaining 
 the consent of the people to delegate the right of voting 
 for magistrates, which each citizen possessed, to four 
 hundred and seventy persons, called Counsellors, \\ ho 
 received the appellation of " the grand council ;" and act- 
 ing as delegates of the people, became what the general 
 assembly of the people until that time had been. By 
 this artful innovation (which the people were cajoled in- 
 to an acquiescence with, by retaining the right of electing 
 these counsellors annually) the democracy became pre- 
 sently subverted ; and an aristocracy, in its fullest and 
 most rigid form, was introduced, by restricting the 
 power of the doge, and instituting a -variety of officers 
 (all of whom were, in a short time, chosen from among 
 the nobilitv) which effectually controlled both the prince 
 and the people. 
 
 Ziuni was the first doge elected after the government 
 had received, what the event proves to have been, its 
 permanent modification ; and during his administration 
 the singular ceremony of espousing the sea, which has 
 been annually observed ever since, was first adopted, and 
 took its rise from the assistance which the Venetians 
 gave to Pope Alexander III. when hard pressed by the 
 emperor Frederic Barbarossa, and the signal victory 
 'they obtained over a formidable fleet under the command 
 of Otho, son of Frederic, in which the admiral and 
 thirty of his ships were taken. Alexander, with the 
 whole city of Venice, went out to meet Ziani, the con- 
 queror, on his return ; to whom his holiness presented 
 a ring, saying, " Use this ring as a chain to retain the 
 sea, henceforth, in subjection to the Venetian state; 
 espouse her with this ring, and let the marriage be 
 solemnized annually, by you and your successors, to 
 the end of time, that the latest posterity may know that 
 Venice has acquired the empire of the waves, and holds 
 the sea in subjection, in the same manner as a wife is 
 held by her husband." 
 
368 History of all .\ations. 
 
 The Venetians having extended their territories into 
 Lombardy, Istria, and Dalmatia, became masters of 
 many of the islands in the Archipelago, particularly ihe 
 large and important one of Candia ; they were masters 
 of the Morea; and, in the beginning of the thirteenth 
 century, Dandolo, their doge, when more than eighty 
 years of age, in conjunction with the French, took 
 Constantinople from the Turks. About which time they 
 engrossed the lucrative trade in the manufactures and 
 prcductions of the East Indies, which they procured at 
 the, port of Alexandria, and conveyed to every market 
 of Europe. 
 
 Under Marino Morosini was introduced the present 
 form of electing the doge, and at this jun ture jealousy 
 and envy occasioned the war with Genoa, v\ hich, after 
 continuing a hundred and thirty years, was at last con- 
 cluded by a treaty in 1381. During this war, doge 
 Peter Gradonigo procured a law to be passed in 1296, 
 that none but the nobility should be capable of having a 
 seat in the grand council ; and thus the government be- 
 came altogether aristocratical. 
 
 Thus has the republic of Venice continued upwards 
 of thirteen hundred years, amidst many foreign wars 
 and intestine commotions ; its grandeur was chiefly ow- 
 ing to its trade, and, since the decline of that, its strength 
 and power have suffered a considerable diminution. No 
 republic in the history of the world has subsisted for so 
 long a space of time ; and, as its independence was not 
 founded on usurpation, nor cemented with blood, so its 
 descent from that splendor and power which it had once 
 attained, to its present contracted state, instead of de- 
 grading, reflects the highest honour on the government 
 as well as the people. None of the causes which sub- 
 verted the famous republics of antiquity effected the decline 
 of this state. No tyrants enslaved, no demagogues 
 deluded, no luxuries enervated them. They owed their 
 greatness to their industry, bravery, and maritime skill ; 
 and their decline, to the revolutions which successful 
 pursuits of science had produced in the nations of Eu- 
 
Venice. 369 
 
 rope. For many years they withstood the whole force 
 of the Ottoman empire by sea and by land ; and, al- 
 though their treasures have been exhausted, and their 
 power weakened, their enemies have experienced conse- 
 quences scarcely less fatal. 
 
 No government has been more attacked by deep-laid 
 and formidable conspiracies than that of Venice ; many 
 of which have been brought to the very eve of execu- 
 tion without discovery or suspicion. But though the 
 entire subversion of the state has been, at times, impend- 
 ing from some of these plots, yet they have been con- 
 stantly rendered abortive, either by the vigilance or good 
 fortune of the senate. One of the most remarkable of 
 these conspiracies was formed by a doge named Marino 
 Falliero, in the year 1355, who at that time was eighty 
 years of age ; but, conceiving a violent resentment 
 against the senate, he formed a plan in order to assassi- 
 nate the whole body. The design was timely discover- 
 ed, and the dignified hoary traitor was brought to trial, 
 found guilty upon his own confession, and publicly be- 
 headed. In the great chamber of the palace, where the 
 portraits of the doges are placed, there is a vacant space 
 between the predecessor and successor of this man, 
 where appears this inscription, " Locus Marini Fallieri 
 decapitari." "The place intended for the portrait of Ma* 
 rinus Fallierus, who was beheaded," The year 1617 
 is also distinguished by a no less remarkable conspira- 
 cy, the contriver and principal agent in which was the 
 marquis Bedamar, the Spanish ambassador residing 
 there. The elegant pen of abbe St. Real has transmit- 
 ted to posterity this very curious instance of superior 
 talent? and consummate artifice, which were, for a long 
 course of time, exercised in effecting the most atrocious 
 deed, being no less than the total destruction of the re- 
 public. Otway has formed a very pathetic tragedy up- 
 on this story, in which the character of Belvidera, and 
 the love scenes between her and Jafner, are the only fic- 
 tions of the poet : and Priuli was really the doge, whom 
 the poet ranks as a senator. 
 
 2 v 
 
&fO History of all Nations*. 
 
 Constitution. — In this republic the power is lodg- 
 ed in the hands of the nobility, who, 'according to Mr. 
 Sharp, amount to above fifteen hundred, including those 
 whose public employments in the provinces oblige them 
 to reside out of Venice. On the birth of the son of a 
 nobleman his name is entered in the golden book, other- 
 wise he forfeits his nobility. Every noble is a member 
 of the senate, on which account it is a received mexim, 
 that they are all of equal dignity ; yet there is a consider- 
 able difference between the interest and authority of 
 Families. To the first class belong the ancient houses 
 whose ancestors chose the first duke, and thence are call- 
 ed " le case eletterali : " these consist of twelve fami- 
 lies, and on them preferable to others are conferred the 
 higher offices. There are four other families who pre- 
 tend to an equality with these, they being very little in- 
 ferior to them in point of antiquity. Next follow eight 
 houses nearly of the same antiquity. Duke Gradeni- 
 go having passed a law that the council should for ever 
 consist of the families of which it was then composed, 
 and some others which he emobled ; this produced a se- 
 cond class of nobility, which consists of upwards Of 
 eighty families, and with these are also included the de- 
 scendants of those who were raised to nobility after the 
 war with the Genoese, on account of their large contri- 
 butions towards carrying it on with vigour. The third 
 and last class is composed of the citizens, whose nobility- 
 has been purchased for an hundred thousand Venetian 
 ducats ; a resource which the republic has made use of 
 in necessitous times for raising money. German and 
 other princes, and even crowned heads, have thought 
 it no degradation to be made nobles of Venice. 
 
 The nobility, such as counts and marquisses, in the 
 territories of the republic, though some of them are of 
 very ancient families, are now under great restrictions, 
 to prevent their attempting any thi gto the detriment of 
 the state. They are excluded from all offices, and when 
 at Venice are required to shew a great deference and- 
 
Venwe. 371 
 
 respect to the lowest order of nobility, treating each as 
 one of their sovereigns. 
 
 In order as much as possible to prevent all intrigues 
 in the election of a doge, or duke, the ceremony is 
 conducted in the following manner : Upon the decease 
 of a doge, the nobles above thirty years of age meet 
 in the palace of St. Mark, where a number of balls, 
 equal to that of the persons present, are put into an 
 urn. Thirty of these are gilt, and the others silvered 
 over. Every noble, according to his seniority, draws 
 a ball; and they who have drawn the thirty gilt balls 
 retire into a private room to continue the election ; but 
 in drawing the gilt balls, lest more than one person 
 of a family should happen to be appointed electors, the 
 relations of him who draws a gilt ball are obliged to 
 withdraw, and an equal number of white balls are ta- 
 ken out of the vessel as there are persons thus disquali- 
 fied. The thirty nobles who drew the gilt balls then 
 draw from another urn in which are twenty-one silvered 
 and nine gilt balls : they who draw the gilded choose 
 forty other electors, all of different families, but are 
 allowed to name themselves of the number; and each 
 of the four who drew first has a right of nominating five 
 electors ; but the five others can name only four each. 
 These forty electors are again by lot reduced to twelve, 
 who name twenty-five; the first nominating three, 
 and each of the other two. These twenty -five draw 
 lots a second time to be reduced to nine, and of these 
 nine each choose five others ; and from the total forty- 
 five, eleven are again separated by lot, who choose 
 forty- one others, who are confirmed by the grand coun- 
 cil, and being locked up in a particular apartment of 
 the ducal palace, there remain till they have chosen a 
 new doge. This is done by each of the electors writ- 
 ing the name of the person he nominates on a paper 
 which he puts into an urn; two of the body, who 
 have been previously chosen, and are called secretaries, 
 then open the ballots, and select all the different names 
 which are found, which are generally but a few, and 
 
372 ffistory of all J\ations. 
 
 without paying any attention to that name which has 
 the greatest number of suffrages, these are put into an- 
 other urn, and being shaken together, one paper is 
 drawn, and being read aloud, this individual is balloted 
 for, and if there are twenty -five votes in his favour he 
 is elected, otherwise another name is drawn, aiid so 
 on till the appointed number of votes is procured for 
 one person. The result of their determination is gene- 
 rally known in six or eight hours, and all the foregoing 
 ceremonies seldom take up more than two days. This 
 election is followed by a kind of coronation, the ducal 
 cap being placed with great ceremony on the head of 
 the new doge, on the upper step of the entrance into 
 St. Mark's church. 
 
 The doge of Venice has little more than the shadow 
 of greatness, and has jus ly been defined to be in habit 
 and state a king, in authority a counsellor, in the city a 
 prisoner, and out of it a private person. He is not so 
 much as to stir from the city without the council's per- 
 mission ; it is not in his power to pardon a criminal ; 
 aV his counsellors have a constant eye over his actions, 
 and may vi it his closet every hour : he is as much sub- 
 ject to the laws as the meanest person, and when he dies, 
 there is no public mourning. 
 
 Nothing can more strongly evince the natural fondness 
 of the human heart for external splendour, than that the 
 dignity of a Venetian doge is coveted, even under the 
 disagreeable restrictions which are laid upon it. The 
 state of the doge on all public occasions is indeed very 
 magnificent : he is the president of all councils, and in 
 the great council has two votes. All the courts stand 
 up in his presence, and pay their obeisance to him. Be- 
 side, he never rises from his seat, or takes off his cap, 
 except at the elevation of the host, before a prince of the 
 royal-blood, or a cardinal, to whom he also gives the 
 right hand. His name is also stamped on the republic's 
 money. All the credentials of the republic's ministers 
 to foreign courts are made out in his name, though they 
 are neither signed nor sealed by him. The letters of 
 
Venice. 375 
 
 the republic's ministers, and other instruments from fo- 
 reign princes, are directed to him ; yet he is not to open 
 them but in the presence of the council. He has the 
 dispobal of all preferments in St. Mark's church, of 
 which he is invested with the entire jurisdiction ; and 
 the knights of St. Mark are created by him alone. He 
 likewise fills up the lower offices belonging to the palace : 
 and lastly, his family is not subject to any sumptuary 
 laws. His annual income is twelve thousand Venetian 
 ducats : of this sum he cannot spend less than one half 
 on the four grand entertainments he is obliged to give 
 every year ; and to support his dignity in a proper 
 manner, the remainder is so far from being sufficient, 
 that his own private fortune must be drawn upon con- 
 siderably. 
 
 Among the other restrictions laid on the doge are the 
 following : During his life none of his children or bro- 
 thers can hold any of the great honorary offices, nor 
 be sent on embassies. He is not to marry the sister or 
 relation of a prince, without the consent of the great 
 council ; nor can he receive any present from a foreign 
 prince. In state affairs he cannot transact the least mat- 
 ter without the council ; nor can he resign, though he 
 may be deposed. In general his authority is no greater 
 than that of a private person, except he has such abilities 
 as to influence the whole council ; then indeed his au- 
 thority is paramount ; but persons capable of gaining 
 such an ascendancy are seldom chosen. On the death 
 of the doge, a formal enquiry is made, by six persons, 
 chosen for the purpose, and called correctors, whether 
 he has abused his power ; whether, from a care of his 
 own concerns, he has neglected those of the public; 
 whether he has lived agreeably to his dignity, &c. If 
 found guilty of any mal- administration, a fine is levied 
 on his heirs, proportioned to the nature of the charges 
 exhibited. Such are the actual restrictions and im- 
 pending dangers, which a doge of Venice must sub- 
 mit to ! and the person duly elected is not to decline it. 
 
3 74 History of all J\ations. 
 
 On Ascension-day, the doge, or, in case of his illness, 
 the vice-doge, who is always one of the six consiglieri, 
 performs the annual ceremony of marrying the Adriatic 
 Sea, in a barge called the bucentaur, which is pompously 
 gilt and carved. At about ten in the morning, the sig- 
 nal being given by the firing of great guns, and ringing 
 of bells, he goes on board of this vessel, and, accompa- 
 nied by several thousand barks and gondolas, a great 
 number of gallies finely ornamented, and the splendid 
 yachts of foreign ambassadors, is rowed out to sea, about 
 two hundred paces toward the islands of St. Lido and 
 St. Erasmo. The patriarch and dignified clergy come 
 on board the bucentaur, and present the doge and sig- 
 noria, as they pass, with nosegays or artificial flowers, 
 which at their return they make presents of to their ac- 
 quaintance. The doge, at his putting off and return, 
 is saluted by the cannon of a fort on the Lido, and by 
 those on the island Erasmo, and with the small arms of 
 the soldiers, who are drawn up along the Lido shore. — 
 These islands lie about two Italian miles from the city. 
 An eminence on the island of Lido affords a distinct 
 view of this pompous procession, and of the vast num- 
 ber of boats, &c. which covering the surface of the water 
 make a beautiful appearance. In the mean time several 
 hymns are performed on board the bucentaur, by the 
 band of music belonging to St. Mark's church, and se- 
 veral prayers, appointed for the occasion, are read or 
 sung, till the doge has passed the two forts of Lido and 
 St. Erasmo ; and then he proceeds a little farther to- 
 wards the Lido shore, the stern of his barge being turn- 
 ed towards the main sea. 
 
 Here the patriarch pours into the sea some holy water, 
 which is said to have the virtue of preventing and allay- 
 ing storms. After this the doge, through an aperture 
 near his seat, drops into the sea a gold ring of a few dol- 
 lars value, saying, in Latin, el We espouse thee, O sea, 
 " in token of our real and perpetual dominion over 
 " thee." After this the procession returns, and the 
 doge with his company land near the church of St. Ni» 
 
Venice. 375 
 
 cholas, in the island of Lido, where the patriarch in per- 
 son celebrates a solemn mass. In the evening the prin- 
 cipal members of the council, and all who waited up- 
 the doge in the bucentaur, are entertained at the ducal 
 palace. 
 
 In die grand council all nobles of twenty-five years of 
 age may take their place. It usually meets on Sundays 
 and holidays in the large hall of the ducal palace. 
 
 The senate or pregadi, are a committee of the grand 
 council, by whom they are chosen, and have the ma- 
 nagement of the most secret and important affairs of 
 state, as the making of alliances, declaring war, con- 
 cluding peace, coining money, imposing taxes, Sec. 
 They consist of sixty ordinary, and as many extraordi- 
 nary members : besides the nine procurators of St. 
 Mark, the collegium, the doge's six counsellors, the il 
 con siglio di dieci, the censors, the judges della quaran- 
 tia eriminale, and other inferior judges, so that the whole 
 senate consists of about three hundred persons. 
 
 Mr. Addison observes, that among all the instances 
 of their politics, there is none more admirable than the 
 great secresy which reigns in their public councils. — 
 *' The senate," says he, " is generally as numerous as 
 our house of commons, if we only reckon the sitting 
 members, and yet carries its resolutions so privately,, 
 that they are seldom known till they discover themselves 
 in the execution. He gives an instance of their behold- 
 ing a great debate concerning the punishment of one 
 of their admirals, which continued a month, and con- 
 cluded in his condemnation : yet none of his friends, 
 nor of those who had engaged warmly in his defence, 
 gave him the least intimation of what was passing against 
 him, till he was actually seized, and in the hands of 
 justice." 
 
 The consiglio di dieci, or council of ten," is a 
 high penal court, which consists of ten counsellors ; the 
 doge, who is president ; and his six conglieri, or coun- 
 sellors. It is supreme in all state crimes, and possesses 
 the power of seizing any one who is accused before 
 
3 76 History of all JKations'. 
 
 them, of committing him to close confinement, and 
 prohibiting all communication with his relations and 
 friends, of examining and trying him in a summary 
 manner, and, if a majority of the council pronounce 
 him guilty, of condemning him to death, and they may 
 order the execution to be either public or private, as 
 they see proper. This formidable tribunal was estab- 
 lished in the year 1310. — Payne, 
 
 We turn with horror from a recital of these arbitrary 
 powers, and congratulate ourselves that we live in a 
 country whose laws are mild, wholesome, and bene- 
 ficent ; whose legislators are chosen by the people, for 
 short periods ; and where the object of the governors is 
 to afford the governed the greatest quantity of human 
 happiness at the least possible expence. Free and highly- 
 favoured America ! May these blessings be perpetuated 
 to the end of time ! May thy rulers (imbibing the 
 spirit of Washington, Wallace, Nelson, and Montgo- 
 mery*) be men eminent for their virtues, their talents, 
 and their patriotism; and may thy citizens, unstained by 
 foreign influence, or party -spirit, be ever ready at thy call 
 to " do their duty. " 
 
 * The two former persevered, as commanders in chief, till they had secured the 
 freedom of their respective countries, and then retired to private life! The twa 
 latter fell, fighting valiantly in the came of their native and adopted countries. 
 
CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 As History gives an account of the revolutions and event® 
 which have happened in the world, so chronology points out with 
 precision, the precise period when such events took place.— The 
 following table will be found of great utility in ascertaining the exact 
 period of most of the memorable occurrences in both ancient and 
 modern history :— We trust it may be relied on as strictly correct. 
 
 A CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES 
 
 PRINCIPAL EVENTS, 
 
 From the Creation to the present Period, 
 
 Years before 
 
 Christ. 
 4004 The creation of the World. 
 
 4003 The birth of Cain ; the first who was born of a woman. 
 2348' The Universal Deluge. 
 22+7 The building of Babel. 
 2217 Nimrod supposed to have built Babylon, and founded the Ba<- 
 
 bylonish monarchy, and Assur to have built Nineveh, and 
 
 founded the monarchy of Assyria. 
 21S8 Menes, the son of Ham (in Scripture, Misraim) founds the 
 
 monarchy of Egypt. 
 2084 The Shepherd kings conquer Egypt. 
 1996 The birth of Abraham. 
 
 1856 Inachus founds the kingdom of Argos in Greece. 
 157 I Moses born in Egypt. 
 1556 Cecrops founds the kingdom of Athens. 
 1529 The deluge of Deucalion in Thessalv. 
 1493 Cadmus builds Thebes, and introduces letters into Greece. 
 149 I Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt. 
 1453 The first Olympic games celebrated in Greece. 
 1452 The Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses written. 
 1451 The Israelites led into the land of Canaan by Joshua. 
 1325 The Egyptian canicular year began July 20. 
 1266 GZdipus marries his mother Jocasta, and reigns in Thebes. 
 3263 The Argonautic expedition. (According to the Newtonian 
 
 chronology, 937.) 
 125? Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, built. 
 
 2z 
 
378 Chronological Table, 
 
 Years before 
 Christ. 
 
 1233 Carthage supposed to be founded by Dido. 
 1215 Semiramis supposed to have reigned at Babylon. 
 J 193 The Trojan war begins. 
 118+ Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks. 
 1 182 tineas lands in Italy. 
 
 1069 Codrus, king of Athens, devotes himself for his country. 
 1055 David, king of Israel 
 1004 Dedication of Solomon's temple. 
 886 Homer's poems brought from Asia into Greece. 
 776 The first Olympiad begins in this year. 
 752 The foundation of Rome by Romulus. 
 
 721 Salmanazar takes Samaria, and carries the ten tribes into cap- 
 tivity, which puts an end to the Israelitish kingdom. 
 667 The combat between the Horatii and Curiatii. 
 606 Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem, and carries the Jews into 
 
 captivity. 
 601 Battle between the Medes and Lydians, who are separated by 
 a great eclipse of the sun, predicted by Thales. (Newton. 
 Chron. 585.) 
 — End of the Assyrian empire. Nineveh taken by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 599 Birth of Cyrus the Great. 
 572 Nebuchadnezzar subdues Egypt. 
 566 The first census at Rome. — 84,700 citizens. 
 562 Comedies first exhibited at Athens by Thespis. 
 538 Babylon taken by Cyrus. End of the Babylonian empire. 
 536 Cyrus ascends the throne of Persia. He puts an end to the 
 
 Jewish captivity, which had lasted seventy years. 
 520 The Jews begin to build the second temple, which is finished 
 
 in four years. 
 510 The Pisistratidae expelled from Athens, and the democracy re- 
 stored. 
 509 The Tarquins expelled from Rome, and the regal government 
 
 abolished. 
 498 The first dictator created at Rome (Lartius). 
 497 Institution of the Saturnalia at Rome. 
 488 The first tribunes of the people created at Rome. (According 
 
 to Blair, Play fair, &c. 493). 
 486 Xerxes succeeds his father Darius in the kingdom of Persia. 
 480 The Spartans, under Leonidas, cut to pieces at Thermopylae. 
 
 Naval victory gained by the Greeks over the Persians at Salamis. 
 
 47 1 Volero, the Roman tribune, obtains a law for the election of 
 
 magistrates in the comitaheld by tribes. 
 470 Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeats the Persian army and fleet in 
 
 one day, at the mouth of the river Eurymedon. 
 469 Capua founded by the Tuscans, 
 456 Cincinnatus dictator at Rome. 
 455 Commencement of the seventy prophetical weeks of Daniel. 
 
Chronological Table. 379 
 
 Years before 
 
 Christ. 
 453 The number of the tribunes of the people of Rome increased 
 
 from five to ten. 
 452 The two books of Chronicles supposed to have been written at 
 
 this time by Ezra. 
 45 1 Creation of the decemviri at Rome, and compilation of the laws 
 
 of the twelve tables. 
 43 1 The Pe'oponnesian war begins, which lasted twenty-seven years. 
 430 The history of the Old Testament ends about this time. 
 403 Lysander takes Athens. — Government of the thirty tyrants. 
 40 1 Persecution and death of Socrates. 
 3$5 Rome taken by the Gauls under Brennus. 
 385 War of the allies against Athens. 
 
 — - Philip of Macedon takes Amphipolis.Pydna, and Potida. 
 356 Alexander the Great born at Pella, in Macedonia. 
 
 The temple of Diana, at Ephesus, burnt by Erostratus* 
 
 . The Phocian or sacred war begins in Greece. 
 
 343 Syracuse taken by Timoleon, and Dionysius the tyrant banished. 
 338 Battle of Cheronoea gained by Philip over the Athenians and 
 
 Thebans. 
 335 Alexander chosen generalissimo by the states of Greece* 
 
 Decius devotes himself for his country. 
 
 334- Alexander the Great dies at Babylon. 
 
 320 Ptolemy carries 100,000 Jews captive into Egypt. 
 
 285 The astronomical sera of Dionysius of Alexandria. 
 
 277 The translation of the Septuagint made by order of Ptolemy 
 
 Philadelphus. (Blair, 284.) 
 266 Silver money is coined at Rome for the first time. 
 2C4 The first Punic war begins. — The Chronicle of Paros composed. 
 260 First naval victory obtained by the Romans under the consul 
 
 Duilius. 
 240 Comedies are first acted at Rome. 
 235 The temple of Janus shut for the first time since the reign of 
 
 Numa. 
 216 Battle of Cannae, in which the Romans are' totally defeated by 
 
 Hannibal. 
 196 The battle of Zama, and end of the second Punic war. 
 190 The Romans enter Asia, and defeat Antigonus at Magnesia. 
 173 War between the Romans and Perseus king of Macedon. 
 170 Antiochus Epiphanes takes and plunders Jerusalem. 
 169 Terence's comedies performed at Rome. 
 167 Perseus defeated by Paulus Emilius, and brought prisoner to 
 
 Rome. End of the kingdom of Macedon. 
 166 Judas Maccabeus drives the Syrians out of Judea. 
 149 The third Punic war begins. 
 146 Corinth taken by the consul Mummius. 
 
 Carthage taken and destroyed by the Romans. 
 
 135 The history of the Apocrypha ends. 
 
380 Chronological Table* 
 
 Years before 
 
 Christ. 
 
 88 Civil war between Marius and Sylla. 
 
 S\ 11a takss possession of Rome. 
 82 Sylla perpetual dictator. — His horrible proscription. 
 80 Jul us Caesar makes his first campaign. 
 72 Lucullus repeatedly defeats Mithridates, and reduces Pontus t« 
 
 a Roman province. 
 70 C'-^ssus and Pompey chosen consuls at Rome. 
 62 CitaJine's conspiracy quelled at Rome by Cicero. 
 59 The first triumvirate: Fompey, Crassus, and Caesar. 
 54 Caesar lands in Britain. 
 
 49 Caesar passes the Rubicon, and marches to Rome. 
 4S Battle of Pharsalia, in winch Pompey is defeated. 
 
 — The \lexandnan library burnt. 
 
 41- Julius Caesai killed in the Senate-house. 
 
 43 Second triumvirate: Oetavius, Mark Antony and Lepidus. 
 42 Battle ofPhilippi, in which Brutus and Cassius are defeated. 
 Si Battle of Actium, and end of the Roman Commonwealth. 
 
 ■ — 0< lavius emperor. 
 
 30 Death of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Alexandria taken by 
 
 Oetavius. 
 27 Oclavius receives the title of Augustus. 
 17 Augustus revives the secular game*. 
 
 8 Census at R>me, when the number of the citizens was found to 
 
 be 4,233,000. 
 4 JKSUS CHRIST is born 4 years before the commencement of 
 the vulgar a?ra. 
 
 FIRST CENTURY of the Vulgar Christian ^ra. 
 
 Years after 
 Christ. 
 
 9 The Roman legions, under Varus, cut to pieces in Germany. 
 . — Ovid the poet banished to Pontus. 
 
 14 Tiberius emperor. 
 
 — Tiberius banishes the Jews from Rome. 
 
 26 John the Baptist preaches in Judea the coming of the Messiah. 
 
 3 1 Sej iints disgraced and put to death by Tiberius. 
 
 33 Jesus Christ is crucified. 
 
 35 The conversion of St Paul. 
 
 39 S(. Matthew writes his Gospel. 
 
 42 Claudius emperor. 
 
 43 his expedition into Britain. 
 
 44 Si. Mark writes his Gospel. 
 
 48 Messalina put to death by Claudius, who marries Agrippina, 
 
 the mother of Nero. 
 51 Caractacus, the Bntsh king, is carried prisoner to Rome*. 
 59 Nero puts to death his mother Agrippina. 
 
Chronological Table* 381 
 
 A. D. 
 
 61 The Britons, under queen Boadieea, defeat the Romans. 
 61 The first persecution of the Christians raised by Nero. 
 67 Massacre of the Jews by Florus, at Cesarea, Ptolemais and A- 
 
 lexandria. 
 — St. Peter and St. Paul put to death. 
 — Josephus, the JVwish historian, governor of Galilee. 
 70 Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Titus. 
 
 79 Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by an eruption of Ve- 
 
 suvius. 
 
 80 Conquests of Agricola in Britain. 
 
 95 Dreadful persecution of the Christians at Rome and in the pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 100 SECOND CENTURY, 
 
 107 Trajan's victories in Asia. 
 
 118 A Irian emperor. 
 
 120 Adrian's wall built across the island of Britain. 
 
 137 Adrian rebudds Jerusalem by the name of iEiia Capitolina. 
 
 138 Antoninus Pius emperor. 
 
 141 The heresies of the Ophites, Cainites, Sethians, &c. appeared. 
 
 151 Justin Martyr publishes his apology for the Christians.. 
 
 161 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, emperors. 
 
 J71 Death of Verus. Marcus Aurelius sole emperor. 
 
 180 Commodus emperor. 
 
 189 The Saracens defeat the Romans. — This people for the first 
 
 time mentioned in history. 
 193 Pertinax emperor. — Didius Julianus purchases the empire; 
 — — Pescennius Niger declared emperor in the east. 
 
 Septimius Severus emperor. 
 
 196 Albinus proclaimed emperor in Britain. 
 
 197 defeated by Sever us. He kdls himself. 
 
 200 THIRD CENTURY. 
 
 20S S3verus, wi(h his sons Caracalla and Geta, in Britain. 
 
 209 The Caledonians repulsed, and a wall budt by Severus between 
 
 the rivers Forth and Clyde 
 226 The Persians totally defeated by Alexander Severus. 
 235 Maximums assassinates Alexander Severus, and is proclaimed 
 
 emperor. 
 241 The Fianks were first mentioned in history. 
 253 The Goths, Burgundians, &c. make an irruption into Mossia and 
 
 Pannonia. 
 ^6 1 Sapor, the Persian, takes Antioch, Tarsus, and Cesarea. 
 284 Dioclesian emperor. 
 — - Aug. 29, or Sept. 17, the Dioclesian aera commenced. 
 
382 Chronological Table. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 292 Partition of the empire between two Emperors and two Caesars. 
 295 Alexandria in Egypt taken by Dioclesian. 
 
 S00 FOURTH CENTURY. 
 
 301 Resignation of Dioclesian and Maximian. 
 
 — — - Galerius and Constantius emperors. 
 
 306 Constantine emperor. — Stops the persecution of the Christians. 
 
 325 — assembles the first general council of Nice, where 
 
 the doctrines of Arius are condemned. 
 329 The seat of empire removed to Constantinople. 
 ! 337 Death of Constantine. — The empire divided among his three 
 
 sons. 
 357 The Germans defeated by Julian, at Strasburg. 
 ' 361 Julian emperor. — Abjures Christianity, and is elected pontifex 
 
 maximus. 
 363 Jovian emperor. 
 
 383 The Huns over-run Mesopotamia. They are defeated by the 
 
 Goths. 
 392 Theodosius emperor of the east and west. 
 395 Arcadius emperor of the east, and Honoriusof the west. 
 The Huns invade the eastern provinces. 
 
 400 FIFTH CENTURY. 
 
 Alaric, the Goth, ravages Italy. 
 
 410 Rome sacked and burnt by Alaric. — Death of Alaric. 
 
 41 1 The Vandals settled in Spain. 
 
 416 The Pelagian heresy condemned by the bishops of Africa. 
 420 Pharamond, first king of the Franks, supposed to have begun 
 
 his reign. 
 426 The Romans withdraw the legions from Britain. 
 428 The Franks defeated by jEtius the Roman general. 
 435 Publication of the Theodosian code. 
 
 449 Merovseus king of the Franks. 
 
 450 Marcian emperor of the east. 
 
 Atlila the Hun, called the Scourge of God, ravages Germany 
 
 and France. 
 
 451 The Saxons arrive in Britain under the command of Hengist 
 
 and Horsa. 
 
 452 Foundation of the city of Venice. 
 
 455 Rome taken and plundered by Genseric the Vandal. 
 
 46S Euric, king of the Visigoths, drives the Romans out of Spain. 
 
 470 iEIIa, the Saxon, takes possession of the kingdom of Sussex. 
 
 471 vEIIa defeats all the British princes. 
 
 472 Great eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which was seen from Con- 
 
 stantinople. 
 476 Rome taken by Odoacer king of ihe Heruli. 
 
Chronological Table. 383 
 
 A. D. 
 
 476 Extinction of the Western Empire. 
 4S l Clovis king of the Franks. 
 
 488 Theodoric, the Ostrogoth, entirely defeats Odoacer, and is ac- 
 knowledged king of Italy by the emperor Zeno. 
 497 Clovis and the Franks converted to Christianity. 
 
 499 Alliance between Clovis and Theodoric the Great. 
 
 500 SIXTH CENTURY. 
 
 508 Clovis defeated by Theodoric the Great in the battle of Aries; 
 
 510 Paris is made the capital ef the kingdom of the Franks. 
 
 51 1 Death of Clovis ; the kingdom divided between his four sons. 
 
 515 Arthur, king of the Britons, supposed to have begun his reign. 
 
 516 The computation of time by the Christian asra is introduced by 
 
 Dionvsius the Monk. 
 
 529 Belisanus, general of Justinian, defeats the Persians. 
 
 The books of the civil law published by Justinian. 
 
 537 Belisarius subdues the Ostrogoths in Italy, and takes Rome. 
 
 540 — refuses to accept the crown of Italy. 
 
 543 Totila, the Goth, recovers Italy from the Romans. 
 
 547 takes and plunders Rome. 
 
 551 The manufacture of silk introduced into Europe. 
 
 576 Narses, recalled from Italy, invites the Lombards to take pox- 
 session of the country. 
 
 568 Italy conquered by the Lombards. 
 
 571 Birth of Mahomet, the false prophet. 
 
 580 The Latin tongue ceased to be spoken in Italy about this time. 
 
 597 Augustine, the monk, converts the Saxons to Christianity. 
 
 600 SEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 602 Phocas emperor. — Acknowledges the supremacy of the popes. 
 
 607 The temple of the Pantheon, at Rome, dedicated to God, the 
 Virgin, and all the saints. 
 
 609 The Jews of Antioch massacre the Christians, 
 
 616 Jerusalem taken by the Persians, under Cosroes II. 
 
 622 iEraofthe Hegira, or flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina. 
 
 632 Death of Mahomet. — Abubekir succeeds him as caliph of the 
 Saracens. 
 
 636 Jerusalem taken by Omar and the Saracens, who keep posses- 
 sion of it 463 years. 
 
 640 The library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, is 
 burnt by the Saracens. 
 
 645 Otman succeeds Omar in the caliphate. 
 
 653 The Saracens take Rhodes. 
 
 654 Childeric II. king of Austrasia. 
 
 685 The Britons, totally subdued by the Saxons, retreat into Wales 
 and Cornwall. 
 
384 Chronological Table. 
 
 700 ' EIGHTH CENTURY. 
 
 71.3 Fp-iin conquered by the Saracens under Muca, the genera! of 
 the calipi; Walid. 
 
 726 The emperor Leo, the Isaurian, orders the images in the Chris- 
 
 tian churches to be thrown down. 
 
 727 Civil war against Leo on that account. 
 
 74-2 Const an tine Copronymus emperor, succeeds Leo. 
 
 Charlemagne born. m . 
 
 751 Pep.n le Bref king of France ; the founder of the Carlovingian 
 
 race. 
 772 Charles (Charlemagne) sole monarch ot France. 
 
 774 Charlemagne defeats Desiderius, and puts an end to the king- 
 
 dom of the Lombards. 
 
 775 Leo IV. emperor, succeeds Constantine Copronymus. 
 779 Charlemagne conquers Navarre and Sardinia. 
 
 781 Re-establi<hment ot the worship of images by Irene. 
 785 Charlemagne entirely subdues the Saxons. 
 
 787 The seventh general council, or second of Nice, is held. 
 
 788 Irene puts to death her son Constantine, and is proclaimed sole 
 
 empress. 
 793 Irene deposed and confined to a monastery. 
 — - Nicephorus emperor. 
 79V Charlemagne defeats and extirpates the Huns. 
 
 800 NINTH CENTURY. 
 
 — - New empire of the west. — Charlemagne crowned emperor at 
 Rome. 
 
 SI 4 Lewis le Debonnaire emperor of the west. 
 
 827 The kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy united under Egbert. 
 
 838 The Scots entirely subdue the Picts. 
 
 842 Germany separated from the empire of the Franks. — Lewis of 
 Bavaria, emperor of Germany. 
 
 867 The Danes begin to ravage England. 
 
 8S6 The university of Oxford founded by Alfred. 
 
 SS7 The Normans besiege Paris, which is gallantly defended by 
 bishop Goslin and count Eudes. 
 
 890 Alfred the Great composes his code of laws, and divides Eng- 
 land into counties, hundreds, and lithings. 
 
 900 TENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Lewis IV. emperor of Germany. 
 
 901 Edward the Elder succeeds vlfred in the kingdom of England. 
 975 Pope Boniface deposed and banished for his crimes. 
 
 987 Hugh Capet king of France, founder of the third race of the 
 
 French kings. 
 991 The Arabic numeral cyphers first introduced into Europe by the 
 
 Saracens. 
 
\ Chronological Table, 385 
 
 1000 ELEVENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1002 Great massacre of the Danes by Ethelred king of England. 
 
 1017 Canute, the Dane, king of England. 
 
 1025 Musical characters invented by Guido Aretino. 
 
 10+0 Macbeth usurps the throne of Scotland. 
 
 1041 The Saxon line of the English monarchs restored under Ed» 
 
 ward the Confessor. 
 104.3 The Turks, under Tangrolipix, take possession of Persia. 
 1054. Leo IX. the first pope who maintained a regular army. 
 
 1065 The Turks take Jerusalem from the Saracens. 
 
 1066 The conquest of England by William duke of Normandy. 
 1070 The feudal law introduced into England. 
 
 1086 Doomsday-book completed by William the Conqueror. 
 
 1087 William II. (Rufus) king of England, succeeds William the 
 
 Conqueror. 
 1095 The first crusade to the Holy Land. — Peter the Hermit. 
 
 1099 Jerusalem taken by Godfrey of Bouillon. 
 
 11 00 TWELFTH CENTURY. 
 
 Henry I. (Beauclerc) king of England. 
 
 1 107 Alexander I. king of Scotland. 
 
 1118 The order of the Knights Templars instituted. 
 
 1139 Alphonso, first-king of Portugal, rescues that kingdom from 
 the Saracens. 
 
 i 140 The canon law first introduced into England. 
 
 114-1 Stephen, king of England, taken prisoner in the battle of Lin- 
 coln. 
 
 1147 The second crusade excited by St. Bernard. 
 
 1150 The study of the civil law is revived at Bologna. 
 
 1 152 Frederic Barbarossa, emperor of Germany. 
 
 1164 Institution of the order of Teutonic knights in Germany. 
 
 1 165 William the Lion king of Scotland. 
 1 1 72 Conquest of Ireland by Henry II. 
 
 1 187 The city of Jerusalem taken by Saladin. 
 
 1 1 89 Richard I. (Cosur de Lion) king of England. 
 
 — — The third crusade, under Richard I. and Philip Augustus. 
 
 1 192 Richard I. defeats Saladin in the battle of Ascalon in Judea. 
 
 1200 THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1202 The fourth crusade sets out from Venice. 
 
 Constantinople taken by the Turks and Venetians. 
 
 1208 London incorporated. Obtains a charter for electing its 
 
 mayor and magistrates. 
 1215 Magna Charta signed by king John. 
 1227 The Tartars under Gengis-Khan, over-run the empire of the 
 
 Saracens, 
 
 3 A 
 
386 Chronological Tablet 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1234 The Inquisition committed to the Dominican monks. 
 
 1258 Bagdat taken by the Tartars. — End of the empire of the Sara? 
 cens. 
 
 J 263 The Norwegians invade Scotland, and are defeated by Alex- 
 ander III. 
 
 1264 The deputies of towns and boroughs first summoned to the 
 English parliament. 
 
 1273 Rodolph ofHapsburg, emperor of Germany, the first of the 
 Austrian family. 
 
 1282 The Sicilian vespers, when 8000 French were massacred. 
 
 1283 The conquest of Wales by Edward I. 
 
 1291 Ptolemais taken by the Turks. — End of the crusades. 
 1293 From this year there is a regular succession of English parlia- 
 ments. 
 1 298 The present Turkish empire begins in Bithynia under Ottoman . 
 ■ . . William Wallace regent of Scotland. 
 
 1300 FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1302 The mariners compass said to be discovered at Naples. 
 
 1307 The establishment of the Swiss republics. 
 
 1310 The knights of St. John take the island of Rhodes. 
 
 1314 Battle of Bannockburn, in which the Scots defeat the English. 
 
 1340 Gunpowder invented by Swartz, a monk of Cologne. 
 
 1346 Battle of Cressy won by Edward III. and the Black Prince, 
 
 over the French, August 26. 
 
 1347 The Admiralty Court, Doctors Commons, instituted in Eng- 
 
 land. 
 1330 The order of the garter instituted in England, April 23. 
 1352 The Turks first enter Europe. 
 1356 The battle of Poictiers, in which John II. king of France, is 
 
 taken prisoner, September 19. 
 1362 The law pleadings in England changed from French to English. 
 1377 The seat of the popes was removed from Avignon to Rome. 
 1381 Wat Tyler's insurrection in England, July. 
 
 Bills of exchange were first used in England. 
 
 1383 Cannon were first used in the English service by the governor 
 
 of Calais. 
 1388 Battle of Otterburn between Percy (Hotspur) and Douglas, 
 
 July 31. 
 
 1400 FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1402 Bajazet taken prisoner by Tamerlane in the battle of Angoria, 
 July 28. 
 
 1415 Henry V. defeats the French at Agincburt, Oct. 25. 
 — — John Huss condemned and burnt for heresy, July 6. 
 
 1416 Jerome of Prague burnt for heresy. 
 
 ! 420 The Portuguese discover the island of Madeira. 
 
'Chronological Table. 387 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1421 The revenue of England amounted to only 55,754/. 
 
 1428 Joan of Arc compels the English to raise the siege of Orleans. 
 
 1436 Paris recovered from the English by the French. 
 
 1 439 The pragmatic sanction established in France. 
 
 1440 Invention of the art of printing by Tohn Guttenburg at Stras- 
 
 burg. 
 1453 Constantinople taken by the Turks, May 29. 
 
 Extinction of the Eastern empire. 
 
 1485 Henry VII. king of England. Union of the houses of York 
 
 and Lancaster. 
 
 1491 Grenada taken by Ferdinand and Isabella. End of the king- 
 
 dom of the Moors in Spain. 
 
 1492 Hispaniola and Cuba discovered by Christopher Columbus. 
 1494 Algebra first known in Europe. 
 
 1 497 The Portuguese, under Vasco de Gama, double the Cape of 
 Good Hope, and sail to the East Indies. 
 
 1499 Sebastian Cabot lands in North America, 
 
 1500 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 — —Maximilian divides Germany into six circles, and adds four 
 
 more in 1512. 
 1517 The reformation in Germany begun by Luther. 
 
 1519 Charles V. king of Spain, elected Emperor of Germany. 
 
 1520 The massacre of Stockholm by Christian II. and archbishop 
 
 Trollo. 
 
 1522 The first voyage round the world performed by a ship of Ma- 
 gellan's squadron. 
 
 1527 Rome taken and plundered by Charles V. 
 
 1529 Peace of Cambray. — The reformed first termed Protestants. 
 
 1534 The reformation in England under Henry VIII. 
 
 1540 Dissolution of the monasteries in England. 
 
 1545 The council of Trent begins, and continues eighteen years. 
 
 1546 Cardinal Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews, assassinated. 
 1560 The reformation completed in Scotland by John Knox. 
 1566 The first commotions begin in the Netherlands. 
 
 1572 The massacre of St. Bartholomew at Paris. 
 
 1576 The league against the Protestants begins in France. 
 
 1579 The commencement of the republic of Holland, by the union 
 
 of Utrecht. 
 
 1580 The world circumnavigated by Sir Francis Drake. 
 
 1582 The new style introduced into Italy by pope Gregory XIII. ; 
 
 Oct. 5 being reckoned Oct. 15. 
 1584 William I, prince of Orange, murdered at Delft. 
 
 1587 Mary queen of Scots beheaded, Feb. 8. 
 
 1588 Destruction of the Spanish armada, July 17. 
 
 1589 Henry III. of France murdered by Jaques Clement. 
 1598 Edict of Nantes, tolerating the Protestants in France. 
 
388 . ■ Chronological Table. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1600 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1602 Decimal arithmetic invented at Bruges. 
 
 1603 James I. king of Great Britain Union of the crowns of Eng- 
 
 land and Scotland. 
 J 605 The gunpowder-plot discovered. 
 160S Galileo discovers the satellites of Jupiter. 
 J 610 Henry IV. of France murdered by Ravaillac. 
 1611 Baronets first created in England by James I. 
 J 61 4 Logarithms invented by Napier, baron of Merchistoun. 
 1616 Settlement of Virginia by sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 1618 The synod of Dort in Holland. 
 
 1619 Discovery of the circulation of the blood by Dr. Harvey. 
 1625 The island of Barbadoes planted : — the first English settle- 
 ment in the West-Indies. 
 
 1632 Gustavus Adolphus killed in the battle of Lutzen. 
 
 1633 Galileo condemned by the inquisition at Rome. 
 — — Louisiana discovered by the French. 
 
 16+2 Beginning of the civil war in England. — Battle of Edgehill, 
 
 Oct. 23. 
 1649 Charles I. of England beheaded, Jan. 30. 
 The commonwealth of England begins, March 17. 
 
 1652 The first war betwixt the English and Dutch. 
 
 1653 End of the commonwealth of England.-— Oliver Cromwell 
 
 lord protector, Dec. 13. 
 
 1655 The English under admiral Penn, take possession of Jamai- 
 ca, May 7. 
 
 1660 Charles IX. king of Great Britain. — Restoration of monarchy. 
 
 The king of Denmark declared absolute, and the throne he- 
 reditary, Oct. 13, O. S. 
 
 1662 The Royal Society instituted in England. 
 
 1663 Carolina planted. 
 
 1666 Sabatei Levi pretends to be the Messiah in Turkey. 
 
 . — — The Scotch covenanters defeated on Pentland hills. 
 
 1C67 The peace of Breda, which confirms to the English, Pennsyl. 
 
 vania, New York, and New- Jersey. 
 1668 The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, April 22, O. S. 
 1678 The Habeas-Corpus act passed in England. 
 16S2 Peter the Great czar ol Muscovy. 
 1683 Execution of lord Russel and Algernon Sydney. 
 
 1689 Battle of Gilliecrankie. The Viscount of Dundee slain, 
 
 July 27. ' ' 
 
 1690 Battle of the Boyne, July 1. 
 1692 Battle of La Hogue, May 19. 
 1694 The bank of England incorporated. 
 
Chronological Table. 389 
 
 A. D 
 
 1700 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 1703 Gibraltar taken by admiral Rooke, July 24. 
 
 Battle of Blenheim, August 2, won by the duke of Marlbo- 
 rough and allies. 
 
 1706 Battle of Ramilies, May 12. 
 
 The treaty of union between England and Scotland, siened 
 
 July 22. * 
 
 1709 Battle ot Pultowa, in which Charles XII. is beaten by Peter 
 the Great, June 30. 
 
 Battle of Malplaquet won by the duke of Marlborough and the 
 
 allies, September 11. 
 
 1714- George I. elector of Hanover, king of Great Britain. 
 
 1715 The rebellion in Scotland. — Battle of Sheriff-muir, Novem- 
 ber 13. 
 
 1718 Charles XI/ of Sweden killed at the siege of Frederickshall. 
 
 1720 The South-Sea scheme breaks up. 
 
 1727 Inoculation first tried on criminals with success. 
 
 — — Russia, formerly a dukedom, now established as an empire. 
 
 1732 Kouli-Khan usurps the throne of Persia, conquers the Mogul 
 . empire, and returns with two hundred and thirty-one mil- 
 lions sterling. 
 
 The settlement of Georgia, in North America, began. 
 
 1736 Captain Porteus having ordered his soldiers to fire upon the 
 
 populace at an execution of a smuggler, is himself hanged 
 
 by a mob at Edinburgh. 
 1738 Westminster-bridge began ; finished in 1750. 
 1745 Rebellion in Scotland — The pretender's army defeated at 
 
 Culloden, April 16, 1746. 
 1752 The new style introduced into England, the third of September 
 
 being counted the fourteenth. 
 
 1756 Lisbon destroyed by an earthquake. 
 
 1757 Damien's conspiracy against the king of France, January 5. 
 
 1759 General Wolfe defeated the French, and took Quebec, Sep.l 7. 
 
 1760 A transit of Venus over the Sun, June 6. ? 
 George III. king of Great Britain, Oct. 25! 
 
 1762 War declared by England against Spain. 
 Martinico surrendered to the English. 
 
 Peace between Great Britain and France, at Fontainbleau 
 
 Nov. 3. ' 
 
 1763 The peace of Paris, between Great Britain, France, and 
 
 Spam, acceded to by Portugal, Feb. 10. 
 The expulsion of the Jesuits from France completed. 
 
 1764 Famine and pestilence in Italy. 
 
 Byron made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 1765 The American stamp-act repealed, March 18. 
 1768 The Royal Academy of Arts at Lonnon. 
 
 — — The Jesuists are expelled from Naples, Malta, and Parma. 
 
390 Chronological Table. 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1768 Bougainville made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 1769 Cook made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 1771 An emigration of 50U,000 Tourgouths, from the coast of 
 
 the Caspian Sea to the frontiers of China. 
 
 1772 A revolution in Sweden, August 19. 
 
 Poland dismembered by the empress of Russia, the king of 
 
 Prussia, and the house of Austria. 
 
 1773 Cook made discoveries in the Pacific Ocean, and sailed to 71 
 
 degrees 10 minutes south latitude. 
 
 A comet appeared, August 15. 
 
 1776 The Americans declared themselves independent, July 4. 
 
 1778 Treaty of alliance between the French king and the Ameri- 
 
 can states, Oct. Jo. 
 Engagement of the English and French fleets ofFBrest, July 27 . 
 
 1779 A tremendous eruption of Mount Vesuvius, August 8. 
 The siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards began in July. 
 
 1780 Admiral Rodney defeated the Spanish fleet, and took 22 sail, 
 
 Jan. 16. 
 
 — — Charleston, in America, surrendered to the English, May 12. 
 
 An insurrection and riot in London. 
 
 17 SO War was declared in England against the Dutch, Decern. 20. 
 
 Tobago taken by the French. 
 
 The English army, under the command of Lord Cornwallis, 
 
 surrendered to the united forces of France and America, at 
 York-town, Oct. 18. 
 
 1782 Admiral Rodney defeated the French fleet commanded by- 
 count de Grasse, off Dominica, April 12. 
 
 178S Peace between Great Britain, France, and Spain. 
 
 ■ America declared independent, by Great Britain, Jan. 20. 
 
 A dreadful earthquake in Sicily. — Messina destroyed, Feb. 5. 
 
 1784 Ardchindschan, in Turkey, destroyed by an earthquake, and 
 
 12,000 persons buried in its ruins. 
 
 Hail-stones as large as hens' eggs fell at Iram in the Pyrenees, 
 
 July 18. 
 
 1785 Sunday schools first established in England. 
 
 1786 Margaret Nicholson, a mad woman, attempted to stab the 
 
 king of England, August 2. 
 
 1787 A most dreadful storm in Normandy, August 4. 
 
 1788 The notables of France convened by the king. 
 
 1789 The French revolution commenced July 4, and the Bastile ta- 
 
 ken. 
 
 1790 Religious houses abolished in France. 
 
 1791 The king and Royal family of France attempt to escape out 
 
 of the kingdom, but were brought back by force, June 22. 
 
 1792 Louis XVI. renounced the sovereignty of France, August 10. 
 ■ A dreadful plague in Egypt, of which nearly 300,000 dies. 
 
Chronological Table. 391 
 
 A. D. 
 
 1793 The king of France beheaded, January 21st, and the queen 
 October 16th, following. 
 
 ■ War commenced between England and France. 
 
 179* Lord Howe defeated the French fleet, June 1. 
 
 1795 Gold discovered in the Wicklow mountains in Ireland. 
 
 1796 Five Dutch men-of-war, and several frigates, in Saldana bay, 
 
 surrendered to the English Admiral Elphinston, Aug. 19. 
 
 1797 Admiral Duncan took and destroyed fifteen Dutch ships of 
 
 the line, October 11. 
 
 1798 Admiral Nelson totally defeated the French in the mouth 
 
 of the Nile, August 1 . 
 
 1799 George Washington, late President of the United States, and 
 
 commander in chief of the American forces during the re- 
 volutionary war, died at his country seat, " Mount Vernon" 
 in Virginia, December 22, aged 68 years. 
 — — Seringapatam, in the East Indies, taken by the English May 
 16. A plague at Fez, of which died 247,000 persons. 
 
 1800 NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The society called "The Royal institution of Great Britain," 
 
 founded March 11. 
 — — The king of England shot at with ahorse pistol, by a madman 
 of the name of Hatfield, at Drury -lane Theatre, May 15. 
 
 Memorable battle of Marengo, gained by general Bonaparte. 
 
 Vaccine innoculation, by Dr. Jenner, comes into general use 
 
 in Europe. 
 
 1 801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland, January 1. 
 
 Copenhagen blockaded by Lord Nelson, April 2. 
 
 The French troops completely vanquished in Egypt by gene- 
 ral Hutchinson, and compelled to return to France, Sept. 3. 
 
 1802 Peace proclaimed in London, April 29. 
 
 1803 Louisiana purchased by the United States for fifteen millions 
 
 of dollars. 
 1 804" Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned emperor of the French (at 
 
 Paris) September 2. He was born in the island of Corsica, 
 
 August 15, 1769. 
 Major general Alexander Hamilton, late secretary of the 
 
 Treasury of the United States, died July 12. / 
 
 1 805 Admiral Lord Nelson was slain at the battle of Trafalgar, 
 
 October 21. 
 
 1806 William Pitt, the English Premier, died Jan. 23, in the 47th 
 
 year of his age, 23 of which he had ruled the British empire 
 with an influence unprecedented in the annals of modern 
 history. 
 
392 
 
 A. D. 
 
 Vhronoiogical Table, 
 
 1806 Charles James Fox, the English minister of foreign relations, 
 
 died September 13. He and Mr. Pitt were considered as 
 stars of the first magnitude in the political horizon : The 
 former was regarded as the friend of the people, and was a 
 statesman of consummate abilities. 
 
 1807 A most bloody, and decisive battle was fought at the town of 
 
 Friedland, in Poland, betwixt the Russians, and the French. 
 ___ . A Treaty of Peace between France and Prussia, signed, at 
 
 Tilsit, July 12th. 
 - A Treaty of Peace between France and Russia, was signed 
 
 about the same time. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 JL HE events which have sprung out of the French 
 Revolution, have produced such a change in the political 
 condition of Europe ; and these events succeed each 
 other with such rapidity, that we have found it necessary 
 toa dd an Appendix to our Work; that we might bring 
 the History of Europe to as late a period of time as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 THE liberal policy of the English ministry, of which the late 
 Charles James Fox was the leader, induced them to endeavour 
 to remove, or to lessen, the obnoxious tests and disqualifications 
 which for a long time had deprived the state of the services of a 
 very large proportion of its people, the Dissenters and the Roman 
 Catholics. After the death of that illustrious statesman, his col- 
 leagues proposed to introduce a bill into parliament to this effect, 
 and submittted an outline of it to the king for his opinion. His 
 majesty, considering that his assent to the passing of such a bill, 
 would be a violation of his coronation oath, which obliges him to 
 preserve undiminished the privileges of the church, of which he 
 is the constitutional head, and believing his ministers were attempt- 
 ing to entrap his conscience, gave the measure his decided disap= 
 probation, dismissed its authors from his councils, formed a new 
 ministry, and by dissolving parliament, appealed to the sense of 
 his people for the rectitude of his conduct. The new parliament 
 accordingly met on the 22d of June, 1807? but were soon after 
 
 S B 
 
ii; APPENDIX. 
 
 prorogued to the 14th of August, and afterwards still further proro* 
 gued to the 24th of September. 
 
 In the interim, a general peace (with the exception of Sweden) 
 has taken place on the continent of Europe ; and England is left 
 to continue the contest alone against a power by whom that conti- 
 nent has been completely subjugated, and with men at the head of 
 her councils who are supposed to be inimical to peace. 
 
 Circumstances have also recently occurred which place Great- 
 Britain in a very unpleasant situation with respect to two powers 
 who have hitherto remained neutral during the war. We allude 
 to the United States and the kingdom of Denmark. An unwar- 
 rantable attack has been made upon the national sovereignty of 
 the former, which we shall notice in its proper place ; and a pow- 
 erful fleet has been sent to the Baltic, to compel the latter to re- 
 linquish its neutrality. What the consequence of these measures 
 may be, it is impossible for us at the present crisis to know, and 
 we are not disposed to amuse the reader with idle conjecture. 
 
 The following estimate of the annual value of some of the prin- 
 cipal manufactures in England, and of the number of persons em- 
 ployed in them, is chiefly founded on official returns. 
 
 Annual Value.. Persons Employed* 
 
 Woollen 16,400,000 440,340 
 
 Cotton 10,000,000 347,271 
 
 Leather 10,500,000 241,818 
 
 Iron, tin, and lead 10,000,000 200,000 
 
 Steel, plating, &c. 4,000,000 70,000 
 
 Copper and brass 3,600,000 60,000 
 
 Linen and flax 3,000,000 95,000 
 
 Silk 2,700,000 65,000 
 
 Hemp 1,600,000 35,000 
 
 Potteries 2,000,000 45,000 
 
 Glass 1,500,000 3,0,000 
 
 Paper 900,000 30,000 
 
 66,200,000 1,665,429 
 
 The annual value of other manufactures of less importance, is 
 estimated at four or five millions, and the number of persons em- 
 ployed in them to about one hundred thousand. 
 
 The public revenue of England was, in the year 1100, three 
 hundred thousand pounds sterling ; during the three following 
 centuries, one hundred thousand pounds ; in 1500, four hundred 
 thousand poinds ; in 1600, five hundred thousand pounds ; in 
 1700, four millions j and in 1800, thirty millions, 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 The unpleasant affair, to which we have alluded in our remarks 
 upon England, and which in its consequences may possibly involve 
 
APPENDIX. in 
 
 the two countries in hostilities, is an attack made upon the United 
 States frigate Chesapeake, commodore Barron, by the British 
 ship of war Leopard, on the 22d of June, 1807- A demand 
 was made at sea by the captain of the Leopard, for permission to 
 examine the Chesapeake's crew, on pretence that she had on board 
 sundry deserters from British ships of war then lying in Hampton 
 Roads or at Halifax. Commodore Barron refused his consent to 
 so unprecedented a demand, as being contrary to the orders of his 
 government and to the acknowledged law of nations. A broad- 
 side from the Leopard was immediately poured into the Chesa- 
 peake, who, unsuspicious of danger, was not in a situation to offer 
 any resistance.— She struck her colours. The captain of the Leo- 
 pard, after having taken out four of her men, (who have since 
 been tried at Halifax, and one of them executed on a charge of 
 desertion and mutiny) refused to keep possession of the frigate, and 
 she returned dismasted and disabled to Norfolk, having had some 
 of her men killed and wounded ; amongst the latter was the com- 
 modore himself. This affair roused the indignant spirit of the 
 country ; party-prejudice seemed to be annihilated ; and from one 
 end of the United States to the other but one sentiment prevailed — • 
 a resolution to support the government in defending the national 
 honour. The president issued a proclamation, interdicting all 
 communication with any British armed vessels, and forbidding 
 their entrance into our harbours or waters ; and a representation 
 of all the circumstances has been forwarded to the court of Lon- 
 don. Here, at present, the matter rests. 
 
 SWISSERLAND, 
 
 It is painful to the mind to contemplate Swisserland as it was a 
 few years ago, in contrast with the situation to which it is now 
 reduced. 
 
 It consisted heretofore of twenty republics, forming (like the 
 United States of America) one general republic ; and, though a 
 collactive body without sovereignty, the people had this imperfec- 
 tion more than counterbalanced by the invaluable privilege of 
 obeying their own laws, and of being governed by great and good 
 men selected from amongst themselves. Its counsellors were 
 wise, its soldiers valiant, its situation circumscribed, its politics 
 peaceable, and its citizens happy. 
 
 It is now in fact, though not in name, a province of France ; 
 its landamman is Reinhard, one of the French deputies at Ratis- 
 bon who escaped assassination ; and its ancient proud and inde- 
 pendent spirit is extinguished. In the strong- language of one 
 who had suffered severely from the destruction of the Helvetic 
 confederacy, " it is the empty and bloody skin of an immolated 
 victim : it has nothing left now but rocks, ruins, and demagogues." 
 
iv APPENDIX. 
 
 Yet that instinctive predilection which almost every man enter- 
 tains for his native soil, is, perhaps of all others, the most deeply 
 implanted in the heart of a Swiss. Whilst engaged in the service 
 of a foreign country, on his march, or fighting its battles as a mer- 
 cenary machine, the delightful air of the " Ran% des Vaches" will 
 transport him beyond himself; it presents so exquisite a picture of 
 the joys he has left behind him, that he will instinctively stand still j 
 perhaps he will desert ; and, if not allowed to do either, he will 
 commit suicide. The French government, from a knowledge of 
 these inevitable consequences, issued orders that this air should not 
 be played to the Swiss soldiery under pain of military execution. 
 For the gratification of the learned reader, we have subjoined a li- 
 teral copy of this enchanting composition, which ',' takes the 
 prisoned soul'' of a Swiss, " and laps it in elysium.'' 
 
 RANZ DES VACHES. 
 
 Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
 Tous les objets de mon amour ? 
 
 Nos clairs ruisseaux, 
 
 Nos coteaux, 
 
 Nos hameaux, 
 
 Nos montagnes, 
 
 Et romement de nos campagnes, 
 
 La si-gentle Isabeau ? 
 A l'ombre d'un ormeau 
 Quand danserai-je au son du chalumeau r 
 
 Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
 Tous les objets de mon amour ? 
 Mon pere, 
 Ma mere, 
 Mon frere, 
 Ma sceur, 
 Mes agneaux, 
 Mes troupeaux, 
 Ma bergere ? 
 Quand reverrai-je, en un jour, 
 Tous les objets de mon amour ? 
 In English. 
 When shall I behold again, in one day, all the objects of my 
 love? our clear streams, our cottages, our hamlets, eur mountains, 
 and the ornament of our fields, the gentle Isabella ? Under the 
 shade of an oak, when shall I dance once more to the sound of the 
 pipe ? 
 
 When shall I behold again, in one day, all the objects of my 
 love ? my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, my lambs, my 
 flocks, my shepherdess ? When shall J. behold again, in one day, 
 all these objects of my affection ? 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 Since the regular history of this country was put to press, the 
 great contest, which has made Europe a scene of the most san- 
 guinary warfare, is terminated. Treaties of peace were signed 
 with the emperor of Russia on the 7th of July, and with the king 
 of Prussia on the 9th ; and the territory of the latter, nearly the 
 whole of which was in the possession and at the disposal of the 
 conqueror, has been restored to him, with the exception of Silesia, 
 and a few other places of minor consequence. The ratifications 
 were exchanged within three days at Tilsit, at a time when one-half 
 of the town was occupied by the French, and the other half by the 
 troops of the combined powers. On the continent the emperor of 
 the French has now to contend only with the king of Sweden, who 
 will not be considered a formidable enemy, and who must shortly 
 be subdued. Napoleon will then turn his undivided attention to 
 England. 
 
 The following quotation, from a respectable source, will give 
 the reader some idea of the sanguinary contests which recently took 
 place between the Russian and French armies in Poland. 
 
 " At the battle of Hieldsberg, the grand duke of Berg, (Murat, 
 brother-in law to the emperor of the French) passed along the 
 line of the third division of cuirassiers, at the moment in which 
 the sixth regiment had charged. Colonel d'Avary, commander 
 of the regiment, his sword dyed in blood, said, " Prince, review my 
 regiment, and you will find that there is not a soldier whose sword 
 is not like mine ! I" 
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 Sweden is at present, as we have observed in the preceding arti- 
 cle, at war with France, whose troops have captured Stralsund. 
 
 According to a statistical survey of this kingdom, given in the 
 Journal de Frankfort of July last, it contains (including Pomerania) 
 1 3,565 square miles, more than half of which is uncultivated. The 
 population is estimated at 3,299,356 souls, which gives 243 people 
 to each square mile. Of this mass there are 120,630 gentlemen, 
 16,424 ecclesiastics, 7126 students, 1275 merchants, 17,233 shop- 
 keepers, 2605 manufacturers, 87,439 trades-people, 2,572,996 
 peasants, 19,653 sailors, and 188,734 military people. The land- 
 forces in the year 1805, were 47,165 men. The fleet is divided 
 into the grand fleet and the galley fleet. The first, in 1805, con- 
 sisted of 16 sail of the line fit for service, 12 frigates, and several 
 other small vessels. The galley fleet amounted to 183 sail. These 
 two fleets carried 3048 guns, and had 14,208 sailors and other ma- 
 riners. The revenues of the state are 1 1,500,000 florins, the ex- 
 pences 11,030,000, the national debt 18 millions. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 We have already noticed the situation to which the conqueror 
 of Europe has reduced the king of Prussia, The latter, on the 
 1 4th of July, (the anniversary of the French revolution) absolved 
 the inhabitants of the ceded provinces from their former allegiance 
 to him, by a proclamation so very humiliating, that we cannot re- 
 sist the impulse we feel to give it to our readers. 
 
 " You are acquainted, beloved inhabitants of faithful provinces, 
 territories, and towns, with my sentiments, and with the events of 
 last year. My arms, benumbed under the pressure of misfortunes, 
 the exertions of the last remains of my army proved fruitless. Forced 
 back to the uttermost borders of the empire, and even my powerful 
 ally having judged it necessary to conclude an asmistice and peace, 
 nothing remained for me but the wish to restore tranquility to my 
 country after the calamities of war. Peace was to be concluded 
 as circumstances dictated ; the most painful sacrifices were re- 
 quired of myself and my house. What ages and worthy ancestors, 
 conventions, love, and confidence, had united, were to be severed. 
 My efforts — the exertions of all who belonged to me — were in vain. 
 Fate ordains — a father parts with his children. 
 
 " I release you from all allegiance to my person and my house. 
 My most ardent wishes for your prosperity attend you to your new 
 sovereign ; be to him what you were to me. No fate, no power 
 can efface in my bosom and in the mind of my family the remem- 
 brance of you. 
 
 « FREDERICK WILLIAM. 
 " Memel, July Uth, 1807." 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 The following character of Irish hospitality is taken from one of 
 Current's celebrated speeches. 
 
 " The hospitality of other countries is a matter of necesssity or 
 convenience — in savage nations of the first — in polished, of the lat- 
 ter ; but the hospitality of an Irishman is not the running account 
 of pofcted and ledgered courtesies es in other countries ; it springs, 
 like all his qualities, his faults, his virtues, directly from his heart. 
 The heart of an Irishman is by nature bold, and he confides ; is ten- 
 der, and he loves ; is generous, and he gives ; social, and he is 
 hospitable." 
 
 PERSIA. 
 
 Government.— /The Persian government was monarchical! 
 and in every branch of it strictly despotic. 
 
 The usual title of the king was Shah, or Shaw, as it is pronounced, 
 which signifies " the disposer of kingdoms," and is the highes? 
 
APPENDIX. vii 
 
 title known in Asia, it being equivalent to that of emperor in Eu- 
 rope. They also added to the king's titles those of sultan, and khan 
 or cawn, which is the title of the Tartar sovereigns. His arms 
 were a lian couchant, looking at the sun as it rises over his back. 
 
 The Persians readily obeyed all the commands of their prince 
 without reserve ; so that if the son was commanded to be the fa- 
 ther's executioner, or the father the son's, it must be complied with. 
 Yet they said, if he commanded any thing contrary to the peculiar 
 tenets of their religion, they were under no obligation to obey him. 
 Several writers mention a minister in the Persian court, whom the. 
 king commanded to drink with him ; but he excused himself by 
 saying, he had been a pilgrimage to Mecca, and could not drink 
 wine without violating the laws of their religion : to which the king 
 replied, " Thousands have gone a pilgrimage to Mecca, and yet 
 drink wine ; drink ther£fore when thy sovereign commands thee." 
 But the minister still refusing, the king not only abused him in the 
 grossest manner, but made the servants throw the wine into his 
 face, and pour it by force into his mouth ; then threatened him 
 with immediate death : to which the other returned, That he had 
 a right to his life, but not to his religion ; and he chose rather to 
 die than to drink. The king then dismissed him from his employ- 
 ments ; but he was soon after restored, and seemed to be doubly 
 honoured by the king, for the resolution he had shewn in refusing 
 to violate his conscience. 
 
 Laws. — The laws of the Persians are blended with their reli- 
 gion, agreeably to the grand principle of the Mahometans, that the 
 same person ought to bear the spiritual and temporal swords, and 
 be both king and high -priest : that he ought to command in war, 
 and administer justice, as well as explain the articles of faith, and 
 regulate their ecclesiastical discipline ; and with this power both 
 Mahomet and his successors, the caliphs, were invested during the 
 first iive centuries. 
 
 In cases of rebellion, the late princes of Persia have been entire 
 strangers to humanity ; and, not satisfied with punishing the prin- 
 cipals, most, if not all those who were taken in arms, lost their eyes 
 or their heads ! 
 
 Criminals of state were sentenced to wear, for a determined space 
 of time, a heavy wooden collar about their necks, to which one of 
 their hands was fastened. 
 
 If a person had the misfortune to kill another, and the fact was 
 proved before the judges, he was delivered up to the relations of 
 the deceased, who were thus addressed : " I deliver you the mur- 
 derer according to law : make yourselves satisfaction with his 
 blood for the blood that he has spilt ; but remember that God is 
 merciful." When the miserable wretch was delivered to his ene- 
 mies, they generally inflicted on him the most cruel tortures they 
 could invent ; and it is said, that the women, who scarce ever ap- 
 
viii APPENDIX. 
 
 peared abroad on any other occasion, would come and Imbrue their 
 hands in his blood ! 
 
 Pick-pockets and pilferers were marked with a hot iron in the 
 forehead, and house-breakers had their right hands cut off. The 
 same punishment was inflicted on those who counterfeited the coin, 
 for the first offence ; but for the second, their bellies were ript open. 
 They had some other punishments for capital crimes, as impaling, 
 setting them up to the chin in the earth, cutting off the hands and 
 feet, and leaving the poor wretches in that deplorable condition 
 till they expired. 
 
 Bakers and victuallers have been sometimes baked and roasted 
 alive, for cheating in their weights, and raising provisions to an 
 exorbitant price. 
 
 Religion of the Persians. — The established religion of 
 Persia acknowledges the Koran to be the great law of the prophet 
 Mahomet, in as full a manner as it is received among the Turks ; 
 but in this their common faith has not been influential in producing 
 concord ; for the private interests and views of individuals soon 
 gave rise to such a schism, as rendered Mahomedans as rancorous 
 and fierce against each other as the professors of the Christian faith 
 have been, when thepurity of their religion was sullied by the dog- 
 mas of assuming men. 
 
 " The Persians acknowledge that the Mosaic was the true religion 
 before Christ, whom they also believe to be a true prophet and 
 teacher sent from God ; but that the religion he taught was con- 
 tained in a book, which, at Mahomet's coming, was taken by the 
 angel Gabriel into heaven, and the Koran brought down in its 
 stead. They also, like the other Mahometans, say, that Jesus Christ 
 did not die upon the cross, but as he was going to his crucifixion, 
 he was invisibly translated to heaven ; and that Judas being mira- 
 culously brought thither in his place, his face appeared like that of 
 Christ, and he was crucified in his stead ! ! Thus they confess the 
 truth of our Saviour's mission, but mingle almost every thing relat- 
 ing to him with extravagant fictions. " — Sir Wm. Jonas. 
 
 EUROPE GENERALLY. 
 
 A. German Author, who has lately published some statistical 
 observations respecting the state of Europe, says, that it contains 
 171,395 square German miles, of which France either governs 
 directly or protects 38,893 ; that it contains 182,599,000 inhabi- 
 tants, of which 37,050,000 obey France, or enter into its Federal 
 system ; that there are in Europe 2,549,836 soldiers, of which 
 France can put 854,800 in movement. The total revenues of Eu- 
 rope he estimates at 1,173,750,000 florins, of which France receives 
 about 700,000,000 of livres. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, L. L. D. President of the United States, 
 JOHN ADAMS, L. L. D. late President of the United States. 
 
 A 
 
 New- York. 
 Abeel, Garnt B. 
 Angelis, Gaetano, M. D. 
 Ayers, Win. & Margaret 
 Arcularius, Charles 
 Ayres, David 
 Aycrigg, Benjamin 
 Alston, Isaac 
 Arrowsmith. Edmund 
 Amie, Gahen 
 Ackcrman, Mary 
 Amerman, Abraham B. 
 Austin, William 
 Arnold, Leri 
 Angevine, Gilbert 
 Ambrose, John 
 Angus, William 
 Askin, John 
 Amie, Mary 
 Allen, Richard 
 Adams, Samuel 
 Angevine, James 
 Achesoii, William 
 Adams, Thomas G. 
 Aaron, Henry 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Auner, Peter 
 Ashman, James 
 Allen, Howard 
 Ashburner, John 
 Askin, John 
 Avery, Charles 
 Anderson, Charles 
 Addis, Daniel 
 Addis, Amos 
 AUen, jun. William. 
 
 Albright, Michael 
 Allen, George 
 Andrews, Leonard 
 Armstrong, James F. 
 Anderson, Samuel 
 Armstrong, John D. 
 
 Lansmgburgh. 
 At wood, Noel 
 
 Nen -Brunswick. 
 Ackerman, Ralph 
 Agnew, Andrew 
 
 Albany. 
 Austin, Jeremiah 
 Adams, Thomas 
 Austin, William 
 Andrew, John 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Aitkin, Mordecai 
 Alexander, William 
 Ayres, Isaac, & John Wianans 
 
 Hudson. 
 Avery, Asa, 
 Allen, jun. Benjamin 
 Austin, Abner 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Arnold, William 
 B 
 
 New-York. 
 Bailey, General Theodoras 
 Bleecker, A. L. 
 Bancker, Anna 
 Buxton, Charles, M. D. 
 Berte, Lewis 
 Beatty, Samuel C. 
 Brock, Thomas 
 Bogert, jun. Nicholas 
 Ballus, Asa 
 Bayard, Elizabeth, 
 Bush, David D^ 
 Berry, Jacob 
 3 c 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Bancker, Anne T. 
 Boyd, Thomas 
 Badgley, Isaac and Eliza 
 Brundage, Edward 
 Brown, James 
 Brouwer, William 
 Bagley, Thomas 
 Buck, Daniel 
 Brown, William 
 Brady, Abraham 
 Betagh James 
 Barker, Aaron 
 Badeau, William 
 Boscawen, John 
 Brasher, Ephraim 
 Bulleriz, Rosett 
 Benson, Samuel E. 
 Burras, Benjamin V. 
 Brown, Ebenezer 
 Boyle, Jonathan 
 Butler, William 
 Brisbane, William 
 Blake ly, John S. 
 Brinckly, William 
 Berrian, George 
 Buckmaster, George 
 Badeau, William 
 Belleville, Samuel R. 
 Bancker, Wm. Stephen S. 
 Bourdman, John 
 Bridges, Thomas 
 Brestesca, Lewis A. 
 Boyce, Isaac 
 Blossom, Betsy 
 Barker, David 
 Braine, Abraham L„ 
 Bloomer, Michael 
 Butterworth, Henry 
 Busby, John 
 Ball-. Charles 
 Brodie, William 
 Brinsford & Jackson 
 Brodie, Alexander R. 
 Bellamy, Thomas 
 Blackburn, William 
 Benedict, James 
 Bloodgaod, John 
 Bun ill, Ebenezer 
 Bianch, John H« 
 Birdsall, Joseph C. 
 Bell, Abraham 
 
 Boyle, Mary 
 Brownell, John 
 Bleecktr, Frederick D. 
 Brown, Wheeler 
 Bethune, Divie 
 Bogart, H. 
 Broadhead, John C. 
 Butler, John 
 Becanon, Philip, esq. 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Butler, The hon. Pierce 
 Butler, Captain Ezekiel 
 Brown, William, M. D. 
 Ball, Joseph 
 Burgess, M. & H. 
 Brown, William W. 
 Bender, Miss Mary 
 Browne, William W. 
 Beck, Henry A. 
 Bastian, Geo. 
 Burgess, Hannah & Mary 
 Beatty, David 
 Brown, Joseph D. 
 Barry, Mrs. Sarah 
 Brown, Mary 
 Backhouse, Ann 
 Booth, Geo. 
 Bartholomew, Edmund 
 Borne, Jeremiah 
 Brientnal, David 
 Black, James 
 Battin John 
 Bell, Henry 
 Brocar Francis 
 Blame Joseph 
 Bryan Joseph 
 Bevin, jun. Philip 
 Bunting, John 
 Betts, Ebenezer 
 Bunn, Seely.V.D.M. 
 Barclay, Andrew C. 
 Bryant, MordecaiY.-^M.P.F.S* 
 Bisrr, William 
 Burn, William 
 Barton, Gilbert L, 
 Boater, Daniel 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Albany. 
 Beekman, Hannah 
 Burnett, Aaron 
 Bell, James 
 Burnett, Margaret 
 Boyd, John L. 
 Bratt, GerritT. 
 Brotherton, Isaac 
 Bisban, Luther 
 Burrows, Samuel T. 
 Brown, Jonathan R. 
 Bennett, Aaron 
 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Burr, Jonathan 
 Burt, Asa 
 
 Troy. 
 Burritt, Ely, M. D. 
 Bardsle, Lester 
 Bushnell, James 
 Boyce, Stephen 
 Bennett, Henry 
 Brainerd, Joseph S. 
 Barnard, Theodore 
 Bragg, Peleg 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Bowne, Gabriel H. 
 Boynton, Col. Abel 
 Banister, Cranmer 
 Brower, Peter 
 Babbit, Luther 
 
 Utica. 
 Baldwin, rev. Amos G. 
 
 Athens. 
 Basset, Benoni 
 
 Hudson. 
 Brower, Samuel 
 Bosworth, Jabez 
 Bowman, Nathaniel 
 
 Neto-Brunswick. 
 Boggs, Esq. Robert 
 Bray, Esq. John 
 Brognard, Francis H„ 
 Butler, John 
 
 Elizabeth- Town, 
 Britten, Elihu 
 Baldwin, David C, 
 Bedford, Aaron 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Bond, William 
 Back, Margaret 
 
 Trenton. 
 Bucknum, John 
 Bellerjeau, Daniel 
 C 
 Nezv-York. 
 Clock, Abraham 
 Crookes, John 
 Cannon, Abraham 
 Carmer, Nicholas 
 Crichton, James 
 Chapin, Eli 
 Conklin, Joseph 
 Craig, Mary 
 Cadmus, Peter 
 Campbell, John 
 Clowes, Timothy 
 Cowan, William 
 Cunningham, James 
 Craig, R. 
 
 Colbert, John William 
 Cammann, Mrs. Maria 
 Caher, Charles 
 Clossey, John 
 Clapp, William 
 Cook, Silas 
 Clapp, Philip 
 Chase, William 
 Canthers, George 
 Carson, John 
 Cooper, Benjamin 
 Cowperthwait, Benjamin f5» 
 Cowperthwait, John K. 
 Chase, Ammi 
 Charles Ann 
 Cox, Charles 
 Crown, John 
 Cherrish, Jane 
 Cunningham, Patrick 
 Crane, Mathias 
 Corwin & Ames, 
 Cuningham, Moses 
 Coffin, Alexander 
 Challen, William 
 Crommelin, R. 
 Cook, Captain Asher 
 Cargill, William 
 Clinch, John 
 Coldwell, George 
 Carter, John 
 Craig, John 
 Chesterman, James 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Carman, Samuel 
 Covenhoven, Jacob 
 Carson, John 
 Clark, Samuel 
 Colter, Mark 
 Coven hoven, Nicholas 
 Copland, George R. 
 Crone, David 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Cohen, Rev. Jacob, D. D. 
 Corfield, Esq. Edward D. 
 Clopp, Mary 
 Cheramy, Francis 
 Clark, Jane 
 Clement, Samuel T. 
 Caldwell, Sus n C. 
 Conrad, Mathew 
 Carteret, Joseph W. 
 Culvert, Nathaniel 
 Ciowley, James 
 Crowley, Timothy 
 Corry, Benjamin L, 
 Colhound, William 
 Ci.-irke, Edward 
 Carpenter, John 
 Collings, Richard 
 Crumback, Godfrey 
 Combs, Sarah 
 Coit, Gabriel 
 Clotworthy, John 
 Cahil, Edward 
 Clawges, sen. Joh» 
 Courtney, Joseph 
 Carrigan, Jacob 
 Cameron, John 
 Clark, John 
 Cope, Godfrey G. 
 Clark, Joseph 
 Carmalt, Thomas S, 
 Coulston, Israel 
 Clark, Mary 
 
 Albany f 
 Crannel, William Winslow 
 Crane, Ambrose 
 Crane, Rhodolphus 
 Cunningham, Michael 
 Clark, John 
 Camming, William 
 Carson. Thomas 
 
 Chestney, James 
 Cosligan, Francis 
 Carlow, Uriah I. 
 Clark, Lewis 
 
 Troy. 
 Christie, Robert 
 Crow, Elijah 
 Chase, Philip 
 Coleman James 
 Camp, Henry D. 
 Crafts, Moses 
 
 Athens. 
 Calkins, William 
 
 Hudson. 
 Coleman, William H. 
 Clark, Peter 
 Cneny, Abiel 
 Cruttenden, Leveret 
 Chariot, Enoch 
 Condit, Samuel H. 
 
 New Brunswick. 
 Cook, Wiiliam 
 Carman, P. 
 Conklin, James 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Crane, Isaac 
 Carman, Richard 
 
 Trenton. 
 Cain, Thomas 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Cuscaden, Alexander 
 D 
 New-York. 
 Denison, Henry 
 De Castro, Dr. Peter Paul 
 Davrson, William 
 Davis, David 
 Delamater, Jane 
 Davis, John 
 Demarest, Peter 
 Devoise, Charles 
 Delezenne, Joseph C. 
 Dob, Elias 
 Dingee, Robert 
 Davis, Ann 
 Doughty, John 
 Dehart, Desire 
 Debow, Andrew 
 Dunn, Josiah 
 Doughty, Samuel 
 De Butts, Captain Elias 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Disoway, Israel 
 
 Doyle, Moses 
 
 Dougherty, John 
 
 Degroat, Richard M. 
 
 Dodge, John 
 
 Dickinson, Thomas 
 
 Dandy, Timothy 
 
 Dona van, Wdliam 
 
 Dunn, Enoch 
 
 Deitz, John 
 
 Dillon, Robert 
 
 Demarest, Andrew 
 
 Davis, Samuel 
 
 De La Pierre, Bartholomew, esq. 
 
 Duffie, Ross 
 
 Dikeman,John 
 
 De Groat, Abraham 
 
 Dennis, John 
 
 Ducornau, T. P. jun. 
 
 Demilt, Isaac 
 
 De Graw, Aaron 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Dale, Commodore Richard 
 Delahunt & Doyle 
 Davis, Evan 
 Drew, Nathaniel 
 Diehl, jun. Nicholas 
 Dickinson, Philemon 
 Duponceau, Peter S. 
 Dilworth, Thomas 
 Dixey, William 
 Dange), Mary 
 Dilworth, William 
 Davis. Isaac 
 Dexter, Richard 
 Douglass, John 
 Dugan, Anthony 
 Dueye, Jicob 
 Dorsey, Thomas 
 Dean, jun. Alexander 
 Davis, Daniel S. 
 Dickson, William 
 Delamater, Elizabeth 
 Dutton, William Jones 
 Davis, William 
 Dutterar, John 
 Dotterer, Henry 
 
 Albany. 
 Donnelly, Captain Henry 
 Dunbar, jun. Robert 
 Do'e, George 
 Dawson, Richard 
 Duncan, Thomas 
 Dunlap, James 
 Duff, Patrick 
 
 Lansinvburgh, 
 Dickinson, Miss Charlotte 
 Dale, David 
 
 Troy. 
 De Camp, Henry 
 Davison, Hezekiah 
 Doan, David 
 Drake, Samuel 
 Dowd, Galen 
 
 New Brunswick. 
 Day, Samuel H. 
 
 Trenton. 
 Dickinson, Philemon 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Dayton, E. B. 
 Dayton, Hon. Jonathan 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Duane, Delia 
 De Graf, Esq. Isaac 
 Dunaway, William 
 Athens. 
 Day, Asa 
 
 1 Hudson. 
 Davis, Mary Ann 
 Denison, Andrew 
 Dobbs, Abraham 
 Dewitt, Henry, j un. 
 Day, Ithama H. 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Dikeman, Jane, and Elizabeth 
 
 Pine, 1 copy 
 Degraw, Isaac 
 
 E 
 New- York. 
 Ellis, Richard 
 Erwin, John M. 
 Evisson, Jacob 
 Edric, Adeline 
 Eymar, Joseph 
 Evans, fames 
 Ely, William Brewster 
 Ely, Abijah Peck 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Elliot, James 
 English, John 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Eisenhut, Andrew, jun# 
 Estill, James B. 
 Edwards, John 
 Eglee, J. 
 Eccles, James 
 Ecky, John,jun. 
 Eggers, Jacob 
 Ewing, George 
 Egert, George, jun. 
 Evans, Lewis 
 
 Albany. 
 Everson, Matthew 
 Elliot, James 
 Ennalls, Henry 
 Elwyn, John 
 Ellison, William 
 
 Athens. 
 Evans, Roger C. 
 Evarts, Joel 
 
 New Brunswick. 
 Egerton, Matthew 
 Eastburn, Robert, jun. 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Egbert, Enos 
 
 Trenton. 
 Edwards, Thomas Moore 
 F 
 New- York. 
 Frazer, Alexander 
 Force, Isaac 
 Ferguson, William 
 Frost, James 
 Farrington, Benjamin 
 Ford, Joseph 
 Freeland, Jacob 
 Fowler George W. 
 Foo«, Henry 
 Freeborn, Thomas 
 Frisbie, Dan B. 
 Ferris, Edward 
 Ferguson, Alexander 
 Frier, John 
 Fairchild, Tftomas 
 
 Ford, Oliver L. 
 Ferdon, Thomas 
 Fosbrook, W. 
 Frazer, Robert 
 Fraser, David 
 Fosdick, Lodowick 
 Freelon, Mark 
 Ferris, James 
 Forrester, Andrew 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 First, William 
 Free, Amey 
 Fitler, George 
 Field, John 
 Fraley, Jacob 
 Frazer, James P. 
 Forbes, Robert 
 Fa'ker, George 
 Foulke, Mary 
 Fortune, Walter 
 Freeland, Mark 
 Fest& Osier 
 Folwell, Richard 
 Fenton, Andrew 
 Fry, Joseph 
 
 Albany. 
 Farrell, Philip 
 Fry, Joseph 
 Field, William 
 Field, David 
 Flack, Michael 
 Fisher, Henry 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Ferrell, John 
 
 Hudson. 
 Fellows, Pamela 
 Fish, Sidney 
 Frisbee, Ebenezer 
 Frisbee, Samuel 
 Fulton, Samuel 
 Fuller, Erastus 
 Fellows, Nathaniel 
 Field, Thomas 
 Freelon, Mark 
 Ferris, James 
 
 ■Brooklyn, 
 Foster, Rev. Everson, A. M. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 G 
 
 New-York. 
 Gelston M. 
 Green, William 
 Griffiths, Catherine 
 Griffin, John 
 Gaston, William 
 Goodrich, Samuel 
 Geib, John, jun. 
 Geery, Samuel 
 Geery, James 
 Geery, Joseph 
 Garrett, Jesse 
 Gomperts, Miss B. 8c H. 
 Gay, Kirkpatriek 
 Griffiths, Griffith P. 
 Graham, George 
 Gandy, Henry 
 Good, William 
 Garrisson, Isaac 
 Gibson, William 
 Goetz, Leonard 
 Grunoah, David 
 Griffiths, Joseph W. 
 Guion, John 
 Godden, Thomas 
 Griffin, Henry 
 Groshong, William 
 Guion, Monmouth H. 
 Gilbert, Edward 
 Gorham, Stephen 
 Gedney, Samuel 
 Griffin, John 
 Gilkison, James 
 Greenwood, Clark 
 Gallaher, William 
 Grant, Richard & Turell 
 Glass, John 
 Green, James W. 
 Gibson, John W. esq. 
 Griffen, John 
 Goodwin, John 
 Ganong, Mrs. Mary 
 Groshong, William 
 Griswold, Levi 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Green, Rev. Ashbel,D. D. 
 Green, Rev. Lemuel, D. D. 
 Greves, Daniel 
 
 Gould, Calvin 
 Gilbert, Jacob 
 Gardner, Benjamin 
 Grant, William 
 Graba, Philip 
 
 Albany. 
 Graham, Elizabeth 
 Gansevoort, Conrad 
 Gaylord, Amos 
 Gleason, Thomas F. 
 Golberg, J. C. 
 Gilbert, James 
 Guest, William J. 
 Goodrich, B. 
 Gourlay, James 
 Goodwin. Eldad F. 
 Gibbons, James 
 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Gaston, Isaac V. 
 Goewey, Peter D. 
 
 Troy, 
 Greenman, Josiah 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Groesbeck, Walter 
 Gaily, Robert 
 Goodrich, Abraham 
 
 Athens. 
 Gilbert, Aaron 
 
 Hudson. 
 Gantz, Paul 
 Gulnack, Contine 
 Groat, Henry P. 
 Gillet, Nancy 
 GiiFord, Samuel 
 Gridley, Ira 
 
 New-Brunswick. 
 Gibbons, Peter 
 
 ■Brooklyn. 
 Garrison, John, esq. 
 Gray, James 
 
 East New- Jersey* 
 Gray, Isaiah 
 
 H 
 
 New-York. 
 Hinchman, Jared 
 Heath, Thomas 
 Helms, Charles 
 Hardenbrook, Abel 
 Henry, Walter M. 
 Henderson, Nathan 
 Hawke, Robert 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NJMES. 
 
 Howel, Richard 
 Hailmbeck, Mrs. Margery 
 Ha! I, Stephen 
 Hinsdale, Horace 
 Hardenbrook, David 
 Hughes, Captain Henry 
 Harp, Henry 
 Hooper, George 
 Harris, Thomas 
 Hamiil, Henry 
 Henyon, Isaac 
 Horn, John 
 Hyde, Benjamin 
 HiUiker, John 
 Hare, Samuel 
 Hvatt, Josnua 
 Hennigar, John 
 Halstead, Andrew L. 
 Haviland, Jonathan Jj 
 Hyslop, Charles 
 How land, Reuben 
 Hasam. Thomas 
 Hudson, Laac 
 Hazard, Mori is, 
 Hubbell, Abel 
 Hart, Abijah 
 Harris, Jacob 
 Haskett, John 
 Hunter, William T. 
 Hunter, William J. 
 Hamiil, Robert 
 Hoffman, Peter 
 Hoffman, James H. 
 Hoyt, Ralph 
 Howell, Edward, jun. 
 Henry, Doctor Samuel 
 Hunter, Henry 
 Hutchison, George 
 Henry, Captain Charles 
 Hall, Mrs. Jane 
 Hendricks, John 
 Henion, reier 
 Holden, Asa 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Hurley, Rev. >,iuhael 
 Heirenstein, Rev. Samuel 
 Harvey, Samuel 
 
 Hood, John M'Clellan 
 Hunt, John 
 Hunt, Jonathan 
 Hodgdon, Samuel 
 Hodge, Andrew 
 Harland, John 
 Hassinger, Jacob 
 Hall, Thomas M. 
 Howard, Caleb Newbold 
 Hodgson, Robert 
 Hesser, John G. 
 Hoopes, Israel 
 Hughes, Daniel 
 Hutchison, William 
 Hassall, Joseph 
 Han sell, John 
 Holdernesse, William 
 Hamel, Rebecca 
 Hazelton, Isaaih 
 Havin, Robert, jun. 
 Heaton, Tuttle 
 Hunert, John 
 Hardy, John C. 
 Howard,- Susanna 
 Harrison, Mrs. Sarah A. 
 Heath, Joseph 
 Haars, Christian 
 Hope, George T. 
 Hartline, John 
 Henry, Joseph 
 Hoffman, Isaac 
 Higday, George 
 Hera, John 
 Hammond, Elijah 
 Hiness, Maria 
 Hall, Ezekiel 
 Himes, Henry 
 Heyberger, George 
 Henderson, John 
 
 Albany. 
 Hansen, J. esq. 
 Harbeck, Henry 
 Henn, Daniel H, 
 Henry, John 
 Hart, Miss Lorana 
 Hatch, Sears 
 Hrir.d, Aaron 
 Holkins, Abel D. 
 Hewson, Thomas 
 Hooker, James 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAM MS. 
 
 Hewson, Casparus 
 Humphrey, Barnet C. 
 Hanl«n, Thomas 
 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Hickok, Samnel 
 Hale, Eber 
 Haugzs, George 
 
 Troy. 
 Hoar, Samuel 
 Hutchinson, Stacy 
 Hollister, Jesse 
 Higbie, Benjamin 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Haidock, Michael C. 
 Horsfall, William T. 
 Hows, Benjamin 
 Henyon, Isaac 
 
 Athens. 
 Hamilton, George Clinton 
 Howland, Elizabeth 
 Hudson. 
 Hubbill, Levi 
 Hunt, Alpheus M. 
 Hallinbeck, Casper 
 Hyatt, Ann Catherine 
 New-Brunswick . 
 Hunt, Mary E. 
 Henry, John 
 Hicks, Benjamin 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 
 Hendricks, Luther B. 
 
 Hays, William T. 
 
 Hatfield, Oliver 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 Hilton, B. 
 
 Harris, Sarah 
 
 Harris, William 
 IJ 
 New-York. 
 
 Judson, Lewis 
 
 Jenkins, Mrs. 
 
 Idley, Ann Eliza 
 
 Jenkins, James 
 
 Johnston, John R. 
 
 Jackson, William 
 
 Inslee, Zebulon 
 
 Jackson, Samuel 
 
 Johnston, Mrs. Jane 
 
 Jackson, Robert 
 
 Johnson, William 
 
 Jackson, Ephraim 
 
 Jobes, Samuel 
 James, Roderick 
 Jackson, Tamer 
 Jackson, Jane 
 Ivers, Charles W. 
 Joraleman, Thomas 
 June, Anna 
 Jumel, Eliza 
 Jones, Morris 
 Isaacks, S. M. 
 Isherwood, mrs. F. 
 Jeroleman, Jacob 
 Jaques, John 
 
 Philadelphia-. 
 Jackson, David 
 Jones, Isaac R. 
 James, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Jackson, James 
 January, Elizabeth 
 Johnston, James 
 James, Martha 
 Iredell, Robert, jan. 
 Jobson, Charles 
 Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 
 Albany. 
 Jones, William W. 
 Johnston, Jeremiah 
 Jenkins, David 
 Jenckes, Ahab 
 Jones, Elisha 
 Ives, Joseph 
 Jones, Miles 
 
 Troy. 
 Johnson, Ben 
 Johnson, David B. 
 
 Sctenectady. 
 Joyce, Thomas 
 
 Hudson. 
 Jenne, Seth 
 Johnson, William 
 
 Trenton, 
 Jones, Benjamin 
 K 
 New-York, 
 Kitchel, Henry 
 Knapp, Eli 
 Knapp, Josiah 
 Knapp, Eben 
 Knapp, Charlotte 
 3 © 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Ketcham, Jonas 
 Kehoe, John 
 Kline, Leonard 
 King, John 
 Kipp, Bartholomew 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 Kerr, James 
 Keppele, Sarah C. 
 Kelly, Thomas 
 Keyser, Jacob 
 Kauck, Christain 
 Keller, Adam 
 Kelly, Frances 
 Keyser, Joseh 
 
 Albany. 
 Keeler, Mary F. 
 Kittredge. Joseph D. 
 
 Troy. 
 Kimberly, John 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Knowlton, Robert 
 
 Hudson. 
 Kellogg, Lyman 
 
 New-Brunswick. 
 Kelsey, John 
 
 L 
 New-York. 
 Lawson, William 
 Lecouhte, Susan 
 Leonard, Ophelia 
 Lewis, Jonathan 
 Letts, William 
 Lavana, Nancy 
 Lawrence, Cornelia B. 
 Laird, John A. 
 Lorton, William 
 Lock wood, James 
 Law, Mrs. Lucretia 
 Lear, John 
 Laing, Peter 
 Lyon, James 
 Lyons, Mrs. Nicholas B. 
 Lyon, Daniel 
 Leach, Adam 
 Lambert, Philip 
 Lawrence, John 
 Love, David 
 Littell, George 
 
 Lord, Joseph 
 Lawrence, William 
 Lamphear, Maxon 
 Leech, Richard 
 Linkletcr, James 
 Leabech, John C. 
 Le Fort, John 
 Lawrence, William 
 
 Philadelphia 
 Lindsay, Samuel 
 Levy, Aaron 
 Leak, Samuel D. 
 Lippincott, Jane A. 
 Lewis, Samuel N. 
 Lewis, Mordecai 
 Lievely, John 
 Lace, Willtam 
 Leatherman, Jane 
 Letherborrow, Deborah 
 Lish Henry 
 Low, John 
 Lozier, Mary 
 Latimer, Thomas 
 Little, Devid 
 Lewis, John 
 
 Albany. 
 Lansingh, Abraham A. 
 Lamoree, James 
 Ludlow, Joseph 
 Lewis, John W. 
 
 Lansing burgh, 
 Ladue, James 
 
 Troy 
 Lynds, Elam 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Ludlow, John 
 Leslie, George 
 Lusher, Eri 
 
 Hudson. 
 Landon, George 
 
 New- Brunswick* 
 Louzada, David 
 M 
 New- York. 
 Mitchill, Major Jonas 
 Massonneau, William N. 
 M'Murray, Dr. James Farrel 
 M'Connell, James 
 
SUBSCRIBERS* NAMES. 
 
 Marsh, M. 
 M'Leod, Hugh 
 Miers, Margaret 
 Moore, Joseph 
 Michaels, Jacob W. 
 M'Leod, Maria A. 
 Montayne, Vincent D. L. 
 Morris, John 
 M'Farlane, John 
 M'Dowgall, N. 
 Morris, Jediah 
 Moore, Enoch 
 M'Donogh, Patrick 
 M'Gluen, Patrick 
 N'Kay, John 
 Moor, Thomas 
 Myers, James J. 
 M'Kay, Patrick 
 Marschalk, Christian 
 Marinus, Adrian 
 Maxwell, Jacob 
 Marsh, Moses 
 Munson, Reuben 
 Morehead, Robert 
 Morrell, Richard 
 Merry, Edward 
 Marsh, Amariah 
 Moffit, Charity 
 M'Veagh, William 
 Mulford, David 
 Morgan, John 
 M'Creary, David, 
 M'Crea, Mary 
 M'Lean, John 
 Morris, Pearson 
 Mott, John 
 
 Morrell, Robert 
 Mount, John 
 
 Marshall, Joseph 
 
 Miller, Joseph Y. 
 
 M'Kelvey, John 
 
 Mott, Jacob 
 
 McCarthy, Charles 
 
 Mackay, James 
 
 Menger, Lewis 
 
 Meinell, Thomas 
 
 Maurice, John 
 
 Maynard, Tyler, esq, 
 
 Meeks, Joseph 
 
 Mahany, Mathias 
 
 Marsh, John 
 
 Morrison, James 
 M'Farlane, John 
 Mavtling, William 
 M'Pherson, Charles A. W. 
 Murdock, John B. 
 Mather, Dan 
 Mott, Joseph 
 M'Grath, John 
 Mitchell, William 
 Meeks, James 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Macpherson, General William 
 Macferran, Samuel, esq. 
 Maxfield, Sarah 
 Middleton, Aaron 
 Millard, Benjamin 
 M'Cawley, Peter 
 Mdler, Archibald 
 Mason, William 
 M'Farland, John 
 Montgomery, William 
 M'Elwee, Charles B. 
 Milligan, James 
 Malambre, Jacob 
 Miller, Gurdon S. 
 Mory, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Macdougall, George Gordon 
 M'Naught, Archibald 
 Martin, William 
 Miller, Philip 
 M'Call, Margaret 
 Martin, John 
 Moore, Robert 
 Morrison, Captain William 
 M'Laughlin, George 
 M'Dowell, John 
 Mayfield, Catherine 
 M'Fee, John 
 Moore, George D. 
 Muncas, William 
 Mifflin, Benjamin 
 Moore, James A. 
 Meredith, Rachael 
 M'Carty, William 
 Mealy, Rebecca 
 Marshall, Susanna 
 M'Calla, Alexander, esq 
 Melcher, Horatio L. 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Meeser, Maria 
 Maas, David J. 
 Morgan, Thomas 
 Malin, John 
 Miiliman, John 
 M'Minn, William 
 M'Kee, David 
 M'Kenzie, Mr. 
 Marshall, Amaziah 
 Manlove, Boaz 
 Mason, Isaac N. 
 Millman, Jessy 
 Miller, Levi 
 Manlove, William 
 Miller, Jacob 
 Mirkill, John 
 Mitman, Philip 
 Murray, Michael 
 
 Albany. 
 Meier, Mrs. Mary 
 Mancius, W. 
 Mancius, J. 
 Munsell, William W. 
 Merrell, Joseph S. 
 Marshall, Joseph 
 M'Intire, John 
 Miller, Philip 
 Mallory, Daniel F. 
 Morgan, Lawrence 
 May, William 
 Mitchill, Isaac 
 Morris, Joseph 
 M'Lachlan, Peter 
 Martling, John 
 Morrison, Jacob 
 Mounsey, Thomas 
 Troy . 
 Miles, Elisha, M. D. 
 Marsh, Joshua 
 A/iller, Abijah 
 Mead, J. W. 
 M'Cullen, Robert 
 
 Schenectady. 
 M'Clyman, William 
 Mynderse, Josiah 
 M'Clure, Jame 
 
 Ath&is* 
 Morton, Reuben 
 Macy, Daniel 
 
 Hudson* 
 Micthcll, Asa 
 
 Muir, Ephraim 
 Muldon, Michael 
 
 New-Brunswick. 
 Morris, Robert 
 Middleton, William 
 
 Elizabeth Town* 
 Morrell, Rev. Thomas 
 M'Dowell, Rev. John 
 Mann, Isaac 
 Mayo, Edward 
 
 Trenton. 
 Mulford, Jacob 
 
 Harlccm. 
 Mottjoseph 
 
 N 
 New- York. 
 North, Col. Benjamin 
 Nugent, James 
 Nichols, Samuel 
 Nicoll, George 
 Newcomb, Obadrah 
 Nathan, Seixas 
 Nexsen, William 
 Nuttman, Ebenezer B. 
 Newland, Alexander 
 Nibalaw, Patrick 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Nagel, Charles 
 Nelson, Jane 
 Nathan, Benedict 
 Nichols, Enoch 
 
 Albany. 
 Norman, Joseph 
 Noon, D. 
 
 Troy. 
 Niven, Daniel 
 Nelson, Walter 
 
 Schenectady, 
 Newton, Thomas 
 
 Athens. 
 Northrop, Isaac 
 
 Elizabeth Town, 
 Nutman, Oliver 
 O 
 New-York, 
 \ Oothout, Mrs. H. 
 Obert, Peter 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' MAMES. 
 
 Oakley, David 
 Oliver, Thomas 
 O'Hare, Hugh 
 Oblenis, Bernard 
 Owens, James 
 O'Neil, Charles 
 Ogden, Mathias- 
 Osborn, Wines 
 Osborn, William 
 Oakden, Joseph 
 O'Brien, William 
 Ortley, Henry 
 Ogden, Abraham 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Old, John 
 
 Albany. 
 Osborn, Aaron 
 
 Troy. 
 Ostrander, Edward 
 
 Elizabeth low*. 
 Oliver, James 
 
 P 
 New-York. 
 Peck, Rev. Pheonis 
 Perry, Robert, esq. 
 Pell, Caleb 
 Purdy, Josiah 
 Price, Joseph W. 
 Purdy, Israel 
 Payne, Daniel 
 Phelan, Eliza 
 Palmer, Roger R. 
 Pullis, Thomas 
 Perry, Robert 
 Paxton, John A. 
 Partelow, Nathan 
 Pelletreau, Francis 
 Pickens, James 
 Petty, Phinehas 
 Pelg, Phinehas 
 Powell, Peter 
 Parke, Hannah S. 
 Peck, Sands F. 
 Piatt, Thomas 
 Puckering, Robert 
 Price, Benjamin 
 Prendergast, Richard C, 
 Place, Smjth 
 
 Puntine, William M, 
 
 Pelletreau, Elias 
 
 Post, Henry 
 
 Parrot, William 
 
 Post, John J. 
 
 Patten, James 
 
 Pell, Jafeesh 
 
 Palmer, William 
 
 Paul, Tohn 
 
 Persiany, Luke 
 
 Pray, Mrs, Jane 
 
 Patterson, Morris 
 
 Phelan, John 
 
 Plummer, William 
 
 Proal, Peter 
 
 Parkhurst, Jabezr 
 
 Potter, Gilbert 
 
 Purves, Wilson & Laing, 3 copies 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Pedersen, P. His Danish Majes- 
 ty's Consul General 
 
 Pilmore, Rev. Joseph, D. D. 
 
 Patterson, Hamilton 
 
 Painter, Philip 
 
 Pool, Joseph 
 
 Park, Samuel 
 
 Piatt, George 
 
 Philips, John 
 
 Page, Ann 
 
 Pons, Jo'm and Elizabeth 
 
 Plocher, Jacob J. 
 
 Polis, George 
 
 Premier, Jacob 
 
 Premier, John 
 
 Plotts, John 
 
 Phile, David 
 
 Porter, Elizabeth 
 
 Peres, Peter, M. D. Surgeon iti 
 the late Amreican army 
 Albany. 
 
 Phelps, John S. 
 
 Packard, Isaac 
 
 Pierson, A. 
 
 Parmele, Sally N. 
 
 Patterson, William 
 
 Pomeroy, Noah 
 
 Pangburn, Solomori 
 
 Plume, Garrit 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Troy. 
 Pierce, Ebenezer, jun. 
 Parker, Captain Joshua 
 Phelps, Caleb 
 Pierce, Josiah P. 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Priestly, William 
 
 Hudson. 
 Plum, Eunice 
 Peet, Griffith 
 Paddock, Laban 
 Potter, Herman B. 
 Powell, Thomas 
 
 Kent- Brunswick. 
 Pierson, Philip, JO copies 
 
 Trenton. 
 Palmer, Phoebe 
 Potts, John 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Price, Eliphalet 
 
 Q 
 
 New-York. 
 Quiz, Cornelius 
 
 Albany. 
 Quackenboss, Henry 
 R 
 
 Ncw-York* 
 Runkel, Rev. William 
 Ryerss, John P. A. M, 
 Ray, Andrew 
 Ruckel, J. 
 Rogers, Joshua M. 
 Roosevelt, Peter 
 Robinson, Peter P. 
 Riker, Peter 
 Raymond, Peter 
 Rose, Peter 
 Richard, S. 
 Rosegrantz, William 
 Remmey, John 
 Roe, Benjamin 
 Rose, Miss Ann 
 Ryker, John 
 Roosevelt, William 
 Roberts, Robert 
 Reynolds, Alexander 
 ReynoIds,A.G. 
 Riker, Abraham 
 Rosdale, R. 
 Ridabock, Charles 
 Rcmaine, Nicholas 
 
 Ruckel, John 
 Ryer, Levi 
 Russell, William 
 Rodman, William 
 Reas, Thomas 
 Roberts, Mrs. Jane 
 Randal, James 
 Read, Alvan 
 Russell, Robert M. 
 Roome, Henry B. 
 Rutter, Thomas 
 Roberts, David 
 Robertson, John 
 Rhodes, Robert 
 Rogers, Thomai 
 
 Harleem, 
 Randal, Jonathan 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Rubicam, Charles 
 Richards, John 
 Rickey, Samuel 
 Ridgeway, William 
 Rappoon, Christopher 
 Raybold, Jacob 
 Ray bold, Joshua 
 Ritter, Henry 
 Ripperger, Conrad 
 Roberts, Robert 
 Rich man, Isaac 
 Rauchenbworg, Ann 
 Rice, Owen 
 Ross, Benjamin 
 Roberts, Elizabeth 
 Rose, Thomas 
 Ribaud, Joseph P. 
 Reynolds, Joseph 
 
 Albany. 
 Rockwell, Samuel, student at law 
 Randel, Daniel 
 Ryckman, Cornelius 
 Rathbone, William P. 
 Russell, John 
 Ross, Alexander E. 
 Randolph, Jackson F. 
 Russell, Caleb 
 Russell, David 
 Ralcliff, John R. 
 Ruby, Christopher 
 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Rowland, Charles 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Troy. 
 Reilay, John 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Rickard, Conrad 
 Reynolds, John 
 Rogers, James 
 Rogers, Josiah 
 Ranken, George 
 
 Hudson. 
 Richards, Enock 
 Roraback, Uriah 
 Robinson, Samuel 
 
 New- Brunswick. 
 Richmond, John 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Rudd, Rev. John C. Rector of 
 
 St. John's Church. 
 Rosette, Abraham 
 
 St. Croix. 
 Robinson, Daniel, esq. 
 S 
 Naw- York. 
 Strebeck, Rev. George, D. D. 
 Saltus, Samuel 
 Stewart, John G. 
 Smith, James R. 
 Smith, Arthur 
 Steel, R. M. 
 Scott, William 
 Spader, Daniel 
 Spinks, George 
 Sutton, Henry C. 
 Summers, Samuel G. 
 Smith, Richard 
 Strong, William 
 Sanderson, Sarah 
 Spingler, Miss Eliza 
 Sexton, Abraham 
 Sherman, Isaac 
 Sutherland, Daniel 
 Seahl, John 
 Sypher, Peter William 
 Saunders, Mrs. Mary 
 Speaight, Charles 
 Smith, Mc. P. 
 Spelman, Phinehas 
 Snow, Seba 
 Street, William 
 Shervrood, Andrew 
 Smith, John 
 Southwick, William 
 
 ISouthwick, Mary Ana 
 Sleight, John 
 Smith, Solomon 
 Sickles, Zachariah 
 Soulhmayd, Samuel D. 
 Sco veil, N.jun. 
 Strang, Daniel 
 Sickels, Garret 
 Stewart, R. A. 
 Stagg, Peter 
 St. John, William 
 Sayre, Joel 
 Sherred, J. 
 Smith, William 
 Sanford, Samuel 
 Scudder, John 
 Scott. William 
 Stacy, Mary 
 Smith, D. 
 Spencer, Thomas 
 Stewart, Alexander M. 
 Seaman, Joseph 
 Scoles, John 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Shippen, W. M. D. 
 Skinner, Elizabeth 
 Shipley, Thomas 
 Simonton, J. W. 
 Snyder, Henry 
 Smith, Charles 
 Sellers, Natham 
 Stokes, James, jun. 
 Simpson, David 
 Simpson, Stephen 
 Schreiber, Theodorus 
 Stotesbury, Captain Arthur 
 Sanders, Sarah 
 Shull, Frederick 
 Sims, Walter 
 Simmons, David P. 
 Stockton, William F. 
 Scherzinger, John M. 
 Stewart, James 
 Sarazin, Maria 
 Savage, John 
 Sibber, John 
 Snyder, William 
 Shedacer, John 
 Smith, Esther 
 Stender, Eineer 
 Shuster, David 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Somraer, John Jacob 
 Stinemeta, William 
 Stadling, Elizabeth 
 Strong, William 
 
 Albany. 
 Stewart, Mary 
 Smith, John 
 Smith, Ann 
 Sears, Richard 
 Stanton, Thomas Wright 
 Solomons, Levy 
 Scoon, Walter 
 Schuyler, Lucas 
 
 Lansingburgk. 
 Snow, Jeduthan 
 Smith, David 
 
 Troy. 
 Sampson, John 
 Stone, Isaac 
 Smith, Nicholas 
 Smith, George 
 Southwick, Daniel 
 Storer, Samuel 
 Staples, Abraham 
 Stoughton, John 
 Stevens, Joshua 
 
 Schenectady . 
 Swits, Andrew 
 Stewart, Thomas 
 Sisson, Giles 
 Slater, James 
 Swits, Jacob 
 Santvoord, Cornelius Z. V. 
 
 Hudson. 
 Stone, Silas 
 Spoor, John 
 Sterling, David 
 Stanton, William 
 
 Newark. 
 Stockton, Catharine 
 
 New- Brunswick. 
 Sleight, John 
 
 Elizabeth Town. 
 Smith, Oliver 
 Smith, Martha 
 Skinner, Jonathan D. 
 Jamaica. 
 Schoonmakcr, Rev. William 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Smith, Captain David 
 Spence, Hugh 
 
 T 
 
 New-York. 
 
 Tompkins, His Excellency Da- 
 niel D. Governor of the State 
 of New-York. 
 
 Tillary, James, M. D. 
 
 Townsend, Solomon D. 
 
 Thompson, Ann & Jane 
 
 Tremper, Michac' 
 
 Thompson, Charles 
 
 Twaddle, James 
 
 Titus, Benjamin 
 
 Tylee, N. 
 
 Turner, Joseph 
 
 Todd, Alexander 
 
 Tasheira, Joseph 
 
 Townsend, Richard 
 
 Thompson, John 
 
 Thorn, Stephen 
 
 Tawzer, Esther 
 
 T 'or, Stevenson 
 
 Tuiij, Samuel 
 
 Tucker, Daniel N. 
 
 Turnbull, James 
 
 Thorp, John B. 
 
 Tinkir, Richard 
 
 Truman, Clark 
 * Ten Eyck, Nicholas 
 
 Townsend, Solomon 
 
 Tanner, J. W. 
 
 Thomas, Thomas 
 
 Tredwell, Henry 
 
 Tripler, William 
 
 Thomas, Owen 
 
 Thorp, George B. 
 
 Tinkey, Andrew 
 
 Traphagen, John 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 Townsend, Dr. L. 
 Thompson, Thomas 
 Tomlinson, John 
 Thomson, Mrs. Ann 
 Thouron, E, 
 
 Tremper, Master William 
 Thompson, Mary 
 Taylor, John 
 Thompson, Benjamin A« 
 Thomas, Enoch 
 ' Toland, Henry 
 
SUBSCRIBERS* NAMES. 
 
 Tanner, I. W. 
 Tatem, George P. 
 Tanner, T. W. 
 
 Albany, 
 Thayer, Joseph 
 Turner, John 
 Todd, John 
 Thorne, James, jun. 
 Thompson, Thomas 
 Trembly, Eliphalet 
 Tucker, Wi'.Vun 
 
 Lansingburgh, 
 Turner, Thomas 
 
 Troy. 
 Tuttle, Norman 
 Taylor, Samuel 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Teller, Henry R. esq. 
 Tripp, Thomas B. 
 U 
 New-York. 
 Urmy, John 
 
 Philadelphia 
 Urann, Mary Ann 
 V 
 Aew-York. 
 Varick, Richard, esq. 
 Van Verst, Walter 
 Van Orden, David 
 Valentine, Isaac 
 Vanhouten, Rulef C. 
 Verveelen, James 
 Van Beuren, Peter I. 
 Vreeland, John 
 Valleau, Wesley 
 Vandevoort, Benjamin 
 Vincent, Abraham 
 Van Gelder, David 
 Van Gelder, Abraham, jun. 
 Valentine, David 
 Van Keuren, Hannah 
 Van Wart, Eleanor 
 Van Winkle, John S. 
 Van Beuren & Schoonmaker 
 Van Horn, Gerry, 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 Van Pelt, Peter 
 
 Vanevour, Ead 
 Vanderslice, George 
 Vesey, Harriet 
 
 Albany, 
 Van Rensselaer, the Hon. Pet. S. 
 Van Wie, Mrs. Margaret 
 Van Loon, Jacob 
 Vedder, Alexander 
 Van Horn, James 
 Vischer, Bastigan T. 
 Vernon, John 
 Van Buskirk, Isaac 
 Troy, 
 Vanderburgh, Mathevv 
 Van Tine, John 
 Van Vleck, Mathew 
 Van Valkenburgh, Lambert 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Vrooman, John Jacob 
 Van Ingen, William 
 Veeder, Francis, and Son 
 Van Ingen, Henry Glen 
 Veeder, WillheUminus 
 Van Beuren, Charles 
 Van Vranken, Nicholas R. 
 Vermulia, Adrian 
 
 Bound Brook. 
 Vail, Daniel 
 
 New Brunswick. 
 Van Aursdalen, Henry 
 Van Deursen, John 
 Van Nortwick, Christian H. 
 Vanderbilt, Jeromus 
 Van Deursen, William 
 Van Horn, John 
 Vandeventer, John 
 Voorhis, John 
 
 W 
 
 New-York. 
 Willetr, Honourable Marinus 
 Williston, Rev. Ralph 
 Willcocks, Major William 
 West, Captain Abner 
 White, Daniel 
 Weeks, Ezra 
 Walker, Joseph 
 Wilson, Robert 
 Westervelt, Catherine 
 Waldron, Pheobe 
 White, Francis 
 3 e 
 
SUBSCRIBERS 1 NAMES. 
 
 Walker, Thomas 
 
 Watkins, Joseph 
 Waring. Thomas 
 Wade, Francis 
 
 Williamson W.D. 
 
 Willis, D.vid 
 Walker. James 
 Wight, Archibald 
 Wheeler, Jacob 
 Wallace, Charles S. 
 Williams, Robert, jun. 
 Woods, Hannah 
 Wyam, Thomas 
 Webb, Samuel 
 Western, Thomas 
 Warnow, Benjamin 
 Williams, Cornelius T. 
 Wright, John 
 W r esterfield, Peter 
 Wanmaker, Abraliam 
 Wheal by, Frederick 
 Whecder, Eliphalet 
 Welsh, George J. 
 Welsh, Robert W. 
 Wallace, William 
 
 Wheeler, Solomon 
 Weed, Oliver 
 Wtlliams. Cornelius 
 Waterbury, William M. 
 Woodruff, Israel 
 
 Westervelt, Abraham 
 Weeks, Stephen 
 
 Weed, Ebenezer E. 
 
 Wagner, George M. 
 
 Wagner, George William 
 
 Wes( field, John 
 
 Weec, Charles W. 
 
 Wilson, Abraham 
 
 Wynkoop, Cornelius 
 
 Winshell, James 
 
 Williams Charles C, 
 
 Wells, Wait, 2d. 
 
 Willcox, Charles 
 
 Woodruff, Aaron 
 
 Wright, Andrew 
 
 Wish art, Alexander 
 
 Welsh, Robert 
 
 Wragg, Elizabeth \ 
 
 Westervelt, DanieJ 
 
 Westerfield, John 
 
 Wandell, A. 
 Wagner, Geo. M. 
 
 Philadelphia. 
 Wylie, Rev. Samuel B. 
 Woollelt, W. 
 Wurts, William 
 Wurts, Sarah 
 Walker, John & Joseph 
 Wis tar, John 
 Waddell. H. L. 
 Wood, Peter 
 West, John 
 Wiley, Robert 
 Whilldin, Wilmon 
 Wharton, Charles 
 Wilson, Alexander 
 Wolfe, Mary 
 
 Wray, Catherine and Jane 
 Woglom, Abraham 
 Whiteman, John 
 Wolfe, John 
 Weyman, Jacob 
 Whitehead, R. 
 
 Albany. 
 Wallace, Benjamin, esq. 
 Wendell, Harmen 
 Wilson, Mrs. Ann 
 Wills, Ephraim 
 Wilkens, John 
 Wood, Joseph 
 Williams, William W. 
 Wilson, Samuel 
 Way, Gideon 
 Wilson, Benjamin 
 Winne, William B. 
 Weaver, Henry 
 Ward, Daniel 
 Wilson, George 
 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Wolcott, John 
 
 Troy. 
 Wilson, Nathaniel 
 Willcox, Elijah 
 Wendell, David S. 
 Williams, Ezra 
 
SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 
 
 Schenectady, 
 Wiley, Susanna 
 
 Athens. 
 Witherell, Timothy 
 Wheeler, William 
 
 Hudson, 
 Whiting, Wi'Uam 
 Wheeler, Eliza 
 Woodward, John 
 White, Solomon 
 
 Savanna. 
 Woodruff, Israel 
 
 New- Brunswick. 
 Wyckoff, Peter 
 
 Elizabeth Town, 
 Wade, Elias 
 Williamson, Isaac H. 
 Wilt, Mr. Abigal 
 Williamson, Mathias H. 
 Wooley, David 
 Woodruff, Andrew 
 Whitlock, Henry 
 
 Brooklyn. 
 Weller, Frederick W. 
 Y 
 Philadelphia. 
 Young, Thomas 
 Young, Mary 
 
 Albany. 
 Yates, John B. 
 Young, P*;ter, Pewterer 
 Lansingburgh. 
 Young, George 
 
 Troy. 
 Young, G. D. 
 Youngs, Henry 
 
 Schenectady. 
 Yates, Honorable Joseph C. 
 Yates, Mrs Ann 
 Yates, Mrs. Henry, jun. 
 New-York. 
 Z 
 Zabriskie, Andrew C. 
 
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