^iiiW>ll>l>W»UtWIMTftCt(t»l>»?t<»llW''J^J.>!»a»il^^ U'^^ w»«a8iiiVinli>ifHiimiHl[iLii'rnii>,iii<]L,,.syw?cy^> ihuti*uiuiutiMrttBua(MM (i iJM ii ,T>i i w.i ii aiM a ^ A i ^ ■^-— T- ^S ^ ^s ^^^y & ^H L\"imn TITTTTOf M ^^PiSSwww*^^^ lllWWIMgi'rtP»liii':V'i;ir'Vir"^ l,V fflSflimCffilffiMIMilillira^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. .4 Shelf....t:i^. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. JUn 23 1S86 GREAT LIVES COURSE OF HISTORY IN BIOGEAPHIES. y. BY J. I. MOMBERT, D.D., AUTHOR OF "THE ENGLISH VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE, "TYNDALE'S PENTATEUCH," ETC., ETC. fil jFirst Series. LEACH, SHEWELL, & SANBORN. BOSTON AND NEW YORK. THE LIBRAHY OF CONGRESS WASHINOTOW Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, by J. I. MOMBEIiT, D.D., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PRESS OF HENRY H. CLARK <5t CO., BOSTON, The history of the world can he found in the history of a dozen names. — Archdeacon Farkar. PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. All truth is said to be one, but its forms of expression may be as diverse as the features of the human countenance; they may be fair, attractive, almost indelible, or quite the opposite. It being impossible as well as undesirable to present all the facts of history, that selection is best ivhich gives the clearest and most correct outline with the most economy of space, and so that the effect of the part narrated may be most nearly the same as if the whole were given. Such has been the aim in the preparation of these pages, to give in truthful and vivid outline the Lives of some of the greatest actors in the Wo7M^s History, with the leading events iyi which they were engaged. May they serve to give a zest to this study, and aid in inspiring a love of its pursuit. PEBFACE. The simple narratives here presented to the public trace in brief and compendious form a number of Great Lives from the legendary period of Greece to the present time. They are the lives, of representative and central characters in many of the most important and interesting events in History. If "the proper study of mankind is man," this method of studying History cannot fail to benefit all desirous of imitating the virtues of the good, of shunning the vices of the evil, and of avoiding errors which have destroyed the happiness, and fostered the misery, of millions of our fellow-men. This little volume is sent forth as a help to the student, a remembrancer to the scholar, and a guide to busy people who have neither the leisure to read, nor perhaps the means to buy, larger and more exhaustive works. Brief References at the end of each Life to good authorities, not a few of which indicate the first sources of historical lore, will enable the reader to continue with great profit this charm- ing and most important study. To each of the three Divisions of the subject has been subjoined a Chronological Survey which may be useful for recapitulation and reference. A Vocabulary, which has almost grown into a miniature cyclopaedia, supplies much valuable information. CONTENTS. — • I. ANCIENT HISTORY. A. Greek. PAGE Hercules 1 Lycuegus 9 Solon . . . . 15 MiLTIADES .21 Leonidas and Themistocles 27 Pericles .35 Alcibiades and Socrates 41 Alexander the Great 51 B. Roman. KOMULUS 60 Tarquinius the Proud 64 DuiLius AND Regulus 70 Hannibal . 75 SciPio Afeicanus Junior 83 Julius C^sar . . . . . . . . . . 88 CONSTANTINE THE GrEAT 100 Attila 106 Viii CONTENTS. II. MEDIEVAL HISTORY. PAGE Justinian 115 Mohammed 122 Boniface 130 Charlemagne 135 Alfred the Great . . . 147 Godfrey of Bouillon 155 Columbus 160 III. MODERN HISTORY. Martin Luther . , 175 Elizabeth 183 Peter the Great 192 Frederic the Great 204 George Washington . . ^^ 222 Benjamin Franklin 240 Napoleon 1 253 Abraham Lincoln 273 Ulysses S. Grant 284 IV. Pronouncing and Explanatory Vocabulary 307 I. ANCIENT HISTORY. GREECE & THE GRI Longitude E. Fisk & See.N.Y. I. ANCIENT HISTORY. 3>®=ic HERCULES. One of the fabled gods of the Greeks was called Zeus, and believed to rule heaven ; he married Alcmene, daugh- r 1 261 (?) ter of the king of Thebes, and had a son, called Her- cules, who became very strong and proved his great strength even as a young infant by killing two serpents that had slipped into his cradle. He was brought up by Amphitryon, who taught him to ride in a chariot, and got others to teach him to wrestle, to use the bow, to fight with heavy armor, to sing, and to play the lyre. He had the misfortune to slay Linus, his music teacher, and in punishment was sent by Amphitryon to feed his cattle. As a youth, Hercules one day came to a place where two roads parted, and wondering which to choose, saw before him two goddesses, the one exceeding beautiful, the other also fair, but less radiant than the first. Came to him the beautiful, bade him follow her, and promised delightful reward. " Who art thou?" asked the youth; and the goddess, smiling, said, •'My friends call me Pleasure, my enemies. Vice." "And whither dost thou lead me ? " inquired Hercules of the other, who said, " I will lead thee to toil and peril, but promise thee immortality, and honor and glory with the gods and with men, if thou wilt follow me." 2 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Her words touched his heart, and thrusting aside the for- ward Pleasure, he pledged himself to Virtue, who fulfilled her promise, as will appear from the twelve labors he performed. In those days the gods of Greece were said to makfe known their wishes to men by means of oracles — a word which some- times means these directions themselves, and sometimes the places where they were uttered. The most famous oracle was that of Delphi, which directed Hercules to go to Eurystheus, king of Argolis, to learn from him what he was to do. That king took him into his service, and bade him fetch the skin of the Nemean lion, a brute of monster size and strength, the terror of all Argolis. That lion, descended from a fabled monster, ravaged the land and cruelly destroyed the people ; his skin was so shaggy and tough that no arrow could pierce it ; and, as in those days gunpowder was unknown, the feat to secure his skin was very hard. Some say that Hercules blocked up one of the openings of the lion's den, and entering through the other, met and strangled the brute ; others, that he met it in the open air, attacked it with his fists, and slew it with his club. One thing is sure : he killed the monster, delivered the land from its cruelty, and rettirned to Eurystheus, carrying the skin, like a cloak, on his shoulders. This was the first labor of Hercules. In the same country of Argolis, in a swamp near Lerna, dwelt another monster, like the lion, an oflfepring of Typhon, but unlike him in all other respects. It was terrible to look upon, for it was a kind of serpent with nine, some say with a hundred, heads, which, though cut off, would forthwith grow again ; it was more terrible to draw near its hiding-place, for it would suddenly burst upon man or beast, tear and devour them. That monster was called Hydra, and it was the task of Hercules to destroy it. He had a friend called lolaos, who helped him to perform it. At his bidding, lolaos set the wood on fire and brought him a burning brand ; then Hercules began 1261.] HERCULES. 3 to cut off, one oy one, the heads of the Hydra, and, to prevent their growing again, burned out the wounds with the brand. Thus he conquered the monster, and dipped his arrows in its gall, which was a deadly poison, and made their wounds incur- able. This was his second labor. His third task was to catch, and bring alive to Mycenae, the stag of Ceryneia in Arcadia. This animal had golden antlers and brazen feet, and ran so fast that no arrow could reach it. Hercules followed it for a whole 3'ear, but at last hunted it down, and having wounded it with an arrow, caught, and carried it on his shoulders to Mycenae. Again, he was ordered to catch and bring alive, a savage boar, called the Erymanthian boar, after Mount Erymanthus, from which it came down into the plains of Arcadia and did great damage. Hercules chased it through the deep snow, caught it in a net, and took it alive to Eurystheus, who was so frightened that he hid himself in a cask. At that time Augeas was king of Elis ; he was ver}^ rich in cattle, but kept his many stables in a dreadfully filthy condition. Three thousand head of cattle had stood in those stables, which had not been cleaned for thirty years. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to clean them in one day. This seemed to be impossible, but Hercules did not shrink from doing it. He went and turned the rivers Alpheus and Peneus through the stables, and thus performed the fifth task. After that he was ordered to drive away the Stymphalian birds, which were found in countless swarms in the thickly wooded land about Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia. They were terrible creatures with brazen beaks, claws, and wings, which used their feathers as arrows and devoured man and beast. Hercules could not have performed this work without the help of a goddess, called Athena, who gave him a brazen rattle, which made an awful noise. With this rattle he frightened the birds out of their hiding-places, and killed them with his arrows as they tried to fly away. Although he could not kill 4 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. all, he succeeded in driving them off, and ridding the countrj^ of the scourge. That was his sixth work. His next task was to catch alive the mad bull which laid waste the fields of Crete, and was known as the Cretan bull. He not only caught him, but made him so tame that he rode on his back, and took him to Mycense. Not knowing what to do with him, Eurystheus set him free again. In those days there lived in Thrace a very cruel king, called Diomedes, who owned a breed of wild mares which he fed with human flesh. Strangers who came to his country he made pris- oners, and flung them before those terrible mares, which ate them up. Eurystheus told Hercules to fetch those mares to Mycenae. When he came to Thrace he managed to seize the cruel Diome- des, flung him before the mares, which devoured him and then became so tame that he had no trouble in taking them to P^urys- theus. The latter caused them to be driven into the mountains, where wild beasts destroyed them. Eurystheus had a daughter, called Admete, who desired to have the girdle of Hippolite, the queen of the Amazons, a race of warrior women who lived on l^he eastern shore of the Black Sea. That girdle was very bealitiful, a present from Ares, the queen's father : she greatly prized and wore it as a badge of her royalty. This famous girdle Hercules was ordered to fetch. Accom- panied by a number of friends, he sailed in a boat, and, after sundry adventures, landed in the country of the Amazons, whose queen received him kindly and promised him her girdle. But a goddess, called Hera, or Juno, an enemy of Hercules, disguised as an Amazon, spread the report that a stranger was about to rob their queen. The Amazons rushed to arms ; and Hercules, thinking that the queen had deceived him, gave them battle, killed the queen, and secured the girdle. Some say that he did not kill her, but that Melanippe, the queen's sister, was wounded, taken prisoner, and exchanged for the-girdle, which 1261.] HERCULES. 5 Hercules took to Aclmete, and thus performed the ninth labor. His next work was the difficult and dangerous task of fetch- ing the oxen of Geryones, a giant of monster size, who had three bodies, lived in the island of Erytheia, and owned a famous herd of cattle, guarded by the giant Eurytion, and a two-headed dog, called Orthrus. On his way to the distant place, he set up two pillars, one on each side of the Straits of Gibraltar, which the ancients called the Pillars of Hercules. On landing, he was attacked by the giant keeper and his dog, but he slew first the dog and then the keeper. The herd seemed to be his, but on his way to the sea, Geryones stopped him ; they fought together, Hercules slew the giant, and secured the oxen, which he finally brought to Eurystheus, and thus com- pleted the ten labors. Eurystheus thought that two of them had not been done right, and gave him two others in addition. He ordered Her- cules to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides. This was a very hard task, for at first he did not know where they grew. He had to travel hither and thither for a long while, and after many and perilous adventures, finally learned from Nereus that the gardens of the Hesperides lay on Mount Atlas, in the country of the Hyperboreans. The Hesperides were nymphs or goddesses charged to guard waters, woods, and mountains. These nymphs had been set to watch a wonderful tree which bore golden fruit, whose beautiful glitter led them to eat of the fruit, which was forbidden them. Then the goddess Juno appointed a terrible dragon, called Ladon, to watch the tree. Now Nereus had told Hercules it were better that Atlas, who bore the heavens on his shoulders, should go for the apples, and not himself ; so when he came to Atlas he begged him to go, and offered to do his work. Atlas agreed and Hercules took his place. The former understood how to put the dragon to sleep, to outwit the nymphs, and to carry three apples to Hercules, but told him he intended to take them to Eurystheus himself, 6 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. and that the hero should continue to carry the heavens. Her- cules made believe he would, and asked Atlas to oblige him by taking his place for a little time, until he had found some- thing wherewith to cover his head to sustain the burden. Atlas agreed, cast down the apples, and took up his old burden, when Hercules seized them, and hastened away. But the most difficult of all his labors was the twelfth and last^ for this was nothing less than to fetch Cerberus from the lower world. It was a horrid monster dog with three heads, the tail of a serpent, and a mane whose hairs were the heads of poison- ous snakes. When Hercules, guided b}" Hermes, reached the presence of Pluto, the ruler of the lower world, and had made known his purpose, the king gave him leave to carry it out, but forbade him to do it by force of arms. Fearless, and without any other protection than his lion's-skin and breastplate, Her- cules found the monster at the mouth of the river Acheron, clutched his throat with one hand, and his legs with the other, deaf to the forbidding bark of his three heads, and undismayed by the hisses of the snakes, dragged him to the light of day, and set him before Eurj^stheus ; awe-struck, he bade Hercules let him go free, who thereupon took him back to the lower world. "" Having now at last become his own master, Hercules re- turned to Thebes, but had the misfortune of losing his mind, and of committing in that sad condition not a few acts of vio- lence. Occasionally, however, his madness left him, and then he was filled with grief and shame for what he had done. He went to the oracle at Delphi, and being told that he could not be cured unless he became a slave again, entered the service of Omphale, queen of Lydia, a kingdom in the western part of Asia Minor. She had great power over him, for she made him wear women's clothes, and spin wool, while she put on his lion's- skin. When his three years' service was over, he left her and per- formed many acts of valor ; afterwards he married Deianeira, 1261.] HERCULES. 7 the daughter of CEneus, who had promised her to the bravest of her suitors. Hercules fought for her with Achelous, and coming off conqueror, secured the prize. They had not been married long when Hercules at a meal accidentally killed a boy called Eunomus, and was compelled by the law of the country to go into banishment. Deianeira, Ills wife, of course, went with him. On their journey they had to cross the river Euenus, where a centaur called Nessus made a living by carrying travellers on his back across. This centaur, the upper part of whose body was that of a man, but his lower part that of a horse with four feet, carried Deianeira, while Hercules forded the river. The centaur was rude to her, and Hercules hearing her cr}^, pierced him with an arrow; Nessus, mortally wounded, bade Deianeira save his blood as a sure means of making Hercules always love her. So she carried some away with her. Not long after this he conquered Eurytus and his sons, and captured lole, his daughter, whom he carried awa}^ as a pris- oner. Now lole was very beautiful, and Deianeira, becoming jealous of her, remembered the blood of Nessus, and dipped in it the garment which Hercules used to wear when he went to sacrifice. He had hardly put it on when his body began to ache with intolerable pains. It seems that the arrow with which he had killed Nessus was poisoned, that the poison, of course, had poisoned his blood, and that his garment from having been dipped in it had also become poisoned. In his agony he tried to fling it aside, but could not, for it stuck so close to his body, that he had to tear off whole pieces of flesh. In such sore plight he was carried to Trachis, where Deianeira, in the despair of her grief, took her own life ; at his bidding, Hercules was taken up to Mount CEta ; there he ascended a pile of wood, which a shepherd set on fire, when Jupiter sent a cloud from heaven, and carried him, amid thunder and lightning, to Olympus, where he became one of the immortals. ANCIENT HISTORY, [B.C. REFERENCES. A full and consecutive account of the Mythology and the Heroic Age of Ancient Greece is found in Grote's " History of Greece," vol. I. pp. 47-391, I^ew York, 1883, and satisfactory notices of mythologi- cal persons in alphabetical order, generally with references to classical authors, are given in Smith, "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology," 3 vols., London, 1849, 1880. 1100-776.] LYCURGUS. LYCURGUS. The city of Sparta, also called Lacedaemon, was the about capital of Laconia, situated at the southern extremity 776 of the peninsula of the Peloponnesus. It had been con- about quered by the Dorians, and was ruled by two kings. HOC One of them, called Euuomus, had two sons, Polydectes and Lycurgus. The former succeeded his father, but died soon ; his widow, desiring Lycurgus to share the throne with her, pro- posed to destroy the infant son of Polydectes ; but Lycurgus, feigning consent, took the child and showed him to the people as their king, calling him, because of the joy with which the}^ greeted him, Charilaus, signifying joy of the people. The mother, out of revenge, falsely charged L3'curgus with ill designs upon the child, which led him to leave Sparta, and spend many years in extensive travels, said to have extended as far as Iberia, Egypt, and India. During his absence, the affairs of Sparta had gone from bad to worse ; and the people entreated Lycurgus on his return to restore order. King Charilaus at first did not favor the movement, but afterwards stood by his uncle, who at once framed a body of laws bearing upon the government, as well as upon the public and private life of the people ; their adoption, however, met with great opposition, and, in one of the riots which they occasioned, the people tried to stone Lycurgus, who sought refuge in a temple, when a youth, called Alcander, struck him and put out his eye. Turn- ing to his pursuers, he silently showed them his bleeding face ; overcome with shame and sorrow, they accompanied Lycurgus to his home, and delivered to him the offender. The lawgiver dismissed the people, thanking them for their conduct, and without a harsh word bade the youth become his servant. He 10 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. obeyed, learned to love his great master, and was never more happy than in proclaiming his praise. In memory of this occurrence, Lycurgus built a temple in honor of Minerva, which he called Optiletis, because in the Doric dialect the word optilos signifies an eye. When at last all opposition to his laws had ceased, and they had been sol- emnly ratified by the people, swearing that the}^ would observe them unchanged until his return from a journe}', he set out for Delphi, and there asked the oracle if his laws were good, and if they sufficed to make the Spartans virtuous and happy. The reply came that the laws were perfect, and. that the Spartans would be the most glorious and prosperous people as long as they observed them. He sent a copy of this reply to Sparta, but never returned himself. Some say that from love for his country he starved himself to death ; but the truth is, that the time, the place, and the circumstances of his death are not known . Sparta had two kings, not chosen, but the sons succeeding their fathers ; such kings are called hereditary. The circum- stance that Aristodemus had left twin sons, Eurysthenes and Procles, as successors, is said to be the origin of this peculiar institution. These kings were high priests, chief commanders of the army, and the presiding officers in the assembly of the people. They had five ministers or advisers, called epliors^ who were chosen ever^^ year from the people, and were the real rulers. Sparta had also a senate, called gerusia^ or council of elders, composed of twenty-eight, or, counting the kings, of thirty members, who were elected for life from men not under sixty years of age. It was their duty to consider every law before it was given to the assembly of the people, and to decide as judges all criminal cases of life or death. In the assembly of the people, there was no debate in public ; and all matters were voted upon by yeas and nays. The population of Laconia consisted of Spartans, who were 1100-776.] LYCURGUS. H the ruling class ; of villagers, called perimd^ like the Spartans, free, though bound to obey the laws which they did not help to make; and of serfs, called helots^ who, though not exactly slaves, were bound to the land owned by their masters. They are thought to have been originally prisoners of war ; and their masters were always afraid of them, for they hated their oppressors ; and it was said of them that the}'' would gladly " have eaten the flesh of the Spartans raw." Being surrounded by enemies, the Spartans were naturally a nation of soldiers ; and the laws of Lycurgus were designed to train them for war and make them invincible in battle. Ever}^ new-born child was publicly examined, and if weakly or in any way deformed, taken to Mount Taygetus to perish. In order to harden them, they were compelled to wear the same garment summer and winter, live on spare and coarse diet, and to become early proficient in running, swimming, and throwing stones. At the age of seven, children were taken from their parents, and placed in the public schools, where all lived, learned, and played together. The places where, lightly clad, they exercised were called gymnasia, from a Greek word which means naked, or lightly clad. Their education at school was not like yours. They did not stud}^ much ; they were taught a little reading and writing, and the art of using the least number of words in speaking ; the main things for them to learn were implicit obedience to their superiors, respect for their elders, endurance in hardship, and victory in contests. These are certainly most praiseworthy, and I hope 3'ou ma}^ learn to excel in them, but I want you to detest some of the things the young Spartans were taught. Because soldiers must be not only brave, but also wise and provident, the Spartan boys were encouraged to practise cunning, and even theft. Being always more or less hungry because of their scant fare, they tried to pick and steal whatever they could as regular sneak thieves, and when caught in the act, were punished with fasting, not for having stolen, but for having done it clumsily. 12 ANCIENT HISTORY, [B.C. They were so afraid of being found out, that a boy who had stolen a young fox and concealed it under his garment allowed the animal to tear and bite him to death without uttering a cry. This example is sometimes cited also in proof of their great self-command, and it is well known, that naughty children were publicly whipped in the temple of Diana until the blood came, without a cry, or even an expression of pain, and that many actually died under the punishment. Fear in darkness or solitude 5 the tears and cries of pain, the youngest children were taught to detest as cowardly ; therefore cowardice was the greatest disgrace, and flight in battle infamy. A Spartan mother would give to her son a shield on going into war, saying, "Return with it, or upon it." Another Spartan mother, hearing that her son had died in battle, asked, "Did he win?" and learning that he did, continued, " That's why I gave birth to him, that he might know how to die for his country." The education of such mothers must in many respects have been like that of their husbands. The girls were taught gym- nastics, and became skilled in running, wrestling, and boxing. At the age of twenty they usually married, and though the}' saw not much of their husban^^, they were greatly respected by them, and their lot was far happier than that of the women of other lands. A Spartan became of age at thirty, and was not allowed to marry before. After his marriage he neither lived with his wife, nor took his meals at home. His time was fully occupied with military duties, and he was bound to eat at the public mess and sleep in the public barracks. This public mess all Spartan men, even their kings, were bound to frequent. Fifteen persons sat at one table. Each person had to furnish a fixed quantity of flour, cheese, wine, and figs, and to contribute a certain amount of money for meat. Children also were allowed to be present, and taught the man- ners and wisdom of their elders, especially discreet silence ; 1100-776.] LYCURGUS. 13 whoever entered the room was told by the oldest of the corn- pan}', " Not a word of what is said here must be carried out there/' that is, through the door to which he was pointing. The meal was very simple, and the daily dish was the famous black broth, or pottage of pork, blood, vinegar, and salt. The old people were ver}- fond of it, and gave the meat to the younger. A certain king secured a Spartan cook on purpose to have him make the black broth. Tasting it he found it so bad, that he scolded the cook, wiio replied, " Of course you do not like it, for it is not good with seasoning, and that is a bath in the Eurotas, before you eat it." This is an old form of the homely proverb that " hunger is the best sauce." Lycurgus, in order to prevent the people becoming miserly and dissatisfied, divided all the land in equal portions, so that every Spartan owned as much land as his neighbor, and intro- duced iron money, which had so little value, and was so large and heavy, that nobody thought of hoarding it ; two hundred dollars of that money filled a large room, and made a good load for two oxen to draw. This may have been successful for a time, but not very long, for according to an old Greek proverb the Spartans of a later age must have been very close, for it ran thus, " Much money goes into Sparta, but none comes out." In times of peace, the public life at Sparta was pleasant, for the public meals, the festivals, the chase, and the games afforded much diversion to the people. They also loved to sing and play the lyre. The country of the Spartans was called Laconia, and because their language was pointed and telling, we still call to this day a short, pithy, and witty speech, laconic. Lycurgus himself was very witty. Being asked by the Spar- tans what they should do to keep awa}' their enemies, he re- plied, " Remain poor, and covet not to have more than your neighbor." When they asked his advice about building walls round their city, he said, "A city surrounded by brave men has the best walls." 14 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. The following are examples of laconic replies. An Athenian orator once said in the hearing of a Spartan, that the Lacedse- monians were an ignorant people. "You are right," replied the Spartan, " for of all the Greeks we alone have learned nothing bad from you." Some one asked Archidamidas ^ to tell him the population of Sparta. "Enough," he said, "to drive off the wicked." A troublesome questioner desired a Spartan to de- scribe the best citizen of Sparta, and received the startling reply, " He who resembles 3^ou least." A Spartan was once invited to go and hear a man who was famous for imitating the nightingale, and declined, saying, "I have often heard the nightingale itself." REFERENCES. Plutarch's " Lycurgus " ; Haase's edition of Xenophon's " Lacedae- monian Republic," and Aristotle's " Politics " contain the ancient literature. Grote, " History of Greece," vol. I. pp. 463-506 ; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 60-71; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under " Lycurgus." 1 Phitarch being the only writer Avho mentions Archidamiclas, it is thought that he may have confounded him with Archidamus, the name of several Spartan kings, of one of whom ^lianus mentions the following anecdote : — An old man of Cos, being sent on an embassy to Sparta, and ashamed of his white hair, dyed it black ; and, thus disguised, entered the council and stated the object of his mission. Archidamus then rose and said : " What good can be expected of a man who carries falsehood, not only in his heart, but on his head 1 " 752-594.] SOLON. I5 SOLON. [594 Very little is known of the early history of Athens. Cecrops, a native of Sais in Egypt, is said to have founded the city, required the people to marry, and taught them religion. The acropolis, or fortress of Athens, doubtless in his memory, was called for a long time Cecropia. The original division of Attica into twelve little kingdoms is also ascribed to him. But no one knows when this took place. The last king who reigned at Athens was Codrus, who did a very noble thing at the time of the Dorian invasion of Attica. The oracle foretold that the Dorians would conquer if they spared the life of the king of Athens. To save his countr}' Codrus resolved to sacrifice himself ; he entered the camp of the Dorians in disguise, quarrelled with the soldiers, and was killed. The invaders, learning whom they had slain, took fright and left the country. The Athenians, grateful for what he had done, abolished the title of king, created the new office of archon, or ruler, and gave it to Medon, the son of Codrus, who, as well as eleven of his descendants held it ^r life in succession. The thirteenth descendant of Medon held r 752 it for ten years ; about forty years later, it was opened to all nobles ; and still later the duration of the office was reduced from ten years to one 3'ear, while the number of the archons was raised from one to nine. Eryxias was the last archon who held office for ten years, and Creon the first of the nine archons who ruled only one year. One of these nine presided over the rest, and was called the archon, and the year in which he reigned was named after him. In course of time, the ancient kingdom of Athens became a republic. The president, or first of the archons, was called 16 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. the arclion ; the second was called basileus, or king, and acted as high priest ; the third was called polemarch, and was com- mander-in-chief ; the other six archons were thesmotetcB, or legislators. In course of time, the affairs of the republic became much disturbed by the oppressions of the ruling class, called eujja- trids^ or those of noble descent, to the injury of the demiurgic or artisans, and of the geomori, or husbandmen. The great lawgiver Draco drew .up a code of written laws designed to restore order ; but the great severity of his laws made matters worse, for they punished all crimes alike with death ; the petty thief and the murderer forfeited their lives. A revolution took place twelve years after their enactment, until, through the exertions of Epimenides, a great seer, and Solon, the lawgiver, order, contentment, and harmony were established. Solon is believed to have been a descendant of Codrus, and was born about B.C. 638. Execestides, his father, was a man of moderate means, and the early manhood of Solon was spent in commercial pursuits, necessitating frequent travels through Greece and into Asia, and furnishing opportunities for personal intercourse with the most emfn^ht men of his time. His fame for ability was so great that he was numbered with the seven sages of Greece.^ His first great success in public life was the recovery of the island of Salamis, which had revolted to Megara. There is little doubt that he took the town by stratagem, and the account generally believed to be true, is, that Solon at the head of an expedition of five hundred volunteers, set sail for Salamis with a number of fishing boats and a vessel of thirty oars, and cast anchor at a given place. The Megarians, who watched the movement with suspicion, rushed to arms in much confusion, and sent out 1 They were : Solon, Thales, Pittacus, Periander, Cleobulus, Chilon, and Bias. 594-560.] SOLON. 17 a vessel to reconnoitre. It approached too near the Athenians and was taken. Solon displaced the crew by picked Athenians, and ordered the vessel as stealthily as possible to sail for the city, while he, with the rest of his men, approached on land and engaged the Megarians. In the midst of the conflict, the troops on board the vessel took to their boats and surprised the city. At that time the rich, who under the law were empowered to seize the property and the person of delinquent debtors, had caused great misery by enforcing their right, and reducing many free-born citizens to domestic slavery, and selling others to barbarian masters. The poor threatened to rise in insur- rection, and the rich, in the critical state of the country, thinking that Solon, as one of their class, wojuld help them, made him archon with unlimited power. Instead of taking sides, or acting from selfish motives, the measures he adopted were so just, wise, and successful, that his fellow-citizens requested him to frame a new constitution and a new code of laws. Having concluded this great work, he left Athens and spent ten years in travel to Egypt, Cyprus, and Asia Minor. On his return he found to his sorrow that his cousin, Pisistratus, an ambitious and unscrupulous man, sought to set aside the constitution, and make himself despot of Athens. Solon tried in vain to prevent that calamity, and did not long sur- p vive it. He died at the ripe old age of eighty, and his ashes were scattered, at his request, round the island of Salamis. Before naming some of the laws of Solon, the story of Croesus seems to be in place- That monarch was one of the most powerful and wealthy of Asia Minor, and resided at Sardis, the capital of Lydia. Having invited Solon to visit him, he received him in all the pomp and splendor of his glittering court, and commanded that all the treasures of the palace should be shown to him. Returned from their survey, 18 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Croesus asked Solon if he had ever known a more happy man than hhn, expecting him to say no. To his surprise, Solon said yes, and named Tellus of Athens, a man of means, blessed with excellent sons, who had died gloriously in the defence of his country. The king then asked him, if he could name beside Tellus another man who excelled him in happiness. Solon mentioned Cleobis and Biton, two brothers remarkable not only for the love the}^ bore to each other, but to their mother, who was a priestess of Juno. One day, when public duty called her to the temple, and the oxen of her car had not come in time, her sons took the oxen's place and drew the car over a distance of about five miles. Their praise was on every lip, and the happy mother prayed the goddess to reward them with the greatest blessing. After the sacrifice the brothers went to sleep, and never woke again. Thus the goddess accorded them a happy and glorious death, which is the greatest blessing mortals may enjoy. Then Croesus asked, not without displeasure, "And so you do not think me happy?" when Solon quietly discoursed to him about the inconstanc}^ of fortune, and told him that, though he were a great and wealthy king, he could not call him happy until he knew how he had ended his life. Croesus in consequence had but a contemptible opinion of Solon until after his defeat by Cyrus, the Persian, who took his city, made him prisoner, and condemned him to be burnt to death. On the pyre he recalled the words of Solon, and in a loud voice cried, "O Solon, Solon, Solon !" Cyrus, who was present, desired to know the meaning of his calling, and when Croesus had explained the matter, he was touched by so striking a confirmation of the opinion of Solon, ordered Croesus to be set free, and made him his friend. Thus Solon was the means of having saved the life of one king, and the honor of another, by a wise word uttered in season. As to the laws of Solon, he began with setting aside those 594-560.] SOLON. 19 of Draco, except those relating to murder. He made a new division of the population into four classes according to their property, the first called Fentacosiomedimni,^ or persons with an annual income of five hundred medimni of corn, and upwards ; the second, with an income of three hundred, called 'knights from their ability to furnish a warhorse ; the third, with an income of from two to three hundred, called yokemen from their ability to keep a yoke of oxen ; and the fourth, called tJietes, or hired men, with an income of less than two hundred. The first three classes had to pay an income tax and were eligible to public offices ; the fourth class was not taxed, but privileged to cast their votes in the public assembly. The change was very great, for the government passed from the hands of a few into those of the many. A form of government in which a feiv are rulers is called an oligarchy, one in which the rule devolves upon persons assessed for their property is called a timocracy. Nine archons, assisted by a council or senate of four hundred members, elected annually for a term of one year, formed the supreme government ; there was a popular assembly, which had the power of passing or rejecting the laws introduced by the senate, of deciding questions of peace or war, of oflSce, and of citizenship. The highest criminal court was the council of the Areopagus, which was called " the eye of the law," and held its sessions at night ; the judges used black and white pebbles, the black to condemn, the white to acquit the accused ; if the number of white stones equalled that of the black, the case was held to have been decided by the gods in favor of the accused. The laws of Solon were very favorable to the growth of com- merce and manufacture, and specially directed to education. The gymnasia were excellent institutions where youth was ^ The word signifies 500 medimni, a medimnus being a measure contain- ing 1^ bushels. 20 ANCIENT HIbdVRY, [B.G taught whatever tends to invigorate the body, and equip the mind with useful and noble attainments. Music, poetry, art, and science, philosophy and elocution all entered into the edu- cation of the Athenian youth. The laws of Solon aimed at the useful occupation of every citizen, and punished idleness. A thief had to restore double the amount he had taken ; speaking evil of the dead, or the living, was a punishable offence ; a person who, in a time of political disturbance, re- fused to take side with either party was made infamous. The laws of Solon, though very numerous, have only come down to us in small fragments. They were written on wooden rollers and triangular tablets, and kept first in the Acropolis, but later in the Prytaneum, or town-hall. Solon also revised the calendar, and was the first who intro- duced among the Greeks months of twenty-nine and thirty days alternately. It is interesting to know that Solon used the familiar phrase that, " in all great measures it is diflScult to please everybody," when, in order to test the goodness of his laws, he left his native country. REFERENCES. Plutarch's " Solon " ; Grote, " History of Greece," vol. I. pp. 576- 613; Thirlwall, "History of Greece," vol. 11. pp. 27-56; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 1^4-101 ; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under "Solon." 500-492.] MILTJADES. 21 MILTIADES. After the conquest of L3^clia, C3TUS undertook the reduction of the Greek colonies established on the coast of Asia Minor. These colonies were settled by three distinct nationalities or races, called the Cohans, who occupied the northern part of the coast ; the lonians, who had dwelt in the central part ; and the Dorians, who had chosen the southern part. These Asiatic Greeks chafed under the Persian yoke, and about fifty years later, rose against Darius Hystaspes, who then was the r- Great King, for so the Persian monarch was described. He marched against the insurgents and speedily reduced them. Learning that the Athenians had aided the Asiatic Greeks with an armament, Darius was very angry, and shooting an arrow as high as he could, exclaimed, " Grant me, Zeus, to avenge myself on the Athenians ! " That was his way of swearing revenge. He also bade one of his servants remind him of his oath by exclaiming thrice a da}^ at his dinner, ' ' Master, remember the Athenians ! " He did not forget them. He collected a large army and a powerful fleet, commanded by Mardonius, by which he r- hoped to conquer Greece. The armament was set in motion ; the army crossed the Hellespont and subdued parts of Thr'ace ; the fleet sailed along the coast of Europe and doubled mount Athos ; off the promontory of that mountain it was overtaken by a fearful storm in which 300 ships were destroyed, and not less than 20,000 men either drowned or cast ashore. The army was equally unfortunate. The Thracians in a night attack surprised the Persians, almost annihilated them, and even wounded Mardonius, who had to return home in disgrace and mortification at not having even seen the enemy against 22 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. whom he had been sent. Darius never employed him again, but his purpose of punishing the Greeks remained unbroken, and he commanded the formation of a second and more formi- dable armament. Pending the preparations, he sent heralds to most of the Grecian cities to demand from them earth and water in token of their submission. Many of the continental cities and of the islands complied with his request, and handed to his her- alds a cup of water, in token that their rivers and seas ac- knowledged his dominion, and another filled with earth, in token that their land submitted to his rule. But at Sparta and Athens the heralds met with different treatment. In the latter place the citizens threw them into a deep pit, which had been sometimes used for the punishment of criminals ; and in Sparta the herald was cast into a well, and bidden to help himself. When Darius heard what had happened, he sent for Datis -n and Artaphernes, his generals, saying, " Set out for Greece, make slaves of the men of Athens, and pro- duce them here." Soon an armament of 600 triremes, with numerous transports for men and horses, was on the way. Some of the vessels were loaded with chains intended for the Greeks, and in one of them was placed a huge block of marble destined to be set up as a trophy upon the ruins of Athens. Warned by the experience of Mardonius, the Persian com- mander sailed across the ^gean from Samos to Euboea, took Eretria, burnt its temples, and dragged the citizens into slavery. Then they crossed over to Attica, and landed in the bay of Marathon, on the eastern coast, and distant from Athens by one road twenty miles, by another twenty-six, equal to about six hours and a half of computed march. The danger was therefore at the very doors of Athens. The consternation in that city was excessive. Pheidippides, a runner, was sent to Sparta to solicit aid. He ran the dis- tance of 150 miles in 48 hours, but unfortunately arrived on th| ninth day of the moon, when according to ancient custom 490.] MILTIADES. 23 it was not lawful for the Spartans to march, but they promised to come immediately after the full moon. The Athenians were consequently left without aid from Sparta, but the noble and valiant Platseans sent unasked the whole of their martial strength, consisting of 1,000 soldiers. The Athenians them- selves mustered 9,000 strong, and the whole of their fight- ing force numbered only 10,000, with which they marched against the Persians, whose strength cannot have been less than 110,000 men. Marathon, on the margin of a bay E.N.E. from Athens, is naturally separated from that city by the lofty ridge of Mount Pentelicus. The bay is deep, and has a shore favorable for landing ; the plain is six miles long, and at no point more than a mile and a half wide. At either end of the bay is a marsh, of which the northern is at all seasons impassable at certain points, while the southern is generally dry at the end of summer. On the hard, sandy plain, without a single tree standing on it, between these marshes, with the sea to the eastward, and an amphitheatre of rocky hills to the westward, was fought the battle of Marathon. The Athenians were posted on the high ground above this level stretch. The Persians, who had drawn up their ships to the beach, formed in the plain. In their centre, with them the place of honor, stood native Persians, and Sacae, the flower of their arm3^ With the Greeks, the post of honor was the right wing, commanded by Callimachus ; the soldiers were ranged in the order of their tribes, from right to left ; and the Platasans stood at the extreme left. As the Persians greatly outnumbered the Greeks, and displayed an extended front, Miltiades had to form his line accordingly^, to prevent the enemy taking him in the flank. His centre, therefore, was thinner and weaker than his wings. Fear, amounting almost to terror, befell the Athenians when they beheld the countless hosts of the invaders ; and they were for leaving the field and returning home. But Miltiades cahned 24 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. their fear, and inspired them with courage. '' Soldiers," he cried, " if we do not begin the conflict as brave men, but leave the field as cowards to the enemy, our flight will make him bold ; he will pursue, attack, and beat us ; our city will fall a prey to the wild Asiatics ; and we ourselves will be carried into slavery. Away with hesitation, Greeks ; let us be united, united for the conflict ! this alone will save us, and save the liberty of Greece ! " This speech told ; and down rushed the soldiers under the animating paean or war-cry to the charge, which shook the Persians, and drove them back to some distance in the wings ; but in the centre, where the Athenians were weakest, the Persians made sad havoc, and chased them. At that moment, Miltiades ordered his victorious wings to stay the pursuit of the flying enemy, and sweep round to the protection and reforming of his centre. The order was well executed ; the pursuit of the Persians became general, who, panic-stricken, made for their ships. Not a few of their number perished in the marsh ; and the Athenians succeeded in destroying by fire seven of their ships before they could gain the sea. Once safe at sea, the Persians recovered fromi their fright ; and their fleet was ordered to sail for Athens, which they hoped to surprise, directed by the signal of a burnished shield, lifted by traitor hands on a lofty point of the Attic highlands, which caught and reflected the rays of the sun. Fortunately the signal was seen not only by the Persians, but also by Miltiades, who, divining its purport, ordered his victorious army to march without a moment's delay, from the field of their glory, towards Athens, and succeeded in gaining the port just before the fleet of Datis appeared off Phalerum. Afraid to disembark a second time on Attic soil before the self -same warriors who had so recently chased his troops from the plain of Marathon, the Persian commander, with great chagrin, sailed homewards ; and Athens, for the time at least, escaped the terrors of a Persian occupation. 490.] MILTIADES. 25 Aristides had been left in charge of the field of Marathon, the fallen heroes, and the spoil, which included the camp of the Persians, with all its treasures, as well as the chains and the block of marble. The Persian dead numbered 6,400, the Athenians 192. But besides these, another Athenian died a glorious death, who, desirous of carrying the good tidings to Athens, ran from the battle-field in eager haste, arrived out of breath, crying, " Athens, rejoice ; we have won," and fell down dead. A tumulus was erected on the spot in honor of the 192 ; a second tumulus for the slain Platseans ; a third for the slaves. Ten pillars, one for each tribe, inscribed with the names of the fallen, were also set up ; and a separate funeral monument was erected for Miltiades. The natives of Marathon paid divine honors to those heroes. Pausanias, who visited the battle-field 600 years afterwards, not only saw the tumulus, but read the names of the buried heroes on the monumental pillars. After the full moon, but also after the battle, appeared 2,000 Spartans, who, by forced marches, had travelled in three days from Sparta to the Attic frontier. The battle had been fought ; and they contented themselves with a visit to the battle-field, where they saw the dead, and applauded the Athenian victors. Then they returned home. The battle of Marathon, though not a decisive defeat, was the first which Persia received from the Greeks in the field, and a proclamation to Greece that the advance of the invaders might not only be checked but, by united action, effectually repelled. The Athenians had the glory of being the first Greeks who, by their valor, discomfited an army of the dreaded Persians, many times as strong as their own, and drove them away covered with disgrace. As for Miltiades, it had been well for him to have died at Marathon. His success, and the unmeasured admiration of the 26 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Athenians, turned his head. An unfortunate expedition against -| Paros, an island belonging to the group of the Cyclades, brought him into trouble and disgrace. A wound he had received took a fatal turn ; and for his failure he was fined in a sum of fifty talents, which, after his death, was paid by Cimon, his sou. It is sometimes said that he died in prison, but there is no evidence that such was the case. REFERENCES. Grote, "History of Greece," vol. II. pp. 178-214; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 171-184; Thirlwall, " History of Greece," vol. II. and Appendix 2. See also Smith's " Dictionary," etc., under " Miltiades," and "Marathon"; Creasy, "Fifteen Decisive Battles." NOTE. Marathon. The actual number of Persians on board the fleet is estimated at 200,000 men ; of those engaged at 110,000 men. The Greek force, including attendants and servants, cannot have mustered more than 20,000 men. The armies stood therefore as 5 to 1. The Persian horse were not engaged, and the greatest loss of the Persians is believed to have taken place not in the battle, but in the great marsh in front of which a large portion of their fleet was drawn up. The famous picture of the battle in the Painted Portico represented the combatants as fighting on equal terms in the main engagement, and the Persians as suffering great loss in the distant marsh. 485-480.] LEON IDAS AND THEMISTOCLES. 27 LEONIDAS AND THEMISTOCLES. The news of the event of the battle of Marathon increased the anger of Darius and spurred him to j^et greater efforts for the reduction of Athens ; his preparations were p made on a colossal scale for four years, but he died, and was succeeded by Xerxes, his sou, in the throne, and in a renewed attempt for the conquest of Grreece. Proud, vain, and of only moderate ability, a despot wont to be served by slaves, he believed that to will was to do a thing, and in order to insure success, spent four other years in prepa- rations ; stores and magazines were established in the seaports of Thrace ; a canal, large enough to allow two triremes to sail abreast, was cut through the isthmus which connects the penin- sula of mount Athos with the main land ; huge cables were pro- cured for a bridge of boats across the Hellespont ; troops from every part of the Persian empire, representing not less than forty-six different nationalities, were summoned to assemble at Critalla in Cappadocia ; and an enormous fleet, larger than any ever collected before, was ordered to the Hellespont. In the spring Xerxes, who had spent the winter at r- Sardis, set out with his army, which was divided into two bodies, the king and his Persian guards in the midst. First came the baggage, and one-half of the army ; then a thousand Persian horse, followed by a thousand Persian spear- men ; next came ten sacred horses superbly caparisoned, the sacred car of Jove drawn by eight white horses, and then Xerxes in his royal chariot. Immediately after him came a thousand spearmen and a thousand horse followed by ten thousand Per- sian foot, called the "Immortals," and ten thousand horse. 28 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. The second half of the army concluded the host, which pro- ceeded in the order given to Abydos. The first disaster encountered by Xerxes was the destruction of the bridge in a fierce storm, for which in his anger he pun- ished the engineers with death, and the sea with a hundred lashes, and fetters which he cast into it. He ordered two new bridges to be made, the one for the army, and the other for the baggage and beasts of burden. Seated on a marble throne he looked with pride on the multi- tudes of warriors which covered the land, and the large fleet which filled the waters. After certain religious rites the im- mense host began the passage of the Hellespont, which con- sumed seven days and seven nights. The army was ordered to halt on the plain of Doriscus, in Thrace, to be numbered. A myriad, that is 10,000 men, was massed together as closely as possible, and the place it occu- pied marked and enclosed. The first myriad then marched out, and another one filed in, until 170 myriads had passed through the enclosure. The cavalry mustered 80,000 men ; the service of the chariots and camels required 20,000 more. The fleet consisted of 1,207 triremes, each manned b}^ 200 rowers, and 30 warriors ; and 3,000 smaller vessels, each with a crew of eight. At the review the total of the army and navy was 2,317,610 men, which by the addition of new forces was brought up at Thermopylae to 2,641,610 combatants. Adding not less than the same number of slaves, attendants, and the crews of transports, the grand total of the armament must have exceeded 5,000,000 of men. The army and the fleet effected a junction in the Thermaic bay, where Xerxes received the heralds who brought him earth and water from the greater part of Greece, and learned that Sparta and Athens, as well as the small towns of Plataea and Thespise in Boeotia refused the tokens. BoBN The soul of the resistance at Athens was Themistocles, 514 the son of Neocles, a prominent citizen. Even as a child 514-480.] LEONIDAS AND THEMISTOCLES. 29 his uncommon qualities of mind were noted, and his teacher said to him, "My sou, you will not be anything little, but something great, either good or bad." As a young man he forsook his acquaintance, lost in thought. When asked to ex- plain his conduct, he replied, "The trophy of Miltiades keeps me from sleeping " ; for he believed that Marathon was the be- ginning of a fierce war, and strove to prepare Athens for it by the building of a fleet of 200 triremes, and an alliance with Sparta. The first resistance offered the Persians was at the pass of Thermopylae, situated between the steep and lofty mountain of (Eta, and an impassable morass on the edge of the Malian gulf. It was held by Leonidas of Sparta with only 300 of his country- men and about 7,000 allied troops, who had strengthened his position by rebuilding the old Phocian wall across the northern entrance. The idea of such a handful of men undertaking to arrest his millions excited the ridicule of Xerxes. A scout told him that he had seen the Lacedaemonians outside the wall, some engaged in sport, and others combing their hair. The king sent heralds requiring them to deliver their arms, to whom Leonidas replied, " Tell Xerxes to come and take them ! " The Greeks were told that the Persian host was so prodigious, that their arrows dark- ened the sun. " So much the better," coolly exclaimed a Spar- tan, " we shall then fight in the shade." Xerxes hesitated for several days, during which he hoped that the Lacedaemonians would come to their senses, and aban- don the pass. Then he ordered the Medes to take it, and bring its defenders before him. The Greeks stood in serried mass, holding in their left hands their brazen shields, from which the arrows of the Persians glanced harmlessly off, and presenting in their right an impenetrable forest of long spears. Band after band tried in vain to break it ; they only met death, and the new comers were hurled back over the bodies of their comrades. The myriad of " the Immortals " were sent 30 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. next, and fared worse. The Persians refused to enter the fatal pass. Enraged at the inglorious repulse, Xerxes leaped thrice from the throne, from which he witnessed the struggle, and com- manded his reluctant warriors to be lashed into the pass, where certain death awaited them. The valor of Leonidas and his Spartans might check the advance of the Persians, but it could not avert the con- sequences of the treason of Ephialtes, a Malian, who betrayed to Xerxes the secret of a foot-path over the mountains, by which his soldiers found their way to the rear of Leonidas. Apprised of the treason, he bade all who were not Spartans return to their homes. Arrayed in his royal robe he sacrificed to his native gods, and with his 300 Spartans sate down to a parting meal. Then the}' rushed forth, and charging the enemy with desperate valor, dealt death arouud them. The Per- sians, though constantl}^ whipped to fight, dreaded to face this handful of heroes, who defied them until their spears were broken. When they had only their swords left, were thinned in numbers, exhausted by fatigue and wounds, and Leonidas -| had been slain, the noble remnant retired within the pass, and, covered witlf the missiles of the Persians, were killed to a man. The hillock on which they made their last stand became afterwards the site of a marble lion, erected in honor of Leonidas, and of two monumental pillars, the one bearing the proud inscription that "4,000 Peloponnesians had here fought with 3,000,000 of foes" ; and the other, the simple and touching legend, "Go, wand'rer, and at Sparta tell, that here, obedient to her laws, we fell." Nothing could now stay the advance of the Persians, who ravaged the countr}^, set on fire the towns and villages through which they passed, and drove before them the unhappy inhabitants, who fled in terror to the Peloponnesus. That narrow isthmus the Spartans, indifferent about the fate of 480.] LEONIDAS AND THEMISTOCLES. 31 Athens, were fortifying by means of a strong, transverse wall. Threatened with inevitable destruction, the Athenians in the extremity of their danger consulted the oracle at Delphi for advice, and received the dark reply that "the divine Salamis would make women childless," and that " they must trust in walls of wood." In the midst of universal despair, Themistocles arose and saved the people. The walls of wood, he said, were the ships which the gods had destined to be their salvation ; they must leave the city, and go on board those ships. Many of the Athenians took his advice, hopefull}" abandoned their homes, and removed their families to Troezen, ^gina, and Salamis. Those able for war joined Themistocles, and the whole Grecian fleet, commanded by Eurybiades, the Spartan, and numbering 365 ships, assembled at Salamis. Soon after their departure Xerxes arrived, ravaged the country, and after pillaging the city, set it on fire. The hapless Athenians saw from Salamis the smoke and the flames in which perished their loved homes and all, besides their lives, they prized most on earth. About the same time, the Persian fleet arrived off Phalerum, and the vast armament which filled the waters as far as they could see also filled the breasts of the Greeks with fear. The allies of the Athenians were disheartened, and meditated abandoning them to their fate. The Peloponnesians were for sailing to the isthmus and helping to defend it, arguing that, after the fall of Athens, the loss of Attica was inevita- ble. In this terrible crisis Themistocles devised a desperate remedy. He sent Sicinnus, a trusted slave, on a secret mission to Xerxes, and charged him to say: "Great king, I am your friend, and long to enter your service. The Greeks meditate escaping from this bay this very night. Enclose them, and their fleet is yours." Xerxes took the hint, and during the 32 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. night his fleet drew round the Greeks and cut off every outlet. Discovering that retreat was impossible, the Greeks were com- pelled to fight in the naval engagement which followed, and is famed in history as the battle of Salamis. The Persians were most unfortunate. Unacquainted with the dangers of that rock-bound coast, many of their vessels had run upon the cliffs in the darkness of night ; they had no sea-room for the proper disposition of their too numerous craft ; their ships, moreover, were clumsy, and so difficult to handle that when one of their number was pushed back by the Greeks, it threw all those in the rear into confusion ; the Per- sians, moreover, were suffering from lack of concert. In all these respects the Greeks were superior ; they had plenty of sea-room in a bay where they knew everj^ inch of water ; they acted in concert, and the movements of their fleet triremes were directed by able commanders. They behaved splendidl}^, and soon the bay was covered with the bodies of the slain floating amidst the broken oars, the splintered masts, and the demolished hulks of the Persian armament, to which the wounded were clinging with the energy of despair. The Asiatic Greeks jdeserted to their brethren ; the whole Persian armament was routed, and sought safety in flight. This humiliating spectacle, enacted under the eyes of Xerxes, who sat on a lofty throne, erected for the purpose at a point commanding the bay, filled that monarch with wrath and vexa- tion. Passing from overweening confidence to unreasonable suspicion and fear, he hastened his return march with un- seemly speed, and never rested until he had recrossed the Hellespont ; not over the bridge, for the storms had swept it away, but, as some say, in the lowly skiff of a Thracian fisherman. Themistocles doubtless had saved, in the victory of Salamis, his country from the yoke of the Persians. Though the jeal- ousy of the commanders deprived him of the honors due to his 514-449.] LEONIDAS AND THEMISTOCLES. 3^ merit, his name was praised throughout Greece, and the Spar- tans, whom he visited, led him in triumph into their city, crowned him with an olive wreath, gave him the finest chariot which Sparta could produce, and an escort of the three hundred knights who accompanied him as far as Tegea. After the battle of Salamis, Themistocles was unremitting in his efforts for raising Athens to the supremacy of Greece. To him belongs the merit of building the magnificent fortifications of the port of Piraeus and the restoration of the walls of Athens. The Spartans, doubtless from motives of jealousy, were bitterly opposed to these fortifications so necessary to the protection and safety of Athens. Themistocles contrived to accomplish his purpose by diplomac}', amused the Spartans with curious stories until the walls were built, and then told them that Athens could now protect herself. But Themistocles could not escape the jealousy and enmity of his fellow-citizens, who were notorious for their ingratitude. He was charged with complicity in the treacherous correspond- ence conducted by Pausanias with the king of Persia, p and condemned to temporary banishment. After spending about five years at Argos, the discovery of the correspondence of Pausanias at Sparta and the formal charge of treason preferred against him by the Lacedaemonians made his stay at Argos precarious, and induced him to effect his escape first to Corcyra, then to Admetus, king of the Molossians, and lastly to Artaxerxes, the son and successor of Xerxes, who allowed him not only to live unmolested in his dominions, but was so captivated b}^ his dazzling schemes for the subjugation of Greece, that he made handsome ^^^^ 514 provision for him at Magnesia, on the Maeander, died 449 where he died. The Magnesians erected a very handsome monument to him in the Agora of their citj^, which remained to the time of Plutarch, more than five centuries after the death of Themis- tocles. He also stated that one of his descendants, with whom 34 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. he was personall}" acquainted, continued to enjoy certain privi- leges and honors which Artaxerxes had conferred upon his ancestors. This proves how highly his services had been regarded by the Persians. It is said that at his own request, the remains of Themistocles were removed to Attica, and that the Athenians honored him with a tomb in the Piraeus, supposed to have borne this inscrip- tion : — "By the sea's margin, on the watery strand, Thy monument, Themistocles, shall stand : By this directed to thy native shore The merchant shall convey his freighted store ; And when our fleets are summoned to the fight, Athens shall conquer with thy tomb in sight." Whatever may be thought of the character of Themistocles, it is impossible not to admire his foresight, contrivance, and decision, and not to deplore the fact that honesty did not distinguish him. Had he been honest and true, an inglorious exile and the stigma of treason would not have stained his patriotism. REF NCES. Grote, "History of Greece," vol. II. pp. 272-314, 365-394; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 185-215, 239-250; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under "Leonidas " and " Themistocles." 469-429.] PERICLES. 35 PERICLES. Enriched beyond all other cities of Greece hy the victories achieved over Persia, Athens attained the zenith of r 469—429 her glory during the long reign of Pericles, one of the most illustrious of her children. Her pre-eminence in wealth, military and naval power, in education, culture, science, and art, was chiefly due to his wise and able administration. From the unusual size of his head he had obtained the mag- nificent nickname Kephalege fetes, signifying an assemblage of heads, and importing that his brain power was greater than that of any of his contemporaries. He also bore the nick- name Olympius, on account of his eloquence, which when he harangued the people seemed to affect them as if the deity were thundering and lightning on Mount Olympus. After the destruction of Athens by the Persians, Pericles caused it to be rebuilt with such superb magnificence that the fame of its splendor was known throughout the world. The private dwellings of the Athenians were plain, and inferior to our own, for the republican simplicity or jealousy, as well as the public life of the Athenians, combined to make their domes- tic architecture plain, but that of their public edifices grand and magnificent. The beauty and dazzling splendor of the temples, theatres, gymnasia, and other public buildings of Athens, have never been eclipsed and rarely equalled. The ruins of Athens continue to excite the admiration of all be- holders, and to furnish the best school to the architects and artists of the civilized world. The Acropolis, or fortress, occupied the most commanding- site of Athens, and in it, on it, and around it, centered the 36 ANCIENT HISTORY, [B.C. most famous public buildings and monuments. The Acropolis crowned a steep and lofty hill in the northern part of Athens. A noble marble stairwa}" of grand dimensions connected the fortress with the city. The view from that height was, and yet is, exceedingly beautiful. Beyond the vast city, with its countless temples, altars, and monuments, stretched the famous walls which united it with the three sea-ports, where noble ships were coming and going, and large fleets were wont to ride at anchor ; then arose the beautiful sea whose dark blue waters reflect the deep azure of the sunny sky, with the island of Salamis in the foreground, and the mountains of Peloponnesus in the background. Turning round towards the Acropolis, the superb marble gateway, known as the Propylsea, and considered with the Parthenon, as the architectural glory of the age of Pericles, compelled the admiration of the visitor. This gateway, with its splendid columns and five gates, the central gate larger than the rest, and ample for the use of chariots and horsemen, was flanked by two wings, the one a temple consecrated to the god- dess of Victory, the other a picture-gallery, adorned with the paintings of the most farnous artists, had been erected by the architect, Mnesicles," in five years, and cost about $2,300,000. The Propylsea conducted the visitor into the Acropolis, which covered an area of 1,000 feet from east to west, and about 500 feet from north to south, and was enclosed with a massive wall of solid masonry. The most commanding object of the Acropolis was the colossal bronze figure of Athena Fromachus, or Pallas Athena, the former name describing the treatment of the subject, namely Athena fighting, or repre- sented in the very attitude of battle, and the latter. name des- ignating the character of the goddess, as the protectress, or tute- lary deity, of Athens. It was one of the masterpieces of Phidias, of colossal proportions, about 70 feet high ; the point of its spear and the crest of its helmet flashed the rays of the 469-429.] PERICLES. 37 sun, and was the most conspicuous landmark of Athens, visi- ble from Sunium, more than twenty miles awa}'. This superb statue was still standing a.d. 395, and is said to have fright- ened away Alaric, when he came to sack the Acropolis. But the crowning glory of the Acropolis was the Partheyion, or the Temple of Athena, the Virgin, which stood on the lofti- est spot of the rock, and rose to the height of about 70 feet. The architects of that wonderful structure were Callicrates and Icti- nus, who worked under the general direction of Phidias. It was built entirely of Pentelic marble, and constituted a mag- nificent hall, enclosed within 40 columns, replete with the most exquisite sculptures and other works of art. Of these the colossal statue of Athena, 40 feet high, made by Phi- dias, represented the goddess standing, clothed with a tunic reaching to the ankles, with a spear in her left hand, and an image of Victory in her right, a helmet on her head, and a shield resting on the ground by her side. It was made of ivory and gold, the former material being used for the face, hands, and feet, and the latter for the drapery and orna- ments. The general direction of the works of architecture, sculp- ture, etc., executed under Pericles, was left with Phidias, who besides the artists already mentioned by name, had drawn to Athens the most famous masters of the period. Among the most celebrated painters were Zeuxis and Parrhasius, renowned for their wonderfully accurate imitation of nature. In a con- test for superior skill the former painted a bunch of grapes so naturally that the birds flew at the picture to eat the fruit, while the latter had brought his picture covered, as it seemed, with a curtain. Zeuxis, elated with his success, impatiently called out to Parrhasius to remove the curtain, and show what he had done. The latter laughed, and behold! his picture was — the curtain itself. Zeuxis then yielded the palm to Parrhasius, saying, "I have deceived only birds, but Parrhasius has de- ceived me." 38 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Athens contained also numerous schools, which in many respects were different from ours. The Athenian youth were taught grammar, music, and gymnastics. In their gymnasia provision was made for instruction in playing at ball, pulling at a rope, using the top, throwing five stones, etc. ; these, of course, were gymnastic sports ; the severer exercises consisted in running, throwing the disc, etc., jumping, leaping, wrestling, boxing, and even dancing was taught. These gymnasia, as well as baths, and similar institutions, were frequented, under proper regulations, by all classes and ages of the people, and were extremely beneficial in the proper training of the mind as well as of the body. One of the most popular resorts of Athens was the Agora, or the Market-place, where commodities of every description were offered for sale, where the judges were wont to dispense justice, where the learned would carry on discussions, and where the people would often assemble to deliberate on laws and public meas- ures. At the time of which we are treating, the Agora was an exceedingl}^ beautiful place of resort, filled with buildings, temples, sanctuaries, altars, and monuments ; among the trees were beautiful statues, and the famous porticoes, or cloisters, were decorated with paintings. All these tokens of wealth and culture, which might easily be enlarged by facts connected with the commerce, centred in the ever-populous ports of Athens, were mainly due to the wise and beneficent administration of Pericles. His power over the people was astonishing. On one occasion he pronounced the funeral oration for those who had fallen in battle. Their sur- viving friends, in many instances the parents of the dead, were present ; and at the conclusion of his oration, the mothers, grateful for the words of consolation so eloquently and touch- ingly uttered, rushed up to him, presenting garlands moistened with their tears in token of their gratitude. Yet gratitude was not the leading trait of Athenian char- acter. The Athenians were proverbially fickle, and wanting in 431-404.] PERICLES. 39 gratitude to their greatest benefactors. Thus it fared with Pericles. During the Peloponnesian war, waged by the Athenians with Sparta, the Spartans had invaded and wasted Attica, r 431—404 Unfortunately the hardships and terrors of the war were immeasurably aggravated by the horrors of a most destruc- tive epidemic, called the plague. It raged with unprecedented fury in the populous city for three years, and embittered the feelings of the stricken people against Pericles, whom they unjustly charged with having caused the war and all their mis- fortunes. Enemies were busy in stirring up hatred against him, and the people not only deprived him of his position of commander-in-chief, but fined him in a large sum of mone3\ The triumph of his enemies, however, was short-lived, for the incapacity of his successors speedily opened the ej^es of the people ; and he was restored to his honors with as much power and influence as he had ever wielded before. But clouds of domestic misfortunes obscured the autumn of his life. The plague had smitten not only many of his friends, but claimed for its victims his sister and his two sons. At the funeral of Paralus, his favorite son, when it was his duty to place a wreath on his body, he broke down with uncontrollable grief and, for the first time in his life, wept aloud. Soon after he was seized by a slow fever, which sapped his strength of body and mind. As he lay seemingly unconscious, his friends spoke of all he had done, and dwelt upon the nine trophies he had erected at diff'erent times for so many victories. He heard what they said, and exclaimed to their amazement : " What 3'ou praise in my life belongs partly to good fortune, and is at least common to me with many other generals. But that which I esteem most you have failed to mention ; I mean, that no Athenian ever put on mourning through any act of mine." Thus died the most noble and most gifted son of p Athens, the virtuous, wise, and patriotic Pericles. How Pericles spoke may be learned from the following 40 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. extract of a speech which is said to have electrified his hearers : — " Be not aagry with me, whose advice ye followed in going to war, because the enem}' have done such damage as might be expected from them ; still less, on account of this unforeseen distemper: I know that this makes me an object of your special present hatred, though very unjustly, unless you will consent to give me credit also for any unexpected good luck which may occur. Our city derives its peculiar glory from unshaken bearing up against misfortune : her power, her name, her empire of Greeks over Greeks, are such as have never before been seen : and if we choose to be great, we must take the consequence of that temporary envy and hatred which is the necessary price of permanent renown. Behave now worthy of that glory : show that courage essential to protect you against present disgrace, and to ensure your honor hereafter. Send no further embassy to Sparta, and bear your misfortunes without any symptoms of distress." REFERENCES. Grote, "History of Greece,'^ vol. II. pp. 435-552; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 265-291 ; Thirlwall, " History of Greece," vol. III. ch. 17-20; Plutarch's "Pericles"; and Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under " Pericles." 470-399.] ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. 41 ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. These two celebrated men were contemporaries, and lived at Athens during the Peloponnesian war. Alcibiades was born in that city, about B.C. 450 ; left an orphan, he was brought up in the house of Pericles, to about whom he was related. His personal beauty, wealth, 453-450 and bright intellect made him a conspicuous person even in early youth. As a boy, he gained notoriety for imperious passion and wanton insolence. Vain, ambitious, and spoiled by flatterers, his wild freaks were the town talk. Wrestling with another bo3', he was on the point of being thrown, when, by way of defence, he bit the hand of his antagonist, and got free. The bitten lad exclaimed, "Alcibiades, you bite like a woman!" " Not at all," he replied, " I bite like a lion." On another occasion, he and some boys were playing at dice in the street, and just when his turn to throw had come, a loaded wagon was approaching. " Stop a little," he cried out to the driver, who took no notice of his request, and drove on. The other boys went aside, but he threw himself on the road before the horses, and bade the driver move on. The driver stopped the horses ; Alcibiades took his throw, and then turned aside. Though a good scholar in learning, he had the knack of getting into scrapes. Playing the flute was then a fashionable accomplishment at Athens ; but Alcibiades refused to acquire it, and branded the instrument as mean and unbecoming a gentleman ; besides, he would say, playing the flute distorts the face, and prevents the performer from singing and speaking. " Let the Theban youth therefore pipe, for they know not how 42 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. to speak ; but we Athenians, as our fathers have told us, have Minerva for our patroness, and Apollo for our protector, one of whom threw away the flute ; and the other flayed the man who played it." His conduct as a young man was execrable. One day he laid a wager, that he would in the public street box the ear of one of the most distinguished citizens, not because he bore him a grudge for anything, but from sheer and wanton insolence. And he committed the outrage to the intense indignation of the whole city. On the next morning, Alcibiades called upon the gentleman, apologized, bared his shoulder, and bade him punish him for his insolence. He generously forbore to take revenge, accepted his apology, and actually gave him his daughter to wife. Similar was his conduct in the house of Anytus, who had invited him to an entertainment, which he had not accepted. On the daj' of the part}', he i3roposed to some boon companions, assembled at his own house, to repair to Anytus to have some fun. Stationing himself at the door of the banquet-chamber, he bade his servants seize half of the gold and silver cups which graced the table, and remove them to his own house. Then he left. The company wanted to resent the affront ; but Anytus good-naturedly remarked that he might have done worse, for he had left at least half standing, whereas he might have taken them all. Alcibiades had a dog of uncommon size and beauty, which cost him 70 minse (about $1,422) ; his chief ornament was his tail, and that he had cut off. When told that everybod}' blamed this freak of his, he laughed and said, "That is just what I want them to do ; for if they had not this to talk about, they would find something worse to say of me." His love for notoriety appears to have known no bounds. Passing the market-place, one da}'-, he witnessed the distribu- tion of a donative among the people. Instantly he sent for mone}^ of his own, and distributed it as he went along. This of course augmented the confusion and scramble, which so 470-399.] ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. 43 greatly delighted him that he forgot that he was carr3dng a quail under his cloak ; the bird took fright and flew away ; he offered a great reward for its recovery, and then all the people ran after the bird. Being very liberal, affable, and " a jolly fellow," he was, his freaks notwithstanding, a general favorite, and people took from him what they would have resented in any one else. He was very extravagant and excessively vain. He wore purple and carried a shield of ivory and gold. His chariots and horses were the finest in Athens. Eager for power and pre-eminence, Alcibiades took pains to acquire eloquence, which at Athens was indispensable to success. He had a lisp, which became him, and found imitators. He frequented the society of philosophers, and especiall}- that of Socrates, for whom he cherished a very high regard. The lessons of that wise teacher, though admired, never produced any serious effect on Alcibiades, and ultimately became even distasteful to him. Socrates, born B.C. 470, had learned from his father Sophro- niscus the art of sculpture, and acquired great proficiency, but that art, though noble, fell short of his aims, which were higher and more sublime. To chisel statues in marble and ivory appeared to him incomparably beneath the culture and forma- tion of virtue, in the hearts and souls of men, and to that lofty pursuit he consecrated his extraordinary powers. He studied the writings of the ancients, and attended the lectures and instructions of the most eminent teachers. His leading- idea was the practice of wisdom. To know the truth and dis- course of it, was good, but to exemplify it in life, and enforce it by good example, was better. Every man, he taught, must learn to examine himself, and know himself, before he can make any progress in virtue. The mind, he would say, must govern the senses, not the senses and earthl}- possessions the mind. The man who had the least wants, he taught, resembled the godhead most. 44 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Temperance, or moderation, was to him the foundation of virtue. Frugality and simpUcity marked the man throughout his life. He was wont to limit his food to what was needed to sustain life. Fond of healthful exercise, the sauce of hunger made every dish palatable to him. At the tables of his friends he would never exceed the limits of moderation in eating or drinking. By long and persistent training he had made himself indiffer- ent to heat and cold ; he wore the same homely, scant clothing in summer and winter, and almost always went barefooted. Yet he was not by any means slovenly in his appearance. An anecdote is told of one of his disciples, who, desirous of excel- ling Socrates in the poverty of his appearance, affected to wear a torn cloak, to whom he said, "Friend, friend, your vanity peeps through the holes of 3'our cloak." Socrates was naturally irritable, but had learnt not only to control that defect, but to excel in calmness, patience, and forbearance. A man in his anger once struck him in the face. Smiling at the angry impropriety, the philosopher exclaimed, " It is a pity that we cannot provide for occasions when it is useful to wear a helmet !i' ,/ Informed that some one had slandered him, he said, " Let him cudgel me as much as he likes, if I am not present." But Xanthippe, his wife, tried his patience by her ill- temper and scolding. One day she had given him a piece of her mind with more than usual vehemence ; the calm serenity and meek endurance of Socrates provoked a still more violent outburst of abuse, upon which he quietly rose and left the house. Xan- thippe, exasperated to the highest degree, seized a kettle with water, opened the window, and dashed the contents on her husband, who looked up, and said, smiling, "I expected some rain after such a thunder-storm." In conversation Socrates always displayed kindness and great geniality. He loved to interest his hearers by pleasing stories and illustrations, and understood how to prepare them 470-399.] ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. 45 for the lofty truths he taught, and to inspire them with the fear of God. He was a very brave man and distinguished himself for courage in battle. In the siege of Potidsea he saved the life of Alcibiades, and in the battle of Delium the latter was able to save the life of Socrates. Filled with the fear of God, he was free from the fear of man, and believed, as well as taught, that all our doings, yea, even all that we think and speak, are known to the gods. Socrates did not teach in a school or any place in particular. Early in the morning he frequented the public walks, the gym- nasia, and the schools. At a later hour, he went to the market- place, when it was most crowded, and began to converse with any one, young or old, rich or poor ; he neither asked nor received rewards ; he made no distinction of persons, and treated of the same general topics to all. Politicians, philoso- phers, soldiers, artisans, young people, in short, whomever he met, he drew into conversation. Catching men, he said, was his mission. He would ask such questions as : What is piety? What is honorable? What is temperance? What is courage or cowardice ? What is a city ? Who is the best citizen ? and the like. Such a question, of course, drew forth an answer ; the answer led to further questioning, and in that way by questions and answers he taught his hearers, until thej^ were compelled to admit the absurdity of some of their notions and the superiority of his teaching. When Alcibiades, as a young man, told Socrates that he was afraid to appear as a public speaker, he asked him, "Are you afraid to speak before a cobbler?" " Not at all." ''Would you mind speaking before a copper-smith?" "Oh, no ! " " But could you muster courage to brave a merchant? " "Why, yes." "Well, then, of just such persons is made up the whole of the people of Athens. You are not afraid of any one of their number, why should you be afraid of them together ? " 46 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. The attachment of his disciples or followers was extraordi- nary, and honorable to the teacher and the taught. They pre- ferred his company to that of every one else, and his conversa- tion to recreation and diversion. Antisthenes was wont to walk five miles a day from his country home to be with Soc- rates, and Euclid did not mind often to come all the wa}^ from Megara, about twenty miles distant, in order to spend a day with him. When hostilities broke out between Athens and Megara, the inhabitants of the latter city were forbidden on pain of death to visit Athens. Yet such was the affection which linked Euclid to Socrates, that, disguised as a woman and in peril of life, he would slip through the gate of an evening in order to frequent the company of the beloved master. ^schines, who was very poor, longed to become a disciple of Socrates, but was too diffident to approach him. Socrates, divining his purpose, accosted him, asking, "Why are you afraid of me?" "Because I have nothing to give you." "What!" said Socrates, "have you so low an estimate of yourself? Do you not give me anything when you give yourself to me?" This ^schines became one of ^ the most de- voted of his disciples, and a historian records a saying of Socrates importing that he only knew how to honor him. The abject poverty of iEschines is said to have occasioned the advice of Socrates, " to borrow money of himself by lessening his daily wants." This advice may be beneficial to all who read this anecdote. The story of his securing the handsome Xenophon as a disciple depicts in a striking manner the originality of Soc- rates. Meeting Xenophon in a passage-way, he raised his cane before him, saying, "Pray tell me where flour is sold." " In the market." "And where do they sell oil?" " In the same place." "But whither must you go in order to grow wise and good?" The young man looked embarrassed and kept silent. "Follow me," said Socrates, "and I will tell you." This was the beginning of their friendship. 453-450.] ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. 47 The number of the disciples of Socrates was very large, and his fame for wisdom drew them from other Grecian cities, from Megara, Thebes, Elis, Cyrene, and others. One of his friends, called Chserephon, actually went to Delphi and asked the ora- cle, whether any other man was wiser than Socrates ; the priestess replied that no other man was wiser. When the reply was told Socrates, he was greatly perplexed, for he was so modest that he would only allow thus much : " that he knew that he knew nothing." One day, after long thought upon the declaration of the oracle, he tried to -test its truthfulness by questioning a politician famed for wisdom on sundry matters, and received answers which satisfied him that his reputed wis- dom was really no wisdom at all. He then attempted to make the politician admit his want of wisdom. But in that he failed entirely, for the politician remained as firmly persuaded of his own wisdom as before. " Then," said Socrates, " I knew that I was wiser than he ; for though neither he nor I knew anything of what was truly good and honorable, there was this difference between us : he fancied he knew, and I fully knew that I knew nothing, and herein I was wiser than he." The events connected with the public life of Alcibiades must have caused great sorrow to Socrates. The former was the chief promoter of the Sicilian expedition. On the eve of its departure, Athens was indignant and horrified at the sacrile- gious mutilation of all the numerous statues of the god Hermes which abounded in the city. Suspicion pointed its finger at Alcibiades and his companions. He denied the charge and demanded an investigation, but his enemies urged that he should sail with the expedition and stand his trial later. During his absence agitation against him was kept up and led to his recall. But instead of returning to Athens, he effected his escape and went to Sparta, where, informeiT that the Athe- nians had condemned him to death, he exclaimed, " I shall show them that I am alive ! " and kept his word. At Sparta he appeared as the open enemy of Athens, and 48 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. conformed to Spartan usage. His duplicity and base looseness of conduct, however, were speedily discerned, and he was com- pelled to seek safety with Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap, in Asia Minor. He succeeded in enlisting the satrap's sympathy in favor of Athens, whereupon the Athenians revoked the sen- tence of death and appointed him general. The Athenian arms prevailed against Sparta, and one of their generals sent home this brief report: " Our good luck is gone ; Mindarus is slain ; the men are starving ; we know not what to do." Spartan proposals for peace were rejected at Athens. -n Aleibiades, now covered with glorj-, returned in tri- umph to Athens, wrongly believing that the past had been forgotten, and buried in love. His enemies remained, eager for an opportunity to humble him. That occurred not long after in the unsuccessful issue of the expedition against Andros, for which Aleibiades was held responsible, and dis- missed from his command. Deeming Athens an unsafe place of residence, he went to the Thracian Chersonese, and, with mercenaries of his own, made war on the neighboring tribes, by which means he en- riched himself, and afforded protection to the Grecian cities in the vicinity. "" -, Before the fatal battle of ^gos Potamus, or Goat's 405 Eiver, in which the Spartans defeated the Athenians, he was condemned to banishment, and sought refuge with Pharna- bazus, the Persian satrap. While there, either at the instiga- tion of Sparta, or more probably under directions given by Cj^rus, a party set out to seize the famous exile. Afraid to attack him, they set his house on fire during the night ; wrapped in his cloak, and with a sword in his right hand, he rushed through the flames upon his cowardly assailants, who, dreading to approach him, poured upon him showers of arrows 1 until he died. 404J This inglorious and sad fate overtook Aleibiades at the age of 50. Upon the whole he did more injury than 408-404.] ALCIBIADES AND SOCRATES. 49 service to his countiy. Endowed with all the elements of greatness, with talent, ambition, courage, presence of mind, and fertility in resource, they were absolutely marred by his vanity, arrogance, profligacy, and total want of principle. Socrates was still alive when this happened. His closing years were embittered by sorrow, which culminated in the charges preferred against him, that he did not worship the gods of his native city, and that his teaching corrupted the youth ; the penalty due to such crimes was death. Socrates appealed to his life, and to his ceaseless efforts for the promotion of the virtue and happiness of his fellow-citi- zens, and repelled the accusation in all points, avowing that he had always taught the worship of the gods, as enjoined by the state, and that the statements which his accusers put into his mouth were either forged or garbled. His defence was not relished by the judges, who had expected him to show contri- tion, and, like other criminals, to weep and implore their mercy and forgiveness. He was committed to prison. The rhetor Lysias brought him a set speech for his defence, but he declined to use it, not thinking it suitable to his dignity. ^' Had you brought me a pair of soft and beautiful socks," he said, " I should not wear them, because I consider it unmanly so to do." At the next meeting of the court he was condemned by the small majority of five or six votes out of a total of about 560. He heard his condemnation with the utmost calmness, but his disciples interceded with the judges, and offered in vain to pay a large sum of money for his liberation. Socrates bade fare- well to his judges, and forgave those who had cast their votes against him. Taken back to prison, where he spent thirty days in daily intercourse with his friends, an opportunity provided for his escape he refused to embrace, on the ground that it was unlaw- ful. When one of his friends, in the bitterness of his grief, exclaimed, "Would that you did not die innocent!" Socrates replied, smiling, " Do you prefer that I should die guilty? " 50 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. On the day of his death fifteen of his friends had come to see him, when the jailer announced that, according to law, he must drink the cup of hemlock before sunset. His wife, carry- ing their youngest child in her arms, came to bid him farewell. She wept sore, and Socrates bade his friends take her home. Then he spoke to them words of consolation, discoursed of death and life, and stated the grounds of his belief in the im- mortality of the soul. Near sunset the jailer came in carrjdng the cup. Socrates asked him for instructions how to take it, and after a brief prayer, put it to his mouth and emptied it. His friends broke out in lamentation, but he bade them desist. When the poison be- gan to act, he lay down ; his feet grew cold, and his limbs were stiffening. Silent and sorrowing his friends stood by watching him. Suddenly he opened his eyes, and said, dying : " Friends, I am well. Crito, we owe a thankoffering to ^sculapius ; for- get not to pay it." Then he died. -, One of his friends wrote : " Thus died the man who, OOQ I of all with whom we were acquainted, was in death the noblest, in life the wisest and most just." In life and doctrine Socrate^s was nearer the Christian ideal than any of his countrymen.^ REFERENCES. For Alcibiades : Grote, " History of Greece," vol. H. p. 768 to III. p. 382 ; Smith, " History of Greece," pp. 322-376 ; Smith, " Diction- ary," etc., mider "Alcibiades." For Socrates: Grote, "History of Greece," vol. III. pp. 429-484; Smith, "History of Greece," pp. 415-418; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under "Socrates." 20 DOMINIONS OP ALEXAND] Longitude from Greenwich Fisk A Sea.X.Y. 399-338.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 61 ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Philip, the father of Alexander, was king of Macedonia, and an expert in the art of war. He perfected the phalanx, the name given to a military division drawn up in the form of a parallelogram. He raised it from 1,000 to 8,000 men, jiiassed into a compact body of infantry, presenting a line of 5(1) men abreast and 16 deep. The}' were heavily armed, and carried spears from 21 to 24 feet long, which the men in the first 5 lines held projected horizontally, while the men of the remaining 11 lines carried them upwards, slanting them over the shoulders of those before them. The remainder of their armor consisted of a short sword, a circular shield, a breastplate, leggings, and a helmet. The Macedonian phalanx, properly drawn up, afforded extraordinary protection to every member of the body, and presented to the enemy an impenetrable forest of spears. By means of the phalanx Philip subdued the Illyrians, Thracians, and Thessalians, and in the battle of Chseronea van- r- 338 quished the Greeks, to whom he left the semblance of liberty, and contented himself with being chosen their com- mander-in-chief of the expedition against Persia. That enter- prise he did not live to carry into effect, but it was accomplished by Alexander, his son, who excelled him in generalship. Alexander received an education well suited to his abilities and expectations ; Leonidas, a kinsman of his mother, trained him to Spartan simplicity and hardihood ; Lysimachus, bokn another of his tutors, inspired him with ambition, and ^56 caused him to cherish the traditions of the royal family — that they were descended from Achilles — by giving that name to his pupil. 52 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Dreams of future greatness filled the mind of young Alexan- der, and he even envied his father the greatness of his fame. The announcement of his victories would cast him down, and made him exclaim, weeping, "My father, I fear, will conquer the whole world, and leave nothing for me to do ! " The Iliad of Homer was his favorite book and inseparable com- panion. One day a magnificent war-horse, called Bucephalus, was offered to Philip at an exorbitant price. The best grooms were unable to manage him, and the king had ordered him to be taken awa}^, when Alexander craved leave to try him. He ran to*ie horse, seized the bridle, and turned him to the sun, for he had noticed that he shied at his shadow ; he spoke kindly to him, stroked his neck, and gently dropping his cloak, vaulted lightly upon his back, and made him go at his pleasure, amid the loud acclamations of the spectators, and to the intense joy of his father. For three years Alexander had the benefit of the instructions of the great Aristotle, and at the early age of eighteen he dis- tinguished himself in the battle of Chseronea. At the age of twenty he ascended the throne ; but his accession was the signal of revolt on the part~^f the nations whom Philip had subdued. The Athenians scorned his youth and inexperience. Alexander, at the head of his army, marched into Greece, and at Thermopylae, a representative body, called the Amphictyonic Council, conferred upon him the command with which his father had been clothed. Then he hastened north and quelled, in a series of arduous campaigns, the revolt of the barbarian tribes. For some time no news of him was received, and gave color to the report of his death. The Greek cities sought to shake off the hated alliance with Macedon, and Thebes besieged the Macedonian garrison in the Cadmea. Suddenly Alexander with his victorious army stood at the gates and demanded submis- sion, which being refused, he carried the city by storm and caused it to be razed. 334.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 53 Intelligence of the fate of Thebes spread terror throughout Greece, and caused his authority to be generally recognized ; deputations from many quarters, announcing the submission of numerous cities, repaired to him at Corinth, where about this time took place his interview with the celebrated philosopher, Diogenes, who lived in a tub, and was contented with the coarsest necessaries. When everj^bOdy came to pay respects to Alexander, Diog- enes refused to go, but Alexander went to see him. He found him basking in the sun, and engaged him in conversa- tion. Before leaving, he asked him if he could show him a favor in anything. "Oh, yes," replied the philosopher, *' please stand out of my sunshine!" The appearance and reply of Diogenes excited universal laughter, but Alexander was differently impressed, and said, "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." The expedition against Persia, consisting of an army of about 35,000 men, including 12,000 Macedonians, was undertaken in the spring. Alexander crossed the Hellespont, steering p the admiral's trireme with his own hand. He was the first to set foot on Asiatic soil, and hurling his spear against the land, caused it to enter the earth, exclaiming that the gods had given him Asia. He visited the battle-field of Tro}', placed garlands on the tombs of the ancient heroes, and remarked at the pillar of Achilles how he envied his fortune which had given him in life a faithful friend, and after death a great poet to celebrate his acts. Marching to the Granicus, a small river of north-western Asia Minor, Alexander found a Persian armj^ drawn up on the opposite bank to dispute his passage. Parmenio, a veteran general, advised him not to attempt it, but Alexander ruled that, having crossed the Hellespont, the paltry stream should not stop him. The Granicus was forded, and the Persians were routed in the battle which ensued ; Alexander, who was in the thickest of the fight, came very near losing his life. One Persian had given 54 ANCIENT HISTORY. , [B.C. him a blow which split his helmet, and another, with uplifted arm and scimitar, was on the point of striking him, when his friend, Clitus, fortunately, with one tremendous blow, cut off the Persian's arm, and saved Alexander. -. This victory made him master of Asia Minor, which he rapidly subdued. On his march be came to Gordium, where he cut the celebrated Gordian Knot, which, according to tradition, was to be loosened only by the conqueror of Asia. At Tarsus, he imprudently plunged, still heated with the march, into the cold waters of the C3Tlnus, and contracted a fever, which threatened his life. His physicians despaired of his re- covery, but Philip, an Acarnanian physician, prescribed a remedy ; before taking it, a letter arrived, warning Alexander against Philip, as having been bribed by Darius to poison him ; Alexander put the letter under his pillow, took the medicine without remark, and handed the letter to Philip. In answer to the latter's indignant protestations of his innocence, he cried, ' ' Hold your peace ; I believe that yoM are innocent, and the event will show it." He recovered to the delight of the whole army, which followed him on his march against Darius, who, impatient of delay, had committed the capital error of getting into Alexander's rear, in the~ niirrow plain of Issus, where his huge arm}^ of 600,000 fighting men, with its cumbersome train, was cooped up between Mount Amanus and the sea. The approach of the Macedonian phalanx filled the Persians -| with dismay, and in the battle which ensued they were defeated with terrible slaughter. Darin s, panic-stricken, fled in his chariot, and finding its progress impeded by the nature of the ground, mounted on horseback, leaving behind his bow, his shield, and his royal mantle. His mother, his wife, his two daughters, and a son under age, became the cap- tives of Alexander, and, by his orders, were treated with such respect that the report is said to have caused the unfortunate Darius to exclaim, "Preserve, O gods, my empire, that I may evince my gratitude, but, if j^ou have decreed its overthrow. 334-331.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 55 grant that it be ruled by none other than Alexander of Mace- don." On his victorious march southward, Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia refused to surrender. The city was situated on an islet, nearly half a mile from the mainland, and surrounded on all sides by high walls. Commencing the siege without a fleet, Alexander caused to be built a solid mole, 200 feet broad, reaching from the mainland to the islet. On the eve of its completion, the Tyrians, favored by a strong wind, by means of a fireship, and their entire naval strength, almost destroyed the mole. It was reconstructed and made much stronger; a powerful fleet of 200 sail was brought up, the harbors of the city were blockaded, a practical breach was made, and after a most obstinate and ingenious defence, sustained for seven months, the city was at last carried by storm, and fearfully punished. The slain are said to have numbered 8,000 ; the remainder, the king and those who had sought shelter in the temple of Hercu- les excepted, to the number of 30,000, were sold into slavery. The siege and capture of Gaza and an expedition into p Palestine were followed by the conquest of Egypt, whose inhabitants hailed Alexander as their deliverer from the hated yoke of the Persians. Sailing down the Nile, he founded at its mouth the city of Alexandria, and visited the celebrated oracle of Jupiter Ammon, in the Libyan desert, where the pliant priest greeted him as the son of Jupiter. In the following spring he led his army through Phoe- p nicia to the Euphrates, and learning that Darius at the head of an immense force was posted on the Tigris, he con- tinued his march until he met him at a place called Gauga- mela (the camel's house) , on a plain between the Tigris and the mountains of Kurdistan. A terrible battle, known as Oct., that of Arbela, was fought and decided the destiny of 331 Asia. Darius fled, and Alexander stood acknowledged as the Great King. His progress now was a triumphal march, and he entered in succession Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis. The 56 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. treasure that fell into his hands was immense, for it amounted to the almost fabulous sum of one hundred and fif t}^ millions of dollars. After a rest of four months, Alexander resumed the pursuit of Darius, who had fled first to Ecbatana, and then to the inaccessible regions beyond the Caspian Sea. At Rhagse, to which place he had pushed with such unexampled rapidity that many men and horses died of fatigue, he ordered a halt of five days. On that fearful march the army suffered from want of water. A horseman who had found some, filled his helmet and presented it to Alexander. He took the helmet, but re- fused to drink it, saying to the soldiers, " I cannot drink and see 3'ou athirst ! " and poured it on the ground. This act of self-denial and consideration stirred the enthusiasm of the soldiers, who exclaimed, "Lead thou us on; we are not hun- gry, nor thirsty, nor mortal, under the lead of a king like thee ! " He soon heard that Darius had been deposed, seized, and loaded with chains by a body of conspirators headed by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria. The news led Alexander to give chase to the conspirators. On the fourth day he drew near them ; they tried in vain to persuade Darius to fly with them, and unwill- ing, from fear of punishment, to let him fall alive into the hands of Alexander, wounded him mortally, and pursued their flight. A Macedonian soldier found him dying, refreshed him with a drink of water presented in his helmet, and received his last words : "It is my greatest misfortune that I cannot reward thee for thy kindness ; Alexander will reward thee. Through thee I extend my hand to him, believing that the gods will reward his generosity to my mother, my wife, and -| my children." Then he died, before Alexander came up, who, deeply moved, covered the body with his own cloak, and caused it to be buried with royal honors in the sepulchres of the Persian kings at Persepolis. -, Bessus escaped into Bactria, but ultimately fell into the hands of Alexander, and by his orders was first cruelty mutilated and then put to death. 331-327.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 57 The conquest of northern Persia and parts of central Asia, as far east as the Indus, and as far north as the province of Sogdiana, beyond the Oxus, to the river Jaxartes on the con- lines of Scythia, was accomplished in the course of the r 331—327 next four years. As a great Asiatic monarch, Alex- ander had deemed it prudent to adopt the manners of a Persian king, to wear the costume of the country, and to demand the deference usually accorded to oriental despots. He had also married the beautiful Roxana, a Bactrian princess, become haughty, cruel, and fond of flattery, and by these and other means estranged the hearts of his Macedonian warriors. At a banquet the mention of the heroes of ancient times led flatterers to represent their exploits inferior to Alexander's. Clitus, his friend, took exception to their statements, and boldly declared that those of Philip cast Alexander's in the shade. The king, as well as Clitus, was flushed with wine ; an altercation took place in which the former thrust a lance through the body of the friend who had saved his life on the Granicus. The bloody deed brought him to his senses, and he retired, filled with remorse, to his tent, where for three days he refused all food, but at last allowed himself to be consoled by the words of his friends and of the soothsayers, who as- scribed the death of Clitus to temporary insanity meted out to him by Dionysus as a punishment for neglecting the cele- bration of his festival. Alexander next crossed the Indus, entered the Penjab, and defeated the brave Porus, whose valiant bearing filled him with admiration. Brought before Alexander and asked b}^ him how he expected to be treated, the Indian king replied, " Like a king." "And have you no other request?" inquired Alex- ander. " No," answered Porus, " everything is comprehended in the word king." His expectations were more than fulfilled ; for Alexander not only restored to him his kingdom, but en- laro;ed his dominions. The engagement with Porus took r- f 327 place on the banks of the Hydaspes, where Alexander 58 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. founded two cities, one called Bucephala, in honor of his favorite war-horse, who died there ; the other called Nicsea, to commemorate his victorj-, which made him master of that part of India. The terror of his arms caused the tribes, as yet unsubdued by him, to cross the Hyphasis. Alexander would fain have followed them, but the Macedonians, worn out by long service and tired of war, refused to proceed. Tlie entreaties of Alex- ander were in vain ; he submitted with good grace, and after erecting on the banks of the river twelve colossal altars as the boundary signs of his conquests, gave the order for retreat, to the great jo}^ of his soldiers, who thanked him, saying that their prayer had vanquished the invincible victor. -| Then followed the exploration of the Indus, which Alexander at first considered to be a branch of the Nile, and was accomplished without serious difficulty. From the mouth of that river Nearchus was ordered to take the fleet along the Persian gulf, and rejoin Alexander at Carman, to which place he had led his army through the burning deserts of GedrOsia. -| The return to Susa, by way of Persepolis, terminates the military exploits of^Alexander, and introduces him resting at Babylon, without an enemy before him, engaged in the organization of his vast empire, and fostering the arts of peace. He took a second wife, Barsine, the eldest daughter of Darius ; about 80 of his generals married Asiatic wives, and 10,000 Macedonians followed their example. Vast projects, military, commercial, and agricultural, en- gaged his thoughts ; but in the midst of them, partly in conse- quence of his great exertions, partly as the result of intem- perate indulgence, he was attacked by a malignant fever which assumed the most alarming forms, and made his recovery hope- less. The news of his malady spread through the arm}', and filled his warriors with grief and consternation ; they begged to see him once more, and were admitted unarmed ; in loving 326-324.] ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 59 and sorrowful devotion they passed by his bedside, where his generals had assembled. His last words, in answer to the question to whom he bequeathed his kingdom, were, " To the most worthy"; and one of his last acts, the removal of his signet ring from his fmger, and handing it to Perdiccas. He died after an illness of eleven days, after a reign of twelve 3'ears and eight months, aged thirty-two years and eight months, in June, B.C. 323. Alexander was doubtless a great general and a great soldier. As a conqueror he chiefly benefited mankind by the spread of civilization, and the increase of knowledge, especially in geog- raphy and natural history. As a man, his motives were not lofty; pride, ambition, and vain glory were the springs of his action. Human life he esteemed of little value, and he often ruthlessly trampled under foot the rights of man. His conquests enriched Europe materially ; Asia, intellectually. His death was the signal of contention and war ; for not having appointed a successor, all his generals claimed shares in the inheritance of his vast dominions. Out of its ruins new kingdoms were formed, and ultimately absorbed in the great Roman empire. REFERENCES. Plutarch's "Alexander" is less trustworthy than Arrian's "Ana- basis of Alexander," which, though compiled from earlier works, is the best account among ancient writers. The best English writers on the subject are : Williams, " Life of Alexander " ; Thirlwall, " History of Greece," vols. VI. and VII. ; Grote, " History of Greece," vol. IV. pp. 515-675. For shorter treatment, see Smith, " History of Greece," pp. 525-551 ; and Smith, " Dictionary," etc., under "Alexander III.," vol. I. pp. 119-122. 60 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. ROMULUS. In the low country of Latium, answering to the modern Cam- -| pagna, kiy the city of Alba Longa, or the Long White City, said to have been built by Ascanius, the son of ^neas, and other Trojan exiles. As far back as the eighth century before Christ, two brothers, called Numitor and Amulius, inherited Alba Longa. Amulius, the younger, usurped the throne, which really belonged to Nu- mitor, who had two children, a son and a daughter ; the son he murdered, and the daughter, called Rhea Silvia, he made a Vestal ; that is, a priestess of Vesta, the goddess who presided over the hearth. Though forbidden to marry, she bore twin sons, Romulus and Remus, to Mars, the god of war. Alarmed at their birth, the wicked Amulius caused Silvia to be buried alive, and ordered the children to be drowned in the Tiber. It so happened that tlT^river had overflowed its banks, and the basket or cradle, in which the twins were exposed, was placed b}^ the servants in the shallow water ; when the water subsided, the basket was caught in the boughs of a fig-tree, where a she-wolf discovered and mercifully nursed them. The singular behavior of the four-footed nurse arrested the attention of Faustulus, a royal herdsman, and finding the children, he would not be outdone in compassion by the she-wolf, and carried them home to Acca Laurentia, his wife, who brought them up with her own children. As they grew up they became, like Faustulus, herdsmen, and built huts on the Palatine hill, where they pastured their herds. The herdsmen of Numitor were wont to pasture theirs on the Aventine hill, and quarrels between the rival herdsmen were of 753.] ROMULUS. 61 frequent occurrence. In one of these Remus was arrested, and taken before Numitor, who, struck with his noble bearing, in- quired into his origin. Faustulus, accompanied by Romulus, repaired to Numitor, and told him the truth. Greatly delighted at the discovery, he forthwith acknowledged them as his grand- children, and told them the wrong that had been done to them by Amulius. The young men, with the aid of their companions, overthrew the usurper and restored their grandfather to the throne of Alba, who, in gratitude for that the}^ had done, gave them leave to found a city in the very place where they had led the life of herdsmen. The original founding of the city was a very simple affair. Romulus took a plow, drawn by two oxen, and cut a furrow on the square around the Palatine hill. An embankment p of earth was thrown up, and within the enclosure were built a number of plain huts, with mud walls and thatched roofs. The brothers agreed to let augury, or the flight of birds, decide which of them should give his name to the city. Accordingly, Romulus and Remus took their positions on the opposing hills, to watch the heavens. Remus, from the Aventine, saw six vultures and told Romulus, who from the Palatine saw twelve. The shepherds decided, on account of the number of the birds, that Romulus should name the city. Remus, angry at his de- feat, leaped in scorn over his brother's walls, and provoked the wrath of Romulus, who slew him, exclaiming, " So die whoever hereafter shall leap over my walls." Romulus, being now sole ruler, called the city Rome, after his own name. In order to attract a population, Romulus made his city an asylum, and soon gathered many fugitives from justice, who, with the shepherds and Albanian immigrants, numbered 3,300 fighting men. In token of his royalty he established a body- guard of 300 horsemen, called equites^ or knights. When he appeared in public, twelve officers, called lictors, a sort of execu- tive police, went before him. He also appointed a senate, chosen from the most distinguished of his subjects, to aid him 62 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. in the government of the city ; they were called patres, or fathers, and their descendants, clothed with hereditary privi- leges, were known 2^^ patricians . The mass of the people were called plebeians. The new city was divided into three districts, called t7'ibus, and every tribus into ten curicE. There were, therefore, thirt^^ curim, and the citizens of the several curice were summoned to the market-place, or forum, to deliberate on public affairs. The new city was filled with men, but destitute of women. Romulus invited the neighboring people to contract marriages with his subjects ; but as these had not a good reputation, his proposals were declined. Then he proclaimed a festival in honor of Neptune, with popular games and sports, which at- tracted a large number of visitors, especially of Sabines and Latins, who had come with their wives and daughters. While the festivities were in progress, at a given signal, the Roman ^^ouths rushed upon their guests, each seized a maiden and carried her to his home. Their stricken and injured par- ents returned and prepared for vengeance. The Latins de- clared war against Rome, but were defeated ; Acron, one of their kings, was slain by Romulus. The Sabines also, com- manded by Titus Tatius, their king," marched against Rome in formidable strength, and compelled Romulus to retire into the city, which he had made much stronger by the erection of a fortress on the top of the Saturnine hill, afterwards called the Capitoline, which was divided by a swampy valley from the city. That fortress, or capitol, was commanded by Tarpeius, whose daughter Tarpeia, dazzled with the golden ornaments worn by the Sabine soldiers, promised to betray the hill to them, if they would give her the ornaments which they wore on their left arms. They consented, and were admitted by her at night ; but when she claimed her reward, they threw upon her the shields which they had carried on their left arms, and crushed her to death. At day, the Romans tried to recover the hill, and fought with the Sabines in the valley. For a long while the battle 753-716.] ROMULUS. 63 lasted, but at length seemed to favor the Sabines. In the midst of the struggle, the Sabine women rushed in between the combatants, and besought their fathers and brothers to be friends with their husbands. Their prayers were heard ; peace was concluded, and the two nations agreed to form one people, though each nation was governed by its own king. The Ro- mans, ruled by Romulus, dwelt on the Palatine, and the Sabines, ruled by Titus Tatius, on the Capitoline and Quirinal hills, where they built a new city. The two kings and their senates were wont to meet for consultation in the valley between those hills, and called the place comitium, that is, the place of meet- ing. The rule of the two kings did not last long, and upon the violent death of Tatius, Romulus reigned alone for thirty years. Under his long and prosperous rule Rome grew apace, respected and feared b}^ her neighbors. It is difficult to get at the truth of his death ; some say that it was violent, but the legend runs that one day, on the fifth of August, while he was reviewing his army on the plain of Mars, the sun was suddenly eclipsed, darkness covered the earth, and a storm dispersed the people. When the storm was over, Romulus had disappeared, for his father. Mars, had taken him in a fiery chariot to heaven. That same night he appeared to Proculus Julius, and bade him tell his mourning people that the}^ should become the lords of the world, and that he would watch over them as their guardian god. Then he ascended to heaven, and the people thenceforth worshipped him under the name of Quirinus, and appointed in his honor a festival, called the Quirinalia, which was held on the seventeenth of February. REFERENCES. The best modern accomit of Romulus is probably that of Niebuhr, "History of Rome," vol. I. A good sketch is found in Smith, "Dic- tionary," etc., under " Romulus." See also Plutarch, " Romulus." 64 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. TARQUINIUS THE PROUD. Tarquinius Supekbus, or the Proud, usarpecl the throne of Rome after he had, by the hand of assassins, murdered Servius _ -| TuUius, his iDredecessor. His rule was marked by cruelty and tyranny. Utterly selfish, he trampled under foot the rights of the senate, and of the people, and thus made the Eomans loathe the kingly office. One of his first acts was to abolish the privileges enjoyed by the people, and to rid himself of such senators and patricians as stood in the way of his exactions and oppressions. All whom he mistrusted, or whose wealth he coveted, were put to death, or driven into exile. The poor he compelled to work at miserable wages upon his magnificent buildings and the public works ; and the hardships they suffered were so great that many preferred death to life. He surrounded himself with a strong body-guard of hired for- eigners, by means of whichrhe was enabled to do as he pleased. He did not even spare his own family and relatives. One of his sisters had married M. Brutus, a very wealthy man who died and left two sons. Tarquinius, coveting their property, killed the elder son ; and the younger, Junius, escaped the same fate only by feigning idiocy. The tyrant accordingly deemed him harmless, and nicknamed him Brutus, that is, the fool. But this was a great mistake. One day an unsightly old woman appeared before the king, and offered to sell him nine rolls or books, which she carried in her arms, for three hundred pieces of gold. The books were said to contain the predictions of a famous prophetess, known as the SibyL The king refused her offer with scorn, The 534-509.] TARQUINIUS THE PROUD. 65 woman went away, burnt three of the books, and returned, demanding the same price for the six. Again the king refused ; she left, burnt three more, and returned with the remaining three, saying, "King, will you buy the last three books and pay the price I asked for the nine ? " Struck b}' the strange request, the king consulted the soothsaj^ers, who recommended him to buy the books at any price. So the woman got her price for the books, which were the famous Sibylline books. By order of Tarquinius they were deposited in the vaults of the Capitol. In later times they were consulted on important occasions, such as wars and public calamities ; it is thought that they were written in Greek characters on palm-leaves, and that they were consulted by lot; the leaves were shuffled, and the verses written on the one drawn applied to the case in hand. Tarquinius, who was very superstitious, one day was much troubled by a strange occurrence. A snake crawled out from the altar in the royal palace, put out the lire, and seized the entrails of the victim that lay upon it. The king sent Titus and Aruns, his sons, accompanied b}^ Junius Brutus, to consult the oracle at Delphi. The royal princes carried rich presents to the priestess, but Brutus only a stick of cornel wood which he had hollowed, and, it would seem as betokening his own hidden talents, filled up the hollow with a rod of gold. This offering was grateful to the priestess, who, in answer to their question, who was to reign at Rome after their father, told the princes, "He who first kisses his mother." They agreed to keep the reply from their younger brother Sextus, and to draw lots them- selves. Brutus, having a better understanding of the meaning of the oracle, pretended to fall as the}^ were leaving the temple, and kissed the earth, the mother of all living. The fall of Tarquinius, after au oppressive reign of twenty- five years, came about by an incident connected with the siege of Ardea, during which his son Sextus was guilty of an atro- cious deed; which had caused the beautiful and virtuous Lucretia, 66 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. the wife of CoUatinus, to take her life by plunging a poniard into her bosom. Brutus and a number of friends swore to avenge her death on the Tarquins. He harangued the people, and induced them to pass a decree deposing the king, and banishing him and his family from the city ; he then went to -| the camp at Ardea ; and induced the army likewise to abandon the cause of the tyrant. Tarquinius, with Titus and Aruns, his sons, went for safety to Caere in Etruria, while Sextus, his youngest son, repaired to Gabii, which belonged to him, and soon after died a violent death. Then the Romans abolished the royal office, and declared their state a republic. Under their new constitution, the gov- ernment devolved on two consuls, clothed with royal authority, who were chosen annually from the ranks of the patricians, held office for only one year, and were responsible for their official con- duct. They presided over the senate and commanded the army. Brutus and CoUatinus were chosen the first consuls. Brutus began his office by filling the vacant places in the senate with members of the equestrian order ; and these new senators were styled Conscript Fathers. The new republic was born i;n _ troublous times, and exposed at once to war. The Tarquins^sent ambassadors demanding the restitution of their property, who, under cover of that request, succeeded in forming a plot for the restoration of the royal family. The plot was discovered, and the two sons of Brutus unfortunately were implicated in it. It was his sad duty to pronounce sentence upon them as traitors, and to witness as a judge the execution of that sentence. He buried the feelings of a parent in his patriotism. The treasonable plot cancelled the agreement of giving up the royal property. The personal estate was abandoned to the people to plunder, and all their landed estate divided among the poor, except the plain between the city and the river, which was reserved for public use. It was consecrated to Mars, and called Campus Martins^ that is, the field of Mars. 509-507.] TARQUINIUS THE PROUD. 67 Then Tarquinius, aided by the Etruscans, inarched against Rome. A battle was fought, in which Aruns, the king's son, and Brutus met in single combat, and slew each other. The event of the battle was doubtful, and both sides claimed the victory ; but in the night a divine voice proclaimed that the Romans had conquered because the Etruscans had lost one man more. Then the Etruscans fled. Valerius, who was con- sul, delivered the funeral oration of Brutus. Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in Etruria, at the instance of Tanjuinius, marched with a powerful army against Rome, took the Janiculum, one of the hills, and only the Tiber r- *^ [507 spanned by a wooden bridge kept him from the city. The bridge was defended by Horatius Codes and two other heroes against the whole Etruscan army, while the Romans were breaking down the parts nearest the city. Lartius and Herminius, his companions, retreated when the bridge was about to fall. It came down with a mighty crash, amidst the shouts of the Romans. Then Horatius prayed to father Tiberi- nus to protect him, plunged into the stream, and swam safely across it, heedless of the arrows which the enemy sent after him. The grateful citizens erected a statue in his praise, and gave him as much land as he could plough round in one day. Although shut out from Rome, the enemy besieged it, and hoped to starve the citizens into submission. In order to save the city, a patrician youth, called Cains Mucins, undertook to assassinate Porsena. With a dagger concealed in his dress, he crossed the river, entered the camp, and got safely to the royal tent, where the soldiers were receiving their pay. Mis- taking the secretary for the king. Mucins killed him on the spot. He was seized, disarmed, and taken to Porsena. Un- daunted, he gave his name, and aA^owed his design, adding that many more Romans were ready to attempt his life. The king ordered him to be burnt alive unless he revealed the whole of the plot. 68 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Mucius said that men who purposed to do a glorious thing held life of little value, and, in proof of what he said, thrust his right hand into the flame of the altar, and unflinchingly allowed the fire slowly to consume it. Amazed at the gallant act, Porsena ordered him to be set free, and to return unhurt. Then Mucius, in order to show his gratitude for the king's generosity, exclaimed, " Three hundred noble youths have sworn to have thy life. On me the lot fell first ; the others will be here in their turns." From the loss of his right hand, Mucius obtained the surname " Scsevola," that is, the left- handed. Terrified at the announcement, Porsena made proposals for peace, according to which the Romans engaged to restore the Veientian territory across the Tiber, and the Etruscans to evac- uate the Janiculum. For the due performance of their part the Romans had to give hostages. One of them was Cloelia, a noble Roman maiden, who, with her companions, had made her escape by swimming across the Tiber, but was honorably re- stored by the Romans. Porsena admired her pluck, and unwilling to be outdone in generosity, not only set her free, but allowed her to extend the same privilege to other hostages. She chose the youngest, and returned home, rejoicing not only in her freedom, but in the possession of a horse, adorned with splendid trappings, which Porsena had given to her, while he sent to the Roman people a statue of a female on horseback, which was set up in the Sacred Way. Tarquinius, though disappointed by the course of Porsena, did not relinquish his efforts against the republic. From the -| home of his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, at Tuscu- lum, he stirred up the thirty Latin towns to espouse his cause, and a final battle was fought at the lake Regillus. The dictator, Aulus Postumius, commanded the Romans, while Tar- quinius and his son-in-law led the Latins. It was a fierce and bloody struggle, resembling that in the plain of Troy. Chief engaged chief in single combat, and almost all the chiefs on 1 496-495.] TARQUINIUS THE PROUD. 69 both sides were slain or wounded. Tarquinius himself was wounded, and fled for his life, and the Latins followed his example. According to old tradition the Romans gained this battle not without divine aid. The dictator, Aulus, saw two youths of godlike aspect and heroic stature, clad in resplendent armor, and mounted on two snow-white steeds at the head of the Roman horse charging the Latins, and leading the former to victory. They were believed to have been Castor and Pollux, and, in the da3'S of Cicero, the mark of a horse's hoof on a rock, close by the lake, was shown as a token of their presence. But be this as it may, it is certain that the Latins were crushed, and that Tarquinius, unable to find other p people to fight his battles, was glad to secure a place of refuge at Cumae, where he died, a childless and wretched old man. REFERENCES. Plutarch, " Publicola " ; Macaulay, " Lays of Ancient Rome " ; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., mider "Tarquinius." 70 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. 264-241] DUILIUS AND REGULUS. The famous city of Carthage in Northern Africa was founded by the Phoenicians, the greatest and most enterprising commercial nation of ancient times. Their fleets were sailing in every sea, and visited the most distant parts of the earth then known. At an early period they went to Britain for tin, and not only ventured as far as Senegal and the Canary Islands, but circumnavigated Africa. The most celebrated and important city of Phoenicia was Tyre. Among the numerous colonies she established was Car- thage, and, according to legend, under very peculiar circum- stances. Dido, the daughter of a king of Tj^e, escaped from the power of her brother Pygmalion with the treasures for the sake of which he had murdered her husband. A band of noble Tyrians shared her flight, and, as they were sailing along the coast of Africa, they noted a spot well suited to the establishment of a city. They landed and made a bargain with the natives to grant them by purchase as much land as could be covered with a bull's hide. Dido then cut the hide into very narrow strips, and so enclosed a large tract, on which she built a city ; when the newly founded city had grown in size, the space originally enclosed with the hide became the -J site of the fortress, and in memory of its acquisition called the place Byrsa, that is, a bull's hide. The Romans called the Carthaginians, on account of their Phoenician origin, Poenians, or Punians, and, because they considered them to be very treacherous, were wont to describe treachery, or faithlessness, by the phrase "Punic faith." Carthage, though not the only Phoenician colony in North Africa, was doubtless the greatest, and the mother city of 264-241.] DUILIUS AND REGULUS. 71 numerous colonies of her own planting. Her empire in Africa extended from the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) to the Great Desert, and in the Mediterranean over the con- quered islands of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily. Her enter- prise was so great and successful that, at the beginning of the Punic Wars, all the islands of the Western Mediterranean be- longed to her, and that her colonies were found on many points of the Atlantic coast, and even upon islands in the Atlantic. Carthage was governed by two chief magistrates, or judges, called Suffetes; there was also a large popular assembly, out of which were chosen for life a council of one hundred elders, who, for convenience, met in twenty boards of five members each, and were the executive of the state. AVhen the Romans began to extend their conquests beyond Italj', hostile contact with the Carthaginians was inevitable. The coveted possession of Sicily, the pearl of the Mediterra- nean, was the first cause of the long wars, waged by those pow- erful nations. Carthage held the greater part of the island, while Syracuse, ruled by king Hiero, and Messana, occupied b}^ the Mamertines, a band of robbers, were independent of her rule. The latter had been defeated by Hiero, and, distrustful of the proffered aid of the Carthaginians, invoked that of the Romans, who successively worsted Hiero and the Cartha- ginians. This was the commencement of the First r^^^_^^ Punic War, which lasted thirteen years. Carthage sent forth a formidable fleet, and vexed the Romans in many ways. Until then almost all their conquests had been made on land, for they had no fleet, and without a fleet they could not cope with Carthage. Fortunately for them a Cartha- ginian vessel, which had been cast ashore, was seized, and used as a model in the building of a Roman fleet of two hundred sail, which, with their usual energy, they completed in two mouths. They drilled their sailors, and contrived by ingenious devices to overcome the clumsiness of their ships, and the in- experience of their crews. Caius Duilius, one of the Roman 72 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. consuls, is credited with the invention of a mast, set up at the -| prow of each ship, to which was attached a movable platform, or drawbridge. At the approach of a hostile ship, the drawbridge was lowered, a grappling iron at the end of it held both ships fast together, the soldiers rushed upon the bridge, and engaged the foe in hand to hand fight. The device proved a grand success in the famous battle of Mylae, in which Duilius was victorious, and took, or disabled, 50 Carthaginian vessels. A triumph was decreed to Duilius, and a white mar- ble column, ornamented with the beaks of the captured ships, erected to his honor. A second naval victory, obtained by the Romans three years later, off the Lipari islands, emboldened them to undertake the invasion of Africa. A fleet of 330 ships, manned by 140,000 sailors and marines, and commanded by the consuls L. Manliug Vulso and M. Attilius Regains, sailed for Africa. They met and defeated the Carthaginian fleet of 350 ships, manned by 150,000 men, off Ecnomus, on the coast of Sicily, proceeded to Africa, landed, plundered and wasted the country. Destruc- tion marked their path, and the news of their approach spread terror through Carthage. Ambassadors sent out to Regulus, now in sole command, suing foi- peace, were treated with scorn ; but the opportune arrival of Xanthippus, a Spartan mercenary, -| who was put in command of the Carthaginian troops, turned the scales in a brilliant victory over Regulus. The Spartan leader had only a small army of 12,000 foot, 4,000 horse, and 100 elephants to oppose to the much larger force of the Romans, but, confident of success, he marched into the open country to meet the enemy, and opened the engagement with a charge of the elephants and the horse, so well directed and executed as to seize the Romans with panic, and to con- summate their total overthrow ; 30,000 were slain in battle, hardly 2,000 escaped, while Regulus himself and 500 Romans were taken prisoners. A Roman fleet, sent out to rescue the remnant of the consular army, on the return voyage was over- 260-250.] DUILIUS AND REGULUS. 73 taken by a storm, and almost the whole armament was either wrecked or destroyed. The Carthaginians then transferred the war to Sicily, but were defeated in the battle of Panormus. Metellus, the n proconsul of Sicily, who commanded the Romans, had turDed the sad experience of Regulus to good account. Per- ceiving that the enemy had again brought 130 elephants into the field, and aware that these animals are easily terrified, and when wounded rather a hindrance than an advantage to the foe, he made them the primary object of his attack. They turned round in wild dismay, and spread confusion through the ranks of the Carthaginians, who were routed. A large number of prisoners and lO-i elephants were captured and led in triumph to Rome. The disastrous event of Panormus led the Carthaginians to send an embassy to Rome, instructed to negotiate peace and an exchange of prisoners. They allowed Regulus to accompany the embassy under promise of returning into captivity if their proposals were rejected, thinkiug that in order to obtain his own libert}', he would exert his influence at home in securing, at least, an exchange of prisoners. But they did not know his mettle ; for instead of urging his countrymen to agree to the proposals of the embassj', he advised them to refuse their con- sent, because he believed a peace to be injurious to the interests of Rome. Unmoved by the entreaties of his friends to stay at Rome, the stern patriot, true to his honor, and superior to sel- fish advantage, returned to Carthage to meet a mart3'r's death. The legend says, that the Carthaginians, upon learning from their ambassadors that Regulus, instead of advocating the pro- posals for peace, had used his influence against their adoption, were exasperated beyond measure, and took a terrible revenge ; they cut off his ej'elids, and cast him into a dark dungeon, and, after he had become accustomed to the gloom, suddenly exposed him to the fierce rays of a burning sun, and then, to aggravate his misery, placed him in a cask, the sides of which were 74 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. studded with iron spikes, and rolled it down a hill until he died. The news of his barbarous death, of course, shocked all Rome, and, in a barbarous age, begot a barbarous retaliation. The senate, it is said, delivered Hamilcar and Bostar, two of the most distinguished Carthaginian prisoners, to the family of Regulus, who, in their turn, put them to death with cruel tor- ments. The war continued with fluctuating successes and defeats on both sides eight j^ears longer, until in the naval battle, fought -, off the island of JEgusa, the Carthaginians, commanded 242] & ' & 7 by Hamilcar, were defeated in a decisive victory by the Roman consul, C. Lutatius. Proposals for peace ensued, and were granted on condition that the Carthaginians evacuated Sicily, restored the prisoners, and paid an indemnit}^ of 2,200 -1 talents, payable in 20 years. The idemnity was after- wards raised to 3,200 talents, and the term for payment lessened from 20 to 10 years. Tlius ended the First Punic War. REFERENCES. Niebuhr, "History of E.ome,^Wbl. HI.; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under " Duilius " and " Regulus." See also Niebuhr, " Lectures on Roman History," ed. of Schmitz, vol. I. One of the best authorities for the entire period of the Punic Wars is Halthaus, "History of Rome during the Punic Wars," Leipzig, 1846, but accessible only to German students. 247-219.] HANNIBAL, 75 [247 HANNIBAL The illustrious Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca, was born the very 3ear in which his father was appointed to the command in Sicily. He was only nine years old when his father took him with him into Spain, and made him swear upon the altar eternal enmity to Rome. That oath, which he never forgot, is the key to his life. He was present at the battle in which his father was killed, and though then only eighteen years old, had already so greatly distinguished himself that Hasdrubal, who succeeded Hamilcar, placed him in high command, and when that leader died, the army, with one con- sent, proclaimed him commander-in-chief, and their act p was ratified by the government at Carthage. He was a handsome man, of commanding appearance, inured to frost and heat, indifferent to hunger and thirst. Wrapped in his martial cloak, he often slept on the bare ground, not at stated hours, but when he felt tired. Brought up in the camp, a soldier trained by experience, kind and humane in his care for the meanest of his warriors, the}' almost idolized him. Natur- ally endowed with talents of the highest order, he improved them by cultivation ; he spoke several languages besides his mother-tongue, and was partial to the company of learned Greeks ; his perceptions were quick, while his good sense, courage, indomitable energy, and the general weight of his character, marked him as a leader of men. His first contact with Rome was at the siege of Saguntum, a city on the eastern coast of Spain. It lasted eight months, p and ended in the taking of the city by storm. The brave defenders lighted a fire, and preferred death in the flames 76 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. to life in the hands of the enemy. The fall of the city exasper- ated the Romans, who sent an embassy to Carthage, demand- ing the surrender of Hannibal. Pending the matter, Fabius, one of the embassy, stepped forth, and folding up his toga, ex- claimed, " Which will 3'ou have, peace or war?" The Cartha- ginians replied, "Which you will." "War, then," said Fa- -, bius ; and his words were the signal of the Second 218~201 Punic War, which lasted seventeen years. Late in the spring of the following year, Hannibal, at the -. . head of 90,000 foot, 12,000 horse, and 37 elephants, crossed the Ebro, and rapidly led his army over the Pyrenees. He had reached the Phone, when P. Cornelius Scipio, the Roman commander, sailed into the port of Mar- seilles. The most difficult task in the passage of that river was the transportation of the elephants ; but the plan of enticing them on large rafts proved successful, and though some leaped from the rafts, all got safe to the opposite bank. After some dela}- , Hannibal began early in October his fa- mous march across the Alps. His road was that over the Little St. Bernard ; the season was already advanced, snows had fal- len, and in some places the road was impassable. The suffer- ings of his army from hunger and cold were aggravated by the enmity of the mountaineers, who hurled down fragments of rock ; the elephants and horses were terrified and refused to move ; the carriages rolled back and went over ice-bound preci- pices. At last, by indomitable perseverance, he reached the summit of the pass, and inspired his soldiers with new courage by showing them the fertile plains of Italy, which lay smiling at their feet. The descent was very difficult. At one point, a fearful precipice, several thousand feet deep, yawned before them, and the only road was a narrow, zigzag path which crept along the rocks. Hannibal had it widened to the required di- mensions, and the army descended on it into the plains. His losses were fearful ; the march lasted fifteen days, the ascent to the summit, 6,700 feet high, occupied nine days, the descent 218-201.J HANNIBAL. 'J'l six days ; and when he mustered his army in the plains of the Po, it was found that the whole of his available strength num- bered only 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse. With so insignificant a force he ventured to attempt the overthrow of a power that a few years before was able to put in the field an army of more than 700,000 men. After a short interval of rest, Hannibal broke camp and de- feated the Romans in a cavalry fight on the Ticinus ; he p crossed the Po, and soon after engaged the enemy, com- manded by Scipio and Sempronius, on the Trebia, a fordable mountain stream, whose banks were thickly tangled with brush. Hannibal placed his army on the eastern bank in ambush, pro- voked the Romans, stationed on the western bank, to ford the stream, and completely defeated them with heavy loss. This victory made him master of Northern Italy, and secured to him the friendship of the Gauls, with whom he was able to recruit his army. Early next spring he entered into the low lands of the Arno. The river had overflowed its banks and impeded his prog- r- ress. For four days and three nights the soldiers had to wade through water up to their knees ; the horses lost their hoofs, the beasts of burden stuck fast in the marshes, and Hannibal, in consequence of a violent attack of ophthalmia, lost the 'sight of an eye. He had hardly emerged from the marshes and gained higher ground, when apprized of the ap- proach of a Roman army, commanded b}^ Flaminius, who had come to intercept him, he marched past the latter, and drew him into the narrow valley of the lake Trasj^menus. Hannibal held the heights, and the Roman army, hemmed in between the lake and the mountains, was almost destroyed ; thousands fell by the sword, thousands more perished in the lake. A body of 4,000 horse, sent to the support of Flaminius, was intercepted, and all either slain or made prisoners. Hannibal, avoiding Rome, pursued a southward course along the Adriatic. The news of the disastrous event of Trasyme- 78 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. nus spread alarm through the city, and led to the aiDpointment as dictator, of Quintus Fabius, a cautious, thoughtful man who concluded to act only on the defensive. When Hannibal came into the Falernian plain, and laid it waste, Fabius kept hanging on his rear, but never lost sight of him. If Hannibal went into camp, Fabius went into camp ; if he began to march, Fabius accompanied him on the heights. This hesitating policy gave umbrage to his soldiers, who were tired, as they said, of mov- ing hither and thither in the clouds ; they denounced him as a coward, and nicknamed him " Cunctator," that is, the delayer. But Fabius let them talk, and pursued his course so skilfully that he shut up Hannibal in a narrow valley, north of Capua. Hannibal, though in imminent peril, made his escape by stratagem. He tied faggots to the horns of 2,000 oxen, at night set fire to the faggots, and drove the infuriated beasts towards the Romans, who imagined that the enemy was escap- ing over the hills, and left their post. Thus Hannibal got out of the trap, and safe to Samnium. When the senate, displeased with Fabius, had clothed Minu- cius, the master of the horse, with equal power, the latter, eager to pursue a different policy, fell into a snare set by Hanni- bal, and would have been cut up but for the timely arrival of Fabius, who safely reconducted the armj^ to the heights. "I was afraid," said Hannibal, "that the cloud on the nlountains would bring on a storm." Aug. 2, In the year following was fought at Cannas one of the 216 most terrible battles of the whole war, which ended in the annihilation of a Roman arm}^ of nearly 90,000 men, with a loss of 45,000 slain, including 80 senators and 3,000 knights. Accident, or, more probably, design, favored Hanni- bal ; it is said that he caused the land to be ploughed up, and that a strong south wind blew the clouds of limestone dust in the ej^es of the Romans. The news of this overwhelming disaster unmanned Rome, and filled the citizens with frantic despair ; they sought to ap- 216-212.] HANNIBAL. 79 pease the wrath of heaven by acts of humiliation, and the heathenish expedient of sacrificing human victims. Although Hannibal committed the capital error of not following up his advantage by an immediate advance upon Rome, the decisive victory of Cannae made him master of Lower Italy, which hailed him as conqueror. He went into winter quarters at Capua, a city renowned for its wealth and luxury, and his resi- dence there marks the turning point of his fortune, and the decline of the military glory of his soldiers, who, according to some, were corrupted by luxury and self-indulgence, and ac- cording to others, were replaced by new troops unfitted to suc- ceed the veterans who had come with him from Africa and gradually died. Hannibal stood greatly in need of a seaport in order to open direct communication with Carthage ; he tried in vain to pos- sess himself of Cumse and Naples, and at Nola sustained a repulse which Roman oratory called a defeat. The fame of Hannibal had spread beyond the confines of Italy, and led to an alliance between him and S^'racuse, in con- sequence of which the Roman general Marcellus was sent with an army to Sicily, and blockaded Syracuse, where p two of Hannibal's ambassadors had been placed at the head of affairs. The efforts of the Romans were frustrated by the genius of Archhnedes, who counterworked their mines, and contrived the erection of engines, some of which threw huge pieces of timber and rock into the Roman vessels with fatal effect, while others had an iron grappling apparatus by means of which a ship was lifted up out of the water and dashed to pieces against the wall. Of these Marcellus exclaimed, "He- uses our ships for buckets to draw water." It is also said that he set fire to the Roman ships by means of burning ^ mirrors. In the third year of the siege Syracuse fell by treacher}'. Informed by some deserters, that in consequence of a festival, the usual precautions against surprise had been relaxed, some Romans scaled the walls, and opened the gates 80 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. from within. The city was given up to plunder, and most of the inhabitants put to the sword ; those who escaped the sword either perished with hunger or were sold as slaves. Archi- medes was among the slain. He sat lost in mathematical figures, which he had traced in sand, when a Roman entered. "Do not spoil my circles ! " exclaimed Archimedes. A thrust through his bod}' was the Roman's reply. The fall of Syracuse restored Sicily to Roman dominion. About the same time the Romans laid siege to Padua, and Hannibal, in order to withdraw them, marched against Rome, but was too weak to prevent the capture of the former city, or to inflict more than fright upon the latter. He ravaged, with- -, out opposition, the country up to the very walls of Rome, and maintained himself in Southern Italy, where in the battle of Venusia he defeated the Romans. In the year fol- -, lowing, Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, arrived with Carthaginian auxiliaries, but before effecting a junction with him, was overtaken by the Romans on the bank of the Metaurus, and in a decisive battle lost not only his army and camp, but his life. He died like a brave man, but Nero, the Roman commander, behaved lil^ a savage brute. He had his head cut off, and, hastening towards the camp of Hannibal, flung it into it. That general was horrified at the terrible token, in which he read, with sad foreboding, the destiny of Carthage. Sullenly he retired into the southwestern parts of Italy, in whose mountain fastnesses he maintained his ground for nearly four years longer. The war between Rome and Carthage, waged on the Spanish peninsula, had ended in the entire expulsion of the Carthagin- -| ians. Scipio, the victorious general, went as proconsul, first to Sicily, then to Africa, and established his camp north of Carthage. After fifteen years' absence in the enemy's country, during which he had laid it waste from one extremity to the other, and maintained his superiority in the field, Hannibal was summoned to the defence of the threatened 208-195.] HANNIBAL. 81 city. He obej^ed, loth to leave Italy, and exclaimed that Car- thage, through envy and ingratitude, and not the Romans, had conquered him. The opposing armies laj' in the plain of Zama (Algiers) . Convinced that the impending battle must decide the fate of Carthage, Hannibal proposed an interview with Scipio, which is said to have taken place. Hannibal urged peace, and offered the cession of Spain and all the Mediterranean posses- sions. But Scipio refused the terms, saying : " Had you made these overtures before I sailed hither, and carried victory to the gates of Carthage, we should have accepted them. But now it is too late. Who can trust Carthage? Let the sword decide." In the battle of Zama, which was fought with great gallantry and skill on both sides, the superior strength of Scipio carried the day and decided the war. The Carthaginians lost 20,000 in slain, and as many prisoners. Hannibal himself fled with a^ few horsemen to Hadrumetum, and all hopes of successful resistance being now at an end, Carthage had to submit to a peace of which these were the terms : " Carthage was to retain her possessions in Africa, but agreed to give 100 hostages, sur- render all ships of war except 10, all her elephants, pay an annual subsidy of 200 talents for 50 3'ears, and wage no more wars without the consent of Rome." This treaty was formally ratified at Rome in the following 3'ear, and thus ended p the Second Punic War. Scipio returned to Rome in triumph, and was accorded the surname Africanus, that is, the African. Hannibal was honorably received at Carthage, and used his best endeavors to raise her from her fall both by administrative reforms and alliances with the enemies of Rome. Rome de- manded his surrender, and he fled to Antiochus HI., king of Syria, who was on the eve of war with Rome. Antiochus, p instead of taking the counsel of Hannibal, pursued }iis own course, and was defeated at Magnesia by Scipio Asiaticus, 82 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. the brother of Africanus. Again Rome made the surrender of Hannibal one of the conditions on which peace was granted to Antiochus. Hannibal, foreseeing his danger, made his escape, and finally took up his abode with Prusias, king of Bithynia. But even there he was not allowed to live in peace, for the Romans required Flaminius to demand his surrender. The king was compelled to respect the summons, and sent troops to arrest the aged general, who, finding that all approaches were beset, and escape impossible, to avoid falling alive into the hands of his enemies, took poison, which, in expectation of such a juncture, he carried in the hollow of his signet-ring, saying, "I will rid the Romans of their constant care, as they cannot wait for the death of an old man." Thus died the great Hannibal, unquestionably one of the ablest generals the world has seen, in the sixty -fifth year of his life. -| In the same j^ear died Scipio, his conqueror, 52 years 4 old, chagrined at the ingratitude and injustice of his fel- low-citizens, who had entertained the unfounded charge brought against him of having received a bribe from Antiochus, king of Syria. REFERENCES. Plutarch, " Hannibal " ; Arnold, " History of Rome," vol. III. ; Mebuhr, "Lectures on Roman History," vol.1. Lect. 8-16 ; Smith, " Dictionary," etc., under " Hannibal." The French work of Yaudoncourt, "History of the Italian Cam- paigns of Hannibal," 3 vols., Milan, 1812, contains an excellent military commentary on the operations of Hannibal. 149-146.] SCIPIO AFRICANUS JUNIOR. 83 SCIPIO AFRICANUS JUNIOR. After the lapse of half a centur}' the commercial enterprise of Carthage had revived her ])rosperity, and made her an object of envy to the Romans. The senate regarded her with suspicion and ill-concealed hostility. Her most inveterate enemy was the stern Cato, who, early in life, had served under Fabius, and inherited from those who had fought the Carthagin- ians in Italy invincible hatred for Carthage and whatever belonged to it. Thus far she had faithfully kept all the con- ditions of the treaty, and there was no pretext for war. Masinissa, king of Numidia, a willing tool of the Romans, and a thorn in the side of Carthage, advanced an unjust claim to the oldest Phoenician settlements on the coast of Africa, which doubtless belonged to Carthage. As the terms of the treaty prohibited her from carrying on any war without the sanction of Rome, Carthage referred the claim to the Roman senate. A commission of ten deputies, of whom Cato was one, was sent to Africa, and their arbitration, though accepted by Masinissa, was rejected at Carthage. Cato, on his return, harangued the senate upon the danger of the growing power of Carthage, of the strength of her preparation for war, and of her nearness. Thrusting his hand into his toga, he pro- duced a bunch of earlj^ ripe figs, and in answer to those who praised their freshness and beauty, said, "These figs were gathered three days ago at Carthage : so close is the enemy to our walls." Most of the senators favored the immediate de- spatch of an army, but no formal resolution was adopted. From that time forth Cato never spoke in the senate, no matter on what subject, without the concluding words, "For the rest, I vote that Carthage be destroyed." 84 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. The Carthaginians, convinced that Eome would not aid them, in self-defence took up arms against Masinissa, but were un- successful. The Eomans, in search of a pretext for war, thereupon declared that Carthage had broken the peace, and ordered a powerful army to be sent to Sicily. The consuls in command had instructions to negotiate for peace with the Car- -, thaginian delegates, who had repaired to that island. This was the beginning of the Third Punic War. The consuls demanded that 300 children of the best families should be surrendered as hostages. The Carthaginians com- plied with this terrible condition. The hostages were fettered, and, amidst the heart-rending sorrow of their disconsolate par- ents, sent off to Sicily. To the inquiry of the Carthaginian delegates, if there were an}' other conditions, the Romans gave the haughty reply, "Inquire again after we have landed in Africa." The consular armies sailed for Africa and landed at Utica. The ambassadors of Carthage then were told that Rome required them to surrender their ships. They were given up, and burned in the presence of the people. After the ships had been de- stroyed, the Romans demanded the surrender of their arms and implements of war, saying, ^^tlnder the protection of Rome you have no use for them." Humiliated, Carthage accepted also this condition, and gave up 200,000 stand of arms and 3,000 catapults ; mournful indeed must have been the feelings with which the senators, the nobles, and all the people saw their last and only means of defence disappear in the Roman camp. Disarmed, and apparently at the mercy of their implacable foe, who might have been satisfied with the tokens of their submis- sion, the Carthaginians were now yet further required to leave their homes and city, for Carthage was to be razed to the ground, and if they built a new city, it must be ten miles away from the coast. Then the poor people gave vent to their smothered indigna- tion in loud discontent. They invoked the vengeance of heaven 149-146.] SCIPIO AFRICANUS JUNIOR. 85 upon their cruel oppressors, and swore that they would not sur- vive the destruction of their city, but defend it to the last drop of their blood. Instantly they rushed to the gates, closed and fortified them ; they shut the harbor by drawing a huge chain across its entrance. All Italians in the city were put to death. They had no ships, and no arms, yet they despaired not. They had skill and energy ; they loved their city and hated the Romans. They unroofed their houses to provide timber for the ships they resolved to build ; the whole city became a work- shop, and no sacrifice was deemed too great for the heroic patriotism which animated the people. The women brought their jewels of silver and gold to be molten and turned into arrow- heads, and many cut off their long hair to be converted into bowstrings and ropes for the catapults. They turned out daily 500 spears, 300 swords, 140 shields, and 1,000 missiles for catapults, and built in the space of two months 120 decked vessels. Hasdrubal, the general who had been unsuccessful against Masinissa, undertook the defence of the city, which bravely defied the Romans for two entire years. In the third year, Publius Cornelius Scipio ^milianus, the son of ^milius Paulus, who had been adopted by the p son of Scipio Africanus the elder, was placed in command of the Roman army. He began operations by surrounding the city, and blockading the port, and thus cut off all supplies by sea and land. A fortified camp thrown up around the city, and a long dam or mole, extending from a place called the Taenia to the isthmus, made one unbroken line, within which lay the devoted city. B.ut even this could not arrest the indomitable energy of the brave Carthaginians. No sooner had Scipio con- structed his dam than they cut a new channel into the ocean, and put out to sea with the fleet which they had built, p That fleet unfortunately was destroyed, and the fate of the city was sealed in the ensuing 3^ear, when famine and disease had done their deadly work. The sufferings and horrors of the siege were still aggravated by the incapacity of the selfish and tyrannical Hasdrubal., 86 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Not until the extremity of famine had weakened the hapless Carthaginians, did Scipio order the assault. The city stood on a peninsula, and was defended by a treble wall across the isth- mus. This wall the Romans scaled at night, and carried fire and sword into the city. The Carthaginians fought with the hero- ism of despair ; for six days the work of carnage was going on in the port, in the streets, and in the houses. The Romans drove the people from story to story, and at last transferred the butcher}' from the streets to the roofs. The streets were filled with the slain, and the famished Car- thaginians, still fighting, fed upon their bodies. The city was set on fire, and the flames raged uninterruptedly for seventeen days. Thousands of those who had escaped death hy famine, disease, or the sword, took their own lives by rushing into the flames. Then proclamation was made, promising life to all who had sought refuge in the citadel (except the Roman deserters), if they would surrender, and 50,000, the sole remnant of a popu- lation of 700,000, came forth to exchange death for slavery. The terrible spectacle of the miser}' of Carthage is said to have moved Scipio to tears, as he sa^ on a commanding height, star- ing at the terrors enacting at liis feet. By him stood Polybius, the historian, to whom he cited the words of Homer : — " The day will come when holy Troy must fall," li. iv. 164. When the flames had subsided, the remaining buildings and ruins were razed to the ground, and the plough passed over the site where for seven centuries had stood in the splendor of a mag- nificence superior to that of Rome, one of the queen cities of the ancient world. Carthage was a howling wilderness ; her terri- tory became a Roman colony, which was called Africa ; the conqueror, or destroyer, of Carthage was accorded a splendid triumph, and surnamed, not only by the right of inheritance, but in virtue of his exploits, Scipio Africanus. In the same year, Mummius, another Roman soldier, accom- 149-146.] SCIPIO AFRICANUS JUNIOR. 87 plished at Corinth what Scipio had done at Carthage. Her citizens were massacred, her women and children sold into slavery. All her treasures of art were removed, the torch was applied, and Corinth was razed to the ground ; while Greece, from that time forth, became known as a Roman province, called Achaia. REFERENCES. See the works named at the end of "Duilius and Regiilus" and "Hannibal"; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under "Scipio," No. 21. Also, Plutarch, " Cato." 88 ANCIENT mSTOBY. [B.C. JULIUS C/ESAR. Julius C^esak, born July 12, b.c. 100, was the son of Julius Caesar, the praetor, and Aurelia, an excellent and devoted mother. His father died when he was sixteen j'ears old, and his mother is credited with having directed his education, and fostered the pleasant address and winning manners which dis- tinguished him throughout his career. He was inured to hard- ship, and loved simplicity and moderation. Like all well edu- cated young Eomans, he spoke Latin and Greek with equal facility, and it is a well-known fact that the last words he uttered were spoken in Greek. Though allied by his marriage with Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, to the Marian party, Caesar had the good fortune of escaping death during the SuUan persecutions. In those days of civil commotion, passion raji high ; the friend of Sulla must needs be the enemy of Marius, and the friend of Marius the enemy of Sulla. The latter commanded Caesar to divorce Cornelia, as being the daughter of a known enemy, but the youthful husband resolutely refused. Bj^ his refusal he lost his position, his wife's dowry, and the right of inheritance, and had to flee for his life. Powerful friends interceded on his behalf, and Sulla at last pardoned him, exclaiming, "Well, have your own way, but remember that many a Marius slumbers in that lad." -| Caesar went to Asia, and served his first campaign under Thermus, who employed him on a mission to Nico- medes HI., to fetch his fleet, and on his return, rewarded -, him with a civic crown for saving the life of a fellow- 80 soldier in the siege of Mytilene. During his stay in Asia, he visited Rhodes to perfect himself in the study of Long. W. Long. East 10 from Greenwic.'i 2 THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT ITS GREATEST EXTENT The Roman Domiuions at the Death of Caesar^ The Empire under Trajan I I Fisk & See.N. t 81-65.] JULIUS CMSAR. \^ 89 oratory, under Apollonius Molo, who was also one of Cicero's teachers. On the voyage he had the misfortune to be captured by pirates off Miletus, who demanded twenty talents for his ransom. He laughed at their moderate demand, and promised them fifty, for which he sent some of his friends to the neighboring cities of Asia, and, pending their return, remained about forty days on board the pirate. Utterly fearless, he made himself thor- oughly at home with them, and even secured their respect and obedience. AVhen he wanted to sleep, he begged them keep silence ; he wrote poems and orations, which he rehearsed to them, and when they expressed no admiration, he called them dunces and barbarians. Sometimes he threatened to crucify them ; they treated his menace as a jest, but he was in sober earnest ; for after the ransom had been paid, and he had re- gained his libert}^ he manned some Milesian vessels, over- powered the pirates, and true to his threat, crucified them. On his return to Rome, all his efforts were directed to make himself popular by affable manners and unbounded liberality. For that purpose he not onl}^ spent all he had, but ran into debt, and the usurious money-lenders let him have all he wanted, convinced that the emoluments of public oflfices within his reach afforded ample security for their advances. At the age of 32 he was chosen qucestor, and before he set out for Spain was called upon to mourn the loss of his aunt Julia, the widow of Marius, and of his own wife Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna. After a short absence in Spain, Csesar returned to Rome, and married Pompeia, the daughter of Pompej^ ; in the p same year he was chosen a superhitendent of the Appian Way, and increased his popularity by spending upon its repairs a large sum of his own money. Two years later he was r- chosen cedile, and as such, charged with the supervision of the public buildings and the general direction of the public games. The splendor of his tenure of this oflfice, shared by Bibulus, his colleague, outshone that of all his predecessors ; on 90 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. one occasion he produced 320 pair of gladiators in silver armor, and by means of this and similar displays, won the hearts of the people. Though Bibulus bore half the expense, Caesar got credit for the whole, and the former remarked that it re- minded him of the temple of Castor and Pollux, which, though consecrated to both, was never spoken of otherwise than that of Castor. Conscious of his great popularity, the ambitious Caesar pre- sented himself as candidate for the office of Pontifex Maximus, which until then had been held only by men of advanced years. His mother advised him not to run for that office, but in vain ; and, as he left her on the day of election, said to her, "You -| will see me, dear mother, this day either chief pontiff or an exile." He was elected. The enormous expense connected with his public life had raised his debts to almost fabulous dimensions, and he is re- ported to have told a friend that he wanted about 15 millions in order to be able to say that he had nothing. Appointed pro- consul of Spain, his creditors protested against his departure ; -| but Crassus, the richest man in Rome, went security for him, and he set out for Ms province. An anecdote belonging to that journey marks the man. Passing a small village at the foot of the Alps, some of his officers having jestingly asked him, if he believed that even theo'e men were ambitious of office, he replied quite seriously, " I assure 3'ou, I had rather be the first man here than second at Rome." It is interesting and instructive to record, that Napoleon IH., in his History of Caesar,^ approves this senti- ment. The story also runs that during his stay in Spain Caesar read the History of Alexander, and wept over it, and in answer to the astonished inquiries of his friends, remarked, "What? Have I not cause for concern ? For when Alexander was as old as I, he had conquered the world, and I have done nothing." 1 " Histoire de Jufes Cesar," vol. I. p. 343. New York, 1865. 1 63-49.] JULIUS CMSAR. 91 Under the dominance of such thoughts he speedily effected the complete subjugation of the province, and distinguished himself both as a general and a governor. He enriched him- self and the arm^', who saluted him as Imperator, while the Senate honored him with a public thanksgiving. The plunder not only enabled him to pay his debts, but to maintain his popularity by the distribution of grain and money. Through the instrumentalit}^ of Caesar was brought about the reconciliation of Pompey and Crassus, who, for many years, had been deadly enemies, and an agreement where,by the three pledged themselves to support one another, and to divide the power among themselves. This formidable coalition of wealth, power, and talent, though at the time of its formation a profound secret and a private agreement, soon made itself felt, and was called the First Triumvirate, that is, " The p league of the three men." In the year following, Caesar and Bibulus were chosen consuls, but the latter was a mere figure-head, and Csesar, backed r- by Pompey and Crassus, was the real ruler. The popu- lar wit of the Romans expressed the fact by saying that the consuls for that year were Julius and Caesar. Caesar, foreseeing that the sword must be the ultimate arbiter of the rival claims of the powerful parties at Rome, and that an 'army attached to him by victories and rewards was the surest means for the furtherance of his ambitious designs, secured the appointment of the government of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum with three legions for five j^ears, to which was added that of Transalpine Gaul with another legion for the same number of years. At the expiration of the five years, r- _ his command was extended for five years more. In nine eventful years he completely subdued Transalpine Gaul ; twice he crossed the Rhine, and twice invaded Britain, which until then had been unknown to the Romans. During the first years of his residence in Gaul, Pompey and 92 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. Crassus observed the terms of their agreement. In conse- -| quence of a misunderstanding between the latter, Caesar arranged a meeting at Luca, in which they were recon- ciled to one another, and an understanding was reached accord- ing to which Crassus should have the province of Syria, Pompey the two Spains, and Csesar obtain the prolongation of his gov- ernment for five years more, already referred to. Crassus went to Syria and fell a victim to the insatiable avarice which had led him to undertake an unjust and aggressive campaign against the Parthians. His army was defeated, and he con- sented to an interview with the Parthian general. Crassus sus- pected treachery, and refused to mount the horse which had been -| brought for his use. In the confusion he was slain by an unknown hand. His head was cut off and taken to king Orodes, who filled it with melted gold, exclaiming, " Take thy fill of that which in life thou so greedily didst long for." As for Pompey, he left the administration of Spain in the hands of his deputies, and ruled at Pome with the unlimited powers of a despot. The friendly relations between Caesar and -, himself be^an to be disturbed, and the breach was wi- 54 _ / dened by the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter, who had been married to Pompey. The vast influence of Caesar, aug- -, mented by his military exploits, filled Pompey Math envy, and stirred him up to undisguised acts of hostility, which culminated in the decree of the Senate requiring Caesar to disband his army. Caesar was on the southern confines of his province when he received the mandate of the Senate. He hesitated as to which course to pursue : to obey meant to ruin himself ; to disobey meant war with Pompey. On the bank of the Rubicon he had to decide the matter. On a sudden impulse he made his choice, exclaiming, " The die is cast ! " and crossed the river. It was a momentous decision, which involved Rome in a long and sanguinary civil war. The power of Pompey seemed to be 56-48.] JULIUS C^SAR. 93 broken in a moment. The news of Caesar's approach caused him and the leaders of the aristocratic party to fly in hot haste from Rome to Padua, from Padua to Brundusium ; there he took sail and crossed over to D3Trhachium. The march of Caesar was like a triumphal progress, for city after cit}" opened its gates to him. Unable for want of ships to pursue Pompey by sea, Caesar returned as conqueror of Italy to Rome, and after a short delay set out for Spain, the province of Pompey. On the way, Massilia refused to submit to him ; he ordered his lieutenants to besiege it, and marched on to Spain, where Pompey had seven legions. After great difficulties and reverses, he accomplished their entire reduction in only 40 days, and compelled Massilia to receive him. His plan was, as he said before setting out for Spain, to defeat first an army without a general, and then attend to a general without an arm3^ He accordingly returned to Rome in the capacity of dictator, to which office the praetor M. Lepidus had appointed him, in virtue of a law passed for the purpose. He held that office for only eleven daj'S, during which he and Servilius Isau- ricus were elected consuls for the ensuing year, and some im- portant laws were passed. Early in the next year he sailed with an army of seven legions across the Adriatic, to give battle to Pompey, who had collected a force at least twice as large to oppose him. The deci- aug. q, sive battle was fought on the plains of Pharsalus or 48 Pharsalia, in Thessaly, and ended in the total defeat of Pompey. Pompey fled to Egypt, in hope of finding an asylum at the court of Ptolemy, whose father he had aided in regaining his throne. The king, being a minor, the government was in the hand of three officials, who, dreading the wrath of Caesar, if they allowed Pompey to land, and that of Pompey, if they refused, deemed it wisest to do neither, and concluded to put him to death. A boat was sent out to meet him ; his wife, his son, and friends watched him from the ship, to see what recep- tion he might receive from the king, who, with his troops, stood 94 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. on the edge of the sea ; just as the boat had reached the shore, and Pompey was rising from his seat, a centurion stabbed him in the back ; the rest drew their swords, and Pompe^^ , drawing his toga over his face, without uttering a word calmly submitted to his fate. His head was cut off and taken to Caesar, who arrived soon afterwards ; he turned from the sight, wept sore at the dreadful fate of his friend and son-in-law, and com- manded the murderers to be put to death. Philippus, the freedman of Pompey, laid the dishonored body to rest in a foreign grave. Caesar spent a year in Egypt, and supported the beautiful Cleopatra in her claims to the joint occupation of the throne. Ptolemy was drowned in the Nile, and a younger brother took his place. An insurrection in Pontus, led by Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, induced Caesar to repair thither, and to defeat him -, in a single battle. His despatch on the engagement is the shortest on record ; it read thus : " I came, I saw, I conquered." Upon his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator for the third time. Tidings of a large arjny collected by the partisans of Pompe}^ at Utica in North Africa, caused him without -| delay to cross into that country, and to rout the enemy in the battle of Thapsus. Caesar, being now the undisputed master of the Roman world, returned to Rome. Before he arrived, a public thanksgiving of forty days was decreed in his honor, and he was proclaimed dic- tator for ten years. He celebrated in four magnificent triumphs his victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Africa. The triumphs were followed by largesses in corn, oil, and mone}' to the people, and in money and lands to the soldiers. Rich banquets, and entertainments in the Circus and Amphitheatre, concluded the festivities. Uniting in his person all the attributes of supreme authority, Caesar now directed his energies to the correction of evils which 47-45.] JULIUS C^SAR. % had crept into the state, and to the enactments of sahitary and necessary laws. One of his first and most noble acts was the proclamation of a general amnesty. The correction of the calendar was one of the most important reforms he introduced. Before the adoption of his measure, the civil year was ninety days in advance of the solar year. He therefore made the year B.C. 46 to consist of 445 days, called for that reason The Year of Confusion, and provided that the civil 3'ear should consist of 365 days with the intercalation of one da}^ every four years. This calendar is called after him the Julian.^ He also tried to check the widespread extravagance of the period by severe sumptuary laws, and introduced and planned numerous measures for the benefit of the vast Roman empire. In the midst of these peaceful pursuits, Caesar, apprized of the formidable insurrection instigated by the sons of Pompey in Spain, repaired to that province, and in the sanguin- r- ary battle of Munda defeated their army. He returned to Rome in September, and contrary to usage entered the city in triumph, although his victory had been gained over Roman citizens. The Senate received him with tokens of servile flattery. In his absence they had voted a public thanks- giving of 50 days, and now lavished upon him the greatest honors they could devise. He was hailed "the father of his country," and saluted "Imperator"; he was to wear the tri- umphal robe on all public occasions ; he was nominated consul for ten years, and imperator for life ; his person was declared sacred ; statues of him were placed in the temples, and his por- trait struck on coins ; in his honor the month of his birth was called Julius ; one of his statues bore the inscription, " To the invincible god," in token that he was to be raised to the rank of the gods. His power equalled, perhaps excelled, that of any monarch who ever reigned ; yet though he coveted, he 1 Pope Gregory XIII. enacted a further correction of the calendar in A.D. 1582, which is called the Gregorian. 96 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. did not dare to assume, the regal title, or its badge, the crown. For five centuries the Roman people had nursed an invincible hatred of kings, but the friends of Caesar felt that if that an- tipathy could be overcome, and Caesar be made king, the unity of the great Roman empire might be preserved and handed down to his successors. Such was doubtless the mind and purpose of Caesar, who embraced the opportunity of the great festival of the Lupercalia, which was celebrated in the presence of a vast Feb. 15, assemblage, to feel the pulse of the people. Arrayed in 44 his triumphal robe he sat in a golden chair on the Rostra of the Forum, witnessing the ceremonies, when Mark Antony, his friend and colleague in the consulship, made his way to him, and offered him a diadem wreathed with laurel. The people who witnessed the act stood by in anxious silence ; Caesar refused the crown, and the plaudits of the multitude filled the air ; Antony presented it again, and Caesar again rejected it amid the 3'et louder applause of the people, and ordered it to be taken to the Capitol. The public feeling, though a great disappointment to Caesar, was unmistakable. His enemie^ suspecting his design, made it the pretext of a conspiracy, wliich doubtless originated in per- sonal hatred. The prime mover was Cassius, whose hostility was purely personal ; Brutus, the nephew and son-in-law of Cato, on the other hand, may have joined the conspirators because he believed Caesar to be a tyrant, and an enemy to his countr}" ; most of the others, however, appear to have been actuated by part}^ hatred. Brutus could not have had a personal motive, for Caesar honored him with his friendship and partiality. On his last return from Spain he rode with Anton}^ and Octavius in Caesar's carriage ; he had received substantial marks of that favor in the enjoyment of lucrative and honorable offices, and in the will of Caesar he was named as one of his heirs. It is im- possible to exonerate him from the guilt of foul ingratitude and base treachery. 44.] JULIUS C^SAR. 97 The friends of Cffisai* had chosen the ides, that is, the loth day, of March, for a second attempt of making him king, and the conspirators, more than 60 in number, had fixed upon the same day for his assassination. He had been warned of danger by his friends ; his wife, in consequence of an ill-omened dream, entreated him not to go to the Senate ; the soothsayer Spurinna, whohadforewarned him of great danger that threatened him on the ides of March, met him on the way to the Senate ; he called out to him, and said, laughing, " Well, the ides of March are come"; Spurinna replied, "Yes, the}^ are come, but they are not gone." A friend actually handed to him a paper, setting forth the details of the conspirac}^, with the words, "Caesar, read this alone and at once ; it contains matter of the ut- most importance and concern to you." He could not find time to read it, and held it in his hand when he entered the Senate.^ The senators rose in his honor. As he went to his chair, which stood near the statue of Pompey, the conspirators con- trived to surround him, and one of their number, Tillius Cim- ber, presented with great urgency a petition in favor of his exiled brother, which Caesar refused. Then Cimber, with both hands tore the toga off his neck, and Casca struck him there with his sword. Caesar turned upon him, and horror-struck, ex- claimed, "Villain! Casca! what dost thou mean?" He drew his sword, and bravely defended himself from the cowardly at- tack ; the blows fell thick and fast upon his face and breast ; he saw nothing but steel, and received nothing but wounds ; he held out until he saw Brutus wound him in a vital part, and sor- rowfully exclaiming in Greek, " And thou too, my son ! " drew the toga over .his face, and fell, pierced with twenty-three wounds, on the pedestal of Pompey's statue, and dyed it with his blood. The senators, paralyzed with terror, fled ; the conspirators 1 See note, p. 99. 98 ANCIENT HISTORY. [B.C. rushed forth to proclaim their atrocious deed, which Brutus the next day sought to justify. The Senate decreed to Caesar divine honors and a magnificent public funeral, and appointed Anton}' to deliver his funeral oration ; they also passed a gen- eral amnesty, and bestowed governments and honors on Brutus and his friends, imagining that their action had been wise and generally satisfactory. In this they were mistaken. When the will of Caesar had been read, and it was found that he had left a legacy to every Roman citizen, and the people beheld the mangled body in front of the Rostra, it was impossible to restrain them. The veterans, with torches, rushed forth and set fire to the bier ; the people tore up the benches, the tables, and the very doors, for a funeral pyre ; the women cast their ornaments, and the soldiers their arms, into the flames. Anton}^ increased the excitement of the infuriated people by lifting up the blood-stained toga and show- ing the rents which the daggers had made. Then snatching flaming brands from the pile, some went forth to set on fire the houses of the assassins, while others ranged the city to seize their persons and tear them in pieces. Many were slain at the time; Brutus and Cass,ius fled the country, but they were put to death. Trebonius was the first, and Cassius the last of the murderers of Caesar who perished by a violent death. Thus died, in the 56th 3'ear of his life, Julius Caesar, who, although the epithet " great " does not form part of his name, was not only the greatest of Romans, but the greatest man in anti- quity. His greatness extends alike to his military genius, and to his acknowledged proficiency in almost every department of intellectual life. He was an accomplished statesman, a wise law-giver, an eminent jurist, and a brilliant orator. He shone as an author in history, poetry, and astronomy, and was an ex- cellent linguist, mathematician, and architect. He was kind, affable, liberal, and magnanimous. His faults were, besides those of his age, ambition and vain glory, but his moral short- 44.] JULIUS C^SAR. 99 comings were covered by the dazzling brilliancy of his public virtues. REFERENCES. Besides the General Histories of Rome repeatedly named in former references, and the excellent article "Csesar" in Smith's "Dictionary," etc., consult Plutarch, " Julius Csesar " and " Pompey." The German work of Drumann, " History of Rome," contains the best account of his life, and Napoleon III.'s "Jules Cesar," avast amount of valuable information. NOTE. Caesar, being a sceptic, was free from the superstition of his age ; he disbelieved omens, and smiled at the credulity of others. Shortly before his death he was told that the horses which had carried him over the Rubicon refused food and shed tears. This was thought to be as ominous as the alleged exhumation of a brazen tablet from the tomb of Capys with an inscription importing that the exposure of his bones would be followed by the murder of a descendant of Julus, as the pretended flight of a wren with a twig of laurel into the Pompeian Curia, where it was torn to pieces by a number of other birds, and as the divine admonitions in the aspect of sacrifices. Csesar is known to have disregarded the last, yet such was his deference to public sentiment that in one of his triumphs he ascended on his knees the long flight of steps of the Capitol, in order that by this act of voluntary humility he might avert the wrath of the gods, who were believed to envy and punish the excessive prosperity of mortals. 100 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D. 272-337] CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. More than forty emperors had ruled the Roman empire, when Constantine, after eighteen years of warfare for suprem- -, acy, ascended the throne. He was the eldest son of the emperor Constantius Chi or us, by his first wife Helena, and exposed in early life to peculiar trials, which are believed to have taught him the self-command, sagacity, and discretion for which he became famous. Glad to escape from the jealous observation of the emperor Galerius, he re- paired to his father, who was emperor of the "West, and accom- panied him on an expedition against the Picts in North Britain. His father, who died at York, was an excellent man, with the enviable reputation of having been a wise, kind, and just ruler, whose humanit}', moderation, and impartiality were praised by Pagans and Christians alike. There is little doubt that the^ample of his father, not less than that of his mother, influenced and shaped the course of Constantine in his treatment of the Christians ; for he not only protected them in his own dominions, but used his influence with Galerius and Maximin to stop the persecutions to which they were exposed iu the East. It is said, with how much truth one cannot tell, that on his march from Gaul into Italy, where Maxentius had seized the purple, he thought much on the sub- ject of religion, wondering which he should choose, that of the Pagans, or that of the Christians. Musing upon the terrible fate of so man}' of his predecessors who had worshipped many gods, and contrasting it with the happy life of his father, he felt that his father's God was the true God, and that he ought to worship Him. Under the spell of such thoughts and feelings he prayed for divine help and direction. 272-337.] CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 101 Suddenly, about noon, as the day was declining, he saw in the heavens, higher than the sun, a luminous appearance in the shape of a cross, and read in flaming letters the words: "In this conquer." That he saw it, or believed that he saw it, can- not be denied, for the historian who records the matter had the statement from the lips of Constantine himself, who swore that it was true. Of course his swearing did not establish the truth of his words, for it is a well-known fact that he was in the habit of swearing ; but the fact that the historian mentions this cir- cumstance proves that his record is true. The emperor, it is also known, was religiousl}' inclined, and reposed great faith in dreams and visions. When, therefore, in the night which fol- lowed, he saw in a dream the figure of Christ, carrying the same sign which he had seen in the sky, admonishing him to provide a standard, like the celestial pattern, to be carried as a token of victory before his army, he read therein an answer to his prayer, and forthwith commanded that thereafter the standard of the cross should displace the Roman eagles. That famous standard was called the Labarum, but why, I cannot tell, for the excellent reason that I do not know it my- self, and find myself in good and large company, for no one else seems to know it either. It is described as a long pike, inter- sected by a transversal beam ; on the top glittered a crown of gold, with the sacred monogram, expressive at once of the cross and of the first two letters of the name of Christ, spelled in Greek characters, that is, X and P. From the beam was sus- pended a sill?:en veil, embroidered with the images of the reign- ing monarch and his children. This was a tremendous change, for until then the cross had been a symbol loathsome and abhorrent to the Romans, sugges- tive of the guilt of criminals, who had suffered the penalty of the law in the painful and shameful torture of crucifixion. That same symbol now glittered on the helmets and shields of Constantine's warriors, and shone in the texture of their banners. 102 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D. The battle of the Milvian Bridge, in which Constantine routed Oct. 28, the army of Maxentius, and in which Maxentius himself 312 found a watery grave in the Tiber, was fought under that banner, the first of a series of victories, which earned for Con- stantine the name of Victor, or Conqueror. It must not be thought, however, that he immediately gave up all connection with Paganism, which was still very strong in the world, and especially at Rome. So when a triumphal arch was set up to commemorate the victory of the Milvian Bridge, it bore the inscription, that it was due to Providence and to his genius. In that way he tried not to offend the pagan priests and the people. He was 3'et halting between two opinions and seeking to please everybody. On his coins he had put on the one side the name of Christ, and on the other the figure of the Sun-god. After a while, however, he became a more pronounced fol- -| lower of Christ, and resolved to build a new city in the Eastern part of the vast empire of which he had become sole ruler. That new capital was destined to be a bulwark against the Persians and the Goths, who were threatening his dominions, and to become a Chr^istian city even more splendid and magnificent than Rome, the pagan capital of the West. In his choice of a suitable site, the legend says, he was divinely directed. As he stood undecided, an eagle soared on high and marked the spot. He dreamt also, as he slept in Byzantium, that the venerable guardian deity of the place came to him as an ancient matron bent under the infirmity of years, and was suddenly changed into a youthful maiden, whom he adorned with all the symbols of imperial splendor. He awoke, and knew that Old Byzantium was to become the New Rome, the city to be known as his own city, as Constantinople, that is, the City of Constantine. Byzantium could boast an antiquity of more than three cen- turies, and trace its origin to the direction of the oracle that the founders should build it opposite to the land of the blind. But 312-324.] CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 103 it could boast more, for its position was incomparable ; it com- manded the shores of two continents, and united the advan- tages of security and facilities for commerce with the choicest gifts of nature and the most strikingly picturesque scenery. That ancient and pagan city was destined to be enriched with imperial splendor and enlarged to the dimensions worthy of the capital of the great Roman empire. On the day fixed for its birthday, Constantine himself, with a spear in his hand, led the solemn procession and traced the boundary line along an im- mense circuit. As he did not pause, the attendants, amazed at the vast area already enclosed, asked him how far he intended to go. The emperor replied : " I shall go on till He who guides me stops." It is undoubtedly true that he did say, that he built Constantinople by Divine command. The walls of Constantine extended from the Sea of Marmora to the Euxine. An imperial palace, thirteen other palaces, four- teen churches, numerous public buildings, and more than 4000 superior private dwellings sprang up, as if by magic, at an almost incredible expense ; the amount appropriated for the building of the walls, the porticos, and the aqueducts was about twelve and a half millions of dollars. Many of the heathen temples were converted into Christian churches, the city was consecrated to Christ, and the statues of Helena his mother, and of Constantine, carried in their hands the Christian symbol of the cross. But even then heathenish notions that possessed his mind found expression in the construction, by his order, of his own statue, of gilt wood, set up on a triumphal car, which was led in solemn procession through the Hippodrome, to which the people, and afterwards, on the anniversary of the city's birthday, also the reigning emperor, paid the homage of adoration. He also set up in the centre of the Forum a lofty column, surmounted, more than 120 feet from the ground, by a colossal statue of Apollo, which had been transported either from Athens or else- where. It was of bronze, and represented the god of the day, 104 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D or, as it was afterwards interpreted, the emperor himself, with the sceptre in his right hand, and the globe of the world in his left, while a crown of rays, formed of the nails of the Passion, glittered on his head. The dedication of the city took place a.d. 330, and though by an edict engraved on a marble column, it received the title of Second or New Rome, the name of Constantinople has prevailed over it. Among the most important events of his reign is the Great -, Church Council of Nicsea, over which he presided, and in which was set forth the confession of belief, known as the Creed. His interest in the Christian religion was undoubt- edly great, and he even often preached to thousands of hearers, who by general invitation had flocked to the palace. He stood erect, and poured forth his sermon with a grave voice and a solemn face. Now and then the audience cheered him, when he would point upwards, bidding them by that gesture give glory to God, and not to himself. But he was not always so gentle ; for on one occasion, desirous of rebuking those who, though they cheered his sentiments, failed to put them to practice, he seized one of his courtiers, noted for rapacity, and drawing on the ground with his spear the figure of a man, said to him, "In this space is contained all that you will carry with you after death." On the eve of an expedition against Sapor H. , king of Persia, he fell sick, and went to Helenopolis for the mineral waters. Until then he had not been baptized, but now craved that sac- rament. In the palace of the suburb of Nicomedia he laid aside the purple, and was clothed in white ; the couch on which he lay was covered with white also, and the bishop Eusebius came -, in and baptized him. That happened in Easter week ; on Whitsun-Day at noon he died. His body was laid out in a coffin of gold, and borne to the palace at Constantino- ple, where for the space of three months it lay in state. Euse- bius had placed in the dead man's hand his will, which was to 325-327.] CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. 105 be given to his son Constantius, who was away. It is said to have expressed the emperor's belief that his brothers and their children had poisoned him, and to have bidden Constantius to avenge his death. The result was the massacre of six imperial princes, and the flight of two others. To the Church of the Apostles, the mausoleum provided by himself, his body was borne and laid to rest in a sarcophagus of porphyry. In that church the Byzantine emperors lay in impe- rial state until their coffins were rifled, and their bodies cast out in the Fourth Crusade. A sarcophagus, called ' ' of Constantine," is preserved in the Museum in the Seraglio. Constantine was a remarkable man, and both as a conqueror and a ruler deserves the name of Great. He made Christianity the religion of the empire, but tolerated Paganism. He was superstitious, and in the latter years of his life jealous and vin- dictive. By his order his own son Crispus was put to death either by the sword or by poison, and Fausta, his wife, suffo- cated in a bath. In many things he deserves neither the admi- ration nor the imitation of mankind. REFERENCES. Gibbon, " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Milman's edition, vol. n.; Stanley, "History of the Eastern Church," N'.Y. 1862, pp. 282-317. Smith, " Dictionary," etc., under " Constantine." NOTE. The land of the blind, opposite to Byzantium, designates the city of Chalcedon, whose founders having the choice of two sites, were blind to the superior advantages of the site of Byzantium, which was founded seventeen years after the settlement of then- own city. Herod. IV. 144. 106 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D. Reigns from KEIGNS FROM ATT'TTT A 434-454] AlllLA. The Huns in ancient times ranged over the vast tracts of Central Asia extending from the Volga eastward to the Pacific ; they were the terror of the nations of Asia, and especially of the Chinese, who, as early as about two and a half centuries before the Christian era, constructed a wall, from twenty to twenty-five feet high and fifteen hundred miles in length, against their in- roads. In those early days the Chinese were tributary to them ; they had to pay every year not only money and silk, but were required to send also a chosen band of their fairest daughters to become the wives of the fierce and uglyHunnish chiefs. There are still extant the verses of a Chinese princess who bewails her sad lot as such a wife, condemned to have sour milk for her only drink, raw flesh for her only food, and a tent for her only palace, and wishing herself a bird that she might fly back to her dear country and loved home. - ^ The Huns were so ugly that they were regarded to be the offspring of witches and fiends. Their forms were strong and muscular, rather below than of a middle size. Their shoulders were broad, their necks short and thick ; their foreheads narrow, their noses flat ; they had small, black, and piercing eyes, deeply buried in the head ; thin, black, slanting eyebrows, long and protruding ears, large mouths, and hardly any beard. They made their appearance still more repulsive b}^ gashing their cheeks, partly to terrify their enemies by such unsightly scars, and partly to prevent the growth of the beard. In summer they wore linen smocks, in winter the skins of beasts ; they wrapped goat-skins round their limbs, wore rough shoes of monstrous size, and huge fur caps. They did not prepare their food by means of fire ; they ate herbs, roots, and berries as they grew, 374-375.] ATTILA. 107 and raw flesh made mellow by being placed as a saddle on their horses. Besides tents they had only rude huts covered with reeds. They almost lived on horseback, they ate and slept there, and even attended public assemblies on their horses. Warfare was their life and their delight. They surprised the enemy by rushing upon him like a whirlwind, with terrible yells ; then the}' scattered with amazing speed in all directions, but as quickly returned to the assault with irresistible fury. At a distance they employed arrows and spears tipped with sharp- ened bones ; in close combat they used the sword, and held in readiness a lasso with which they caught, and dragged after them, those who had escaped their sword. On the march an innumerable multitude of carts, with their wives and children, followed their army. Towards the close of the fourth century the Chinese had van- quished the Huns, and compelled them to leave their p ancient haunts in Central Asia. Seeking a new home the}' moved in prodigious numbers westward, crossed r- the Volga, and encountered in the plains between that river and the Don the Alani, who joined them. Then the Huns and the Alani amalgamated and passed over the Don, where they overwhelmed the Ostrogoths, separated from the Visigoths by the river Dniester. The victorious Huns then crossed that river also, and forced the Visigoths to leave their country to find a new home beyond the Danube under the protection of Valens, the Roman emperor of the East, while some, led by Athanaric their king, escaped into the mountainous country of Caucaland, or Transylvania. The Huns, the Alani, and the Ostrogoths together pushed farther westward and established themselves in Hungary and Southern Russia. The violent impulse given by these colossal movements in Eastern Europe was also felt in Western Europe, and for the space of about two centuries disturbed the peace and repose of the p _ whole continent. It is known in history as the Great Migration of Nations. 108 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D. During that time the emperor Theodosius, upon his death, 1 divided the Roman empire into two parts. Of his two sons, Honorius, the younger, became emperor of the West, and his dominions embraced parts of North Africa, -| Italy, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Rome was its capital, and this empire lasted about a century longer. Arcadius, his elder son, became emperor of the East, and his dominion extended over Egypt, parts of Asia, Greece, and Macedonia. -| Its capital was Constantinople, and it continued until the capture of that city by Mohammed II. About 70 years after the establishment of the Huns and their -1 allies in the region of Hungary and Russia, Attila became their king. He was a true Hun for ugliness, small of stature, but as strong in body as he was firm of will. His step was haught}' and defiant, and when he fiercely rolled his small and piercing eyes, he filled with terror those who saw him. His capital, or rather his camp, was in the plains of Upper Hungary, between the Theiss and the Danube. Within the enclosure of a lofty wooden wall, or palisade of square, smooth timber, lay his village of wooden dwellings. His house, also built of wood, was commodious and adorned with rude magnificence. The room of his queen, at least, had a carpeted floor. His dress, his arms, and the trappings of his horse were plain and of one color. Though the other Huns were fond of displaying on their tables the gold and silver plate of which they had spoiled their enemies, the table of Attila was served in wooden cups and platters ; flesh was his only food, and he never tasted bread. In that village of the wilderness the heathen potentate received ambassadors from the most distant regions, who came to court his favor, even from Rome and Constantinople. Silent and stern, or fiercely angry, he sat in a wooden chair, and amazed the ambassadors of the emperor with the question: "What fortress, what cit}^ in the wide extent of the Roman empire, can hope to exist, secure and impregnable, if it is our pleasure that it should be erased from the earth? " 375-450.] ATTILA. 109 At a banquet to which they were invited, two Scythian min- strels rehearsed in glowing verse the valor and the victories of Attila, which animated the martial enthusiasm of the rude warriors, while the performances of two buffoons excited their mirth. His empire was immense, and extended from the confines of Gaul to those of China. One day a shepherd found in the ground an old sword, which he presented to Attila, who declared that it was the sword of the Scythian god of war, the possession of which rendered the owner invincible. This the Huns readily believed, and saw further confirmation of their belief in the death, or more cor- rectly, in the murder, of Bleda, the king's brother. The terror with which he filled his subjects, who trembled to lift their eyes to the divine majesty of the invincible king, spread also among the nations of Christendom whom he sought to impress with the idea that he was the terrible Antichrist, and the savage cruelty of this bloodthirsty conqueror has earned for him, by common consent, the dreadful surname of Godegisel, that is, the Scourge of God. The story of his ravage of the country from the Adriatic to the Black Sea was long remembered ; where his Huns had been, destruction and desolation remained, and not less than 70 cities of the Eastern empire lay in ruins. He was virtually the master of that empire, who of his clemency compelled the nominal ruler to submit to the most harsh and humiliating con- ditions of peace. Then followed, on various pretexts, his invasion of Western Europe at the head of half a million of warriors, who left destruction in their path through Austria and Germany to the confluence of the Neckar and the Rhine. The cities were reduced to ashes, and the people put to the sword. Thus he entered Gaul, it is believed, by the way of Strassburg, and marched upon Orleans. An obstinate siege ensued ; the Huns had shaken the walls with their battering rams, and mastered the 110 ANCIENT HISTORY. [A.D. suburbs; such of the people^ as were unable to bear arms, lay prostrate in prayer to God for help ; then in the hour of their supreme distress, the good bishop Anianus saw from the rampart a small cloud in the distance, and cheered the brave defenders with the glad tidings that it was the help of God. The cloud grew larger and came nearer, a strong breeze scattered the dust, the Roman and Gothic banners were seen, and the mighty host of Aetius and Theodoric came to relieve the stronghold of Orleans. Attila at once raised the siege, and ordered his army to retreat to the Cataulanian fields, a vast plain in the neighbor- hood of Chalons ; the Romans pressed hard upon the Huns, -| and compelled them to give battle. The contest was terrific and fatal to the Huns. The battle raged all da}', the blood of more than 250,000 slain ran in torrents, and legend says, caused a small stream to rise so high that it swept awa^- their bodies. Had the Romans been able to push their advan- tage, they might have annihilated the army of Attila. As it was, Attila had prepared for the worst, and ordered the saddles of his cavalry to be reared into a funeral pile, to be set on fire if his intrenchments should be forced, it being his purpose to rush into the flames, rather than fall dead or alive into the hands of the enemy. Attila returned to Hungary, and as soon as he had recruited his forces, set out for Italy to fetch Honoria, the emperor's sister, as his bride, and to take possession of her dowry, the dominion of the Western empire. He passed the Alps and besieged Aquileia with a multitude of barbarians. After a three months' inefl"ectual siege, the want of provisions and the clamors of his army induced Attila to order a retreat. On the day before, he rode, gloomy and angry at his failure, round the walls, and noticed a stork with her young leave her nest and -| fly to the country. This, he told his warriors, was an omen of victory ; the siege was renewed ; a large breach was made in that part of the wall where the stork had had her nest, through which myriads of Huns poured in, and, with irre- 451-453.] ATTILA. HI sistible fury demolished the place so absolutel}', that the next generation could hardly find the ruins. He overran and ravaged the greater part of Lombardy. Many of the people fled and found a safe refuge in the islands of the Adriatic, where they founded the city of Venice. In his progress, Attila had pitched his camp on the Mincio, preparatory" to a march upon Rome, when there appeared before him a distinguished Roman embassy, in the persons of Avienus, and Leo the Great, then bishop of Rome. His wise and elo- quent appeals touched the heart of Attila, who perhaps from superstitious fear of the consequences of an attack on the city of Rome, or influenced by the ravages of disease resulting from the excesses of his soldiers, yielded to Leo's entreaties, agreed to an armistice, but threatened to return if Honoria, his impe- rial bride, were not delivered to his ambassadors at the time stated in the treaty. Then, laden with the rich spoil of more than a hundred cities, Attila and his hordes retraced their march to Hungary. Meanwhile, Attila, who, like other Asiatics, practised polyg- amj' , had led home to his wooden palace beyond the Danube another wife, the beautiful Ildico, or Hildegund. The marriage was celebrated with barbaric splendor amidst the boisterous rejoicings of the camp. Alarmed by the failure of Attila to appear amongst them, they repaired to his palace, and tried to awaken him by martial cries. But as he did not respond, they forced their way to the royal apartment, where they found the bride veiled, sitting before the corpse of Attila. He had r burst an artery. The Huns were paralyzed with terror and sorrow. They laid him in state under a silken pavilion set up in the midst of the plain. Chosen squadrons of horse wheeled round and chanted a wild funeral song. They cut off their hair, gashed their faces with unsightly wounds, and rehearsed the praises of the dead hero, who glorious in life, invincible in death, had been the father of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror 112 ANCIENT HISTORY. of the world. The remains were placed in three coffins, of gold, silver, and iron, and privately buried during the night ; his weapons and precious spoil were cast into his grave ; the cap- tives who had dug it, they forced to absolute reticence as to the place of his burial, for they were massacred on the spot; and then they kept with boisterous mirth the funeral feast. Such was the end of Attila, whose name was the terror of the nations, and whose empire had extended from the frontier of China to the Atlantic Ocean. His death was hailed as a uni- versal blessing. The emperor Marcian, according to legend, beheld in a dream, on the auspicious night of the event, the broken bow of Attila, and breathed freely. The huge and disjointed fabric of his empire fell into pieces. The subdued nations sliook off the hated and galling yoke of the Huns, who under the contentions of numerous claimants to the inheritance of Attila gradually destroyed one another, and a new flood of other barbarians of the North finally extinguished the empire of the Huns. The rise and fall of the Huns had been instrumental in the fall of the Western empire. The last emperor, Augustulus, disgraced the name of the first king, and of the first emperor of Rome. Odoacer, a Rugian, had^ risen in the imperial guard at -| Rome, and been prominent in the support of Orestes, when he caused his son Romulus Augustulus to be chosen emperor. For that service the barbarians demanded to be re- warded with the third of the soil of Italy, to be divided among them. Orestes refusing their demand, Odoacer bade the mal- contents joiil his standard, as the surest and easiest road to the accomplishment of their purpose. So Odoacer went to war against Orestes and shut him up in Pavia ; he besieged the place and took it by storm ; the town was pillaged and Orestes put to death ; in an action near Ravenna, Paul, the brother of -| Orestes, was slain, and Odoacer, as victor, deposed the helpless Augustulus, gave him a castle in Lower Italy, and soon after assumed the style and title of " King of Italy." CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY. 113 Thus ended the Roman empire. The fall of the Western emph-e is the last event recorded in Ancient History. REFERENCES. Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Milman's edition, vol. III. ; Smith, "Dictionary," etc., under "Attila," which gives also an account of important collateral literature; Creasy, "Fifteen Decisive Battles." German students will find much and interesting information of Attila in the Nihelungen Lied. CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY. The dates of events in Grecian History anterior to B.C. 776 are uncertain and conjectural. That year is the era of the Greeks, from which they measured time by Olympiads, or periods of four years. The first authentic Olympiad is known as that of Coroebus the Elean, who gained the prize in the foot-race at the Olympic games celebrated in the year B.C. 776. The games were celebrated every five years, and the period of four years which elapsed between two successive celebrations of the great national festival was called an Olympiad. The Koman historians measured time from the year of the founda- tion of the city, expressed by the letters A.U.C., that is, ab urhe condita, in English, "from the foundation of the city," placed by M. Terentius Verro on the 21st of April in the third year of the sixth Olympiad, that is, B.C. 753. Modern writers follow the more convenient method of calculating events by the year before Christ, expressed by the letters B.C., and after Christ, as expressed by the letters A.D. Ancient History, B.C. 1261? Hercules. 776 ? Lycurgus. First Olympiad. 753. Romulus. Rome founded. 594. Solon archon and legislator at Athens. 509. Expulsion of the Tarquins. Death of Junius Brutus. 490. Miltiades. Battle of Marathon. 480. Leonidas. Thermopylae. 114 ANCIENT HISTORY, B.C. 480. Themistocles. Salamis. 444. Pericles. 439. Athens at the height of its glory. 431-404. The Peloponnesiaii War. 404. Death of Alcibiades. 399. Death of Socrates. 356. Birth of Alexander the Great. 336. Assassination of Philip, and accession of Alexander. 323. Death of Alexander. 264-241. First Punic War. Duilius and Regulus. 218-201. Second Punic War. Hannibal. 183. Death of Hannibal. 149-146. Third Punic War. Scipio Afi'icanus Junior. 146. Destruction of Carthage. 60. The First Triumvirate. Pompey. Caesar. Crassus. 44. Murder of Csesar on the ides of March. A.D. 272-337. Constantine the Great. 325. The First General Council of Nice. 330. Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman empire. -_-^ 434. Attila and Bleda become kings of the Huns. 444. Attila, sole king. 451. Defeat of Attila on the Cataulanian Fields. 453. Death of Attila. 476. Odoacer, king of Italy. Fall of the Western empire. II. MEDIEVAL HISTORY. 11. MEDIEVAL HISTORY. JUSTINIAN. [483-565 In the fifth year of the reign of Justinian the terrible sedi- tion, known as the Nika, that is, ' ' Vanquish," broke out at p Constantinople. There were two factions in the Circus, or Hippodrome, called from the colors they wore, the Blues and the Greens, which gave their names to two strong and irrecon- cilable political parties. The people were divided in their at- tachment, and even the court favored this or that side. The outburst of the sedition was extremely violent, the city was in flames, murder raged in the streets, a counter-emperor was elected, and Justinian contemplated flight. After it had raged for five days, the tumult was suppressed by the savage energy of Belisarius, who entered the Hippodrome with 3,000 veterans, and caused the indiscriminate massacre of 30,000 persons. After the suppression of the Nika, the emperor began to think of conquest. He dispatched Belisarius with an army of 15,000 into North Africa to recover from the Vandals r .^^ the province which about a century before they had wrested from the "Western empire, on the plea, that the East- ern empire, as heir of the Western, might urge a lawful claim. When Belisarius went into Africa, Gelimer was king of the Vandals, who, after three generations in the luxurious prosperity of a warm climate, had become too weak to resist the impetuous 116 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. assault of the Romans, who entered the city of Carthage -| amid the acclamations of her people. Gelimer was com- pelled to flee to the mountains of Numidia, and entered the strong and inaccessible place of Papua. Pharas, an officer of Belisarius, laid siege to the place, trusting to conquer by famine the resolute obstinacy of the king, who, in the ex- tremity of his distress, wrote a letter to the humane Pharas, in which he begged him to send him a harp, a sponge, and a loaf of bread ; the harp, to sing to it the story of his sorrows ; the sponge, to dry up his tears ; and the loaf, to still his hunger. His request was granted, but the severity of the siege was not relaxed, and Gelimer was forced to surrender. Belisarius led him in triumph to Constantinople, and the king of the Vandals drew comfort from repeating on that humiliating occasion the -J words of the wise king, ' ' Vanity of vanities ! All is vanity ! " Thus ended the kingdom of the Vandals, and became a province of the Eastern empire. Encouraged by the brilliant success of the African expedi- -, tion, Justinian in the next year undertook the task of 535 expelling from Italy the Ostrogoths, who, upon the de- feat of Odoacer, had established themselves in the Peninsula, and, under the victorious lead of Theodoric, founded an empire which extended from Sicily to the Danube, and from Sirmium to the Atlantic. Belisarius with an army of 7,000 invaded and subdued Sicily, and speedily entered Italy. The smaller towns of Lower Ital^^ offered no resistance. Naples was carried by storm, and Rome, -| glad of the departure of the Goths, opened her gates to the victorious lieutenant of Justinian. The Goths, however, had not departed for good, but returned and besieged the city with a colossal army for more than a 3^ear, during which not less than one-third of their number was de- stroyed in frequent and bloody combats. The genius of Beli- sarius finally compelled them to raise the siege, and Vitiges their king to seek the shelter of the walls and morasses of 533-565.] JUSTINIAN. 117 Ravenna. In that impregnable stronghold he might have in- definitely protracted the struggle, but he consented to capitu- late and join Belisarias on his return to Constantinople, to which envy, under the thinly veiled pretext of necessity, had summoned him. "The remnant of the Gothic war," said the official letter of recall, " was no longer worthy of his presence : a gracious sovereign was impatient to reward his service, and to consult his wisdom ; and he alone was capable of defending the East against the innumerable armies of Persia." The departure of Belisarius was the signal of a tumultuous rising of the Ostrogoths so strong and vital that they speedily recovered almost the whole of Italy under the lead of the youthful Totila, a name which in the Gothic tongue signifies deathless. Even Rome had fallen ; her walls had been p razed, and her inhabitants expelled. The incompetency of the Roman generals induced the suspi- cious Justinian to intrust the conduct of the Gothic war to Belisarius ; but the army placed under his command was insuffi- cient, and after five years of ineffectual warfare, which, however shed the lustre of consummate skill on his generalship, he r- craved and obtained leave to return to Constantinople. Once more, after the lapse of ten 3'ears, Belisarius triumphed b}^ his skill over the Bulgarians, who had threatened the capi- tal. In consequence of the false charge of his share in a con- spiracy against the life of Justinian, the veteran hero was deprived of his fortune, and confined a prisoner in his own house for the space of six months. The establishment of his innocence restored him to freedom and honor, but he p died soon after, and the ungrateful emperor rewarded his long, faithful, and glorious service not with a monument worthy of his fame, but with the confiscation of his property. The story that he was deprived of sight, and wandered through the streets of Constantinople, begging, "Give a penn}^ to Belisarius the general ! " is a poetical myth, possibly designed to set forth the oiarino; ino-ratitude of Justinian. 118 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. After the recall of Belisarius, Narses at the head of a pow- erful army was sent to Italy. Though small in stature, and of a feeble frame, he was a man of great intellectual strength and military skill. On the field of Taginse he met the Goths, -| and defeated them; 6,000 of their number were slain without merc}', among them the brave and heroic Totila. The Goths carried off his body, but the Romans sent his jew- elled hat and his blood-stained robe to Justinian as tokens of victory. Narses entered Rome, but soon set out to meet the Goths, -, who led by Teias, their newly chosen king, were assem- bled in force at Cumse. A terrible and decisive battle was fought. The courage of the Goths was prodigious, and the conduct of Teias brilliantly heroic. Like another Leonidas he stood with a lance in his right hand, and a buckler in his left, slaying the foremost of his assailants with the one, and warding off the blows that rained upon him, with the other. The weight of twelve javelins which hung from his buckler, after a combat of many hours, had fatigued his left arm, a;^d he called, without suspending his blows, for another buckler. In the change, a mortal dart 'en1:ered his side, and he fell. His death inflamed the Goths to more desperate resistance, and they held out until the evening of the second day. On the morning of the third, convinced " that heaven had not destined them to rule Italy," they accepted the honorable terms proposed by Narses, either to remain in Italy as the soldiers and subjects of Justinian, or to depart with part of their private possessions to another country. -, The last remnants of the Goths were subdued in the 554 I following year, when the overthrow of the Gothic mon- archy was completed, and Italy was debased into a province of the Eastern empire. The province was called the Exarchate, and the throne of the Gothic kings was filled by the exarchs of Ravenna. Narses, the first and most powerful of the exarchs, governed the entire kingdom of Italy for fifteen years. 529-565.] JUSTINIAN. 119 His administration, though strong and effective, could not shield him from the effects of his avarice and oppression, p The fear of a revolt gave color to the efforts of his ene- mies, who procured from Justin II., the nephew and successor of Justinian, his removal from office. The story runs that the man- date of his recall contained the insulting message of the empress, ' ' he might return to the distaff as better suited to him than the exercise of arms," which drew from him the indignant reply, " I will spin her such a thread as she shall not easily unravel." He did not return to Constantinople, but went to Naples, and, although at the instance of the pope he made his peace with the emperor, he is credited with having invited the Lombards to invade Italy. The emperor Justinian died a.d. 565. As a man he was the superior of most of the emperors in many private and p public virtues, which would have yet been greater but for the influence of Theodora his wife, whom he raised from the dubious notoriety of a theatrical life to the imperial throne. Always ambitious, fond of admiration, and the dupe of flat- terers, he became towards the end of his life not only avaricious, but jealous and exacting. He was not a soldier, but owed his conquests to the genius of Belisarius, to whom he meted out the reward of base and heartless ingratitude. Those conquests have crumbled into dust, but he has achieved more lasting fame by his merits in the reformation of the laws. He commissioned Tribonian, his minister, to frame a new Code of laws from the imperial constitutions, to collect p the commentaries of those laws by the most learned lawyers, known as the Pandects^ and to set forth a systematic treatise on the laws, called the Institutes. These three great works, the Code., the Pandects., and the Institutes., were set forth as the Law of the Empire, and form what is called the Corpus Juris., that is, the Body, or Collection of the Laws. In his reign were also executed many extensive public works, 120 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. such as vast lines of fortifications, numerous bridges, aqueducts, hospitals, and churches, throughout the various provinces of his empire. Perhaps the most celebrated of all the buildings hv- erected is the cathedral of St. Sophia at Constantinople, which, converted by the Turks into a mosque, remains, at least in part, as a standing monument of his imperial magnificence. Ten thousand workmen were engaged in its erection for six years. When, on the day of its consecration, Justinian beheld it in the splendor of its glory, he exclaimed with devout vanity, "I have vanquished thee, O Solomon ! " His reign is also distinguished by the introduction of the silk industry into Europe. Until then the manufactured article was brought by caravans from the far East, and commanded a price equal to its weight in gold. During his wars with Persia the supply was entirely suspended, and various plans for obtaining the fabric were under consideration, when there arrived at Con- stantinople two Persian monks, who had been in China, and felt confident, from what they had observed, that although the im- portation of the silkworm was impracticable, that of their eggs presented no difficulties. The emperor encouraged their views, and at his bidding the monks uuderwent the perilous venture of a second visit to China. They deceived the natives as to the real purport of their journey by concealing the coveted eggs in hollow canes, and returned with them in safety. Under their direction, in due time, they were artificially hatched, and fed on mulberry leaves. The insects throve and multiplied, trees also were planted for their benefit, and in the next reign, Eastern ambassadors acknowledged that the O reeks were not inferior to the Chinese in the culture of the insects, and the manufacture of silk. REFERENCES. Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. IV. pp. 41-386, Boston ed. 1854 ; Milman, " Latin Christianity," vol. I. pp. 449 to end, ed. N.Y. 1860. 483-565.] JUSTINIAN. 121 NOTE. Belisarius. The account of the disgrace and restoration of Belisar rius given in the text agrees with the genuine original account con- tained in the Fragment of John Malala (vol. II. pp. 234-243), and the Chronicle of Theophanes (pp. 194-204). The revival of the fable by Lord Mahon, in his Life of Belisarius, rests on the dubious authority of an unquoted anonymous writer of the eleventh century and of Tzetzes of the twelfth century. The theory of Alemannus, adopted by Le Beau, and favored by IMilman, that the case of Belisarius was confounded with that of John of Cappadocia, who was thus reduced to beggary, commends itself to m}'' judgment. A statue in the Villa Borghese at Rome, in a sitting posture, with an open hand, which is often described as representing Belisarius, is in the judgment of AVinckelraann, one of the most competent art critics, that of Augustus in the act of propitiating ISTemesis. See Suetonius "m August.'' c. 91, and AVinckelmann, "Hist, de I'Art," vol. in. p. 266. The French romance of M. de Marmontel repeats the fabulous account, and Madame de Genlis in her charming " Belisaire " makes Narses the author of her hero's blindness, although she gives m a note a summary of the true history. The celebrated painting of Van Dyck, which used to be in the duke of Devonshire's Gallery at Chiswick, represents Belisarius in a sitting posture, attended by a youthful guide, holding up his helmet as an alms-basin, while a soldier sadly gazes upon the melancholy fate of his old general. 122 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. 569-632] MOHAMMED. The city of Mecca, in the peninsula of Arabia, was the birth- -| place of Mohammed. He was the only son of Abdallah and Amina. His father died when he was only two months old, and left him but five camels and an Ethiopic slave. The death of his mother, which occurred in his sixth year, made him a full orphan. His uncle, Abu Taleb, a respectable mer- chant, gave him a home, and brought him up with the intention of following mercantile pursuits. He was his companion on a business journe}^ into Syria. In his twenty-fifth year he entered into the service of Cadi j ah, the widow of a wealthy merchant, where his business capacity and fidelity so endeared him to his mistress that she gave him her hand and her fortune. The religion of the Arabs at that time was the paganism prev- alent in a large part of Asia, and consisted in the worship of the sun, the moon, and the fi^ed stars. They acknowledged one Supreme God, but paid divine honor to the heavenly bodies, to angels and their images, regarding them as inferior deities and their mediators with the most high God. But they were also idolaters and worshipped not only the statues of men, but images of animals, such as lions, horses, eagles, etc., and even stones. Some Arabs believed neither a creation past, nor a resurrection to come ; others believed both, and provided that when they died, their camel should be tied to their tomb and left to perish without food or drink, to accompany them to the other world, lest they should be obliged at the resurrection to go on foot. Some believed that the blood near a dead person's brain became a bird which once in a century visited his tomb, while others held that the soul of one unjustly slain entered into 569-632.] MOHAMMED. 123 that bird, which continually cries " Oscuni, Oscuni," that is, "Give me to drink," meaning the murderer's blood, till his death be avenged, and that then it would fly away. In and about the Caaba of Mecca were not less than 360 idols ; there is no doubt that the cruel practice of human sacri- fices was long preserved among the Arabs, and tradition says that even Abdallah, the father of Mohammed, had been devoted to death, but ransomed by a hundred camels. The religious usages of the Arabs were as various as their tribes, who lived in perpetual feuds, and thus sapped the strength of the nation. The need of a savior and deliverer was universally felt, and Mohammed in musing on the low estate of his people and countr}^ deemed it to be his mission to raise them b}^ preaching to them the doctrine of one God. On his journeys, and at Mecca, where a great commercial fair was held, he had abundant opportunity to become acquainted with the faith and practice of the Jews and Christians, and reached the conclusion that the true religion had suffered at the hands of both. He resolved to restore the faith of Abraham, the patriarch and progenitor of the Arabs, and proclaim it as the only true religion. Abraham, being the father of Ishmael, from whom the Arabs claim descent, is their patriarch, and Mohammed was of the race of Ishmael. Mohammed was forty years old when he assumed the title of a prophet, and proclaimed his revelations. It had been his custom for many years to spend a month in the solitude of a cave in Mount Hara, not far from Mecca. It was there that r 609 the angel Gabriel appeared unto him and told him that he was appointed the apostle or prophet of God. This he told his wife, who received the news with great joy and told it her cousin, who shared her belief and enthusiasm. Other converts followed in the persons of Zeid, his purchased servant, whose faith he rewarded by giving him his freedom, and of his youth- ful cousin Ali, then only nine years old. His next convert was Abu Beer, a man of great authority among the Koreish, whose 124 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. example was followed by six of the most influential men of Mecca. The mission of Mohammed was kept secret for three 3^ears, -, but announced to the world in the fourth year, on the occasion of a banquet at which about forty of his relatives appeared. After they had partaken of the lamb and the milk he had provided, Mohammed addressed them thus: "Friends and kinsmen, I offer you, and I alone can offer, the most pre- cious of gifts, the treasures of this world, and of the world to come. God has commanded me to call you to His service. Who among you will join me and become my brother, and vizier? " All were silent ; at last the boy Ali, then in his four- teenth year, arose, saying, "O prophet, I am the man," and threatened to destroy all who should oppose him. The braggart speech excited the derisive laughter of the company. Abu Taleb, the father of the youthful and belligerent Ali, tried to make Mohammed give up his foolish and dangerous purpose. But he was deaf to his counsels and entreaties, and cut them off by the declaration, that though they set the sun against him on his right hand, and the moon on his left, they would not divert him from his course. In the seventh year of his miission he had to mourn the death -, of Abu Taleb, and of Cadi j ah his wife. Deprived of their support, Mohammed had now to face the opposition of powerful and fanatical enemies, and to recruit his converts from the strangers, who on mercantile or religious errands were wont to flock to Mecca in great numbers. The tribe of the Koreish, to which he belonged, was bitterly hostile to him. They were the rulers of Mecca, and had the custody of the Caaba ^ the most venerable sanctuary of the pagan Arabs, where among numerous other objects of worship, was preserved the black stone, which was said to have been sent by God from heaven. The Koreishites, who drew a large revenue from the Caaba ^ dreaded the rise of the new movement as hostile to the old idolatrous religion, and dangerous to their 612-622.] MOHAMMED. 125 interest. They saw in every new convert to the religion of Mohammed a renewed cause of their hatred and enmity, which at last became so violent that he was compelled to leave Mecca, and flee to Medina. The year of his fliglit marks the era of the Hegira^ a word which in Arabic signifies the flight. It is still in use among the ]\Iohammedan nations, who regard it as the beoinnino; of r their religion, and date events from it as we do from the year of the birth of Christ. Strictly speaking, the first Moham- medan New Year fell on Friday, July 16, a.d. 622. At Medina, where he had a number of adherents, Mohammed was kindly received, and on the day just named entered " the city of the prophet" as a conqueror crowned with victory rather than as a fugitive or an exile. The number of his followers now grew apace, and he established himself b}' erecting the first mosque, and building a modest house. Legend says that the angel Gabriel had revealed to the prophet the secret of the conspiracy at Mecca ; that he met the conspirators, or their messengers, on their errand of death as he was leaving his house, and threw at them a handful of dust, which struck them blind, and enabled him to pass nnhurt through their midst. But the pursuers hounded his steps, and as they drew near, he sought concealment in a cave. When they came to the cave, they found its entrance closed with a spider's web and the nest of a dove containing two eggs. These tokens convinced them that no one could have recently entered the cave, and they abandoned the pursuit. Mohammed, overwhelmed by this wonderful deliverance, showed his gratitude by enjoining his followers not to kill a spider, and to respect the dove as a sacred bird. At Medina he soon felt strong enough to assume the exercise of the royal and priestly oflSce. It was his mission, he said, to establish the new religion, peaceably if he might, but with the sword if he must ; idolatr}^ and infidelity must be destroyed, and it was decreed that his believing hosts should conquer the world. 126 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. To believe was to enjoy and possess. " The sword," he said, ' ' is the key of heaven and of hell ; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of prayer and fasting ; whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven ; at the day of judgment his wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and fragrant as musk ; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim." Fate, moreover, he taught, was unchangeably fixed, and no man could escape his destin}^ ; if he were ordained to die in his bed, he would be safe and invulnerable in the heat of battle. These promises, and the assurance of a large share of the spoils of conquest, fired the enthusiasm and promoted the cour- age of the followers of Mohammed. Victory was inscribed upon his banner, and the assured certainty of it enabled his hundreds to discomfit thousands of their foes. The whole of Arabia -] was overrun and subdued, and at last, he took Mecca, and broke in pieces the 360 idols of the Caaba. The Caaba, purified and adorned, he made the sanctuary of Islam, and enacted a perpetual law that no unbeliever should defile by his presence the territory of the holy city. His last solemn pilgrimage to Mecca he made at the head of not less than 40,000 of the faithful. Soon after, he returned to Medina, and died, sixty-three years old, as some say, from the effects of poison, but more probably, from an attack of fever. His head reclining on the lap of Ayesha, the best beloved of his wives, and his eyes raised towards the roof of the house, he said with a faltering voice : June 8, " O God ! — pardon my sins. — Yes — I come — among 632 my fellow-citizens on high," and breathed his last. The successors of Mohammed who extended the empire of the Arabs or Saracens were called Califs, or Chalifs, that is. Successors. From Medina, where they resided first, they moved to Damascus in Syria (a.d. 673), and lastly to Bagdad on the Tigris (a.d. 763). Their conquests were so great that for several centuries their empire exceeded that of Rome in 630-632.] MOHAMMED. 127 extent. Syria, as far as the Caucasus, Persia, Egypt, and North Africa obeyed their sway to the middle of the seventh century. In the beginning of the eighth century they invaded Spain, and expelled the Visigoths from that country. His body was placed in an iron coffin, and interred on the same spot where he died in the house of Ayesha, which is now enclosed within the mosque, enlarged by the chalif Walid, where the innumerable pilgrims to Mecca stop to honor the memory of the departed prophet. Mohammed is said to have been of middling size and robust of frame. His head was unusually large ; he wore his hair, which was curly, long, and his beard came down to the collar- bone. His face, of a light tawny color, was oval, and distin- guished by a broad forehead, long but narrow eyebrows, long e3^elashes, and sparkling jet-black eyes. An aquiline nose, thin lips and white teeth, the incisors asunder, complete the de- scription of his countenance. He had a stoop and was slightly humpbacked. A round, fleshy tumor on his back, covered with hair, was regarded by his devout followers as the seal of his mission. His gait was heavy, and, if he looked back, he turned the whole body. The whole of his presence was majestic, and the magnetism of his eloquence proverbial. His manner was grave and affable ; his wit ready, his memory tenacious, his imagination sublime, his judgment clear, and his courage prodi- gious. Simple and frugal in his habits, he deemed the loss of earthly goods of small moment. A leather pouch filled with date leaves was his pillow, and an Arabian cloak his bed. Barley-bread, dates, milk, and hone3" were his ordinary food. The summary of the teaching of Mohammed is expressed in the sentence, ''There is only one God and Mohammed is His prophet," of which the first part is as true as the second is false. He acknowledged the divine mission of Moses and Christ, though in a lower sense than his own. The necessary duties enjoined upon the Moslem include five daily ablutions, and on the principle that the practice of reli- 128 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. gion is founded on cleanliness, the very ground or the piece of carpet on which he prays are required to be scrupulously clean. Every good Moslem has therefore a prayer-carpet, called Seg- gad^h. He is required to pray five times in everj' 24 hours, and to say his prayers with his face turned in the direction of Mecca. It is his duty to abstain during the entire month of Ramadan, from sunrise to sunset, from eating, drinking, smok- ing, bathing, and all unnecessary worldly pleasure. He is also bound to give alms to the extent of one-tenth of his income, and enjoined to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The neglect of that duty, in the opinion of all good Moslems, is so dreadful that the delinquent " might as well die a Jew or a Christian." Prayer, which Mohammed was wont to call " the pillar of re- ligion" and "the key to paradise," according to him "would carry a man half way to God, fasting would take him to the door of His palace, and alms would procure him admission." The sacred book of the Moslems is called the Ko7'an, that is. The Reading, or The Book, and the}^ designate their faith or religion by the word Islam, which means the entire surrender of body and soul to God, his will and service, and to all the articles of faith, commandments, and ordinances revealed to Mohammed, and enjoined by'^im. The word Moslem, cor- rupted into Musalman, or Musulman, is derived from the same root, and denotes believers who have found peace, by accepting the Islam as just explained. Their priests or ministers are called Imaums, their high-priest bears the name of Mufti, and their monks are known as Dervishes. Friday is the Moslem's weekly day of rest, which, though set apart to religious worship, does not prevent their spending the remainder of the day either in business or recreation. The Moslems are forbidden, among other things, the use of wine and all intoxicating drink ; to eat swine's flesh ; to gam- ble ; to take usur^^ ; and to practise idolatry in any form. The Koran permits the practice of polygamy, and it is curious that, though a Moslem may marry a Christian or Jewish wife. 569-632.] MOHAMMED. 129 a Moliammedan woman must not, under any circumstances, man-y an unbeliever. REFERENCES. Gibbon, " History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. V. pp. 74-168, Milman's erL, N.Y. 1856; AVeil, "Mohammed the Prophet," Stuttgart, 1843 ; Sprenger, " Life of JMohammed from Original Sources," Allahabad, 1856; "The Koran," Sale's edition, PhUadelphia, 1856. 130 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. 682-735] BONIFACE. About the time when the religion of Mohammed displaced Christianity in Syria, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain, Chris- tian missionaries from England successfully established it in Germany. The Franks, the conquerors of Gaul, pushed the Visigoths to the Pyrenees, made the Burgundians tributary, subdued the country of the Alemanni and the Thuringians, and established an empire which, about the middle of the sixth century, extended -, from the Pyrenees to the Saale, and from the North Sea to the Alps. They accepted Christianity at an early period. Irish missionaries had labored among the Alemanni and Bavarians, — that is, in South Germany, — and planted there the Christian religion in the course of the seventh century. But the central and northern regions of Germany adhered obstinately to the pagan worship of the North. The first Christian missionary who carried Christianity into -| that part of Germany was Winfrid. He was a West Saxon, and a native of Crediton in Devonshire. At an early age he discovered a strong predilection for the monastic profession, and an invincible desire to preach the Gospel to the heathen. After a long preparation as a teacher and a priest, -J accompanied by three of his brethren, he set out for Friesland (Frisia) , and landed there at a time when the country was distracted by war. He went as far as Utrecht, but all his efforts were fruitless, and he deemed it prudent to return to his monastery, and wait for a more convenient season. Convinced that the success of his efforts depended on the patronage and support of those in power, he made up his mind 496-735.] BONIFACE. 131 to secure them by enlisting the approbation and sympa- r- thy of the pope, and directed his steps to Korae. In this he was entirely successful, and, charged b^- the pope to make Germany the sphere of his labors, stopped on his wa}^ with Liutprand, king of the Lombards, and passed into Bavaria and Thuringia, where he spent some time in preaching to the people, and in reforming the morals of the ignorant clergy. The successes of the Franks in Friesland induced him to revisit that country, and he passed the next three years with the aged Willibrord, at Utrecht, in earnest and efficient missionary labors. Eager to work where none had been before, he returned to Germany, and labored under severe trials among the p Hessians and Saxons so effectually, that after a few years he could point to a large number of fervent converts. The fame of his success had reached Gregory II., who sum- moned the missionary to Eome, and consecrated him r- bishop of Germany. Clothed with this dignity, and fur- nished with letters of commendation to the Frankish princes, he returned to his converts, and earned golden laurels p by the judicious zeal with which he furthered the work of the Gospel. He was a very courageous man, and understood not only how to preach, but to act at the right time. Near the village of Geismar, among the Hessians, on a high mountain, stood a venerable oak-tree consecrated to Thor, the god of thunder, which from time immemorial was visited at stated seasons by multitudes of the superstitious people for idolatrous purposes. On the occasion of such a festival, when the people had flocked together in large numbers to sacrifice to Thor, Winfrid, who at his consecration had received the name of Boniface, that is, the Benefactor, arrayed in his episcopal robes, and carrying the pastoral staff in his hand, suddenly appeared in their midst. Seizing an axe, he struck the tree with mighty blows, in the name of Christ. Loud were the curses of the pagans at this 132 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. act of sacrilege, and tlieir cries for revenge. They thought that their mighty god would protect his sacred tree, and destroy the impious offender ; but no ill ensued, and when Boniface and his companions had wielded the axe until they reached the core, the mighty tree came down with a tremendous crash and broke into four pieces. Seeing that the bishop stood unhurt and undaunted, they believed him, when he told them that there was no such god as Thor, then and there forswore paganism, and were baptized. Bonifa,ce then caused the oak to be cut up, a.nd ordered the wood to be used in the erection of a chapel which he consecrated to St. Peter. The apostolic labors of Boniface were very great. At his request missionaries came out from England, who labored under his direction with singular self-denial and zeal, though the bitter hostility of the pagan tribes not only destroj'ed the fruits of their labors, but endangered their lives. By one such incur- sion not less than 30 churches were levelled with the ground. Boniface, for the purpose of insuring a permanent supply of missionaries and efficient associates, founded quite a number of monasteries and convents. Plis first foundation was a small cell ; then arose the monasteries at Fritzlar and Amelburg, and at last, the magnificent abbey ofFulda, which after a few years contained as many as 400 monks. Convents were built at Bischofsheim, Kissingen, Heidenheim, and elsewhere. The labors of Boniface were not only religious, but truly civilizing. His monks taught the people agriculture and useful trades, and the ^'outh to read and write. He abol- ished slavery, and encouraged the building of hamlets and villages. The monks made fabrics of wool and linen, and the nuns were wont to sew, spin, and embroider. The clergy, moreover, instructed mechanics to work in metal, stone, and wood, and thus fostered art. After sometime Boniface was made archbishop, or metro- -| politan, of the whole of Germany, and in that capacity established bishoprics throughout its wide extent, wher- 732-752.] BONIFACE. 133 ever in Ms judgment they were required. All these bishops were under his jurisdiction, and he and they were bound to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope. On account of this widespread and long-continued sphere of his labors, Boniface has been called the Ajyostle of Germany. Towards the close of his life, Boniface fixed his residence in the city of Mentz, and at the request, or under the advice of pope Zachary, crowned Pepin, the mayor of the r- palace, king of the Franks. The sceptre of the Franks had gradually slipped from the feeble grasp of the Merovingian kings into the hands of Charles Martel and his sous, who were called Mayors of the Palace. The king himself was a mere figure-head who was once a year exhibited to the people, and the mayor of the palace was the real ruler. Pepin, impatient of the mockery of royalty, asked the bishop of Rome to decide which were better, either that he should hold the office and name of king who wielded the kingly power, or that the office and the name should be enjoyed by him who bore the name but had no power. The pope decided that it seemed to him better that the office and name of king should be enjoyed by him who wielded the power. Under the influence of this decision, Pepin sent Childeric, the last king of the race of Clovis, to the monastery of Sithiu, where he was shorn, which means, that by becoming a monk he was deposed, and Pepin became king. Not long after this important event the aged Boniface, accompanied b}* the retinue of a bishop, three priests, as many deacons, four monks, and 41 laymen, undertook a missionary journey to the first scene of his labors in Friesland. By his exhortations thousands of the idolaters were converted and baptized. The new converts were expected to appear a few weeks later, on the eve of Whitsun-day in the plain of Dockum, to be confirmed. At daybreak Boniface was told that a body of armed Frisians was approaching. The laymen were pre- paring to defend themselves, but Boniface, leaving liis tent, bade 134 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. them sheathe their swords and receive the martyr's crown. He had hardly ceased speaking, when the pagans rushed upon them, and in their fury slew them to a man. The dreadful news became known to the Christian Frisians, who in their turn fell upon their pagan countrymen and avenged in their blood the July 5, death of Boniface and his companions. Thus died the 755 good and apostolic Boniface. His remains were gathered up and removed to the abbey of Fulda, where may still be seen a copy of the Gospels written by him, and a leaf stained with his blood. The Anglo-Saxons considered Boniface as the glory of their nation, enrolled his name in the calendar, and chose him for one of the patrons of their church. REFERENCES. Liiigard, "Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church," Baltimore, 1857, pp. 258-268; Schmidt, "History of the Germans," Frankenthal, 1792, vol. XL EUROPE under -- CHARLES THE GREAT P I Eastern Empire | [ Western Caliphate I I Western Empire | | Eastern Caliphate 10 Longitude Eaet f reenwicb 20 -v * See. N. T, 742-814.] CHARLEMAGNE. 136 CHARLEMAGNE. [742-814 Pepin the Short had two sons, Charles and Carloman, who upon his death succeeded jointly to the throne. Charles, p at the time of his accession, was twenty-six years old. Carloman died after three years, and Charles became ("771 sole king of the Franks. The grand purpose of his reign, to which he adhered through- out, was the unification of all the nations of Western Europe into a Christian empire. His first effort in this direction was the conversion and sub- jection of the Saxons, a strong and belligerent people, that until then had maintained their independence, and successfully resisted the hostile attempts of other nations. Their country in the north-western part of Germany was covered with vast forests and morasses, and well suited to their habits and mode of life. They were troublesome and dangerous neighbors, and their hatred of the Franks was as strong as that of the Chris- tian religion. The Saxons were divided into four tribes, called the West- phalians, the Engers (Angrivarii), the Eastphalians, and the Northalbingians ; they occupied the country between the Elbe and the Rhine, the North Sea and the mountains of Hesse and Thuringia. They clung to primitive usage in maintaining the threefold division of the people into nobles, freemen, and f reed- men, and submitted to the rule of dukes, or martial leaders, onl}' in time of war. The nobles sought to establish a lordship over the freemen by keeping a large body of followers, p with whom they would often make incursions for plunder into the territory of the Franks. 136 * MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. At the Diet of Worms it was resolved to make war against the Saxons, and Charles invaded their territory, advanced as far as the Eresburg, a strong fortress, which he carried b}' storm, destroyed the Irmensul, an ancient and sacred trunk or tree, and compelled the enemy to sue for peace and give hos- tages. At the urgent request of pope Hadrian I., Charles espoused his cause against Desiderius, king of the Lombards, who was justly incensed against Charles for his treatment of his daughter, whom he had married, but discarded at the end of a year, and sent back to Desiderius. The widow of Carloman and her sons also had found a welcome refuge at his court, and out of revenge he importuned the pope to crown the sons of Carloman. The pope refusing, Desiderius overran and laid waste the papal territory. In this emergency the pope invoked the aid of Charles, who crossed the Alps, from Geneva, with two armies, -| by the Great St. Bernard and Mont Cenis, and rapidly descended into the plain of the Po. Desiderius sought the shelter of the strongly fortified cit}^ of Pavia, and Adelchis, his son, accompanied by the widow and children of Carloman, that of Verona. The open country quickly submitted to the arms of Charles. At Verona the widow and children of Carloman fell into his T hands, and found a home, and their graves, in France. 774] ' e. ' Pavia held out for many months, but had to capitulate, and Desiderius ended his days in the monastery of Corvey in Westphalia. Legend sa3's that Desiderius, when shut up in Pavia, had a great longing to see Charles, and ascended with a Prankish deserter, called Otker, the highest tower to watch the approach- ing host. The troops in charge of the baggage arrived first, and the king asked if Charles were among them. " Not yet," said Otker. A body of the rank and file came next, and the king repeated the same question. " Not yet," said Otker. The king became alarmed, as the number of the investino- host ojrew 568-777.] CHARLEMAGNE. 137 larger aud larger ; he inquired again and again, but the an- swer still rang, " Not yet." Presently a cloud seemed to rise in the west and move in their direction. It came nearer, and the vast plain glittered with arms. In the midst of the host moved a majestic figure encased in armor, seated on an iron- clad horse, a spear in his left hand, and his right ready to grasp the sword. All the soldiery around him wore armor, and the whole country seemed to be covered with iron, and to flash defiance and destruction. "That is your man," cried Otker, and Desiderius fell down in terror. Pending the siege of Pavia, Charles went to Rome, cele- brated Easter there, and placed the diploma, ratifying the mag- nificent donation of his father Pepin, upon the altar of St. Peter. At Pavia Charles was crowned with the iron crown of the Lombards, and called himself " King of the Franks and of the Lombards." That crown is made of gold, but owes tbe epithet " iron" to an iron band in the inside, said to have been wrought from a nail of the cross of Christ. Adelchis, the son of Desiderius, fled to Constantinople, and the Lombard kino'dom after an existence of more than two cen- r- . -, , T [568-774 tunes ceased to be. During the absence of Charles, the Saxons, as was their wont, rose in arms ; he marched a2:ainst them, aud reduced n them to terms ; but the truce was of short duration, for their hostilities were renewed the very next year when Charles returned to Italy in order to suppress an insurrection of the Lombards. They recovered the Eresburg and laid siege to Sigburg ; Charles hastened to its relief, aud defeated them ; he gave to those whom he could find, the option of sub- mitting to the baptism of water, or to that of blood, aud many of their numljers preferred the former and gave hostages. Such compulsory conversions, however, were neither lasting nor sincere, for both the unbaptized and baptized Saxons re- garded baptism as the grave of their liberty, and, although many of their number appeared at the bidding of Charles 138 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. at the Diet of Paderborn, and swore fealty, the absence of -, Wittekind, the most intrepid and powerful of their 777 J leaders, boded no good. To that Diet came also Moorish envoys from Saragossa, invoking the aid of Charles against the king of Cordova. He collected a large army, inA^aded Spain, and in a brilliant cam- paign conquered the country between the Pyrenees and the Ebro, which under the name of the Spanish Marche was incor- porated in his dominions. On his return, the rear of his arm}^ was molested by the -, Basques, in the pass of Roncesvalles, and almost annihilated. Among the slain was the famous Roland, of whose exploits so much has been written in the legends of chivalry. Charles had cause for a rapid march from the Peninsula of Spain to the banks of the Rhine, for the Saxons, led by Wit- tekind, were again in arms, and had not only destroyed the castles and churches which he had built, but also murdered the Prankish garrisons, laid waste the country to the Rhine, and advanced as far as Deutz opposite to Cologne. Charles pursued, overtook, and defeated them. He spent two years in their country, built churcKes and monasteries, founded bishoprics and established schools, as so many means for pro- moting the civilization of the people, whom he required more- over to pay tithes to the Church. The Saxons promised, and -, Charles was so confident of his success that he undertook a 78 1 journey to Rome, where the pope crowned his second son, Pepin, king of Italy, and his third son, Louis, king of Aquitaine. Charles, his eldest son, was the constant companion of all his undertakings. The reduction of the Saxons, however, was far from accom- plished, although Charles felt so assured of their loyalty that he ordered them to join his Franks in an expedition against the Slavonic tribes, whose incursions spread terror through the eastern limits of his dominions. The Saxons appeared in arms. 777-786.] CHARLEMAGNE, 139 but instead of joining the Franks, turned upon and defeated them with great slaughter on the Suntel, a mountain on p the Weser. Astounded and incensed at the news, Charles swore, and took revenge in the next campaign, on the bloody field at Ver- den, where in his wrath he caused to be beheaded in one day not less than 4,500 Saxon prisoners. This dreadful act, as might have been expected, roused the Saxons to yet more de- termined resistance. The whole nation rose in arms against " the butcher," as they called Charles ; a sanguinar^^ but inde- cisive battle was fought in the next year at Detmold, and p followed by that on the Hase, in which the Saxons sustained a total defeat. Wittekind fled into Denmark, but the people, though defeated in battle, maintained the struggle for two years longer. The superior strength and resources of Charles, as well as the adoption of a more clement and humane policy, accom- plished their final subjection, and conversion into loyal vassals. Some of his measures, however, were hardly wise, especially the compulsory payment of tithes for the support of the Church, which Charles regarded in the light of a sacred duty, while the Saxons loathed it as tribute in disguise. His code of laws, moreover, as set forth in the Diet of Paderborn, was too severe, and incensed rather than pacified the free and independent Saxons. He sent for Wittekind and Albion, promised them safe conduct, gave hostages for their security, and induced them to visit him at Attigny in France. They went, were kindly received, and found the proposals of Charles so satisfactory that they swore fealty, and his argu- ments in favor of Christianity so conclusive that they professed themselves convinced and ready to be baptized. Charles him- self stood godfather to Wittekind, and the influence of his ex- ample was so great that many Saxon nobles, and thou- p sands of the people, submitted to baptism. Legend delivers the conversion of AYittekind rather differently. It says that, disguised as a beggar, he went into the camp of 140 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. Charles, and was present at the mass on Easter Day. As the priest was elevating the host, he saw therein a beautiful and heavenly babe. After the service, the Saxon chief was recog- nized and led to Charles. He told the king what he had seen, and craved baptism. His example was quickly followed by others, and he persuaded his countrymen to sheathe the sword and keep the peace ; at least, for the time. -| In response to the urgent entreaties of Hadrian, Charles repaired to Italy and crushed the formidable rebellion fomented by Arigisio, the duke of Benevento, and son-in-law -, of Desiderius. Tassilo, duke of Bavaria, his other son- 787 in-law, also meditated revolt. Charles returned to Ger- many, deposed Tassilo, and added his duchy to his dominions. This extension of his empire brought him in contact with the turbulent Slavonians and Avars, whose hostile incursions, exe- cuted with great rapidity, were most destructive, and needed to be checked. Charles undertook to chastise them. Three col- umns of his victorious Franks, augmented by the tributary Frisians and Saxons, were poured through the Carpathian moun- tains and along the Danube, b}^ land and by water, into the heart of their country. Their rings, that is, the wooden fortifi- cations which encircled their vilfages and settlements, were de- stroyed ; and after a bloody conflict of eight years their absolute overthrow was attested by a depopulated country, the utter -I ruin of the royal residence of the cha^an, and the yoQ TOR "^ . dispersion of their treasures, the rapine of 250 years, among the warriors of Charles, and over the churches and pal- aces of Italy and Gaul. The ancient and vague country of Pannonia, as far as the Raab in Hungary, received the new name of the lllarche of the Avars, which Charles portioned out among his Frankish, Saxon, and Bavarian subjects, and thus laid the foundations of the great eastern empire, now known as Austria. The pacification and conversion of the Saxons, however, were far from completed, and entailed much effusion of blood in pro- 787-811.] CHARLEMAGNE. 141 tracted warfare. Many SaxoDs were removed by Charles to other lands ; some he sent to France, others to iiavaria, and to the Marche of the Avars. Traces of this policy survive to this day in the names of Sachsenhausen, that is, the home of the Saxons, opposite to Frankfort-on-the-Main, and of Sachsenheim in Franconia ; just as those of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and on the Oder, indicate the fords by which the armies of Charles crossed those rivers. Those troubles only terminated r 803 with the treaty, known as the Peace of Selz, by which the Saxons were in all respects made the equals of the Franks, but required to renounce idolatry, receive baptism, pa}^ tithes, and enjoy immunity from all taxation and payment of tribute. The last important military expedition which Cliarles under- took was directed against the Normans, or Northmen, a Teutonic race, who then occupied the modern countries of Denmark, Swe- den, and Norway, and, like their neighbors and brethren the Sax- ons, were fierce warriors, but especially dreaded as pirates. The most inveterate of the Saxon idolaters had gone to them ; their sudden and frequent descents upon the coasts of Germany and Gaul, marked by acts of savage cruelty, had made their r- name a terror in those parts. Charles, the son of Charle- magne, had already defeated them, but the Normans soon after landed in Friesland and laid the people under tribute. To r- avenge the insult, and chastise the pirates, Charlemagne advanced against them as far as the Weser, when the good news of the death of Godfrey, the fierce king of the Danes, arrested his progress, and stayed further hostilities from that quarter during the remaining years of his life. Events of vast importance to Charles and his successors which had been enacted in Italv remain to be told. The r- 705 death of his life-long friend, pope Hadrian, was a great blow to Charles. He wept for him as a son weeps for his father. Leo III., his successor in the pontificate, on his way, in solemn procession, to the church of St. Lawrence, was beset bv a band of armed men, who threw him from his horse, 142 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. dragged him to the church, and attempted to put out his eyes April, and cut off his tongue. In this they did not succeed ; 799 aud though they cast him into prison, he was rescued by a faithful servant, and recovered his sight and his speech. The matter was referred to Charles, who bade the pontiff pay him a visit at Paderborn, as owing to an impending expedition against the Saxons he could not then go to Italy. Leo com- plied with the request, and, attended by a numerous retinue, went to Charles, who gave him a cordial and magnificent recep- tion, promised to visit Rome in person, and caused him to be reconducted to his see with a powerful escort. Towards the close of the year Charles set out for Rome, and soon after his arrival investigated the charges which had been preferred against the pope, with the result that their falsity was established, their promoters were punished, and the pope openly in the face of the people, holding the holy Gospels in his hands, avouched his own innocence. This took place a few days before Christmas, which was not only the beginning of the New Year, but of a new century. Charles, his court, and all Rome, were present at the high -, services of the Nativity in St. Peter's. He knelt in 800 _ "" profound devotion on the steps of the altar. When he arose, the pope approached him, with a splendid crown in his hands, placed it on his head, and saluted him as Caesar Augus- tus ; the dome resounded with the acclamations of the clergy, the soldiery, and the people : " Long life and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned by God the great and pacific emperor of the Romans ! " This solemn act was ratified by the unction of Charles, and Pepin his son, the salutation and adoration of the pontiff, and the rich offerings which the emperor placed upon the altar. Thus began the Germano-Roman empire 324 years after the overthrow of the Western empire by Odoacer. His coronation is often represented as the sudden and uncon- certed act of Leo's gratitude, and the secretary and historian 799-814.] CHARLEMAGNE. 143 of Charlemagne actiiall}' states that had he known the pope's intention, he would not have entered the church. But that statement carries little weight, for it is known that Charles coveted the imperial title, and that a Roman synod had pro- nounced it the only adequate reward of his merit ; a tacit understanding between him and Leo may be regarded as estab- lished beyond all doubt. The last years of the life of Charlemagne were shrouded in sorrow. He had to mourn the loss of his sons Pepin and Charles, and as he felt his strength waning, summoned the notables of the empire to his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, pre- sented to them his youngest son, Louis, and took their promise of allegiance to him. On the following day, arrayed in his imperial robe, he went with Louis to the church of St. Mary, and in the presence of a vast assembl}^ explained and com- mended to him the duties of an emperor. He then bade him take the imperial crown from the altar and place it on p his head, in token that its possession was the gift of God, and not conferred by man. After that they parted, and Louis returned to his kingdom of Aquitaine. Soon after, Charles took a violent fever. Averse to medi- cine, he had recourse to his usual and simple remedy of abstain- ing from food. But it failed, and he grew weaker. On the fifth day of his sickness he received the Sacrament, and on the seventh he succumbed to the fever. At the approach of death he signed himself with the sign of the cross, meekl}^ folded his hands, closed his e^'es, and said in a low voice, jan. 28, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" 814 Thus he died. On the same day his body was embalmed, arrayed with all the insignia of imperial splendor, seated on a golden throne, and thus lowered into the vault of the church of St. Marv. There sat Charles in death as if he were yet alive, in his i)urple imperial robe covered with golden bees, the crown on his head, his feet encased in golden shoes, a sword and the i)ilgrim'a 144 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. wallet around him, the holy Gospels on his knees, a shield and a sceptre at his side. Then the vault was filled with spices, and closed up. The propriety of the words "great," and "pacific," with which Leo greeted Charles on the day of his coronation may fairly be questioned. Though the title of " great " is indissol- ubly blended with his name, and though that name with the prefix of " Saint" stands in the Roman calendar, there is much in his character and life which seems to conflict with true great- ness and true holiness. A great conqueror and a great governor he was, but the widow and sons of Carloman, as well as Desiderius, with his son and daughter, and his sons-in-law, would doubtless call him a great tyrant, while the 4,500 Saxon prisoners whom he caused to be beheaded in one day rise in judgment against him, and justify the ignominious surname of " butcher" which their sur- viving friends gave to him. . To call Charles, who throughout his life, and to his dying hour, was engaged in war, a pacific emperor may provoke our mirth, but cannot command our assent. His age was barbarous, warfare was barbarous, might was right, and Charles was a tyrant;' Blind obedience might secure his friendship, but opposition was sure to draw forth his implac- able hatred. His wrath knew no mercy, though his religious con- victions were doubtless sincere. Although not a man of letters, he sought to improve himself, and in mature age strove to mas- ter the art of writing. He loved to share the labors of learned men in the production of a German grammar, and caused the songs and poems of ancient times to be collected. He even supported his friend and chancellor, Alcuin, in his efforts to fix the Latin text of the sacred Scriptures. An excellent and zealous churchman, he created bishoprics, built churches, monasteries and convents, and schools, and his bounty provided the means for their support. He even had a school in his palace, and required all the boys to attend. Some- 742-814.] CHARLEMAGNE. 145 times he visited the school, and having noticed that the sons of the higher officers ranked below those of inferior servants in conduct and attainments, he made the latter stand on his right hand, and said to them : "I thank you, children, for 3-our work, which pleases me, and will be of lasting benefit to you." The former he bade stand on his left, and rated them thus : " You, princes and the like, who have not obeyed me, and instead of learning have wasted your time in play and idling, I want you to know that your birth and your riches w^ill not help you, and unless you turn over a new leaf and study, I swear that Charles will never be jowc friend, nor do you a good turn." He encour- aged art and fostered the culture of music. Italian architects constructed for him magnificent palaces at Aix-la-Chapelle, Nim- wegen, and Ingelheim, and he projected great national works, notably a canal, designed to connect the Rhine and the Danube. As a legislator he erred in the severity of his laws, which, on the whole, were more oppressive than beneficial. For the Saxons he decreed the pain of death on the refusal of baptism, on the false pretense of baptism, on a relapse into idolatry, and on eating meat in Lent. He encouraged agriculture, and his own domains were model establishments ; he was familiar with the smallest details of in- come and expense, and in a directory drawn up by him for the use of his stewards, preserved to this da}^, may be read his in- structions for the preparation of butter and cheese, the brewing of beer, and the making of wine, as well as how many geese, ducks, chickens, and eggs should be sold. His standing army was small, but his " Heerbann," or call to arms, required all his freeborn subjects, able for military ser- vice, to flock to his standard, fully armed and supplied with three months' provisions. The stature of Charles was large ; he measured in height seven of his own feet, and his strength was so prodigious that he was credited with the ability of breaking a horseshoe as if it were bread, and with having at one terrific blow cleft asunder a 146 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. Saracen horseman, from the helmet to the saddle. His counte- nance was pleasing ; he had a straight nose, large, bright eyes, ordinarily of a cheerful expression, but flashing fire when he was angry. His black hair was long and waving, his gait and pres- ence commanding, and his voice clear and melodious. He was fond of manly exercise, especially of hunting. Spare of diet, and partial to venison, he loved to hear at his meals the stories of the past, and the songs of the heroes. He needed but little sleep, and was wont to rise and work at night. His dress was of primitive simplicity. His clothes were homespun, and, it is said, made by the ladies of his family. In summer he wore linen and a plain coat. In winter, but only late in life, he put on woolens and a fur coat. On grand occa- sions he appeared in all the magnificence of imperial spiendor. The long reign of Charles, the extent of his conquests, liis liberal views, the strength of his government, and the esteem of his contemporaries combine to assign to him a commanding- place in history ; but the vast empire, which he restored, and ruled by his iron will, in the more feeble hands of his successors underwent a speedy partition. REFERENCES. Gibbon, "Decline and Fall," etc., vol. Y. pp. 27-53; Milraan, "Latin Christianity," vol. II. pp. 438-508; Duller, "History of the German People," vol. I. pp. 123-153; Schmidt, "History of the Ger- mans," vol. III. pp. 1-35, 836-901.] ALFRED THE GREAT. I47 ALFRED THE GREAT. [871-901 The Roman conquest of Great Britain emljraced England and the Lowlands of Caledonia, or Scotland. The withdrawal of the Roman troops in the beginning of the fifth century exposed the Britons to the incursions of the Picts and Scots, and induced them to make friends with the Saxons and Angles, through whose aid they hoped to expel their northern enemies. The Saxons came, and fought not only the Picts and Scots, but the Britons ; drove them into Cornwall, Wales, and Cumberland, and ^de themselves masters of all the land from the Frith of Forth to the English Channel, and from the Severn to the North Sea. The name of England, that is, the land of the Angles, transmits the history of their conquest, just as the names of Essex, Wessex, and Sussex indicate the counties in which the several Saxon tribes established their petty kingdoms. There were seven such kingdoms, which, in the beginning of the ninth century, were united into one kingdom under Egbert, p who took the title of King of the English. The Saxon king Ethelwulf had four sons, Ethelbald, Ethel- bert, Ethelred, and Alfred. Osber^a, his wife, was r a good woman and an excellent mother. One day she was reading to her children from a beautifully illuminated book, which was written, not printed, some Saxon poetr}^, and told them, because none of them could read, "whichever of you can first learn to read this book, shall have it as a gift." Alfred, the youngest, at once set to work, and ver}- soon carried off the prize. He appears to have been a favorite with both his par- ents ; and on a visit which Ethelwulf paid to Rome, the pope anointed him as king, it is thought, of one of the minor thrones 148 MEDIEVAL HISTORY, [A.D. of Britain. But it so happened that Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred did not reign long, and the crown, by the unanimous -n choice of the people, was conferred upon Alfred, who was then only in his twenty-third year. At that time the Normans, or Norsemen, called Danes by the English, made frequent descents on the English coasts for plun- der and conquest, and, as they were generall}' successful, they soon came in larger numbers, intending to possess themselves of the whole country. In the very first year of his reign, Alfred had to fight the Danes in nine battles, and inflicted so much loss upon them that they consented to make a treaty of peace with him, in virtue whereof they had to evacuate Wessex, and retire to London, where they passed the winter. They were afraid to return to Wessex for three years, but in the meantime carried fire and sword into the country noi^h of London, as far as Scotland, so successfully that they conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia. Then the contest for supremacy lay between them and Alfred, who had wisely employed the interval of the truce in the building of a small fleet. So when the Danes had surprised the castle of Wareham in -, Wessex, Alfred retaliated by a blow at sea. He attacked a Danish squadron of seven ships, took one, and put the rest to flight. The Danes were frightened, and swore by their bracelets and upon the relics of some Christian saints, to observe the peace. But as the binding force of oaths, promises, and treaties was so constantly disregarded by them that the people justly called them " truce-breakers," it is not surprising to read, that the very next night following the treaty with Alfred they fell upon him unawares, and almost possessed themselves of his person. Their plan was to take Alfred in the rear, and they galloped to Exeter, to which place they had also ordered a strong fleet with re-enforcements. Half their ships were wrecked in a storm. 871-878.] ALFRED THE GREAT. ^49 and the other half entirely destroyed at the mouth of the Exe by the Saxon fleet. Alfred then laid siege to Exeter and |- forced Guthrum, the king of the Danes, to capitulate, give hostages and oaths, and evacuate Wessex. Guthrum did not go very far, for he established himself at Gloucester, and in spite of his oaths, surprised Alfred at p Chippenham, on the feast of the Epiphany, with superior numbers, dispersed his troops, and compelled him to fl}- for safety to the obscure retreat of the isle of Athelney, in the heart of Somerset, where, attended by only a few faithful followers, and disguised as a common peasant, he found a temporary home in the lowly cabin of a swineherd. On a certain day when the swineherd's wife was baking her loaves, she bade her guest watch them. He was sitting near the hearth, but so intently at work upon his bow and arrows that he forgot the loaves, and when the woman returned they were burning. She was very angry and gave Alfred a sharp rating. "You man," she cried, " 3'ou will not turn the bread you see burning, but you will be glad enough to eat it." Alfred laughed, and his friend and biographer writes, "This unlucky woman little thought she was talking to the king." From his retreat Alfred communicated with friends, and some time between Easter and Whitsuntide of the same year, enough had repaired to him to warrant his reappearance in public, for both the Danes and his subjects thought that he was dead, or had gone to some foreign country. The story runs, that one day when Alfred sat alone reading, a poor pilgrim came begging his alms in God's name. He had only one loaf and a little wine, which he cheerfully divided with the pilgrim, who received his gifts with thanks, but suddenly vanished, and when he had gone, the gifts lay there un- touched. Soon after his servants returned laden with fish they had taken, and at night some one appeared to him, who said : "Alfred, thy will and conscience are known to Christ, who will 150 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. now make an end of thy sorrow and care ; for to-morrow strong helpers will come to thee, and thou shalt subdue thine enemies." " Who art thou?" said the king. " St. Cuthbert," quoth the other, " the poor pilgrim that yesterday was here with thee, to whom thou gavest both bread and wine. I am busy for thee and thine ; wherefore have thou mind hereof, when it is well with thee." So tells the legend, and history records that not only did numbers flock to him, but that by a stroke of good fortune the magical banner of the Danes, called the Raven, had been cap- tured by the Saxons. The Danes, who were very superstitious, thought that loss a great and terrible calamity. The three daughters of the great Lodbroke, they said, had embroidered it in one noon-tide, and the raven would stretch his wings when they were victorious in battle, but droop when they were beaten. That standard was now in the hands of the enemy, who was preparing to march against them. But before he attacked the Danes Alfred, desiring to know their exact strength and posi- tion, disguised himself as a gleeman, or minstrel, and went with his harp into their camp. He played and sang in the very tent of Guthrum, and amused his warriors, while he found out every- thing he wanted to know. Then he returned to his friends, summoned his followers, led them against the Danes, defeated them with great slaughter, and compelled them to agree to a treaty of peace, which is still extant, and known as " Alfred and -, Guthrum's Peace." Upon the primary conditions that Guthrum should evacuate all Wessex and become a Christian, a large tract of country in the East of England was assigned to him and his Danes, which, joined to their posses- sions in Northumbria, stretched from the Tweed to the Thames, and as late as the time of the Norman conquest was known as the " Dane-lagh," or " Danelaw." Soon after the conclusion of the treaty, Guthrum went with only thirty of his chiefs to Aultre, near Athelney, where Alfred stood for him at the font, and gave him the baptismal Saxon 878-897.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 151 name of Athelstan. Throughout his life he remained the faith- ful friend and ally of his royal godfather. The ensuing fifteen years were, in a measure, peaceful, for the attacks of the Danes became less frequent. Of course these Danes were not the subjects of Guthrum, but fresh arrivals from be3'ond the sea, who infested the coasts of England, Hol- land, Belgium, and France, as it might suit their policy of alwa3's making war against the weakest. When France was strong, they assailed England ; when England was strong, they attacked France, or the neighboring countries. During those years much was done towards the civilization of England. By mutual agreement the laws of the Danes were assimilated to those of the vSaxons. Habits of industry and the arts of peace began to displace the barbarous usages of predatory warfare. Towns were rebuilt, roads and bridges re- paired, and fortresses reconstructed. Alfred made admirable provision for the defence of the country by the new system of dividing the entire militar}^ force of the land into two parts, which alternately relieved each other, so that in the event of war one-half of those liable to military duty were called out, while the other half remained at home for protection, and the cultiva- tion of the land. He also created a strong and competent navy which numbered more than a hundred sail. The danger, against which he had prepared, burst out with terrible violence in the formidable invasion of Haes- r 893 8Q6 ten, or Hasting, which was strengthened by the treacherous Danes in the Danelagh, who, now that Guthrum was dead, violated their oaths, joined the invaders, and by skilful and rapid operations speedily overran and spread terror through the greater part of the country. The war lasted for three years, and was aggravated by famine, " the pestilence of men, and the murrain of beasts." Alfred gave the enemy no rest until his power was broken, and the humbled Hasting recrossed the channel " without profit or honor." He p went to France and obtained a settlement there from its 152 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. weak king, the fame whereof soon attracted numbers of his countr3'men, who a few years later conquered the countr}^ and called it Normandy. Alfred was as efficient in peace as he had been in war. Jus- tice and law had almost perished under the curse of war, but he undertook and accomplished the great task of their restoration. He revised the laws of the Anglo-Saxons, and prefixed to his code the . Ten Commandments and a portion of the law of Moses. He established such excellent systems of police and justice, and implanted so strong a love of honesty within the hearts of his people, that a man who had lost a full purse might find it untouched a month later on the very spot where he dropped it ; and it was a common thing to say that in his reign golden bracelets and jewels might have been hung across the streets and no one would have touched them. His energ}^ and singular activit}', fostered by a judicious and methodical division of time, deserve to be held up to the admi- ration and imitation of mankind. He travelled much and took note of difficult cases in law. To arbitrary, unjust, or corrupt judges he was inexorable, and there was hardly anything good, useful, or ennobling but received^ jiis attention. He found time for everything, for the duties of religion, for conversation, study, and translations, for learning poetry by heart, for plan- ning buildings, for instructing craftsmen in goldwork, and for teaching even falconers and dog-keepers their work. It is said that he divided each twenty-four hours into three equal portions of eight hours ; one-third he spent in affairs of state, another he devoted to religion and study, and the third he set apart to sleeping, eating, and the care of his body. The last matter is all the more noteworthy because he was delicate and troubled with a mysterious but painful disease, which baffled the skill, or more probably the ignorance, of his "leeches," or physicians. His ingenuity devised, in the absence of clocks or watches, which were then unknown, the contrivance of a time measure 871-901.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 153 by wax torches or candles, wbicli were all made of the same weight and size, and notched in the stem at regular distances. These time-candles were 12 inches long, and six were con- sumed in 24 hours ; one candle would burn four hours, and if it had six notches, each two inches of wax would mark the lapse of 40 minutes. But as exposure to draught caused the wax to burn too fast and irregularly, Alfred corrected the mat- ter by the further contrivance of cases made of wood and thin la3'ers of white horn, which were the first lanterns made in England, from models he may have seen in Italy. In the impulse he gave to education and literature, chiefly by his own example, Alfred achieved yet greater triumphs than those he gained as a warrior and as a lawgiver. In mature age he began to study Latin, translated and edited for the people the Consolations of Boethius, the Pastorals of pope Gregory, the General History of Orosius, and the Church History of Bede. His object was that every free-born English youth should " abide at his book till he can well understand English writing." To his example is due the English or Auglo-Saxon Chronicle, a compilation made during the reign of Alfred, who may be called the Creator of English Literature. He was an earnest and liberal patron of monasteries and schools, and drew to his country learned men from abroad to preside over the schools which he founded. He encouraged foreign travel, and sought to obtain useful information and knowledge from any quarter. At his bidding a Norwegian shipmaster explored the White Sea, Wulfstan traced the coast of Esthonia, and Suithelm performed the overland journey to India to carry his presents to the Syrian Christians who were settled on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. Agriculture, architecture, commerce, and trade, in fact, what- ever could promote the growth, culture, and prosperity of England, engaged his thoughts, and drew forth his liberal and earnest support. The villages and towns which in the war had been destroyed rose from their ruins, those which hnd escaped 154 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. destruction, he beautified and enlarged ; he made London his capital, and provided in fifty strong towers and castles an ad- mirable defence against the incursions of enemies. This excellent Christian king, who lived for the good of his people, deserves on account of his virtues to be called Great. " So long as I have lived," he wrote, " I have striven to live worthily," and longed " to leave to the men that come after a remembrance of him in good works." 90l] He died in the fifty-third year of his age and the thirtieth of his reign. His death is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as fol- lows : — " 901. This year died Alfred, the son of Ethelwulf, six nights before the mass of All Saints. He was king over all the English nation, except that part that was under the power of the Danes. He held the government one year and a half less than thirty winters ; and then Edward his son took to the government." REFERENCES. Mackintosh, "History of England," ch. XL; Knight, "Pictorial History of England," vol. L ; IVMln^r, " History of England," pp. 80-92 ; Green, " Short History of the English People," pp. 77-84, and the authorities prefixed to Section V. of that work. 1072-1099.] GODFREY OF BOUILLON. 165 GODFREY OF BOUILLON. [io96-io99 The Holy Land, and especially the Holy Places, at Jerusalem were very early visited by pilgrims. The churches built by the emperor Constantine, and Helena his mother, over the Holy Places at Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and the example of that devout woman, who in her old age made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, strengthened and fed the desire of Christians throughout the world to see the land in which the Saviour had lived, to visit the scenes of His life and ministry, and to pray at His sepulchre. The pilgrimage to Palestine became a meritorious work, and he who made it enjoyed great privileges ; he travelled under the protection of the law ; no toll was asked of him, and he found free entertainment in the hospitals erected for his use along the roads. His devotions at the Holy Places and his bath in the river Jordan were believed to have expiated the sin of his former life, and the shirt he had worn when he entered Jerusalem was laid by as his winding sheet, in which he hoped to go to heaven. The tide of pilgrimage to Palestine flowed without interrup- tion until the Seljukian Turks, more fanatical than the p Arabs, became masters of Jerusalem, and not only per- secuted the native Christians, but cruelly entreated, mutilated, robbed, and often slew the devout pilgrims. The story of their sufferings excited the pity and roused the indignation of Chris- tendom, especially when Peter the Hermit returned from p his pilgrimage and preached with the sanction of the pope a crusade. Mounted on a mule he traversed the lands, and all eyes turned to the gaunt monk, in his coarse hermit's 156 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. cloak, with a crucifix in one hand, and a letter from the patri- arch of Jerusalem in the other, whose eyes flashed fire, and whose burning words depicted the tale of the Turkish outrages and stirred his hearers to resent them. " Christians," he cried, " Christ has appeared to me, saying, ' Rise, Peter, finish the work thou hast begun ; I will be with thee, for the hour is come for the cleansing of my temple.' " He preached with power, and thousands promised to make the pilgrimage of the Holy Land and recover the Holy Places from the power of the infidel Turks. The enthusiasm grew -, apace. Pope Urban H. convened a Great Council at Clermont, in France, and bade the vast assembly deliver the Holy Sepulchre. Loud rose the response, "It is the will of God ! it is the will of God ! " and then and there the as- sembly declared itself the army of God ; and every member, in token of his new vocation, put on his right shoulder the badge of a red cross. The movement spread with amazing rapidity through Italy, France, and Germany. " There was no nation so remote, no people so retired, as did not contribute its portion to the host. The Welshman left his hunting, the Scot his hills, the Dane his drinking party, the Norwegian^ his raw fish. Whatever was stored in granaries, or hoarded in chambers, to answer the hope of the husbandman, or the covetousness of the miser, all was deserted ; for the}" hungered and thirsted after Jerusalem alone." ^ Vast preparations were making for the war of Christendom against Mohammedanism, pending which, Peter May, the Hermit and Walter the Pennyless, impatient of 1096 delay, departed with an ill-disciplined and ill-provided multitude of 80,000 men, whose outrages were so enormous, that, treated as outlaws wherever they went, they perished on the way. Very different was the army of Oodfre}" of Bouillon, which 1 William of Malmesbury. 1095-1098.] GODFREY OF BOUILLON. 157 started not long after from the banks of the Maas. It was well armed, well officered, and well disciplined, num- aug. 15, bered 80,000 foot and 20,000 horse, and passed without ^ 096 mishap through German}', Hungary, and Bulgaria to Constan- tinople. Under the walls of that cit}' the}' pitched their camp, waiting for five other armies of crusaders, who had r ^ [1097 taken different routes. In the spring following they crossed into Asia, and the muster showed a grand total of 300,000 foot and 100,000 horse; adding to that number the wives, children, and attendants of the crusaders, the multitude cannot have been short of 600,000. Besides Godfrey, the chief leaders were Hugh of Yermandois ; Robert of Normandy, the son of William the Conqueror ; Robert of Flanders ; Bohemond of Tarentum ; Raymond of Toulouse ; and Tancred, the famous knight. Their first exploit was the siege and capture of Nice, p which, however, through the intrigues of the Greek emperor, Alexius, surrendered to him, and not to the crusaders. Their progress was difficult and attended with much suffering. A dispute between Tancred and Baldwin terminated in the latter leaving with his contingent, and effecting the conquest of Edessa in Mesopotamia, where he founded the first Christian principality in the East. The bulk of the army advanced to Antioch, and laid siege to the city. It held out for seven months, during which famine and sickness thinned the ranks of the crusaders. Among the deserters was Peter the Hermit ; at last june 3, the city was taken by the crusaders, who massacred 1098 the inhabitants. But then they were besieged by a Moham- medan army of 200,000. Their loss from famine, June 28, pestilence, and desertion was enormous, but they van- 1098 quished the Mohammedans, and the road to Jerusalem was open to them. A year after the fall of Antioch, the crusaders, now reduced to about 21,000, caught the first glimpse of the Holy City, and knelt down in devout gratitude for the unspeakable 168 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. privilege. They wept for jo}' and buried their long sufferings in oblivion. The city was strongly fortified, and defended by a garrison of 40,000 Mohammedans. Religious zeal and enthusiasm ani- mated the courage, and sustained the efforts of the crusaders, who, after a siege of five weeks, and a sanguinarj^ repulse, carried Jerusalem by storm. Godfrey was the first, and his brother Eustace the second, who scaled the wall and entered the city, rushed to the gate, and opened it to the crusaders. They shouted, "God is with us ! It is the will of God !" poured July 14, luto the strccts, and in their fury, put the wretched 1099 inhabitants to the sword. The carnage was so dread- ful, that of a population of 70,000 not enough were left to bury the dead, and poor Christians were hired to perform the work. The savage cruelty of the conquering crusaders was too horrid to be described ; murder was mercy. Godfrey was the first to think of higher and nobler duties, and in the lowly garb of a penitent, barefooted and unarmed, went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre to thank God for the victory. His example was followed by the entire host, who, having finished the work of the sword, and cleansed their bodies and garments from the blood of the slain, went to the church of the Resurrection to join in the prayers of praise and thanksgiving. Eight days after the capture of the city Godfrey was by July 22, acclamation saluted king of Jerusalem ; but he refused 1099 to be called king, and would only assume the style of " Defender of the Holy Sepulchre " ; and when they offered to crown him, he declined, saying that he would never consent to wear a golden crown, where the King of kings had worn a crown of thorns. That speech was sublime. His kingdom, or whatever it was, did not trouble him long, for he soon fell sick, and the cherished desire of his heart, that July 8, he might be permitted to die near the Holy Sepulchre, 1100 was granted him ; he died young, his brief reign was marked by firmness, prudence, and moderation, and his body 1099-llOO.J GODFREY OF BOUILLON. 159 was interred on Mount Calvary near the Holy Sepulchre. The great poet Tasso has sounded his praises in his ''Jerusalem Delivered." Thus was the Holy Sepulchi'e delivered from the Arabs. Baldwin, the brother of Godfrey, succeeded him and assumed the title of King of Jerusalem. Bohemond became Prince of Antioch. The three kingdoms or principalities of Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem increased in size and strength, and resisted for about fifty years the attacks of the Mohammedans. REFERENCES. Milman, "Latin Christianity," vol. IV. pp. 15-54; Mosheim, "Ecclesiastical History," vol. H. pp. 123-132, N.Y. 1821; Duller, "History of the German People," vol. I. pp. 296-300; Michaud, " History of the Crusades." [Z ZH 160 MEDIEVAL HISTORY, [A.D. 1435-1506] COLUMBUS. Though the American Continent may have been visited by adventurous Norsemen more than eight hundred years ago, no sure trace of their presence has been found here, and the true record of their voyage has probably perished, and was certainly unknown in Europe in the middle of the fifteenth century. At that time the most learned men of the Old World were not only very ignorant about the geography of the earth, but held very ridiculous views. They thought that the sea, beyond the islands known to them, was a watery chaos whose waves rose to the height of lofty mountains, and rolled in irresisti- ble cataracts into bottomless abysses, which would swallow up any vessels daring enough to approach them. The spherical shape of the earth, they imagined, gave to the ocean a slope towards the antipodes, so steep that though vessels might sail down that slope, they would^ever be able to return. They knew that there was the great ocean, and believed, as we learn from a map made in the year a.d. 1492, that it sepa- rated Europe from Asia ; in the centre of that map, on the line of the equator, is placed a large sand-bank, and about midway between that sand-bank and the East Indies appears Japan, sur- rounded by many islands. It was the best map extant, and the best scientific guide Columbus could procure or construct before he undertook his voyage of discovery. He was the eldest son of a Genoese wool-carder, and had two brothers and a sister. Christopher was born in 1435 or 1436, and from a child showed great fondness for the sea. His father sent him to Pa via, where he studied geometry, geography, as- tronomy, astrology, and navigation, and learnt the little the 1435-1506.] COLUMBUS. 161 schools could teach him, without much difficulty. In his four- teenth 3'ear he went to sea, and in consequence of a shipwreck, caused by his vessel taking fire in the roads of Lisbon, ^ settled in that city. By that time he had long attained manhood, and his pluck and courage may be learned from the way he made his escape from the burning ship. He threw him- self into the water, seized an oar, with which he supported him- self, and swam ashore. He had been in the habit of drawing maps and charts before, and their sale had afforded him a scanty support. At Lisbon he followed this occupation with considerable success, for his maps and globes were the best that could be had, and the Por- tuguese mariners, who prized them very highly, would constantly frequent his shop, and discourse with him of the sea, of adven- tures, and of discoveries. At Lisbon he fell in love with Felipa de Perestrello, the daughter of an Italian nobleman in the Portuguese service, and married her ; she was the mother of his son Diego. From the papers of his father-in-law he gleaned much accurate information about the distant seas of India, which he embodied in his maps. He knew that the earth was round, but, underrating its cir- cumference by some thousands of miles, concluded that the passage to Asia across the Atlantic, of which he was fully con- vinced, was much shorter than the navigators usually thought. This supposed nearness of the Indies seemed to him to be con- firmed by the testimony of the most experienced sailors and pilots. Some had seen, floating off the Azores, branches of trees unknown in Europe ; others had picked up pieces of wood, carved, but not with steel tools ; they spoke of huge pine-trees, hollowed into canoes, with room for 80 rowers ; and even of corpses of white or copper-colored men, whose features were unlike those of the known races of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The solution of this great m3'stery of discovering the short passage to Asia, and to secure the means necessary to its accomplishment, became the purpose of his life, to which he de- 162 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. voted all his energies. Prejudice, envy, indifference, ridicule, the loss of his business, and of his beloved wife, obstacles and difficulties which beset his path for many long and weary 3'ears, could not break his courage, and make him abandon his projects. At last he found a powerful and enthusiastic friend in the per- son of Isabella, the queen of Castile, who, in the extremity of his disappointments, undertook to be at the charge of his pro- posed expedition, saying: "I will undertake the enterprise alone, for my crown of Castile. I will pawn my diamonds and jewels to meet the expenses of the expedition." A treaty April 17, between Ferdinand and Isabella and Columbus was i 492 signed in the plain of Granada, in virtue of which he was made hereditary admiral and viceroy of all the lands which his discoveries might secure to Spain, and promised the tenth part of all the profit that might accrue from them. The expedition was fitted out, and sailed from Palos in An- AuG. 3, dalusia. It consisted of three ships, the Santa Maria^ 1492 the Fi7ita, and the Nina. The first of these only was a fair-sized and decked vessel, and had four masts ; the others had only half-decks, and only two masts, one with a square, the other with a triangular lateen-sail. They carried provisions for a year, and their entire crews numbered only 120 men. After a quick run to the Canaries, where he spent three weeks to refit, he began the exploration of the unknown Atlantic. His sailors began to be afraid, and became utterly prostrate in body and mind ; Columbus encouraged them with the glowing descrip- tion of the beauty and wealth of the lands to which they were sailing. This seemed to cheer them up, but they were fright- ened at the great distance, and he was obliged to subtract from the record a certain number of miles, in order to make them believe that they had only gone half the distance they had really traversed. The discovery (until then unknown) that the magnetic needle began to vary not only disconcerted Columbus, but filled the sailors with consternation, who believed that they were going 1492.] COL UMB US, 163 to certain destruction. He soothed their fears with the ingeni- ous explanation of the variation of the needle, as caused by the revolution of new stars round the pole, to which the compass responded. Thus they progressed for many a day amid hopes and fears. Columbus hardly slept, and nothing escaped his eye ; the appearance of a heron and a tropical bird was pro- phetic of land ; the waves wei'e laden with perfume ; plants were floating on them, still full of sap, and a little sailor, in the shape of a live crab, clung to a tuft of grass. The sea presently changed its color and its temperature, betokening a shallow or uneven bottom. They surely were nearing land, and welcomed it every evening and every morning in the shifting clouds. They had been sailing before the trade- wind, which wafted them they knew not whither, but a change of wind from the opposite quarter revived their hopes, to be followed by disap- pointment, and the murmurs of discontent and despair ; they thought they were approaching the cataracts of the ocean, to be hurled into the bottomless abyss, and talked of compelling the pilots to put about, and of throwing Columbus overboard. He remained calm, and defied them by his firm and resolute bearing. On the 7th of October flocks of birds pursued their flight in a south-westerly direction, and Columbus steered hopefully in the same course for two days ; but when the third day came round, and no land in sight, the despair of the crew changed into fury, and they roundly refused to sail further. Columbus reasoned with them, but their clamor increasing, he resolutely told them that it was useless to murmur, as, no matter what might happen, he was resolved to j^ersevere. At sunrise of the second day the sailors picked up a plank hewn by an axe, a carved stick, a bough of thorn with berries, and a bird's-nest built on a branch, full of eggs, on which the parent bird was sitting The mutineers took courage, implored the pardon of Columbus, and sang praises to God. On the night of that day, Columbus saw a gleam of fire, coming and 164 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. going, on the level of the sea. Two of his friends identified it as a light on the shore. Before daybreak a cannon-shot, fired by the Pinta, which was saihng in advance, confirmed his expectations. It was the signal, agreed upon, of land in sight, and the jubilant shout of "Land ho ! " arose from all the ships. The sun rose, and the delighted adventurers beheld a beautiful island smiling in his rays. The first impulse of all was to hasten ashore, but Columbus, conscious of the importance of the discovery, and grateful for the providential fulfilment of his hopes, felt that the soil of the New World, as yet untrodden by European foot, ought to be approached in a manner worthy of God, of Spain, and of him- self, and therefore restrained himself and his crew from landing forthwith ; he donned his admiral's uniform, took the flag of Spain, and to the strains of martial music, led the boats to shore. He was the first to land ; his first act was one of solemn and grateful devotion : he knelt down, kissed the ground, and wept for joy. When he raised his head, he said : " Almighty and eternal God, who, by the energy of thy creative word, hast made the firma- ment, the earth, and the sea : blessed and glorified be th}^ name in all places ! May th}^ majesty and dominion be exalted for- ever and ever, as thou hast permitted thy holy name to be made known and spread by the most humble of thy servants in this hitherto unknown portion of thy kingdom." He then baptized this land in the name of Christ, — the island of San Salvador, — and raising his sword, took solemn posses- sion of it in the name and under the flag of Spain. Then all his men, in the exuberance of their joy and gratitude, and pro- foundly penitent, fell at his feet, kissed his hands, and sounded his praises. The inhabitants of the island, in their native costume of cop- per-colored skin marked with bright pigments, stood by in gen- tle wonderment and admiration, and deemed that the Spaniards and their ships had come from heaven. They called their 1492.] COLUMBUS. 1G5 island " Guanaliani," which is one of the Bahama oct. 12, group, and was discovered on October 12. 1492 The Indians had adorned their persons with ornaments of pure gold, which excited the cupidity of the Spaniards. They cheerfully exchanged them for the merest trifles, and when tlie Spaniards asked them by signs whence that metal came, they pointed to the south, and in that direction they sailed in quest of their imao-inary land of gold, and discovered first Oct. 27, 1492 Cuba, and soon afterwards Hayti, to which Colum- ^ T-r. . 1 -r-r " . , ^tEC. 6,1492 bus gave the name ot Hispaniola. Havmg lost, through the carelessness of his pilot, one of his vessels, and believing that he was in sight of the gold country, he built a fort, in which he placed a garrison of 40 men under the com- mand of Pedro de Arana, and after instructing them to main- tain friendly relations with the Indians, set out on his return to Europe to announce his triumph. The voyage was very tempestuous, and Columbus was not only in peril of life from the sea, but from his mutinous and superstitious crew, who talked of throwing him overboard in order to pacify the angr}' element. Meanwhile the good man, indifferent about their moods, thought only of their safety, and how, if they must perish in the storm, the record of his discov- er^^ might not be wholly lost. So he wrote brief accounts of his voyage on strips of parchment, closed them up, some in rolls of wax, others in cedar cases, and threw them into the sea, hoping that after his death they might be carried to the shore. Fortunately the water-logged vessel survived the storms, and Columbus, covered with glory and honors, was permitted to tell the grand stor}' of his discovery to the sovereigns of Portugal and Spain, to the great and the learned, and to the delighted people who, with one accord, thought that "None could com- pare witli him." What became of those cases with the strips of parchment is not known ; but not very long ago a European sailor, while get- ting ballast on the coast of Africa, opposite Gibraltar, picked 166 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. up a petrified cocoanut and gave it to his captain. Curious as to the internal condition of the nut, he opened it, and found in the shell a piece of parchment with some writing on it in the Gothic character. A Spanish scholar deciphered it, and read : ' ' We cannot survive the storm one day longer. We are be- tween Spain and the newly discovered Eastern isles. If the caravel founders, may some one pick up this testimony ! — Christopher Columbus.^' If the caravel which bore Columbus had foundered, and the other cases with the strips of parchment had been as long in the sea or on unknown coasts as the cocoanut-shell, the discov- ery of America might not have been divulged until the year 1851, or 358 years after that great event. The honors awarded to Columbus roused the envy and jeal- ousy of not a few. One day when he was dining with Ferdi- nand and Isabella a courtier taunted him with the question if he thought that no one else would have discovered the New World if he had not been born. Columbus did not answer it, but taking an egg in his hand, held it up, and asked the whole company present, if any one could make it stand uprights _A11 were perplexed and gave it up. Columbus cracked the shell at one end, and of course made it stand upright. A better, a more noble, and a more modest repl}^ he could not have made. Columbus spent about six months in Spain prior to his Sept. 25, second expedition, which consisted of three large 1493 ships and fourteen caravels, and numbered 1,500 men, of whom some were priests, but most, unprincipled adventurers. The fleet left Cadiz, and steering on a more southerly course, discovered the island of Guadeloupe, passed through the group of the Caribbees, and soon made Hispaniola ; it was night when he reached the gulf in which he had planted his colony, and he fired a salute to announce his return. It remained unanswered, and at daybreak he beheld with sorrow the ruins of his fort and the bones of the Spaniards bleaching on the shore. He 1493-1494.] COLUMBUS, 167 wept over their crimes which the natives had avenged in their death, and founded another settlement in a different mat, part of the island, which he called Isabella. 1494 He then cruised along the coast of Cuba, which he thought was a continent, and discovered Jamaica. In Cuba, where he established friendly relations with the natives, he held a relig- ious service, at which they were present. At its close one of their old men said to him : " What thou hast done is well, for it appears to be thy worship of the universal God. They say that thou comest to these lands with great might and irre- sistible power. Now hear what our fathers have told us. When b}^ the will of God the souls of men depart from their bodies, they go some to a land witliout sun and without trees, others to a region of beauty and delight, according as they have acted ill or well here below by doing evil or good to their fellows. If, therefore, thou art to die like us, have a care to do no wrong to those who have never injured thee." Las Casas, who relates this discourse, is good authority. It had been well for the Spaniards, had they practised that un- known religion whose simple precepts and pure morals con- trasted so strongly with the vices and crimes which so speedily turned the New World, then verily a paradise of God, into a pandemonium of wickedness. The natives of the West Indies, as Columbus found them, were a good and noble race. "There is nowhere in the uni- verse," he said, " a better nation or a better eountr}^ They love their neighbors as themselves : their language is always soft and gracious, and the smile of kindness is ever on their lips." Columbus, after a long and fatiguing voyage, returned to Isabella in a dying state, and lay for a long while unconscious on a bed of sickness. He awoke to rejoice with devout grati- tude in the providential presence of his brother Bartholomew, Vviio had come out to his assistance, and to whom, during the long months of his sickness, he committed the government of the island. 168 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D The cruelty and perfidy of the Spaniards roused the natives, but they liad to succumb to their oppressors, who hunted them by means of trained dogs, and sold them as slaves. Columbus, on his recovery, restored order and induced them to submit to the payment of a small tribute in gold and produce, " rather as a token of alliance than of slavery." In consequence of calumnies set on foot by his enemies at -l court, Columbus was recalled ; but having established his innocence, and being empowered to renew his dis- mat30, coveries, he fitted out a third expedition of six vessels, 1498 and set sail. Steering more to the southward, he dis- covered and named the island of Trinidad ; he also coasted near the mouth of the Orinoco, the true continent, and though he spent a niglit under his sail on the mainland, he had no suspicion that it was the shore of the unknown world. Revisiting Hispaniola, he found to his sorrow that the affairs of the island were in most distressing condition. Ojeda, a daring adventurer, stole the natives and shipped them off as slaves. Roldan, an overseer, with a band of the refuse of Spain, had set up a sort of rival government, and intrigued with the neighboring tribes^ against the authority of Bar- tholomew. Complete anarchy prevailed. A young Spaniard had won the heart and desired to marry the daughter of queen Anacoana, famed throughout the island for her beaut}', poetical talent, and wealth. She was the widow of the chief whom Ojeda had stolen, handcuflfed, and hurried on shipboard, and who had died on the vo3'age. Roldan opposed the mar- riage, seized the young lover, and sent him away to be tried at Isabella. Ovando on an expedition of survey was kindly and hospitably entertained by Anacoana, who at his instance had invited 30 Indian chiefs to be present at the festivities she had arranged in honor of the Spaniards. The}' proposed a sham fight to be witnessed by the queen and the chiefs from a balcony, while the unarmed people stood around in the open space. At a given signal, the cavalry sabred the people and 1496-1500.] COLUMBUS. 169 rode them down, the infantry surrounded the queen's house, set it on fire, and doomed her guests to death among the flames. Anacoana was hung. The horrid deed maddened the Indians to desperate resis- tance, but their fate was sealed, and could not be averted by the virtue and kindness of Columbus, who had asked the court to send him a judge of high rank to aid him in the restoration of order. The enemies of Columbus had poisoned the mind of Ferdi- nand against him, and he sent Bobadilla, clothed with vaguely defined powers, to Hispaniola. On his arrival he had Colum- bus cast into chains, confined in a dungeon, and at last, on the worthless depositions of as worthless witnesses, p adjudged him worthy of banishment, and ordered him to be sent to Spain. When the vessel had sailed, the commanders would fain have removed his fetters, but he refused, saying: "No, m}^ sover- eigns have written to me to submit to Bobadilla. It is in their names that I have been put in these irons, which I will wear until they themselves order them to be removed ; and I will afterwards preserve them as relics and memorials of the reward of my sendees." That promise he kept, for he carried them with him wherever he went, had them hung up in his sight, and in his will ordered them to be put by his side in his coflSn. His outrageous treatment roused the indignation of Cadiz, and especially of Isabella, who commanded that his chains should be changed into a robe of honor, and his jailers re- placed by a royal escort, charged to bring him to Granada. He fell at her knees, and his eloquent defence procured his instant acquittal of the charges, which the sovereigns refused even to examine. Bobadilla was recalled, and replaced by Ovando, whose want of humanity is recorded in former and subsequent paragraphs. Although nearly 70 years old, Columbus, after all his suffer- 170 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. [A.D. ings, was impatient of rest, and undertook a fourth expedition, MAKCH2, in which he was joined by his brother Bartholomew 1502 and his son Fernando. It consisted of four poor ves- sels whose crews mustered only 150 strong. He embarked at Cadiz and had stormy weather ; the squadron lay off Hispaniola with broken masts, torn sails, and short of water and provis- ions ; he knew that a terrible hurricane was about to break out, and despatched a boat to Ovando asking leave to take shelter at Isabella. Ovando refused it without mercy, and the old man sadly and indignantly found a safe retreat in another part of the island beyond the jurisdiction of the governor. After the hur- ricane, he went to Jamaica, and landed on the continent in the bay of Honduras. For 60 days he cruised about in stormy weather in search of the passage which he thought united the Atlantic and the Pacific, and lost a vessel with 50 men at the mouth of a river which in memory of the calamity he called El Rio del Desastre^ or the River of Disaster. In their search of gold the men of Columbus became embroiled with the Indians, and after much loss and great sufferings, his three crazy caravels sailed slowly towards Hispaniola ; one foundered as the}^ were nearing^the shore, and the others held -| together just long enough to be beached on the sand of an unknown bay in Jamaica. He tied them together with cables, connected their decks with planks, and covered them with an awning ; and though the natives furnished him with provisions, the presence of a muti- nous crew made his condition perilous in the extreme. His only hope was the help of Ovando, and an Indian canoe the only craft he could provide for trusty messengers to traverse the fifty leagues of sea which separated him from Hispaniola. Such messengers were found in the persons of the heroic Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco, who volunteered to perform, and did perform, the daring feat of crossing the sea in frail canoes. 1502-1506.] COLUMBUS. 171 After ten clays they reached Hispaniola, and the faithful Meudez delivered the admiral's message to Ovaudo. But the help it begged was delayed for many months, during which Columbus and his brother were exposed to the angry insults and the violent a,ttempts of the rebellious crews. At length he sent a barrel of wine and a side of bacon by the hands of Escobar, promising the speedy despatch of a vessel. After many weary months, a vessel which Mendez had fitted up at the expense of Columbus, accompanied by another sent by Ovando, arrived, and rescued the aged admiral from his terrible situation. After spending some time with Ovando, he landed, js-qv. 7, broken in health, but not in spirit, at San Lucar, in 1504 Spain. His kind protectress, queen Isabella, died soon after his arrival, and he himself closed his eventful and noble mat 20, career in poverty at Valladolid. 1506 Ferdinand, ashamed of his neglect and ingratitude to the man who gave him an empire, gave him a royal funeral and erected to his honor a monument inscribed with the motto, " To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a New World." His remains, and afterwards those of his son Diego, were removed from their successive resting-places in Spanish cathedrals, and interred, in 1536, in the principal chapel of the cathedral at San Domingo, but disinterred again, and removed to Havana, in the island of Cuba. The American Continent should have been called after his name, as that of its first discoverer, one of the best and noblest of men who crowned the shining qualities of knowledge, wis- dom, enterprise, and valor, with the yet nobler graces of philanthropy, the forgiveness of injuries, and true piety, REFERENCES. Bancroft, " History of the United States " ; Prescott, " Ferdinand and Isabella"; W. Irving, "Life and Voyages of Columbus"; Lamar- tiue, " Cokmibus." 172 MEDIEVAL HISTORY. CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY. A.D. 527. Justinian I. emperor at Constantinople. 529. The " Code " set forth April 7. 532. Sedition of the Nika at Constantinople. 533. The " Pandects " or " Digests " set forth Dec. 30. 536. Belisarius enters Rome. 546. Totila takes Rome. 548. Belisarius recalled from Italy. 554. Narses overthrows the Gothic monarchy. Narses exarch. 5P5. Death of Belisarius, March 13. Death of Justinian, Nov. 14. 569. Birth of Mohammed. 609. Mohammed assumes the character of a prophet, and preaches at Mecca. 612. Mohammed begins to proclaim his revelations. 622. Mohammed's flight from Mecca, July 16, the Hegira, or Hejira, the era of the Mohammedans. 630. Capture of Mecca. 632. Death of Mohammed, aged 63, June 8. 682. Birth of Boniface, or Winfrid. 723. Boniface, bishop of Germany. 732. Boniface, archbishop of Germany. 742. Birth of Charlemagne. 752. Childeric dethroned, „and Pepin crowned and proclaimed king of the Franks. 755. Martyrdom of Boniface. 756. Pepin bestows the exarchate upon the pope. Origin of the papal temporal sovereignty. 768. Charlemagne and Carloman succeed Pepin. 771. Charlemagne sole king of the Franks. 772. Commencement of the Saxon wars. 774. Overthrow of the kingdom of the Lombards by Charle- magne. 778. Charlemagne conquers the Spanish Marche. 786. Wittekind and Albion submit to Charlemagne and are baptized. 795. Death of pope Hadrian. Accession of pope Leo HI. 800. Charlemagne is crowned emperor of the West, by Leo, at Rome, on Christmas Day. CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY. I73 A.D. 814. Death of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle. 849. Birth of Alfred the Great. 871. Alfred the Great, kmg of England. 876. The Danes invade Wessex. 878. The Danes, defeated by Alfred, obtain the Danelagh. 893. The Danes, under Hasting, invade England. 901. Death of Alfred the Great. 1072. The Seljukian Turks conquer Jerusalem. 1094. Peter the Hermit proclaims a crusade. 1096. The First Crusade under Godfrey of Bouillon, etc. 1097. The crusaders take Nice. 1098. The crusaders take Antioch. 1099. The crusaders take Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, *' Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." 1100. Death of Godfrey. His brother Baldwin becomes king of Jerusalem. 1435. Birth of Columbus. 1492. Columbus discovers America. 1493. Second voyage of Columbus. 1498. Third voyage of Columbus. Discovery of Trinidad and New Spain. 1498. Vasco de Gama doubles the Cape of Good Hope, and arrives at Calicut, in India, May. John and Sebastian Cabot discover Newfoundland and explore the coast of North America. 1500. Columbus is sent back to Sj)ain in chains. 1502. Fourth and last voyage of Columbus. 1502-1504. 1504. Columbus returns to Spain. 1506. Death of Columbus. ^^ III. MODERN HISTORY, III. MODERN HISTORY. D>«t:c MARTIN LUTHER. [i 483-1546 The father of Martin Luther was a humble miner atEisleben, in the Harz region, and his mother a good woman of exemplary virtue. Martin was born Nov. 10, 1483. He went to school, first at Mansfekl, and afterwards at Magdeburg and Eisenach. In the latter place he attracted the notice and found a hospita- ble home under the roof of a good lad}" of the name of Cotta. The wa}' she came to take notice of him was peculiar : Martin being very poor, was wont, like other poor boys in those days, to earn an honest penny by singing at the doors of charitable people ; his good appearance, serious demeanor, and fine tenor voice struck the worthy Frau Cotta, and thus he became an inmate of the ma3'or's house, for her husband was the mayor or burgomaster of Eisenach. From that place he went to the university of Erfurt, where he studied law, the classics, and philosophy. One day p he saw in the library, for the first time in his life, a complete Latin Bible, and was surprised at the volume of its contents, for until then he had thought that his service-book contained all of the Scriptures. His interest being thus excited, two circumstances arose about this time, which induced him, although he had taken the degree of a Doctor of Philosophy, to exchange the study of the law for that of theology. 176 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. One day, as he was about to pay a visit to his parents, he went to say good-bye to Alexis, his most intimate friend, and was shocked to find him assassinated in his room. Returning from that visit, as he was travelling along the road in a heavy thunderstorm, a thunderbolt struck the earth so close to him, that his escape seemed a miracle. These two incidents deter- -1 mined his choice, and led him to spend two years in the Augustine convent at Erfurt, where he was ordained priest. His fine scholarship procured him an appointment as teacher -| in the newly-founded university of Wittenberg, and his eloquence, which was said, by one of his friends, " to have been born, not on his lips, but in his soul," led to his election as a public preacher. The order to which he belonged sent him on a mission to -| Rome, and upon his return to Wittenberg, he pursued with great enthusiasm the studj' of the Greek and Hebrew tongues. It is said that he put a literal construction on the solemn words of the oath which he was required to take at the time of his promotion to the degree of a Doctor of Divinity, and agreeably to their tenor resolved ' ' to devote his whole life to stud}', and faithfully to expound and defend the Holy Scripture." Pope Leo X., for the purpose of raising funds for the comple- tion of the church of St. Peter, at Rome, proclaimed a general pardon, or plenar}' indulgence, and committed the matter for German}' to the elector archbishop of Mentz, who delegated its execution to the mendicant order of the Dominicans. John Tetzel, a member of that order, gave great offence by his methods of offering these indulgences, without any reference to repentance or amendment, for a certain sum of money, the pay- ment of which, he assured the people, would save them. "At the very instant," shouted the Dominican from his pulpit, "that the money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies to heaven." It is even said that he carried with him two chests, one containing the indulgences. 1505-1520.] MARTIN LUTHER. 177 which were dispensed to those who dropped their money into the other, and that the latter bore the inscription in rhyme which has just been cited in prose. The abuse was^ shocking, and tlie notorious and scandalous misconduct of the venders of indulgences roused the public indignation, to which Luther gave expression by affixing to the church door at Wittenberg 95 theses, or propositions, oct. si, directed against indulgences, which he declared himself 1517 ready to defend against all opponents. Such opponents appeared, and Luther answered them. Rejoinder followed rejoinder, and the dispute spread so rapidly that the pope interposed his au- thorit}', and summoned Luther to Rome. The latter preferred to have the matter decided in Germanj", and through the intervention of the elector Frederic, it was referred to august, cardinal Cajetan, the pope's legate at Augsburg. 1518 The legate was imperious, cut short all argument, and required Luther to retract. He refused ; and the cardinal, at the close of three interviews, said, "Retract, or return no more!" Luther left Augsburg, and the cardinal wrote to the elector either to send him to Rome for trial, or to banish him out of his country. The prince saw fit not to comply with the demand, and the dispute for a time was the subject of r 1 / T 1, • ^ 1 * • [1518-1519 sundry conferences, winch, mstead of composn:ig it, widened the differences between the opposing parties. One of the Catholic divines, Dr. Eck, of Ingolstadt, after the last conference, went to report the matter at Rome, and re- turned, armed with a papal bull, denouncing certain passages in the writings of Luther as heretical, and requiring him, on pain of excommunication, to retract them within 60 days. The excitement caused by the publication of the bull was in- tense. In some places the writino-s of Luther were ■- I 520 l)urnt ; in others, the angr}' poi)ulace tore the bull to pieces, and the authorities for])ade its publication. Dr. Eck was hooted at Leipzig, and liad to flee for his life. Luther, in- stead of retracting, maintained the struggle with increasing 178 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. vehemence, and brought on an irrevocable rupture with Rome, first, by an appeal from the pope's decision to a General Coun- cil, and secondly, by inviting the university of Wittenberg to Dec. 10, see the bull, and other papal writings, burnt before 1520 the Elster-gate. At the set time, he first threw the Decretals into the flames, and flung after them the bull, say- ing, " Since thou hast vexed the Holy One of the Lord, may everlasting fire vex and consume thee" (Josh. 7, 25). The movement led by Luther was very popular throughout Germany, and his heroic courage the absorbing theme of con- versation. Encouraged by the popular voice, and the support of powerful princes, Luther, furnished with an imperial safe- conduct, went to appear before the Diet of Worms, and before Apr. 17-19, the cmpcror Charles Y., his brother, the archduke 1521 Ferdinand, a numerous assemblage of princes and nobles, of the papal nuncios, and the ambassadors of foreign potentates, of the hierarchy of the empire, in all 204 persons, representing the power of the world, in answer to the ques- tion, " Will you, or will you not, retract?" made this memora- ble confession : ' ' Unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his con- science." And then looking round on the mighty assembly be- fore which he stood, and which held his life in its hands, he said, "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; may God help me ! Amen ! " The Diet was thunderstruck ; many of the princes found it difficult to conceal their admiration, and the emperor remarked, " This monk speaks with an intrepid heart and unshaken cour- age." " If you do not retract," said the chancellor, "the emperor and the states of the empire will consult what course to adopt against an incorrigible heretic." All efforts to make him change his mind proved useless ; he was furnished with an imperial letter of safe-conduct, and bid- 1520-1525.] MARTIN LUTHER. 179 den to return home within the space of 21 days. He left Worms, but a few days after his departure an imperial april26. edict was issued, describing Luther as a madman and may 8. a demoniac, and requiring all men to seize and deliver to the emperor Luther and his adherents, and to destroy his writings by fire, or otherwise. Meanwhile the elector of Saxony had provided for his safety. In the Thuringian forest his carriage was surprised by five armed and masked horsemen, whom his companions and atten- dants mistook for enemies, but who were friends in disguise ; for the elector had devised this ruse as the onlj- means of saving him from certain death. The friends of Luther believed him in the hands of his enemies, but he had found a safe asylum in the fortified castle of the Wartburg, near Eisenach, to which the masked men took him. They made him exchange his monk's costume for military garments, enjoining him to let his beard and hair grow, and passed him off as Knight George. In the solitude of that lofty, ancient castle he spent ten months, and employed himself with the translation of the New Testament into the vernacular, and the composition of theological treatises. News of an alarming character was brought to him. Carlstadt, a zealous but indiscreet friend of the Reformation, had occa- sioned a state of lamentable disorder at Wittenberg, where the abolition of the Mass had been followed by the wanton destruc- tion of altars, and the burning of pictures, images, and confes- sionals. Luther returned to the scene of his former labors, and speedily restored order by wise and temperate march 3, counsels. 1522 The marriage of Luther with Katharina de Bora, one of nine nuns, who, under the influence of his teaching, had r,coc emancipated themselves from their religious vows, gave great offence to the Catholics, but doubtless made him more happ}'. The movement of the Reformation, which spread apace, occa- sioned numerous changes in the government and service of the 180 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Church, of which the most important were, the abolition of the Mass, and the administration of the Lord's Supper in such wise that communicants partook of the wine and the bread. The images of saints were removed from the churches, the worship was conducted in the German language, the clergy were per- mitted to marry, and the vows of monks and nuns were declared to have no binding force. The doctrines of the Reformation were adopted in Saxony, Hesse, parts of Prussia, and in the cities of Magdeburg, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Strassburg, Frank- fort, etc. For the better instruction of the people the Larger and the Lesser Catechisms were set forth in the same year in which the -1 Catholics at the Diet of Spires carried the resolution that where the edict of Worms could not be executed without fear of revolution, no further reform should be allowed. This resolution was unacceptable to the Reformers, who pro- tested against it, and thus arose the name of Protestants. Another Diet was held in the following year at Augsburg, at -| which Melanchthon presented the confession of faith, which is known as the Augsburg Confession, and marks the triumph of the Reformation. The Diet lasted five months, and ended in the promulgation of a severe decree, abolishing all the changes introduced, and commanding the Reformers, until the meeting of a General Council, to restore everything to ancient custom and usage, on pain of incurring the indignation and vengeance of the emperor. The decree remained a dead letter, but led to a powerful league or alliance, -1 known as the League of Smalcald, in which nine princes and eleven imperial cities solemnly bound themselves to defend their religious liberty against the dangers with which they were threatened by the decree of Augsburg. The invasion of Germany by the Turks, who had advanced as far as Vienna, was favorable to the Reformation, for the emperor stood in need of succors against that enemy, which the Protestant princes refused as long as the edicts of Worms and Augsburg 1529-1546.] MARTIN LUTHER. 181 remained in force, and was compelled to agree to the treaty of peace, concluded at Nuremberg, in which the Protestant r princes promised to furnish a subsidy towards the conduct of the Turkish war and to acknowledge Ferdinand lawful king of the Romans, while the emperor engaged to annul the obnoxious edicts, and to allow the Lutherans the free and unmolested exercise of their religion until the whole matter should be settled by a General Council, or a Diet of the empire. The wars against the Turks and the French lasted about twelve years, during which the Reformation gathered much strength. The Protestants neitiier attended the General Coun- cil at Trent in the Tyrol, which was convened after the r- 1 545 peace had been restored, nor the Diet at Ratisbon, which took place in the following year, and aware that the emperor and the pope were thinking of war, prepared to defend their creed with the sword. But Luther did not live to see that terrible blow struck. Re- duced in strength, he had gone on a mission of reconciliation to Eislebeu, and caught a violent cold. He took to bed feb. is, and ended his life in the place where he was born, in 1546 the sixty- third year of his life. His remains were removed to Wittenberg, and interred in the castle church, where a brass tablet indicates his resting-place. The Reformation, as a religious movement, has been, and alwaj'S will be, judged according to the religious convictions and sympathies of men. The descendants of the Reformers, and all who value Protestantism as a step in the direction of liberty, will ever cherish the work, and honor the memory of Luther, as tliat of an intrepid champion of the faith, and an apostle of liberty. It is impossible to disprove that Luther was a grand and noble character, and probably the most popular man that ever lived in Germany. His diligence was wonderful, and in one field at least his greatness is undisputed, that of the language of 182 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. his country, which he purified from the jargon dialect, and raised to a remarkable degree of perfection. He wrote a large number of books, but his crowning merit is the translation of the Bible from the original tongues into German, which he be- gan in the solitude of the Wartburg, and completed in 1534. It is destined to live as long as the German nation, and to transmit the name and greatness of Martin Luther to distant generations. Mosheim, Reformation REFERENCES. 'Ecclesiastical History"; D'Aubigne, ; Bunseu, "Martin Luther." History of the ■f ^.^^s- ■ ""^1 ||mn I urtj-# ■Ts^r^^l y iS^~-\=I=?h 1 III ,15------- 1= 1 til] ^■1 SfKi SS/e. 1 lllll I Ms ;^® ^F; in ^W. sKS?. 1 il ■ ■Jr^ 1 ^ ^Sl 1547-1603.] ELIZABETH. 183 ELIZABETH. [isss-ieos Henry VIII. the father of Elizabeth, had six wives. Cath- arine of Arragon, the mother of Maiy, he divorced ; Anne Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth, he had beheaded ; Jane Sey- mour, the mother of Edward, died in her bed ; Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, he divorced ; Catharine Howard, his fifth wife, shared the fate of Anne Boleyn ; and Catharine Parr, his sixth wife, survived him. Henry VIII. was succeeded by Edward VL, r 1- -"^ J • .1. Tk/r -. 1 .1 [1547-1553 who reigned six years ; then Mary ascended the throne, reigned about five years and a half ; and [^ 553-1 558 was succeeded by Elizabeth, who was 25 years old at the time of her accession. Her j^outh was not happy, and during the reign of her half-sister Mary her lot far from enviable ; when she heard a milkmaid sing under the trees of Woodstock Park, she would fain have changed places with her. But she employed her time well, and became very accomplished in Letters. She knew Greek and Latin, and spoke French, Italian, and German ; she was well read and fond of music, a daring rider, a good shot, and a fine dancer. The 3^outhful queen was tall, but not handsome, her bearing was full of dignit}' and strength, and her manners pleasing and popular. Her sagacity and judgment became known on the first day of her reign by her choice of sir William Cecil, after- wards lord Burleigh, as her chief adviser. The announcement in Parliament of the death of queen Mary, was answered by the unanimous proclamation, "God save queen Elizabeth, and long and happy ma}^ she reign !" When MODERN HISTORY. the news became known in London, the bells of the churches were set ringing, tables were placed in the streets, " where was plentiful eating, drinking, and making merry," for the new queen ; and at night bonfires were lit, and the sk}^ was reddened by flames, which had not been fed by human beings in Smith- field. Elizabeth, who was at Hatfield at the time, received the news of her accession with an outburst of grateful devotion. She fell upon her knees, and exclaimed in Latin, "It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." On the day before her coronation she made a grand progress through the city of London, and was greeted everywhere " by the prayers, the shouts, the tender words, and uplifted hands of the people." Soon after her accession, king Philip 11. of Spain made her an offer of his hand, but she refused the honor, and told Parlia- ment, at the close of a long speech on the subject of her mar- riage, " And for me it shall be sufficient that a marble stone declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin." This declaration she often repeated, and kept, for she never married. Her earliest measures were '^ directed to the regulation of church affairs. England became a Protestant country, in which the authority of the pope was renounced, and the queen was the supreme governor in Church and State. The Mass was abol- ished, the Book of Common Prayer restored, and, after a few years, the Thirty-nine Articles became the stan- dard of belief in the Church of England. The execution of Mary, queen of Scots, has left an indelible stain on the character of Elizabeth, for it is impossible to ab- solve her from the jealousy and fear, which actuated her from the moment that the fugitive queen set her foot on English soil Feb. 8, Until, after the mockery of a trial, she had laid her 1587 head on the block at Fotheringay. Although after the death of Mary she tried to make the world believe that the 1563] 1563-1580.] ELIZABETH. 185 tragedy was enacted without her knowledge and against her will, the verdict of history makes her the prime mover in the transac- tion, and convicts her, moreover, of almost unparalleled duplicity. There is no doubt whatever, that even after the death-war- rant had been signed, she sought means to have her assassinated in private, and when these failed, said that the sentence should be carried into effect. But in spite of many and serious blemishes, she was a popu- lar and excellent ruler. In her reign, the material, and espe- cialh^ the commercial, interests of the nation were singularly prosperous. The troubles in France and the discovery of America had given rise to a spirit of bold adventure. English privateers, or, as they were called, " sea dogs," pursued a dangerous but lucrative trade. Chief among them stands the name of Francis Drake, who conceived and executed the daring design of carry- ing the English flag into the Pacific. AYith a small dec. is, vessel and 80 men he passed the Straits of Magellan, 1577 spread terror along the coasts of Chili and Peru, loaded his bark with the gold-dust and silver ingots of Potosi, and with the pearls and precious stones which formed the cargo of a Spanish vessel ; then, sailing across the Pacific, he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and completed the circumnavigation of sept. 26, the globe. 1580 His return was hailed with unbounded enthusiasm in Eng- land ; Elizabeth herself was present at a banquet on board his ship and conferred upon him the honor of knighthood. Philip of Spain, who felt incensed against Elizabeth not onl}' because of the depredations on the commerce and possessions of Spain, made by Drake, Cavendish, and others, but because of the sympathy and aid accorded b}' the queen and her sub- jects to William of Orange, and last, not least, because of the execution of Mary Stuart, intended to strike a decisive blow, and annihilate the growing and hateful power of England. Elizabeth was well informed of his immense preparations, and 186 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. resolved, while diplomatic negotiations were still going on, to -, avert the impending storm, by striking the first blow ; she dispatched Drake with a fleet of 30 sail, and or- dered him to destroy all Spanish ships he could find in the harbors of Spain. He dashed into Cadiz roads, burnt, sunk, or took 30 Spanish vessels, some of the largest size. Then, between Cadiz and Cape St. Vincent, he burnt, sunk, or took 100 vessels, and demolished four castles on the coast, and thus, as he humorously expressed it, completed his " singeing of the Spanish king's beard." The preparations, though checked, continued with increasing -| vigor. Early in the following year they were com- pleted. The armament, which from the vain pre- sumption that it could not be resisted, had received the name of the Invincible Armada, consisted of 130 vessels of war, carrying 2,431 pieces of artillery, and 4,575 quintals of powder ; there were on board 30,000 men, while an army of 34,000, under the prince of Parma, stood ready at Dunkirk, awaiting the arrival of the Armada to protect its passage to England. To meet this formidable expedition, Elizabeth had collected a fleet of 191 vessels, manned with 17,400 sailors. The vessels were of smaller size than those ol Philip, but under more skilful nautical direction. Lord Howard of Effingham commanded the fleet, and among his subordinates were Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher. A military force of upwards of 63,000 men, with 36 pieces of ordnance, had been placed at Tilbury Fort, and around London. The Armada had been ordered to sail earl}' in May, but was delayed by the death of two admirals. Philip then put in com- mand the duke of Medina Sidonia, a man of bigh rank, but utterly deficient in seamanship, and appointed Martinez de Recaldo, an expert seaman, vice-admiral. The armament set sail from the Tagus on its way Mat 29. * -^ to Coruna, where more troops were to be taken on board, and was overtaken by a severe storm off Cape Finisterre, 1587-1588.] ELIZABETH. 187. ill which four large ships foundered, and much damage was done to the rest. After some necessary delay the fleet resumed its course, and at last was descried, sailins: slowly "- '^ July 20. down the Channel, in the form of a half-moon, for the coast of Flanders. Howard let them pass, and followed them ; in a first brush with the enemy's rear, one of the largest Spanish men-of-war was crippled, and a treasure ship was taken by Drake. On its slow prooress to Calais, where it came to anchor, the '. . ' JUI.Y27. armament suffered considerable loss. Medina Sido- nia opened communication by land with the duke of Parma, but Dunkirk being closely blockaded by the English and the Dutch, the latter was unable to move his army. Howard threw the Armada into confusion and dismay by sending eight small fire-ships among them in the middle of the night. They had been gutted, covered with pitch, rosin, and wild-fire, and filled with combustibles, and quietl}' taken close to the Spanish line ; then the men in charge of them took to their boats, fired the trains, and escaped. The explosion did not sink any ships, but scattered the armament. In the morning a general engage- ment was brought on, and the battle raged throughout the day. The English were entirely victorious, and so crippled the Span- ish that Medina Sidouia abandoned the whole enterprise ; and, in order to save the remainder of his fleet from destruc- tion, ordered the armament to sail round Scotland. The Eng- lish, from want of ammunition, could not follow them, but the fierce storms which broke on them in the northern seas, accom- plished their overthrow. Onlj' 50 sail, and 10,000 men, stricken with pestilence and death, reached Corufia : of the rest, ^ September. some foundered at sea, others dashed to pieces against the cliffs of Scotland and Ireland, and others were driven as far as the rocks of Norwa3^ The voice of joy and thanksgiving rang throughout England, but that of universal lamentation was heard in Spain. Philip alone remained calm, and said, "I have seat my fleet against men, not against storms and cHfl's." 188 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Several years after the destruction of the Armada, the Eng- lish inflicted another hard blow on Spain in the expedition com- manded by the earl of Essex, sir Walter Raleigh, and others. -| The fleet sailed into the port of Cadiz, destroyed or captured the shipping, and on the next day Essex forced the cit}' to capitulate. The lives of the inhabitants, under express orders of the queen, were spared on payment of a heav}' ransom ; but the}' lost everything they had, the city was plundered, set on fire, and the fortifications were razed to the ground. This was one of many daring exploits achieved in the reign of Elizabeth on the sea, not only with hostile intent, but in the more beneficent service of discovery and commerce. Martin Frobisher explored the northern seas, and entered the strait which leads into Hudson's Bay, and still bears his name. -I He landed on some of the adiacent coasts, and took them in possession for England. The first circumnavigation of the globe, made by an Englishman, was accomplished, as told in a former paragraph, by Francis Drake. The search of the northwest passage, after Frobisher had led _ -. the waj^ was made in three voyages of discovery by John Davis, on the first of which he found the strait to which he left his name. Thomas Cavendish also circumnavigated the globe, and on a -| second voyage, shared by John Davis, discovered the Falkland Islands in the South Sea. •Sir Walter Raleigh and his step-brother. Sir Humphrey Gil- _ -| bert, made two unsuccessful attempts to reach, with a view to colonial settlement, the North American continent ; the latter, after having reached New- foundland, perished with his ship at sea on the return voyage. Sir Walter in the next year sent out two ships on a more southerly course, and that voyage resulted in the discover}' of a section of the coast, which, in honor of the queen, was called Virginia, and embraced not only Virginia proper, but Carolina. It was, of course, a vague term, for even some 1567-1600.] ELIZABETH. 189 time later Virginia was defined as " that country of the earth which the ancients called Morosa, between Florida and New France." The first colony planted, but unsuccessfully, was that on Roanoke Island, by Sir Richard Grenyille. ^ Drake, on his way from the Spanish possessions, dis- covered the settlement, and took the colonists back to England. Soon after they had left, Grenville arrived, and left p fifteen men in the place, with provisions for two years. Raleigh in the next year sent out three, more vessels, but the fifteen men had been killed by the Indians. John White, the governor sent out by Raleigh, attempted to lay out the city of Raleigh, and returned to England. The fate of these colonists is unknown. It is said that the men from Raleigh's colony, whom Drake took back, were the first who introduced tobacco into England. Sir Walter liked to smoke, and the story runs that some one who saw him smoking fancied he was on fire, and threw a tankard of ale over him to put it out. He is also credited with having introduced the potato into England. Commercial intercourse with India was opened in the reign of Elizabeth, and led to the formation of the famous r- East India Company. The detestable African slave trade, also, is believed to have begun in that reign by John Hawkins, who, in commemoration of his priority in |- that infamous business, was allowed to add to his coat-of-arms " a demi-moor proper, bound with a cord." The sudden death of the earl of Leicester, so long the favorite of Elizabeth, does not seem to have caused her much sorrow. His place was filled by his step-son, the carl of Essex. He was a man of fine presence, and many good quali- ties, popular, as well as the queen's favorite. He was apt to be haughty, and on one occasion forgot himself, and hurt the queen's vanity to the quick by his rude conduct. The min- isters were discussing the appointment of a new lord-deputy for Ireland. The Cecils proposed one officer, and Essex an- 190 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. other ; Elizabeth siding with the former, and, as was her wont, giving Essex a piece of her mind, he rose in anger and turned his back upon her. The queen then did a very unqueenly and unladylike thing. She boxed his ear, and swore at him. Essex laid his hand on his sword, and swore that, as he would not have taken such an affront from Henry VIII., so he would not take it from a king in petticoats. He then rushed out of the room, and stayed away from court for several months. But a reconciliation took place, and Essex was sent -, as lord-lieutenant to Ireland. His mission proved a failure, and he returned, against the wishes of Eliza- beth, to London, forced his way to her room, and apparently secured her favor, for in token thereof she gave him her hand to kiss ; but in the course of the same day she ordered him to consider himself a prisoner in his own room, and three days later had him arrested. His restraint lasted nearly a year, and Aug. 26, npon his release from custody he was forbidden 1600 the court. Deprived of his honors and offices, and reduced in his affairs, he applied to Elizabeth for the renewal of his monopolj^ in sweet wines, but she refused, on the oftensive ground that, " in order to manage an unruly beast, he must be stinted in his food." This exasperated Essex, who now passed from one indiscre- tion to another, called the queen a vain old woman, who had grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure, and finally Feb. 25, tried to excite an insurrection in London. He was 1601 arrested, tried, found guilt}^, and beheaded. After the death of Essex the queen became gloom}^, and her powers began to fail ; towards the last she fell into a stupor and refused to take medicine and go to bed. For ten days she lay on cushions on the floor, and it was necessary to use force to get her to bed. In answer to the question of her ministers as to her successor, she said that she would have no rascal to succeed her. Cecil asked her what she meant by "no rascal," and she said, that a king should succeed her, and whom should 1599-1603.] ELIZABETH. 191 she mean but her cousin of Scotland. The next morn- march 24, ing she died. Seven hours afterwards James VI. of 1603 Scotland was proclaimed in London as James I., king of England. Elizabeth died at Richmond in the 70th year of her age, and the 45th of her reign, and her remains were interred in West- minster Abbey. A noble monument erected hy James I. marks the spot. Perhaps the most lasting lustre shed on her reign is that derived from the names of Spenser, Shakespeare, and Bacon. Elizabeth was \Qvy popular, but both her virtues and her faults have been exaggerated. Had she been a man, she might in man}' things have been a second Henry VIII., but as a woman she was altogether too masculine. Her appearance, as noticed by one who saw her four years before her death on a state occasion at Greenwich, was " majestic: her face- oblong, fair but wrinkled ; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant ; her nose a little hooked, her lips narrow, and her teeth black [a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar] ; she had in her ears two very rich pearls, wath drops ; she wore false hair, and that red ; upon her head she had a small crown . . . her hands were small, her fingers long, and her stature neither tall nor low ; lier air was stately, and her manner of speaking mild and obliging." Elizabeth wrote, and doubtless pronounced, deserve, desarve, swerve, sicarve^ keep, kipe, and it hit. The ladies of her court imitated her in most things, and either dyed their own hair red, or wore red wigs. REFERENCES. The several Histories of England, especially Knight, " Pictorial History of England " ; Green, " Short History of the English People," and Robertson, "History of Scotland." Also Mihier, "History of England." 192 MODERN HISTORY. [A.r>. 1682-1725] PETER THE GREAT. Towards the close of the 17th century the vast Russian Empire in the estimate of civilized Europe was thought to be a gigantic wilderness of impassable mountains and morasses, one-half of which was clouded in perpetual darkness or frozen up, and the other covered with impenetrable forests. Rough as its climate, and uncultivated as its soil, were the character and habits of the ferocious tribes of Slavonic or Scandinavian origin which constituted its population. That estimate, though exaggerated b}^ ignorance or terror, did not fall short of truth with regard to the people, who for the most part were in a state of abject and savage ignorance, held in base and impotent vassalage or slavery by the barbarian despots, or autocrats, whom they called czars. Russia, at the time of Peter's accession, was practically an uncivilized countr}^, and that monarch may justly be called the father of Russian civilization. Peter was the son of the czar Alexis Mikailovitch by his -| second wife Natalia Naryskine, and born at Moscow, June 9, 1672, His father died when he was only four years old, and was succeeded by Feodor, his half-brother, who -| died without issue, and appointed Peter bis successor, instead of Tvau, his full brother. Peter, at the time, was ten years old, and his mother was to rule during the period of his minority. This arrangement was unsatisfactory to the children of Alexis by his first wife, among whom the grand duchess Sophia, an able, domineering, and ambitious woman, was most disaffected. She instigated an insurrection of the Strelitz, the petted and formidable body-guard of the Russian EUROPE under LEWIS THE FOURTEENTH German Boundary I j Brandenburg Poss I I Spanish " I I Venetian u I i Austrian <« Longitude 40 50 GO from Greenwlcb 30 FiikiBfc, N. Y. 1672-1689.] PETER- THE GREAT. 193 czars, and succeeded in obtaining the coronation of Ivan and Peter as joint rulers, and her own appointment as p I 1682 regent. Sophia continued at the head of the government five j^ears longer, and became reconciled to the existing state of things from her belief that Peter, who lived in the retirement of Preobrashenskoe, was not an object of fear. But in that she was much mistaken, for the young czar cher- ished great projects and was ambitious of making his mark. She thought he was playing at soldier}^, and absorbed in study and pastime, while he was quietly preparing for action. It was his good fortune to make the acquaintance and secure the friendship of Lefort, an accomplished Genevese, of much culture and refinement, who constantly discoursed to him of the vast superiority of other countries to Russia in the sciences and arts of civilization, and filled his pupil with the enthusiastic desire of securing them to his own country. Lefort undertook the formation of a small militar}' company, composed of the youthful companions of Peter, in which Peter passed, by strict discipline and merit, from the lowest grade to the highest. Peter called the company his poteshni, that is, his comrades. Their numbers soon increased, and their military training was so excellent, that Peter felt assured of their efficient service in the prosecution of his plans. He was resolved to oppose the usurpation of Sophia, and asked her to resign, forbade her appearance on a public occasion in the capacity of regent, and upon her refusal, left the church. Sophia, thoroughly roused, and daring the worst, as was her wont, fell to intriguing. The conspiracy was discovered, and in the revulsion caused by its announcement, most of the military, including the Strelitz, and many nobles, flocked around Peter, who compelled the impe- rious and plotting Sophia to spend the remainder of her life in a convent. Peter made his solemn entry into Moscow, when he was met by Ivan, whom he gratified by the nominal possession of imperial 194 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Oct. 11, power, and became on that day sole czar of Russia. 1689 Ivaii died six years later. The first care of Peter was directed to the formation of an army, in which the military experience of the veteran general, Patrick Gordon, and of Lefort, afforded him invaluable aid. With i\iQ poteslini as a nucleus, he soon had an effective force of 20,000 men, disciplined according to European tactics, which was constantly growing in numbers and efficiency. The crea- tion of a naval force, both armed and mercantile, also seemed to him indispensable to the development of the country, and to the conquest he was planning. It is said that soon after his accession he noticed in an old storehouse near Moscow a boat of a construction different from Russian boats. Extremely observant and curious, he learned that it was an English boat, and found a Dutch carpenter, who put it in thorough repair. Then he tried it himself, and its excellence gave him so much pleasure that he forthwith ordered the building of a number of boats after that model, both of the T same and a lars^er size. He also visited Archan£!:el, on 1693] the White Sea, and encouraged the building of ships there so successfully that on his next visit he had the satisfac- tion of making a maritime excursion with several Russian built vessels. Shut out from the sea, except in high latitudes, by Sweden and Poland at one extremity of his vast empire, and by Turkey on the other, Peter felt the imperative want of an avail- able sea-board and ports, and cast his eyes on the provinces of his more favored neighbors. When a conqueror sees something he likes and thinks he can get, he soon finds a pretext for securing it. Thus Peter coveted Azof, at the mouth of the Don on the Black Sea, de- clared war against Turke}^, assailed Azof by land and water, and -| after a long siege or blockade, took it. Flushed with the success of his enterprise, he returned to Moscow, and took measures for the preservation of his new conquest by ordering the building of more ships of war, and the construction 1689-1697.] PETER THE GREAT. 195 of a canal connecting the waters of the Don with those of the Volga. He invited skilled engineers, architects, and military men from abroad, and sent main^ young Russians to foreign countries for study and observation, especiall}' in matters con- nected with ship-building, naval equipment, and militar}^ art. The numerous reforms introduced b}^ the restless energy of the young czar were not relished by the Strelitz, who formed a new conspirac}^, which was betra3-ed to Peter b}^ two of their number, who came to tell him, a few hours before the feb. time fixed upon for the outbreal^:, that the Strelitz, who 1697 were even then assembled at the house of a prominent noble, intended to set the city on fire that very night, and assassinate him in the throng and confusion of the scene, which they felt sure he would visit. This alarming intelligence was brought to Peter at the house of Lefort, with whom he was dining. He had the informers arrested, and sent a written order to an officer to proceed at eleven o'clock to the designated house, to surround it, and take all persons found in it prisoners. Then he returned to the company, left about ten, and drove, accompanied by only one oflScer, to the house where the conspirators were in session. Arriving about half an hour later, he noticed with surprise the absence of his soldiers, but fearlessly stepped in among the Strelitz, and lulled their guilty fears by exclaiming he had come to share their carousal. They drank his health, and about cloven he overheard one of the company whisper to his neighbor, "Now is the time," and the other reply in as low a voice, " Not 3'et." Then Peter thundered out, "But it is time for me, villain!" and struck him in the face. At that instant the officer and his men entered the room: "Bind the dogs!" shouted the czar; the conspirators fell upon their knees, and implored his mere}'. They were fettered, and the czar then struck the officer for having come too late. He produced the written order in proof of his strict obedience, and Peter, perceiving that he had made a mistake, kissed him on the forehead, and declared him a good officer. 196 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Then Peter returned to the house of Lefort, and reported what he had done. The leaders in the consph'acy lost then- lives, the others were pardoned. Not content with the observation of others, Peter now carried out his cherished plan of seeing with his own eyes what was to be seen in foreign lands. He set out in the train of a large em- bassy, ostensibly headed by Lefort, and visited the Baltic prov- inces, Germany, and Holland. In the guise of an obscure traveller, he mingled freely with the people, and made himself acquainted with everything that came in his way. He visited every place of interest, — not only museums, collections, galleries, and the like, but factories, workshops, arsenals, and ship-yards. He took lessons in etching, and even in dentistry and shoe- making. As a dentist he experimented on the jaws of his suite and servants ; he mended his own clothes, and made himself a pair of slippers. At Saardam, a village opposite to Amster- dam, the}' still show the house in which he lived as a ship-car- penter, but that is not the real place where he worked more than four months at ship-building. That was the wharf of the East India Company at Oostenburg, where he had himself registered among the common laborers as Carpenter Peter of Saardam, and shared their work. He carried logs, trimmed planks, and dressed masts. During the day he was in the 3'ard, and at night he conducted his correspondence, or studied geom- etry and navigation. -| In the following year he visited England, whose king had sent him, as a present, a superb yacht, the Transport Moyal, armed with 20 brass cannon, whose model he greatly preferred to that of the Dutch ships. The greater part of his stay in London, which lasted about three months, was occupied chiefly in matters relating to naviga- tion, ship-building, and the mechanical arts. He took up his abode in the house of John Evel^m, at Deptford, near the ship-yards, and not far from the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. King William II. arranged in his honor a review of the Eng- 1698.] PETER THE GREAT. I97 lish fleet off Spithead, and a sham-fight, which drew forth from him the delighted expression, " If I were not the czar of Rus- sia, I should like to be an English admiral." From England he sailed in the Trans^iort Royal to Amster- dam, and proceeded, by way of Germany, to Vienna, intending to visit Venice in order to augment his knowledge in ship- building, especially in the construction of vessels suited to service in the Black Sea. On the eve of his intended departure for Italy, Peter received the news of the revolt of the Strelitz, and returned to r- 1 698 Russia, resolved to punish the offenders. He had visited the most civilized lands, and learned much of the arts of civilization, but returned as uncivilized in heart and soul as he went. Suspecting his sister Sophia to be im- plicated in the revolt, the numerous prisoners were put to the torture, or, as it used to be called, subjected to criminal investi- gation, in order to draw forth from them confessions. The means employed were the batogs, the knout, and the fire. The prisoner was held down by two men, one at his head and another at his feet, armed with thin, short rods, with which the}' struck him on his back until the batogs broke. Another prisoner was either hoisted upon the back of another man or drawn up with his hands tied behind, and his feet loaded with a heavy weight, received with a thong of hard leather ending in a loop or ring as many cruel strokes as the judge had appointed ; that was the knout. A third prisoner had his hands and feet tied and was laid on a pole, which being raised by four men, two at each end, was held with his back over a slow fire. The confes- sions obtained by these examinations, at which Peter himself was present not only as spectator, but as examiner, resulted in the conviction and capital punishment of more than 2,000 Strelitz. They were either beheaded, or hanged, or broken on the wheel, and those under 20 years of age were branded in the right cheek and sent into exile. Although nothing was proved against Sophia, Peter believed 198 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. her guilty, and forced her to become a nun in the convent of Novodevitchy, and the unfortunate princess was compelled to witness the hanging of 195 culprits in front of her cell, three of whom, convicted of having petitioned her to ascend the throne, were hung up under her windows, one of them with the petition in his hand, and kept there all the winter. It is asserted that not only Menchikof and many nobles, but Peter himself, with their own hands, acted as headsmen.^ His cruel and brutal conduct is historically established. His first wife Eudoxia, whom some writers accuse of sympathy with the revolutionists, he compelled to give up her son, the czare- vitch Alexis, and to take the veil. That son, when he had attained man's estate, dared to oppose his reforms, and suffered for his temerity not only exclusion from the line of succession, -| but imprisonment and death. It was reported that he died from the terror and agitation caused by his trial, but general opinion said that he was beheaded in prison. Prince Czerbatof, one of the friends of the unfortunate Alexis, was punished with the knout, and deprived of his nose and tongue ; Sopuchin, the brother of Eudoxia, and the archbishop of Resan lost their heads. Lefort, who died in 1699, was succeeded by Menchikof in the intimate friendship of Peter. The story of his early life is ob- scure ; he is said to have sold pies in the streets of Moscow, but it is known that he was one of the play soldiers in the early days at Preobrashenskoe. He was handsome, witty, lively, very intelligent, and fond of the same pursuits as Peter. The com- panion of his journey, and in the ship-yards, he rapidly rose in the favor of the czar, and became his chief adviser. He ex- 1 "John George Korb, the Austrian agent, who as an eye-witness has left us an authentic account of the executions, heard that five rebel heads had been sent into the dust by blows from an axe wielded by the noblest hand in Russia. The terrible carpenter of Saardam worked and obliged his boyards to work at this horrible employment. Seven other days were employed in this way." — Rambaud, " History of Russia," vol. I. p. 305. 1700-1718.] PETER THE GREAT. 199 celled both iu the field and iu politics, aud was the chief pro- moter of the mau}' reforms iutroduced into the domestic affairs of the country. Some of these were very curious. The Russians from time immemorial had cherished a fondness for very long beards and very loug coats. The czar thought that the clipping of both was essential to civilization, and commanded those relics of ancient barbarism to be removed. A decree went forth requir- ing all men except the clergy to shave, and imposing a yearly tax ranging from two cents to $200, on those who preferred to wear beards, Peter himself had very little beard, and shaved ; he wore a little line of moustache, Avhich became the fashion of his court. Bearded men were excluded from his presence. Soon aftfiT a decree was published commanding the court and officials throughout the empire to discard the old Russian costume, and wear the new style according to German and Dutch models which were hung up at all the gates. The disobedient had either to pay a fine, or were required to kneel at the gate and have their coats cut off by so much as they trailed on the ground in that attitude. The women also were required to conform to the newly favored English fashion. About the same time Peter declared himself and his succes- sors as head of the National Church, and established schools in which education was not only commended but made compulsory within certain limits. The parent with an income of $1,000 who neglected to give his children a school education, was deprived of the right of making them his heirs. He encouraged the establishment of printing-presses, the translation of the works of famous writers, trade with foreign countries, and urged 3^outh to follow his example in visiting them. The naval enthusiasm of Peter made him long for convenient access to the Baltic, and covet the possession of the Swedish provinces, which he pretended belonged of right to Russia. He formed an alliance with the kings of Poland and p Denmark in a combined attack against Charles XII., the 200 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. youthful king of Sweden. Against all expectation that dashing and daring prince compelled the Danes to conclude the peace of -1 Travendahl, and gained the ^eat victory of Narva I700l ' & » J over the Russians. Peter, not at all disheartened by the defeat of his troops, waited until the Swedes were in Poland after Augustus the Strong, fell upon and conquered Ingria, and laid the foundation of his new capital on an island in the Neva, which in honor of the Apostle St. Peter, he called St. Petersburg. With his usual energy he summoned many thousands of work- -| men from the remotest parts of his empire, who were at work day and night in struggling with a terrible climate and natural difficulties, without adequate tools and appli- ances. For want of carts and wheelbarrows the earth was car- ried in sacks, and every vehicle was required to bring, at least, three stones to give stability to the marshy soil, and raise it to the required height. The fortress was completed in four months, and the building of the city itself progressed so rapidly that in less than ten years it numbered several thousands of houses. Great inducements were held out to new settlers, who flocked in great numbers to the new capital. Every town and village was required to furnishr- a contingent of traders, me- chanics, and artisans to settle there with their families. The workmen also became permanent residents. Hundreds of the nobility at Moscow were obliged to spend the winter there, and many foreigners made it their home. Under these conditions it speedily rose in importance, and became one of the most popu- lous and beautiful cities of the world. Peter's contest with Charles XII. was decided in the battle of Julys, Pultowa, the capital of the Ukraine, in South Russia, 1 709 with the result that the Swedes were totally routed, their cannon, baggage, and treasure were captured, 4,000 were slain in the field, and their king had to accept Turkish hospi- tality at Bender. At the instigation of Charles XII. Turkey declared war 1700-1721.] PETER THE GREAT. 201 agaiDst Peter, who invaded Moldavia with an army of 80,000 men ; he advanced too far, and found himself in a terrible situa- tion on the Fruth ; the river was behind him, and a superior Turkish force in the form of a crescent pressed him in front and harassed his flanks. He believed himself lost, and in his con- sternation could think only of captivitj' or death. From this dreadful dilemma he was extricated by the astute Catharine, who was with him, and succeeded by briber}^ in obtaining from the Turkish vizier a treaty of peace, on extremely easy terms. Peter promised to restore to the Turks Azof and the territory july 23, belonging to it, to withdraw his troops from Poland, ^711 and to stop molesting the Cossacks ; the Turks good-naturedly and foolishly not only believed him, but actually furnished him with provisions, and protected him from the attacks of the Tartar irregulars who swarmed around his army. Catharine, who had been privately married to Peter in 1707, was rewarded for her services on -the Fruth, by her r- public elevation to the throne ; the loss of Azof, in the Black Sea, was followed by the conquest of Finland and other successes against the Swedes, which were finally settled in the peace of Nystadt, by which Eussia secured the pos- p session of the coveted Baltic provinces, undertook to pay to Sweden the sum of $2,000,000, and restore to her the greater part of Finland. Catharine, who had risen from the obscure position of a chambermaid in a clergyman's family to imperial splendor, accompanied^ Peter on his second visit to Western Europe, and 1 Rambaud, " History of Russia," vol. II. p. 50, who is ratlier prejudiced against Catharine, says that Peter did not dare to take her with him to Paris, What ladies thought of her in Germany may be gathered from the following passage in a letter written by the margravine of Baireuth : — "The Czarina was small and clumsily made, very much tanned, and without either grace or an air of distinction. You had only to see her to know that she was low-born. From her usual costume you would have 202 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. shared his throne in the celebration of the peace, in Oct 22. which he assumed the style and title of " Emperor of all the Russias." In the following year, the ambitious and enterprising czar took advantage of the turbulent condition of Persia, invaded that countr}' , made his entry at Derbend, and obtained from the feeble shah the three Caspian provinces, as well as the cities of Derbend and Baku. These valuable acqui- -| sitions, of the utmost importance to Russian commerce, were guaranteed to the czar in the treaty of partition concluded between him and the sultan. Ever vigilant, and bent upon adventure, Peter dispatched captain Behring on a voyage of exploration, in order to ascer- tain the then unknown limits of Northern Asia, it being tlie gen- eral belief at that time that Asia .and America were connected by land. The discovery of the strait which bears his name belongs to a later date. In consequence of a cold contracted by imprudent exposure, Jan. 28, Peter died, after a painful illness, and was succeeded 1 725 by his widow Catharine. The Russians gave him the endearing appellation of " Father of his Country," to which, however, he is not entitled on the same grounds upon which we have accorded it to George Wash- ington. Doubtless he raised Russia to a position of commanding im- portance, b}^ territorial aggrandizement," and vast strides in civilization ; but want of proper education and deficiency in self-government, as well as the invincible strength of native despotism, made him rather an object of terror than of affection. That despotism found expression in one of the latest of his taken her for a German comedian. Her dress had been bought at a second-hand shop; it was very old-fashioned, and covered with silver and dirt. She had a dozen orders, and as many portraits of saints or reliqua- ries, fastened all down her dress in such a way that when she walked you would have thought by the jingling that a mule was passing." 1722-1725.] PETER THE GREAT. 203 public measures, the celebrated law of succession, promulgated in virtue of which it is the czar's inalienable pre- Feb. ff, 1722 rogative to name his own successor, and to revoke such nomi- nation at his pleasure. Petei' himself did not nominate his successor, and Catharine became empress by acclamation. Judged by the standard of his own countr^^, in his age, he deserved to be called great ; but by the loftier standard, which refuses that epithet to those who fail to practise the virtues of temperance, chastity, and mercy, he is not entitled to it. His energ}', perseverance, and liberality, his patronage of art and science, the impetus he gave to commerce, and his great execu- tive ability in war and in peace, are worthy the applause and imitation of mankind ; but his savage cruelty and injustice must always expose him to the censure of the good. REFERENCES. The General Histories, and Eugene Schuyler, "Peter the Great," 2 vols., N.Y. 1884. Rambaud, "History of Russia," 2 vols., IST.Y. 1886, which contains a very full list of works on Russia. For the Swedish war, Voltaire, " Charles XH," 204 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. 1740-1786] FREDERIC THE GREAT. Frederic William I., king of Prussia, was an unculti- vated, despotic man, whose sole end in life was soldiering, and who believed that drill was its most important duty. His son Born Frederic's military training began with his eighth Jan. 24, year ; in his tenth year he was put into a uniform, 1712 and required to perform the duties of a private : he had to mount guard, and stand sentry in the castle-yard. The harsh and rigid treatment to which he was subjected, and his natural fondness for study and music, which were hateful to his father, made his early life very unhappy. His father said of him, "Fritz is a piper and a poet ; he cares nought for soldiery, and will spoil all my work." His mother, who sympathized with her son and pitied him, did all she could to promote his happiness, and enable him to gratify his taste for music. But it had to be doncby stealth. One da}^, after drill, young Frederic had exchanged his uniform for a dressing- gown, had his hair dressed by a barber, and was playing the flute with his music-master, when some one entered the room and frightened all present with the dread news that the king was com- ing. The music-master rushed to hide himself in the fireplace ; Frederic covered up his flute and music, hid his dressing-gown, and donned his uniform ; the king entered the room and de- tected the oif ending articles. He seized the dressing-gown and burned it ; the books, and had them returned to the bookseller ; he sent for the surgeon barber and told him to crop Frederic's hair. Some say that he pulled him by the hair. Frederic had also a strong taste for French literature, and his thoughtful mind invaded the fields of science and religion, J 1712-1732.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 205 which were peculiarly obnoxious to his father ; he also loved his mother, and that was an offence. The relations between the father and the son became exceedingly unpleasant, and the latter, recoiling from the idea of being married against his inclination, and unwilling to submit any longer to the indig- nities of tyrannical caprice, tried to escape to the court r- of his uncle, George II. of England. The preparations had been made, and two of his friends, Katt and Keith, had engaged to assist him. The plan was discovered, and the prince arrested on the eve of its execution and taken before his father, whose fury rose to madness. He drew his sword to thrust him through, but was prevented through the generous interposition of General Mosel, who sprang between, exclaiming, "Kill me, but save your son!" Frederic was sent as a deserter to the fortress of Sept. 1 730- Kustrin, and kept many months in close confine- Feb. 1732 ment. Of his abettors, Keith, having received timel}^ warning from the prince, made his escape to England ; but poor Katt was, like the prince, taken as a deserter to the same fortress, tried by a court-martial, and in spite of the court's recom- mendation to mercy, put to death under the verj' window of his friend. But for the intercession of the kings of Sweden and Poland, and of the emperor, the royal tyrant and martinet would have meted out the same fate to his son. A pliant court-martial found him guilty, but general Bud- deubrock protested, saying, "If yov\Y majesty are athirst for blood, shed mine ; his 3'ou shall not have so long as I can speak ! " So spoke the prince of Dessau, and the king at last abandoned his vile and cruel purpose. The severity of his confinement after a while became re- laxed, he sued for pardon, promised obedience, accepted a wife from his father's hand, and a reconciliation took place. On the wedding day of his sister he was bidden to come to Berlin, and the king took him to his mother, saying, " Well, Fritz is back again." He was restored to his place in the army, and 206 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. the king, in token of his favor, gave him a private establish- -l uient at Rheinsberg, near the frontier of Mecklenburg, where he resided until his elevation to the throne. In the retirement of that lovely spot he had leisure with caution to indulge his own tastes in the cultivation of literature, music, and horticulture, and to surround himself with men of parts, especially those of French extraction. His relations with the king continued on the whole quite pleasant ; he kept his regiment in good order, and his father in good humor by occasional presents in the shape of a grenadier six feet eight or six feet nine inches high, for the sight of tall soldiers was the very joy of his heart. That father is actually credited with having exclaimed before he closed his eyes, "My son, I die contented, seeing that I shall have so worthy a successor." Little was known of the character of Frederic at the time of « Mat 31, his accession. The ability and energy with which he 1740 entered upon the active duties of his reign excited surprise and admiration. In a time of dearth, he caused the royal stores of breadstuff to be sold at a low price, and he cut short the expectations of the Rheinsberg coterie by the pithy announcement of his^ftiture policy, "No more of these fooleries." He abolished torture in criminal investigations, and an- nounced his spirit of toleration in matters of religion in the noble phrase, "Any man may find salvation, as he pleases, in my dominions." The late king had not only bequeathed to him a splendid army, but also a large war-fund, and he meant to make good use of both. Opportunit}^ soon presented itself, when Maria Theresa, under the new law of succession known as the "Pragmatic Sanction," upon the death of her father, Oct. 20, the emperor Charles VI., ascended the throne of 1740 Austria. Frederic, ostensibly on the plea of antiquated claims on Silesia, but really from the lust of power and conquest, re- 1734-1741.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 207 solved to possess himself of that province, invaded it on the principle that possession is nine points of the law, and his troops defeated the Austrians in the battle of Molwitz, april lo, with the result that Breslau surrendered and the ^741 greater part of Silesia was occupied by the Prussians. The success of Frederic's robbery startled Europe, and the easy conscience of rulers jealous of Austria, and unwilling to let' Prussia alone enjoy the plunder, made them break their plighted guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction, and rush to take part in the dismemberment of the empire of the young, beautiful, interesting, and spirited Maria Theresa. France, Spain, and Saxony supported Bavaria in her alleged right to Bohemia, and concluded a treaty having for its object the partition of Austria. Frederic invaded Moravia ; the French and the Bavarians marched into Upper Austria and Bohemia, and took Prague. The elector of Bavaria had himself pro- claimed archduke of Austria at Linz, and crowned as king of Bohemia at Prague. The fearless empress, with her infant son, the future emperor Joseph II., hastened to Presburg in Hungary, where in the sight of a vast multitude she was crowned with the venerable crown, and arrayed in the robes of St. Stephen, rode up the Mount of Defiance, and according to ancient usage unsheathed the sword of state, shook it towards the four cardinal points, and challenged the four quarters of the earth to dispute her rights and those of her son. This happened in June at the first sitting of the Diet ; in September, she appeared in deep mourning before them, saying, "Deserted by all, I come witli my son, noble Hungarians, to seek your protection, committing to your fidelity my crowns, my honor, and my liberty." The pathetic appeal, and the confidence of the beautiful woman, roused the enthusiasm of the chivalrous assembly, who drew their swords, shoutiiig : "Let us die for our king Maria Theresa ! Our blood and our life are thine ! " They rushed to arms, invaded and subdued Bavaria, while the elector was 208 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. -| chosen and raised to the imperial throne at Frankfort on the Main. Frederic, meanwhile, changed his tactics ; for, nnwilling to let others rob Maria Theresa, after another victory over May 17. '^ her army in the battles of Chotusitz and Czaslau, a June 28. *^ peace was concluded, in virtue of which he obtained Silesia, abandoned his allies, and withdrew his troops from Austria. Maria Theresa was now able to turn her whole force against France and Bavaria. The French were driven out of Bohemia, and the Hungarians chased the new emperor, to whom the imperial crown had become a crown of thorns, out of his dominions. The Austrians took Prague, where Maria Theresa Mat 13, was crowned queen of Bohemia, and in the flush of 1 743 triumph thought of recovering Silesia, and her generals spoke of punishing France in the re-conquest of Alsace. The vain and ambitious emperor Charles YII., who had fool- jan. 20, ishly marched into Bohemia, was vanquished by the 1745 Austrians, and died suddenly. His son, the elector Maximilian Joseph, renounced all claims to Bohemia, in the peace concluded with Austria, and cast his vote in ApRTti 22 favor of Francis, the consort of Maria Theresa, who was elected emperor of Germany, and crowned as Sept. 13. ^ -^ ' Francis I., at Frankfort. Frederic discerned in the peace between Austria and Bavaria an element of danger, and without any other pretext recom- menced hostilities, defeated the Austrians at Holien- friedberg and Striegau, while general Dessau gained a victory over the Saxons at Kesselsdorf , followed by still another at Sorr. Then followed the Peace of Dresden, in which Frederic was guaranteed the possession of Silesia, and Saxony mulcted in an indemnity of a million of German thalers. Prussia was now at peace, but the war between Austria and France continued in the Netherlands and Italy until the conclu- OcT. 7, sion of a general peace at Aix-la-Chapelle, in which 1748 Frederic alone was the gainer. He had Silesia, and 1742-1759.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 209 the reputation of being a master in the art of war, an astute diplomat, and an able administrator. Then followed eleven years of peace, which Frederic devoted to the organization of his army, to civil reforms, to the devel- opment of the finances, and to literary pursuits, conducted, how- ever, in French, not in German. French was his favorite language ; he read French books, French was spoken at his table, and in French he wrote. Frenchmen were his favorite associates, notably Voltaire, who spent some time at his court, but left it in disgrace and in diso-ust. As a ruler Frederic was all in all. The whole government centred in his person ; he directed everj^thing down to the minutest detail, and his ministers were only the executors of his will. His industry was wonderful, and his capacity for work truh" phenomenal. He rose at three in summer, at four in winter ; a few minutes sufficed for his toilet ; he attended forth- with to the vast nimaber of letters, reports, proposals, applica- tions, petitions, etc., which had arrived during the night; distrustfully he looked at their seals before he opened and read them ; he sorted them, criticised their contents or their writers, and indicated to his secretaries his pleasure. Then came his militar}^ aides to present their reports, and receive his com- mands. A simple repast of coffee and rolls was his breakfast. Two hours of recreation he spent in playing the flute, and walking up and down, thinking. His secretaries, who in the meantime had made abstracts of the official correspondence referred to, received oralW, or in writing on the margin, his final instructions. The remainder of the morning was devoted to reading, writing, the review of the guards and parades. The soldier who had an}' part of his arms, or his uniform, out of order, was sure to be detected, reproved, or punished. Nothing escaped his eagle glance. Dinner, prepared according to the bill of fare furnished by him- self every morning, was served at noon, and enlivened by the 210 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. conversation of the wittiest and keenest intellects he could find, and his own epigrammatic, satirical, or sarcastic sallies. The indefatigable secretaries then brought the letters they had written, for his signature. After that he took a short constitu- tional walk, followed by literary work from four to six, and a concert from six to seven, in which he often appeared among the performers. The supper, which concluded the day, was an animated and entertaining meal, and often protracted to mid- night. Although he loved good eating and drinking, and enter- tained on a large scale, the strict economy he practised, and which might be called parsimonious, kept the whole charge of his kitchen within an annual expenditure of $10,000. Such was the daily life of Frederic the Great at home, which he never varied except in his campaigns and journeys. When he was travelling, he inspected everything with his own eyes, and the provincial and district officials were required to accompany him on horseback, take turns at his carriage window, and present their oral reports. In those years of peace the injured Maria Theresa was bend- ing all the energies of her intense character to the accomplish- ment of the dominant purpose of her life, of humbling to the dust the upstart king, whom she hated as a robber, a perjurer, and an infidel. She was the soul of the formidable, though as yet secret, understanding between Russia, France, Saxony, the Germanic Body, Sweden, and Austria, which contemplated the dismemberment of Prussia. Frederic had his spies and tools in every court, who kept him advised of everything ; and he received so man}^ consistent reports from all directions that he could not doubt the reality of the project, which, if he allowed it to be carried into effect, would certainly annihilate him ; so he boldly and wisely determined, Ijn^ striking the first blow, to terrif}^ his adversaries, and better his desperate con- dition. Prompt to act, he asked Maria Theresa to explain her inten- tions, saying, "I want no answer in the style of an oracle." 1756-1757.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 211 Her reply was evasive and haughty, but his acknowledgment plain, unmistakable, and emphatic. An army of 60,000 Prussians, without a previous declaration of war, entered Saxony, and thus began the Seven august, Years' War. The elector Augustus held a strong posi- 1756 tion with an army of 17,000 opposite to the lofty and impregna- ble fortress of Konigstein, and expected succor from the Austrian general Browne, who was approaching at the head of an army of 60,000 to his relief. Frederic invested the Saxon camp, and took Dresden, where his soldiers possessed themselves in the very bed-chamber of the queen of Poland of a trunk containing the Saxon State Papers of a recent date, which furnished abundant evidence of the designs of the coalition. Frederic caused the most damag- ing documents to be published at once, as the best and most convincing explanation of his course. Leaving a portion of his army to look after the Saxon camp, he advanced aoainst Browne, and in the battle of =* ' Oct. 1. Lowositz not only defeated him, but decided the fate of Saxony, for Augustus having fled to his kingdom of Poland, the famished and frost-bitten Saxons capitulated eii masse. The officers were dismissed on their word of honor, but the rank and file converted into Prussian soldiers. Frederic went hito winter-quarters in Saxony, and exacted from the conquered province all the supplies necessary for his troops. The real tug of war, however, did not come until the follow- ing year, when Frederic, who could not muster more than 200,000 men, saw arrayed against him half a million of Aus- trians, German Imperials, French, Russians, and Swedes. Early in the year Frederic poured his troops into Bohemia, p and encountered under the walls of Prague the Aus- trian army, commanded by Charles, duke of Lorraine, and marshal Browne. A murderous battle was fought, in which Frederic gained the victory ; but it was dear bought, for 18,000 of his men lay on the field, among them the heroic and aged 212 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Schwerin, who, when the Prussian infantry wavered, snatched the colors from a fugitive ensign, waved them on high, shouting, "Come, boys !" led them forward, till, pierced by four balls, he died a soldier's death. The duke of Lorraine was shut up in Prague ; but Frederic had to withdraw a body of 30,000 men from the besieging army, to oppose the cool and cautious marshal Daun, who, at the head of 60,000 men, held an almost impregnable position at Kollin. He attacked him, and after a frightful carnasre, June 18. ' ^ ^ ' met with a crushing defeat, entailing the loss of 13,000 men, two colors, and 43 cannon. Brooding on the inconstancy of fortune, he sat that night, and said, with tearful eyes, " This has been a bad day, boys ; but have patience, I shall soon make things all right again." There was nothing to be done but to retreat in good order, raise the siege of Prague, and leave Bohemia. The disastrous day of Kollin was speedily followed by other calamities ; the duke of Cumberland, his ally, had been beaten by the French at Hastenbeek, in Hanover, and made Sept. 7. "^ ' a convention with the enemy at Kloster Seven, by which his own electorate was saved from subjugation, and the French were at liberty to assail Frederic. Another army, com- posed of the French and the German Imperials, were in Thu- rinffia, a body of Russians had defeated the Prussians Aug. 30. =" ' -^ at Grossjagerndorf, the Swedes had invaded Pomer- ania, and even Berlin had tasted the bitterness of war, in the capture and plunder of the Croatians. All the greatness and strength of Frederic's character shone in his conduct under that cloud of calamities. It is said that, he was always prepared for the worst, and that it was his in- flexible purpose neither to surrender the contest, nor to allow himself to be taken alive. He always carried about his person a sure and deadly poison, which in the last extremity he in- tended to take. But that extremity never came. On his return from Bohemia, he quickh' collected a new army, 1757.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 213 and took the field against the allied arm}^ of the French and the German Imperials, who, under the command of the prince of Sonbise, were pushing their way through Thuriugia. The armies met at Rossbach, where the French, at least twice as strong as Frederic, felt secure in their intrenched camp. He attacked them, and, in an eno-ao-ement which lasted hardlv two ' ' ^ *= ^ Nov. 5. hours, defeated them so signally that those who escaped the swords and bullets of the Prussians never rested until the green waters of the Rhine gurgled behind them. Frederic took 7,000 prisoners, and captured their cannon, colors, and baggage. Then he turned round, and led his troops into Silesia, where matters seemed hopeless, for Breslau had fallen, and Charles of Lorraine and Daun held the province with a superior force, not less than 60,000, and perhaps 90,000, strong. Exactly one month after the battle of Rossbach the armies met at Dec. 5. Leuthen, a few miles west of Breslau. The line of the Austrians extended some eight miles, and Frederic, to prevent being outflanked, set up his 33,000 men in a diagonal line. A feigned assault, directed against the Austrian right, masked the true attack, which burst with irresistible strength on their left, threw the whole line into confusion, and accomplished their overwhelming defeat, with a loss of 27,000, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 59 stand of colors, more than 100 cannon, and thousands of wagons. Breslau opened its gates, Silesia was re- conquered, and the fame of Frederic published throughout the world. Napoleon called the battle of Leuthen a masterpiece, sufficient to entitle Frederic to a place in the first rank among generals. The story runs that Frederic, with a very small escort, rode to Lyssa, in order to secure the passage of an important sheet of water. He reached the castle in advance of the rest, and stepped among the Austrian officers, who might easily have made him prisoner. " Good evening, gentlemen," lie said. " You did not expect me, I presume? May I have a bed?" 214 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. The Austrian officers let him pass, and on the speedy arrival of his generals, surrendered to them. The belligerents renewed their preparations for further con- test. On the side of Maria Theresa stood Russia and France ; on that of Frederic, England, which abrogated the convention of Kloster Seven, and sent him an auxiliary force, designed to drive back the French, and placed under the command of i^rince June 23, Ferdinand of Brunswick, who not only drove them 1758 over the Rhine, but defeated them at Crefeld. Frederic passed the winter at Breslau, took Schweidnitz, and invaded Moravia ; bat was compelled to make a masterly retreat before the superior numbers of the enemy, who threatened his line, and was manoeuvring to isolate him. He left Keith in Silesia, and marched against the Russians, who were wasting the north-eastern provinces of his dominions. The stories of their savage brutality were on every lip, and deepened the in- nate aversion with which the warriors of Frederic loathed their presence on German soil. A sanguinary battle was fought at Zorndorf , and rao-ed throuohout the lonoj August day, Aug. 25. ' o o & & J ' until the combatants were utterly exhausted. Thirty thousand victims lay on the field, dead or wounded ; the wounded were still fighting ; and it rs horrible to read of a wounded Russian who lay on a wounded Prussian, tearing him to pieces with his teeth. The victor}^ was Frederic's, who had thus, within the space of nine months, defeated in three memorable battles the armies of France, Austria, and Russia. These splendid triumphs, however, were followed by reverses. Frederic, who after the defeat of the Russians had hastened to the relief of his brother, met the Austrians under Daun, the most cautious, and Laudon, the most dashing and ingenious, of the generals of Maria Theresa. It was their plan to cut off Frederic from Silesia ; and they surprised him, at dead of night, in an insecure position, which the king audaciousl}'" but unwisely had chosen right before the enemy. " If the Aus- trians allow us to remain here, they deserve to be hanged," said n, fiud Oct. 14. 1758-1759.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 215 Keith. "They dread us more than the gallows," replied Fred- eric ; but he was mistaken. During the night the Austrians stealthily circumvented the Prussian position, and drew their lines around it. At five in the morning the roar of their own artillery awakened the Prussians ; half clad they rushed from their tents to resist the advance of Daun's foot, when the cavalry of Laudon burst upon their rear and flanks, and mowed them down by rows. The carnage was dreadful ; two balls killed Keith, a cannon-ball carried off the head of prince Francis of Brunswick, Dessau fell mortally wounded. In the darkness, illumined only b}^ the burning houses of Hochkirch, and the dense fog which covered the field at day- break, a regular defence was impossible ; but after sunrise the Prussians formed in line, and fighting, accomplished their retreat in good order. Frederic lost 9,000 in killed and wounded, his cannon and baggage ; but the defeat only quickened his energy. As the artillerists filed past him without their pieces, he asked jestingly, " AYell, what has become of your cannon?" "The took them during the night ! " shouted the men. "Then we must take them from him by day !" rejoined the king. "Aye, aye," answered the men, " and he shall pay us the interest, too." The disaster of Hochkirch was quickly repaired, and Frederic had recovered Silesia and Saxony before the year closed. In the following year troubles thickened ; the allies renewed and increased their efforts for the overthrow of Prussia. Two French armies marched against Ferdinand of Bruns- AUG. 1, wick and were defeated at Minden. The Kussians, 1759 after defeating Wedel at Kay, effected a junction with the Austrians, and Frederic attacked them at Kunncrsdorf. Earl}' in the dav the fortune of war favored the Prussians, Aug. 12. who scaled with great gallantry the heights on which the enemy was posted, forced the left wing of the Russians, and captured half the cannon ; elated with his success, the king renewed the conflict, and led his men, exhausted by six hours' hard fighting in the burning heat of an August sun. nprainst the 216 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. enemy, who brought fresh troops into the field, and turned the victory of the Prussians into a perfect rout. Frederic himself had a narrow escape from capture, and at night he wrote in blank despair: "All is lost; save the royal family." A few hours later: "I shall not survive the ruin of the fatherland. Good-bye forever." With his handful of troops he would have been lost but for the jealousies of his victors ; he gained time, and had soon col- lected an army of 30,000 for the defence of Berlin ; but the chain of his misfortunes was not 3^et broken, for he received the evil tidings that Daun, after the capture of Dresden, had taken 11,000 Prussians prisoners at Maxen. Thus closed the fourth year of the war. The first six months of the next year were just as unfortunate, -| but the tide turned at last in his favor in two brilliant victories, the one over Laudon at Liegnitz, the other over Daun at Torgau, by which he recovered Silesia and Sax- ony, but not Dresden. The situation of Frederic seemed desperate at the commence- -, ment of the sixth vear of the war. His resources were 1761 exhausted, the subsidy from England had ceased to flow ; he could not take the off&ilsive, nor prevent the junction of Laudon and the Kussians. Nothing but the jealousies of the hostile commanders saved him from ruin. He was not a relig- ious man, but the veteran general Ziethen was. In his en- trenched camp at Buuzelwitz, Frederic looked with gloomy apprehension to the near future, and spoke in that strain to Ziethen, who bade him put his trust in God, and hope for the best. The king asked in the bitterness of his heart, if he had found a new ally because he was aiwa3's speaking so hopefully of a happy future. " Why," said the old blade, " I have not found a new all}^, but m}^ old ally above will not leave us ! " " Pshaw," rejoined Frederic, " but he does not work any more miracles." " They are unnecessary," quoth Ziethen, "for he will fight for us, and save us." 1760-1762.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 217 His faith was rewarded, for the allies did not attack Fred- eric, and the Russians, for want of provisions, retreated across the Oder. The king was free, and said to Ziethen, not with- out emotion at this almost miraculous deliverance, " Your ally has kept his word." The events of the 3'ear, upon the whole, were disheartening, for though Henry, the king's brother, had held his own in Sax- ony, and Ferdinand kept off the French, Laudon had captured the fortress of Schweidnitz, and the Russians Colberg. Silesia and Pomerania seemed lost to him. The death of Elizabeth and the elevation of her nephew Peter in. to the throne, was an unforeseen event of vast r- moment to Frederic. The new czar was an enthusias- tic adnMrer of Frederic, and inaugurated his brief and unfortu- nate reign by a series of measures of incalculable benefit to Prussia, and of still greater benefit to Europe, in hastening the last acts of the terrible war. He liberated all the Prussian prisoners of war without ransom, and in the treaty- of peace concluded at St. Petersburo- restored to Prussia the ^' Mayo. provinces which Elizabeth had conquered, and ordered the Russian commander Czeruitchef to join his army of 20,000 men to that of Frederic. Sweden followed the exam- May 22. pie of Russia and made peace with Prussia. Frederic lost no time in repairing his fortunes. He marched with the Russian auxiliaries into Silesia, and encountered the Austrians, under Daun, at Burkersdorf. On the eve ' July 19. of an intended assault, Czernitchef received orders to separate his army from that of Frederic, in consequence of the deposition and murder of Peter III. and the accession of his wife, who under the title of Catherine II. had ascended the throne. The Russian commander yielded to the urgent representations of Frederic in suppressing his recall for the space of three days, and giving him the moral support of his presence, as his orders forbade his participation, in the impending u xMjY 21* engagement. A battle ensued at Burkersdorf, in 218 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. which Daim was defeated. Then the Russians withdrew, and Frederic invested and took the fortress of Schweid- OcT. 9. nitz. Prince Henry defeated the Austrians and German Imperials Qp^ 29 i^ the battle of Freiberg in Saxon}', and Ferdinand of Brunswick, who had successfully resisted the French, ^^^•^' took Cassel. A Prussian raid against the German Imperials scattered the contingents to their several principali- ties, and Frederic at the close of this eventful year, though crippled in his resources, felt strong enough to renew the struggle with Austria single-handed. But Austria was also crippled, and unable to accomplish alone the overthrow of an enemy whom she had tried in vain to crush with the powerful aid of France and Russia. England and France, by mutual agreement, withdrew from the conflict and in the Peace of Paris bound themselves to neutral- it}'. Catherine II. pursued a similar policy, and under the influence of these and other political factors, an armistice be- Feb. 15, tween Austria and Prussia was followed by negotia- 1 763 tions for peace, which was concluded at Hubertusburg in the beginning of the ensuing ^ear, on the basis of a restora- tion of things to what they were before the war. Frederic lost nothing ; he retained Silesia and Glatz. Augustus recovered Saxony, and Maria Theresa received the promise of Frederic's vote in favor of the archduke Joseph, her son, at the impending election of a German emperor. Crowned with victory and the applause of mankind, not for the greatness of his conquests, but for his greatness in adver- sity, and for his indomitable strength of i^urpose, he entered Berlin in triumph late on the eveninp;' of a raw March Makch 30. ... day. The city was illuminated, and as he rode in an open carriage with Ferdinand of Brunswick at his side, he was moved to tears, by the enthusiastic and loving reception, which the people accorded to him after an absence of more than six years of terrible sufl^ering. In the castle church at Charlotten- 1762-1763.] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 219 burg he ordered a solemn Te Deum. It was expected that Frederic and the whole court would be present. But he came alone ; and when the strains of the anthem fell upon his ears, the tears rolled down his cheeks, and he fell upon his knees, to express thus publicly his gratitude to God, who, true to old Ziethen's prediction, had fought for him and brought him safe out of all his troubles. The destruction in life and property which the war had wrought was stupendous. It had entailed the loss of not less than 800,000 men ; Prussia had expended $100,000,000, Saxony estimated her pecuniary loss at $60,000,000, and Austria had increased her indebtedness alone by nearly $100,000,000. In Hessia and Hanover the villages were deserted and reduced to heaps of ashes. The French had wasted the western provinces, the Russians those in the East. Blooming districts had become howling deserts ; in many parts the fields lay untilled, for the seed-corn had been consumed, the cattle slaughtered, and the owners had perished either in battle or by the famine. In some places only women were left to attend to agricultural pursuits. Fifteen thousand houses had been destroyed by fire. The only comfort to the stricken people was the almost incredible fact that Frederic at the close of the war could cheer them with the assurance that he had incurred no debt. To repair these ravages and heal these wounds Frederic now strained all the energies of his nature. He opened his store- houses, filled with corn against another campaign, which, for- tunately', did not take place, distributed it among the poor villagers, and gave them the horses which had been bought for military use. He remitted the taxes in those districts which had suffered most in the war, and encouraged by liberal dona- tions, drawn from his private purse, the building of houses and villages ; settlers received aid to bring waste places under the plough. New roads and canals were constructed, industry was promoted, and education raised not only to a higher plane, but 220 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. made compulsory. His hobby was the army, which was, and still is, the most important factor of the Prussian monarchy. The enlightened liberality of Frederic, already adverted to, was remarkable, and decidedly in advance of his age. Liberty of conscience and liberty of religious belief, or if any man chose, liberty of disbelief, was one of the distinctive features of his reign, and prompted, among other things, the vast intel- lectual life which has raised German literature to the command- ing position it occupies. Frederic freely accorded to his people the fullest freedom in the use of the press. A man might write or print what he pleased, and even offensive lampoons directed against his person might be published with impunity. One day he saw a crowd straining their eyes to read a placard, and rode up to know what it was ; perceiving that it was a satire upon himself, he ordered it to be placed lower, that the people might read it without difficulty, observing : " My people and I have come to an agreement which satisfies us both. They are to say what the}^ please, and I am to do what I please." Frederic's reign after the close of the Seven Years' War con- tinued almost undisturbed for twenty -three years. Restlessly Aug. 17, activc to the last, he died at Sanssouci, in the 75th 1786 year of his life, generalh' admired and honored b^^ his peers, loved by his people, and almost idolized by his army. The memory of his singularities and exploits, of his wit and popularity, continues to this day, and the Prussians still speak fondly of "the old Fritz," or "the great Fritz," whom the world in more stately phrase describes as ' ' Frederic the Great." His quaint, square face, with its peering eyes, his cocked hat and long pig-tail, his blue coat and long vest, his leaning pos- ture and his crutch-cane, may still be seen on many a sign- board of the numerous hotels in the fatherland, called "The King of Prussia" ; and Macaulay says that in his day, portraits of him were so numerous in England that one would find twenty portraits of Frederic for one of George II. 1786] FREDERIC THE GREAT. 221 Though not great in all respects, certahily not in the highest, he was unquestionably a great general, a great ruler, and a great man in many things. REFERENCES. The Histories of Germany; for young students acquainted with German, Duller, " History of the German People," vol. II. Carlyle, '' The Life of Frederic the Great " ; Macaulay, " Frederic the Great." 222 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. 1732-1799] GEORGE WASHINGTON. On the high ground near Bridges Creek, not far from its con- fluence with the Potomac, on the Virginia side, a simple stone Feb. 22, records the fact that the homestead which formerly 1732 stood there was the birthplace of George Washington. His father, Augustine Washington, was married twice. By his first wife he had four children, of whom only two, Law- rence and Augustine, survived childhood. His second wife was Mary, the daughter of colonel Ball ; four sons and two daughters blessed that union. The eldest was George. Soon after his birth the family moved to an estate in Stratford County, opposite Fredericksburg, and the old homestead there, now vanished, was the scene of his childhood. Lawrence, the eldest half-brother of George, had been edu- cated in England, and spent two years as captain in the joint expeditions of admiral Vernon and general Wentworth. The April 12, suddcu death of his^ father, and his marriage to Miss 1743 Fairfax, checked his militar}^ career, and he settled on the Potomac in a house which, in honor of the admiral, he called " Mount Vernon." The education of George in the local schools did not extend beyond reading, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and surveying, but it was supplemented by men- tal and moral culture at home. His devout mother helped to shape his character hy. daily readings from standard works, especially from Sir Matthew Hale's " Contemplations," a book replete with admirable maxims for outward conduct and self- government. Eobust of frame, and fond of athletic exercise, he excelled most of his playmates in contests of agility and strength, and was imbued with a martial spirit by the letters and the military exi)erience of his brother, through whose 1732-1799.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 223 instrumentality he obtained a commission of midshipman. But for the strong opposition of his widowed mother, George would have gone to sea. At the house of the Fairfaxes he became acquainted with lord Fairfax, who, in consequence of a romantic love affair in which he was the sufferer, had come to looli: after his immense landed interest, and engaged 3'ouug AVashington to examine, surve}', and map out his vast estate in the valley of the Shenan- doah, the beautiful river whose name, in the Indian dialect, is said to import "the daughter of the stars." Though onlj' in his 17th year, he did the work so well that, on his r •^ [l748 return, he was made a public surveyor, an office which he held for three 3'ears with great credit. It was an unfortunate oversight in the treat}' of peace con- cluded at Aix-la-Chapelle that the boundaries between the British and French possessions in North America had not been defined, the effect of which was seen in the race for the posses- sion of the disputed territory, and the subsequent outbreak of hostilities between the two nations, in which the doomed red man played an important part. Washington, then only 19 ^^ears old, was appointed to a mili- tar}' position for the purpose of organizing and equipping the militia of his district. In order to qualify himself for his new duties, captain Muse taught him the art of war in theory, and manual exercise, while Jacob Van Braam, a Dutch soldier of fortune, instructed him in fencing. He was called to suspend these martial pursuits in order to join his brother Lawrence on a trip to the West Indies, for the benefit of his health, and spent seven weeks at Barbadoes, three of them confined in bed with small-pox, slight p marks of which remained in his face through life. The case of Lawrence was beyond cure, and he just returned to die under his own roof, after having appointed r- George one of his executors, and, upon certain con- tingencies, heir to the estate of Mount Vernon. 224 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Governor Dinwiddle soon after sent Washington on a diplo- matic mission of remonstrance to the French, for their en- croachments on British territory, and to the Indians, to secure their good-will and friendship. It was a very difficult and arduous undertaking, full of hardships and perils, but the young military diplomat overcame tliem all, and though he could not stop the evil, acquired so much valuable knowledge of the country, the Indians, and the numbers and purpose of the French, that upon his return tlie governor at once took measures for armed resistance, and made him second in com- mand of the troops, raised in Virginia, for operations against the French. On his first expedition Washington had indicated the spot at the confluence of the Monongahela and Alleghany, often called the fork of the Ohio, as peculiarly adapted to the erection of a fort, and captain Trent had been despatched to that point to complete it. The French heard of it, surprised his workmen, drove them away, and finished the fort, which they called Fort Du Quesne. Intelligence of this overt act of war reached Washington when at the head of 150 men he emerged from the mountains ; but he took reprisals in the cap- ture of a detachment of French, whom he sent as prisoners to governor Dinwiddle. Unable to take the offensive, he built a fort, which, from the pinching want of provisions, he named Fort Necessity. While there he decorated the Indian chiefs and warriors with medals, named two of their number Fairfax and Dinwiddle, and received in turn the grand but unexplained Indian name of Connotaucarius. The French unfortunately heard of his straits, and compelled him at last to capitulate on honorable terms. On his return he received the thanks of the Virginia Assembly. Washington accompanied Braddock on the disastrous expedi- tion against Fort Duquesne as aide-de-camp, and had that brave but infatuated officer listened to the judicious advice of the youth- ful American, his life and the lives of his command might have 1755-1775.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 225 been saved, and the defeat itself averted. The courage julyq, and ability of Washington were universally praised; 1755 he had four bullets through his coat, and two horses were shot under him. An old Indian chief told Washington many years afterwards, that he and his braves had repeatedly fired at him during the engagement, but fired in vain, which convinced them that he bore a charmed life. Three years later he had the satisfaction of entering with the advanced guard Fort Duquesne, which on the approach Nov. 25, of the English army, the French deserted and set on fire. 1 758 The reduction of that post marks the close of the early military career of Washington, who soon after married jan. 6, Mrs. Martha Custis, and settled on his estate at 1759 Mount Yernon. He was a judge of the county court, and a member of the House of Burgesses, and took a prominent part in the debates which ultimately resulted in the independence of the Colonies. In the Convention at Williamsbursj r |l774 Washington was chosen among the delegates to the First General Congress, and in the Second General Con- gress, by the unanimous vote of that body, comman- p der-in-chief. He rose in his place, and after thanking Congress for the high honor, added: "But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it ma}^ be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. As to pa}-, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary con- sideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous em- ployment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make an}'' profit of it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will dis- charge, and that is all I desire." The condition of affairs at Boston required his immediate presence. Hardly 20 miles from Philadelphia he met a courier hastening to carry to Congress the tidings of the battle 226 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. of Bunker's Hill. "Did the militia stand fire?" was June 17. his anxious inquiry, and when told how splendidly they had behaved, exclaimed, "The liberties of the countr}^ are safe." When he entered the camp at Cambridge, the shouts of the people, and the salvos of cannon, announced to the enemy the news of his arrival. As he looked upon his army, "a mixed multitude of people under very little discipline, order, or government," widely scattered, beleaguering a cit}^ garrisoned by veteran troops, with ships of war in the harbor, he felt the magnitude of the work before him, and braced him- self to its execution in the spirit of a Christian warrior, re- marking, " that the cause of his country had called him to an active and dangerous duty, but he trusted that Divine Providence, which wisely orders the affairs of men, would enable him to discharge it with fidelity and success." It was a poor army, indeed, without uniforms, a militar}' chest, proper arras, adequate shelter, and especially without powder. The whole amount of powder would not amount to nine cartridges to a man. The organization of the raw and undisciplined troops, their military training, and their term of service, as well as the construction and provisioning-6f forts, in case Congress should direct the bombardment of the city, and for the defence of the American lines, engaged the attention of Washington and consumed many weary and trying months. The erection of a battery on Dorchester Heights, commanding the town and the March 18, harbor, compelled lord Howe to evacuate the city, 1776 and hastily embark his troops with some 1,200 Amer- ican loyalists. They sailed to Halifax, and Boston saw them no more. Washington entered the next day, and was received with great cordiality. After certain sanitary precautions, the American army marched into the town, while Congress awarded to Washington a unanimous vote of thanks, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in commemoration of the event, bear- ing his effigy, as the Deliverer of Boston. 1775-1776.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 227 After the surprise of Ticouderoga and Crown Point, and both in view of expected hostilities from the direction of Canada, as well as from the desire of securing the sj'mpathy and support of the Canadians, an expedition to that province became a military necessity. Montgomery-, under orders from Schuj'ler, attacked and obtained the surrender of St. John's, captured Montreal, and sought to effect a junction n^ov. ic, with Arnold, who had accomplished the daring feat 1775 of striking from Augusta, on the Kennebec, through the wilderness into Canada, and making his way to Point Le^'i. He reconnoitred Quebec, and when on Dec. 1 the detachment under Montgomery came up, the two commanders planned and partly executed an assault upon that stronghold. dec. 3i, Montgomer}- fell dead on the spot; Arnold was 1775 wounded, but made his escape. The expedition ended in fail- ure, and the British general Burgoyne not only drove the Americans out of Canada, but recovered Montreal and St. John's. The arrival of a powerful British armament in the Bay of New York, numbering 130 men-of-war and transports, spread consternation throughout the city and along the rivers, and indicated the coming storm, which Washington, with his inade- quate arm}^ sought to avert. The most important news which the British learnt was the announcement that the General Congress at Philadelphia had unanimously passed tlie "Declara- tion of Independence," which Washington had caused july4, to be read a few daj^s later at the head of each brigade 1776 of the army. The joyous excitement in New York was un- bounded, and among other tokens thereof the populace pulled down the leaden statue of George III. in the Bowling Green, and broke it up for conversion into bullets " to be used in the cause of independence." The intentions of the enemy, who had disembarked on Staten Island, and sent two ships up the Hudson, soon bc- ^ ^ July 12. came manifest. Lord Howe, the admiral of the fleet. 228 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. arrived, and after several weeks of preparations, the August 27. i x ■■ ' British effected a lauding on Long Island, encountered and defeated the Americans. They would have been lost had the enemy followed up his advantage ; as it was, the sagacit}^ of Washington accomplished their deliverance, in the masterly retreat of 9,000 men with all the munitions of war, from the presence of a victorious foe, across a strait three-quarters of a mile wide, without discovery or loss. The retreat from Long Island was the precursor of similar movements, indispensable to the preservation of the American army, which, from various causes, was kept in a state of de- plorable destitution and inefficiency. Yet such was the military genius of Washington, that with a mere handful of half-starved and ill-clad troops, he defeated the enemy in the brilliant affairs at Trenton and Princeton, and placed the Delaware between himself and the British. His tactics recalled those of the famous Roman general, who watched and lured the great Han- nibal, and earned for him the title of the " American Fabius." In the ensuing year was fought the battle of the Brandy wine, Sept. 11, iu which the British remained masters of the field, and 1777 secured the possession of Philadelphia. The defeat was not very alarming, f of Washington, a few days after, at- tacked the enemy at Germantown, and would have been suc- cessful but for an unexplained panic. The British, as usual, failed to make good their advantage, and Washington went into winter-quarters at Valley Forge. The only decisive success over the enemy had been achieved in the North by general Gates, who defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga, and compelled him to surrender ; but it was of no benefit to Washington, for Gates, thinking only of his own aggrandizement, failed to strengthen his hands by the troops, the bulk of whom he did not need. That winter at Valley Forge marks the gloomiest period in the history of the war. The sufferings of the men were dread- ful ; they suffered from hunger and cold ; their miserable huts afforded but poor protection from the inclement weather, while 1777-1778.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 229 their scant clotbiug, want of bread and meat, and sickness, aggravated the miser}^ of the men, to which, in the case of Wash- ington, must be added the galling anno3-ance of jealous interfer- ence on the part of Congress, and of remonstrance on the part of the Legislature of Pennsylvania against his going into win- ter-quarters ; he had at that time " 2,898 men unfit for dut}^, because they are barefoot, and otherwise naked," and his entire strength mustered only " 8,200 men fit for duty" ; and their numbers were fast decreasing, because from want of blankets the men had to sit up all night by fires j instead of sleeping in their beds. " I can assure those gentlemen," he writes, " that it is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remon- strances in a comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow with- out clothes or blankets. However, although they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel abun- dantly for them, and, from my soul, I pity those miseries, which it is neither in my power to relieve nor prevent." Most opportune and valuable was the advent of the baron Steuben, an able and experienced soldier, who had served in the Seven Years' AYar, been an aide-de-camp to Frederic the Great, and was a splendid disciplinarian. Washington appointed him inspector-general, and his great efficiency soon told on the army, which, under his faithful and vigilant instructions, began speedily to operate like a well-regulated body. His English was rather poor, but he gave it emphasis by a liberal admixture of \)o\y- giot profanity. His stories of the trials of Frederic, of his fortitude and perseverance, especially of the gloomy da3^s of Bunzelwitz, must have cheered Washington, whose faith was as simple and childlike as Ziethen's. The horizon cleared somewhat when in Ma}^ came the glad tidings that two treaties, one of amity and commerce, may 2, another of defensive alliance, had been signed be- 1778 tween France and the United States. The army at Valley Forge, decently uniformed, tolerably well fed, and also well drilled. 280 MODERN HISTORY, [A.D. had a grand holiday on the occasion of the announcement of that important news, and joyfully shouted, "Long live the king of France ! Long live the friendly European Powers ! Huzza for the American States." But they shouted yet more lustil}^, " Long live general Washington ! " It was good news, for it imported not onl}' that France had acknowledged the independence of the United States, but sent a fleet to help them in the struggle. The immediate result was an order to Clinton, who had succeeded Howe in command at Philadelphia, to concentrate his forces at New York. His departure from the former city had been accomplished with secrecy and despatch, but Washington followed the British across New Jersey, and came up with them at Monmouth. Lee, who had been ordered to attack the rear of the enemy, disobeyed the general, and ordered a retreat, which was fortunately checked by Washinsjton. The day was spent in manoeuvrino- June 28. J & j i o for good positions and desultory fighting, and at its close the Americans, who had the best of it, were ordered to lie on their arms, ready for action in the morning. At sunrise it was found that Clinton and his army had left, and having trav- elled all night, had advanced too far to be overtaken in the extreme heat by the American^, already worn out with fatigue ; so the pursuit was abandoned, and Washington established his headquarters at Paramus. After the arrival of the French fleet, under count D'Estaiug, a plan for a combined attack on Newport was formed, July 29. ^ ^ attempted, but not executed. Howe came up with the English fleet, D'Estaiug went out to meet him ; the hostile fleets manoeuvred for the weather-gauge, but were so badly shattered in a storm that they did not fight. Howe went back to New York, and the count sailed for repairs to Boston. The land force under general Sullivan, deprived of the expected co-operation, made good its retreat, fortunately in time to escape Clinton, who, the very next day arrived in a light squadron with a large rein- forcement. The failure of the combined enterprise caused uni- 1778.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 231 versal chagrin, and in the words of Wasliington, " blasted in one moment the fairest hopes that ever were conceived." The British now transferred the war to the South, captured Savannah and Augusta, overran Georgia, marched upon Charles- ton, but were compelled by the American general, Lincoln, to fall back upon Savannah. They also sent a marauding expe- dition into Virginia, took Norfolk and Portsmouth, seized or destroyed many vessels, and inflicted by their ravages a loss of more than $2,000,000. Another expedition of the same char- acter sailed up Long Island Sound, took New Haven, burnt Fairfield and Nor walk, destroyed all the public stores and the shipping, but was prevented from meting out the same fate to New London by the movements of Washington in the High- lands. Clinton had possessed himself of the forts at Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, at the southern extremity of the High- lands of the Hudson. The former had been greatly strength- ened by the British, and Washington, who had conceived the idea of wresting it from them, entrusted the execution of his plan to the intrepid Wayne, who, from his daring valor, is known as " Mad Anthony." The fort crowned a promontory extending far into the river, which washed it on three sides. A deep morass, under water at flood-tide, but provided with a causeway and bridge, passable at low water, was the only approach to it from the land side. The cannon of the fort commanded that approach, two rows of abatis interposed be- tween the base and the summit, and the vessels in the river controlled the shore. The precautions had been well taken, even to the silencing of the tell-tale barks of the dogs. A negro, who knew the countersign, and had often been in the fort, guided the Americans. Two soldiers, disguised as farmers, accompanied him, and while he was chatting with the first sentinel, the farmers seized and gagged him. The second sentinel met the same treatment. The causeway being flooded, the detachment could not cross until some time after midnight, 232 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. while general Muhlenberg, with 300 men, guarded the western side of the morass. The troops formed in two divisions, preceded by forlorn hopes, charged with the perilous duty of removing the abatis, and made the ascent on opposite sides. They had nearly reached the outworks before the}^ were discovered ; fighting ensued ; the Americans, at the point of the bayonet, pushed forward, and, heedless of the fire of grape-shot and musketry, bounded into the fort from opposite sides, struck the British flag, and forced the garrison to surrender at discretion. Wayne was wounded, but carried into the fort. The Ameri- JULT 15. can loss was 15 killed and 83 wounded ; 63 of the British garrison were killed; the remainder, 553, were taken prisoners. The capture of Stony Point is one of the most brilliant exploits of the war, but in nothing more than the noble humanitj' of the brave conquerors, " who scorned to take the lives of a vanquished foe when calling for mercy." A similar exploit was the dashing surprise of the fortified point of Paulus Hook by the gallant Harry Lee, and the cap- ture of part of its garrison, " within cannon-shot of New York." In the autumn of this year the French admiral D'Estaing, and general Lincolri made a combined but unsuccess- ful attempt to recover Savannah, and the withdrawal of the for- mer from the scene of war induced Clinton to embark with an army of 7,000 men on an expedition intended for the capture of Charleston, and the reduction of South Carolina. With means utterly inadequate to the magnitude of his work, an army, weak in numbers, and they "almost perishing with want," the perplexities of the American commander-in-chief were appalling. He held his own in the North, and watched with deep solicitude the events in the South to which he had despatched De Kalb with all the troops he could spare, his entire command being at that time numerically inferior to the British garrison in New York. Lincoln, after sustaining a siege of forty-two days and a fear- 1778-1780.] GEORGE WASHINGTON, 233 fill bombardment, had to surrender Charleston ; Clinton sent out three marauding expeditions, one towards Augusta, another in the direction of Camden, and a third under Tarleton in pur- suit of Buford, who after the fall of Charleston had begun a rapid retreat with his Virginians. Tarleton overtook him, and by his ruthless massacre of 113 Americans, who had cried for mercy, earned unenviable notoriety perpetuated in the phrase of " Tarleton's quarter." After thus pacifying South Carolina, Clinton left lord Cornwallis with 4,000 men in command, and with the remainder of his troops returned to New York. The American forces, now placed under the command of Gates, met the British under Cornwallis near Camden, aug. 16, and were defeated. Poor Gates retreated to Salisbmy 1780 and Hillsboro', and tried to raise another army, but lost his command, musing in his fallen greatness on the fickleness of fortune, and doubtless recalling the almost prophetic parting words of Lee, " Beware your Northern laurels do not turn to Southern willows." The progress of the victorious Cornwallis into North Caro- lina was checked by the spirited affair of King's Moun- tain, in which a large body of republicans from Kentucky and Tennessee annihilated the command of major Ferguson. Early in the same year Lafayette had returned from France with the good news of promised succors from that country, and though the fleet with troops arrived at Newport, no combined action could be concerted. The discovery of Arnold's treacher}- to betray West Point into the hands of Clinton was a "^ , Oct. 2. terrible blow to Washington, but the fate of Andre, who stood convicted as a spy, though sad, could not be averted. General Greene who succeeded Gates in the command at the South, had an army of about 2,000 ill-clad and ill-fed men to oppose to at least double that number of well-favored redcoats. Part of the troops, the Americans, Continentals, and militia, under Morgan, and the British under Tarleton, met at a place 234 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. called "The Cowpens." Morgan, who was a splendid tactician, allowed himself to be attacked, and when the militia gave way, ordered a change of front, which Tarleton mistook for a retreat, Jan. 17, ^nd daslicd after them in pursuit. The Americans 1781 coolly faced about, delivered at' close range a murder- ous fire into the ranks of the British, and attacked them with the bayonet. They fled in wild confusion, and though Tarleton tried by turning on colonel Washington's horse, to rally his men, he could not stay the rout, was wounded by the colonel, and fled to Cornwallis. He lost 800 men in killed and wounded, as well as all his cannon and baggage. The story runs that some time later Tarleton, conversing with an American lady, referred scornfully to the colonel as an illiterate man who could not write his name, and drew from his fair companion the sharp reply, "Ah, colonel, but you bear evidence that he can make his mark." Cornwallis immediately broke up to pursue Morgan, but arrived just in time to see him safe across the Catawba ; dark- ness stayed his progress, and during the night it rained. Greene joined Morgan, conducted the retreat, and passed the Yadkin before the English could overtake him ; it rained again, and Cornwallis had to pause in the pursuit. The Americans pushed forward to Guildford Court House, where they joined the main army, which was advancing under Huger. Then the opposing armies chased each other in marches and countermarches, the Americans to gain time and expected succors, the English to pre- vent both. At last they met in battle at Guildford Court House. There was much hard fighting, yet though the redcoats won the day, they were as much crippled as the Americans. Cornwallis, with Greene's men molesting his flanks, re- treated to Wilmington, and leaving Greene to pursue his way to South Carolina, moved into Virginia, where the traitor Arnold was doing much mischief. Washington sent Lafayette to co-operate with Steuben, but their forces were too weak to catch Arnold (who, fortunately for himself, received orders to return to New York) , or to arrest 1781.] GEORGE WASHINGTON, 235 the progress of Cornwallis, who had effected a junction with Phillips, and reinforced by four regiments, proceeded to York- town, where he fortified himself, and awaited the arrival of an expected British fleet. Washington now, by a feint upon New York, prevented Clin- ton from despatching more troops to Virginia, and concerted measures with Rochambeau for the capture of Cornwallis. Neither Clinton nor Cornwallis had the faintest suspicion of the formidable machinery that had been -set in motion, and was silently, rapidly, and effectually converging upon its destination. The nnited American and French troops were directed to York- town ; and when De Grasse, with his powerful fleet, arrived on the scene, a plan of operations was agreed upon, in virtue of which the armies surrounded Cornwallis hy land, and 24 ships of the Hne prevented ingress or egress by sea. By this time Clinton, apprized of what was going on, strained every nerve to send ships and men to Cornwallis, whose position was desperate. He was held in a vise, for Washington and Rochambeau assailed him from the north, while the ships com- manded the river and the sea on all other points. The allied armies threw up their works, and began to bom- bard the town : two days later, they opened a second parallel, and took two British redoubts ; then Cornwallis made a last desperate attempt at escape by crossing to Gloucester, but a storm scattered his boats. There was now nothing left to him but to surrender. Washington rejected a proposed armistice of 24 hours, but granted one of two ; the terms of capitulation were then arranged, according to which Cornwallis, on the 19th of October, suirendered his sword to general Lincoln ; more than 7,000 British soldiers laid down their arms, and became prisoners of war. The joy in the united camps was unbounded, and Washington ordered a divine service, bidding the army unite in it " with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart, which the recognition of such reiterated and astonish- ing interpositions of Providence demand of us." 236 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. The glad tidings spread with amazing rapidity over the country, roused the grateful joy of every patriotic heart, and quickened not only the hope, but the resolution to persevere in the good cause with increasing courage und earnestness. Washington's first measure was to send 2,000 men to Greene, his second, to order the army back into winter quarters, his third, to fight battles for that army with Congress. The success at Yorktown, though the first step in the direction of peace, was not peace. The enemy held Charleston and Savannah in the South, and New York in the North ; hostilities might be resumed at any moment ; British fleets swept the seas, American commerce was destroyed, American credit gone, and the armj^, unpaid and unprovided for, clamored for a change, and wanted to make Washington a king. He spurned the idea, and stood at the helm. While the question of war or peace was discussed abroad, he did not relax his vigilance on Tarleton, the successor of Clinton, at New York, and acted the part of a suc- cessful mediator between the army and Congress. Sept. 3, The wclcomc news of the treaty of peace concluded 1783 at Paris, which accorded to "The United States of America " an honorable place in the family of nations, prompted Washington to apply to Cohgi'ess for instructions as to dis- banding the army, and to publish the event in every camp, with orders " that the chaplains with the several brigades will render thanks to Almighty God for all his mercies." The army Nov. 25. ^^^ formally disbanded, and after the evacuation of New York, Washington affectionately took leave of his Dec. 23. officers, proceeded to Annapolis, resigned his commis- sion to Congress, and retired " from the great theatre of public action " to the privacy of his own home at Mount Vernon, where he rested, in his own words, " under the shadow of his own vine and his own fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp, and the busy scenes of public life." In the same letter to Lafayette he said: "Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all ; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I 1783-1797] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 237 will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers." From Mount Vernon he visited his lands in Western Virginia and planned canals connecting the waters of the Potomac and James with those of the Ohio ; he was made president of the companies formed for the purpose, but applied the shares which were voted to him to the endowment of schools. The unsatisfactory working of the old Articles of Confederation not only impeded the work of the government, but made it almost powerless. Each State claimed absolute power to manage its own affairs, and all the States were not only jealous of one another, but of a federal government. " We are one nation to-day, and thirteen to-morrow," said Washington; " who will treat with us on those terms ? " These serious and dangerous inconveniences were discussed at great length in a Convention of Delegates at Philadelphia, under the presidency of Washington, which framed and adopted the Constitution of the United States, sept. 17, That instrument (the amendments excepted) is still in 1787 force, and under it, Washington was unanimously chosen the first president of the United States. He accepted the trust, and his journey to New York, the temporary capital of the United States, was an uninterrupted triumphal procession. His formal inauguration took aprilso, place in the presence of an immense multitude on the 1 789 balcony of the Senate Chamber, which occupied the site of the present sub-treasmy at the corner of Nassau and Wall Streets. Chancellor Livingston administered the oath of office, and Washington, profoundly moved, kissed the Bible, and said, " I swear, so help me God." The chancellor gave three cheers, and loud rang the cr}^ " Long live George Washington, presi- dent of the United States." Then the flag went up, cannon roared, and all the church bells were set ringing, as so many tokens of the universal joy. Washington served two terms, only because his r- o T J 1789 1797 high sense of duty prompted him to respect the 238 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. wish of the people, not because he coveted the office or its continuance. " I shall assume the task," he wrote, " with the most unfeigned reluctance and real diffidence, for which I shall probably receive no credit from the world." It was a herculean task, but he performed it better than an}- one else could have done at the time. The government had no money and no credit, but an enormous debt ; under his admin- istration a revenue was provided, the national credit estabhshed, and the payment of the debt arranged ; the Whiskej^ Rebellion was put down ; the Indian troubles in the Nortli-west were com- -, posed by " Mad Anthou}'," who told the Indians that if they dared to break the treaty of peace, he would return from the grave and fight them. Abroad Washington caused the country to be respected ; treaties were concluded with Great Britain, Spain, and the Barbary States, of vast benefit to the nascent commerce of the countr}-, and the growth and develop- ment of her resources. Refusing a third election, he issued his Farewell Address and retired to Mount Vernon. Once more, upon the occasion of expected hostilities with France, Washington reappeared in public life as lieutenant- general and commander-in-chief of the American army, and soon after, in consequence ofsTsevere cold caught by exposure, Dec. 14, died after a brief illness. His last words were, " I die 1 799 hard, but I am not afraid to go " ; and a little later : " I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions ; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go quietly ; I cannot last long." The loved home of his life on the bank of the Potomac is also his last haven of rest ; his body was laid in the family tomb at Mount Vernon. The purity, the virtue, the unselfishness, and above all things, the lofty patriotism of George Washington, who shone in every station and relation of life, and though childless, was truly the Father of his Country, places him on a higher pedestal of glory than that occupied by mighty potentates and conquer- ors, to whose names posterity has added the epithet " Great." 1732-1799.] GEORGE WASHINGTON. 239 The Deliverer and Founder of this mighty nation, has in that nation the proudest monument that ever was erected to the memor}^ of a man. A famous writer has said of him, "Until time shall be no more, a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and virtue will be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington." The memory of his life and work cannot be effaced or even dimmed, and remote posterity will bless his name as that of one who in the opinion of Americans, and in that of all lovers of goodness ajid virtue, was "first in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his country-men." REFERENCES. The Histories of the United States. Sparks, "Life and Writings of Washington"; Marshall, "Life of AVashington " ; Washington Irving, "Life of Washington"; Habberton, "George Washington." 240 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. 1706-1790] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. A TOMBSTONE ill the Old Granary Burial Ground in Boston bears the inscription : — JOSIAH FRANKLIN AND ABIAH HIS WIFE LIE HERE INTERRED. THEY LIVED LOVINGLY TOGETHER IN WEDLOCK FIFTY-FIVE YEARS; AND WITHOUT AN ESTATE OR ANY GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT, BY CONSTANT LABOR AND HONEST INDUSTRY, (WITH GOD'S BLESSING,) MAINTAINED A LARGE FAMILY COMFORTABLY; AND BROUGHT UP THIRTEEN CHILDREN AND SEVEN GRAND- CHILDREN REPUTABLY. FROM THIS INSTANCE, READER, BE ENCOURAGED TO DILIGENCE IN THY CALLING, AND DISTRUST NOT PROVIDENCE. *jf HE WAS A PIOUS AND PRUDENT MAN, SHE A DISCREET AND VIRTUOUS WOMAN. THEIR'YOtJNGEST SON, IN FILIAL REGARD TO THEIR MEMORY, PLACES THIS STONE. J. F. BORN 1655 — DIED 1744,— >E. 89. A. F. BORN 1667 — DIED 1752, — /E. 85. The ancient worthies commemorated on that stone were the parents of the illustrious Benjamin Franklin, who next to and jointly with George Washington, ranks in American history as one of the principal founders of the Eepublic. The fifteenth child of his father, the eighth child by his Jan. 17, second wife, Benjamin, who had yet two sisters 1706 younger than himself, was born in Boston. His father was a tallow-chandler, and Benjamin at the tender age of ten was taken from school and set to work in p^iitting wicks 1706-1790.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 241 for the candles, filling the moulds, attending to the shop, and going errands. It was not pleasant work, and he longed to go to sea, but as his father did not favor the project, he was apprenticed to an older brother, who was a printer. This pleased him more, especially as it afforded opportunity to gratify his fondness for reading. He learned and became soon an expert at his trade ; but as he could not agree with his brother, concluded to better his condition by seeking employ- ment elsewhere. So he went to New York, and unable to get work there, made his way to Philadelphia, where he landed with a silver dollar and a shilling in coppers in his pocket. Walking up Market Street, he bought three huge rolls, and carrying one under each arm while despatching the third, passed the house of Mr. Read, whose blooming daughter Deborah, destined to be his wife, stood at the door, and scanned the comely, hungry, but ungainly youth. Although printing was yet in its infancy, by dint of application he found employment as a journeyman printer, and lodgings at the house of the father of the aforesaid Deborah. It so happened that he became acquainted with sir William Keith, the governor of Pennsylvania, who took a fancy to him and urged him to set up as printer on his own account. Armed with a letter from the governor he returned to Boston for his father's consent, but as Benjamin was only 18 years old, Josiah Franklin advised him to wait until he was 21, promis- ing if by that time he had saved mone}^ enough to set himself up in business, he would help with the rest. But the governor, upon his return to Philadelphia, encouraged his scheme, prom- ised to advance him the amount required, and urged him to go to London to buy type, where furnished with his letter of credit and letters of introduction to his friends, he could not fail to make satisfactory arrangements for the future. Although the governor's promises were cruel deceptions, Benjamin, rich in hopes and the plighted affection of Deborah Read, sailed to London and spent there some eighteen months. 242 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. during which he gathered much vahiable experience in the mj's- teries of the printer's craft, and as valuable knowledge of books, men, and the world. In London he looked into other eyes, and that circumstance, as well as the uncertainty of his affairs, induced him to inform Miss Read that he might not return for a long while. It so fared, however, that Mr. Denham, a fellow-passenger from Philadelphia, upon his return to that city, offered Benjamin a clerkship in a store he was about to open there, and he, feeling that the cords of love drew him away from England, in due course landed in the City of Brotherly Love, but found that in consequence of his fickleness, the blooming Deborah had mar- ried "one Rogers, a potter." That potter was a scamp ; rumor said that he had another wife ; a year later he fled from his creditors ; and another rumor of his death was followed, four Sept. 1, years after Benjamin's return from England, by the 1730 marriage of Benjamin and Deborah. Meanwhile he and Meredith had set up a printing-press and begun the publication of the "Pennsylvania Gazette," which Franklin edited. His business began to prosper, and its head, life, and soul, Franklin, followed it so industriously that after twenty years devoted-^t^i^ its growth and development he was enabled to retire with a competency. Never before had there been such a strange business in the Quaker City as that followed by the bright English Yankee from Boston, who com- bined the material, the intellectual, the moral, and even the spirituous in its several departments. He manufactured lamp- black and ink, bought and sold rags, cut type and illustrative matter, wrote, edited, printed, and sold his newspaper, im- ported, printed, bound, and sold books, edited and published the famous serio-comic almanac, " Poor Richard," whose popu- larity in the Colonies and in Europe was unexampled. Nor was this all : in that newspaper office might be had not only the sundries already enumerated, but whatever related to stationery, and much that belonged to domestic economy, such as soap and 1730.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 243 live-geese feathers, coffee, and even " sack." The pounds in- creased and multipHed, and when he retired from business he had an income of £700 a year, and sold the good-will to Hall, his foreman, for £18,000, payable in eighteen annual instal- ments of £1,000. These results were the reward of his industry, honesty, and strong good sense ; there was in those days in Philadelphia and the province of Pennsylvania not a man so deservedly popular as the honest, industrious, jovial, generous, public-spirited, learned, and wise Benjamin Franklin. • At the age of ten he had left school, but his insatiable thirst for knowledge and the energy with which he entered upon the pursuit of it, without any other guidance than that of his own good sense, made him a very learned and accomplished man, who could read French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin, was well versed in history, mathe- matics, philosophy, political economy, and the sciences ; a de- lightful companion to converse with, and who, when conversa- tion flagged, could play the harp, the guitar, the violin, the violoncello, and the harmonica. He was also a perfect genius in mechanical contrivances ; he improved the last-named iustru- ment, and invented the " Franldin stove." Nothing escaped his attention or observation ; now it was the discover}^ that the north-east storms on the Atlantic coast move backward, from south-west to north-east, and abate in violence as they go ; or that ants have the power to communicate thought ; or it was an experiment to revive, by exposure to the sun, flies drowned in Madeira wine. But the greatest of all his scientific achievements were his discoveries in electricity, by which he demonstrated the identity of lightning with the electricity excited by artificial means, and became a benefactor of the world in giving it the lightning-rod. The story of his kite is too familiar to be repeated hci'e, l)ut it may not be uninteresting to sa}' that the little boy who accompanied him on the memorable excursion had attained the mature age of twenty-two. The fame of his discovery spread 244 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. throughout the world, and made him speedily the most cele- brated American in Europe ; the Ro3^al Society of London elected him a member, and conferred on him the Copley Medal ; the great Kant of Konigsberg called him the modern Prometheus who had brought down fire from heaven, etc. Meanwhile the modest discoverer continued his experiments, many of which were not only ingenious but diverting. He would electrify a young lady, and a young gentleman not aware of her state, and encouraged to snatch a kiss from her ruby lips, would be punished for his temerity by a spark and a shock that sent him dancing to another part of the room ; it is also said that he electrified the railing in front of his house to keep off inquisitive idlers, and the like. But the immediate and practical benefit of his discovery he gave to the world in "Poor Richard's Almanac " for 1753. " How to secure Houses^ etc. , from Lightning. — It has pleased God in his Goodness to Mankind, at length to discover to them the Means of securing their Habitations and other Buildings from Mischief by Thunder and Lightning. The Method is this : Provide a small Iron Rod (it may be made of the Rod-iron used by Nailers) , but of such length, that one End being three or four Feet in the moist Grouird, the other may be six or eight Feet above the highest part of the Building. To the upper End of the Rod fasten about a foot of Brass Wire, the size of a com- mon Knitting-needle, Sharpened to a fine Point : the Rod may be secured in the House by a few small Staples. If the House or Barn be long, there may be a Rod and Point at each End, and a middling Wire along the Ridge from one to the other. A House thus furnished will not be damaged by Lightning, it being attracted to the Points, and passing through the Metal into the Ground without hurting any Thing. Vessels also hav- ing a sharp pointed Rod fixed on the top of their Masts, with a Wire from the Foot of the Rod reaching down, round one of the Shrouds, to the Water, will not be hurt by Lightning." The vast and shining merit of Franklin singled him out for 1730-1753.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 245 public trusts. His public spirit and philanthropy, demonstrated in the establishment of a library, a hospital, and a college, all called into being by his energy, gave him great influence, and step by step he rose in the public service. He was an alderman, be- came clerk to the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia, chosen a member of the Assembl}', and commissioned postmaster-general for America. That office he held for man}" j'ears, and explained this tenacity by the pla^^ful remark that he lacked " the Christian virtue of resignation," his rule being "never to ask for offices "and " never to resign them." In his capacity as postmaster-gen- eral he rendered valuable aid to Braddock, and during the panic which prevailed after his failure, it was Franklin's influence which gave to the colonj^ a militia force ; that influence even prevailed with the Friends, from whom he obtained subscriptions for gunpowder under the specious plea of requiring the money for the purchase of " bread, flour, wheat, and other grain." Franklin himself accepted a military commission, and in the quality of colonel, exalted b}" compliment to "general," defended for several months the frontier, which then was in the neighborhood of Bethlehem, from the incursions of the Indians. About this time the inevitable and interminable squab- bles between the Assembly and the Penns had reached a crisis. The governors of Pennsylvania were the deputies of the Penns, and ruled the province under "instructions," of which this was the chief, that under no circumstances must any public burden touch the estate of the proprietary. The colony had spent on the king's service in four 3'ears the sum of £218,000 sterling, and the Assembly in lajing their tax had assessed the Penn estate in the paltry sum of £550 a year. This the proprietors refused to pay, and the Assembly said they must pay. It being impossible to solve the difficulty with the governor, the Assembly concluded to send Franklin to England, commissioned as Agent of Pennsylvania, witli 246 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. power to place the affairs of that Commonwealth on a more satisfactory footing. In the pursuit of this business he spent some five 3'ears in England, with the result that the king in Privy Council decided that the estates of the Penns should bear their due proportion of the taxes. On his return to Philadel- phia, in 1772, the Assembly voted him £3,000 sterling for his services in England, and their thanks. These long and successful negotiations in England, which had made him personally acquainted with many of the most distin- guished and influential people there, were the years of his ap- prenticeship in diplomacy. Two 3'ears later, when Mr. Gren- ville's purpose to tax the colonies by the imposition of a stamp duty filled America with indignation, the Assembly of Penn- sylvania elected Franklin their agent with instructions to use his influence with the ministry in England to prevent the passage of such an act. He accordingly returned to that country late in 1764, but his efforts were unavailing. The Stamp Act was to go into effect on Nov. 1, 1765, and it was known in England that the colonies had refused to obey it. Franklin now used every weapon at his command to effect its repeal. Among the numerous witnesses examined b}- Parlia- ment on American affairs, FnCnklin was the most important ; the information he gave was so clear, able, and just, and his presence of mind so remarkable, that when the question of the Feb. 21, repeal came up, it was passed by a majority of 108 1766 voices. The announcement was hailed in America with unbounded enthusiasm, but followed in England by a strong reaction, and Franklin, unable to prevent a disruption, the breaking of ' ' the beautiful porcelain vase " of the British May 5, empire, as he called it, shook the dust of England 1775 from his feet, and returned to Philadelphia. A day after his arrival, the Assembly of Pennsylvania elected him by a unanimous vote a delegate to the second Con- gress, in the labors of which he bore a conspicuous part ; he served on ten committees ; he was chosen one of the committee 1766-1776.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 247 of five to draft the Declaration of Independence ; he was one of the committee of three, elected to conduct the Conference with lord Howe ; and when through his instrumentality, intelligence came of the friendly feelings of France for the Thirteen United Colonies, and Congress resolved to send an embassy to that country, he was elected, conjointly with Silas Deane and Arthur Lee, to engage in that difficult and perilous service. The last-named persons were already in Europe on the ser- vice of the Secret Committee of Congress, the former in Paris, the latter in London, but their preliminary labors had been neither performed w^ith skill, nor crowned with success. Franklin arrived at Paris towards the close of Decem- r I \ IT f\ ber. The fame and celebrity he had justly won pre- ceded him, and gave him a most cordial reception. " No Englishman," says a recent English writer, " was ever so caressed in Paris, for the very reason that Franklin was, and was not, an Englishman." That is not the true reason ; he was caressed because he was Franklin. " Men," says a Frenchman, " imagined the}' saw in Franklin a sage of antiquity, come back to give austere lessons and generous examples to the moderns. The}^ personified in him the republic of which he was the representative and legislator. They regarded his vir- tues as those of his countrymen, and even judged of their physiognomy by the imposing and serene traits of his own. Happy was he who could gain admittance to see him in the house which he occupied. This venerable old man, it was said, joined to the demeanor of Phocion the spirit of Socrates." His appearance at Paris, his presence, tact, wisdom, and zeal, achieved in the darkest and most perilous years of the gigantic struggle for freedom as much as Washington accom- plished in the field. In the gloomy outlook of American affairs at the time of Franklin's arrival, the French government was not over-anxious for opening diplomatic relations, but it never- theless offered and gave unofficially the handsome sum of 2,000,000 of francs to the use of " an illustrious Congress." 248 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. The events in America were favorable neither to the political status nor to the financial resources of the young republic. France helped generously but timidly ; news came that Phila- delphia was in the hands of the British. An Englishman said to Franklin, " Well, doctor, Howe has taken Philadelphia." " I beg your pardon," rejoined the staunch old patriot, " Phila- delphia has taken Howe." And he was right. But on the heels of that news came the astounding tidings, which thrilled Europe, that Burgoyne and his whole army were prisoners of war. To Franklin and the envoys it was glorious news, the harbinger of better days, and the immediate precursor of the joyful message which they had to send to America, that the king of France had determined to conclude a treaty of alliance with the United States. A few weeks later the royal intention became fact in the Feb. 6, treaties of amity and commerce, and of alliance, con- 1778 eluded between France and America ; but the formal announcement of the event did not take place until six weeks afterwards, when the envoys were presented to the JMARCH Ji\j» king. It was dj propos of this presentation that agreeably to the rigid etiquette of the court oT'Louis XVI., Franklin ordered a wig, then an indispensable article of court dress. When the wig-maker brought the wig and tried it on, he found to his chagrin that it was not a good fit. Franklin thought it was too small ; the wig-maker was furious at this reflection upon his work, protesting that that was not possible. But it was too small. At last, looking wistfully at the envoy, in a transport of rage (as some say) , or of pleasure at the discovery (as others report), he cried, " No, monsieur, the wig is not too small, but your head is too large." The doctor smilingly opined that that could hardly be a fault, as God, who could not err, had made his head. "Ah," rejoined the wig-maker, "the doctor's head had not the honor to be made in Paris ; for if it had, it would have been only half as large." And so for 1778-1782.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 249 want of getting a good-sized wig, Franklin went to court without one. This French alliance bore immediate fruit in the appointment of Mr. Gerard as ambassador to the United States, and in mate- rial aid without which the final and glorious issue might have been very different. Congress, inexperienced in the ways of diplomacy, had committed the radical fault of appointing a plu- rality of diplomatic representatives with co-ordinate powers, but after the arrival of Mr. Gerard, and not without his influence, rectified the matter by designating Dr. Franklin Sole Plenipo- tentiary at Paris. His vast influence, age and character, conspired to make him, not without the jealousy of his associates, the head and front of the mission. One day a large cake was sent to the room where the envoys were in session, bearing the inscription, " Le digne Franklin." Deane said, "As usual. Doctor, we have to thank you for our accommodation,^ and to appropriate your present to our joint use." " Not at all," rejoined Frank- lin, examining the inscription, " this must be intended for all the commissioners ; only, these French people cannot write English. They mean, no doubt, Lee, Deane, Franklin." "That might answer," added the suspicious Lee, "but we know that when- ever they remember us at all, they always put you first." The material aid obtained from France through Franklin's influence consisted in money to the amount of 26,000,000 of francs, and the despatch of an army and a fleet whose hearty and effective co-operation with the American army compelled Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown. That event virtually closed the war. "Oh, God, it is all over !" exclaimed lord North at its announcement. feb. 2S, Three months later the House of Commons passed an 1782 address to the king, soliciting him " to stop the prosecution of 1 In allusion to the house they occupied at Passy, most generally offered to Franklin and his associates, by Mr. de Chaumont, free of rent. 250 MODERN HISTORY, [A.D. any further hostilities against the revolted colonies, for the pur- pose of reducing them to obedience by force." That address was the harbinger of peace. Early in the preceding year Franklin had asked Congress to relieve him of his office, but that Body not only declined to ac- cept his resignation, but appointed him joint commissioner with Adams and Jay to negotiate for peace. Preliminary discussions took place early in the year, and paved the way for negotiations, in which Franklin bore a con- spicuous part, which resulted in the conclusion of a preliminary treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, Nov. 30, subject to the prefatory declaration that the "treaty 1782 is not to be concluded until terms of peace shall be agreed upon between Great Britain and France." A few weeks later the preliminaries of the general peace wea'e signed at Ver- sailles. The war was over, the United States with the help of France were independent, and the venerable, undaunted cham- pion of the liberties of the young republic exclaimed, as he em- jan. 20, braced the duke de la Rochefoucault that day at dinner, 1783 in the exuberance of grateful and patriotic delight, " My friend, could I have hoped, at my age, to enjoy such a happiness ! " - The definitive treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was signed in London, that between France and Great Britain at Versailles, Sept. 3, 1783. Congress ratified it Jan. 14, 1784, and the king of England, April 9, 1784. Pending the acceptance of his third request for being recalled, Franklin, though afflicted with a painful malad3% was busily and pleasantly occupied with diplomatic duties, and his favorite pursuits. Congress at length accepted his resignation, and appointed Mr. Jefferson his successor. His last official act in Europe was the signing of the treaty with Prussia, which Washington styled the most original and the most liberal treaty ever negotiated between independent powers. 1782-1787.] BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 251 On the eve of his departure the king of France instructed his minister to write to him, " I can assure 3'ou, sir, that the esteem the king entertains for 3'OU does not leave you anything to wish, and that his majesty will learn with real satisfaction that your fellow-citizens have rewarded, in a manner worthy of you, the important services that you have rendered them." The. king's portrait set in 408 brilliants accompanied the farewell letter. So after affectionate leave-taking, universally beloved, re- spected, and regretted, he returned to Philadelphia, greeted by the hearty welcome of his family and fellow-citizens. He was now in the 79th year of his life, and had hoped to spend the remainder of it in privacy, but that was not to be. He was elected governor of Penns3ivania, and he wrote on the subject, "I had not firmness enough to resist the unanimous desire of my country folks ; and I find myself harnessed again in their service for another year. They engrossed the prime of my life. They have eaten my flesh, and seem resolved now to pick my bones." For three terms he filled the gubernatorial chair of Pennsyl- vania, and then retired from public office. He had also taken a prominent part in the Constitutional Con- vention of 1787, concerning which two incidents may interest the reader. After the Convention had been in session npwards of two months, and the differences between the members led often to excited and acrimonious debates, Franklin proposed as a salutary means for the restoration of calmness the adoption of a rule requiring the daily sessions to be opened with prayer. But the motion could not be carried, and Franklin observed in a note to his speech, " The Convention, except three or four persons, thought pra3'er unnecessary." At the close of the Convention, Franklin in a characteristic speech urged those dissatisfied with the Constitution to sacrifice their private opinions to the public welfare, and induced them to sign the document. " AYhile the last members were signing," 252 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. writes Madison, " Dr. Franklin, looking towards the president's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. ' I have,' said he, ' often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears to its issue, looked at that behind the president, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting ; but now, at length, I have the happi- ness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.' " Busy, and profitably busy, to the last moment of his life, ever cheerful, affectionate, benevolent, his mind undimmed by age, in great suffering of pain, his eyes fixed upon a picture of the Saviour, Franklin quietly expired, surrounded by his family, April 17, 1790, in the 85th year of his life. Perhaps the briefest, truest, and most unexceptionable esti- mate of his life and worth is contained in Washington's letter to him received during his illness. "If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among theleast grateful occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend." REFERENCES. Weems, " Life of Franklin " ; Sparks, " Life and Works of Frank- lin " ; Barton, " Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin " ; Bigelow, " The Life of Benjamin Franklin, written by Himself." :l|; 10 Longitude Eas 20 _ 30 from Greenwich 30 Fi.-k k Sm. n. y. 1 1769-1821.] NAPOLEON I. 253 NAPOLEON I. [1769-1821 I. At Ajaccio, in the island of Corsica, acquired by France in 1768, Napoleon, the second son of Carlo Bonaparte, a lawyer, was born Aug. 15, 1769. Educated in the military school of Brienne, a town in the Champagne, he excelled in mathematics and ancient history, and one of his teachers pre- dicted that under favorable circumstances the youthful Corsican would make his mark. In 1785 the lad, only fourteen ' -^ Sept. 1. years old, was appointed second lieutenant in the royal artillery, and gained the respect and confidence of his superiors by his attainments and exemplary conduct. At the outbreak of the Revolution he sided with the people, and ordered as lieutenant- colonel the bombardment of Toulon in 1793, which had declared against the Republic. Promoted general, he was ar- feb. 6, rested as a partisan of Robespierre, and though released, J 794 displaced from the service. In 1795 he was again in Paris seek- ing active employment, and obtained the appointment of commander of the troops for the defence of that city. His skill and resolute bearing frustrated the attempt of the National Guard, which mustered 30,000, to take by force the Tuileries, where the Convention was in session. Napoleon directed a terrible cannonade and routed the Guard. A few months later he was appointed commander-in-chief of feb. 23, the army of Italy, and on the eve of his departure mar- 1796 ried Josephine, the widow of general Beauharnais. On the 9th March, 1796, he was married, and twelve days later set out for his command. That marriage was quite romantic. One morning a boy of about thirteen appeared before the general, weeping and 254 MODERN HISTORY. ^ [A.D. unable to speak. Encouraged by the kind words of Napoleon, the boy said he was Eugene Beauharnais, and had come to reclaim his father's sword, whose valor and patriotism had been rewarded on the block. He got the sword, and when his mother, alike famed for beauty, amiability, and kindness, came to thank the general, he fell in love with her ; his affec- tion was returned, and marriage ensued. Before we proceed, it is necessarj' to remember that in con- sequence of an agreement between Leopold II., emperor of Austria, and Frederic William II., king of Prussia, for the restoration of the old regime in France, Louis XVI. had de- clared war against the emperor Francis II., who had succeeded his father Leopold in 1792, and hostilities had begun in the Netherlands and on the Rhine. In 1793 England and the other powers joined this leaoue ao-ainst France, which March 7. i J & o i is known as the ^'- First Coalition" The Peace of Basle, concluded in 1795, led to the withdrawal of Prussia. The Italian army, led by Napoleon, marched against Austria. The rapidity of his exploits was as wonderful as those exploits themselves. He found his command half as strong as he had expected, demoralized, without discipline, half-starved, and half -clad. Yet with that army of about 30,000 foot, 3,000 horse, and 30 pieces. Napoleon marched against the Austrian and Sardinian host of at least double that strength in numbers and a park of artillery of 200 pieces, and by the magic of his impassioned oratory inspired them with invincible courage. "Soldiers!" he said to them, "3^ou are bare and ill-fed ; the government owes you much, and cannot give 3'ou anything. I admire 3'our patience and courage amid these rocks ; they will not add to your glory. But I will lead you to the most fertile plains of the world, and place rich provinces and large cities in your power ; there 3^ou will find honor, glory, and riches. Soldiers of Italy ! 3'ou will not fail in courage and constanc}^" They did not fail, and under his victorious lead, defeated in four battles, fought in a fortnight, the Sardinian army, and 1792-1797.] NAPOLEON I. 255 compelled the king to sue for peace. Eighteen days later he vanquished the Austriaus in the battle of Lodi, mayio, occupied Milan, and was virtually master of Lom- 1796 bardy. The Italian allies of Austria, the dukes of Parma and Modena, pope Pius VI., and the king of Naples sued for peace. He laid their territories under heavy contributions in money, and his soldiers were not slow to enrich themselves at the ex- pense of the conquered. Pavia was sacked, and learned robbers from Paris undertook on scientific principles the spoliation of the choicest treasures of art and learning. The emperor Francis II. resolved to recover Lombardy and sent a second army, 60,000 strong, under Wurmser, into Italy. He was defeated in several battles and forced, with the remnant of his troops, to stand the hardships of a protracted siege in the fortress of Mantua. A third Austrian army, 50,000 strong, was sent to his relief ; the Austrians at first were successful, but in the battle of Areola, near Verona, which lasted jsrov. i5-i7, three days, met with a crushing defeat, followed about ^ 796 two months later by the complete rout at Rivoli of a jan. i4, fourth army, 50,000 strong, and the surrender at 1797 Mantua of Wurmser, who was starving. The undisputed master of Italy, Napoleon founded under the auspices of France the "Cisalpine Eepublic," embracing Milan, Modena, Bologna, and Ferrara, and the "Ligurian Republic" of Genoa. The Director}- offered an armistice to the emperor, which was rejected in consequence of the successful operations carried on by archduke Charles over the French on the Rhine. The archduke was ordered to Italy ; his force, composed in the main of raw recruits, was unable to stand before the victorious veterans of Napoleon, and began an orderl}' retreat, while tlie French commander pushed at the head of his army through the Tyrol, and Styria, as far as Leoben, a town in the latter prov- ince, and only 180 miles distant from Vienna. There an armistice was agreed to, which led to the treaty of oct. it, Campo Formio, agreeably to which Austria ceded to 1797 256 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. France the Netherlands, Lombardy, and some smaller terri- tories, and secured in return part of the dominions of Venice. An incident connected with that famous treaty is the read- ing of the first draft to Napoleon, who, hearing the opening sentence, "The emperor of Germany recognizes the French republic," bade the reader stop, exclaiming with great vehe- mence : "Erase that article. The French Republic is like the sun, and he is blind that does not see it ! " He added in a calmer tone the sentiment, prophetic of the future course of the speaker : " The French people is its own master : to-day it makes a republic, to-morrow it may create an aristocracy, and the day after perhaps a monarchy. This is its inalienable right. The form of its government is a purely domestic affair." Austria ceded also to France the left bank of the Rhine from Basle to Andernach, and the supremacy of that country may be illustrated by the facts that the French general Berthier con- verted the Estates of the Church into a Roman Republic and -I carried the pope (Pius VI.) as prisoner to Paris. French troops invaded Switzerland and established a Helvetic Republic subject to France, and in the following year, the victories of Napoleon had made her mistress of Italy, Switzerland, the left bank of the Rhine, Belgium, and Holland. A contemplated invasion of England had given to Napoleon, in 1797, the vague appointment of commander-in-chief of the invading army, which began its operations in Egypt as the gate- way to India. Turkey and France being at peace, the invasion of that country as a dependency of the former was an act of Mat 19, wauton and brutal outrage. Napoleon left Toulon 1 798 with an armament of 40,000 men, carried on 350 trans- ports and convoyed by 24 men-of-war ; he safely avoided the English fleet commanded by Nelson/ and took Malta through the treachery of the French Knights in that island. Disembarking July 1, in the neighborhood of Alexandria, he 1798-1799.] NAPOLEON I. 257 took that city and marched upon Cairo, engaged in constant skirmishes with the Mamelukes. i Arrived at the Pyramids, whose sight filled the soldiers with amazement, Napoleon ex- claimed : "Soldiers, you are here to free this land from bar- barism, to civilize the East, and to save this beautiful part of the world from the yoke of Eu gland. A battle is at hand. Remember that four thousand years look down upon you from these majestic heights ! " According to an ancient Arab tradition the master of Cairo is master Egypt. The Mamelukes knowing that their fate hung on the issue of the battle, opposed to Napoleon an army of 60,000, and fought bravely. Murad-Bey their general, though a skilful strategist, had to bow to the master genius of Napoleon, who scored, July 21, a splendid victory in the "Battle of the P^'ramids," entered Cairo four days later, and made himself master of Egypt. The splendid success of the army had an offset in the entire destruction of the fleet by Nelson at Abukir, Auo-. 1. That crushinoj blow annihilated the ulterior designs of Napoleon, for his base was destroyed, and he was unable either to return to France, or to pursue his plans against the East Indies. Quick and daring, he ordered his victorious legions to invade Syria. In February, 1799, he crossed the isthmus of Suez, took Gaza and Jaffa by storm (the latter on March 7), and arrived before Acre, the ancient Ptolemais, ten days afterwards. All his efforts to capture that stronghold miscarried, and on May 20 he began his retreat to Egypt. A column of fire marked the line of his march. Leaving his army under the command of general Kleber, he sailed from ^^^ ^3. Alexandria, narrowly escaped capture by the English fleet, and landed near Frejus, in France. The political situation in Europe had undergone a change 1 They were originally Circassian slaves, who had embraced the Islam and acquired their freedom. Up to this time tliey were, tiiough Turkish subjects, the real rulers of Egypt. 258 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. during Napoleon's absence in Egypt. The Second Coalition against France had been formed in 1799 by England, Austria, Russia, and Turkeyo The Austrian archduke Charles had driven the French out of Switzerland and Germany, while Austrian and Russian troops had restored the Papal States and the king- dom of Naples. The return of Napoleon was hailed with jubi- lant rejoicing, and his progress to Paris was a continuous ova- tion. The Council of the Ancients made him commander-in- chief, but in the Council of the Five Hundred, assembled at St. Cloud, the republican members to the number of from 200 to 300 raised the cry, "Death to the tyrant! down with the dictator!" and rushed upon Napoleon, who calmly left the chamber, and having assured himself of the support of his sol- diers, ordered the chamber to be cleared. During the night measures were taken for the overthrow of the Directory and the establishment of the Consulate. This took place on the 18tli Brumaire, i.e., Nov. 9, 1799. Under the new Provisional Con- stitution, Napoleon, Sieyes, and Roger-Ducos were appointed consuls for ten years, the former being named First Consul, and clothed with the power of appointing to all public offices, of proposing all public measures in peace or war, and of holding supreme command of all civiL^nd military affairs. Dec. 13, The Ncw Constitution, ratified by a popular vote of 1799 3,011,007, was proclaimed, and under it Napoleon was First Consul ; Cambac^res, Second Consul ; and Lebrun, Third Consul. Napoleon took up his residence in the Tuileries about the close of January, 1800. Among the first acts of the First Consul was one of peculiar interest to this country. The death of Washington was announced in the Legislative Body, Feb. 2, 1800 ; Napoleon ordered the adjournment of that assembly on tlie 7th day of that month as a mark of respect for the illustrious American, and for the same purpose com- manded that all the miUtary standards and ensigns of the French army should be covered with crape. 1799-1802.] NAPOLEON I. 259 After several months of extraordinary vigor in all the admin- istrative arms of the nation, the military genius of Napoleon burst forth anew in the resumption of hostilities against Austria, inaugurated by one of the most daring and magnificent achievements recorded in historj-. For such will ever be regarded his passage of the Alps with an army of 35,000, over the Great St. Bernard at an elevation of 7,600 feet, executed under most formidable difficulties with marvellous rapidity, skill, and secrecy. The army left the shores of the Lake of Geneva on Ma}' 13th, and on June 2d took Milan. Twelve days later was fought the decisive battle of Marengo, fiercely contested by the Austrians, which for the second time brought Northern Italy under French domination. On Dec. 3 of the same year general Moreau de- feated archduke John at Hohenlinden, and marched as far as Linz. The peace which was concluded in the Treaty of Lun6- ville, Feb. 9, 1801, gave to France those parts of Germany which lay on the left bank of the Rhine. Peace was concluded soon after with the other continental powers ; a famous Con- cordat was signed by Napoleon and pope Pius VII. ; and in the Treaty of Amiens England and France buried the march 25, hatchet. 1802 In January of 1802 Napoleon was made president of the Cisalpine Republic, and on Aug. 2 of the same 3^ear, a decree of the French Senate declared him consul for life. The interval of peace was devoted by Napoleon to adminis- trative measures. A new body of laws, loosely called the Code Napoleon^ was drawn up by the most able lawyers of France, which embraced everj^ department of law, civil, criminal, mili- tar}-, and commercial. He regulated the affairs of the Church, restored public worship, established schools, ordered the con- struction of highways and canals, and promoted the general order and prosperity of France b}^ measures which ofte4i owed their efficacy less to their real excellence or merit than to the indomitable strength of the personal will of the First Consul. The discovery of the dangerous P>our])on conspiracy against him. 260 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. in which were involved Cadoudal, Pichegru, Moreau, and the duke of Enghien, and which was thought to have been counte- nanced in England, led to his elevation from the position of consul to that of emperor. Cadoudal was executed, Pichegru died in prison, Moreau was banished and lived for some time in New Jersey, and the duke of Enghien, whose share in the con- spirac}' has never been proved, was really murdered. The par- tisans of Napoleon loudly proclaimed that lasting security and peace could not be had unless the First Consul were made emperor, and the transmission of the office hereditary in his family. An appeal to the nation ratified by an overwhelming vote the acts of the Legislature necessary to the establishment of the empire. The Senate, in a body, informed him of the change, and the event was proclaimed to the world May 20, 1804. Napoleon said to the Senate : " Whatever promotes the welfare of my country is essential to my happiness. I accept the title which you judge will be useful to the nation. I submit to the will of the people the law of succession, and hope that France may never regret the honors with which it invests my family. At any rate, my spirit will leave my descendants the moment they cease to be worthy the love and confidence of the great nation." ""^' Dec. 2, Popc Pius VII. anointed Napoleon and Josephine 1804 in the cathedral of Notre Dame, on their foreheads and hands, offering this prayer: "Almighty and everlasting God, deign to confer tln'ough my hands the riches of thy grace and blessing on thy servant Napoleon, whom, our personal un- worthiness notwithstanding, we consecrate this da}^ in thy name emperor." After this prayer and office. Napoleon and Jose- phine again approached the altar, and when the pope had blessed their crowns. Napoleon brusquely seized that provided for his use and crowned himself; he then took the other crown and placed it on the head of the empress. Then seated in his throne, the crown upon his head, his hand upon the Gospels, he took the oath of office. A herald pro- 1804.] NAPOLEON I. 261 claimed with a loud voice, "The most glorious and august Emperor Napoleon, Emperor of the French, is crowned and enthroned. Long live the Emperor ! " Loud rang the echoes of the brilliant assembl}' collected within the walls of the beautiful cathedral*, ■•' Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empress ! " and the imperial pair, followed b}' the glittering retinue of the attendant multitude, returned to the Tuileries. Soon afterwards the Cisalpine Republic proclaimed Napoleon "king of Italy," and the emperor, accompanied b}^ Josephine, proceeded to Italy, and on May 26, 1805, crowned himself, in the cathedral of Milan, king of Italy, with the ancient golden crown, encircled with a band of iron, which was worn of old by the kings of Lombardy, and had been used b}' Charlemagne, exclaiming, "God gives it to me. Woe to the hand that toucheth it." The Ligurian Republic was united to France ; and prince Eugene, the son of Josephine, an# adopted hy Napoleon, was solemnly invested Viceroy of Italy by the emperor himself. The self-coronation of Napoleon was of course intentional and of deep political significance. Charlemagne had received his crown at the hands of the pope to the injury of the imperial office ; Napoleon, by his act, wished to avoid the appearance of spiritual subjection to the court of Rome. 262 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. NAPOLEON I. II. The elevation of Napoleon to the imperial state did not please the Great Powers ; England and Russia refused to recog- ApRiLii, nize him, and formed with Austria a new alliance 1805 known as the Third Coalition. Among the Lesser Powers, Prussia remained neutral, while Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Baden entered into alliance with Napoleon. Hanover, as belonging to Great Britain, was invaded and held by the French, who to the number of 160,000 entered Germany. The first important event took place in Southern Germany. The Aus- trian general Mack, who was at Ulm in command of 23,000 troops, was surprised by Napoleon, and forced to capitulate, Oct. 17.^ Less than a month later his legions entered the capital of Austria, and the emperor established his headquarters in the imperial castle of Schonbrunn, Nov. 13. The Rus- sian army, under the immediate command of the emperor Alexander I., was concentrated in Moravia, and augmented by the scattered Austrian troops under the command of their em- peror Francis, to a total of about 100,000 men. Napoleon, with less than half that number, hurried from Vienna to engage them. The opposing hosts met at AusterUtz, a town south of ^^^ ^ Briinn. A terrific battle was fought, in which victory crowned the French. Among the terrible incidents of that terrible day is the drowning of an entire Russian column in a lake. A thick coat 1 The French claim that this capitulation embraced 19 generals, 40,000 soldiers, 3,000 horses, 40 ensigns, and 80 pieces of cannon. 1805-1806.] NAPOLEON I. 263 of ice covered its surface, and appeared to afford safe passage for the cannon of the retreating Russians. The French di- rected their fire on the ice, and ploughed it with their balls ; it gave way, and engulfed in the chilly waters of the lake the men, the horses, and the cannon. The Russians sought safety in retreat, and the emperor of Austria had to sue for peace. The Treaty of Presburg was signed Dec. 26, by which Austria had to cede her Italian possessions to the kingdom of Italy, the Tyrol to Bavaria, and her lauds in Southern Ger- many to Wiirtemberg and Baden. Napoleon moreover re- warded his allies with increased honors, for he promoted the electors of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg to kings, and the mar- grave of Baden to the dignity of a grand duke. By ju^y 12, the establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine 1806 he coerced sixteen of the lesser potentates of Germany into alliance with himself, and abolished the German empire, which had existed a thousand years. Francis II. thenceforth called himself Emperor of Austria. The only check given to the insatiable lust of Napoleon's dominion was the destruction of the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar, near the Strait of Gibraltar by the Eng- oct. 21. lish admiral Nelson. But this was of secondary t805 importance, and could not arrest the conqueror's progress, who at this time began to look upon himself as the predestined lord of Europe. This is not surprising, for he was not only intoxi- cated b}' actual and unparalleled success, but confirmed in his views by the fawning adulation of the greater part of Europe, for even the emperor of Russia, on the morrow after Auster- litz, sent him, by one of the French generals, this message, " Go tell your master that I shall retreat ; he wrought miracles yesterday which have increased ray admiration of his genius ; it is predestined by heaven that I shall require a century to raise my army to the level of his." In the consciousness of his irresistible strength he deposed and made kings, and changed the geography of Europe as he 264 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. saw fit. The news of the landing of English and Russian troops in Southern Italy he received with the declaration, " Ferdinand has ceased to rule Naples," and ordered Massena to conquer Naples and make his brother Joseph king. His brother Louis, who had married Hortensia Beauharnais, the step-daughter of Napoleon, was made king of Holland. Napo- leon III. was their son. It has been stated that Prussia, ruled since 1797 by Frederic William III., had remained neutral. Perceiving that the Rhen- ish Confederation was designed to weaken and finally subject to French rule the leading powers of Germany, that king made Oct. 8, peace with England and Sweden, secured the alliance 1806 of Russia, and declared war against Napoleon. The Prussian army, including a Saxon contingent of 34,000 troops, numbered 137,000, and was commanded by the duke of Brunswick, a man 72 years of age. The French who marched against it numbered 200,000 and worsted the Prussian advance in an engagement at Saalfeld, Oct. 10. The main body of the Prussians took positions at Auerstadt and Jena, and in two battles fought on the same day, Oct. 14, was not only defeated, but annihilated by the French. The king of Prussia, with the scattered'remnants of his army, was forced to retire to East Prussia. The French occupied Berlin, and there Napoleon issued the famous decree against England, by which all the ports of Europe were to be closed against British ships, and British manufactures were forbidden to be brought to the Continent. Three days after the battle of Jena, the elector of Saxony joined the Rhenish Confederation, and was made by Napoleon king of Saxony, Dec. 11, 1806. The Prussian army, newl}' recruited, and strengthened by an auxiliary force of Russians, engaged and defeated the French Feb. 8, in the sanguinary battle of Prussian Eylau. Prussia failing to follow up the advantage she had gained, Oct. 27. 1807 1806-1808.] NAPOLEON I. 265 Napoleon collected fresh troops and wiped out his de- feat in the decisive battle of Friedland, fought in June. In an interview between the emperors of Russia and France, and the king of Prussia, held on a raft in the river Niemen, oft' Tilsit, the preliminaries of a peace were discussed, and the Treaty of Tilsit was signed, July 7, 1807. The terms of that treaty stripped Prussia of all her possessions between the Rhine and the Elbe, and these, with the principalities of Bruns- wick and Hesse- Cassel, were erected into the kingdom of West- • phalia, which was given to Jerome, the youngest brother of Napoleon. Prussia also lost her Polish possessions, which were granted to the pliant king of Saxony. Thus ended the Prusso- Russian War of 1806 and 1807. In the latter year the Great Peninsular War began with the French conquest of Portugal occasioned by the refusal of the prince-regent of that country to carry into effect the Berlin decree in regard to British shipping. In the next year Napo- leon forced the royal family of Spain to abdicate, and ordered his brother Joseph to exchange the crown of Naples for that of "Spain and the Indies." Joachim Murat, one of the soldier adventurers in the train of Napoleon, who had married Caroline, the youngest sister of the conqueror, and contributed not a little to the victories of Marengo and Austerlitz, was julym, proclaimed king of Naples. 1808 The news of the abdication of the lawful royal family caused ^ an insurrection in Spain, and Joseph was forced to leave Mad- rid a week after his arrival. Portugal also rose in arms, and an English expedition, 30,000 strong, under sir John Moore, landed in the Peninsula, and drove the French out of Portugal. In October Napoleon himself invaded Spain, defeated the Span- iards, and entered Madrid. The English were driven deu. 6, to the coast, and the people to the mountains, whence 1808 they carried on a well-sustained and successful warfare against the invaders. Acts of violence similar to the unjust war with Spain had 2Q6 MODERN HISTORY. [AD taken place in Italy, where Napoleon had seized Tuscany (1807) and the Papal States (1809), and carried off the pope. Austria, resolved to stem the tide of aggression, summoned all Germany to arms, and declared war against Napoleon, April 15, 1809. A French army of 212,000 engaged the Austrians, 220,000 strong, in the battle of Ratisbon, and compelled them to retreat into Bohemia. Napoleon entered Vienna for the second time. May 13, 1809. The Austrian commander, archduke Charles, rallied his forces, hastened to the relief of the city, and in two fiercely contested battles at Aspern and EssHng, May 21 and 22, defeated Napoleon. Want of reinforcements prevented his making the victory decisive, while Napoleon, who had ordered fresh troops into the field, was enabled in the battle of ' ' Wagram to drive back the Austrians, and to reap the Oct. 14, benefits of the Treaty of Schonbrunn, b}' which Austria 1809 was stripped of large territorial possessions, and com- pelled to submit to the marriage of Maria Louisa, the emperor's daughter, with Napoleon, who on purely selfish grounds heart- lessl}^ divorced the childless Josephine, and married the Austrian archduchess, April 2, 1810. When on the 20th of March, 1811, the king of Rome was born to Napoleon, he was at the^zenith of his glory, and regarded that event as the pledge and guarantee of the future glorj^ of his dynasty. It was easy for him to appoint his brothers and generals kings of the countries he had conquered, but difficult to make them behave right. His brother Louis, king of Hol- land, did not come up to his expectations, and was accord- ingly deposed, while Holland and the whole of the northern coast of Germany were incorporated with the French empire. The consummation of that measure involved the seizure ot Oldenburg, and the deposition of the duke, nearly connected with the emperor of Russia. The latter resented the conduct of Napoleon, and ordered the decrees against British shipping to be relaxed. Thereupon Napoleon declared war against Russia, and thus began the Russian campaign. 1809-1812.] NAPOLEON L 267 A colossal army, numbering fully half a million of men, accompanied by an overwhelming train of artillery and imple- ments of war, beean to move towards Russia from all ' =* June 23. quarters, and crossed the river Niemen in three divis- 1812 ions. Napoleon captured AVilna, and caused the june 24. province of Lithuania to be laid waste. Alexander, who had only 315,000 men to oppose to the invading hosts, avoided an engagement, and pursued the policy of drawing them into the heart of the country, expecting that famine and the terrors of the Russiain winter would be his potent allies in their ultimate annihilation. So the Russians deliberately carried fire and destruction into the lands through which they passed, removed all the supplies, and lured the invader farther into the interior. Bloody but indecisive battles were fought at Smolensk and on the Moskwa^ (name of the river on which the city of Moscow is built) , in which Napoleon was victor. When the news became known in that city, the garrison and the greater part of the population deserted it, and when Napo- leon made his entry, on Sept. 14, into that ancient and magnifi- cent capital, it was with the intention of spending the winter there. "The French arm}^," he said, "will be like a ship caught in the ice, but it will renew the war in the spring." He established his headquarters in the Kremlin, i.e., the fortress with the palace of the czars, to witness from its commanding position the terrible conflagration which broke out on the 16th and raged with relentless fury until the 19th. It reduced Moscow to a heap of ashes, and buried the proud and daring schemes of the conqueror. The flames even threatened the Kremlin and compelled Napoleon to remove his headquarters to the palace of Petrowskie. He was in desperate straits ; the enemy surrounded him ; he had neither food nor shelter for his * The latter is also called the battle of Borodino, a village about 75 miles north of Moscow, 268 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. army, reduced in numbers, suffering from sickness and want, and exposed to the severity of a Russian winter. To stay meant death, and retreat he must. He sued for peace, but Alexander refused to treat with him while a single Frenchman remained on Russian soil. On Oct. 19, he began his retreat ; he left the neighborhood of Moscow with 120,000 men, and so fearful were the terrors of the march through the wasted, frozen country, that at Smolensk, which he reached Nov. 4, his army was reduced to 40,000 fighting men. Afraid that the Russians would cut off his passage of the Beresina, his ragged, half -starved veterans were urged onward in hot haste, and compelled to throw two bridges over that river. The enemy was at hand and fired shells into the retreating braves. In the universal stampede each thought only of his own safety : the stronger and fleeter pushed the weaker aside or down, who either found death in the icy flood, or under the hoofs of the horses and the cannon- wheels. When, on the evening of Nov. 29, the passage was nearly completed, the bridges were set on fire in order to prevent the Russian pursuit, and the rear were made prisoners by the enemy. That disastrous passage cost Napoleon about 30,000 men ; urging in excuse his -immediate presence at Paris, he left the miserable remnant of his host, and put Murat in com- mand. His departure was the signal of universal demoralization. The greater part of the horses had perished ; when a horse fell down, the famished soldiers rushed to devour it ; when a man fell in the ranks, his comrades stripped him of his clothes to cover their hands and feet. The second passage of the Niemen took place Dec. 16. A few figures may give some idea of the terrors of the Russian campaign. Of his grand army of 500,000 men only 90,000 in all returned in abject misery ; 100,000 were prisoners, 80,000 had fallen in battle, and 230,000 had found death in other ways. Some 200,000 bodies in a state of decomposition 1812-1813.] NAPOLEON I. 269 were picked up in the spring of 1813 on Russian soil, and burnt. Only 200 cannon had been saved ; all the baggage and military im- plements were lost. Such was the issue of the Russian campaign. The creation of a new army of 350,000 men b}- means of a conscription was the first and immediate act of Napoleon upon his return to Paris. At the head of that army he marched into Germany in the spring of 1813. General York, apprised of the retreat of Napoleon, concluded a treaty with Russia, and placed the auxiliary force under his command in the district between Memel and Tilsit, which was declared neutral. The king of Prussia, inspired by patriotism, and encouraged hy the report of the British victories in the Peninsula, called his people to arms, and entered into an alliance with Russia. Conviction was rapidly gaining ground that Napoleon was not only not invincible, but that his days were numbered. Two battles were fought in quick succession, the first at mat 2, Liitzen and Grossgorschen, the second at Bautzen, 1813 in both of which Napoleon conquered, but not de- may 21. cisively. Napoleon's proposals for an armistice were rejected, and the Allies, now including besides Prussia and Russia, also Austria, which sent an army of 300,000, Sweden, which furnished an auxiliary force, and Great Britain, which supplied money, arms, and ammunition. Three grand army corps were set up to hold Napoleon in check. The army of the North, composed of Prussians, Rus- sians, and Swedes, numbering 120,000, and commanded by Bernadotte, rested on Brandenburg ; the Silesian army, num- bering 90,000 Prussians and Russians, commanded by Bliicher, held Silesia ; the main army, composed of 230,000 Austrians, Russians, and Prussians, was commanded by Schwarzenberg, and stood in Bohemia. In the battles which ensued. Napoleon defeated the main army at Dresden (Aug. 27, 28), but lost the battles of Kulm (Aug. 30), oii-the Katzbach (Aug. 26), of Grossbeeren (Aug. 23), and of Deunewitz (Sept. G). 270 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. The successes of the Allies had drawn also Bavaria into the league. Napoleon felt his position at Dresden untenable, and moved towards Leipzig, hemmed in on three sides, where, on the daj^s from Oct. 16 to 19, was fought the Great Battle of Nations, in which Napoleon was absolutely defeated. On the latter day he began his retreat in hot haste, this time pur- sued by the victorious Allies, whose numbers had been aug- mented by the contingents of the lesser principalities, and who in three columns approached France, and slowly but surely fought their way to Paris. They took Montmartre by storm, and the emperor Alexander of Russia with the king of Prussia, at the head of their guards, made, amid the shouts of the popu- lace, their triumphant entry into Paris on March 31, 1814. The Senate deposed Napoleon, who was compelled to abdi- cate at Fontainebleau on April 11, 1814, and banished to the island of Elba. He was permitted to retain the title of empe- ror, and allowed an income of 6,000,000 francs. A British ship took him to his place of exile. The Allies abolished the empire, and restored the kingdom by elevating Louis XVIII., the brother of Louis XVI., to the May 30, throuc. With the new king the Powers concluded 1814 the First Treaty of-T^aris, by which the geographical limits of France were restored to what they had been in 1792. A few months later the International Congress charged with the regulation of the political affairs of Europe in general, and Oct., more particularly with those of Germany, was con- 1814 vened at Vienna. In the midst of their deliberations the Congress and all Europe were convulsed with the astounding intelligence that March 1, Napolcou had left Elba and landed in France. The 1815 people received him with great enthusiasm, the army took up his cause. The news of his approach caused the king March 20, to make his escape from Paris, and the next day 1815 the emperor entered the city in triumph. His return was solemnly denounced amid the protestations of the Powers, 1814-1815.] NAPOLEON I. 271 who massed at once large bodies of troops commanded b}' Schwarzenberg on the Upper Rhine, by Bliicher on the Lower Rhine, and by Wellington in the Netherlands. The latter, who had completed the deliverance of Spain the year before, was appointed by the Congress commander-in-chief. Murat, meanwhile, who had left Naples at the head of a hirge army, was defeated by the Austrians and fled to France. The National Assembly at Paris begged Napoleon to reassume the imperial estate, who, soon at the head of an army of 125,000 men, began operations against the Allies. In his first encounter with them, at Liony, he de- feated Bliicher, and compelled Wellington to fall back on Waterloo, where was fought one of the most sanguinary battles of the century ; Napoleon attacked Wellino;- - ' ^ ° June 18. ton, and believed to have won the day, when the opportune arrival of Bliicher, who had marched round him, gave the death-blow to his hopes in his entire overthrow. He was compelled to seek safety in flight. The House of Representatives demanded his abdication, and required him to go into perpetual exile ; he went to Rochefort, intending to repair to the United States. The Allies entered Paris for the second time ; the}'^ abrogated tlie renewed domin- ion of Napoleon, known as the " Rule of the Hundred Days," and restored Louis XVIIL By the provisions of Concluded the Second Treaty of Paris, France was restricted to Nov.2o, i 8 1 5 the territorial limits as the}' had existed in 1790, and required to pay an indemnity of 700,000,000 francs. Napoleon voluntarily sought the protection of England by going on board the Belleroplion ; but England, deeming it incom- patible with her duty to Europe to permit his landing, con- cluded to designate the island of St. Helena, a solitary rock in the southern Atlantic, 1,000 miles from the coast of Africa, as his future abode. He was transferred on board the aug. 6. Northumberland and conveyed to the distant island, where he arrived after a long voyage, and spent the ^'"^" ^^" 272 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. last six years of his life, doubtless in wretched, though neces- sary captivity'. He died, after a 3'ear's bad health, May 4, 1821, and was buried with military honors, near a fountain whose waters had once been grateful to his lips. His last words were, " Head — army." Nineteen years later his remains were removed to France, and deposited in the H6tel des Invalides. To France he gave glory, not happiness ; and to the world at large, to millions of his fellow-men, he was a scourge. REFERENCES. Thiers, " History of the Consulate and of the Empire " Napoleon " ; A. Hugo, " History of the Emperor Napoleon. Alison, NOTE. Almost all the dates in the Life of Napoleon have been drawn from the emperor's personal notes, and other authentic records. 1809-186S.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 273 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. [isos-ises The father of Abraham Lincoln was a hardy pioneer who, as a poor farmer, was making but a scanty living in Kentuck}-, when the future President of the United States was born. The first seven years of his life were spent in poverty and fee. u, obscurit}' ; his father could not read or write, but 1809 Abraham learned to read at the log cabin of a neighbor, and to pra}" at his mother's knees. The whole of his education was a few months' schooling and covered a very slender knowledge in reading, arithmetic, and writing. His father removed to Indiana, and if his method n [l816 of travel was primitive and simple, it certainly was cheap and practical. A raft of logs lashed together, with a few boards set up slantwise for a temporary dwelling, conveyed the family down the Ohio to the primeval solitude of Southern Indiana, and there Abraham learned the use of the axe, the plow, and the rifle. All day long he toiled on the farm, but there was that within him which prompted to higher and nobler pursuits. At night, in the glare of a log fire, he sat reading such books as he could get loaned, or bought as he grew older. At eighteen his library numbered six books, of which the Bible, the Pilgrim's Progress, and ^sop's fables were his favorites ; and from a borrowed cop}' of Weems' "Life of Washington" he learned the stor}' of the Revolution and of the First President. On his way to Washington, more than forty years later, speak- ing of that reading at Trenton, and referring to the struggle there, the crossing of the river, the contest with the Hessians, and the great hardships then endured, said, "I recollect think- 274 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. ing tlien, boy even though I was, that there must have been something more than common that those men struggled for. . . . " I am exceeding!}' anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the Uberties of the people, shall be perpetuated in accord- ance with the original idea for which the struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle." So he read to good purpose, and as he read he thought, and the thought remained and sustained him to the last. At nineteen he went as a hired hand on a Mississippi flat- -| boat, at $10 a month, and visited New Orleans.- On his return the family concluded to settle on the rich bot- tom land of the Sangamon, in Illinois, and the hardy, strong, and useful lad lent a helping hand ; he drove the cattle on the road, assisted in building a cabin, and with his sturd}' arms split 3,000 rails to enclose the farm. This is the origin of the political nickname of " Rail-splitter" by which he was often called. In Benjamin Franklin's time our good friends, the French, did not excel in writing English, and in our own time they do not seem to study it much, for a learned authority in French Letters gravely records the startling^intelligence that Abraham Lincoln was called a " Rail-spitter " because he cut the ties or sleepers for the railroad. He appears to think that "to spit" rails is to cut them. Abraham, however, did not remain at home, and ready for anything, pursued a variety of callings. Resuming work on a Mississippi flatboat, he exchanged boating for a clerkship in a country store, and forsook the counter for a captaincy -1 in the Black Hawk War. At the close of the campaign 1 332 he returned to civil life, filling in succession the duties of bookkeeper, postmaster, and surveyor. In the last capacity he formed and executed the project of studying law, surveying land by day, and reading law-books at night, which were loaned to him by a legal firm after oflEice hours, and had to be returned 1830-1846.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 275 for use the next morning. At the age of twenty-five r- he was sent to the Legislature, and re-elected three times. Charmed with political life, his reputation for ability, and his popular address, gave him influence, especially in a can- vass of the State for Henry Clay, who had been nominated for the presidency. The defeat of his candidate, however, p led to his own election to Congress, where he voted with the Whig party, and opposed the extension of slavery. "In the course of my law reading" Lincoln said, "I con- stantly came upon the word demonstrate, and I asked myself. What do I mean when I demonstrate, more than when I reason or iJrove — what is the certaintj^ called demonstration ? Having consulted dictionaries and books of reference to little purpose, I said to m3'self , ' Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer, if you do not understand what demonstrate means.' 1 had never had but six months' schooling in m}' life ; but I now left my place in Springfield, and went home to my father's, and stayed there till I could give any proposition of the six books of Euclid at sight." It was thus that he improved himself, and became a self-made man. In the presidential canvass which resulted in the election of James Buchanan, Lincoln was an active supporter of Fremont, and on two occasions canvassed the State, but unsuccess- fulW, as candidate for Senator against Douglas. His brilliant orator}' and skilful debate, especially in 1858, brought him prominently before the nation, and the Republican Convention which met in 1860 at Chicago nominated him for the presidency. There were three other candidates in the field : Douglas the choice of the Northern Democracy, Breckenridge the nominee of the Southern Democracy, and Bell, that of the "Union" party. The Democratic part}' being divided, and the Union part)^ hopelessly weak, the choice of the nation fell on Abraham Lincoln. The Southern leaders in Congress construed his election as inimical and perilous to the interests of the South, and belie v- 276 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. ing that the heretical doctrine of State rights warranted the separation of States from the Union, carried into effect their long-threatened secession, and formed a separate government, Feb., called the "Confederate States of America." They 1861 elected Jefferson Davis president, and Alexander H. Stephens vice-president of the new confederation, and seized the property of the United States, such as forts, arsenals, custom-houses, ships, etc., within the several seceded States. The General Government did not resist these violent and un- lawful measures. The sentiment of the chief executive expressed in his message to Congress ' ' that the power to make war against a State is at variance with the whole spirit and intent of the Constitution," and the well-known sympathy of a large part of the Cabinet with the secessionists, encouraged them to persevere in their course. All this had happened before Abraham Lincoln assumed his trust. He maintained a discreet silence as to his intentions, while his utterances breathed a spirit of conciliation and lofty patriotism. As the time for his inauguration drew nigh, he set out from Springfield, Illinois, and took a route which lay through many of the large cities of the countr}^, where his pres- ence and judicious speech lieepened the conviction that the affairs of the nation were about to pass into strong and able hands. The welcome accorded him was enthusiastic, and his progress was a continued ovation. Aware of rumors of a projected interference with his inaug- uration, especially at Baltimore, where Mr. Buchanan had been insulted four years before, the president elect had quietly taken measures which effectually prevented all disturbance, b}" his unexpected arrival at Washington some twelve hours earlier than the time appointed. The Address delivered at the time of his Inauguration was the noble utterance of patriotic devotion ; it announced his personal conviction " that in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual" ; "that no 1846-1861.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 277 State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void ; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the authority of tlie United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary " ; and his purpose to take care "that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States." It dwelt with singular tenderness on the cherished convictions of the South, lovingly i^ointed out the superiority of lawful amity to unlawful violence, entreated the malcontents to pause ; and closed his appeal to their better nature in these words: "In your hands, my dissatisfied countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no^ conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to ' preserve, protect, and defend it.'" The answer to the Message on the part of the South was the opening of fire from the Confederate forts and batteries april 14, on Fort Sumter, resulting in its surrender by major ^861 Anderson. This was the signal of war. On the day following the evacuation of the fort, Lincoln issued a requisition for 75,000 troops for the suppression of the insurrection, and the people of the North responded by sending a volunteer force of 300,000 men. The whole country. North and South, was in arms. Three (lays after the proclamation for troops, Lincoln issued another proclamation declaring the ports of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to be blockaded; other war measures were taken, an extra session of Congress was convened, in which all the acts of the presi- dent referred to were approved and legalized, and abundant means were furnished him for the conduct of the war. Towards the close of this year, thanks to the indefatigable energy and wise administration of the Executive, the insurrec- tion had been concentrated, a large military force pressed upon 278 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. it from the North and the West, and an imposing naval force maintained a vigilant blockade on the Atlantic coast. The military exploits of the second year of the contest were brilUant on both sides. The South could point to the victories of Jackson in the Shenandoah, of Lee on the Peninsula, to Bragg's raid in Kentucky, and to the battles of Cedar Moun- tain, Chickasaw Bluff, and Fredericksburg. But the Federal successes far eclipsed the achievements of the brave and heroic foe. There was a simultaneous movement from different sides. The operations of Farragut had opened the Mississippi ; Grant and Foote had captured Forts Henry and Donelson, and Island No. 10 ; Kentucky and Western Ten- nessee had been recovered to the Union ; captain Worden's Monitor had discomfited the Merrimac; general McClellan had turned the tide of the war in Virginia in the sanguinary battle at Antietam ; and Burnside in a series of dashing engagements had secured to the Union the coast of North Carolina. Lincoln, who had unbounded faith in the ultimate success of the cause of the Union, a large heart full of tender yearnings for the people of the South, and maintained an even and cheer- ful frame of mind in the darkest days of the dreadful fratricidal war, was wont to draw on a^^seemingly inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, and to settle perplexing questions by something that reminded him of something else. His readiness in this respect was something like Franklin's, with whom he had not a few things in common. An inquisitive visitor asked too many questions about the destination of Burnside's expedition. " My friend," said the president, " can you keep a secret? " " Yes, sir ! " was the answer. '' Then," rejoined the chief magistrate, ' ' I will venture to inform you that the expedition has gone to sea." A friend of the writer told him an incident that happened at a party given by general Marcy, to which the President and the Cabinet had been invited. In the course of the evening the prestidigitator Hermann was introduced, who was going to per- form some of his tricks with cards. He took a pack, and, pre- 1862-1863.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 279 senting them to Mr. Lincoln, begged bim to shuffle them. " Oh, no," said the President, " hand them to Mr. Seward, for he does all my shuffling." One of these witty sayings is apt to remain forever associated with the memory of Lincoln, as illus- trating the shrewd wisdom acquired by him in the olden days in the Western wilds, which taught him the caution " not to swap horses in the middle of the stream." But b}' far the most important event in the second year of the war was the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln had all along mu'sed his favorite measure of emancipation with com- pensation, which, though authorized by Congress, proved a failure ; and when the pressing necessit}' of some such measure gradually took shape in his mind, he resolved to make the free- dom of the slaves a votive offering of thanksgiving to God for victory. " I made," he said, " a solemn vow before God, that if general Lee was driven back from Maryland, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves." The battle of Antietam decided the matter, and, on the sept. 22, Monday following, he issued the proclamation, declar- 1862 ing that " on the first day of January, 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State in rebellion against the United States shall be then, henceforth, and forever free." On New Year's day, emancipation was made abso- j- lute in the seceded States, and the proclamation then issued by the President declared that all persons held as slaves '' are and henceforward shall be free," and concluded with the important paragraphs : — " And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. " And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of jus- tice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God." 280 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. This " military necessit}^ " was disputed by the political oppo- nents of the Administration, which held that the emancipation of four millions of slaves, engaged in producing the staples which upheld the insurrection, was a capital blow struck at the vitals of the enemy, who without the products of such labor could not possibly maintain the continuance of a conflict aimed at the overthrow of the Union. Mr. Lincoln, while urging the continuance of the war with unabated vigor, declined the overtures of mediation made by France and England, obtained the leave of Congress for issuing letters of marque, and, for the purpose of replenishing the arnw by draft, all persons fit for military service between the ages of 26 and 45 had to be enrolled ; and towards the close of the year, lie issued a proclamation offering a general amnesty to the insurgents, from which only military or civil leaders were excepted. During this 3'ear the South was victorious in the battles of Chickamauga and Chancellorsville, and in the contest for the possession of Charleston, but the Federal operations before Vicksburg, the Federal triumphs at Chattanooga and at Gettys- burg, told with terrible effect r^pon the sinking fortunes of the Confederacy. Mr. Lincoln felt that though the material strength of the Confederacy had been incurably impaired, its final overthrow could only be achieved by concerted action, and it was for this March 3, purpose that general Grant was made lieutenant-gen- 1864 eral in command of all the forces of the United States. So effectual were his efforts that at the close of the year the gigantic contest was virtually confined to Virginia, and the days of the Confederacy were numbered. Although the conduct of the war was sharply criticized in the North, and every effort was made by the Democratic party to prevent his re-election, his hold upon the confidence and affection of the people was too strong to be shaken. The result was an over- whelming defeat of the Democratic candidate, while Mr. Lin- 1864.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 281 coin read in a popular majority' of more than 400,000 votes the approbation of his fellow-citizens of his conduct of the government and of the war for the Union ; and, on the eve of its close, could, in his second Inaugural Address, conclude his review of the mighty struggle in the familiar words : — "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firm- ness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, — to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans ; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Meanwhile, the end was drawing nigh. Sherman had com- pleted his victorious march through the Carolinas and effected a junction with Scofield and Terry ; Sheridan had turned the flank of Lee, and Grant moved upon and took Rich- April 3. mond, which was occupied by colored troops. Lee sought to effect an escape, but was compelled to capitulate, with the remnant of his army, at Appomattox Court House. This really ended the war, and the glorious tidings spread joy over all the land ; the bells were rung, the cannon boomed, the flag waved in triumph, cities were illuminated, J03' was universal ; it filled every heart, but none more than Lincoln's, who had gone to Richmond, and returned safe to Washington, and, in the kindness of his heart, consented to gratify the people, by being present at a representation in Ford's Theatre. He sat surrounded by his family and friends in his own box. Suddenl}^ the report of a pistol was heard ; a man, waving the weapon and shouting, " Sic semper tyrannis," leaped on the stage and made his escape. He had shot, and shot mortally, Abraham Lincoln, the best and most loved of all presidents since Washington. The assassin, who, in the frenzy of political delusion, thought he was ridding the world of a tyrant, was AVilkcs Booth, one of 282 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. a band of conspirators who had plotted to kill the President and all the leading merubers of the government. At the time there was a widespread belief that the foul deed had been in- stigated by the Confederate leaders, but fortunately the sus- picion was never proved. The intelligence, flashed over the country and under the ocean, that the President had been assassinated, that he was dying, that he was dead, seemed too incredible to be true. It sent a thrill of horror and agony through the nation. In a moment the voice of joy and thanksgiving was hushed in deep, unutterable sorrow. Then there rose a cry of lamentation and universal grief. The mourning for Lincoln was deep and sincere ; it drowned the strife of party, and drew words of sympath}-, not only from the nations of the earth, but from the States so lately in arms. His last journey had been to Richmond, where thousands of the liberated Africans crowded round his carriage, and made the welkin ring with their hosannas for the sight of their deliverer. "Glory to God!" "Bless de Lord!" they cried, in the exuberance of their delight. And they wept now, and mourned for him more than for a father. The nation felt that their father had been snatched away. The demonstration of grief ^W^s unexampled; at one hour on the day set apart for the funeral service at Washington similar services were held throughout the land ; his body was borne in solemn procession to Springfield, a distance of about 1,600 miles over the same route he had chosen when as president-elect he had come to Washington. Never had a king such a funeral, accompanied by such sin- cere and heartfelt mourning ; at last the procession reached its destination, and, as " Father Abraham " was laid to rest, his own beautiful prophecy was recalled and uttered, that the time would come when "the mystic chords of memory, which stretch from every battle-field and from every patriot's grave, shall yield a sweeter music when touched by the angels of our better nature." 1864.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 283 One of the most touching and true tributes to the memory of the martyr-president, as he was called at the time, came from the Legislative Body of France, whose minutes contain, among other expressions, these words : — ' ' Called to the helm of . the ship of state in a crisis of im- perishable memory, Abraham Lincoln sustained himself at the height of his difficult task. Invincibly firm throughout the struggle, the wisdom of his speech and views seemed to mark him as destined speedily to conduct the children of his American mother-country to a salutary and lasting reconciliation. His last acts crowned the life of an honest man and of a great citizen." Add to this that his honesty lives in the historical sobriquet of "honest Abe," and the love which the people bore to him in the familiar and endearing epithets of "Uncle Abe" and "Father Abraham"; that his kindness was proverbial, his ability undoubted, his simplicity and modesty unaffected, that he shone as a man, as a citizen, and as a patriot ; and such a record as his assigns to him a place in history, and in the hearts of his countrymen, only second to that of Washington. The hope and the prophecy of Lincoln have been fulfilled. The Union is restored, the dark and terrible days of the frat- ricidal war belong to the distant past, and the flag waves in triumph over a united people, blessed with unexampled pros- perity. May it be perpetual. REFERENCES. The several Histories of the United States. Holland and Raymond, "■ Lincoln "; and for Documents, etc., " The Annual Cyclopaedia." 284 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. 1822-1885] ULYSSES S. GRANT. Hiram Ulysses Grant, for that was his original name, was the son of Jesse R. Grant, a well-to-do tanner, who, at the time APBIL27, of his son's birth, lived at Point Pleasant, Clermont 1 822 County, Ohio, but removed a year later to Georgetown, Brown County, in the same State. In the latter place the future general and president of the United States spent his youth, -, until, at the aare of 17, he went to West Point. His schooling there was of a limited character, for it did not extend beyond the three R's, as they are sometimes called. While going to school, where he acquired, besides the branches just named, a familiarity with the suasions of birch switches, he worked, although he did not like to work, on the farm, and " did as much of it," to use his own words, while young, "as grown men can, be hired to do in these days." This fact, and his repeated assurance that he could not remember to have " been punished at home, either by scolding or by the rod," seem to disprove the anecdote that his mother, en account of his remissness at work, was wont to call him "Useless" instead of Ulysses. Upon his appointment to West Point his name was wrongly registered " Ulysses S.," and find- ing that red-tape interfered with the correction, he submitted to the involuntary change as his "manifest destiny" and signed it "Ulysses Simpson," the latter being his mother's family name. The initials " U. S.," which he afterwards used, at subsequent stages of his life, gave rise to the familiar "Uncle Sam," "United States," and "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. -1 His record at West Point was fair but not brilliant, 1 843 and he left the Academy as brevet second lieutenant 1 1822-1885.] ULYSSES S. GRANT. 285 in the Fourth Infantry. While stationed at Jefferson Barracks he became engaged to Miss Julia Dent, whom he married four 3^ears later. At that time Grant intended to choose the scho- lastic profession, and applied for the position of assistant-pro- fessor of Mathematics at West Point, but the outbreak of the Mexican War compelled him to change his purpose. He served with great distinction, was promoted first lieutenant, in conse- quence of the death of his senior, lieutenant Sidney sept. i4, Smith, who was mortally wounded on entering the City 1847 of Mexico. Upon the close of the war, he married, aug. 22, spent two years in garrison at Sackett's Harbor and 1848 Detroit, was ordered to the Pacific coast, where he n was promoted captain, and resigned. Returned to civil life, he tried his hand at farming, but a severe attack of fever and ague induced him to exchange agricultural pursuits for the conduct of a not very prosperous real-estate agency at St. Louis, and that again for a r- clerkship in his father's store at Galena, Illinois. When, in response to Mr. Lincoln's call for 75,000 men, the citizens of Galena raised a company, Grant left the leather store, drilled the men, and took them to Springfield to be mus- tered into the service of the United States. Governor Yates of Illinois invited Grant to fill a nondescript position in the adjutant-general's office, where his army experience would be of great service. He became mustering-officer of the State troops, and was successively appointed colonel of the 2 1st regi- ment of infantry, and brigadier-general. His first act was the timely seizure of Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, an important position, which, in the hands of the enemy, who was preparing to occupy it, might have been very injurious to the Federals. The prompt and circumspect proceedings of Grant revealed his latent powers. In the battle of Belmont, Nov. 7, where the raw and undisciplined volunteers had their I86I first lesson in war, the personal prowess of Grant averted a defeat. 286 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. The Confederates held a strong line of defence from Columbus, on the Mississippi, to Cumberland Gap. The breaking of that line was a military necessity, and its execution was confided to Grant, who undertook to capture Fort Henry on the Tennessee, which would compel the evacuation of Columbus, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland, which would open the way to Nashville. The former place was attacked by gunboats and readil}^ taken, but the troops did not come up in time to capture the garrison, which Tilghman, the Confederate commander, had sent to Donelson before the attack. Tilghman, his staff, and Feb. 6, tlic armament of the fort fell into the hands of Grant, 1862 Yfh.o ordered the pursuit on land, while the gunboats, commanded by commodore Foote, were directed to proceed down the Tennessee, and ascend the Cumberland for a com- bined attack on Fort Donelson. The post was well chosen, strongly fortified, and garrisoned with 21,000 men. Floyd, the quondam Secretary of War under Mr. Buchanan, who for more than a year had abused his high oflflce in furnishing the South the means of armed resistance, was in command ; general Pillow, an unskilful but vain officer, his second, and general Buckher, the only able officer, third in rank. Grant's plan was to hold the enemy within his lines by the investing army, while the gunboats should attack the water batteries. The gunboats opened a vigorous fire on the fort, which returned it with skill and deadly effect, disabled the fleet, and even wounded the flag-officer. The enemy, emboldened by his success with the fleet, on the next da}^ took the offensive, but was driven back with great loss, and that night the Federal division, under general Smith, bivouacked within the Confed- erate lines. The fate of Donelson was now sealed ; - during the night Floyd and Pillow and a portion of the garrison effected their escape, and at dayl^reak, just before Grant ordered the 1862.] ULYSSES S. GRANT. 287 final assault, Buckncr, now left in sole command, proposed an armistice of several hours to arrange terms of capitulation. Grant replied, " No terms but an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." Buckuer accepted what he called "the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms," and feb. i6, capitulated with about 15,000 men. These splendid 1862 achievements led to the evacuation of Columbus, Bowling Green, and Nashville. The superior strategy of Grant in the battles of Shiloh, luka, and Corinth met hardly any official recognition, but rivetted the attention of the whole countr}-, and of military critics in Europe on the brilliant series of operations which culminated in the capture of Vicksburg. The objects to be gained were the unobstructed navigation of the Mississippi, and the sundering of the Confederacy. The approaches to that natural stronghold, rendered nearly impregnable b}' formidable works of enormous extent, presented difficulties and obstacles of the most forbidding character to an ordinary commander, but could not deter Grant from his pur- pose, at any cost, and under all circumstances, to recover this Gibraltar of the Mississippi to the Union. After weeks of unavailing effort to take the place from the north. Grant concluded to attempt it from the south ; for this purpose a large body of troops was sent down the western side of the river, while the gunboats, convoying a flotilla of steamers and barges, loaded with rations and forage, and destined to carr}' the army across, "ran the batteries" which commanded the river for a distance of over 15 miles. In order to capture Grand Gulf, the army was taken across the river at Bruinsburg, met the enemj', who had come out to prevent that capture, at Port Gibson, and defeated ^^ , * ^ ' May 1. him. That victory secured to Grant not only Port Gibson, but Grand Gulf. Advised that Joseph E. Johnston was hastening to Pemberton's assistance, Grant resolved to 288 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. place his army between them, " drive eastward the weaker one, attack and beat Gregg . . . and seize Jackson," 50 miles east of Vicksburg, at the junction of the railroads by which that stronghold was supplied, and meanwhile push Pemberton into Vicksburg, where completely "isolated from the would-be Confederacy," he meant to capture the whole of his army. This daring and extensive programme was triumphantly accomplished in 20 days, during which the two hostile armies had been beaten in detail in five battles with great loss, and the victorious general then ordered a general attack on the defences of Vicksburg. The assault was made, but did not succeed, and the regular siege began. A double line of defence had to be constructed, one 15 miles long facing Vicksburg, and another facing in the opposite direction to check the approach of Johnston, who was hastening to the relief of Pemberton. After a month's incessant work with the pick and spade, and after a sap had been run to the enemy's parapet, order was given to spring the mine. It was exploded June ^u* with the effect that the top of the hill was blown off, and a crater formed. The front blown off with everything, and everybody on it, was lifted into the air to an altitude of about 80 feet. Incredible as it seems, general Grant mentions that a colored man who had been under ground at work, landed on the Union side, "not much hurt, but terribly frightened. Some one asked him how high he had gone up. ' Dun no, massa, but t'ink 'bout free mile,' was his reply." The breach was kept open ; another mine was exploded, which destroyed an entire redan ; the work of mining continued with unabated vigor, and the Union approaches had reached the enemy's ditch at many points. Nothing could save the city, and Pemberton, despairing of outside relief, and half-starved, sued for terms of capitulation. He obtained from the generosity of the humane commander, and not "from the vanity of our foes," as Pemberton put it, 1862-1863.] ULYSSES S. GRANT, 289 honorable and excellent terms, and on the morning of July 4th, the enem}^, numbering 31,600 men, marched out from Vicks- burg, stacked their arms, and returned without them, prisoners of war until paroled. The victory was complete, and the news of that 4th of July elated the nation with grateful joy. The President, who, when urged by politicians to remove Grant, rid himself of the pressure with the quaint words : " I rather like the man. I think we'll try him a little longer," had good cause for rejoicing in his excellent judgment ; he too had thought Grant was blundering, but when he received this crowning proof of his generalship, he wrote, "I now wish to make a personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong." Even Halleck, so slow and loth to do justice to Grant, wrote this tribute : " In boldness of plan, rapidity of execution, and brilliancy of routes, these operations will compare most favorably with those of Napoleon about Ulm. You and 3'our army have well deserved the gratitude of your country, and it will be the boast of your children that their fathers were of the heroic army which reopened the Mississippi River." The immediate official recognition of Grant was his advance to the grade of major-general in the regular army. Placed in command of the newly created military division of the Mississippi, Grant earned new laurels in the Chattanooga campaign, and concluded a series of splendid engagements in the magnificent victory over the Confederates, already worsted by Thomas at Orchard Knob, and by Hooker chased "in the battle above the clouds " from Lookout Mountain, in the grand charge of Missionary Ridge. The battle of Chattanooga, carried out according to the pro- gramme, minutely planned and directed by Grant, is perhaps the proudest monument of his military genius, which dislodged the enemy from his chosen ground, and sent him utterly routed, and flying in hot haste towards Virginia. This skill which already had caused the mighty father of waters to roll in all its 290 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. mighty length "unvexed" to the sea, now opened at Chatta- nooga the gate to the heart of the Confederac}- . By this time the undoubted abiUty of Grant marked him as the person best fitted to assume the control and direct the movements of all the armies of the United States. The grade March 3, of lieutenant-general was revived and conferred upon 1864 Grant, who, honored with the unbounded confidence of the Executive, of Congress, and the whole Nation, accepted the trust, saying to the President : — ' ' I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies -that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving upon me, and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men." Then he laid his plans for the final overthrow of the tottering Confederac}'. The writer recalls an illustration of that plan, communicated to him at the time b}' a distinguished senator. General Grant, having been importuned for a disclosure of his purposes, made no oral repl^S but raising his arm presented his right hand with the five fingers stretched out, then bending the fingers, slowly brought them together at one point. That was his plan ; he proposed to drive all the insurgent armies towards one centre, encircle it with the impenetrable iron strength of the Federal hosts, and compel submission. There were then virtually but two Confederate armies, that of Johnston in the West, and Lee's in Virginia ; to drive in, capture, or annihilate the former was the task committed to Sherman, and to mete out the same fate to the latter was the work assumed by Grant. Sherman pushed Johnston into the intrenchments of Atlanta, and when that general was displaced by Hood, repulsed the latter, compelled him to evacuate Atlanta, and secured Georgia. Hood was snared into Tennessee, where J884.J ULYSSES S. GRANT. 291 at the battle of Nashville, his army was destroyed by general Thomas. Sherman, assured that Hood would be cared for in Tennessee, set fire to Atlanta and swept with his army of 60,000 men through the heart of the Confederacy, to Savannah, 300 miles away. Meanwhile, Grant had fought his way, with dreadful loss of life, into Virginia, and, after sundry ineffectual efforts to cap- ture Richmond, had gradually encompassed that city with armies, ready to move at the appointed time, which was de- layed until the spring of the ensuing year, when the victorious legions of Sherman had reached Goldsboro'. Then a general order was issued, and the operations were so successful, that within four days the city of Richmond was taken, and Lee, hotly pursued by Grant, and stayed in his progress by Sheridan, was forced to surrender his army, which had been reduced by constant losses to 8,000 men. This ended the war. The terms he accorded to Lee were generous and humane, alike honorable to his head and heart. The Confederates were put on their parole, the officers permitted to retain their side-arms, private baggage, and horses, and all officers and men promised " not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as the}" observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside." After the papers had been signed, Lee said he had forgotten to mention that many of the cavalr}" and artillery horses were the propert}' of the men in charge of them. Whereupon Grant replied: "I will instruct my paroling officers that all the enlisted men of your cavalry and artillery who own horses are to retain them, just as the officers do theirs. They will need them for their spring ploughing and other farm work." It is said that after the war general Grant heard that Mr. Stanton had issued writs for the arrest of general Lee and other Southern leaders, and went to ask liim if he had been correctly informed. Mr. Stanton replied lio had. General Grant protested against the action, saying, " Wlien general Lee 292 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. surrendered to me at Appomatox Court House, I gave him my word of honor that neither he nor any of his followers would be disturbed so long as they obeyed their parole of honor. I have learned nothing to cause me to believe that any of m.y late adversaries have broken their promises, and have come here to make you aware of the fact, and would also suggest that those orders be cancelled." The secretary resented the interference, and not without angry haughtiness replied: "General Grant, are you aware whom 3^ou are talking to? I am the secretary of war." " And I," rejoined Grant, " am general Grant. Issue those orders at 3'our peril." He left the secretary, and the secretary did not issue his orders. Grant was very friendly to the South, and had his advice been taken by the Southern leaders, their rehabilitation would have taken place much sooner. His magnanimit}' in this par- ticular respect appears even in his official report, where, after a eulogium on the grand achievements of the several armies of the Union, he writes : — " All have a proud record, and all sections can well congrat- ulate themselves and each other for having done their full share in restoring the supremacy x)t- law over every foot of territory belonging to the United States. Let them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds of valor." The cruel assassination of the beloved and tender-hearted president Lincoln was an awful shock to general Grant, who received the terrible news at Philadelphia. He had been pres- ent at the Cabinet meeting held in the morning of that sad day, and refused the president's invitation to accompany him to the theatre in the evening, where the people, and doubtless Xho, assassins, expected him. His departure spoiled their plan, and probably saved his life, for it was remembered that the infa- mous Booth galloped past his carriage and looked in at the window. 1869-1877.] ULYSSES S. GRANT. 293 He returned instantly to Washington, and gave his hearty support to president Johnson, doubtless to the amazement of despotic critics abroad, to whom the spectacle of a victorious and popular general, commanding a million of men, submitting to constitutional order and law, must have been a new lesson in history. In recognition of the eminent services rendered by Grant and Sherman, Congress conferred upon the former the grade of General of the Army of the United States, a position which had never been held by an American officer except Washington ; and upon the latter the grade of Lieutenant-general. Pending president Johnson's difficulties with Mr. Stanton, general Grant, much against his inclination, held the office of Secretary of War ad interim for the space of five months. Nominated by the Republican party for president, general Grant was elected to that hiojh office, and served r 1869"~I877 two terms. The leading events of his adminis- tration were : the opening of the Pacific Railroad ; the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which guaran- tees to all citizens the right of suffrage, irrespective of" race, color, or previous condition of servitude"; the "Treaty of Washington/' and the settlement by an international board of arbitrators of the "Alabama Claims," as well as the rectifica- tion of the north-western boundai-y between the United States and British America by the decision of the emperor of Ger- many, the chosen arbitrator, and the Apology by Spain for the insult ofi'ered the flag of the United States in the treatment of the Virginius. During his second term there were outbreaks of the Modoc and Sioux Indians, which were speedily checked ; the recon- struction of the South, temporarily interrupted by the Louisiana complication, made satisfactory progress ; the president vetoed the bill for the increase of the national currency, and opened the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. His first term of office was marked by unexampled prosperity of tlie country. 294 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. and his second by a reaction, which led to a financial crisis, caused by luxurious extravagance, over-production, and ex- cessive speculation. A calm and unprejudiced review of the eight years which general Grant spent at the White House compels the verdict that he was an able and patriotic ruler, whose firmness and high sense of duty and honor restored peace and honor at home and made the United States respected and honored abroad. The extent and degree to which his military and civil acts had accomplished the latter found the most striking expres- sion in the reception accorded to general Grant on his tour round the world. Honors and distinctions were showered upon him by all classes and conditions of men, from the occupants of the proud- est thrones to the hardy sons of toil. The prince of Wales welcomed him ; queen Victoria received him and Mrs. Grant as her guests at Windsor Castle ; the cities of London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow tendered to him their freedom ; at Cairo, he was royally entertained by the khedive ; at Constantinople, the sul- tan gave him a warm reception ; at Rome, pope Leo XHI. and king Humbert extended to him kindly greetings; at Berlin, where the illness of the kiBg, whose life had been attempted, prevented a personal interview, he had a most cordial meet- ing with Bismarck ; at St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Madrid, he was received by the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Spain. Leaving Europe, the colonial representatives of Great Britain, English residents, and the native population, as well as Indian princes, united in honoring the American general and his friends. The king of Siam placed a palace at his disposal; at Canton, the Chinese viceroy had prepared the people for the advent of " the king of America " ; and at Pekin, the prince Kung, then only seven years old, gave him imperial welcome. At Tokio, the mikado received general Grant with singular warmth, who, honored more than any other American before him, sailed home 1869-1877.] ULYSSES S. GRANT. 295 to meet an enthusiastic welcome, which was an uninterrupted ovation from San Francisco to Philadelphia. At the banquet tendered him at Chicago b}^ the Army ol' the Tennessee, he spoke of his travels, and also of the Soutli. Of the former he said: '' Everywhere, from England to Japan, from Russia to Spain and Portugal, we are understood, our resources highly appreciated, and the skill, energy, and in- telligence of the citizens recognized. My receptions have been your receptions. They have been everywhere kind, and an acknowledgment that the United States is a nation, a strong, independent, and fi-ee nation, composed of strong, brave, and intelligent people, capable of judging of their rights, and ready to maintain them at all hazards." Adverting to the war, and the purport of the society of sol- diers he was addressing, continued: " They [the meetings] do not serve to keep up sectional feeling or bitterness towards our late foe, but they do keep up the feeling that we are a nation, and that it must be preserved one and indivisible. We feel and maintain that those who fought, and fought bravely, on the opposite side from us have equal claim with ourselves in all the blessings of our great and common country. . . . We . . . would rejoice to see them become powerful rivals in the devel- opment of our great resources, in the acquisition of all that should be desirable in this life, and in patriotism and in love of country." General Grant's tour through the South, made in 1880, did much good in the promotion of cordiality, and the burial of forgotten or superannuated feuds, and his visit to Cuba and Mexico was advantageous to the commercial interests of the country. Upon his return, general Grant made the house in New York City, which friends had bought and presented to his wife, his permanent home. Owing to the dishonesty of the trusted but unworthy partner of his sons, the last years of his life were clouded by sorrow, pecuniary losses, and embarrassment. Friends came to his aid, 296 MODERN HISTORY. [A.D. Dotably the late Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt, who had loaned to hun the sum of $150,000, and was willing to cancel the obligation but for the general's opposition, who insisted that his personal property, including the presents lie had received on his torn- round the world, should be applied to the payment of the debt. The formality of a levy was gone through with, and the prop- erty thus acquired Mr. Vanderbilt proposed to present to Mrs. Grant. But the general would not consent to the arrangement, and it was finally agreed that the property in question should remain in Mrs. Grant's possession during his life, and after his death pass, as a gift to the nation, to the custody of the Smith- sonian Institute at Washington. It is pleasing to record that senator Logan's bill, placing Jan. 11, general Grant on the retired list, with the rank and ^881 pay of a general of the army, which failed to pass at the time of its introduction, became law not long before his death. A long and painful disease baffled the physicians' skill, which might abate the violence of his sufferings, and prolong his slender hold on life, but could not eradicate the incurable evil or stay the hand of death. During that sickness he wrote and completed at Mount McGregor the " Personal Memoirs," from whose sale he hoped, and hoped not in vain, for returns which would secure to his famil}^ a competence. Throughout his long sickness, the heart of the whole country went out to the loved sufferer, and watched, as it were, at his bedside. This sympa- thy was unspeakably precious to him. ' ' It has been an inestima- july2, ble blessing to me," he wrote to Dr. Douglass three 1885 weeks before his death, "to hear the kind expressions toward me in person from all parts of our country, from people of all nationalities, of all religions and of no religion, of Con- federate and of National troops alike. . . . They have brought joy to my heart, if they have not effected a cure." A message to his wife, found on his person after July 9. ^ ' ^ death, contained this touching charge: "Look after 1881-1885.] ULYSSES S. GRANT. 297 our dear children, and direct them in the paths of rectitude. It would distress me far more to think that one of them could depart from an honorable, upright, and virtuous life, than it would to know they were prostrated on a bed of sickness from which they were never to arise alive." Universally beloved and loving, free from pain, he died at Mount McGregor on the morning of July 23. The sad but expected intelligence was a sorrow to every heart. The mourning was universal ; messages of condolence came in almost countless number from every part of the land, and from man}^ sovereigns in Europe and Asia. His body was embalmed, and laj^ in state at the City Hall in New York for three days. His funeral was maarnificent ; the funeral car, drawn ^ Aug. 8. by 24 black horses, each led by a negro, received the casket ; among the 1 2 pall-bearers were generals Sherman and Joe Johnston, generals Sheridan and Buckner ; among the mourners were president Cleveland and ex-presidents Hayes and Arthur ; the funeral procession was the most imposing ever seen in America, and consisted of three grand divisions, a military escort, a veteran cortege, and a civic division, numbering about 50,000 men in line, which moved through the densely crowded streets of the great city, draped in mourning, past a multitude of deeply affected spectators, estimated at not less than half a million, to the chosen resting-place in Riverside Park. At the tomb, surrounded by the dignitaries of the nation, there was the pomp and circumstance of war in military salutes and martial music, but there was also the sweeter sight of peace in the reunion of those who in b3'-gone years had met in deadly conflict, and were now mingling their tears over the brave and patriotic soldier whom they laid to rest. A bugler stepped to the side of the i)urplc casket, and rang out the notes of "Taps." A brief service followed, and at its close the bugler, with tearful eyes and tremulous breath, blew 298 MODERN HISTORY. the soft, sad notes of the " Rest" ; a last look at the casket, on which the grandchildren of the departed threw their flowers ; a gun from the Alliaiice was fired ; then the casket was raised and carried into the tomb, and enclosed in the steel casing. Thus they buried Grant at Riverside ; but throughout the whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in and from Canada to the Gulf, and even in Westminster Abbey, memorial services were held, and glowing tributes paid to the great and good man, who, under God, saved his country, and, though a warrior, loved peace ; and who, could he have witnessed his own funeral, would have reiterated the touching words he wrote to Buckner, when his voice failed him to utter them : " We may now well look forward to a perpetual peace at home, and a national strength that will screen us against any foreign complication. I believe myself that the war was worth all it cost us, fearful as that was." REFERENCES. U. S. Grant, " Personal Memoirs " ; Badeau, " Military History of General Grant " ; Chesney, " Military Biographies " ; Brown, " Life of Ulysses Simpson Grant." _^ HISTORICAL SURVEY. A.D. 1483. Nov. 10, birth of Martin Luther. 1517. Luther posts the 95 theses upon the church door at Wit- tenberg. 1518. Cardinal Cajetan summons Lutlier to appear before the Diet of Augsburg. 1520. Luther burns the pope's bull, etc., at Wittenberg. 1521. The Diet at Worms. Luther put to the ban of the em- pire. The Wartbiu^g. 1522. Luther returns to Wittenberg. 1525. Luther marries Katharina de Bora. 1530. The Augsburg Confession. 1531. League of the Protestant princes at Smalcald. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 299 A.D. 1533. Birth of queen Elizabeth, Sept. 7. 1545. The Council of Trent meets, Dec. 13. ' 1546. Death of Luther, Feb. 18. 1558. Elizabeth, queen of England. 1563. The 39 Articles authorized by Convocation. 1587. Mary, queen of Scots, beheaded at Fotheringay Castle, Feb. 8. Drake destroys a Spanish squadron at Cadiz. 1588. Defeat of the Spanish Armada. 1596. Capture of Cadiz. 1599. Essex in disgrace. 1601. Essex is beheaded, Feb. 25. 1603. Death of queen Elizabeth, March 24. 1672. Birth of Peter the Great, June 9. 1682. Ivan and Peter, jointly czars of Russia, 1682-1689. Sophia, regent. 1689. Peter, sole czar of Russia, cbL 17. 1696. Capture of Azof. 1697. The czar of Russia travels incognito through Germany, Holland, England, etc. 1698. Insurrection and defeat of the Strelitz guards. 1699. Alliance of Russia, Denmark, and Poland against Sweden. 1700. The victory of Narva, Nov. 30. 1703, Foundation of St. Petersburg and Cronstadt. 1706. Birth of Benjamin Franklin. 1709. Charles XII. defeated at Pultowa. 1711. The Russians defeated and surrounded by the Turks on the Pruth. 1712. Birth of Frederic the Great. 1718. Charles XII. is killed at the siege of Frederickshal, Nov. 30. 1721. Peace of Xystadt, between Sweden and Russia. 1725. Death of Peter the Great, Jan. 28. 1732. Birth of George Washington. 1740. Frederic II., king of Prussia, May 31. lie invades Silesia. 1741. Frederic defeats the Austrians at JMolwitz, April 10. Maria Theresa crowned at Presburg, June 14. 1742. The elector of Bavaria chosen emperor as Charles VII. Peace of Breslau, between Austria and Prussia. 300 MODERN HISTORY. A.D. 1744. Beginning of King George's War. Frederic II. captures Prague. 1745. Peace of Dresden, between Austria, Saxony, Poland, and Prussia. 1748. General Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, Oct. 7. 1753. Washington sent to St. Pierre, Oct. 31. 1754. Battle of Great Meadows. 1755. Defeat of Braddock. 1756. The Seven Years' War. Alliance of England with Prus- sia, against Austria and France. Montcalm captures Fort Oswego, Aug. 14. Victories of Frederic II. at Lowositz and at Pirna. Seiz- ure of Saxon archives. 1757. Montcalm takes Fort William Henry, Aug. 9. Frederic victorious at Prague, May 6 ; defeated at Kolin, June 18 ; the Swedes and Russians, allied with the Aus- trians, invade Prussia. The Russians capture Memel, and win the battle of Gross Jagerndorf , Aug. 30. Fred- eric defeats the French at Rossbach, Nov. 5, the Aus- trians at Leuthen, Dec. 5, and regains Silesia. 1758. Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French at Crefeld, June 23. Abercrombie repulsed by the French at Ticonderoga, July 8. --^^-^ Amherst and Wolfe take Louisburg, July 27. Forbes captures Fort Duquesne, Nov. 25. Frederic II. defeats the Russians at Zorndorf, Aug. 25, but is defeated by Daun at Hochkirchen, Oct. 14. 1759. Battle on the Plains of Abraham, Sept. 13. Capture of Quebec, Sept. 18. The Prussians defeated at Ziillichau, July 23, at Kunners- dorf, Aug. 12, and at Maxen, Nov. 20. 1760. Frederic defeated by Laudon at Landshut, June 23 ; de- feats him at Liegnitz, Aug. 15. The Austrians and Rus- sians capture Berlin, Oct. 9. Frederic defeats Daun at Torgau, Nov. 3, and subdues Saxony, except Dresden. Montreal surrendered to the English, Sept. 18. 1761. Frederic, now on the defensive, loses Schweidnitz and Colberg. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 301 A.D. 1762. Frederic defeats Daun at Burkersdorf, July 21, and re- takes Schweidnitz, Oct. 9. 1763. Peace of Paris, between Great Britain, France, and Spain, Feb. 10. Peace of Hubertusburg, between Austria and Prussia, Feb. 15. 1765. The Stamp Act passed, March 22. 1766. The Stamp Act repealed. 1767. Tax imposed on tea, etc., June 29. 1769. Birth of Arthur AVellesley (lord Wellington), ]\Iay 1. Birth of Xapoleon Bonaparte, Aug. 15, 1774. First Continental Congress at Philadelphia, Sept. 5. 1775. Battle of Lexington, April 19. Washington elected commander-in-chief, June 15; in com- mand, July 2. Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17. 1776. Boston evacuated, March 17. Declaration of Independence, July 4. 1777. Surrender of Burgoyne, Oct. 17. 1778. American independence acknowledged by France. Alli- ance between France and the United States concluded by Franklin, Feb. 6. 1779. Capture of Stony Point by "Mad Anthony," July 15. Paul Jones' victory, Sept. 23. 1780. Battle of Camden, Aug. 16. Execution of Andre, Oct. 2. 1781. Greene's retreat, January and February. Surrender of Cornwallis, October 19. 1783. Treaty of Peace between England, and France, Spain, and the United States. Preliminaries signed, Jan. 20 ; de- finitive signature at Versailles, Sept. 3. 1784. The Treaty of Peace ratified by Congress, Jan. 14; by the king of England, April 9. 1786. Death of Frederic the Great, Aug. 17, cct. 75. 1787. The Constitution of the United States adopted, Sept. 17. 1788. The Constitution adopted by nine States. 1789. George Washington inaugurated first President, April 30. 1790. Death of Benjamin Franklin, April 17, ccl. 85. 1793. Louis XVI. guillotined, Jan. 21. First Coalition of all Europe, except Sweden, Denmark, and Turkey, against France. 302 MODERN HISTORY, A.D. 1795. Revolt of the Parisian Sections suppressed by Napoleon, Oct. 5. 1796. Napoleon Bonaparte's first campaign in Italy. 1797. John Adams inaugurated, March 4. Napoleon's Austrian Campaign. Peace of Campo For- mio, between Austria and France, Oct. 17. 1798. Second Coalition against France. Napoleon in Egypt. 1799. Napoleon's campaign in Egypt and Syria. Return to France, Oct. 9. Elected consul for 10 years. Death of George Washington, Dec. 14, cet. 67. 1800. Brilliant campaign of Napoleon in Italy. Great St. Ber- nard. Marengo, June 14. 1802. Napoleon, president of the Italian Republic, January; consul for life, August. 1803. Louisiana purchased from France, April 30. 1804. Napoleon I. proclaimed emperor of the French, May 18. Coronation at Notre Dame. 1805. Third Coalition. Nelson's victory off Trafalgar, Oct. 21. Napoleon defeats Mack. Capitulation of Ulm, Oct. 17. Capture of Vienna. Grand victoryat Austerlitz, Dec. 2. Peace of Presburg, Dec. 27. 1806. Fourth Coalition. Establishment of Napoleon's federa- tive system. French victories ajt^ena and Auersfadt. Prohibition of all commerce and intercourse with British subjects, Nov. 21. Dissolution of the German empire. Francis II. assumes the title of Francis L, emperor of Austria, Aug. 6. 1807. French victory at Eylau and Friedland. Peace of Tilsit, between France, Russia, and Prussia, July 7. 1808. Napoleon in Spain, November and December. 1809. Fifth Coalition. AVellington's victory at Talavera, July 28. Napoleon in Austria, Peace of Vienna, with Austria, Oct. 11. Divorce of the empress Josephine, Dec. 16. 1810. Napoleon marries Maria Louisa of Austria, April 2. 1812. Wellington victorious in Spain. Napoleon invades Rus- sia. Burning of Moscow. Passage of the Beresina. 1813. Sixth Coalition against France. Total defeat of Napoleon at Leipzig, Oct. 16, 18, 19. HISTORICAL SURVEY. 303 A.D. 1814. The Allies in Paris, March 31. Nai3oleon abdicates, April 11 ; lands at Elba, May 14. 1815. Napoleon returns from Elba to Paris, March 20. The Hundred Daj's. Bliicher and Wellington victorious at Waterloo, June 18. Second abdication of Napoleon, June 22. He is banished to St. Helena, and lands there, Oct. 17. 1821. Death of Napoleon at St. Helena, May 4, cet. 52. 1857. James Buchanan inaugurated, March 4. 1860. Abraham Lincoln elected president; secession of South Carolina, Dec. 20. 1861. Formation of the Southern Confederacy, Feb. 4. Abraham Lincoln inaugurated, March 4. Fort Sumter bombarded, April 12, 13. Fu'st call for troops, April 15. The Confederates seize Harper's Ferry, April 18, and the Navy Yard at Norfolk, April 20. Battles of Bull Run, July 21; Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21; Port Royal, S.C, taken, Nov. 7. Battle of Belmont, Mo., Nov. 7. 1862. Capture .of Forts Flenry, Feb. 6, and Donelson, Feb. 16. Battle of Shiloh, April 6, 7. Capture of New Orleans, April 25 ; of Fort Pulaski, April 11 ; surrender of Memphis, June 6. Lee invades Maryland, Sept. 5 ; and is defeated at South INIountain, Sept. 14, and at Antietam, Sept. 17. Battles of luka. Miss., Sept. 19 ; Corinth, Oct. 4 ; Perry ville, Ky., Oct. 8. Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia, April \. President Lincoln's First Emancipation Proclamation, Sept. 22. 1863. President Lincoln's Second Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1. General Grant's campaign before Yicksburg, May 1-17. Battles of Chancellorsville, May 2, 3; battle of Gettys- burg, July 1-3. Surrender of Vicksburg, July 4. Battles of Chickamauga, Sept. 19, 20, and of Chattanooga, Nov. 24, 25. 1864. General Grant made lieutenant-general, Marcli 3. Battles before Richmond, May and June. 304 MODERN HISTORY. A.D. 1864. Naval fight between the Alabama and the Kearsarge oE Cherbourg, June 20; the Alabama sunk. Battles before Atlanta, July 20, 22, 28, Farragut in Mo- bile Bay, Aug. 5. Atlanta taken, Sept. 2 ; Union vic- tory at Nashville, Dec. 16. March of Sherman across Georgia, and capture of Savannah, Dec. 21. President Lincoln re-elected, November. 1865. March of Sherman from Savannah to Goldsboro', from January to March. Second inauguration of president Lincoln, March 4. Capture of Petersburg and Richmond, April 2, 3. Lee surrenders to Grant, April 9. Assassination of president Lincoln, April 14. Andrew Johnson, president, April 15. Capture of Jefferson Davis, May 11. Slavery constitutionally abolished, in virtue of the 13th Amendment, Dec. 18. 1867. The Freedman's Bureau Bill (July 16, 1866), the Civil Eights Bill, and the Tenure of Office Bill, passed over the president's veto, March 2. 1868. Impeachment (Feb. 24), and acquittal of president John- son, May 26. Adoption of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, July 28. ^ , 1869. Ulysses S. Grant inaugurated, March 4. 1870. Adoption of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, March 30. 1871. Conclusion of the Treaty of Washington, May 6. 1873. Second inauguration of president Grant. 1876. Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia opened. May 10. 1885. Death of General Grant at Mount McGregor, July 23. Funeral obsequies at New York, Aug. 8. IV. SELECT PRONOUNCING AND EXPLANATORY VOCABULARY. .^ IV. SELECT PRONOUNCING AND EXPLANATORY VOCABULARY. MYTHOLOGICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND ARCH^OLOGICAL. The pronunciation of dead languages is different in different countries. In Great Britain and the United States not less than three methods of Latin alone are followed. The so-called English method which for several centuries has prevailed among scholars of English speech and is used in most of the Standard Dictionaries of English, is given in this Vocabularj', which for convenience conforms generally to the system adopted in *' Webster's Unabridged Dictionary," edition of 1885. From the " Key" to the pronunciation of English words, on page xl of that work, the following synopsis of signs has been mainly drawn up : — Synopsis. a, e, i, o, ii, y, long, as in fate, mete, fine, note, lute, sky. a, e, i, 6, u, y, short, as in hat, met, hit, not, but, nymph, a, e, 6, u, as in share, there, stork, burn, a, o, u, as in Avander, wolf, pull. a, as in far ; a, as in grass ; a, as in talk ; se, as e in me ; a, obscure. e, as in obey ; e, as in verge ; e, obscure. i, as in police ; i, as in thirsty. 6, as in son ; o, as in do ; 6d, as in food ; ob, as in good ; o, obscure. u after r, as in rude. e, /, (Italic), denote a silent letter, as fallen, cous/n, mason. 9, as in mergy ; «, as in call. ch (unmarked), as in much; gh, as in maghine; ch, as in chasm. g, as in get; g, as in gem. s (unmarked), as in rest; §, as in hag. th (unmarked), as in breath; th, as in though. ng (unmarked), as in sing; n, as in link; x, as in example. ph, qu, ^vh (unmarked), as in philosophy, queen, a\vhile. oi, oy, ou, ow (unmarked), as in join, joj', hound, fowl. jKF" Note. All words not classical included in this Vocabulary, and not respelt in Webster, are respelt according to the foregoing Synopsis. The Greek and Latin Titles are given so as to exhibit their accentuation and separa- tion into syllables. 308 SELECT VOCABULARY. The subjoined Comparative Table exhibits in four columns the Latin letters with their English equivalents, according to the three methods followed in the pronunciation of Latin words ; the letters noted are the most important. For fuller information concerning the English Method, see Webster's Dictionary, p. 1653 sq., and the Grammar of Andrews and Stoddard; concerning the Continental Method, the Grammar of Zumpt, and more recently that of Gildersleeve, on the basis of Lattmann and Miiller ; concerning the Roman Method^ the Grammar of Allen and Greenough. COMPARATIVE TABLE. I. II. III. IV. LATIN LETTERS. English Equivalents, according to English Method {Webster). Continental Method. Roman Method. Vowels. A vowel at the end of an accent- ed syllable is long, as Ca'to, Ce'crops, Di'do, So 'Ion, Cti'nice, Tyfrus. Such ac- cented vowels correspond to fatal, metre, vital, total, tutor, tyrant ; father, there, machine, no, rude; same as in Con- tinental Method. the vowels in rthe long sound, the long sound. same as in Con- E, O, U, at the end of an unac- cented syllable, have .... < as in me, note, l^lute; as in there, no, lute; tinental Method. Y, same as I, A, ending an unaccented sylla- long, as y in sky; short, as y in nymph ; long, a>«-in long, as i in machine ; i short, as y in nymph ; the same;* same as in S Continental Method. the same.* ble, father; I final is always long, except in long, as i in long, as i in same as in Con- tib%,sim; mine ; machine ; tinental Method. I at the end of initial unaccented n iarly as e in the same; the same. syllables varies between i and me, or i in it ; Diphthongs. JE., as in JE'a ; as e in me ; as ai in fair ; as German ai in Kaiser. CE, as in CE'ta ; as e in me ; as German o, or French eu ;* as oy in joy. All, as in Au'Us ; as au in haul ; as oil in house; as ou in liouse. Eu, as in Eti'rus ; as ew in few ; as oi in oil;* same as in Eng- lish Method. Ui, as i in kite ; as oui in French oiii; as we. 1 Some prefer the French sound of u in sur; the short sounds have no exact English equivalents. SELECT VOCABULARY. 309 I. LATIX LETTERS. II. I III. 1 IV. English Equivalents, according to English Method (.Webster). Continental Method. Eovian Method. Consonants. C, before e, i, y, ae, ce, and eii, as s in since ; as ts, sharp, in gets;** ask. C, before a, o, u, and conso- as k; ask; ask. nants, Ch, ask; as ch in loch ; * ask. T, Th, Rh, ast, th,r; ast and r ; no th ; as tandr; noth. T, S, C, before ia, ie, ii, iii, as sli, zli. # # and eu, preceded immediately by the accent, T, after s, t, z, or when the # # # accent falls on the first of the vowels following, the conso- nant retains its pure sound, as in Brut'ti-i, Mil-Wades, etc. So also in the termination -tion, # # # as in The-o-do'tl-on ; S, as s in this ; as 8 in this; as s in this. S final, after e or a liquid. as z. # # Sell, assk; as s in sin, fol- lowed by ch in loch;* as sk. X initial. as z; as gs or ks ;* as gs or ks.* G before e, i, y, ae, oe, or an- asj; as g in get ; as g in get. other g, followed by e. G before a, o, u, and other con- as gin get; as g in get ; as g in get. sonants. J, as j in June ; as y in you ; as y in you. Pli initial before a mute is silent. # # as PJithiUi, Thi'a. P initial before s, t is silent. # # as Psy'che, Sy'ke, Ptol-e-tnce'us , Tol-e-mae'us. Mn, Tm, etc., initial consonants, mute. # # as Mne-tnos'y-ne, Ne-mos'y-ne, Tmo'lus, Mo^us. E in final syllable es, as es in Andes. * * * For the situations marked # under the Continental and Roman Methods, the lip of the teacher should supply the necessary illustration. ** Some pronounce c = k throughout. 310 SELECT VOCABULARY. Ab-bre'vi-a^tions of Latin Proper Names of frequent occurrence : — A., Aulus ; C, Cuius, or Gains; Cn., Cneus ; T>., Decimus ; L., Lu- cius ; M., Marcus ; P,, Publius ; Q., Quintus ; S., Sextus ; T., Titus. A-by'dus, Greek Abudos, a city of Mysia on the Hellespont nearly opposite Sestos on the European shore. Ac'ar-na^ni-a, Greek Akay-nania, the most westerly province of Greece, between Epirus and ^to- lia, Aiih'e-lo''us, Greek Achelo'os, the god of the river of that name, and the defeated competitor of Hercules. A«h'e-ron (Greek), a river leading to the lower world, or placed in it. A'cre {d'Mr), a seaport town in Syria. A-crop'o-lis (Greek), literally the upper or higher city; a citadel, especially that of Athens. .^'dile, Latin aedilis, literally mas- ter-builder, architect, a magistrate in Rome who had charge of public works, buildings, etc. ; also of the public spectacles, etc. Before • Julius Caesar there were two classes of sediles, those of the people, called yE. Plebeii, who sat on benches, and the ^diles curules, who obtained their name from the sella curulis, or chair, on which they sat for judgment. Julius Caesar added a third class, called ^. Cereales, who had charge of the public granaries, etc. .^-gi'na, Greek Aigina, an island in the Saronic Gulf; surrounded by Attica, Megaris, and Epidau- rus; also the name of its chief city. uE-gu'sa, Greek Aigoussa, the southernmost of a group of three small islands off the western ex- tremity of Sicily; its modern name is Favignana. .^'li-a^nus, Greek Ailianos, a Greek sophist, and writer of history. .^-o'li-an, relating to the -^oles, or ^olii, one of the four races into which the Hellenes are usually divided, supposed to be the descendants of the mythical JEolus, the son of Hellen, A-la'ni (Mongolian; literally moun- taineer), a Scythian people upon the Tanais and Palus Maeotis ; afterwards on the Danube, and lastly with the Vandali and Suevi in Gaul and Spain. Al-can'der, Greek Alkandros, a young Spartan. Al'ci-bi^a-de§, Greek Alkibiades, was born at Athens about b.c, 450. Alc-me'ne, Greek Alkmene, the daughter of Electryon and An- axus, the mother of Hercules, and the wife of Amphitryon. Al-phe'us, Greek Alpheios, the chief river of Peloponnesus. Am'a-zons, Greek Amazones, a mythical race of warlike women. A'mi-ens, d'me-eng (French), a town in the Picardie, on the Somme, in north-western France. A-mi'na, d-mi'nd (Arabic), also Emina {e-mi'nu), the mother of Mohammed, was of Jewish birth. SELECT VOCABULARY. 311 Am-phic'ty-on^ic Council, or League, Greek Amphictuonia, a kind of national institution em- bracing the principal Hellenic states, and founded for maintain- ing the common interests of Greece. Am-phit'ry-on (Greek), the son of Alcjeus and Hipponome, and the putative father of Hercules. An-ti'o-chus, Greek Antiochos, the name of numerous historical per- sons. Aq'uit-aine', ak'it-dn' (Latin Aqiii- tdnia), a proAance in Southern Gaul, between the Loire and the Pyrenees ; the modern Guienne. Ar-be'la, a town of Eastern Adia- bene, a province of Assyria. Ar-ca'di-a (Greek), the central country of Peloponnesus. Ar'chi-da^mus, Greek Archidamos, the name of five Spartan kings. Ar'-ehi-me'deg, Greek Archimedes, of Syracuse, the most celebrated of ancient mathematicians. Ar'^hon, name of the nine chief magistrates at Athens ; the archon being the highest in authority. Ar^de-a, a very ancient city of La- tium, 24 miles south of Kome, still extant under the same name. A're§, d'rei (Greek), the god of war, the son of Zeus and Hera. Ar'go-lis (Greek), the territory of Argos ; also called the Argeia, extended from N. to S., from the frontiers of Phlius and Cleon£e to those of Cynuria ; it was sep- arated on the W. from Arcadia, and from Epidaurus on the E. Ayis-ti^deg, Greek Aristeides, son of Lysimachus, an illustrious Athenian. A-ris'to-de'mus, Greek Aristode- mos, the name of: 1. the father of Eurysthenes and Procles, p. 10; 2. the Spartan known as " the coward " ; and many other persons. Ar-ma-da (Spanish), a naval or military armament. Ar'ta-pher^ne§, 1. the son of Hys- taspes and brother of Darius ; 2. the son of the former, in joint command with Datis. A'rans, the son of Tarquinius Su- perbus. A-the'na (Greek), a Greek goddess identified with the Minerva of the Romans. A'thos (Greek), a lofty mountain at the extremity of a long penin- sula between the Singitic Gulf and the ^gean. The peninsula and the mountain are designated by the modern name of Hayion Oros, i.e., the Holy Mountain, on account of the numerous mon- asteries and chapels with which it is covered. At'las (Greek), tlie leader of the Titans in their conflict with Zeus, who was condemned to bear heaven on his head and hands. At'ti-ca, Greek Attike, one of the political divisions of Greece. Au'er-stadt, ou'^r-stett (German), a village N. of Weimar, in Saxe- Weimar. Au-ge'as, Greek Avgeias, a legend- ary king of Elis. 312 SELECT VOCABULARY, Au'ster-litz, ou'ster-Utts (German), a town in Austria, S. of Briinn. A-var' (Slavonic), in Latin Avm-, pi, Avares, the name of a Scythian tribe in Hungary and elsewhere. The word Hungary is said to be a compound of Hun and Avar, Hunavar, corrupted into Hungarn, as in Old High German. Ba-si-leus' (Greek), literally a king ; designated at Athens one of the chief magistrates second in rank. Basques, hdsk (French), name of the natives of the Spanish prov- ince of Biscay. Baut'zen, bout' sen (German), a town in the kingdom of Saxony. Beau-har'nais, ho-ar-nd (French), name of the first husband of Jo- sephine and their children; her daughter Hortense was the mother of Napoleon III. Beresi'na, ber-e-se'na, a swampy tributary of the Dnieper; the passage took place W. of Smo- lensk, above Borrissow, Russia. Bi'as, of Priene, in Ionia; one of the Seven Sages. Bib'u-lus, L. Calpurnius, the con- temporary of Julius Caesar. Bi-thyn'i-a, Greek Bithunia, a di- vision of Asia Minor, bounded on the W. by Mysia, the Propontis, and the Bosporus ; on the N. by the Euxine ; on the E. by Pontus ; and on the S. by Phrygia and Galatia. Bi'ton, and Cle'o-bis, the sons of Cydippe, the priestess of Juno or Hera, at Argos. Ble'da (Slavonic bleida; German BIddel). Bo-e'thi-us, a philosophic writer ; died, A.D, 524. Bru-maire', name of the second month of the calendar adopted by the first French republic. Bu-ceph'a-lus, Greek Boukephalos, literally bull's head, from the mark with which it was branded ; the horse of Alexander. Byr'sa (Greek), literally a bull's hide, the name of the original site of the citadel and city of Carthage. By-zan'ti-um, Greek Buzantion, a city in Thrace, afterwards Con- stantinople. Ca-a-ba (Arabic), name of the temple at Mecca, so called from its cubical shape, the Arabic kakb signifying cube. Ca-di'jah, cd-dee'yd (Arabic). Cad-me'a, Greek Kadmeia, was the name of the western half of the city of Thebes, and the Kadmeia, the acropolis on the lofty southern hill. Cae're, identical with Agulla of the Greeks, an ancient city in Southern Etruria ; the modern village of Cervetri marks the site. Cae'gar, a surname of uncertain derivation, and the title, after Julius Caesar, conjoined to that of Augustus, of all the Roman emperors until Hadrian, when C. denoted the crown prince. It is the same word as the German Kaiser, and possibly connected SELECT VOCABULARY. 313 with the Russian " czar " or "tsarj." Cam'pus Mar'ti-us, the field or camp of Mars at Rome, is the name given to the plain between the Pincian, Quirinal, and Capitoline hills on the E., and the Tiber on the W. Can'nae, a small town of Apulia, on the Aufidus. Car'tliage, IjaXm Carthago ; its name is derived from a Phoenician root signifying city. It stood on the peninsula between the old Phoeni- cian colonies of Utica and Tunis, in the region of N. Africa called by the Romans Zeugitana. Cas'tor and Pol'lux, Greek ^as^o?- and Pohideukes, twin brothers re- warded for their affection with a place in the heavens, where they shine as the Gemini, "the twins." Ce'crops, Greek Kekrops, name of the first king of Attica, which de- rived from him its name Cecropia. ^en'taur (Greek), literally a bull- stabber, the name of a fabulous monster. ^er'be-riSs, Greek Kerberos, the watch-dog in the lower world. Cer'y-ne^a, Greek Keruneia, a town of Achaia. -Chser'o-ne^a, Greek Ghaironeia, a town of Boeotia. -Gha-gan', Slavonic, in Latin Cag- dnus or Cac-dnus, the name or title of the kings of the Avars. See Avar. -ehal-ce'don, Greek Chalkedon, a city of Bithynia in Asia Minor, the modern Scutari. -Char'i-la^us, Greek Charilaos, a king of Sparta. -€her'so-nese, Latin Chersonesus, Greek Chersonesos, literally a land- island, a peninsula ; a name given to a number of localities, e.g., the Thracian Ch., the Tauric Ch., the Golden Ch., etc. -Ghi'lon, Greek Cheilon, a Spartan, one of the Seven Sages. Cim'ber, L. Tillius, one of the murderers of Caesar. Ci'mon, Greek KimMi, the son of ]\riltiades. Cle'o-bis, see Biton. Cle'o-bu^lus, Greek Kleohouhs, a citizen of Lindus in Rhodes, one of the Seven Sages. Cloe'li-a, the name of the famous hostage. Clu'si-um, Greek Klousion, an an- cient and inland city of Etruria, near the modern Chiusi. Co'cle§, Horatius, literally Hora- tius, " the one-eyed." Co'drus, Greek Kodros, the self- sacrificing king of Athens. Col'la-ti^nus, the husband of Lu- cretia. Con'sul (Latin), one of the two high- est magistrates of the Roman state. Cor'cy-ra, or Cor-cy'ra, Greek Kor- kura, the name of the island and its principal city, now called Co7/«. Cos, Greek Kos, a beautiful island in the Myrtoan Sea, off the west- ern shore of Asia Minor. Cos'sack, Russian Kasack, literally a robber or light-armed soldier; a warlike tribe in tlie east and south of Russia. 314 SELECT VOCABULARY. Creon, Greek Kreon, the name of three mythical persons. Cret'e, Latin Creta, Greek Krete, an island in the ^gean. Croe'sus, Greek Kroisos, the last king of Lydia. Cu'mae, Greek Kume, one of the most famous and ancient Greek colonies, a city on the coast of Campania. It was the home of the Sibyl. Cunc-ta'tor (Latin), literally a de- layer, a loiterer. Cyc'la-de§, Greek Kuklades, a group of islands in the iEgean Sea, so called from their lying in a circle round Delos, the smallest of the group. Cyd'nus, Greek Kudnos, a river of Cilicia flowing through Tarsus. Cy'prus, Greek Kupros, an island lying off the coast of Phoenicia and Cilicia. Cy'rus, Greek Kuros, the name of two Persian monarchs. Czar, czaar, Zar, zaar. Tsar, tsaar ; all these variations are found ; Eussian tsarj, a king; title of the emperor of Russia. Da-ri'us, Greek Dareios, Dareiaios, the name of several Persian mon- archs. Da'tis, Greek Dads, a Persian com- mander. Daun, German doun, an Austrian field-marshal. De'li-um, Greek Delion, a city on the coast of Boeotia. De-cre'tals, a book containing a collection of papal decrees. De-i'a-nei^ra (Greek), the wife of Hercules. Del'phi, Greek Delphoi, a town in Phocis, famed for the oracle of Apollo. Dem'i-iirge (Greek Demiourgoi, Latin Demiurgi), artisans, one of the three classes into which the Athenian people were di- vided. Den'ne-witz, den'ne-vitts (German), a village S. of Grossbeeren, near Jiiterbog. Der'vish, Persian derveesch, poor, from derew, to beg ; literally a beggar ; spelt also Dervis. De-si-de'ri-us, or Didler, the last king of the Lombards. Dess'aii, German Dess'ou, name of a distinguished general, and of a town in North Germany. Di-a'na, sister of Apollo, the god- dess of the moon and of hunting. Di'do, the reputed foundress of Carthage. Di-og'e-ne§ (Greek), the Cynic, a native of Sinope in Pontus. Di^o-me'deg (Greek), king of the Bistones in Thrace. Do'ri-ans, the inhabitants of Doris, a small hill country in Greece, bounded by Aetolia, Southern Thessaly, the Ozolian Locrians, and Phocis; they conquered the Peloponnesus and spread over the iEgean. Dra'co, Greek Drakon, the author of the first written code of laws at Athens. Du-ili-us, C, was consul with Cn. Cornelius Asina in b.c. 260. SELECT VOCABULARY. 315 Dyr-rha'chi-uni, Gr. Durrhachion, a city on the coast of Illyricum, formerly called Epiuamnus, now Durazzo. Ec-bat'a-na, old Greek orthog- raphy Agbatana, a famous city of Media. Ec'no-mus, Greek Eknomos, a hill on the S. coast of Sicily, between Agrigentum and Gela. El'ba, eVbii, an island in the Medi- terranean, between Corsica and the mainland, called by the Ko- raans Ilva, and by the Greeks Aithalia. E'lis (Greek), a district of Pelopon- nesus, and also the name of its capital. At Olympia, a town in Ells, the celebrated Olympic Games were held. Eph'or, Greek Epkoros, Latin Epho- riis, literally an overseer (plur. the ephoroi), the name, at Sparta, of an executive directory of five magistrates. Ep'l-men^i-de§ (Greek), a poet and prophet of Crete, reckoned by some among the Seven Sages. E'res-burg (German), now Stadt- herg on the Diemel, a tributary of the Weser. Er'y-man'thus, Greek ErumantJios, a lofty range of mountains on the frontiers of Arcadia, Achaia, and Elis. Er'y-thei^a, Gr-Erutheia, an island near the Latin Gades, the Phoeni- cian Gadir, the Greek Gadeira, or the modern Cadiz or Cadix, the chief Phoenician colony on the ocean, beyond the Pillars of Her- cules. Ex-arch'ate, strictly the territories of Ravenna, Bologna, and Fer- rara, and of the Pentapolis, ad- ministered by an Exarch, Greek exarchos, Latin exarchiis ; literally a prince, a viceroy. Eu-e'nus, or E-ve'nus, Greek Eiie- nos, a river of Aetolia. Eu'no-mus, Greek Eunomos, see p. 7; also the name of a king of Sparta, see p. 9. Eu-pat'ri-dae, Greek Eupatridai, literally the descendants of a good or noble father; at Athens they were the first class of the citi- zens. Eu-phra'te§, "the great river" which rises in Armenia and empties into the Persian Gulf; the name, said to signify "fertil- ity," survives in the modern i^?-af, or Forat. Eu-rys'the-ue§, Greek Eurustkenes, and Procles, Greek Prokles, the twin sons of Aristodemus. Eu-rys'the-us, Gr. Eurustheus, son of Sthenelos, king of Mycenze. Eu-ryt'i-on, Greek Eurution, a son of Mars and Erythia, herdsman of Geryones. Eu'ry-tus, Greek Eurutos, the father of lole. Sec p. 7. Eu-se'bi-us, Greek Eusebios, bishop of Caesareia, the father of ecclesi- astical history. Eu'xine, Greek Euxinos, Latin Euxlnus Pontus, the Black Sea. 316 SELECT VOCABULARY. Fontaine'bleau, fdng-tdne'hlo (Fr.), a town on the left bank of the Seine, 35 miles S.E. of Paris. Fo'rum (Latin), at Rome, the mar- ket-place where public business was transacted and justice dis- pensed. Fre'jug, a town of France in the department of Var. Fried'land, fred'land, a town on the AUe, in East Prussia, E. of Eylau. Ga'bi-1, an ancient city of Latium, on the road from Rome to Prae- neste. Ga-le^ri-us Va-le^ri-us Max'im-i- a^nus, also called Maximia'nus II., Roman emperor. Gaul, Latin Gallia, the country of the Gauls ; the term Gallia ulterior or Transalpina designated Gaul beyond the Rhine, while Gallia citerior or Cisalpina denoted Gaul in Upper Italy. Ggl'im-er, last king of the Vatf-. dais. Ge-om'o-ri, Greek Geomoroi, land- owners, but at Athens the third class of citizens, designating hus- bandmen. Ge-ru'si-a, Greek Gerousia, literally a council of elders, senators; at Sparta, the Senate or aristocratic assembly. Ge-ry'o-ne§, Greek Geruones, a giant who was slain by Hercules. Gra-nl^cus, Greek Granikos, a river in Troas which emptied into the Propontis. Grossbee'ren, gross-bey' ren (Ger- man), a village about 20 miles S. of Berlin. Gyin-iia'§i-um, Greek Gi/mnasion, the public place where athletic exercises were practised. Ha'dri-an, Latin Hadrianus, P. Ae' lilts, fourteenth Roman em- peror. Had'ru-me^tum, a Phoenician col- ony older than Carthage, on the sea-coast, and one of the chief cities of Africa Propria. Ha-mil^car, a Carthaginian name of frequent occurrence. Han^ni-bal, a Carthaginian name of frequent occurrence. Has'dru-bal, more correctly Asdru- hal, a Carthaginian name of fre- quent occurrence. He-gi'ra, or Hejira, Arabic hedjrat, lit, flight or emigration ; the flight of Mohammed, July 16, a.d. 622, from which is dated the Moham- medan era. Hell'e-nop^o-lis (Greek), literally the city of Helena, in Bithynia. Hel'les-pont, Latin Hellespontus, Greek Hellespontos, the strait which divides Europe from Asia, and unites the Propontis with the ^gean. He-lo^te§, Greek Heilotes, of uncer- tain derivation, a serf or bonds- man of the Spartans. He^'ra (Greek), the wife of Zeus, answering to the Juno of the Romans. Her'cu-le§, Gr. Her'a-cles. See p. 1. Her'mes, the Greek name of Mer- curius. SELECT VOCABULARY. 317 Hes-per^i-de§, the earlier name of the Cyrenaic city, Berenice ; the name of the fabled gardens, and of the mythical daughters of Night. Hi^e-ro, Greek Hieron, the name of two kings of Syracuse. Hip'po-drome, Greek hippodromos, from hippos, a horse, and dromos, a course ; a race-course for horses and chariots. Hohenlin'den, ho-hen-lin'den (Ger- man), a village in Upper Bavaria, S. of Munich. Hy'dra, Greek Hudra, literally a water-serpent, the monster killed by Hercules near the Lernean lake. Hy'per-bo're-ans, Greek Huper- boreioi, literally beyond Boreas, i.e. the north wind; a supposed people in the extreme north, noted for piety and happiness. I-be^ri-a, an extensive tract of coun- try between the Euxine and the Caspian seas, to the south of the Caucasus. il'di-co, German HiVdegunde, the last wife of Attila. I-maum' (Arabic), also Imam and Iman, a Mohammedan scribe, secular clergyman, president of a mosque, and spiritual judge. See Mohammed, p. 128. Ingria, German Ligermannland, for- merly a Swedish province in the Baltic. I'o-la^os (Greek), the friend of Her- cules. I^'o-le (Greek), the daughter of Eurytus. I-o'ni-aii, relating to the country and people of Ionia, or that part of the western coast of Asia Minor from Phocaea in the north to Miletus in the south. Ir-men-sul^, German Irmensdule, an ancient sacred tree which stood in a sacred grove between the Weser and the Diemel. Ig'lam (Arabic), literally surrender, then the orthodox faith, and thus the name of the Mohammedan religion. I'van, e'van (Russian), John. Je'na, yey'nd (German), a univer- sity town, E. of Weimar. Ju^no (Latin), daughter of Saturn, sister and wife of Jupiter; re- sembling in many respects the Hera of the Greeks. Ju^pi-ter (Latin), the chief of the gods among the Romans, son of Saturn; answering to the Greek Zeus. Katz'bach, catts-bach {ch German sound), a tributary of the Oder. The battle was fought near the village of Wahlstadt. Ko'reish, ko'rlsh (Arabic), the name of the most noble tribe of the Arabs. Krem'lin, name of the ancient citadel of Moscow. Kulm' (German), a village near Teplitz in Bohemia, Kun'n6rs-d6rf (German), a vil- lage in tlie Prussian province of Brandenburg, near Frankfort-on- the-Oder. 318 SELECT VOCABULARY. Kiis'trin, German ii (German), town in Prussia, on the Oder. IJab'a-rum, name of the Roman military standard of later times. JJag-e-dac'niGii, Greek Lakedaimon and Lakonike, called by the Ro- mans Laconica and Laconia, desig- nates the south-easterly district of Peloponnesus, and frequently Sparta. Lie-o'bgn, mining town in Styria. Ler^na, or Lerne (Greek), a marshy district in Argolis. Leu'then, loi'ten, a village in Si- lesia, eight miles N.W. of Breslau. liign'y, linn' ye (French), a village N.W. of Namur in Belgium. IJm'us, Greek Linos, the son of Apollo and Urania, who taught Orpheus and Hercules to play the lyre. Liip'a-ra( Greek), the modern Lipari, the largest of the group of the ^olian Islands, between Sicily and Italy. Liu'ca, a city of Etruria, now Lucca. Liune'ville, lii-ney'vil {ii French sound), a town in Lorraine, W. of Strassburg. Lu-per-ca'li-a, name of a boisterous festival of the Lycean Pan, cele- brated at Rome in February. Liu-cre^ti-a (Latin), the wife of L. Tarquinius Collatinus. Iiy-cur^gus, Greek Lukourgos, the Spartan legislator. Lyd^i-a, Greek Ludia, a country in the western part of Asia Minor. Mag-nc'si-a (Greek), the name of a city on the Masander in Ionia, and of a town on the slope of Mount Sipylus in Lydia. Mam'e-luke, Arabic mam-ldok' , one of the mounted soldiery of Egypt, formed of Circassian slaves of the Sultan. Ma-mil'i-us Oc-ta'vi-us (Latin), the son-in-law of Tarquinius Superbus. Marche, or March, allied to the German Mark, a frontier or bor- der country. Mar'ci-a^nus, or, abbreviated, Mar- cian, name of an emperor of the East, A.D. 450-457. Mar-do^ni-us, Greek Mardonios, a Persian general. Ma-ren'go, a village near Alessan- dria on the Tanara, a tributary of the Po. Mar§ (Latin), the god of war, son of Jupiter and Juno. Mas-sil'i-a, a celebrated seaport town in Gallia, the modern Mar- seilles. Max'i-iiii-a''nus, Roman emperor, the father of Fausta, wife of Con- stantine the Great. Me-di'na, me-de'na, (Arabic), name of a city in Arabia, 248 miles N. by W. of Mecca. Me-dini'nus, Greek Medimnos, the usual Attic corn-measure, contain- ing almost 12 imperial gallons, or IJ bushel. MeMon (Greek), the first Athenian archon. Meg^a-ra (Greek), the name of a city in Greece Proper, a mile from the Saronic Gulf; and of a city in Sicily. SELECT VOCABULARY. 319 Mel'a-nlp^pe (Greek), a queen of the Amazons. Me^mel, imy'mel (German), a forti- fied seaport in East Prussia, 74 miles N.N.E. of Konigsberg. Me-tau^rus, a river of Umbria flow- ing into the Adriatic, which pre- serves its name in the modern ^/etauro or Metro. Mi-kai'lo-vitch,orMi-khai'lo-vitch, me-ki' W-vitsh (Russian), signifying the son of Mikhail, second name of the father of Peter the Great. 3Iile, Roman, Latin mille or viile, literally 1,000 paces, or a Roman mile, estimated at 1,618 English yards, or 142 yards less than the English statute mile. Mil'vi-iis, or 3Iul'vi-iis, Pons, the Milvian Bridge across the Tiber, above Rome, on the Via Flaminia. Min^ci-us, a tributary river of the Po in Cisalpine Gaul, the modern Minc'io. Mith-ri-da'te§ V., the son of Phar- naces, king of Pontus. 'M.ontn\a.Tt're,mSng-mdrtr'(Frexvc\i), a hill and suburb of Paris, Mog'lem, a Mussulman. Mufti, the head or high priest of the Mohammedan clergy. Mun'da, a city in Hispania (Spain), now Moncla. My-ce''nae, Greek Mukenai, a very ancient cit}' of the plain of Argos. 3Iy^lae, Greek Mulai, a city on the north coast of Sicily. Myt'i-le'ne, or Mitylene, Gr. Muti- Icne or Mitulene, a celebrated city of Lesl)os, an island off the coast of Mysia; now Metelin. Nar'seg (Greek), the rival of Beli- sarius. Na-rys'kine, or Na-rych'kine, nd-ris'ken, nd-ricli'ken (Russian), family name of the mother of Peter the Great. Ne^me-a (Greek), a valley in the northern part of Argolis, between Chleonae and Phlius. Ne^o-cle§ (Greek), the father of Themistocles. Ne^re-us (Greek), a mythical char- acter, the wise, unerring old man of the sea. Ni-gse^a, Greek Nikaia, a city in Bithynia, now called Isnik or Nice. Nic'o-me^deg III., Greek iViA;omef/e5, king of Bithynia, died B.C. 74. Nic'o-me-di^a, Greek Nikomedeia, the capital of Bithynia. Nie'men, ne'men, called the Memel near its end, a river flowing from Russian Poland to E. Prussia, Avhich empties into the Curische- Haff. Ni'ka, ne'kd (Greek), name of the sedition at Constantinople. Nu-mid^i-a, the central tract on the north coast of Africa now known as Algeria. O-do^a-cer, the first king of Italy. Oe^ne-us, Greek Oineus, a river of Pannonia, now called Unna. Oe^ta, Greek Oite, a mountain in the southern part of Thessaly. Ol'i-giireh-y, GreekOIifjarchia, from oliyos, few, and archein, to rule ; a government in the hands of a few. 320 SELECT VOCABULARY. O-lym^pus, Greek Olumpos, a lofty mountain on the Macedonian boundary of Thessaly. Om^pha-le (Greek), the wife of Tmolus, king of Lydia. O-ro^si-us, a Latin historian, a na- tive of Spain, flourished a.d. 416. Or^thrus, Greek Orthros, the dog of Geryones. Pad-er-born', pdd-er-hdrn' , town in the Prussian province of West- phalia. Pap'u-a, or Papp'u-a Mons, an inaccessible mountain region in Numidia. Par'the-non (Greek), the temple of Athena Parthenos, i.e. Athena the Virgin, in the citadel at Athens. Pa^ros (Greek), one of the largest islands of the Cyclades. Par-rha^si-us, Greek Parrhasios, one of the most celebrated Greek painters. Pel'o-pon-ne^sus, Gr. Peloponnesos', the southern part of Greece, con- nected with the mainland by the isthmus of Corinth, now theMorea. Pen-jab', Panjab, or Punjab, Greek Pentapotamia, literally " five riv- ers," a large district in the north- west of Hindustan, watered by the Indus and its five great af- fluents. Peii-ta-co'si-o-ine-dini''iii ( Greek ) , literally 500 medimni, at Athens the first class of citizens under the timocracy established by Solon. Pe'ri-an^'der, Gr. Periandros, tyrant of Corinth, was commonly reck- oned among the Seven Sages. Per'i-oe^ci, Greek Perwikoi, literally dwellers around the city. In La- conia, except Sparta, the free in- habitants of the towns ; at Sparta, the provincials, who enjoyed civil liberty, but inferior political privi- leges. Pha-le^rum, Greek Phaleron, the western harbor of Athens. Phar^na-ces, Greek PharnaJces, the name of two kings of Pontus. Phar-sa^Ius, Greek Pharsalos, a city in Thessaly. Also Pharsa^- lia, when it designates the entire region about the city. Phid^i-as, Greek Pheidias, the great- est sculptor and statuary of Greece. Pho^ci-on, Greek Pho^kion, a cele- brated Athenian commander and statesman. Phoe-nic^i-a, Gr. Phoinike, a coun- try on the coast of Syria, bounded on the E. by Mount Lebanon. Pillars of Her^cu-les, Greek Hera- kleous Stelai and other forms, Latin Herculis Columnae, the name given to the twin rocks at the en- trance of the Mediterranean, at the eastern extremity of the Straits of Gibraltar. Pi-sis ^tra-tus, Gr. Peisistratos, the distinguished tyrant of Athens. Pit^ta-cus, Greek Pittakos, a native of Mytilene in Lesbos, was one of the Seven Sages. Plu^to, Greek Plouton, the king of the lower world, the brother of Jupiter and Neptune, Pol^e-mar«li, Greek Polemarchos, literally leader or beginner of SELECT VOCABULARY, 321 war, was the third archon at Athens. Pol'y-dec^tes, Greek Poludehtes, the brother of Lycurgus and the father of Charilaus. Pon^ti-fex 3Iax^i-inus (Latin), the chief or supreme high priest at Rome. Pon^tus, Greek Pontos, or, in full, Pon^tus Eux^inus, either the Black Sea, or a province in Asia Minor, Por^se-na, Lars, king of Clusium. " Lars " was a title of honor given to most of the Etruscan kings. Pot'i-dae^a, Greek Potidaia, a city in the peninsula Pallene, later merged in Cassandreia. Poteseh^ni, pO-tesh^ne (Russian), name of military companies of Peter the Great. Pos-tu^mi-us, Aulus, was dictator at Rome in b.c. 498. The Postumia gens Avas one of the most ancient patrician families of the city. Prae^tor (Latin), literally one who goes before, a Roman magistrate charged with the administration of justice. Preobrashens^koe,7Jre-5^-6rasZ!-e>is^- ho (Russian), name of a village near Moscow. Presburg, pr^ss^hirg, a town in Hungary, on the left bank of the Danube. Pres'ti-dig-i-ta^tor, from Latin praesto, quickly, and digitus,^nger ; a quick -fingered person,one skilled in legerdemain. Pro^cle§ (Greek), one of the twin sons of Aristodemus. Pro-con^sul (Latin), literally one who acts instead of a consul ; gen- erally the governor of a Roman province. Pru''si-as, Greek Pj^ousias, king of Bithynia. Prussian-Eylau, . . . -I'low, German Preussisch-Eylau, a town S. of Konigsberg in East Prussia. Pryt'a-ne^um, Gr. Prutaneion, the president's hall, or the town-hall, in Greek cities. Ptol^e-mse-us, Greek Ptolemaios, the name of the kings of Egypt after Alexander the Great. Pulta^-wa, or Pulto^wa, pul-ta^vd, pul-to^va, name of the capital of the Ukraine (do-crdn^), E. of the middle course of the Dnieper. Qu8es''tor( Latin), literally a seeker; a Roman magistrate who dis- charged the duties of a treasurer. Rat^isbon, rat^iz-hdn, German Re- genshurg, a town on the right bank of the Danube, in Bavaria. Ra-ven^na, name of a seaport in Gallia Cis., still bearing the same name. Re-gil^lus, La^cus, a small lake in Latium, at the foot of the Tuscu- lan Hills. Regime, re^sheem (French), style of government ; old regime, former style or order of government. Rha-gae^, Greek Rhagai, etc., a city of Media, the capital of Rhagiana, one day's journey from the Cas- pian Gates and ten days' march from Ecbatana. 322 SELECT VOCABULARY, Rhe^tor (Greek), a rhetorician, an orator. Rhodes, i^odz, Greek Rodos, Latin Rho^dus, an island off the coast of Caria. Roche^'fort, rSs¥fdr (French), a maritime town of France, on the Charente. Roncesvalles^, or Ronceval^, rOnd-se-vaV, a narrow pass in the Pyrenees. Ros^tra, rds^tra, a stage for speak- ers in the Forum, and the space around it, so called from the beaks of captured ships with which it was adorned. Ru^bi-con, and Ru^bi-co, a small stream which formed the boun- dary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul ; probably the modern Pisa- tello. Saal^feld, sdVfeld (German), a town on the Saale, in the princi- pality of Saxe-Meiningen. Sa'gse, Greek Sahai, a people of Northern Asia, a part of the Scythians. Sa-gun^tum, Gr. Sagoimton, a town in Hispania Tarraconensis. Sam^ni-um, one of the chief inland districts of Central Italy. Sar^'deg, Greek Sardeis, often writ- ten Sardis, the ancient capital of Lydia. Schon-brunn^ (o German sound), an imperial castle S.W. of Vienna. Sgip^i-o, the name of an illustrious patrician family at Rome. Se-ragl^io, sS-raVyo, said to be a noun of Persian origin, which in its Italian form of serraglio is de- rived from the Latin sera, a door- bar, and denotes literally " that which is locked." The Persian serai denotes a palace, and espe- cially that part of it occupied by the wives of Eastern monarchs. Sib^yl, Greek Sihulla, literally she that tells the will of Zeus ; a fe- male soothsayer, a prophetess. Sig-'burg, or Siegburg, seg^hury, name of an old castle and of a modern town on the Sieg in Rhenish Prussia. Si-le^si-a, sUe-shi-d, a province in S.E. Prussia, Sir^mi-um, an ancient and impor- tant city in the south-eastern part of Lower Pannonia. Smo-lensk'', a town on the upper course of the Dnieper, in Russia. Sou-bise^, su-b'is'^ (French), name of a general. Spar^ta, Greek Sparte, the capital of Laconia; it was also called Lacedaemon. Spu-rin^na, an Etruscan name, that of the haruspex who warned Sta^di-um, Greek stadion, literally that which stands fast, a fixed standard of length measuring 600 Greek feet, 125 Roman paces, or 625 feet, equal to 600 feet 9 inches English, or somewhat less than one-eighth of an English mile. StreFitz or Strel^tsi, stre/llts, strelt'se, name of the Russian body-guards. Stym-pha^lus, Greek Stumphalos, etc., the name of a town, district. SELECT VOCABULARY. 323 mountain, and river in the north- eastern part of Arcadia. Suf-fe^te§ (from the Phoenician sho- fet, a judge), the name of the two chief magistrates or kings who presided over the Senate at Carthage. Syr-a-cuse'', Greek. Surahousai, Latin Syracuse^, the most important Greek city in Sicily. Ta-gi^nae, a village E. of the Upper Tiber. Tal^ent, Latin talentum, Greek ta- lanton, literally a weight; a Grecian weight; a sum of money. The Attic talent of silver contained 60 minse, or 6,000 drachmse, and was equal to £243 15s, Approxi- mately calculate a talent at £250, or §1,250. A raina was equal to £4 \s.M., or $22.32. Tar-quin^ius Su-per^bus, one of the Tarquins, a family of Greek extraction. Tas^so, one of the most celebrated poets of Italy; he flourished about A.D. 1575. Ta-yg^e-tus,Ta'y-ge^ta (Virgil), Gr. Taiigeton, the loftiest moimtain in Peloponnesus; the range is now called Pentedaktulos, that is, five- fingered. Te^ge-a (Greek), one of the most ancient towns of Arcadia. Tei^as, or Te^jas, te^ijds, king of the Goths. Tha'le§ (Greek), the Ionian philoso- pher of Miletus, was reckoned among the Seven Sages. Thap-'sus, Greek Thapsos, a city in Africa Propria. The^bes, thebz, Greek Thebai, Latin Thehae, name of the chief city of Boeotia ; also of a city in Egypt. Ther'mus, Therma, Thermum, Gr. Thermon,W\Q chief cityof Aetolia. The'o-do^si-us, the-o-do^shi-us, the Great, Roman emperor of the East. Thes-motli^e-tse, Gr, Thesinothetai, literally law-givers, were the six junior archons at Athens. The^te§ (Greek), literally serfs ; the fourth class of Athenian citizens under Solon's division, composed of all possessed of less than 200 medimni. Thor, the god of thunder ; his name gives us Thui'sdai/, and his attri- bute to the Germans their Don- nerslag. Thra^ce, thrds, Gr. Thrahe, etc., Lat. Thracia, a province of Northern Greece from Macedonia to the Euxine, along the ^gean and Propontis; also of a district in Asia Minor called Bithijnian Thrace. Tib'e-ri^nus (Latin), the guardian god of the river Tiber. Ti-ci^nus, Greek Tikinos, the mod- ern Ticino, a considerable river in Northern Italy. Til^sit, a town on the Memel or Niemen, in East Prussia. Ti-iTi6c^ra-9y, Greek timokratia, from time, assessment, and kra- tein, to rule ; a form of govern- ment under which pu1)lic offices and political privileges are dis- 324 SELECT VOCABULARY. tributed according to a rating of property, To^ga (Latin), literally a covering, the gown or outer garment of a R(Wnan citizen ; the toga praetexta, bordered with purple, was worn by the higher magistrates and by free-born children until they assumed the toga virilis, or the manly gown ; candidates for office wore a white (candidus, white) toga, mourners one of dark gray. Tra^ehas (Greek), a city of Malis, at the foot of Mount Oeta. Tras'y-me^nus, or Tras'i-me^ims Lia^cus, a large lake in Etruria. Troe-ze^ne, Greek Troizen, a city of Peloponnesus. Ty^phon, Greek Tuphaon, Tuphoeus, a fabulous monster. Tyre, tir, Greek Turos, Latin Tyrus, the most celebrated and important city of Phoenicia. U^kralne, u^Tcrdn, or oo-Jcrdn^, a dis- trict in Southern Russia. '^' U^ti-ca, an old town in Africa Pro- pria, north of Carthage. U^trecht, u^treJct, name of a city and province in Holland. Van^'da-li, the Vandals, originally a German nation, moved during the Migration of Nations through Gaul to Spain, and, pushed by the Visigoths, seized North Africa, A.D. 429. Ve-nu^si-a, the modern Venosa, a city of Apulia, on the Appian Way. Vincen^nes, ving-senn^ (French), a village now included within the fortifications of Paris. Vifiges, vit^l-ges, a king of the bar- barians. Vol^ga, or Wol^'ga, ancient Rha, the name of a river of the Rus- sian empire, and the largest in Europe. Vol-taire'', vdl-tar^ (French), name of the famous author. Wil^na, also Vfl^nS and Vil^no, a city on the Vilia, in W. Russia, 473 miles S.W. of St. Petersburg. Wittekind, vWte-kind (Old High German), literally child of wis- dom. Xan-thip^pe (Greek), the wife of Socrates. Za^'ma, Greek Zama Meizon, a town of Numidia, situated five days' journey S.W. of Carthage. Zens, or Ze^'us, the Greek name of Jupiter. Zeux^is (Greek), the celebrated painter. m 'U T i #\\mi ^M LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 018 487 804 5