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JOSEPH A. HOFMANN, 
 
 SIXTEEN YEARS WITH THE LATE FIRM OF A. ROMAN A CO. 
 
 John Svrett 
 
 D STATIONER, 
 
 tMCott (Po's 5u6ftcatiom, 
 
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 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
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 MAGAZINE and other Popular Periodicals. 
 

How TO REMEMBER HISTORY 
 
 A METHOD OF MEMORIZING DATES, WITH 
 A SUMMARY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 EVENTS OF THE SIXTEENTH, SEVENTEENTH, 
 EIGHTEENTH, AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND PRIVATE STUDENTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 VIRGINIA CONSER SHAFFER, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, 
 i 890. 
 
Copyright, 1890, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 
 A,, '' 
 
(LC 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 OOME years ago I was conducting a Teachers' Institute in Washington County, 
 ^ Maryland, when one of the teachers in attendance proposed to explain his 
 method of teaching history in connection with chronology. The explanation was 
 given at some length, and a class of children who had been taught after this 
 method was introduced and made a very creditable exhibition of their attainments. 
 I was so much pleased with the system that I determined to try it in the State 
 Normal School, in which the author of this volume was at that time the teacher of 
 history. The experiment was eminently successful and the method was permanently 
 continued. On Miss Conser's leaving the State Normal School I requested her, as a 
 parting contribution to the profession of which she had been for years a distinguished 
 ornament, to prepare an outline of history and chronology on this plan for publica- 
 tion. The period from the eleventh to the nineteenth century, inclusive, was at first 
 selected; but, as it proved too bulky for, an initiatory volume, the illustration was 
 confined to the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 
 
 There is nothing new about the principle. Miss Elizabeth P. Peabody used it 
 many years ago in a school history of the United States, and she borrowed it from a 
 German, Bern, I believe. But many changes of detail and plan have been made, 
 which adapt it more completely to class use. Still better than any claim to novelty 
 or originality is the fact that it has been taught, from manuscript, year after year, in 
 our school, and always with good results. It may be alleged that the success was due 
 to the teacher rather than to the system ; but from the Normal School the system 
 spread into hundreds of country schools, and was attended with gratifying, if not 
 always brilliant, success. So far as I know, no teacher who has tried it has ever 
 voluntarily given it up. I commend this little book, therefore, to my fellow-teachers 
 throughout the United States as eminently deserving of a fair and patient trial, and 
 in the assured conviction that those who give it such a trial will not be disappointed. 
 
 M. A. NEWELL, 
 
 Principal of the Maryland State Normal School 
 
 and State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
 
 541672 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. DISCOVERY OF 
 
 AMERICA AND THE TRANSITION PERIOD . n 
 II. CHART OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 III. CHRONOLOGY OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY . 13 
 IV. HISTORICAL SKETCHES M-3 8 
 
 1. The Rise of Russia. 
 
 2. Modern England. Henry VII. 
 
 3. American Discoveries. 
 
 Florida. The Pacific. The Missis- 
 sippi. 
 
 4. Conquest of Mexico. 
 
 5. First Voyage around the World. 
 
 6. Liberation of Sweden. 
 
 7. Macchiavelli. 
 
 8. England under Henry VIII. 
 
 English Reformation. Wolsey. Sir 
 Thomas More. 
 
 9. Copernicus. 
 
 10. France under Francis I. 
 
 11. Edward VI. Mary. 
 
 12. Germany and Spain under Charles V. 
 
 13. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. 
 
 The Iconoclasts. Siege of Leyden. 
 William of Orange. 
 
 14. The Ottoman Empire. 
 
 Soliman. Battle of Lepanto. 
 
 15. St. Bartholomew. 
 
 1 6. Portugal. 
 
 17. Mary, Queen of Scots. 
 
 18. Henry III. of France. 
 
 19. Spain under Philip II. 
 
 20. Edmund Spenser. 
 
 V. ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE SIXTEENTH CEN- 
 TURY 39 
 
 VI. CHART OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 VII. CHRONOLOGY OF THE SEVENTEENTH CEN- 
 TURY 43 
 
 VIII. HISTORICAL SKETCHES 44-68 
 
 1. Age of Elizabeth. 
 
 The Armada. Earl of Essex. Sir 
 Walter Raleigh. 
 
 2. American Colonial Settlements. 
 
 Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, 
 New Hampshire, Connecticut, Mary- 
 land, Rhode Island, Delaware. 
 
 3. American Discovery. Hudson River. 
 
 4. France under Henry IV. 
 
 5. England under James I. 
 
 6. France under Louis XIII. Richelieu. 
 
 7. Galileo. 
 
 8. Thirty Years' War. Peace of Westphalia. 
 
 9. The Commonwealth and Restoration. 
 
 Charles I. Cromwell. Charles II. 
 
 10. American Colonial Settlements. 
 
 The Carolinas, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 11. The London Plague and Fire. 
 
 12. John Milton. 
 
 13. The Siege of Vienna. 
 
 14. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 15. English Revolution of 1688. William 
 
 and Mary. 
 
 16. The Salem Witchcraft. 
 
 IX. ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE SEVENTEENTH 
 
 CENTURY 69 
 
 X. CHART OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 XL CHRONOLOGY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 74 
 XII. HISTORICAL SKETCHES 75~ I0 7 
 
 1. William III. 
 
 2. Peter the Great. St. Petersburg. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 3. England under Anne. 
 
 The Scotch Union. Marlborough. 
 Gibraltar. Addison. Newton. 
 
 4. Sweden under Charles VII. Pultowa. 
 
 5. " War of the Spanish Succession." 
 
 6. House of Brunswick. 
 
 George I. George II. George III. 
 
 7. Louis XIV. 
 
 8. American Colonial Settlement. Georgia. 
 
 9. " War of the Austrian Succession." 
 
 Fontenoy. 
 
 10. The Pretender. Culloden. 
 
 11. Franklin. Electricity. 
 
 12. Change of the Calendar. 
 
 13. British East India Empire. 
 
 14. French and Indian War. Quebec. 
 
 15. France under Louis XV. 
 
 16. The American Revolution. 
 
 Stamp Act. First Continental Con- 
 gress. Lexington. Declaration of 
 Independence. Benedict Arnold. 
 Yorktown. Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 17. Frederick the Great. 
 
 18. The French Revolution. 
 
 Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette. Reign 
 of Terror. Directory. Napoleon 
 Bonap.irte. 
 
 19. Poland. 
 
 20. Battle of the Nile. 
 
 21. Washington. 
 
 XIII. ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CEN- 
 TURY 108 
 
 XIV. CHART OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 XV. CHRONOLOGY OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY in 
 
 XVI. HISTORICAL SKETCHES 112-143 
 
 I. Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 2. France under Napoleon. 
 
 Consulate. Empire. Elba. Water- 
 loo. St. Helena. 
 
 3. Lord Nelson and Trafalgar. 
 
 4. George IV. 
 
 5. Lord Byron. 
 
 6. The American War of 1812. 
 
 7. The Janizaries. 
 
 8. Greek Independence. Navarino. 
 
 9. The Second French Revolution. 
 
 10. Brazil. Pedro II. 
 
 11. Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 12. Goethe. 
 
 13. William IV. Victoria. 
 
 Reform Bill. Emancipation of Slaves. 
 
 14. The Magnetic Telegraph. Morse. 
 
 15. The Mexican War. 
 
 16. The Third French Revolution. 
 
 17. The Crimean War. Sebastopol. 
 
 18. The Indian Mutiny. 
 
 19. The Unification of Italy. 
 
 20. The American Civil War. 
 
 Emancipation Proclamation. Vicks- 
 burg. Gettysburg. Sherman's 
 March. Appomattox. Abraham 
 Lincoln. 
 
 21. The Spanish Revolution. 
 
 22. The Central Pacific Railroad. Overland 
 
 Route to the Pacific. 
 
 23. The Franco-Prussian War. 
 
 Sedan. Siege of Paris. Napoleon III. 
 
 24. The Mont Cenis Tunnel. 
 
 25. The Chicago Fire. 
 
 26. The Alabama Claims. 
 
 27. African Exploration. Livingstone. 
 
 28. The Centennial of American Indepen- 
 
 dence. 
 
STANDARD WORKS OF REFERENCE. 
 
 Abbott History of the Franco-Prussian War Ab. Fran.-Prus. War. 
 
 Adams Great Campaigns in Europe Ad. Cam. Eu. 
 
 Alison History of Europe Al. E. 
 
 Baird Rise of the Huguenots of France Baird, Hugue. 
 
 Bancroft .... History of the United States Ban. U. S. 
 
 Blochwitz .... History of Turkey Block. T. 
 
 Bright English History Bright, Eng. 
 
 Bryant History of the United States Bry. U. S. 
 
 Buckle History of Civilization in England Buck. Eng. 
 
 Butler Land of the Veda But. Veda. 
 
 Carlyle Life of Frederick the Great Car. Fred. 
 
 Carlyle History of the French Revolution Car. Fr. Rev. 
 
 Carlyle Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell Car. Crom. 
 
 Creasy The Ottoman Turks Creas. Of. T. 
 
 D'Aubigne . . . History of the Reformation D"Aub. Ref. 
 
 Dunham . . . . History of' Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. (Lardner's Cyclopaedia) . . . Lard. Cy.,Den., Nor.,Swed. 
 
 Dunham .... History of Spain and Portugal. (Lardner's Cyclopaedia) Lard. Cy., Spain and Port. 
 
 Dunham .... History of Poland. (Lardner's Cyclopaedia) Lard. Cy., Pol. 
 
 Dyer History of Modern Europe Dy. Mod. E. 
 
 Evelyn Memoirs Eve. Mem. 
 
 Finlay History of the Greek Revolution Fin. Gr. Rev. 
 
 Froude History of England Froude, Eng. 
 
 Fyffe History of Modern Europe Fyffe, Mod. E. 
 
 Gardner The Thirty Years' War Card. Thirty Yrs. War. 
 
 Grant .... . . The Sepoy War Grant, Sep. War. 
 
 Greeley The American Conflict .* Creel. Am. Con. 
 
 Green A Short History of the English People Green, Eng. 
 
 Greville Memoirs of Reigns of George IV. and William IV Grev. Mem. 
 
 Guest Lectures on English History Guest, Eng. 
 
 Guizot History of France Guiz. France. 
 
 Hume History of England Hume, Eng. 
 
 Irving Life of Washington Irv- Wash. 
 
 Irving Knickerbocker History of New York Jrv. Knick. N. Y. 
 
 James Life of Louis XIV ' James, Louis XIV. 
 
 Jones Modern Europe (continuation of Russell's) "Jones, Mod. E. 
 
 Kelly History of Russia Kel. Rus. 
 
 La Chapelle . . . The War in 1870 La Chap. War in 1870. 
 
 Lanfrey Life of Napoleon I Lan. Nap. I. 
 
 Lecky England in the Eighteenth Century Leek. Eng. 
 
 Lewes Life of Goethe Lew. Goethe. 
 
 Lingard History of England Ling. Eng. 
 
 Livingstone . . . Last Journals Liv. your. 
 
 7 
 
STANDARD WORKS OF REFERENCE. 
 
 Lockhart .... Life of Scott Lock. Scott. 
 
 Lossing History of the United States. (Centennial Edition) Loss. U. S. 
 
 Macaulay .... History of England Mac. Eng. 
 
 Macaulay .... Miscellaneous Essays Mac. Es. 
 
 Mahon History of England Mah. Eng. 
 
 McCarthy .... A History of our Own Times McCar. Own Times. 
 
 Morris The Age of Anne Mor. Anne. 
 
 Morris The French Revolution "..... Mor. Fr. Rev. 
 
 Motley The Rise of the Dutch Republic Mot. D. Rep. 
 
 Motley The United Netherlands Mot. Neth. 
 
 Nordhoff .... California Nord. Cal. 
 
 Pepys Memoirs Pep. Mem. 
 
 Prescott .... Life of Charles V Pres. Chas. V. 
 
 Prescott .... Life of Philip II Pres. Phil. If. 
 
 Prescott .... Conquest of Mexico Pres. Mex. 
 
 Prime Life of Samuel F. B. Morse Prime, Morse. 
 
 Probyn Essays on Italy, Ireland, and the United States Prob. Es. 
 
 Ridpath History of the United States Rid. U. S. 
 
 Robertson .... History of America Rob. Am. 
 
 Robertson .... Reign of Charles V Rob. Chas. V. 
 
 Russell ..... Modern Europe Rus. Mod. E. 
 
 Sayer History of Gibraltar , Say. Gib. 
 
 Seebohm .... History of the Protestant Reformation See. Prot. Ref. 
 
 Southey Life of Nehon South. Nel. 
 
 Thiers History of the French Revolution Thiers, Fr. Rev. 
 
 Van Laun .... The French Revolutionary Epoch Van Latin, Fr. Rev. Ep. 
 
 Voltaire Life of Charles XII. of Sweden Volt. Chas. XII. 
 
 White History of France White, France. 
 
 White Massacre of St. Bartholomew White, St. Bart. 
 
 Pictorial History of England Pict. Eng. 
 
 The Annual Register An. Reg. 
 
 Tribunal of Arbitration at Geneva. British Case Tri. Arbl. 
 
 Manual of Dates (edited by Fred. Martin) Man. Dates. 
 
EXPLANATION OF THE CHARTS. 
 
 EACH chart contains one hundred squares. Each square represents one year. Each chart, 
 therefore, represents one century. Beginning in the upper left-hand corner the squares 
 are numbered I, 2, 3, etc. If the century should be the sixteenth, the square would be 
 named 1501, 1502, 1503, and so on to 1510. The second line begins with 1511, the third 
 with 1521, etc. 
 
 Each square is divided into five subdivisions, as follows : 
 
 1. Events of War and Peace. 
 
 (Battles, sieges, conquests, treaties, annexations, etc.) 
 
 2. Events Political, Social, Religious. 
 
 3. Events in Literature, Science, Art. 
 
 4. Events Miscellaneous. 
 
 5. Deaths. 
 
 To each chart is appended a key, the chronological table consisting of brief statements 
 of the events recorded upon the chart. These statements should be thoroughly memorized 
 in connection with the dates. A copy of each chart as it is studied should be placed upon 
 a blackboard prepared for the purpose. The class should recite the dates and statements as 
 they are pointed out by the teacher, until all are thoroughly learned. The teacher will be 
 surprised at the short time required to master the dates and statements. With a reasonable 
 amount of review it is impossible to forget them. 
 
 The historic sketches of the events of each century should be carefully read at home by 
 the pupils, and at the history lesson, as each new statement is learned and recorded upon the 
 blackboard in the proper square, several pupils should be called upon to give in their own 
 language a brief history of the event just recorded. 
 
 An ingenious teacher can vary the teaching of the lesson in numberless ways, and make 
 the half-hour devoted to the history lesson both delightful and instructive. 
 
 Nothing should be memorized by the pupils except the dates and statements. 
 
 The colors are used upon the charts to distinguish the different countries. As there will 
 be less tax upon the memory if the picture upon the blackboard is similar to the one in the 
 book, the author would recommend the use, in the formation of the blackboard chart, of the 
 colors that are used in the book. A box of common colored crayons will contain all the 
 colors required. 
 
 A fair trial will convince teachers that these charts are unequalled as aids to the memorizing 
 of dates. 
 
 9 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 THE TRANSITION FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN TIMES. 
 
 TWO important discoveries about the be- 
 ginning of the sixteenth century were the 
 chief events that brought to a close the Dark 
 Ages of European history. 
 
 The first of these events was the invention of 
 the Art of Printing ; the second, the discovery 
 of the New World. 
 
 Previous to this period books were all labo- 
 riously copied by hand. Naturally they were 
 rare and expensive. Few individuals outside 
 of monasteries and other seats of learning knew 
 how to read or possessed any books. About 
 the year 1445 a Dutch mechanic living at Haar- 
 lem, Laurens Coster by name, invented a rough 
 method of producing books other than by writ- 
 ing. He carved whole pages on blocks of wood 
 and then made the impression with ink on one 
 side of a leaf. This was a step in advance of 
 the old method. Very soon afterwards Johann 
 Gutenberg, of Mentz, made the great discovery 
 of using movable types of wood in printing. 
 This invention was of so much more value than 
 the former that Gutenberg is usually spoken of 
 as the inventor of the Art of Printing. Sub- 
 sequently, Johann Fust and Peter Schaeffer, 
 Gutenberg's assistants, secured possession of 
 Gutenberg's printing establishment through a 
 lawsuit, and they began shortly to use movable 
 types of metal, such as are used at the present 
 day. The art of printing being thus perfected, 
 books began to multiply, people became am- 
 bitious to read, and a spirit of inquiry manifested 
 itself among all classes of society. 
 
 The second great event in the progress of 
 civilization was the discovery of the New World. 
 Navigation was an undeveloped art. Few mari- 
 ners of the time ventured out of sight of land. 
 To their superstitious minds the sea beyond was 
 filled with imaginary terrors. The world was 
 supposed to contain only Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa, and a large part of these countries was 
 thought to be uninhabited. For, the mariner to 
 venture too far north was to run the risk of 
 being frozen to death, while to go too far to the 
 southward was " to singe his hair to a crispy 
 wool, and tan his skin to the blackness of a 
 coal." What knowledge there was of distant 
 lands had been gained by travellers overland, 
 priests or missionaries, and merchants of differ- 
 ent countries, who, while exchanging their wares, 
 told of the countries they had seen. One of the 
 greatest of these travellers was Marco Polo, 
 whose accounts of the lands in the far East 
 which he had visited inspired Columbus, one of 
 his own countrymen, with an ardent longing to 
 reach those lands by sea. Although eventually 
 the discoverer of the New World, Columbus 
 was not searching for that. India was his 
 dream, to reach India by the sea was his ab- 
 sorbing thought, and after four voyages to the 
 New World he died in the belief that he had 
 reached the shores of Asia. 
 
 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, 
 Italy, in the year 1435. He came of a race of 
 sailors, and early in life began to follow the sea. 
 For some years he navigated the Mediterranean, 
 
12 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 but; tired at 1'ength'of traversing a body of water 
 30 \yejl; 'kttb'wri,; he; ventured beyond the straits 
 and made a voyage to Iceland. This voyage so 
 far beyond the northern boundaries of Europe 
 gave him hope that navigation farther west might 
 be possible. The great idea of his life now be- 
 gan to take possession of his mind, namely, to 
 sail westward until he should reach the Indies 
 or the famed and mysterious island of Cipango 
 or Japan. Riding the hobby of his one idea he 
 travelled up and down Europe for years, from one 
 kingdom to another, begging assistance. But 
 he was everywhere looked upon as a wild en- 
 thusiast. Finally Queen Isabella of Spain es- 
 poused his cause and declared he should be 
 fitted out with a trial expedition if she were 
 obliged to pawn her jewels to secure the neces- 
 sary funds. After a long and tedious period 
 of waiting, three ships were prepared by the 
 Spanish government, and on the 3d of August, 
 1492, Columbus sailed from the port of Palos 
 with his little squadron. Ten weeks they sailed 
 to the west. Long ere this time had elapsed 
 the sailors had become dissatisfied and uneasy 
 and had begged to return. Daily they grew 
 more frightened as they looked out upon the 
 
 dreary expanse of waters, and at length their 
 dark looks and threatening gestures indicated 
 mutiny. Columbus reluctantly promised to turn 
 if in three days no land was to be seen. Indi- 
 cations of land had been observed by his prac- 
 tised eye, drift-wood and weeds had been seen 
 floating past the ships, and birds were flying in 
 the air. Great joy filled his heart when on the 
 morning of the third day there went up the glad 
 shout " Land ahead !" The terrible anxieties 
 of the past ten weeks were forgotten, and at 
 sunrise on the I2th of October, 1492, Columbus 
 stepped ashore at San Salvador and took pos- 
 session of the land in the name of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella. 
 
 This great discovery of Columbus gave a 
 wonderful impetus to the art of navigation. 
 The seas lost their imaginary terrors, and navi- 
 gators began to traverse the great deep in every 
 direction. The products of different countries 
 became more generally known, and a spirit of 
 commercial enterprise was infused into the 
 nations of Europe. The night of darkness that 
 had lasted for one thousand years was dispelled. 
 A new era dawned upon the civilized nations of 
 the world. 
 
,,/' Chart 
 
 England. 
 
 America. 
 Russia. 
 Germniiy. 
 
 MB Portugal. 
 H France. 
 
 Spain . 
 Mexico. 
 LZH Sweden. 
 Scotland. 
 The Netherlands. 
 Italy: 
 Turkev. 
 
How TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 1505. Ivan III. of Russia died. Kel. Riis., p. 105. 
 1509. Henry VII. of England died; he was succeeded 
 by his son, Henry VIII. Green, Eng., p. 319. 
 
 1512. Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon. 
 
 Rob Am., p. 50; Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 147. 
 
 1513. The Pacific Ocean was discovered by Balboa. 
 
 Rob. Am., \). 51 ; Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 145. 
 1521. Mexico was conquered by Cortes. Rob. Am., p. 
 101 ; Pres. Mex., vol. iii. p. 3. 
 
 1521. Martin Luther was arraigned before the Diet of 
 
 Worms. >' Aub. Ref., vol. ii. p. 231 ; See. Prof. 
 Kef., p. 123. 
 
 1522. Magellan's expedition completed the First voyage 
 
 around the world. Rid. U. S., p. 61 ; A'tts. Mod. 
 ., vol. ii. p. 174. 
 
 1523. Sweden was freed from the Danish yoke by Gustavus 
 
 Vasa. Lard. Cy., S-ved., vol. iii. p. 75 ; Volt. 
 
 Chas. Xff., p. 202. 
 1527. Macchiavelli, the great Italian statesman, died. 
 
 Mac. s.,vo\. i. p. 267; See. Prof. Ref., p. 75. 
 1530. Cardinal Wolsey died. Green, Eng., p. 330. 
 
 1534. The Church of England separated from the Church 
 
 of Rome. See. Prot. Ref., p. 171; Ling. Eng., 
 vol. vi. p. 203. 
 
 1535. Sir Thomas More was beheaded. Hume, Eng., 
 
 vol. iii. ch xxxi. ; Ling. Eng., vol. vi. p. 224. 
 1541. The Mississippi River was discovered by De Soto. 
 
 Bry. U. S., vol. i. 
 
 1543. Copernicus, the great astronomer, died. 
 1547. Henry VIII. of England died; he was succeeded 
 
 by his son, Edward VI. Froude, Eng., vol. iv. p. 
 
 478 ; Green, Eng. 
 1547. Francis I. of France died ; he was succeeded by his 
 
 son, Henry II. Giiiz. France, chaps, xxiv., xxviii., 
 
 XXX. 
 
 1553. Edward VI. of England died ; he was succeeded 
 
 by his sister Mary. Green, Eng.; Froude, Eng., 
 
 vol. v. 
 1558. Mary I. of England died ; she was succeeded by 
 
 her sister Elizabeth. Froude, Eng., vol. vi. ; 
 
 Green, Eng. 
 1558. Charles V. of Germany died. Pres. Chas. V., vol. 
 
 iii. p. 493. 
 1566. The Iconoclasts destroyed the images in the 
 
 churches throughout the Netherlands. Alot. D. 
 
 Rep., vol. i. p. 551. 
 1566. Soliman the Magnificent died, and the Ottoman 
 
 empire began to decline. Creas. Cf. T., p. 196; 
 
 Block. T., p. 73. 
 
 1571. The Turkish fleet was defeated at Lepanto by the 
 
 allied fleets of Spain and Venice. Pres. Phil. If., 
 vol. iii. p. 340. 
 
 1572. The Huguenots were massacred throughout France 
 
 on St. Bartholomew's Day. White, St. Bart. ; 
 
 Guiz. France, ch. xxxiii. ; Froude, Eng., vol. x. p. 
 
 405 ; Baird, Hugue., vol. ii. 
 1574. The Prince of Orange raised the siege of Leyden 
 
 by piercing the dikes in the surrounding coumry. 
 
 Mot. D. Rep., vol. ii. p. 551. 
 1580. Portugal was annexed to Spain by Philip II. 
 
 Lard. Cy , Spain and Port., vol. v. p. 212. 
 1587. Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded. Fronde, 
 
 Eng., vol. xii. p. 360. 
 1580. Henry III. of France was assassinated and his 
 
 cousin, Henry IV., became king. Guiz. France, 
 
 ch. xxxiv. 
 
 1598. Philip II. of Spain died. Pres. Phil. II.; Mot. 
 
 Neth., vol. iii. p. 503. 
 
 1599. Edmund Spenser, author of the " Faerie Queene," 
 
 died. Green, Eng., p. 423. 
 
 13 
 
HISTORIC SKETCHES. 
 
 1505. Death of Ivan III. 
 
 RUSSIA was inhabited from time immemorial 
 by numerous barbarous tribes that owed 
 no common bond of union. Of these the Scyth- 
 ians, the Slavonians, and the Finns were the chief. 
 The history of these tribes is full of uncertainty 
 until the ninth century, when Rurik, a Baltic 
 chieftain who had been invited to protect the 
 great commercial city of Novgorod against for- 
 eign aggression, took possession of the republic 
 and portioned out its cities among his followers. 
 The empire of Russia thus founded was rapidly 
 enlarged by his successor, who removed the 
 capital to Kief. 
 
 In the thirteenth century Russia was con- 
 quered by the Tartars, and during two and a 
 half centuries the Russian sovereigns held their 
 dominions at the will of the khan of the Tar- 
 tars, to whom they were compelled to make oc- 
 casional visits to sue for the right of governing. 
 These journeys consumed a year's time, and on 
 their arrival at the court of the khan the Russians 
 were treated in the most insulting manner, being 
 allowed to present their petitions to the Tartar 
 chief only when prostrate at his feet. The Tar- 
 tar invasion threw Russia more than two hun- 
 dred years behind the civilization of the other 
 states of Europe. From this period until the 
 reign of Ivan III. Russian history is a chaos. 
 
 Ivan III., surnamed the Great, who ascended 
 the throne in 1462, sought to raise his throne to 
 an equality with the proudest in Europe, to be 
 independent outside of his dominions and auto- 
 crat within. He married Sophia, daughter of the 
 last Greek emperor. With this haughty princess 
 the customs and ceremonies of the court of Con- 
 stantinople and its novel pageantries were intro- 
 14 
 
 duced at Moscow.* About this time the palace 
 of the Kremlin was built. Architects, engineers, 
 miners, minters, and other skilful workmen were 
 drawn to Russia by promise of liberal reward. 
 By them cannon were manufactured and silver 
 and copper money was coined. 
 
 Ivan III. repelled two Tartar invasions of the 
 country. In 1480, his brave allies, the Crims 
 and Cossacks, drove back a third invasion, and 
 Russia was freed from the galling Asiatic yoke. 
 
 He died in 1505. During his reign of forty- 
 three years he enhanced the material greatness 
 of his country. But there was no moral element 
 in all his despotic grandeur, and little was done 
 to promote the best interests of the Russian 
 people. 
 
 1509. Death of Henry VII. Accession of 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 The reign of Henry VII. may be considered 
 the beginning of the history of modern England. 
 
 During the long and bloody Wars of the 
 Roses,f which closed with Henry's accession to 
 the throne, the old feudal nobility was almost 
 destroyed, and from the ranks of the peasantry 
 there gradually arose a middle class of farmers 
 
 * The capital of Russia was changed from Kief to Moscow 
 during the reign of Ivan I., in the fourteenth century. 
 
 f The Wars of the Roses were caused by the rival claims 
 of the houses of York and Lancaster to the throne of Eng- 
 land, and were so named from the badges worn bythe con- 
 tending parties, that of York being the white rose, that of 
 Lancaster the red rose. During the wars, which lasted from 
 1455 to 1485, one Lancastrian king, Henry VI., and three 
 Yorkist kings, Edward IV., Edward V., and Richaid III., 
 occupied successively the throne. At the battle of Bosworth 
 Field (1485) Richard III. was slain and Henry VII. of Lan- 
 caster was offered the crown. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 and merchants, the future backbone of the 
 English nation. Through the newly-discovered 
 art of printing, books were now circulated among 
 the people, and men began to read for themselves 
 and assume some independence of thought. 
 
 Henry VII. was only indirectly sprung from 
 the House of Lancaster, and his title was none 
 of the clearest, but his marriage with Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Edward IV. of York, united the 
 rival houses and placed him for the time se- 
 curely upon the throne. He was not without 
 rivals, however. The most dangerous were two 
 nephews of Edward IV., the young Earl of 
 Warwick and John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln. 
 Warwick was immediately shut up in the Tower 
 of London. Lincoln, who paid homage to the 
 new king and appeared to be devoted to his 
 cause, remained at liberty. 
 
 But Henry was not destined to reign in peace. 
 In the second year of his reign a rumor was 
 circulated that the Earl of Warwick had es- 
 caped from the Tower. A handsome youth 
 named Lambert Simnel was chosen to person- 
 ate him. This impostor, having announced 
 that he was the young earl, was taken to 
 Dublin and there proclaimed king under the 
 title of Edward VI. The Earl of Lincoln now 
 deserted the king's cause and joined Simnel at 
 Dublin. Henry at once exhibited in public the 
 real Earl of Warwick, and thus prevented the 
 insurrection from spreading in England. The 
 adherents of the impostor landed in Lancashire, 
 but they were defeated by the king's troops and 
 Simnel was taken prisoner. Lincoln was killed 
 in the battle. To show his contempt for his 
 foe Henry pardoned Simnel and placed him as 
 scullion in the royal kitchen. 
 
 Some years later a new pretender appeared. 
 He professed to be Richard, Duke of York, the 
 younger of the two sons of Edward IV. who were 
 murdered in the Tower in 1483. This youth, 
 whose real name was Perkin Warbeck, found 
 great allies and supporters. His claims were 
 recognized by the Kings of France and Scot- 
 
 land and by the Duchess of Burgundy, sister 
 of Edward IV., who looked upon him as her 
 nephew. After various adventures in Ireland, 
 Scotland, and France, Warbeck assumed the 
 title of Richard IV. and unfurled his standard 
 in Cornwall. He raised an army of six thou- 
 sand men, but on the eve of battle with the 
 king's troops his heart failed him, and, leaving 
 his army to take care of itself, he fled to the 
 sanctuary of Beaulieu. The rebels were soon 
 dispersed and Warbeck was induced to throw 
 himself upon the king's mercy. Henry com- 
 pelled him to make a full confession of his im- 
 posture. This was published, and Warbeck was 
 then placed in close custody. Attempting to es- 
 cape, he was thrown into the Tower of London. 
 There he made the acquaintance of the unfortu- 
 nate Earl of Warwick, who had spent nearly all 
 his life in prison for no fault except that he was 
 of royal blood. The pair formed a plan of es- 
 cape, but it was discovered, and both were put 
 to death (1499). The execution of the Earl of 
 Warwick was the only violent and cruel act of 
 Henry's reign. 
 
 At last Henry was settled safely upon the 
 throne. His attention was now devoted to the 
 accumulation of money, to secure which he re- 
 sorted to most unjust exactions and extortions. 
 Towards the end of his reign he got two griping 
 and cunning lawyers, Empson and Dudley, to 
 help him. They raked up all sorts of old and 
 obsolete laws and pretexts for extorting money 
 from the people, and made themselves cordially 
 hated by everybody but the king, whose coffers 
 they were filling. 
 
 Henry took great pains to lessen the power 
 of the nobles, for he was determined to have no 
 more noblemen like the Earl of Warwick of 
 Edward IV.'s time, who could make or unmake 
 kings at his pleasure. He passed a law allow- 
 ing the nobles to sell their estates. Hitherto 
 when an estate was in " entail" it was fixed to a 
 particular line of heirs, who had no power to sell 
 or bequeath it to any other persons. Now the 
 
i6 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 middle classes who had money gladly bought 
 these estates from nobles burdened with debt, 
 and thus rose in importance. 
 
 The great event of this age was the discovery 
 of the New World. Although this was accom- 
 plished by the Spanish under Columbus, the 
 main-land of North America was discovered 
 through English enterprise in 1497, when Se- 
 bastian Cabot, a Venetian sent out by Henry 
 VII., touched at Labrador. 
 
 Throughout his entire reign Henry maintained 
 peaceful relations with foreign countries ; and he 
 cemented these alliances by making prudent mar- 
 riages for his children. His eldest son, Arthur, 
 married Catherine, daughter of Ferdinand of 
 Spain, and his eldest daughter, Margaret, be- 
 came the wife of the King of Scotland. Mo- 
 mentous events afterwards grew out of both 
 these marriages. 
 
 Henry died in 1509. He left in his treasury 
 one million eight hundred thousand pounds, 
 a prodigious sum of money if estimated at its 
 present value. His great vice was avarice, but 
 on his death-bed he felt some compunctions for 
 the means he had employed in amassing his 
 great wealth, and he enjoined upon his son to 
 restore the money to those from whom it had 
 been unjustly extorted. 
 
 Arthur, the Prince of Wales, having died sev- 
 eral years previous, Henry was succeeded by his 
 second son, Henry VIII., a youth of eighteen. 
 
 1512. Discovery of Florida. 
 
 After the discovery of America in 1492, in- 
 numerable expeditions were made to the New 
 World by the maritime nations of Europe. The 
 Spaniards were for a time foremost in these voy- 
 ages of discovery. They established colonies 
 in the West India Islands and discovered the 
 main-land of South America, but made no at- 
 tempt to explore the main-land of North Amer- 
 ica. At length, in 1512, Juan Ponce de Leon, 
 
 the Spanish governor of Porto Rico, fitted out 
 three ships at his own expense for a voyage of 
 discovery and adventure. He had grown rich 
 in his office at Porto Rico, but he had grown 
 old too, and it was in the hope of finding on 
 one of the Bahama Islands a fountain which, 
 according to a tradition among the natives of 
 Porto Rico, would restore youth and vigor to 
 the most decrepit and enfeebled who bathed in 
 its waters, that Ponce set out upon his voyage. 
 
 After searching for some time through these 
 islands for the wonderful fountain, but all in 
 vain, Ponce sailed northwest and discovered 
 a country hitherto unknown to the Spaniards. 
 Landing a short distance north of the spot 
 where St. Augustine, the oldest town of the 
 United States, was afterwards founded, he 
 claimed the country for the King of Spain and 
 named it Florida, either from the abundance 
 of flowers with which the forests were adorned 
 or (more probably) because of the day on which 
 the discovery was made, Easter Sunday, the 
 Spanish Feast of Flowers, Pascua Florida. 
 
 The unsuccessful search for the Fountain of 
 Youth was continued. Turning southward, the 
 adventurers explored the coast for many leagues, 
 discovered the Tortugas Islands, and finally 
 sailed back to Porto Rico, without having found 
 the fountain, and no younger than when they 
 started out. 
 
 1513. Discovery of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Soon after the discovery of Florida, one of 
 much greater importance was made in another 
 part of America. The Spaniards had planted 
 upon the Isthmus of Darien their first continen- 
 tal colony in 1510. Enciso, the first governor, 
 was soon deposed, and Vasco Nunez de Balboa 
 was raised by his associates to the government 
 of the small colony. He at once despatched 
 one of his officers to Spain to secure the royal 
 commission, without which he had no legal title 
 to the supreme command. Anxious to merit 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 this dignity in the eyes of the king, Balboa made 
 frequent inroads into the adjacent country, sub- 
 dued several of the caciques, or chiefs, and col- 
 lected a considerable quantity of gold. On one 
 of these excursions a young chief told him that 
 at the distance of six suns (i.e., six days' journey), 
 towards the south they should discover another 
 ocean, near to which was gold in immense quan- 
 tities. 
 
 Balboa immediately concluded that this was 
 the ocean for which Columbus had searched in 
 vain, and he was elated with the idea of perform- 
 ing what that great man had failed to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 The Isthmus of Darien is not above seventy 
 miles in breadth. It contains a chain of lofty 
 mountains, which are covered with forests 
 almost impenetrable, while the valleys are so 
 marshy that the Indians sometimes found it 
 necessary to build their houses upon trees. 
 To march through this unexplored country 
 with no other guides than Indians whose 
 fidelity could be little trusted was the boldest 
 enterprise on which the Spaniards had hitherto 
 ventured in the New World. 
 
 Balboa set out upon this important expedition 
 in September, 1513, accompanied by one hun- 
 dred and ninety Spaniards and one thousand 
 Indians. On their advance into the interior 
 they were opposed by the natives, who carried 
 off or destroyed whatever could afford subsist- 
 ence to the troops. When they had penetrated 
 a good way into the mountains, a powerful ca- 
 cique appeared with a large number of his sub- 
 jects to oppose their progress. The Spaniards, 
 however, attacked and dispersed them, and, 
 nothing daunted, moved on. 
 
 Instead of reaching the sea in six days, they 
 had now spent twenty-five days in forcing their 
 way through the woods and mountains. Many 
 of the soldiers began to fail under such uninter- 
 rupted fatigues and some were taken ill. At 
 length the Indians assured them that from the 
 top of the next mountain they should discover 
 
 the ocean. When with infinite toil they had 
 climbed up the greater part of that steep ascent, 
 Balboa commanded his men to halt, and he ad- 
 vanced alone to the summit. There at last he 
 beheld the South Sea stretching in endless pros- 
 pect below, and, falling on his knees, he returned 
 thanks to God. His followers then rushed for- 
 ward to join in his exultation and gratitude. 
 With alacrity they descended to the sea-shore, 
 and Balboa, advancing into the water, sword in 
 hand, took possession of the ocean in the name 
 of the King of Spain. 
 
 After extorting provisions and gold from the 
 chiefs in the neighborhood, the Spaniards re- 
 turned to the colony at Santa Maria by a differ- 
 ent route, but one equally difficult and danger- 
 ous, arriving home after an absence of four 
 months. 
 
 Balboa immediately sent word to Spain of the 
 important discovery he had made. Instead of 
 rewarding him for his great service Ferdinand 
 ungenerously removed him from the command 
 of the colony. Subsequently the king saw the 
 imprudence of thus superseding the most active 
 and experienced officer in the New World, and 
 he conferred upon Balboa new privileges and 
 authority. Balboa now began to prepare for 
 an expedition to the South Sea, but just as he 
 was ready to sail he was seized by Pedrarias 
 Davila, the new governor, and put to death. 
 Pedrarias was never punished for this unwar- 
 rantable crime. 
 
 1521. Conquest of Mexico. 
 
 The earliest inhabitants of Anahuac, after- 
 wards called Mexico, of whom we have any 
 knowledge were the Toltecs, a partly-civilized 
 race who came from the north in the seventh 
 century. These Toltecs emigrated to Central 
 America in the eleventh century. 
 
 The Aztecs, or Mexicans, came from the 
 northwest into the country which now bears 
 their name about 1200 A.D. This fierce race 
 
iS 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 soon conquered the tribes around them, until 
 at the beginning of the sixteenth century the 
 Aztec empire under Montezuma reached across 
 the continent from the Gulf of Mexico to the 
 Pacific. The Aztecs engrafted upon the civili- 
 zation of their predecessors many cruel and bar- 
 barous practices. They sacrificed human beings 
 to their false gods with the most revolting cere- 
 monies. But they were skilful agriculturists. 
 They manufactured cloth. They wrought the 
 precious metals into exquisite designs and forms. 
 Their capital city, Tenochtitlan, or Mexico, 
 founded in 1325 upon islands in the Lake of 
 Tezcuco, was adorned with lofty and imposing 
 temples. 
 
 Such was the condition of Mexico when, in 
 1518, a Spanish squadron commanded by Juan 
 de Grijalva discovered the country. When 
 Grijalva returned to Cuba without having at- 
 tempted the settlement of Mexico, Hernando 
 Cortes was given command of an expedition 
 for the subjugation of the country. Cortes was 
 cruel, unprincipled, and avaricious, but he was 
 also energetic and fearless. 
 
 In 1519 he landed upon the shores of Mexico 
 with about six hundred Spaniards, a dozen 
 horses, and ten small cannon. He soon heard 
 of the native sovereign Montezuma, that he 
 reigned over an extensive empire and that his 
 riches were immense. The cupidity of the 
 Spaniards was aroused by these reports, and 
 they set out immediately for Mexico, the resi- 
 dence of Montezuma. 
 
 Their progress inland was opposed by the 
 republic of Tlascala, but after several battles, 
 in which the Tlascalans were beaten, the latter 
 concluded a treaty with Cortes and offered to 
 march with him to Mexico, in hope of an op- 
 portunity to avenge the wrongs they had suf- 
 fered at the hands of the Aztecs. Accompanied 
 by several thousands of his new allies, Cortes 
 arrived at Mexico in November, 1519: He was 
 kindly received by ' Montezuma, who looked 
 upon the Spaniards with their smooth, fair skin 
 
 as of divine origin. Soon perceiving that he 
 had pushed forward into a situation where it 
 was difficult to continue, and anxious to carry 
 out his idea of conquering the country, Cortes 
 determined upon the bold plan of seizing Monte- 
 zuma and carrying him prisoner to the Spanish 
 quarters. Relying upon the implicit obedience 
 of the Mexicans to their monarch's will, he ex- 
 pected soon to obtain control of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Accordingly, one day when alone with the 
 Spaniards, Montezuma was ordered, under 
 threat of instant death if he made a sign or 
 a cry for help, to go with the Spaniards to 
 their quarters as their guest for a time, and 
 to inform his subjects that he went of his own 
 free will. Without a murmur the fallen mon- 
 arch did as he was commanded, and was con- 
 veyed in silent pomp to the Spanish quarters, 
 ostensibly their guest, in reality a close pris- 
 oner. The only explanation that can be made 
 of Montezuma's strange conduct is that he be- 
 lieved the strangers to be of supernatural origin 
 and thought it useless to disobey their com- 
 mands. 
 
 At this critical juncture Cortes heard that an 
 armament had been sent by the jealous gov- 
 ernor of Cuba to displace him. Leaving about 
 two hundred Spaniards in Mexico to guard 
 Montezuma, Cortes marched to meet the ex- 
 pedition, captured Narvaez, the leader, and en- 
 listed his followers in his own cause. With 
 his new recruits he returned to Mexico to 
 find the people in insurrection. Realizing at 
 last the intentions of the Spaniards, the Mexi- 
 cans had risen against them, and failing to in- 
 duce Montezuma to return to their protection, 
 they killed him as he was attempting to address 
 them from the ramparts of the Spanish quarters. 
 The Spaniards were now furiously attacked. 
 After most desperate fighting, in which more 
 than half the little army perished, the re- 
 mainder made good their escape from the city. 
 They retreated at once towards Tlascala. On 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 the way they were confronted by a large army 
 of Mexicans, with whom they fought a hotly- 
 contested battle. The overpowering numbers 
 of the enemy seemed on the point of winning 
 the victory, when the Mexican general was 
 killed, and his army fled panic-stricken to the 
 mountains. The victorious Spaniards reached 
 the Tlascalan territory the next day. 
 
 After recruiting their strength, they collected 
 an auxiliary native army, reduced the neigh- 
 boring provinces, and returned to lay siege to 
 Mexico. The inhabitants made a gallant de- 
 fence under their new emperor, Guatemozin; 
 but after a siege of seventy-five days they were 
 compelled to surrender (August 13, 1521). 
 Guatemozin was put to death, and Mexico be- 
 came a Spanish province. 
 
 Cortes was made governor, but subsequently 
 he was deprived of much of his power through 
 the jealousy of his enemies in Spain, and, like 
 many other of the explorers of the New World, 
 finally died in solitude and neglect. 
 
 1521. Martin Luther. 
 
 Martin Luther, the leader of the German 
 Reformation, was born at Eisleben, Saxony, in 
 1483. He was educated at the University of 
 Erfurt, graduating in 1505. His father desired 
 him to enter the legal profession, but Luther 
 made up his mind to become a monk, and 
 accordingly entered the Augustine convent at 
 Erfurt. He had not been in the convent long 
 when he was prevailed upon to accept a profes- 
 sorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here 
 he lectured upon Greek philosophy and upon 
 religion. 
 
 In 1516 a Dominican monk named Tetzel 
 travelled through Germany selling indulgences, 
 papers which he said would remit the sins of 
 all who purchased them. Luther, hearing of 
 the matter, wrote a book denouncing the sale 
 of these indulgences, and a great controversy 
 
 ensued. At length he was summoned to appear 
 before the emperor, Charles V., at Worms, to 
 answer the charges that had been preferred 
 against him. 
 
 Luther gives a brief but characteristic account 
 of the proceedings at Worms. " Are the books 
 yours ?" " Yes." " Will you revoke or not ?" 
 " No." " Get you gone, then." 
 
 Friends in disguise seized him on his home- 
 ward journey and carried him to the Wartburg 
 Castle, where he lived in safe retirement nearly 
 a year. 
 
 There he employed his time in translating the 
 Bible into German. This work was not entirely 
 completed until 1534. 
 
 The Diet of Worms published an edict de- 
 nouncing Luther as a heretic, and from that 
 time he was irrevocably separated from the 
 Church of Rome. After his return to Witten- 
 berg he continued to write and teach the doc- 
 trines of the Reformation until his death, which 
 occurred in 1546. 
 
 1522. The First Voyage around the World. 
 
 Among the daring enterprises which marked 
 the beginning of the sixteenth century, that of 
 Ferdinand Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portu- 
 guese navigator, is worthy of special mention. 
 
 This bold man determined to discover a south- 
 west passage to Asia, which he believed would 
 be shorter and less dangerous than the route 
 by way of the Cape of Good Hope. With this 
 object in view he appealed to King Emmanuel 
 of Portugal for assistance, but the king listened 
 coldly and gave no encouragement. Incensed 
 at this treatment, Magellan went to Spain and 
 laid his plans before Charles V. The emperor 
 was favorably impressed with the project, and 
 ordered a fleet of five ships to be fitted out for 
 Magellan's use. 
 
 In August, 1519, Magellan sailed from Seville 
 with his little squadron. Touching at the 
 
20 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Canary Islands, he sailed west to Brazil, and 
 spent the autumn in searching every bay and 
 inlet for the expected communication with the 
 southern ocean. In January, 1520, he reached 
 the Rio de la Plata. After sailing up this 
 stream for some days, he concluded, from the 
 freshness of the water and the shallowness of 
 the stream, that the wished-for strait could not 
 be there. He accordingly turned back and 
 continued his course towards the south. 
 
 The Spaniards now began to suffer excessively 
 from the rigors of the climate. The crews of 
 three ships mutinied and insisted on returning 
 to Spain. Magellan succeeded in suppressing 
 this dangerous insurrection, and the southward 
 voyage was continued. At length he discovered 
 the mouth of a strait, into which he entered, in 
 spite of the murmurs and remonstrances of his 
 men. After sailing twenty days in that winding 
 and dangerous channel to which he gave his 
 own name, the great southern ocean opened to 
 his view. Meantime one of the ships had de- 
 serted, but, encouraged by his great discovery, 
 Magellan sailed into the ocean, taking a north- 
 west course through the limitless expanse of 
 waters. Nearly four months passed before they 
 saw land again. The crews suffered consider- 
 ably from want of water and scarcity of pro- 
 visions. The weather, however, continued fair 
 and beautiful, with such favorable winds that 
 Magellan bestowed on the ocean the name of 
 Pacific, by which it has since been known. 
 
 At length, in March, they reached a group 
 of small islands, where they found abundance 
 of delicious fruit. From these islands, which 
 Magellan called Ladrones (robbers) from the 
 thieving propensities of the natives, he sailed 
 westward and made the more important discov- 
 ery of the islands now called Philippines. Here, 
 during an attack made upon them by the natives, 
 Magellan and several of his officers were killed. 
 The crews chose a new captain, and the voyage 
 was continued. 
 
 After touching at Borneo and a number of the 
 
 small islands in the vicinity they reached the 
 Moluccas, the objective-point of the expedi- 
 tion. The Portuguese on the islands were much 
 astonished that the Spaniards had arrived there 
 by holding a westerly course, and they listened 
 to the story of their adventures with breathless 
 interest. 
 
 When ready to return home, the Spaniards 
 found that only one ship was fit for the long 
 voyage. Taking on a cargo of precious spices, 
 they sailed in this vessel January, 1522. This 
 time they followed the course of the Portuguese 
 by the Cape of Good Hope, and after many dis- 
 asters arrived safely in Spain in September. 
 
 The circumnavigation of the globe, long be- 
 lieved an impossibility, had thus been accom- 
 plished. Though an untimely fate deprived 
 Magellan of the satisfaction of completing this 
 great undertaking himself, his contemporaries, 
 just to his memory and talents, ascribed to him 
 not only the honor of having formed the plan, 
 but of having surmounted almost every obstacle 
 to its completion. 
 
 1523. Liberation of Sweden by Gustavus 
 Vasa. 
 
 The Scandinavian nations, Norway, Sweden, 
 and Denmark, were united in the latter part of 
 the fourteenth century under the rule of Mar- 
 garet, Queen of Denmark. The sovereigns of 
 Denmark continued their sway over the three 
 countries until the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, when Sweden was freed through the 
 patriotic exertions of Gustavus Vasa, a young 
 Swedish nobleman. 
 
 The first attempt of Gustavus to rouse the 
 peasants to revolt was unsuccessful. The King 
 of Denmark, Christian II., surnamed the Tyrant, 
 set a price upon Gustavus's head and threatened 
 death to any who should assist him. Gustavus 
 fled to the mountains of Dalecarlia, where he 
 worked as a miner and wood-cutter until he 
 deemed the time ripe for his enterprise. Then 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 21 
 
 making himself known to the peasantry and 
 miners, his remarkable eloquence aroused in 
 them the spirit of independence, and six hun- 
 dred men took up arms against their Danish 
 oppressors. The insurrection spread with great 
 rapidity, and the Danes were speedily driven 
 from the kingdom. Gustavus was elected king, 
 and by his wise administration raised his coun- 
 try to an honorable rank among the nations of 
 Europe. 
 
 1527. Macchiavelli. 
 
 Niccolo Macchiavelli, an Italian author and 
 statesman, was born in Florence in 1469. His 
 father was a lawyer, his mother a poetess. In 
 1498, Niccolo was appointed secretary of the 
 " Ten," the body of magistrates to whom the 
 supreme government of the republic was in- 
 trusted. The position of Florence at that period 
 was one of great importance, and her relations 
 to the chief powers of Europe required the 
 highest qualities of statesmanship. Macchia- 
 velli's talents in this direction developed rapidly. 
 He was sent on numerous embassies to foreign 
 countries, and was employed in various commis- 
 sions to the cities dependent on Florence. His 
 correspondence with the government of the 
 Florentine republic during these missions was 
 very extensive, and his despatches are models 
 of diplomatic style. They form one of the 
 most instructive and entertaining collections of 
 state papers ever published. 
 
 In the latter part of his life he was accused 
 of being concerned in a conspiracy against Car- 
 dinal de Medici, afterwards Pope Leo X. He 
 was thrown into prison, but soon after the ac- 
 cession of Leo X. he obtained his freedom and 
 gradually returned to public life. His last em- 
 ployment was in the army of the league against 
 Charles V. He died on his return to Florence 
 in 1527. 
 
 Of the writings of Macchiavelli the most cele- 
 brated is " Del Principe," " The Prince." This 
 
 work is upon methods of controlling the gov- 
 ernment of a nation, and until quite recently 
 was condemned as designed to teach the vilest 
 arts of despotism. Scarcely any book of an- 
 cient or modern times has been so violently 
 assailed. That synonyme for the devil, " Old 
 Nic," was coined out of Macchiavelli's Christian 
 name by the English as an expression of the 
 light in which they regarded him and his 
 writings. 
 
 The researches of modern Italian scholars 
 have in some measure vindicated the name of 
 Macchiavelli from the opprobrium heaped upon it. 
 
 1530. Cardinal "Wolsey. 
 
 Among the many celebrated men who flour- 
 ished during the reign of Henry VIII. none was 
 more remarkable than Thomas Wolsey, who, 
 from being a butcher's son, rose to the dignity 
 of lord chancellor of the kingdom. He was 
 born at Ipswich in 1471. Graduating at Oxford 
 when only fifteen years of age, he was known 
 all through the university as the " Boy Bache- 
 lor." His talents and industry soon attracted 
 the notice of the king (Henry VII.), who gave 
 him a chaplaincy in the royal household and 
 subsequently made him Dean of Lincoln. 
 
 When Henry VIII. came to the throne Wol- 
 sey became one of his counsellors. Henry was 
 young and fond of pleasure, Wolsey was fond 
 of work, and he was shrewd enough to see that 
 the best way to win the king's favor was by 
 helping Henry to indulge his tastes. So Wolsey 
 attended to the affairs of state, relieved Henry 
 from all care and responsibility, and gave him 
 abundant opportunity to amuse himself. The re- 
 sult was that Wolsey obtained enormous power, 
 and for fifteen years was complete master of the 
 kingdom. He became not only lord chancellor 
 and Archbishop of York, but he was made a 
 cardinal by the pope, and he hoped to be pope 
 himself by and by. 
 
22 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 He now began to live in splendid style. In 
 his household he had not less than five hundred 
 retainers, doctors, chaplains, and choristers in- 
 numerable, and servants of all degrees. When- 
 ever he went out to ride his cardinal's hat was 
 borne before him by a gentleman of rank, while 
 the ushers going down the hall cried out, " On 
 before, my lords and masters, on before, and 
 make way for my Lord Cardinal." Then when 
 he came to the door he mounted a mule trapped 
 in crimson velvet, with a velvet saddle and gilt 
 stirrups. With this display he went through the 
 streets followed by a great train of nobles and 
 gentlemen, and the people, from whose ranks he 
 had risen, were mightily pleased with all this 
 pomp and splendor. 
 
 But this glory was not to last. The king had 
 begun to talk about a divorce from Queen Cath- 
 erine. From motives of policy, Wolsey at first 
 approved of the step (to further his own schemes 
 he wanted Henry to marry a French princess), 
 and he gave the king assurance that the divorce 
 should be secured. But the pope, in a dilemma 
 between his desire to please Henry and his fear 
 of Charles V., the nephew of Queen Catherine, 
 delayed his answer from time to time. Henry 
 became very impatient. 
 
 But Wolsey's plans all came to naught. Even 
 before the pope was asked for the divorce Henry 
 informed the cardinal that he intended to marry 
 Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honor. 
 The French princess was not to be thought of. 
 In deep disappointment Wolsey retired from the 
 royal presence, and from that moment he secretly 
 opposed the divorce. Months passed and still 
 no decision of the matter was given. Henry 
 began to suspect that his minister was playing 
 a double part and that he was responsible for 
 this delay. In great anger he deprived Wolsey 
 of the seals of office and banished him in dis- 
 grace to his see of York. Hardly a year had 
 passed when he was summoned to London on a 
 charge of high treason. On his journey sick- 
 ness seized him, and he was forced to rest at 
 
 Leicester Abbey. Already broken-hearted by 
 his fall, he felt that he was dying, and as he re- 
 viewed his past life he turned to his attendant 
 and said, mournfully, " Had I but served God as 
 diligently as I have served the king, He would 
 not have given me over in my gray hairs." 
 
 In the days of his prosperity Wolsey was a 
 liberal patron of literature and the arts. He 
 built a college at his native town of Ipswich, 
 endowed seven lectureships at Oxford, and 
 founded there the splendid college of Christ 
 Church. 
 
 1534. The English Reformation. 
 
 The English Reformation as brought about 
 by Henry VIII. was at first only a question of 
 power and authority, and not one of religion and 
 faith. It was not until the next reign that the 
 real doctrines of Protestantism began to take a 
 firm hold upon the people. 
 
 When Henry found that the pope did not in- 
 tend to grant him a divorce from Queen Cath- 
 erine, he determined to have it in spite of the 
 papal power. Previous to this time he had no 
 thought of breaking with the Church of Rome. 
 He had been a zealous Catholic, and had even 
 written a book against the doctrines of Luther, 
 for which the pope had given him the title of 
 " Defender of the Faith." But Henry loved his 
 own will more than anything else, and he was 
 bound to have his way. 
 
 Two new advisers helped him greatly towards 
 the accomplishment of his purposes, Cranmer, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas Crom- 
 well, the new prime minister. Cromwell pro- 
 posed the bold plan of proclaiming Henry head 
 of the Church in England and of obtaining a 
 divorce from his own ecclesiastical courts. The 
 matter was at once laid before Parliament, and 
 Lords and Commons declared that the pope 
 should have no more authority in England, and 
 that the king was supreme head both of Church 
 and State (1534). A court of English bishops, 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 presided over by Cranmer, immediately granted 
 the long-coveted divorce. 
 
 The execution of Sir Thomas More and 
 Bishop Fisher the following year was the occa- 
 sion of the final breach with Rome, and from 
 that time the Church of England had a separate 
 existence. 
 
 1535. Sir Thomas More. 
 
 Sir Thomas More, an English statesman, phi- 
 losopher, and author, was born in 1480. He was 
 one of the most learned men of his time. While 
 studying at Oxford he became acquainted with 
 Colet and Erasmus, two Greek scholars of note, 
 and the three became fast friends. Their efforts 
 to bring about reforms both in learning and in 
 religion won for them the name of the Oxford 
 Reformers. 
 
 After More left the university he took up the 
 practice of law in London. He soon rose to 
 great eminence in his profession and became a 
 member of Parliament. Henry VIII. made him 
 one of his counsellors and sent him on various 
 diplomatic missions. After the fall of Wolsey, 
 More became lord chancellor of the kingdom, 
 but soon foreseeing that the measures of the 
 king and Parliament would lead to a breach 
 with the Church of Rome and to an alteration 
 of religion which he could not accept, he re- 
 signed his office, after a brief ministry of two 
 years (1532). 
 
 More's silent disapproval of the king's course 
 was 'especially galling to Henry's new adviser, 
 Thomas Cromwell, through whose influence 
 many of the changes, both political and relig- 
 ious, were being carried out. Through Crom- 
 well's influence More was required to swear 
 allegiance to the Act of Succession, which 
 sanctioned Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn 
 and made the divorce from Catherine valid. 
 This oath More would not take, for he did not 
 believe that the divorce and remarriage were 
 valid. He was at once committed to the 
 
 Tower, where he remained a prisoner more 
 than a year. At length he was brought to 
 trial on the ground that he had refused to ac- 
 knowledge the king's supremacy as head of 
 the Church. As More himself expected, he 
 was condemned to death. When told that the 
 king as an act of favor had commuted his sen- 
 tence from burning to decapitation, he remarked 
 with his usual facetiousness, " God preserve all 
 my friends from such favors." 
 
 On the scaffold his cheerfulness never once 
 forsook him. As the fatal stroke was about to 
 descend he moved aside his beard, saying, " Pity 
 that should be cut, for it never committed trea- 
 son." More declared that he died a faithful 
 subject of the king and a true Catholic before 
 God. So perished the foremost Englishman of 
 his age. 
 
 As an author More is chiefly famous for his 
 charming work called " Utopia," or the Land of 
 Nowhere. It describes an imaginary common- 
 wealth where everybody has a pleasant home, 
 no one works too hard, no one quarrels about 
 religion, every one can read and write, and the 
 king rules to make his people safe, wise, and 
 happy. This book is the embodiment of his 
 ideal of government, education, and social life. 
 
 1541. Discovery of the Mississippi River. 
 
 Ferdinand de Soto was a Spanish adventurer 
 sent out by the Spanish government to be gov- 
 ernor of Cuba and Florida, and with authority 
 to make whatever discoveries he pleased in the 
 New World. De Soto had previously been in 
 Peru with Pizarro, the famous or infamous con- 
 queror of that unhappy land. 
 
 In 1539 De Soto left Spain with a squadron 
 of ten vessels. Touching at Cuba in June, he 
 left his wife to govern in his absence, and then 
 sailed onward to Florida, anchoring in Tampa 
 Bay. He then began his march into the inte- 
 rior, through swamps, across rivers, and gener- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ally fighting the Indians instead of trying to win 
 their friendship. By these measures the Span- 
 iards succeeded in making deadly foes of those 
 whose lands they traversed, and finally, at the 
 close of a great battle with the Indians, De Soto 
 and his men found themselves without provisions 
 and without baggage. 
 
 After enduring great hardships, which they 
 richly deserved, they succeeded in getting fresh 
 supplies from their fleet, and they continued their 
 journey westward. Led by a few friendly In- 
 dians, they reached the Mississippi River in the 
 spring of 1541. To the west of the river they 
 found the Indians in a measure civilized. But 
 Spanish greed and Spanish cruelty had no re- 
 spect of persons. Indian towns were destroyed 
 for mere sport, and Indian captives were burned 
 alive on the smallest pretext. 
 
 De Soto, who appears to have been superior 
 to the company he had gathered around him, 
 was finally stricken with fever. Anxiety over 
 the fate of his expedition preyed upon his mind 
 and hastened his death. De Soto had assured 
 the Indians that he was the Child of the Sun and 
 that he could not die. Fearful that a knowledge 
 of his death would embolden the Indians to at- 
 tack the impoverished and worn-out expedition, 
 his followers took the body of their dead com- 
 mander and in the darkness of the night silently 
 dropped it into the middle of the great Father 
 of Waters. 
 
 The Spaniards continued their explorations, 
 enduring the greatest hardships until they 
 reached the mouth of the Red River. Here 
 they constructed rude boats and in them de- 
 scended to the Gulf of Mexico, and thence to 
 the settlement at the mouth of the River of 
 Palms. 
 
 1543. Copernicus. 
 
 Nicholas Copernicus, the founder of our pres- 
 ent system of astronomy, was born at Thorn, in 
 Prussia, in 1473. He was educated at the Uni- 
 
 versity of Cracow, where he gave his especial at- 
 tention to medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. 
 He afterwards continued the study of astronomy 
 at Bologna and at Rome. In 1502 he returned 
 to Cracow, and was made canon of Frauenburg 
 by his uncle, the Bishop of Ermeland. He now 
 divided his time conscientiously into three por- 
 tions : one for the duties of his clerical office, 
 one for the gratuitous practice of medicine 
 among the poor, and one for the pursuit of his 
 favorite study, astronomy. The Ptolemaic sys- 
 tem, founded by Ptolemy of Egypt in the second 
 century, had prevailed over every other hypoth- 
 esis advanced during two thousand years and 
 was generally believed. According to this sys- 
 tem the earth was the centre of the universe, 
 having the sun and stars revolving round it. 
 Copernicus believed that the sun and stars are 
 stationary ; that the moon alone revolves about 
 the earth ; that the earth is a planet whose orbit 
 is between Venus and Mars ; that the planets 
 revolve about the sun ; and that the apparent 
 revolution of the heavens is caused by the rota- 
 tion of the earth on its axis.* Copernicus 
 tested his views by twenty-three years of careful 
 observation and computation. His discoveries 
 attracted much attention among astronomers, 
 who were eager to see his data and proofs. In 
 the mean while Copernicus wrote a book de- 
 tailing his views, but he hesitated to publish it 
 until the most thorough study should prove 
 that his statements were correct. Twelve years 
 after he had written the book " The Revolu- 
 tions of the Celestial Orbs" he called it the 
 first published copy was placed in his hands on 
 the very day of his death (1543). 
 
 The tower from which he made his observa- 
 vations and the ruins of a hydraulic machine 
 constructed by him may still be seen at Frauen- 
 burg. 
 
 In 1822 a monument was raised to his mem- 
 
 * Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher who lived 600 years be- 
 fore Christ, taught that the sun was the centre of the universe, 
 thus more nearly approaching the truth than Ptolemy. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ory at Cracow, bearing the inscription, from the 
 book of Joshua, " Sta, Sol, ne moveare." 
 
 1547. Death of Henry VIII. Accession of 
 Edward IV. 
 
 Henry VIII. commenced his reign under the 
 most auspicious circumstances. He was young, 
 well educated, handsome, and unboundedly pop- 
 ular, and the first king since Richard II. whose 
 claim to the crown was undisputed. One of his 
 first acts which gave especial satisfaction to the 
 people was the execution of Empson and Dud- 
 ley, the hated tax-collectors of his father. 
 
 Shortly after he came to the throne Henry 
 joined the league which was formed by Spain, 
 Venice, and the pope (Julius II.) against Louis 
 XII. of France, who was attempting the con- 
 quest of Italy. His Parliament having granted 
 the necessary supplies, Henry led an army into 
 France. While he was winning a few easy vic- 
 tories of no account to his country, James IV. 
 of Scotland, the ally of France, took advantage 
 of Henry's absence and invaded England. But 
 an English army marched northward, com- 
 manded by the Earl of Surrey, and defeated the 
 Scotch at Flodden Field. James IV. was slain 
 in the battle. 
 
 After nearly twenty years of married life 
 Henry suddenly pretended to have doubts about 
 the legality of his marriage with Queen Cath- 
 erine because she had been his brother Arthur's 
 wife. But his hasty marriage with Anne Boleyn 
 after he had obtained a divorce from Queen 
 Catherine indicates that he was not actuated by 
 conscientious scruples alone in desiring a sep- 
 aration from Catherine. The beautiful Anne 
 Boleyn enjoyed the honors of royalty two brief 
 years, when she was accused of unfaithfulness 
 to her royal spouse, condemned, and beheaded. 
 The day after her execution Henry married Jane 
 Seymour. 
 
 About this time various changes were made 
 4 
 
 in the doctrines of the new church of England. 
 Monasteries and other religious houses were 
 suppressed and images and shrines were de- 
 stroyed. In all these important changes Thomas 
 Cromwell was a most active and useful agent, 
 and he is said to have gathered into the royal 
 treasury upon the confiscation of the property 
 of the monasteries one hundred and sixty thou- 
 sand pounds, besides an enormous amount of 
 gold and jewels. 
 
 In 1537 Jane Seymour died, leaving a young 
 son, afterwards King Edward VI. Henry, who 
 appears to have entertained some real affection 
 for his third wife, remained a widower for three 
 years. At length a fourth wife was found for 
 him through the agency of Thomas Cromwell. 
 This lady was Anne of Cleves, a German princess. 
 But on her arrival in England Henry was so dis- 
 appointed in her personal appearance that he 
 insisted upon a divorce at once. Chiefly for his 
 share in the contract with Anne of Cleves Crom- 
 well was accused of treason, and notwithstanding 
 the great services he had rendered his master he 
 was consigned to the scaffold. 
 
 Henry's fifth matrimonial venture was the 
 selection of Catherine Howard, a niece of the 
 Duke of Norfolk. This lady enjoyed the title 
 of queen a little more than a year, when she 
 was accused of sundry high crimes and misde- 
 meanors, of which she was in all probability 
 guilty, and she was put to death. Tired of 
 marrying for beauty, Henry looked for sense 
 and discretion in his next wife. These he hap- 
 pily found united in Catherine Parr, widow of 
 Lord Latimer. He married her in 1543, and 
 although she nearly lost her head in consequence 
 of a theological discussion with the king, her 
 ready wit saved her life and she survived her 
 fickle husband. 
 
 In his last days Henry was haunted by the 
 fear that after his death the leaders of the 
 Catholic party would proclaim Mary, the daugh- 
 ter of his first wife, instead of Edward, the Prince 
 of Wales. He accordingly caused the chiefs of 
 
26 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 the Papist party to be arrested. Among them 
 were the Duke of Norfolk and his accomplished 
 son, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, the writer 
 of the earliest English blank verse. Surrey 
 was beheaded at once and Norfolk was im- 
 prisoned. As he lay in prison awaiting the fate 
 of his son news came that the king was dead 
 
 (1547)- 
 
 The Princesses Mary, daughter of Catherine 
 
 of Aragon, and Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Bo- 
 leyn, had been considered illegitimate by some 
 of the people, but Parliament decided that both 
 should be considered as lawful heirs to the crown 
 in due order after their brother Edward, and 
 Henry's will made to this effect was carried out. 
 
 The greatest faults of Henry VIII. were fickle- 
 ness and self-will unduly directed. Few English 
 monarchs have had more absolute power than he 
 enjoyed during his entire reign. 
 
 The first translation of the Bible that was al- 
 lowed to be read by the people at large Was 
 made during this reign by Tyndale and Cover- 
 dale. 
 
 Henry VIII. was succeeded by his son, Ed- 
 ward VI., a boy of ten years. A council of 
 nobles and clergy was appointed by the pro- 
 visions of Henry's will to manage the affairs of 
 the kingdom until Edward should reach the age 
 of eighteen. 
 
 1547. Death of Francis I. of Prance. Ac- 
 cession of Henry II. 
 
 According to Guizot, the reign of Francis I. 
 commences the era of modern France. 
 
 Francis ascended the throne in 1515 at the 
 age of eighteen. He was brave, brilliant, and 
 of amiable character, but so reckless, extrava- 
 gant, and inexperienced that the good Louis 
 XII. said, when speaking of Francis as his suc- 
 cessor, " We are laboring in vain ; this big boy 
 will spoil everything." 
 
 Francis had been carefully trained in the code 
 of knighthood, and as soon as he came to the 
 
 throne he longed to achieve some military tri- 
 umph. His first step was to invade Italy, and, 
 winning the battle of Marignano, he took pos- 
 session of Milan. 
 
 In 1519, when Maximilian of Germany died, 
 Francis set himself up as the rival of Charles I.* 
 of Spain for the vacant throne. The election 
 of Charles as emperor led to a series of wars 
 between the two sovereigns, which covered a 
 period of more than twenty years. Both mon- 
 archs sought the influence and support of Henry 
 VIII. of England, and after Charles became 
 emperor Francis invited Henry to a personal 
 interview in Flanders. Vast wooden palaces 
 were erected upon the meeting-ground, with 
 decorations so brilliant as to give the appear- 
 ance of fairy-land. On this account it was 
 called " The Field of the Cloth of Gold." An 
 entire fortnight was spent in feastings and mask- 
 ings and tournaments. The English courtiers 
 absolutely ruined themselves in their efforts to 
 vie with the magnificence of the French. All 
 they received in return was the ridicule of those 
 whom they thus imitated, the Frenchmen saying 
 that they did well to be proud, as they were 
 carrying on their backs whole parks, meadows, 
 and mills, referring to the lands which the 
 English had sold in order to pay for their sum- 
 mer's day of splendor. The kings at length 
 separated, making each other a thousand prom- 
 ises which they had certainly no intention of 
 fulfilling. Instead of returning direct to Eng- 
 land the crafty Henry paid a visit to Charles V., 
 and after a three days' conference they parted 
 the best of friends. 
 
 Wolsey had been won to the side of Charles 
 by bribes and promises, and through his influ- 
 ence Henry now formed a league with Charles 
 and the pope against France. Francis began 
 hostilities by invading Italy. On account of 
 certain grievances one of his best generals, the 
 
 * After the election of Charles I. of Spain to the throne of 
 the German empire he is known as Charles V. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 27 
 
 Constable Bourbon, deserted and joined the 
 army of the emperor, and the French led by in- 
 competent commanders were defeated. During 
 the campaign the brave Chevalier Bayard was 
 killed. Francis then took command of the 
 army in person. Meeting the imperial troops 
 at Pavia, a desperate struggle ensued. The 
 French were defeated and Francis was a pris- 
 oner in the hands of Charles (1525). The un- 
 fortunate monarch was taken to Spain, and after 
 lying in prison nearly a year, he was restored to 
 liberty only by agreeing to give to Charles the 
 duchy of Burgundy, to renounce all his preten- 
 sions to Italy, and to give to Charles both his 
 sons as hostages. His sons were sent to Spain, 
 but the remainder of the treaty was not fulfilled. 
 
 Francis next made a league with Venice and 
 the pope for the independence of Italy, and the 
 war with Charles was renewed. Bourbon, act- 
 ing ostensibly for the emperor, but chiefly for 
 his own glory, marched against Rome with an 
 army composed partly of fanatical Protestants 
 and partly of bandits and adventurers furious as 
 the Huns and mutinous for want of pay. In the 
 assault Bourbon was slain, but the troops fought 
 their way into the city, and a fearful scene of 
 pillage and debauchery ensued. The pope was 
 imprisoned and treated with gross indignities. 
 
 The horror aroused throughout Europe by 
 these acts of violence gave Francis a new pre- 
 text for invading Italy, but again he met with 
 reverses, and at length, in 1529, both sides 
 having grown weary of the contest, a peace 
 was concluded at Cambrai, called the ladies' 
 peace because it was negotiated between the 
 mother of Francis and the aunt of Charles. 
 
 The peace of Cambrai lasted until 1536, when 
 war was again renewed. Francis shocked Chris- 
 tendom by entering into an alliance with the 
 Turkish sultan, and Charles with his ally, 
 Henry VIII., arranged for an invasion of 
 France. The defeat of his army at Ceresole, 
 however, did not deter him from marching upon 
 Paris. But the French, roused by their imme- 
 
 diate and pressing danger, speedily gathered a 
 new army of militia, and Charles prudently re- 
 tired to Crespy. Here negotiations for peace 
 were opened, and a treaty was signed in 1 544. 
 
 Francis died three years later. In all his wars 
 he gained nothing for his subjects but misfortune 
 and misery. He concluded forty treaties of war, 
 peace, or truce, incessantly changing aim and 
 allies, but for all this he could not conquer 
 either the empire or Italy. Outside of the 
 political arena he was more successful. He 
 had a sincere love for literature, science, and 
 art, to which he extended a most liberal patron- 
 age. He was succeeded by his son, Henry II., 
 who had all the defects and, with the exception 
 of personal bravery, not one of the brilliant and 
 amiable qualities of his father. 
 
 1553. Death of Edward VI. Accession of 
 Mary. 
 
 The Council appointed by the will of Henry 
 VIII. to govern during Edward's minority chose, 
 as Protector of the kingdom, Edward's mater- 
 nal uncle, who received the title of Duke of 
 Somerset. Archbishop Cranmer was a leading 
 member of the Council, and as he and Somer- 
 set both favored the Protestant religion, they 
 carefully instructed the young king in this faith. 
 
 Edward was a very studious child, possessing 
 a sweet and noble nature and wonderful intel- 
 ligence. It is said that he had learned seven 
 languages before he reached the age of four- 
 teen. He was also very religious, and was fond 
 of listening to the sermons which the Protestant 
 bishops were accustomed to preach before him. 
 
 Henry VIII. expressed in his will a desire 
 that a marriage should be arranged between 
 Edward and young Mary, Queen of Scotland. 
 But the Scots, influenced by France, opposed 
 the match. Somerset, thinking to force their 
 consent, marched an army into Scotland, but 
 was obliged to hasten back to England on re- 
 
28 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ceiving news that a plot had been formed against 
 him at home. The Scots at once sent their 
 young queen to France for safety. 
 
 The Protector succeeded in checking the con- 
 spiracy raised against him by the execution of 
 his own brother, Admiral Seymour, one of his 
 most dangerous foes. But discontent and rebel- 
 lion lurked in the hearts of the working-classes, 
 who naturally objected to the enclosure of com- 
 mon lands, which deprived them of their right 
 to pasture their cattle and other animals. This 
 practice of the great land-owners had been a 
 grievance to the poor for a long time. 
 
 The alterations in religion were also sources 
 of dissatisfaction. The most important of these 
 changes were, 
 
 1. The Church service was read in English 
 instead of Latin. 
 
 2. Images, crosses, and the like were no longer 
 venerated, and in most cases were destroyed. 
 
 3. Worship of the Virgin and the saints was 
 given up. 
 
 4. Confession to a priest was not to be com- 
 pulsory. 
 
 5. The doctrine of transubstantiation was 
 declared untrue. 
 
 6. The clergy were permitted to marry. 
 These were very serious changes to force upon 
 
 the people all at once, and instead of dealing 
 gently with the veneration and affection which 
 masses of the people still felt for the old forms 
 and beliefs, the powers in authority pushed on 
 very harshly and persecuted those who would 
 not conform. They even burnt a poor woman 
 for holding some wrong opinions about Christ's 
 incarnation. Bishop Gardiner was committed 
 to the Tower because he would not preach the 
 Protestant doctrines before the king, but he 
 boldly declared that he would speak what he 
 thought if he were to be hanged for it when he 
 left the pulpit. 
 
 In 1548, Archbishop Cranmer, assisted by 
 Ridley, Latimer, and other divines, compiled the 
 Liturgy which is still read in the Church of 
 
 England. There was very little new in this 
 prayer-book. Nearly all the prayers were ab- 
 breviated from the old Latin ones of the* mass, 
 but as they were now in English they were as 
 good, or rather as bad, as new in the ears of the 
 unlearned, and the prayer-book was received in 
 some sections of the country with the greatest 
 disfavor. Thousands of the people rose in re- 
 bellion when it was read in the churches, but in 
 the end the government conquered and these 
 insurrections were all put down. 
 
 For these and other reasons Somerset's ad- 
 ministration became so unpopular that he was 
 forced to resign, and, like so many prominent 
 men of his time, he terminated his life upon the 
 scaffold. The Duke of Northumberland now 
 became Protector. He professed to be a zealous 
 Protestant, but he cared more for his own family 
 interests than for religion. Working upon the 
 mind of the young king, who was a most ardent 
 Protestant, Northumberland persuaded him to 
 exclude his sisters Mary and Elizabeth from the 
 succession and to bequeath the crown to Lady 
 Jane Grey, the great-grand-daughter of Henry 
 VII., and wife of Lord Guilford Dudley, Nor- 
 thumberland's own son. Shortly after this had 
 been done the young king died (1553). 
 
 Lady Jane Grey was immediately proclaimed 
 queen. She was only sixteen years of age, but 
 very highly accomplished, especially in the study 
 of languages, of which she is said to have mas- 
 tered seven besides her own. She was brought 
 up a Protestant. Married to Lord Dudley only 
 a short time before Edward's death, she had no 
 idea of the ambitious schemes of her father-in- 
 law, and when he announced to her, on the 
 death of the king, that she was queen of Eng- 
 land, she was terribly frightened, and she fell 
 to the floor weeping bitterly. For one short 
 fortnight the unhappy girl acted as queen, but 
 the nation leaned towards Mary as the lawful 
 queen, and when Mary was proclaimed by her 
 supporters she was everywhere acknowledged 
 and accepted. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 29 
 
 1558. Death of Queen Mary. Accession of 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Queen Mary was in her thirty-seventh year 
 when she became queen of England. Her 
 young days had been made very bitter by the 
 undeserved disgrace of her mother, Catherine 
 of Aragon, and by the mortifications to which 
 they had both been subjected. Mary was neither 
 beautiful nor clever, but, like all the Tudors, she 
 possessed a strong will. Devoted to the old 
 religion, it was the cherished object of her life 
 to restore the Catholic worship throughout the 
 kingdom. 
 
 One of her earliest acts as queen was to im- 
 prison Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and other 
 Protestants, while Bishops Gardiner and Bonner 
 were released and promoted to great authority. 
 The English prayer-book was at once set aside 
 and the Latin mass said again. Another step 
 towards the accomplishment of her purpose was 
 her marriage in 1554 to Philip of Spain, son of 
 the emperor Charles V. This alliance with the 
 greatest Catholic power in Europe occasioned 
 general dissatisfaction throughout England. The 
 English detested the thought of this match, not 
 alone on account of religion but also because 
 they feared Philip's vast power and wealth would, 
 as it were, swallow up and overpower England, 
 which would sink into being a mere dependency 
 of Spain. 
 
 Before the marriage took place a great insur- 
 rection broke out in Kent, headed by Sir Thomas 
 Wyatt. Mary behaved liked a queen, and by 
 her bravery kindled a sort of enthusiasm. The 
 Londoners took her part, and when the rebels 
 marched to London they were defeated and 
 their principal leaders were put to death. Lady 
 Jane Grey and her husband, who had been kept 
 prisoners in the Tower, were now beheaded, 
 although they had taken no part in the insur- 
 rection. 
 
 The statutes against heretics were revived, 
 and a terrible persecution of the Protestants 
 
 began. Gardiner and Bonner were Mary's prin- 
 cipal supporters and coadjutors in the cruelties 
 that followed. Within three years more than 
 two hundred persons were burned to death for 
 their religion, while thousands suffered in a less 
 degree. Many ministers of the Reformed faith 
 fled to the Continent for safety, among them 
 John Knox, the Scotch reformer ; Coverdale, the 
 same who assisted Tyndale * in the translation 
 of the Bible ; and Fox, who wrote the " Book 
 of Martyrs." John Rogers, Canon of St. Paul, 
 Bishops Hooper, Ridley, and Latimer, were 
 among the victims of the persecution. 
 
 At last came Archbishop Cranmer's turn. 
 Weakened by imprisonment, and tempted by 
 the promise of life and freedom, he signed a 
 recantation of his faith. But the queen would 
 not save the man who had been the enemy of 
 her mother, and notwithstanding his recantation 
 he was led forth to die. Bewailing his weak- 
 ness, he prepared to die in the spirit of a Chris- 
 tian martyr, and on his way to the stake he 
 called upon all people to witness that fear and 
 faint-heartedness had made him false to his 
 belief, and that, as " his right hand had offended 
 by writing contrary to his heart, it should first 
 be punished." And when the fire was kindled, 
 he held his right hand in the flames until it was 
 a blackened cinder. 
 
 To please her husband Mary joined him in 
 war against France, which had a disastrous 
 end, for Calais, a French fortress which the 
 English had held ever since the reign of Ed- 
 ward III., fell into the hands of its former 
 owners. The news of this event struck a uni- 
 versal dismay throughout England. The queen 
 was so deeply mortified that she said the word 
 Calais would be found after death written upon 
 
 * Tyndale began the translation of the Bible in London 
 during the reign of Henry VIII., but receiving no protection 
 or assistance from either the king or Wolsey, he went abroad 
 and settled at Antwerp, where helped by friends he finished 
 the translation. He was afterwards persecuted for his noble 
 work, and in 1535 was put to death at Antwerp as a heretic. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 her heart. Her health was failing rapidly. Her 
 husband's neglect preyed deeply upon her mind. 
 During the four years of their married life Philip 
 spent only one year with her in England, and 
 when she died, instead of coming himself to 
 her, he simply sent a message and a ring. 
 
 Happily for England, Mary's reign was short. 
 The poor, proud, forsaken woman died in 1558, 
 a few months after the loss of Calais, loved by 
 no one, and hardly pitied as she deserved. She 
 left no children, and was succeeded by her half- 
 sister, Elizabeth. 
 
 1558. Charles V. of Germany. 
 
 The last emperor of the Middle Ages in Ger- 
 many, Maximilian I., died in 1519. As he left 
 no son, his grandson, Charles I. of Spain, became 
 at once a candidate for the vacant throne. But 
 the power of the youthful monarch was dreaded 
 by the Electors, and they first offered the crown 
 to Frederick, Duke of Saxony. This extraor- 
 dinary man refused the honor, and through his 
 counsel the election was determined in favor of 
 Charles, who was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle as 
 Charles V. in 1520. Charles V. was but twenty- 
 one years old at this time, yet he was the most 
 powerful sovereign in Europe. His dominions 
 embraced Austria, Spain, Naples, the Nether- 
 lands, Germany, and the Spanish possessions in 
 America. 
 
 The chief events of his reign, besides his strug- 
 gles with his brilliant rival, Francis I., were his 
 wars with the Turks and with the Protestants of 
 Germany. The name Protestant was first given 
 to the followers of Luther at Spires on account 
 of their protest against the decree passed by the 
 representatives of the Catholic states of Germany 
 in 1529, which prohibited the further spread of 
 the new doctrines. The following year the Prot- 
 estants published at Augsburg their Confession 
 of Faith, which was drawn up by Melanchthon, 
 the great friend of Luther, and signed by the 
 Protestant princes. The emperor issued a de- 
 
 cree condemning this Confession. The Protes- 
 tant princes then met at Smalcald and entered 
 into a league for mutual defence. This league 
 represented so much military strength that 
 Charles resolved upon more conciliatory meas- 
 ures. Another reason for adopting a peaceful 
 attitude towards the Protestants just at this time 
 was that he needed their help in driving back 
 the Turks, who had invaded Hungary and were 
 threatening Vienna. A treaty was accordingly 
 entered upon, both parties agreeing to refrain 
 from all hostilities until a general council should 
 be called. The Protestants then contributed 
 their share of troops to the imperial army, 
 and the Turks were driven back from Vienna. 
 Having disposed of these infidels for the pres- 
 ent and closed his wars with Francis I., Charles 
 turned his attention towards the extermination 
 of Protestantism. In the year 1545 a general 
 council was convened at Trent. The Protes- 
 tants rejected the authority of this council, which 
 amused itself by denouncing the doctrines of 
 Luther, and both parties appealed to arms. In 
 the early part of the war the Protestants met 
 with reverses and two of their chief leaders, 
 Frederick of Saxony and Philip, Landgrave of 
 Hesse, fell into the hands of the emperor. 
 Maurice, a kinsman of Frederick and a Prot- 
 estant, had joined the emperor, but now grow- 
 ing weary of his service he threw off his trai- 
 torous mask and took the field at the head of 
 the Protestant confederacy. Sweeping rapidly 
 through Upper Germany with twenty-five thou- 
 sand men, he moved upon Innspruck, where 
 Charles lay sick with the gout, and the emperor 
 was compelled to flee in his weak and ailing 
 condition, carried in a litter over the rugged 
 mountain roads. Maurice then laid siege to 
 Frankfort, and compelled the haughty emperor 
 to conclude the peace of Passau, in which he 
 promised to secure the freedom of the Protestant 
 religion and maintain the German constitution. 
 Three years later (1555) the Diet of Augsburg 
 solemnly confirmed this treaty. The same year 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Charles conferred on his son, Philip II., the gov- 
 ernment of the Netherlands, and in January, 
 1556, resigned to him the crowns of Spain and 
 Naples. He tried to secure the empire for 
 Philip, but without success. Ferdinand, the 
 brother of Charles, was elected in his stead in 
 
 1558. 
 
 After his abdication Charles sailed for Spain, 
 and hid his weary head within the monastery of 
 St. Just. There under the shadow of the moun- 
 tains he spent two years, restless and uneasy, and 
 yet taking an interest in political affairs as intense 
 as if the world still rested in his palm. In the 
 last six months of his life, as his body became 
 more and more diseased, his mind became the 
 prey of morbid fancies. One of these fancies 
 was the performance of his own funeral rites. 
 The fatigue and excitement of this ceremony 
 brought on a fit of fever, of which he died 
 
 (1558). 
 
 Charles V. was the first monarch of his time. 
 He made Spain the leading nation of the world, 
 but he died at last without having accomplished 
 the two chief aims of his life, the reunion of 
 all Christendom under the pope and the union 
 of Germany with the Spanish empire. 
 
 1566. The Iconoclasts (Image-Breakers). 
 
 The Netherlands, or Low Countries, at the 
 time of the abdication of Charles V.-, consisted 
 of seventeen fair provinces, and formed the 
 most valuable of the possessions of Philip II. 
 No part of Europe had so many thriving cities 
 or such intelligent, industrious citizens as this 
 little strip of lowland, which would have been 
 overwhelmed by the sea but for the strong dikes 
 which the inhabitants had built for their protec- 
 tion. Though ruled by Philip, their nominal 
 monarch, each province had its own govern- 
 ment, and their representatives were only called 
 together when the king wanted a grant of money. 
 
 Throughout these provinces the doctrines of 
 
 the Reformation had spread rapidly, and Philip 
 determined to root out this heresy. Appointing 
 his half-sister, Margaret, Duchess of Parma, as 
 regent of the Netherlands, he re-enacted the 
 edict of Charles V., which denounced as heretics 
 all who embraced the new doctrines and con- 
 demned them to the most severe punishment. 
 The regent was assisted by a council, half the 
 number devoted to the Spanish interests, while 
 the others were patriot leaders, Counts Eg- 
 mont and Horn and the illustrious William, 
 Prince of Orange. These three men, although 
 themselves Catholics, protested against the cruel- 
 ties that were now practised upon their fellow- 
 countrymen, but in vain. At length a- party of 
 the nobles, led by Count Brederode, marched to 
 the palace of the regent at Brussels and presented 
 a petition that the edict might be abolished and 
 the persecutions cease. The duchess becoming 
 agitated during the audience, one of her cour- 
 tiers exclaimed in a passion, " Is it possible, 
 madam, that you are afraid of these beggars ?" 
 The gibe was destined to become immortal, for 
 the confederacy was ever afterwards called " Les 
 Gueux," The Beggars. 
 
 When Philip was apprised of what had oc- 
 curred at Brussels he took no notice of it except 
 to devise means to strengthen the Inquisition. 
 And now a startling series of events took place 
 which exercised a fatal influence upon the situ- 
 ation of the provinces. 
 
 The Netherlands possessed an extraordinary 
 number of churches. All that art could embody 
 or wealth could lavish gathered around these 
 magnificent temples. But the statues with 
 which they were peopled, associated as they 
 were with the remorseless persecution which 
 had so long desolated the provinces, had ceased 
 to be images and had grown human and hateful 
 in the eyes of the people. 
 
 About the middle of August (1566) there oc- 
 curred a religious festival at Antwerp, and ac- 
 cording to custom a colossal image of the Virgin 
 was carried through the streets. The proces- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 sion was followed by a rabble rout of scoffers, 
 who saluted the image with sneers and the 
 rudest ribaldry. The next two days the cathe- 
 dral was filled with a crowd of vagabonds and 
 idlers bent upon mischief. On the evening of 
 the second day the magistrates of the city, who 
 had gone to the cathedral in the vain hope of 
 dispersing the mob, left the church, and their 
 departure hastened the catastrophe. Instead of 
 evening mass rose the fierce music of a psalm 
 yelled by a thousand angry voices. A party 
 of fanatics armed with hammers suddenly sprang 
 from the crowd and began the work of destruc- 
 tion. Every statue was hauled from its niche ; 
 every picture torn from the walls ; every ancient 
 monument shattered by these furious icono- 
 clasts, while the crowd gazed in stupid dismay 
 or cool indifference. They overthrew the seventy 
 altars of the vast edifice, demolished the organ, 
 the largest in the world, drank the sacramental 
 wine, and covered their own squalid attire with 
 the gorgeous robes of the priests. At midnight 
 they left the cathedral with little more than bare 
 walls standing and sallied forth with howls of 
 " Long live the Beggars !" to deal in like manner 
 with the other churches of the city. Before 
 morning they had sacked thirty churches. 
 
 From Antwerp the excitement spread over 
 the northern provinces, and in the short space of 
 six or seven days the treasures of nearly every 
 church in the Netherlands were destroyed. 
 
 It is a significant fact that throughout all this 
 storm of pillage and destruction not a man or 
 woman was injured. 
 
 The number of churches desecrated has never 
 been exactly known, but in Flanders alone four 
 hundred were sacked. 
 
 Catholics and Protestants seemed overcome 
 with wonder as the tempest swept over the land, 
 while the ministers of the Reformed faith bitterly 
 regretted such excesses. 
 
 When Philip heard the news he fell into a 
 paroxysm of rage. " It shall cost them dear," 
 he cried ; " I swear it by the soul of my father !" 
 
 Subsequent events proved that his words were 
 not an idle threat. 
 
 1566. Soliman the Magnificent. 
 
 About the beginning of the thirteenth century 
 a band of Turks emigrated from the heart of 
 Asia westward into Asia Minor. There they 
 founded a kingdom, which by the close of the 
 century became, under Othman, or Osman, the 
 most powerful in Western Asia. These Otto- 
 man Turks, so called from their leader, Othman, 
 gradually extended their conquests until, in 1453, 
 they took Constantinople from the Greeks, and 
 on the ruins of the Greek empire founded the 
 Turkish empire in Europe. 
 
 Soliman I., surnamed the Magnificent, became 
 sultan in 1520. This great monarch first dis- 
 played his military abilities in his wars for the 
 conquest of Hungary. In 1521 he captured 
 the powerful fortress of Belgrade, long a bul- 
 wark of Christendom against the Turks. He 
 next directed his victorious arms against the 
 island of Rhodes, the seat of the Knights Hos- 
 pitallers. Overwhelming numbers compelled 
 the garrison to surrender, and, receiving honor- 
 able terms of capitulation, the Knights retired 
 to the island of Malta. 
 
 During the long and desolating wars with 
 Hungary Soliman besieged Vienna (i 529). But 
 the city was saved by the persistent bravery of 
 its defenders, and Soliman retired, it is said, with 
 a curse upon any of his descendants who should 
 attempt to renew the enterprise against Vienna. 
 
 The warlike energies of the Turks were next 
 directed against Persia, and Soliman added to 
 the Turkish dominions large territories in Meso- 
 potamia and Armenia. The greatness of the Ot- 
 toman empire at this time was due not only to 
 the conquests of the Turkish armies, but also to 
 the achievements of the navy, which extended 
 the power and renown of the sultan all along 
 the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 33 
 
 The most celebrated of the Turkish naval com- 
 manders was Barbarossa, through whom the 
 piratical states of Northern Africa were brought 
 under the sovereignty of the sultan. 
 
 In 1 565 the Turks laid siege to the island of 
 Malta, which the Knights had fortified, and from 
 which an incessant warfare was carried on against 
 the Turks. The siege lasted from May until 
 September, but the chivalrous bravery of the 
 besieged withstood every attack, and the dis- 
 comfited Turks were at last compelled to retire. 
 This memorable siege is said to have cost the 
 lives of twenty-five thousand Turks and five 
 thousand of the Christian defenders. This de- 
 feat was the heaviest blow and most humiliating 
 disappointment the sultan had experienced since 
 the unsuccessful siege of Vienna. 
 
 Although now an old man, Soliman resolved 
 to renew his Hungarian wars, and in 1566 he 
 marched to Szigeth, a Hungarian fortress which 
 had baffled the attacks of the Turks on former 
 occasions. This siege is memorable for the 
 heroic resistance of Zriny, the Hungarian com- 
 mander. When all the exterior defences were 
 destroyed and only a single tower remained, in 
 which were Zriny and six hundred of his men, 
 all that were yet alive, Zriny resolved to an- 
 ticipate the last charge of the Turks. Filling 
 a large mortar with broken iron and musket- 
 balls, he aimed it point-blank at the door-way. 
 When the Turks rushed up, the door was 
 thrown open, the mortar was fired, and amid 
 the smoke and unexpected carnage Zriny and 
 his followers sprang forth among the Turks to 
 die. The enemy fired the citadel, and while 
 they lingered in search of treasure the stores 
 of powder beneath the tower exploded, and 
 three thousand of the destroyers sank in the 
 ruins. 
 
 While this siege was in progress and before 
 the final attack, the sultan, enfeebled by age 
 and disease, died in his tent (1566). The Ot- 
 toman empire reached the zenith of its power 
 during his reign. No subsequent sultan has 
 5 
 
 maintained the wealth and prosperity which 
 the Turkish empire enjoyed under Soliman the 
 Magnificent. 
 
 1571. Battle of Lepanto. 
 
 During the reign of Selim II., the successor 
 of Soliman the Magnificent, the Turks attacked 
 and captured the island of Cyprus, at that time 
 a dependency of the Venetian republic. The 
 fall of Cyprus, the treachery and cruelty of its 
 attack, and the great preparations for war which 
 were being made at the Turkish seaports, raised 
 great and anxious alarm all along the Christian 
 shores of the Mediterranean, and a maritime 
 league was formed against the Turks, of which 
 the Spaniards, the Venetians, and the Knights 
 of Malta were the chief members. These 
 Christian powers fitted out a great armament, 
 placing at the head of it Don John of Austria, 
 who had figured prominently in the war with 
 the Netherlands. He had previously won great 
 military celebrity in wars which the Spanish had 
 carried on with the Barbary corsairs and with the 
 Moors of Granada. 
 
 The allied fleets, consisting of three hundred 
 vessels, sailed frorn Messina in the autumn of 
 1571. Reaching me entrance to the Gulf of 
 Lepanto on the 7th of October, they came in 
 sight of the Ottoman fleet. Six hundred vessels 
 of war met face to face. Since the day when the 
 world had been lost and won beneath the famous 
 promontory of Actium no such combat as the one 
 now approaching had been fought upon the 
 waves. Don John rowed from ship to ship ex- 
 horting his generals and soldiers to show them- 
 selves worthy of the cause for which they were 
 about to fight. 
 
 Before the battle began there was a pause, 
 during which each fleet lay motionless regard- 
 ing with admiration and secret awe the strength 
 and splendor of its adversary's array. At length 
 the Turkish admiral gave the signal for attack, 
 and the battle began. Four hours of desperate 
 
34 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 fighting, and the day was won for the allies and 
 Christendom. Of nearly three hundred Turkish 
 galleys only fifty made their escape, while nearly 
 thirty thousand Turks were slain. The Turkish 
 admiral's ship was among those that were de- 
 stroyed, and the admiral's head was exposed 
 from Don John's deck as a trophy. More than 
 twelve thousand Christian captives who had 
 been chained to the oars on the Turkish gal- 
 leys were set free. The loss of the allies was 
 about eight thousand. 
 
 This victory was the first effective blow given 
 to the power of the Turks, who had hitherto 
 been thought invincible by sea, and it caused 
 the most profound joy throughout Christendom. 
 
 1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day. 
 
 The doctrines of the Reformation began to 
 spread through France during the reign of 
 Francis I. Both Francis and his successor, 
 Henry II., opposed the new religious movement, 
 and they enacted the most severe laws against 
 the Huguenots, as the French Protestants were 
 called. In spite of persecution the Huguenots 
 steadily increased in numbers, and when Francis 
 II. succeeded Henry they inauded in their ranks 
 the King of Navarre, the Prince of Conde, Ad- 
 miral Coligny, and many others of high birth 
 and influence. 
 
 Francis II., who had married Mary, Queen 
 of Scots, was entirely under the control of his 
 wife's uncles, the Duke of Guise and the Car- 
 dinal of Lorraine. These two brothers made 
 themselves so offensive to the Huguenots by 
 their efforts to extirpate the Reformed religion 
 and secure absolute power in the government 
 that a conspiracy headed by Conde was formed 
 against them. But the plot was discovered, and 
 hundreds of persons connected with it were put 
 to death. Conde was tried and condemned, and 
 he would have perished but for the death of the 
 king (1560). 
 
 Francis was succeeded by his brother, Charles 
 IX., a boy of ten years. The queen-mother, 
 Catherine de Medici, displacing the Guises, as- 
 sumed control of the government. There was 
 a momentary lull in the persecutions. The 
 Huguenots were allowed freedom of worship, 
 but this tolerant measure had scarcely gone 
 into effect when a massacre of Huguenots took 
 place at Vassy (1562). A terrible civil and re- 
 ligious war then broke out. Conde and Coligny 
 became the chief leaders of the Huguenots, 
 while the Duke of Guise headed the Catholic 
 party. Three times the war closed only to be 
 renewed with greater fury. 
 
 Both sides were guilty of great cruelties and 
 excesses, although the Huguenots suffered 
 most. During the war the Duke of Guise was 
 assassinated and Conde and the King of Na- 
 varre were killed. Victorious and vanquished 
 by turns, both parties at length became anxious 
 for peace, and accordingly in 1570 a treaty was 
 concluded at St. Germain, which allowed the 
 Huguenots their civil rights and freedom of 
 worship, and gave them four cities, Rochelle 
 among the number, as security for the fulfilment 
 of the treaty. 
 
 The Huguenot leaders mistrusted the sin- 
 cerity of Catherine in granting these favorable 
 terms, but they were thrown off their guard by 
 her next move. It was arranged that the young 
 King of Navarre, a Protestant, should marry 
 the king's sister, Margaret, and thus cement the 
 union of the rival parties. Coligny, the young 
 Prince of Conde, and the other leading Hugue- 
 nots were invited to Paris to attend the wed- 
 ding, which took place on the i8th of August, 
 1572. Four days later, as Coligny was walking 
 upon the street, an assassin fired at him, wound- 
 ing him in each arm. The king paid him a visit 
 of pretended condolence, declaring that he 
 would avenge the outrage. Meanwhile, a hor- 
 rible plot to massacre all the Huguenots in the 
 country had been arranged by Catherine de 
 Medici, and the wretched king, urged by his 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 35 
 
 stony-hearted mother, now yielded his consent 
 to the perpetration of the crime. 
 
 Saturday, the day after the attempted assas- 
 sination of Coligny, passed quietly. Between 
 two and three o'clock Sunday morning St. 
 Bartholomew's day a band of armed men 
 broke open the' door of Coligny's house, mur- 
 dered the wounded man, and threw his body 
 from the window. The young Duke of Guise, 
 who waited in the court below, wiped the blood 
 from the features, and exclaiming, " It is he !" 
 spurned the body with his foot. And now the 
 great bell of the palace and the church bells 
 began to ring. It was the signal for slaughter. 
 Bands of armed Catholics with white crosses 
 on their hats filled the streets and struck down 
 the defenceless Huguenots as they fled from 
 their homes. " Kill all ! Leave not a single 
 one to reproach me," had been the order of the 
 king. Conde and Navarre were spared by pro- 
 fessing to renounce the Reformed faith. The 
 massacres extended to the provinces, though in 
 some places the authorities refused to execute 
 the cruel order. 
 
 The number of victims cannot accurately be 
 determined, historians differing widely upon this 
 point, but it is probable that at least thirty thou- 
 sand Huguenots were slain. 
 
 Charles IX. died two years later, the victim 
 of a terrible remorse for the crimes which had 
 been committed with his sanction. But the 
 burden of guilt rests undoubtedly upon his 
 mother, Catherine de Medici, through whose 
 intrigues the plot was carried into execution. 
 
 1574. The Siege of Leyden. 
 
 In the summer of 1567 Philip II., mindful of 
 his promise, sent to the Netherlands an army 
 of Spaniards commanded by the Duke of Alva, 
 a pitiless monster, who had full powers to put 
 down resistance with fire and sword. At his 
 approach thousands of the Dutch fled from 
 
 the country, among them William, Prince of 
 Orange, who was unable as yet to organize 
 an effective movement against the cruel and 
 perfidious king. The nobles Egmont and 
 Horn, who remained behind, were seized and 
 put to death by Alva. Margaret, the regent, 
 now resigned, and Alva became governor-gen- 
 eral. Organizing the " Council of Blood," Alva 
 passed a decree ordering the entire population of 
 the Netherlands, with a few exceptions, to be put 
 to death ! Although this monstrous order was 
 not literally carried out, it removed all protec- 
 tion of law from the people, and Alva boasted 
 on his return to Spain that eighteen thousand 
 people had been put to death during his admin- 
 istration. 
 
 Meanwhile the Prince of Orange had not been 
 idle. The four provinces of Holland, Zealand, 
 Friesland, and Utrecht declared him their lawful 
 " stadtholder," or lieutenant, in the absence of 
 the king, and, supported by these provinces 
 and by his brother John, William took up arms 
 in defence of his oppressed country. Fleets were 
 equipped along the coast, manned by brave " Sea 
 Beggars," and important maritime towns were 
 taken. Everywhere the Dutch rose against the 
 Spanish, and a general war for independence 
 began. 
 
 In 1574 the Spaniards laid siege to the city of 
 Leyden. They drew a circle of sixty-two forts 
 around the devoted place, and then sat down to 
 wait until the inhabitants were starved into sur- 
 render. But the citizens resolved to die rather 
 than admit their cruel foes, and they called from 
 the ramparts, " So long as you hear a cat mew 
 or a dog bark you may know that we hold out." 
 Five months passed. Famine stalked through 
 the silent streets of Leyden, but still the poor 
 pinched inhabitants held out. At last the Prince 
 of Orange, who had used every effort to help his 
 brave countrymen, seeing no other way of rescue, 
 cut the dikes and flooded the country around 
 Leyden. Over cornfields, meadows, and vil- 
 lages came the foaming billows, and as they 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 dashed into the Spanish forts the soldiers fled 
 in dismay and terror. The boats of the brave 
 " Sea Beggars," driven by a friendly gale, sailed 
 triumphantly into Leyden with abundant food for 
 the starving inhabitants. 
 
 The happy deliverance of Leyden was a great 
 disaster to the Spanish arms ; but the end was 
 not yet. In 1576 Requesens, who had been 
 appointed successor to the Duke of Alva, died 
 suddenly, and his unpaid soldiery, left without 
 a leader and maddened for want of pay, sur- 
 prised and plundered the city of Antwerp, 
 burnt five hundred houses, and put several 
 thousand of the inhabitants to the sword. 
 
 These fresh distresses caused the provinces to 
 unite themselves by a treaty called the Pacifica- 
 tion of Ghent for the purpose of expelling the 
 Spaniards. Unfortunately, this league was soon 
 disorganized through the disaffection of some 
 of the nobles, who were jealous of the fame of 
 the Prince of Orange. Through the skilful gen- 
 eralship of the young Spanish commander, the 
 Prince of Parma, the southern provinces were 
 reduced to subjection. But seven of the north- 
 ern provinces were determined to be free, and 
 in 1579 the Union of Utrecht laid the founda- 
 tion of the Dutch Republic. William of Orange 
 was chosen stadtholder. He was assassinated 
 five years later by an emissary of the King of 
 Spain. 
 
 The independence of the seven provinces was 
 not acknowledged by Spain until 1609. 
 
 158O. Annexation of Portugal to Spain. 
 
 The kingdom of Portugal was founded by 
 Dom Alfonso in 1139. Dom Sancho I., his 
 successor, was a man of great valor and ability, 
 and during his reign Portugal was raised to a 
 high pitch of prosperity and its area was ex- 
 tended to its present dimensions. Of Sancho's 
 successors the most distinguished was John I., 
 who came to the throne in 1385. During his 
 
 reign the Portuguese discovered Madeira and 
 the Azores and became the most enterprising 
 maritime people in Europe. They undertook 
 daring and difficult voyages along the entire 
 west coast of Africa, and in 1497 discovered 
 the passage to the East Indies by the Cape 
 of Good Hope. Had it not been for the 
 meanness of King John II. when Columbus 
 applied to him for aid, the Portuguese might 
 have had the honor of discovering the New 
 World. After the discovery of the passage to 
 the East Indies the Portuguese extended their 
 commerce and dominion in Africa and the East 
 Indies, and for nearly a century they were mas- 
 ters of the Indian Ocean. King John III. planted 
 colonies in Brazil, which had been discovered 
 by Cabral in 1500. Sebastian, the successor of 
 John III., distinguished himself for his quixotic 
 expeditions into Morocco. In the last of these 
 raids (157778) his army was destroyed, and 
 Sebastian was never heard of afterwards. This 
 disaster effectually broke the power of Portugal. 
 Philip II. of Spain, taking advantage of the 
 anarchy and disorder which prevailed in the 
 country, annexed it to Spain, and for sixty 
 years Portugal was held in subjection to the 
 Spanish monarchy. 
 
 1587. Mary, Queen of Scots. 
 
 This unfortunate princess, about whose his- 
 tory such mournful interest lingers, was the 
 great-grand-daughter of Henry VII. of Eng- 
 land and the daughter of James V. of Scotland. 
 She was educated in France, and at the age of 
 sixteen was married to the Dauphin of France, 
 afterwards Francis II. When Francis died, 
 Mary returned to Scotland (1561). The Scots 
 were at first disposed to receive their youthful 
 queen with affection, for she was beautiful and 
 highly accomplished, but her religion (she had 
 been educated in the Roman Catholic faith) soon 
 awakened hostility, and the introduction of the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 37 
 
 reckless gayeties and frivolities of France into 
 the court of Scotland highly offended the Re- 
 formers, who were very strict and stern. A few 
 years after her return Mary married her cousin, 
 Lord Darnley, with whom she lived very un- 
 happily on account of his dissolute habits. The 
 queen's private secretary, Rizzio, became the 
 object of Darnley's jealousy, and one evening, 
 accompanied by several noblemen, Darnley 
 rushed into Mary's apartment, where she was 
 engaged at supper with Rizzio and others, 
 dragged the unfortunate man from the room 
 and murdered him. The following year Darn- 
 ley's house was blown up with gunpowder and 
 his body found lifeless beside the ruins. The 
 suspicion that Mary was accessory to this crime 
 seemed to be confirmed by her marriage three 
 months later to the Earl of Bothwell, Darnley's 
 reputed murderer. 
 
 These events estranged from Mary the love 
 of her subjects, and she was seized and im- 
 prisoned in Lochleven Castle. After eleven 
 months' captivity she escaped and threw herself 
 upon the protection of Elizabeth of England. 
 Instead of treating her with generous hospi- 
 tality, Elizabeth at once threw her into prison. 
 There she remained eighteen long years. The 
 Catholics of England looked upon Mary as a 
 beautiful and persecuted saint, and numerous 
 plots were made for her rescue, but none suc- 
 ceeded. At length a plot to assassinate Eliza- 
 beth and place Mary upon the throne brought 
 matters to a crisis. The conspiracy was dis- 
 covered, and the unhappy Queen of Scotland 
 was tried as an accomplice. She declared her- 
 self innocent, but she was pronounced guilty 
 and condemned to death. Elizabeth shrunk 
 from executing the sentence, but at last she gave 
 a sullen consent and flung the death-warrant, 
 signed, upon the floor. It was sent immedi- 
 ately to Fotheringay Castle, where Mary was im- 
 prisoned, and there in one of the castle halls, in 
 the forty-fifth year of her age, Mary Stuart was 
 beheaded. 
 
 1589. Death of Henry III. Accession of 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Henry III. succeeded to the French throne in 
 1574. He had been elected king of Poland in 
 1573, but the death of his brother, Charles IX., 
 made him king of France, and he immediately 
 returned to Paris. Henry III. was a man of 
 weak and dissolute character, and entirely unfit 
 to rule France at this critical period. The Hu- 
 guenots were fast recovering from the misfor- 
 tunes of the previous reign and were becoming 
 very powerful under their leaders, Henry of 
 Navarre and the Prince of Conde. The Cath- 
 olics taking alarm now formed the celebrated 
 " League" for the defence of their cause and the 
 extermination of Protestantism. The Leaguers 
 were commanded by the Duke of Guise, aided 
 by the king, and the Huguenots by Henry of 
 Navarre. For twelve years (i 576 to 1 588) there 
 were alternations of war, truce, and precarious 
 peace. At length the king, who had at first 
 aided the cause of the League, became enraged 
 at the insolence and ambition of the Duke of 
 Guise and caused him and his brother, Cardinal 
 of Guise, to be assassinated. This act roused 
 the fury of the Leaguers, and Henry had no re- 
 source but to turn to the Huguenots for aid. 
 A treaty was concluded with Henry of Navarre, 
 and then the two kings laid siege to Paris, which 
 was in the hands of the Leaguers. 
 
 While the siege was in progress a fanatical 
 monk gained admission to the royal apartments 
 and assassinated the king. Henry III. was the 
 last king of the house of Valois. By his death 
 Henry of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenots 
 and the lawful heir to the throne, became king 
 with the title of Henry IV. 
 
 1598. Philip II. of Spain. 
 
 Philip II. was the son of Charles V., Emperor 
 of Germany, and the great-grandson of Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella. He was carefully educated, 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 and he showed some taste for mathematics and 
 architecture. Even in childhood he was thought- 
 ful, cautious, and reserved. His father kept him 
 surrounded by able statesmen, who early famil- 
 iarized him with ideas of government. At the 
 age of sixteen he married his cousin, the Infanta 
 Maria of Portugal, who died within two years. 
 He afterwards married Mary, Queen of Eng- 
 land, but Philip's extreme coldness and indiffer- 
 ence towards the wife chosen merely for motives 
 of policy made the marriage a very unhappy one. 
 
 Soon after his accession to the throne Philip 
 engaged in war with the French, who had in- 
 vaded his Italian dominions. The Duke of 
 Alva, one of Philip's most able generals, soon 
 drove the French out of Italy. Philip mean- 
 while prosecuted hostilities in the northern 
 provinces of France. In 1557 the great battle 
 of St. Quentin was fought, in which two-thirds 
 of the French army were killed or taken pris- 
 oners. Other victories over the French rapidly 
 followed, and the French king, Henry II., ac- 
 ceded to terms of peace. In commemoration 
 of the victory of St. Quentin, which occurred 
 on the anniversary of the martyrdom of St. 
 Lawrence, to whom Philip ascribed his victory, 
 he built the Escurial, the most magnificent royal 
 residence and mausoleum in Europe. St. Law- 
 rence suffered martyrdom by being broiled on a 
 gridiron, and by a quaint conceit the ground- 
 plan of the Escurial is in the form of a gridiron, 
 with handle and bars complete. Twenty-one 
 years and fifteen millions of dollars were ex- 
 pended in building it. The most striking 
 feature of the edifice is the church. Porphyry 
 and marble of the richest description incrust 
 'the walls. Directly under the high altar is a 
 mausoleum in which repose the remains of all 
 the sovereigns of Spain since Charles V. 
 
 Philip's main object in life was the support 
 of the Roman Catholic religion. He used to 
 say, "Better not reign at all than reign over 
 heretics." He used every means to extinguish 
 Protestantism throughout his dominions, but in 
 
 the Netherlands, where the Reformation had 
 spread most rapidly, his efforts signally failed. 
 During the war with the Netherlands Philip was 
 also occupied with hostilities against the Turks. 
 The memorable siege of the island of Malta by 
 the Turks was raised in 1565 by forces sent from 
 Sicily. The Turks were also defeated at Lepanto 
 by Philip's brother, Don John of Austria. 
 
 After the death of the Prince of Orange 
 Philip bent his energies towards the conquest 
 of England, and for this purpose sent out the 
 " Invincible Armada," but this vast armament, 
 the proudest and finest the world had ever seen, 
 was wrecked off the Orkney Islands after in- 
 effectual attempts to land upon the English 
 coast (1588). When Philip heard of this terri- 
 ble disaster he said, " The will of God be done. 
 I sent my ships to fight with the English and 
 not with the elements." This ended his hopes 
 of conquering England. 
 
 He died in 1598. Through his cruel bigotry 
 he lost a great portion of one of his most valu- 
 able possessions, the Netherlands, while his 
 ruinous and unsuccessful wars impoverished his 
 country and left it greatly lowered in the estima- 
 tion of the other nations of Europe. 
 
 1599. Edmund Spenser. 
 
 Edmund Spenser, one of England's greatest 
 poets, was born in London about 1553. He was 
 educated at Cambridge. After leaving the uni- 
 versity he went to live in the nbrth of England, 
 where he wrote his "Shephearde's Calendar." 
 He afterwards returned to London and was 
 introduced to Sir Philip Sidney, who became 
 his friend and patron. About 1580 Spenser was 
 appointed secretary to Lord Grey, the queen's 
 deputy to Ireland. For his services Spenser re- 
 ceived a grant of land in the county of Cork. 
 In 1586 he went to reside upon his estate at 
 Kilcolman Castle. Here he composed most of 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 39 
 
 his great poem, the " Faerie Queene." After the 
 death of Sidney, which Spenser commemorates 
 in his elegy " Astrophel," Sir Walter Raleigh 
 became his principal patron. He was visited by 
 Raleigh in 1589, who persuaded him to return 
 to London and arrange for the publication of 
 his poem. Spenser accordingly accompanied 
 Raleigh to London, and was presented by him 
 to Queen Elizabeth, to whom the first three 
 books of the " Faerie Queene" were dedicated. 
 It is said that Elizabeth was so pleased with the 
 poem that she ordered one hundred pounds to 
 be given to the poet. But Lord Burleigh, think- 
 ing, as many statesmen have thought from time 
 immemorial, that literary men are not deserving 
 of such large rewards, remonstrated with his 
 royal mistress. " What," said he, " all this for a 
 song ?" " Give him, then, what is reason," said 
 the queen, already repenting her generosity ; and 
 Burleigh, acting upon this order, and guided by 
 his own taste and feeling, gave Spenser nothing. 
 Spenser, to whom the conversation had been 
 told, waited for some time with patience, but at 
 length presented his petition : 
 
 " I was promised on a time to have reason for my rhyme ; 
 Since that time, until this season, I have had nor rhyme nor 
 reason." 
 
 Elizabeth's ready wit perceived the point of the 
 rhyme, and she forthwith ordered the hundred 
 pounds to be paid. 
 
 Spenser subsequently returned to Ireland, 
 where he wrote " Colin Clout's come Home 
 Again," in honor of Raleigh, and three more 
 books of the " Faerie Queene." The latter part 
 of his life is wrapped in doubt and obscurity. 
 Some records say that during Tyrone's rebellion 
 Kilcolman Castle was burned by the rebels, 
 Spenser and his wife escaping with difficulty, 
 while their youngest child perished in the flames. 
 Spenser died in London in 1599 and was buried 
 near Chaucer in Westminster Abbey. His chief 
 poem, the " Faerie Queene," is unfinished. It 
 was the last great poem of chivalry, and was re- 
 ceived with enthusiasm in the adventurous age 
 of Elizabeth. Spenser is scarcely surpassed as 
 a master of musical language. In the judgment 
 of Hallam his is still the third name in the poetic 
 literature of England. 
 
 ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.* 
 
 THE TUDOR PERIOD. 1485-16O3. 
 
 Literature, Science, Useful Arts, etc. 
 
 The language of the earlier part of this period 
 
 spoken and written by the English people has 
 
 been called the " Middle English." It was 
 
 slightly different from that used in Chaucer's 
 
 * The English have been chosen for these sketches because 
 of their pre-eminence, socially and politically, among European 
 nations, and also because of their close relationship to the 
 American people. 
 
 " Canterbury Tales," and lasted until the reign 
 of Elizabeth, during which the language reached 
 very nearly the state in which it now exists. 
 
 With the cessation of the Wars of the Roses 
 learning revived, especially the study of the clas- 
 sics. Erasmus, a Dutchman, who was professor 
 of Greek at Oxford in the early part of the six- 
 teenth century, greatly encouraged the study of 
 the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages. The 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 whole of the present period may be called the 
 Learned Age. Henry VIII. was an elegant 
 Latin scholar. His son, Edward VI., received 
 a school-mastering fit for a bishop, and so also 
 did his daughters Mary and Elizabeth, who 
 were proficient in Latin, French, and Spanish. 
 Elizabeth was a good Greek scholar too, and 
 even after she became queen read, as her old 
 tutor, Roger Ascham, said, " more Greek in a day 
 than some clergymen read of Latin in a week." 
 She could converse with the learned professors 
 at Oxford in Greek in the most easy and grace- 
 ful manner. It became fashionable for the gay 
 beaux and belles of Elizabeth's court to study 
 Greek and Latin, but these novel accomplish- 
 ments did not help to improve the national 
 literature and taste, or the morals of the cour- 
 tiers. 
 
 The fashion of founding schools and colleges 
 which began in the fifteenth century continued 
 to prevail in the sixteenth. Cardinal Wolsey, 
 who founded Cardinal (now Christ Church) Col- 
 lege in 1525, was a magnificent patron of learn- 
 ing and the arts. For this Erasmus highly 
 extols him. Among the eminent scholars of 
 the time were Sir Thomas More, Archbishop 
 Cranmer, Cardinal Pole, John Knox, John 
 Leland, Dr. Thomas Linacre, Lord Surrey, and 
 Dr. Colet. Of somewhat later celebrity are 
 Roger Ascham, Dr. Haddon, Archbishop Par- 
 ker, and others. Among the many brilliant 
 writers of Elizabeth's time may be mentioned 
 Sir Philip Sidney, author of a prose romance 
 called " Arcadia ;" Edmund Spenser, who wrote 
 the " Faerie Queene ;" the illustrious William 
 Shakespeare, prince of poets; Francis Bacon, 
 whose writings laid the foundation of modern 
 philosophy; and Richard Hooker, author of 
 the " Ecclesiastical Polity," a most dignified and 
 elegant prose composition. It is worthy of 
 notice that prose composition a form always 
 subsequent to that of verse in the development 
 of a national language began for the first time 
 to be carefully cultivated during this period. 
 
 The sixteenth century is distinguished from 
 the fifteenth almost as the day is from the night 
 in respect to the activity and advancement of 
 the nation in every field of enterprise. The 
 discoveries of Columbus and other navigators 
 gave a wonderful impetus to commerce. Henry 
 VII. encouraged maritime adventure, and Eng- 
 lish ships were seen ploughing every sea. In 
 Mary's reign Archangel was discovered and 
 trade was opened with Russia. Commerce ad- 
 vanced with rapid strides in the days of Eliza- 
 beth. Trade with the Netherlands especially 
 extended rapidly. Vast quantities of fine and 
 coarse draperies, the finest wool, saffron, lead 
 and tin, sheep- and rabbit-skins, leather, beer, 
 cheese, and provisions of various kinds were 
 exported to the Netherlands. 
 
 Another species of adventure in which the 
 English began to engage during Elizabeth's 
 reign was the whale-fishery at Cape Breton, 
 Spitzbergen, and Iceland. It appears that the 
 oil was the only thing for which the whale 
 was then valued, at least there is no mention 
 at this early date of any trade in the fins or in 
 whalebone. 
 
 The advance in the art of agriculture was not 
 very great. Clover was, however, in the reign of 
 Elizabeth introduced from the Netherlands. Its 
 great value consisted in supplying green food 
 where natural pastures were scarce, thus ena- 
 bling the farmer to keep more cattle. 
 
 The introduction of the turnip subsequently 
 was of still greater value in this direction. The 
 art of gardening received greater improvement 
 during this period than that of agriculture. 
 Salads, hops, cabbages, and gooseberries were 
 introduced from the Netherlands, and cultivated 
 successfully in English gardens. 
 
 The manufacture of woollen cloth preserved its 
 old pre-eminence, and the trade in worsteds and 
 yarns flourished. A frame for weaving stockings 
 was invented about 1 589 by William Lee, but not 
 receiving encouragement at home Lee carried his 
 improvement to France. The manufacture of 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 woollen caps, which had formerly been a flour- 
 ishing business, now began to decline, and felt 
 hats came into general favor. 
 
 Manners and Customs of the English. 
 
 The English of this period were great lovers 
 of processions and pageants, and whenever the 
 king or queen paid a visit to a certain town the 
 inhabitants exhausted their resources in public 
 entertainments in honor of the royal visitor. 
 They were very fond of noises, such as the 
 beating of drums, and one writer tells us that 
 sometimes when a number of men had gotten a 
 glass of ale too much, they would go up into 
 some church tower and ring the bell for hours 
 together. Miracle plays, mysteries, and mas- 
 querading were all favorite methods of en- 
 tertainment. These were the forerunners of 
 the English drama. The first regular theatres 
 in London were merely large wooden booths. 
 There was no stage setting, no scenery, and to 
 assist the imagination of the atfdience a placard 
 was suspended in front of the stage announcing 
 the time and place in which the play was sup- 
 posed to be going on. All the actors were men, 
 some of course dressed to take women's parts, 
 but all wore the every-day attire of the period, 
 not attempting to dress to represent the charac- 
 ters they sustained. The shifts of Bottom and 
 his companions so humorously portrayed by 
 Shakespeare were not burlesques of the times, 
 but the experiences of numberless actors of the 
 period. Plays were at first acted only on Sun- 
 day, but they became so popular that the theatres 
 were finally open every day except Wednesday. 
 This was reserved for the elevating (?) sport of 
 bull-baiting, which had become as much a national 
 sport as base-ball is in our times. There were 
 no reserved seats in the theatre, no proscenium- 
 boxes. The ultra-fashionable part of the au- 
 dience hired stools upon the stage, where they 
 smoked and chatted before and during the in- 
 tervals of the play. As there was but one per- 
 formance a day, and the tastes of all classes had 
 6 
 
 to be gratified, the clown was as important a 
 personage as the hero. 
 
 The English celebrated numberless festivals 
 during the year. The greatest of all was Christ- 
 mas. As soon as these holidays arrived all 
 work was thrown aside. Instead of the devotional 
 exercises with which other countries commem- 
 orate this sacred time, in England all was mirth 
 and jollity. Feasts and frolics were indulged in 
 by everybody, even the gravest and most serious 
 persons. In every neighborhood a Lord of 
 Misrule was chosen to preside over the sports 
 of the occasion. On Christmas-eve immense 
 Yule-logs were dragged into the homes and 
 placed on the hearth. If the log burnt all night 
 and the next day, it was a happy omen for the 
 household. The festival of May-day was next 
 in importance to Christmas. A large tree 
 stripped of its branches was brought in from 
 the woods at early morn, decorated, and set up 
 on the village green. The young folks danced 
 and leaped around it to their hearts' content, 
 and then all fell to feasting and frolicking for 
 the remainder of the day. 
 
 In-doors there were evidences of advancing 
 civilization. Instead of the pallets of straw or 
 rushes, the wealthy classes, at least, began to 
 sleep on beds of down covered with blankets 
 and linen sheets. Their bedsteads were very 
 large and elaborately carved. At the table there 
 was also a striking improvement over the cus- 
 toms of earlier days. The platters of wood and 
 pewter, the huge joints of beef, the swarms of 
 jesters, had all disappeared from the dining-hall. 
 The table was covered with a handsome cloth, 
 and set with a great variety of meats, fruits, cakes, 
 and wines. The greater the amount of food 
 upon the table, as regarded variety, the more 
 elegant the entertainment. 
 
 Knives were used about 1563, but the fork, 
 the great assistant to table etiquette, seems to 
 have been a slow development. After the food 
 was cut upon the plate, it was conveyed to the 
 mouth by the left hand. This may have been 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 the reason guests washed their hands before 
 they dined and perfumed them with rose-water 
 or some other toilet preparation. The food of 
 the poorer classes consisted chiefly of bread, 
 meat, and ale or beer. 
 
 A great addition to the ladies' toilet was the 
 looking-glass, which now came into use. Mir- 
 rors of polished steel had been used previously, 
 but they were quite small, merely hand-mir- 
 rors, and scarcely available for all purposes of 
 the toilet. The privilege of seeing a reflection 
 of her costume at full length now became pos- 
 sible to a belle of the period. The costume of 
 the ladies of Elizabeth's time was distinguished 
 especially by the immense ruffs worn around 
 the neck and the huge farthingale which was so 
 disfiguring. Sometimes gowns were cut square 
 in the neck, and were open down the front to 
 show the kirtle, or petticoat. Waistcoats were 
 frequently worn by both sexes. 
 
 During Elizabeth's reign fair hair became 
 fashionable, and the ladies of the court used to 
 dye their locks to gain the favorite color. One 
 great essential to beauty was entirely overlooked, 
 the teeth were not properly cared for, and it 
 was most common to see ladies of beautiful form 
 and face with teeth black and decayed. This 
 was, no doubt, due partly to their fondness for 
 sugar and confections and partly to excessive 
 smoking. Smoking was a vice common not 
 merely to the male sex but indulged in greatly 
 by the ladies of the period. 
 
 Stockings of knitted silk and worsted came 
 into use in Elizabeth's reign. Great quantities 
 of jewelry were worn. Head-dresses were in 
 a great variety of shapes, as great as at the 
 present day, but possibly more absurd. 
 
 The dress generally worn by men consisted 
 of a short doublet and trunk-hose. The lower 
 part of the trunk-hose came later to be called 
 the stockings. Over the doublet was sometimes 
 worn a cloak. Caps and broad hats covered 
 with feathers were equally fashionable among 
 the gentry. The men wore a great many frills 
 and furbelows, trying to look as effeminate as 
 possible. Some fops wishing to appear brave 
 in the eyes of their feminine admirers wore little 
 patches upon their faces as if to hide scars won 
 in battle, and occasionally some addle-pated ex- 
 quisite would be seen carrying his arm in a sling, 
 pretending to have had it broken in some lordly 
 quarrel. 
 
 In the year 1564 coaches began to appear. 
 Previous to this time both men and women had 
 travelled about on horseback, or sometimes in 
 a rude wagon without springs. For the sick a 
 litter slung between two horses was used. The 
 first coach was made by a Dutchman, and great 
 was the astonishment its appearance aroused. 
 One is thus described : " A coach was a strange 
 monster. Some said it was a great crab-shell 
 brought out of China ; and some imagined it to 
 be one of the Pagan temples in which the can- 
 nibals adored the devil." 
 
 But people soon became accustomed to lux- 
 uries, and in a short while so many coaches 
 were manufactured that leather for other pur- 
 poses became scarce. 
 
 As late as the reigns of Henry VII. and 
 Henry VIII. the bow continued the weapon of 
 defence in the English army, but towards the 
 end of Elizabeth's reign gunpowder came into 
 general use, revolutionizing methods of war- 
 fare. 
 
See Explanation of Chart 
 on page 9 . 
 
 England. 
 United States. E3 Turkey. 
 Germany. 113 Poland. 
 
 France. CZI Italy. 
 
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 1603. Elizabeth I. of England died ; she was succeeded by 
 
 James VI. of Scotland, who thus became James I. 
 
 of the United Kingdom. Froude, Eng. t vo\. xii. p. 
 
 580; Green, Eng., p. 453. 
 1607* The first permanent settlement in North America was 
 
 made by the English at Jamestown, Virginia. 
 
 Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 269. 
 
 1609. The Hudson River was discovered by Henry Hud- 
 
 son. Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 351. 
 
 1610. Henry IV. of France was assassinated and his son, 
 
 Louis XIII., succeeded to the throne. White, 
 
 France, p. 296. 
 
 1614. New York was settled by the Dutch at New Am- 
 sterdam. Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 359 ; Irv. Knick. 
 
 N. Y., ch. viii. 
 1618. Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded. Bright, Eng., 
 
 p. 601. 
 1620. Massachusetts was settled by the Puritans at New 
 
 Plymouth. Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 387. 
 1628. New Hampshire was settled at Portsmouth and 
 
 Dover by the English. Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 
 
 333- 
 
 1625. James I. of England died; he was succeeded by his 
 son, Charles I. Put. Eng., vol. iii. p. 2 ; Green, 
 Eng., p. 486. 
 
 1633. Connecticut was settled by the English at Windsor. 
 
 Loss. U. S., p. 82; Bry. U. S., vol. i. p. 548. 
 
 1634. Maryland was settled by Lord Baltimore. Bry. 
 
 U. S., vol. i. p. 490. 
 1636. Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams. 
 
 Loss. U. S., p. 89. 
 1638. Delaware was settled by the Swedes. Loss. U. S., 
 
 p. 92. 
 1642. Cardinal Richelieu died. James, Louis XIV., vol. 
 
 i. p. 19; White, France, p. 311. 
 
 1642. Galileo, the great Italian philosopher, died. 
 
 1643. Louis XIII. of France died; he was succeeded by 
 
 his son, Louis XIV. James, Louis XIV., vol. i. 
 p. 27 ; White, France, p. 308. 
 1648. The Peace of Westphalia closed the Thirty Years' 
 
 . Card. Thirty Yrs. War; Rus. Mod. E., 
 
 vol. i. p. 550. 
 
 1649. Charles I. was beheaded and the English Common- 
 wealth was founded. Hume, Eng., vol. v. ch. 
 
 lix. ; Bright, Eng., p. 608; Green, Eng., p. 555; 
 
 Rus. Mod. E., vol. ii. p. 137. 
 1658* Oliver Cromwell died and his son Richard became 
 
 Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. Car. 
 
 Crom. ; Green, Eng., p. 579; Rus. Mod. E., 
 
 vol. ii. p. 146. 
 1660. The monarchy was restored in England and Charles 
 
 II. became king. Rus. Mod. E., vol. ii. p. 167; 
 
 Pict. Eng., vol. iii. p. 662 ; Guest, Eng. ; Green, 
 
 Eng. 
 
 1663. Carolina was settled by the English. Loss. U. S., p. 
 
 97- 
 
 1664. New Jersey was settled at Elizabethtown by the 
 
 English. Loss. U. S., p. 93. 
 
 1665. The Great Plague raged in London. Pep. Mem., 
 
 vol. ii. p. 288. 
 
 1666. The Great Fire broke out in London. Pep. Mem., 
 
 vol. ii. p. 439. 
 
 1674. John Milton, England's greatest epic poet, died. 
 Mac. Es., vol. i. p. 202. 
 
 1682. Pennsylvania was settled by the Quakers under 
 
 William Penn. Loss. U. S., p. 94; Bry. U. S. 
 
 1683. John Sobieski, King of Poland, compelled the Turks 
 
 to raise the siege of Vienna. Creas. Ot. T., p. 292. 
 1685. Charles II. of England died; he was succeeded by 
 
 his brother, James II. Bright, Eng., p. 722; 
 
 Green, Eng., p. 642. 
 1685. The Edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV. 
 
 James, Louis XIV., vol. ii. p. 293; White, France, 
 
 P- 367- 
 1688. James II. of England abdicated and William and 
 
 Mary ascended the throne. Mac. Eng., vol. ii. 
 
 ch. x. ; Rus. Mod. E., vol. ii. p. 241 ; Bright, 
 
 Eng., p. 761. 
 1692. The Witchcraft delusion raged at Salem. Ban. 
 
 U. S., vol. iii. p. 84. 
 
 43 
 
HISTORIC SKETCHES. 
 
 1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth. Acces- 
 sion of James I. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH ascended the throne 
 of England in 1558 amid the most enthu- 
 siastic rejoicings. The fortunes of the country 
 had sunk to a very low ebb through the blood- 
 shed and misgovernment of the previous reign, 
 and all eyes turned to Elizabeth as the one hope 
 of the nation. In the first speech she made to her 
 Parliament she said that " nothing, no worldly 
 thing under the sun, was so dear to her as the 
 love and good will of her subjects." And these 
 she fully gained. Throughout her reign she was 
 the pride and idol of the English nation. 
 
 Elizabeth showed the greatest wisdom in the 
 choice of her counsellors. The chief of these 
 statesmen was Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh, 
 by whose advice she was guided in the leading 
 transactions of her reign. 
 
 One of her first measures was the restoration 
 of Protestantism. This work was not completed 
 until 1562, when the Church of England was 
 established in its present form through the 
 labors of Archbishop Parker. 
 
 There were at this time three religious parties, 
 the Churchmen, members of the Established 
 Church ; the Roman Catholics ; and the Puri- 
 tans, so called because" they desired a simpler 
 form of worship than that used by either the 
 Churchmen or the Roman Catholics. 
 
 A new law called the Act of Conformity, 
 which allowed no places of worship except 
 those of the Established Church, was the cause 
 of the imprisonment of many Catholics and Puri- 
 tans. Some even were now put to death for dis- 
 obeying the new laws with regard to religion. 
 44 
 
 As yet no one could realize that differences of 
 opinion on matters of religion as well as other 
 things are natural and even desirable, and that 
 these different feelings and opinions are only the 
 different ways of arriving at the truth, which is 
 too great and high for any one mortal to grasp 
 altogether. 
 
 Elizabeth was the last of her family, and if 
 she left no child the young Queen of Scotland 
 would be heir to the throne. But Mary was a 
 Roman Catholic and Queen of France besides. 
 The Protestants objected to her Catholicism, 
 while all parties disliked the prospect of Eng- 
 land's ever becoming a dependency of France. 
 Everybody therefore implored Elizabeth to 
 marry. She had innumerable suitors among 
 the crowned heads and great nobles of Europe, 
 but she never would say " no" and she never 
 would say " yes," and in the end she remained 
 the Virgin Queen with her power undivided. 
 
 Under Elizabeth's prudent and peaceful admin- 
 istration the country made wonderful growth in 
 wealth and social energy. The commerce of the 
 nation began to develop with great rapidity. The 
 hope of a northern passage to India led to the 
 discovery of Archangel and opened up trade 
 with Russia. Traffic in gold-dust and ivory was 
 carried on with the nations of Guinea, and the 
 fisheries on the coast of Newfoundland were con- 
 stantly increasing in importance. Sir Francis 
 Drake won renown by making a voyage around 
 the world. Sir Walter Raleigh established col- 
 onies upon the American coast. 
 
 During these years of quiet progress and de- 
 velopment patriotism became more and more 
 a passion in the hearts of men, and whatever 
 might be their religious differences, all took 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 45 
 
 the political ground of liberty against tyranny, 
 of England against foreign invasion. We 
 now come to the greatest event of Elizabeth's 
 reign, the defeat of the Spanish Armada. 
 There had long been rivalry between Philip 
 II. of Spain and Elizabeth. Philip had never 
 quite forgiven Elizabeth's rejection of his offer 
 of marriage, and she had aroused his wrath by 
 the assistance (little as it was) which she had 
 given the Netherlanders in their war for inde- 
 pendence. The death of Mary Stuart (1587), 
 who had bequeathed her claim to the English 
 crown to Philip, gave him an opportunity to 
 carry out his favorite plan of invading and con- 
 quering England. When the English learned 
 that the King of Spain was coming to drive 
 away their queen and make himself king, their 
 hearts all rose Catholic and Protestant as 
 the heart of one man. They remembered 
 only that they were Englishmen, and they 
 flew to arms in defence of their country. A 
 fleet of eighty ships many of them merely 
 yachts was hurriedly gathered, but at best 
 it was very insignificant compared with the 
 one that was coming. Philip's Armada con- 
 tained one hundred and eighty vessels, large 
 and strong. They were provided with two 
 thousand five hundred cannon, and were com- 
 manded by the best naval officers of Spain. 
 But down under the decks of these noble ships 
 were more than two thousand miserable slaves, 
 chained to the oars and working under the whip 
 of a cruel master. Could an expedition succeed 
 with such a canker hid in its heart? Small as 
 were the English ships they were in perfect trim, 
 and they carried on board the boldest and most 
 brilliant sailors that ever sailed the seas, Fro- 
 bisher, Hawkins, and the famous Sir Francis 
 Drake, whose name was a terror to the Spanish. 
 At last the Invincible Armada appeared. As it 
 sailed proudly up the English Channel, the little 
 English fleet, which had been lying in wait at 
 Plymouth, dropped in the rear and began a 
 harassing and tormenting fire upon the enemy. 
 
 The Spanish admiral, Medina, tried hard to 
 close upon the English and crush them, but 
 the English ships moved so lightly and were 
 so cleverly handled that the Spaniards could 
 never catch them, while the Spanish shot flew 
 wildly up in the air or down into the sea, doing 
 no harm. At length the Spaniards reached 
 Calais. At midnight Lord Howard, the Eng- 
 lish admiral, lighted eight fire-ships and sent 
 them down with the tide upon the enemy. 
 The great Spanish galleons cut their cables 
 and drifted in panic out to sea. At dawn the 
 English followed and poured their shot like 
 rain upon the crowded ships. The Spanish 
 began to grow disheartened. They had lost 
 six of their great ships and four thousand men 
 during the week of fighting. A council of war 
 was held, and they resolved to retreat. But they 
 could not go back, for the dreadful little English 
 fleet was behind them. The only course open 
 was to go around the north of Scotland and 
 west of Ireland and so back to Spain. But a 
 mightier foe than the English overtook them. 
 When they reached the Orkneys, the storms 
 of those northern latitudes broke upon them 
 in great fury and the coast was strewn with 
 the wrecks of the ships and the bodies of the 
 drowned. Fifty wretched shattered ships laden 
 with sick and dying men found their way back 
 to Spain. And this was all that was left of the 
 Invincible Armada. 
 
 The defeat of the Armada was the highest 
 point of Elizabeth's glory. Her later years 
 were sad and lonely. Her great counsellors, 
 Burleigh and Walsingham, and Leicester, the 
 only man whom perhaps she really loved, were 
 all gone. The favorite of her old age was the 
 young Earl of Essex. He was high-spirited, 
 gallant, and accomplished, but Elizabeth's par- 
 tiality placed him in positions far above his 
 abilities, and eventually did him more harm 
 than good. In 1599 he was sent as lord-lieu- 
 tenant to Ireland, where a rebellion had broken 
 out and where a wise ruler was needed. Essex, 
 
4 6 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 who was neither wise nor firm, made an in- 
 glorious and useless peace contrary to orders 
 and then returned to England. Then he en- 
 tered into a plot to deprive the queen of her ad- 
 visers, so that, as he said, she might govern of 
 her own free will. His mad scheme failed, and 
 he was tried and beheaded.* Elizabeth was 
 never happy afterwards, and she gradually sunk 
 into a state of melancholy. For days and nights 
 she lay upon cushions on the floor, refusing to 
 take food or medicine, and at last, sinking into 
 a deep sleep, she passed quietly away, in the 
 seventieth year of her age and the forty-fifth of 
 her reign (1603). 
 
 No sovereign of England was ever so popular 
 as Elizabeth. She was commanding in appear- 
 ance, frank and hearty in her address, well edu- 
 cated, and always fond of gayety and splendor. 
 But she had a great many faults. She was vain, 
 fickle, self-willed, arbitrary, and in matters of 
 diplomacy one of the greatest liars of the day. 
 " A falsehood was to her simply an intellectual 
 means of meeting a difficulty." She had a pas- 
 sionate temper, and would frequently interrupt 
 her councils of state to swear at her ministers. 
 But she loved England and always sought its 
 peace, glory, and happiness. She found it 
 plunged in the lowest depths of degradation, 
 she left it mistress of the seas and ranking with 
 the proudest nations in the world. 
 
 Elizabeth's reign is one of the most glorious 
 in English literature. Spenser, Bacon, Shake- 
 speare, Sidney, and a host of brilliant writers 
 flourished during this period. 
 
 * There is a story that Elizabeth had once given Essex a 
 ring, telling him if he was ever in danger to send the jewel 
 back to her and it would save him. When he was con- 
 demned to death Essex sent the ring, but by mistake it fell 
 into the hands of his enemies, who of course prevented it 
 from reaching the queen. Two years after the execution of 
 Essex the Countess of Nottingham, who was dying, confessed 
 to Elizabeth that the ring had been intrusted to her, and that 
 her husband had influenced her not to deliver it to the queen. 
 Elizabeth shook the dying woman and said, " God may forgive 
 you, but I never will." 
 
 Elizabeth was succeeded by James VI. of 
 Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and 
 the nearest heir to the throne. England and 
 Scotland were thus united under one monarchy. 
 
 16O7. Settlement of Virginia. 
 
 During the reign of Queen Elizabeth various 
 unsuccessful attempts were made by the English 
 to plant colonies in the New World. They 
 claimed all the country stretching from Halifax 
 to Cape Fear River. This immense territory 
 was divided into North and South Virginia, and 
 in 1606 was granted by James I. to two compa- 
 nies, known as the Plymouth Company and the 
 London Company. The northern portion was 
 granted to the Plymouth Company, who endeav- 
 ored to plant a colony in the same year at the 
 mouth of the Kennebec River, but the severity 
 of the following winter discouraged the settlers 
 and drove them back to England. 
 
 The London Company met with more success. 
 In December, 1606, they sent over a band of 
 more than a hundred persons to establish a 
 colony on Roanoke, where in former years Sir 
 Walter Raleigh had made an unsuccessful at- 
 tempt to found a colony. But a storm carried 
 the vessels beyond Roanoke into Chesapeake 
 Bay. Coming at length to the mouth of a 
 beautiful river, which they named after King 
 James, the settlers sailed about fifty miles up- 
 stream, and there on a peninsula formed by the 
 York and James Rivers laid the foundations of 
 Jamestown (May, 1607), the oldest English set- 
 tlement in America. 
 
 Unfortunately, the majority of the new-comers 
 were "poor gentlemen," who were not only 
 unaccustomed to labor but who also looked 
 upon work as a degradation. Such men were 
 ill fitted to become pioneers in a new country. 
 Their idle and vicious habits brought great suf- 
 fering upon themselves and reduced the col- 
 ony to the verge of ruin. The management 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 47 
 
 of affairs fell in a short time into the hands of 
 Captain John Smith, the most famous of these 
 Virginia colonists. Smith was brave, energetic, 
 and full of resources, and through his exertions 
 alone the colony was kept alive for two years. 
 He compelled the settlers to labor, made voyages 
 of discovery, exploring the Chesapeake Bay and 
 the chief rivers of the neighboring country, 
 cultivated the acquaintance of the Indians and 
 procured provisions from them, many times 
 outwitting them but retaining their friendship. 
 
 In 1609 the London Company appointed 
 Lord Delaware governor of the colony, and the 
 following year a new band of emigrants with 
 stores of provisions came over from England. 
 They came not a moment too soon. A few 
 months previous Smith had gone to England, 
 and after his departure the colonists gave them- 
 selves again to idleness and vice. Many of them 
 starved to death, and the few who were left were 
 on the point of abandoning the settlement when 
 Delaware's fleet arrived. Under Delaware's 
 administration affairs became more prosperous, 
 but the permanency of the colony was estab- 
 lished by the wise and vigorous policy of his 
 successor, Sir Thomas Dale. 
 
 1609. The Discovery of the Hudson River. 
 
 Henry Hudson, an English navigator of dis- 
 tinction, was employed by the Dutch East India 
 Company in 1609 to search for a northeast 
 passage to India On behalf of a company of 
 London merchants Hudson had previously made 
 two voyages to the Arctic regions for the same 
 purpose, but both times his progress had been 
 stopped by ice, and his employers then gave up 
 the enterprise. 
 
 The Dutch were more hopeful, and in April, 
 1609, Hudson sailed in a small ship called the 
 " Half Moon" for Nova Zembla. But on round- 
 
 ing the coast of Norway he found the sea 
 blocked with ice as before. His men, suffering 
 from the intense cold, became discontented and 
 insubordinate, and Hudson, deeming further at- 
 tempts in this direction useless, turned his ship 
 and made for the coast of America. The crew 
 insisted on going southward, and the " Half 
 Moon" followed the coast as far south as Ches- 
 apeake Bay, but for some cause they made no 
 attempt at exploring this bay. Turning again 
 to the northward, the " Half Moon" reached 
 Sandy Hook on the 3d of August, and floating 
 past the cape anchored at nightfall just within 
 the bay. They spent a week in the lower bay 
 exploring the shore and trading with the Indians, 
 who were disposed to be friendly, and then the 
 little vessel sailed up through the Narrows and 
 into the noble river which now bears the name 
 of its discoverer. The Dutch were filled with 
 delight and wonder at sight of the fertile plains, 
 the beautiful forests, and the solemn mountains 
 as they slowly passed up-stream. They had 
 never seen the like before. The vessel reached 
 the limit of her voyage at the place where 
 Albany now stands. Hudson sent out boats to 
 sound the stream above, and he was satisfied, 
 when they returned with the report that the 
 water grew narrower and shallower, that he had 
 discovered, not the passage to India, but a large 
 river flowing from the north. He then turned 
 southward, and influenced by his turbulent crew 
 set sail for England, which they reached in 
 safety in November. 
 
 The English government, jealous of the ad- 
 vantage which the Dutch had gained by reason 
 of Hudson's discovery, arbitrarily forbade him 
 to leave his country. The following year Hud- 
 son again entered the service of the London 
 merchants and sailed on his last and fatal voyage 
 to the northwest. In Hudson's Bay his brutal 
 crew abandoned him among the ice-fields, and 
 he was never heard of afterwards. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 161O. Death of Henry IV. of France. Ac- 
 cession of Louis XIII. 
 
 Henry IV., the first of the Bourbon line of 
 kings, succeeded to the French throne in 1589. 
 His claim was disputed by several princes of the 
 blood, and for nine years he had to struggle for 
 the possession of his kingdom. The Duke of 
 Mayenne, head of the Catholic League, took 
 the field against the king with an army com- 
 posed partly of Spanish and Swiss mercenaries. 
 Two battles were fought, one at Arques (1589), 
 the other at Ivry (1590), in both of which the 
 king's troops won the victory. Henry then in- 
 vested Paris, which was in the hands of the 
 League. But the advance of a Spanish force 
 from the Netherlands commanded by the Duke 
 of Parma forced him to abandon the siege. 
 
 At the commencement of his reign many of 
 the Catholics had consented to recognize Henry 
 as their lawful sovereign if he would abjure the 
 Protestant faith and become a Catholic. He 
 had asked time to deliberate upon this important 
 question. The Duke of Sully, his great prime 
 minister, although himself a Calvinist, advised 
 the king to accept the Catholic religion, and 
 Henry, seeing no other way of delivering his 
 country from the dreadful civil war, accepted 
 the dogmas of the Church of Rome and signed 
 a profession of faith in 1593. The gates of 
 Paris were thrown open and the king was ad- 
 mitted with enthusiasm. In justification of his 
 act Henry is reported to have said, " Paris is 
 worth a mass." It is quite probable that he had 
 no strong religious convictions either way, and 
 that he acted merely upon the ground of expe- 
 diency. From a political stand-point his step 
 was successful. City after city laid its keys at 
 his feet, and before the close of the year a great 
 part of France had declared for the king and 
 was at peace. 
 
 The next five years were spent in reducing the 
 remainder of France to submission and in war 
 with the Spanish king, Philip II., who would not 
 
 recognize Henry as king of France. The war 
 closed in 1598 favorably for the French. The 
 same year Henry issued his famous Edict of 
 Nantes. He now devoted his time to repair- 
 ing the damages occasioned by thirty years of 
 war and to the development of the resources 
 of his kingdom. The prime minister, Sully, re- 
 organized the finances, reduced the expenses of 
 the government, and by his thrifty management 
 gave to France prosperity and security. The 
 king encouraged manufactures and every de- 
 partment of industry, and spent large sums of 
 money upon public improvements, declaring 
 that it was his aim to make France happy and 
 prosperous. Towards the close of his reign 
 a dispute arose between the Emperor of Ger- 
 many and several of the Protestant princes. 
 Henry IV. declared in favor of the princes, and 
 was on the point of going to war on their behalf 
 when he was assassinated by a fanatical Jesuit 
 (1610). 
 
 Henry IV. was a brave soldier and the best of 
 the Bourbon kings, but his private life was sul- 
 lied by the grossest immoralities. He was suc- 
 ceeded by his son, Louis XIII., a boy of nine 
 years. 
 
 1614. Settlement of New York. 
 
 Henry Hudson's explorations in the New 
 World under the auspices of the Dutch East 
 India Company gave the Dutch a claim to 
 the newly-discovered region, and in 1614 they 
 built a fort on Manhattan Island for the pur- 
 pose of trading with the Indians. Their claim 
 included the territory between the Delaware 
 and the Connecticut Rivers, and they gave it 
 the name of New Netherlands. 
 
 It was not until 1623 that the colonization of 
 New Netherlands began. In that year two set- 
 tlements were made, one on Manhattan Island, 
 called New Amsterdam, the other at Fort Or- 
 ange, where Albany now stands. The colony 
 began its political career when Peter Minuits, 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 49 
 
 the first governor, arrived at New Amsterdam 
 in 1626. Minuits on his arrival purchased of 
 the Indians for about twenty-four dollars the 
 whole of Manhattan Island. He gained the 
 good will and confidence of the Indians and 
 opened a friendly correspondence with the 
 Plymouth settlers. Van Twiller, his successor, 
 possessed no special administrative qualities, yet 
 circumstances favored the advancement of the 
 colony. The third governor, William Kieft, 
 was a bold, unscrupulous man, and his admin- 
 istration was stormy and unfortunate. He in- 
 volved the colony in strife with the Swedes on 
 the Delaware and with the English on the Con- 
 necticut. He also brought on a disastrous war 
 with the Indians through his cruelty towards 
 them. Kieft's conduct became so offensive to 
 the colonists that he was finally recalled, and in 
 1647 Peter Stuyvesant became governor. Under 
 Stuyvesant times grew better. The Indians were 
 conciliated and the boundary disputes with the 
 English were peaceably ended. The Swedes on 
 Delaware Bay were conquered and their ter- 
 ritory was annexed to New Netherlands. The 
 industry and thrift of the Dutch made the colony 
 very prosperous. 
 
 Without regard to the claims of the Dutch, 
 Charles II. of England granted to his brother, 
 the Duke of York, all the territory reaching 
 from the Connecticut River to Delaware Bay, 
 and in 1664 an English fleet appeared in the 
 harbor of New Amsterdam and demanded the 
 surrender of the town. The Dutch council 
 agreed to terms of capitulation, but Stuyvesant, 
 who was obstinate as well as honest, stumped 
 around on his wooden leg, angrily tore up the 
 letter his council had written to the English, 
 and swore that he would hold the place at 
 every cost. But the colonists were not fond 
 of the military discipline to which they had 
 been subjected by Stuyvesant, and hoping to 
 enjoy more freedom under English rule, they 
 threw open the town. The brave old governor 
 was thus forced to surrender. The English 
 7 
 
 flag soon floated over the town and island, 
 and the name of the settlement was changed 
 to New York in honor of the new proprietor. 
 In 1673 the Dutch regained possession of the 
 colony, war being in progress between England 
 and Holland, but two years later New York was 
 given back to the English, in whose possession 
 it remained. 
 
 1618. Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most illustrious 
 Englishmen who flourished during the reign of 
 Elizabeth, was born in 1552. He was educated 
 at Oxford, and after graduating he entered the 
 army. He served in two campaigns on the 
 Continent, first in behalf of the persecuted 
 Huguenots and then of the Netherlanders. He 
 also distinguished himself in an Irish campaign. 
 Finally he made his appearance at the English 
 court with a commission in the Queen's Guards. 
 A man of his great abilities could not fail to 
 gain the favor of the queen, but Raleigh recom- 
 mended himself particularly by a little act of 
 gallantry. One morning as Elizabeth walked 
 out with her courtiers she chanced to arrive at 
 a muddy place, which she could not cross with- 
 out wetting her feet. Raleigh without hesita- 
 tion took from his shoulders a new yellow cloak 
 and covered the pool, whereupon the queen trod 
 upon it and passed over clean and dry. This 
 attention fixed Raleigh in her good graces, and, 
 as a wag remarked, the sacrifice of a cloak 
 obtained for him many a good suit. 
 
 But the busy spirit of Raleigh soon wearied 
 of the inactive life of a courtier, and we find 
 him in 1584 sending out an expedition to ex- 
 plore the American coast. The country which 
 the explorers discovered was named Virginia, 
 in honor of the queen. Raleigh made two 
 efforts to colonize Virginia, but both were un- 
 successful. 
 
 About this time he was knighted by Elizabeth 
 and was admitted to Parliament. Towards the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 close of Elizabeth's reign Raleigh fell into dis- 
 favor with the queen, and for a short time he 
 was imprisoned. After his release he made a 
 voyage to Guiana, South America, for the pur- 
 pose of ultimately colonizing the country ; but 
 although he brought home specimens of gold 
 ore which he had dug from the rocks with his 
 dagger, the queen would not allow him to prose- 
 cute his discoveries further. 
 
 When James I. came to the throne Raleigh 
 was accused of being implicated in the plot to 
 make Arabella Stuart queen. He was tried and, 
 although no evidence of treason could be ad- 
 duced, was condemned to death. His sentence 
 was finally changed to imprisonment, and for 
 thirteen years he remained in the Tower. During 
 this dreary captivity he began to write his " His- 
 tory of the World." In 161 5 he was permitted to 
 leave his prison to undertake another expedition 
 to Guiana. Two years later he sailed with the 
 king's commission upon this last and ill-fated 
 voyage. The Spanish had already settled in 
 Guiana, and they complained that Raleigh's ex- 
 pedition was an infringement of the terms of 
 peace between the two nations. James deter- 
 mined to sacrifice Raleigh to appease their re- 
 sentment. 
 
 When Sir Walter returned he was arrested 
 and tried, and when the council decided that 
 he had done nothing worthy of punishment, 
 the base king consented to put him to death 
 under his former sentence. When brought to 
 the block Raleigh's demeanor was calm, manly, 
 and even cheerful. He examined the edge 
 of the axe, remarking, " This is a sharp medi- 
 cine, but a sure remedy for all evils." Upon a 
 blank leaf of his Bible it is said that he wrote 
 the following lines the night before his execu- 
 tion : 
 
 " Even such is Time, that takes on trust 
 
 Our youth, our joys, our all we have, 
 And pays us but with age and dust : 
 Who in the dark and silent grave, 
 When we have wandered all our ways, 
 Shuts up the story of our days," 
 
 162O. Settlement of Massachusetts. 
 
 The persecution to which the Puritans were 
 subjected in England during the reign of James 
 I. caused many of them to seek refuge in Hol- 
 land. There they took the name of Pilgrims. 
 After a residence of ten years at Leyden, they 
 determined to remove to the New World. After 
 many delays and disappointments a band of the 
 Pilgrims sailed to Southampton, England, where 
 they were joined by friends from London. The 
 entire party, numbering one hundred and sixty, 
 left Northampton in two ships, the " Speedwell" 
 and the " Mayflower." Twice they returned to 
 port first to Dartmouth, then to Plymouth to 
 make repairs, and then, the " Speedwell" having 
 been pronounced unseaworthy, the " Mayflower" 
 sailed alone with one hundred and one passen- 
 gers. After a very stormy voyage of sixty-five 
 days they reached Cape Cod Bay. Nearly a 
 month was consumed in seeking a place to land. 
 At length on the 2ist of December they disem- 
 barked upon the coast of Massachusetts Bay 
 where Plymouth now stands. Before landing 
 they agreed upon a form of government, and 
 selected John Carver as governor and Miles 
 Standish as military commander. 
 
 The colonists were unaccustomed to so rigor- 
 ous a climate ; provisions were scanty and poor, 
 diseases engendered by want and exposure broke 
 out, and in less than five months about one-half 
 the company were dead, Governor Carver among 
 the number. Fortunately, the Indians did not 
 molest them, and an early spring brought health 
 and hope to the survivors. Bradford was ap- 
 pointed governor in Carver's place. He was a 
 wise and prudent man, and for thirty years he 
 managed the affairs of the colony with great 
 sagacity. Friendly relations were established 
 with most of the neighboring tribes of Indians, 
 the treaty with Massassoit, chief of the Wom- 
 ponoags, remaining inviolate for fifty years. 
 
 Other settlements were made a few years 
 later at Salem and Boston by Puritans from 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 England. These, with the Plymouth colony, 
 laid the foundation of the State of Massachusetts. 
 
 1623. Settlement of New Hampshire. 
 
 In 1622 the Plymouth Company ceded to Sir 
 Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason the territory 
 between the Kennebec and Merrimac Rivers. 
 To this section the new proprietors gave the 
 name of Laconia, and in 1623 they sent thither 
 emigrants, who established fishing colonies at 
 Portsmouth and Dover. These colonists were 
 for the most part mere adventurers filled with 
 the notion that they would discover gold. They 
 struggled on for years, hunting, fishing, and 
 trading with the Indians, but made very little 
 progress. It is related of the people of Ports- 
 mouth that on one occasion when an itinerant 
 preacher reminded them that they ought to be 
 very religious since they had come to the New 
 World for the purpose of free worship, they re- 
 plied, " Sir, you are quite mistaken. You think 
 you are speaking to the Massachusetts Bay 
 people. Our main end is to catch fish." 
 
 In 1629 Gorges and Mason divided their prop- 
 erty, Gorges taking the eastern part, afterwards 
 the State of Maine, and Mason the western 
 portion, including the two settlements. In the 
 same year the name of the colonies was changed 
 to New Hampshire. 
 
 After the death of Mason a great deal of 
 trouble arose on account of the claims of his 
 heirs.. The New Hampshire colonies were sev- 
 eral times joined to the Massachusetts Bay col- 
 ony, but a final separation took place in 1741. 
 New Hampshire was thenceforth a royal province 
 until the Revolution. 
 
 1625. Death of James I. Accession of 
 Charles I. 
 
 James I. ascended the throne of England 
 impressed with a belief in the absolute power 
 
 of kings. It was his maxim that he was ap- 
 pointed by God king of the land, and that no 
 one might oppose or depose him ; that he was 
 master of the people, and responsible to no one 
 but God for his actions. This doctrine of the 
 " divine right of kings" was contrary to the 
 whole history of England, and, although James's 
 arbitrary actions were borne with, his successor 
 by following in his footsteps lost his life. 
 
 James I. had been brought up in the Reformed 
 faith by the Scotch, and when he came to Eng- 
 land he attached himself to the Established or 
 Episcopal Church. He dealt with both Puritans 
 and Catholics in a very high-handed manner. 
 Many of the Puritans left the country and 
 sought an asylum in the New World. The dis- 
 content of the Catholics found vent in the 
 famous or infamous Gunpowder Plot. The de- 
 sign of this plot was to blow up king and Par- 
 liament with gunpowder at the opening of the 
 session. For this purpose the conspirators 
 hired a cellar under the House of Parliament 
 under pretence of storing fuel. Thirty-six bar- 
 rels of gunpowder were secretly carried in and 
 covered over with fagots of wood. Guy Fawkes 
 was appointed to fire the train. But the evening 
 before the day on which Parliament was to as- 
 semble, one of the members, Lord Monteagle, 
 received an anonymous letter warning him not 
 to attend the opening of the session. It was 
 afterwards learned that this letter was written 
 by one of the conspirators, Monteagle's brother- 
 in-law, in the hope of saving the life of his 
 relative. Lord Monteagle carried the letter 
 immediately to the king and his council, who, 
 suspecting from the language of the missive 
 that gunpowder was referred to, caused the cel- 
 lar of the House of Parliament to be examined. 
 There they found Guy Fawkes with his slow 
 matches and dark lantern, and under the fagots 
 the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder. Guy 
 Fawkes and several of his accomplices were 
 executed. The others were slain in endeav- 
 oring to resist their arrest. This hateful con- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 spiracy, although brooding for many months, 
 was known to not more than eighty persons, 
 and it would be very unjust to lay it to the 
 charge of the Catholics in general. 
 
 James I. surrounded himself by very unwor- 
 thy favorites. The chief of these was George 
 Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham. Vil- 
 liers was a dissolute and unprincipled man. He 
 treated the king with the most insolent familiar- 
 ity, but James never got offended. The saddest 
 occurrence of this reign was the disgrace of the 
 most eminent man in the kingdom, Lord Bacon, 
 who has been styled " the greatest, wisest, mean- 
 est of mankind." He became lord chancellor 
 in 1616, and held this office until 1621, when it 
 was discovered that he, the highest judge in the 
 land, had been in the habit of taking bribes. 
 He was impeached by Parliament and degraded 
 from his high position. Thus fell one of the 
 greatest philosophers England ever produced. 
 
 The king's intolerant notions and his illegal 
 measures for raising money were continually 
 opposed by Parliament. But what displeased 
 his people worse than all else was his desire to 
 make friends with Spain and marry his son 
 Charles to the Infanta. The English people 
 writhed under the idea of this marriage with a 
 Spaniard and a Catholic, but James did not care 
 for their objections. Charles and Buckingham 
 made a journey in disguise to Spain to see the 
 bride-elect. But a quarrel with the Spanish 
 minister broke off the match, and Charles was 
 soon after engaged to Henrietta Maria of France. 
 These changes led to war with Spain. While 
 the war was in progress James died (1625). His 
 eldest son had died some years before, and he 
 was succeeded by his second son, Charles I. 
 
 James I. had considerable learning, but his 
 fondness for displaying it gained him very gen- 
 eral ridicule. He was awkward and slovenly, 
 and his want of personal courage was notorious. 
 In fact, he did not possess one kingly attribute. 
 One of the wits of the period wrote, contrasting 
 him with Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 " When Elizabeth was England's king 
 That dreadful name through Spain did ring ; 
 How altered is the case ad sa' me, 
 These juggling days of good Queen Jamie." 
 
 1633. Settlement of Connecticut. 
 
 The rich valley of the Connecticut River 
 early attracted the attention of the pioneers 
 struggling for existence upon the barren shores 
 of Massachusetts Bay. In 1630 a grant of this 
 inviting region was given by the Plymouth 
 Company to the Earl of Warwick, who trans- 
 ferred his claim the following year to Lord Say- 
 and-Seal and Lord Brooke. The Dutch had 
 discovered the Connecticut River in 1614 and 
 had built a fort near the present site of Hart- 
 ford. In 1633 a company of traders under 
 Captain Holmes from Plymouth arrived at the 
 mouth of the river. The Dutch endeavored to 
 prevent them from sailing up the stream, but 
 the English passed the fort unhurt, and began 
 the settlement of Connecticut by building a 
 fort at Windsor. In 1635 a colony was estab- 
 lished at the mouth of the river and named Say- 
 brooke, in honor of the proprietors. Wethers- 
 field and Hartford were settled by emigrants 
 from Massachusetts about the same time. 
 
 The settlers soon became involved in difficul- 
 ties with the Indians, and a terrible war with 
 the Pequods broke out. The colonists received 
 assistance from friendly Indians, and the Pequods 
 were completely exterminated. This fearful blow 
 gave New England peace for forty years. The 
 various Connecticut colonies were all united in 
 1665 under a charter granted them by Charles II. 
 
 1634. Settlement of Maryland. 
 
 The persecution of Roman Catholics in Eng- 
 land during the reign of James I. induced Sir 
 George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) to apply to 
 the king for a charter to establish a colony in 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 53 
 
 the New World. Before the grant was made 
 Calvert died, and the new king, Charles I., is- 
 sued the patent to Calvert's son, Cecil. This 
 charter was exceedingly liberal, granting relig- 
 ious and civil equality to all who might become 
 members of the colony. The province, which 
 was located north of the Potomac River, was 
 called Maryland, in honor of the queen, Henri- 
 etta Maria. In 1634 about two hundred emi- 
 grants, mostly Roman Catholics, arrived at the 
 mouth of Chesapeake Bay, and ascending the 
 Potomac River they purchased an Indian vil- 
 lage, which they called St. Mary's. Here they 
 commenced their settlement. Leonard Calvert, 
 brother of the proprietor, was made governor. 
 
 The new colony flourished under its liberal 
 institutions, and in six months attained greater 
 prosperity than Jamestown in as many years. 
 Maryland was the first colony to establish re- 
 ligious toleration of all denominations by law. 
 
 William Clayborne, who had founded two 
 trading-posts on the Chesapeake before the 
 Maryland colonists came, refused to acknowl- 
 edge the authority of the new colony, and he 
 gave considerable trouble before he was finally 
 dispossessed. 
 
 The settlement of Maryland was free from 
 hardship and peril, and her history is uneventful 
 until the Revolution. 
 
 1636. Settlement of Rhode Island. 
 
 Rhode Island was settled by Roger Williams, 
 a clergyman of Salem, Massachusetts, who was 
 banished from the colony in 1635 on account 
 of his religious opinions and his opposition to 
 the government. Williams spent a dreary winter 
 among the Womponoag Indians, who were as 
 hospitable as their circumstances would permit, 
 and in the spring he purchased from the Narra- 
 gansett Indians a tract of land at the head of 
 Narragansett Bay. There with five companions 
 
 from Boston he commenced a settlement, which 
 he called Providence in remembrance of God's 
 mercy (1636). 
 
 Two years later William Coddington, Mrs. 
 Ann Hutchinson, and some other religious 
 fanatics who could not live peaceably in the 
 Massachusetts colony founded settlements upon 
 an island in Narragansett Bay, which they called 
 the Isle of Rhodes. 
 
 Unwilling to acknowledge allegiance to either 
 Massachusetts or Plymouth, the Providence and 
 Rhode Island colonies obtained from Parliament 
 an independent charter, by which they were 
 united in 1644. 
 
 1638. Settlement of Delaware. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, following the 
 lead of the Dutch, founded a Swedish West India 
 Company for the purpose of establishing colonies 
 in the New World. Before the project could be 
 carried into effect Gustavus died. Several years 
 after his death a charter was granted by the 
 Swedish government to the West India Com- 
 pany, and in 1638 a band of Swedes and Finns 
 came over to the New World and bought a tract 
 of land from the Indians on Delaware Bay. 
 They built a fort near the present site of Wil- 
 mington and called it Christina, in honor of their 
 queen. Other Swedish settlements were made 
 in the vicinity. The Dutch, regarding these 
 settlements with jealous eyes, invaded New 
 Sweden in 1655 and compelled the Swedes to 
 submit to their authority. 
 
 The Delaware settlements remained under 
 the control of the Dutch until 1664, when they 
 passed with New Netherlands into the hands of 
 the English. 
 
 Delaware was included in the grant made to 
 William Penn in 1682, and under the name of 
 the " Territories," or the " three lower counties," 
 it was ruled by the governors of Pennsylvania 
 until the Revolution. 
 
54 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1642. Cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 Armand Jean Duplessis, cardinal and Duke 
 of Richelieu, was born in Paris in 1585. When 
 a young man he was trained to his father's pro- 
 fession of arms, but before he had time to see 
 much warfare his elder brother, who was Bishop 
 of Luc.on, resigned, and Richelieu, deeming the 
 Church a better field for his ambition than the 
 camp, took holy orders, and was consecrated 
 Bishop of Lugon in his brother's stead when 
 only twenty-one years of age. In 1614 he was 
 elected one of the deputies of the clergy to the 
 States-General. He took this opportunity to 
 ingratiate himself into the favor of the queen- 
 mother, Marie de Medicis, and through her in- 
 fluence he was admitted to the Council in 1616, 
 and received in 1622 the cardinal's red hat. In 
 1624 he became a member of the king's Council. 
 In a short time Richelieu's superior talents and 
 political wisdom won for him the position of 
 prime minister of France. 
 
 Under the protection of the Edict of Nantes 
 the Huguenots had again risen to power and 
 importance, and the spirit of freedom engen- 
 dered by their religious struggle made them 
 the enemies of despotism. Richelieu, aiming 
 at an absolute government for France, deter- 
 mined to crush their power, and for this pur- 
 pose laid siege to their great stronghold, the 
 city of La Rochelle. Finding that he could not 
 take it by land so long as the harbor was open, 
 he caused his soldiers to build a mole across the 
 mouth of the harbor, thus completely block- 
 ading the town. An English fleet sent to the 
 relief of the Rochellois attempted to blow up 
 the barrier, but in vain, and at last sailed away, 
 leaving the city to its fate. Fourteen months 
 the brave inhabitants held out, but famine finally 
 forced them to surrender (October, 1 628). When 
 the victorious army of Richelieu entered the 
 place there were not two hundred men alive 
 who were strong enough to bear arms. Fifteen 
 thousand had died of famine, the living looked 
 
 like ghosts. No severe punishments were visited 
 upon these emaciated beings, but the walls of the 
 city were thrown down and her proud spirit was 
 broken. The fall of Rochelle was followed by 
 the surrender of other Huguenot towns, and 
 the political power of the French Protestants 
 was utterly prostrated. 
 
 Richelieu next turned his attention to Eu- 
 ropean politics. The great " Thirty Years' War" 
 was in progress, and with the hope of curbing 
 the power of the house of Austria, the great 
 rival of France, Richelieu threw himself into 
 the struggle. Laying aside his religious scru- 
 ples, he took the side of the Protestants of Ger- 
 many against the empire. Although he did not 
 live to see the close of this great war, he saw 
 Austria humbled and the boundaries of France 
 enlarged at the expense of the empire. 
 
 At home the cardinal ruled with an iron hand. 
 Neither the lives nor the property of those who 
 offended him were safe. The king and the nobles 
 both feared and hated him. Numerous con- 
 spiracies against his life and power were ferreted 
 out by his own crafty vigilance and that of his 
 secret emissaries. Many of the nobles were put 
 to death, others fled from the country, and the 
 haughty cardinal was able to boast of having 
 crushed out the last spark of independence and 
 patrician pride. Marie de Medicis, who had long 
 since become the bitterest of Richelieu's foes, 
 was forced into exile, and she died in penury at 
 Cologne in 1641. The following year the great 
 cardinal died. It is said that the Parisians lit 
 bonfires to express their joy at his death. 
 
 Probably no man has ever had so much in- 
 fluence over the destinies of France as Cardinal 
 Richelieu. He aimed to make France the great- 
 est power in Europe and Richelieu the greatest 
 man in France. He accomplished both these 
 aims, and died but little concerned about the 
 means he had employed in attaining them. 
 
 Richelieu was a patron of literature and 
 science. He founded the French Academy, 
 the most splendid literary institution in Europe. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 55 
 
 1642. Galileo. 
 
 Galileo, an illustrious Italian mathematician 
 and natural philosopher, was born at Pisa in 
 1564. From early childhood he showed a rare 
 aptitude for mechanical invention. His father's 
 means were limited, but amid various discour- 
 agements Galileo acquired a fair knowledge of 
 the common branches of learning and the clas- 
 sics, besides music, drawing, and painting. In 
 1581 his father sent him to the University of 
 Pisa to study medicine, but the impulse of his 
 genius led him to study geometry and physical 
 philosophy in preference, and at the age of 
 twenty-four Galileo became professor of mathe- 
 matics in the university. A few years later he 
 exchanged this position for a similar one in the 
 University of Padua. While at Padua he in- 
 vented a thermometer in which both air and 
 water were employed. About this time, after 
 carefully examining the rival systems of astron- 
 omy, he adopted the Copernican, which was op- 
 posed by the schoolmen and clergy of Italy as 
 being heretical. 
 
 Galileo quietly continued his investigations, 
 and, having improved the telescope, which in 
 the hands of his predecessors had been a mere 
 toy, saw by means of this wonderful instrument 
 the mountains and valleys of the moon, discov- 
 ered the satellites of Jupiter, and assured him- 
 self that the " Milky- Way" was composed of 
 myriads of stars. His discoveries were received 
 by the astronomers of the old school with in- 
 sults'and incredulity. Some exclaimed against 
 the impiety of scooping out valleys from the 
 fair face of the moon ; some attempted to ex- 
 plain away the satellites of Jupiter as mere ap- 
 pearances caused by reflected light ; and one of 
 the professors in the university at Padua argued 
 that as there were only seven metals, and but 
 seven apertures in a man's head, so there could 
 be but seven planets ! 
 
 Galileo's theories met with so much opposition 
 that he was summoned to Rome in 1616, where 
 
 he was induced to promise Pope Paul V. that he 
 would not again teach the doctrine of the motion 
 of the earth around the sun. He then returned 
 to Florence, where he had been living for five 
 years. In 1632 he published his great work, 
 " Dialogues on the Ptolemaic and Copernican 
 Systems." This book occasioned a great out- 
 cry at Rome, and Galileo was again summoned 
 before the papal tribunal. Once more he ab- 
 jured the obnoxious theory of the earth's motion, 
 but it is related that as he rose from his knees 
 he exclaimed, in an undertone, " It does move 
 for all that !" He was allowed to return to his 
 home, but he was kept under surveillance the 
 remainder of his life. Giving his attention from 
 this time less to astronomy and more to natural 
 philosophy, he published in 1638 a book on 
 " Local Motion." Not long afterwards he be- 
 came blind and deaf, and while preparing for 
 a continuation of his work on Motion he died 
 (1642). 
 
 1643. Death of Louis XIII. Accession 
 of Louis XIV. 
 
 Louis XIII. was but a child when he suc- 
 ceeded to the throne of France, and the gov- 
 ernment was administered by the queen-mother, 
 Marie de Medicis, and a council of regency. Two 
 Italian favorites, Concini and his wife, gained 
 complete ascendency over the regent's mind. 
 The government under their control became 
 very weak and corrupt. The great nobles, en- 
 raged at the favor shown to foreigners, rose in 
 insurrection, but they were no less corrupt than 
 the greedy favorites whom they despised, and 
 they were bought off with offices, appointments, 
 and ready money, which Concini lavished upon 
 them from the king's treasury. 
 
 In 1617 the young king, tired of Concini's 
 mastery, and influenced by a new favorite, De 
 Luynes, caused Concini and his wife to be put 
 to death, and assumed the government in his 
 own name. De Luynes was liked no better by 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 the nobles than Concini had been, and in a short 
 time the country was in a state of ferment and 
 insurrection. After several years of confusion 
 and bloodshed, the great Cardinal Richelieu 
 became chief minister and adviser of the king. 
 Richelieu's strong and unyielding government 
 soon reduced the nobles to submission and re- 
 lieved the country from anarchy. The history 
 of the reign of Louis XIII. from this time on- 
 ward is the history of the life of the great car- 
 dinal. In his hands the feeble king became a 
 mere cipher, a nonentity. 
 
 Louis XIII. died in 1643, five months after the 
 death of his great minister. Louis had no very 
 noticeable faults and very few virtues. He was 
 succeeded by his son, Louis XIV., a boy of five 
 years, the government being intrusted to the 
 queen-mother, Anne of Austria, as regent. 
 
 1648. Peace of Westphalia. (Close of the 
 " Thirty Years' War.") 
 
 The Protestants of Germany were compara- 
 tively free from persecution until the beginning 
 of the seventeenth century, when the great con- 
 flict known as the " Thirty Years' War" broke 
 out. The war began in Bohemia shortly after 
 Ferdinand, a Roman Catholic prince, became 
 king. Ferdinand suppressed the Protestant 
 worship in town after town and allowed several 
 Protestant churches to be destroyed. The Bo- 
 hemian Protestants, seeking in vain for redress, 
 rose in insurrection in 1618, and thus was in- 
 augurated the " Thirty Years' War." The fol- 
 lowing year the German emperor, Matthias, 
 died, and Ferdinand was elected to the imperial 
 throne. The Bohemians, disgusted with his 
 government in their country, refused to acknowl- 
 edge him longer as their king, choosing in his 
 stead Frederick, Elector Palatine, and a Prot- 
 estant. The new emperor sent an army into 
 Bohemia, and Frederick and his adherents were 
 
 totally defeated in a battle near Prague. Tilly, 
 the imperial general, completed the conquest of 
 the country, and Frederick, who was a weak and 
 cowardly prince, was deprived of both Bohemia 
 and his hereditary dominions (1622). This 
 closes the first period of the war. 
 
 Alarmed by the troubles in Bohemia, the 
 Protestant princes of Germany now appealed to 
 the Protestant powers of Europe for aid, and 
 Christian IV. of Denmark responded to their 
 call by invading Germany with a large army. 
 To oppose him the emperor sent Count Wallen- 
 stein, a rich Bohemian nobleman, who raised an 
 army at his own expense. Of this mysterious 
 man, Schiller's darling hero, it is said that he 
 seldom spoke a word and that he was never 
 seen to smile. Assisted by the ferocious Tilly, 
 Wallenstein drove Christian IV. out of Ger- 
 many, out of the peninsula of Denmark, and 
 shut him up in the Danish islands. Wallen- 
 stein then laid siege to Stralsund, a Danish 
 fortress on the Baltic, but, not having ships 
 enough to block up the harbor, he was forced 
 to abandon the siege, although he had declared 
 he would have the place " even though it were 
 bound to heaven with chains of adamant." 
 This repulse led the emperor to treat with 
 Christian, and the peace of Lubeck (1629) closed 
 the second period of the war. 
 
 Cardinal Richelieu of France, the implacable 
 foe of the house of Austria, now began to in- 
 terest himself in the war. Wallenstein's arro- 
 gance and extortion had won the universal 
 hatred of the German princes, and through the 
 influence of Richelieu's emissary the unsmiling 
 general was dismissed from service (1630). 
 Richelieu next induced Gustavus Adolphus of 
 Sweden to appear as the champion of the Prot- 
 estant cause. Gustavus had already distin- 
 guished himself as a military commander, and 
 by many he was looked upon as the greatest 
 soldier of the age. With sixteen thousand 
 finely-disciplined troops Gustavus invaded Ger- 
 many in 1630, and by a series of rapid move- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ments passed triumphantly through the country 
 and defeated Tilly in a great battle near Leipsic. 
 Quickly making himself master of the whole 
 country from the Elbe to the Rhine, Gustavus 
 crossed the Rhine and pushed southward to- 
 wards the Lech, a tributary of the Danube. In 
 defending the passage of this stream Tilly was 
 defeated and mortally wounded. The Swedes 
 at once overran Bavaria and entered Munich in 
 triumph. Tilly's death forced the emperor to 
 recall Wallenstein to the command of the army. 
 At the head of sixty thousand troops the im- 
 perial general met Gustavus with his little band 
 near Lutzen in 1632, where a great battle was 
 fought. In the midst of the conflict Gustavus 
 was killed, and his troops roused to fury by his 
 death fought with such desperation that Wal- 
 lenstein's army at last gave way and fled. Soon 
 after the battle of Lutzen Wallenstein was ac- 
 cused of treason, and the emperor fearing to 
 dismiss him the second time caused him to be 
 secretly assassinated (1634). This ended the 
 third period of the war. 
 
 Through the intrigues of Cardinal Richelieu 
 France now entered the struggle on behalf of 
 the Protestants of Germany. But the war had 
 long since lost its religious significance. Neither 
 the Emperor Ferdinand nor Richelieu lived to 
 see the close of this long and desolating war, 
 which was terminated in 1648 by the peace of 
 Westphalia. By the terms of this treaty the 
 religious independence of the Protestant states 
 was confirmed, the eastern boundaries of France 
 were extended to the Rhine, Sweden received 
 important posts upon the Baltic, Switzerland 
 and Holland became independent states, and 
 the imperial house of Austria lost the pre- 
 ponderance it had enjoyed since the time of 
 Charles V. 
 
 Thirty years of war and bloodshed had re- 
 duced the population of the German empire to 
 one-third of what it was before the war, had 
 paralyzed her industry and commerce and trans- 
 ferred her wealth to other lands. Many years 
 
 elapsed before Germany recovered from the 
 effects of this disastrous conflict. 
 
 1649. Death of Charles I. 
 
 Charles I. inherited his father's despotic the- 
 ories of government. In all other respects he 
 was very unlike James I. He was dignified and 
 handsome, pure in his private life, and every inch 
 a gentleman. But he had one great defect of 
 character, he never would keep his promises, 
 and in his dealings with his subjects he showed 
 no feeling of truth or honor. In his thirst for 
 absolute power he was encouraged by his wife 
 Henrietta Maria, whom he married soon after 
 he came to the throne, and by the Duke of 
 Buckingham, who was as much a favorite with 
 Charles as he had been with James. 
 
 James had left the treasury empty, and Charles 
 was soon obliged to summon Parliament to ask 
 for money to carry on the Spanish war. The 
 House of Commons granted a smaller sum than 
 the king desired, and further offended him by 
 giving him for a single year certain taxes that 
 had been commonly granted to the new sovereign 
 for life. Taking this restriction as an insult, 
 Charles closed the session and exacted money 
 on his own authority. The second Parliament 
 meeting in 1626 refused to grant any supplies 
 unless the king would dismiss the Duke of 
 Buckingham ; and they were preparing to im- 
 peach the corrupt favorite, when Charles an- 
 grily dissolved Parliament and tried again to 
 raise money without their consent. His course 
 awakened a spirit of opposition among the peo- 
 ple, and in the midst of growing dissatisfaction 
 Buckingham involved the country in war with 
 France. This war terminated ingloriously for 
 the English, but they had some cause for re- 
 joicing nevertheless. On his return to Eng- 
 land the odious Duke of Buckingham had been 
 assassinated by a discharged army officer. 
 
 In the same year (1628) Parliament was again 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 called. Before granting any money they drew 
 up the famous Petition of Right, which required 
 that the king should raise no taxes without the 
 consent of Parliament, and that no man should 
 be imprisoned without a trial. This was pre- 
 sented to the king for his signature. Charles 
 held back as long as he could, and at last signed 
 it very unwillingly. But he soon forgot his 
 promises, and in defiance of the Petition he went 
 on raising money by levying taxes called ton- 
 nage and poundage (duties upon every tun of 
 wine and every pound of merchandise brought 
 into the country) ; and he tried to force rich 
 men to lend him money, imprisoning them if 
 they refused. When Parliament met again (1629) 
 they remonstrated against these arbitrary acts. 
 The king said that they should not discuss the 
 matter, and when the bolder members refused 
 to obey his order, Charles sent them to prison 
 and prorogued the Parliament. 
 
 He then determined to govern alone. For 
 eleven years no Parliament was called (1629 
 1640). During those years of despotism the 
 chief advisers of the king were Sir Thomas 
 Wentworth, afterwards Earl of Strafford, and 
 Archbishop Laud. Strafford had formerly been 
 on the side of the people, and had been a lead- 
 ing member of the House of Commons when 
 the Petition of Right was drawn up, but he 
 afterwards deserted the popular cause and be- 
 came more arbitrary and despotic than Charles 
 himself. Archbishop Laud considered himself 
 a strict Protestant, but he was very fond of the 
 forms and ceremonies of the High Church, and 
 he hated the simple religious services of the 
 Puritans. Three lawless tribunals were now 
 established, under the direction of these two 
 men, for the suppression of liberty. In these 
 courts the Star Chamber, High Commission 
 Court, and Council of York men were con- 
 demned to fine, imprisonment, mutilation, for 
 resisting the king's policy or differing from the 
 archbishop in religious matters. The Puritans 
 especially were treated with pitiless cruelty. 
 
 One poor man named Prynne had his ears cut 
 off", his nose slit open, and his forehead branded 
 because he wrote a pamphlet against dancing 
 and theatres, amusements of which the queen 
 was very fond. 
 
 Strafford was bent upon establishing an abso- 
 lute government, but this could not be main- 
 tained without an army, and the king had no 
 money to support one. They dared not levy 
 any new taxes, so they resorted to an old one 
 long out of use called ship-money. In times 
 when there was danger of invasion the large 
 towns on the coast gave the king money to fit 
 out ships to defend the country. Strafford pro- 
 posed to levy this tax now, although there was 
 no prospect of an invasion, and use the money, 
 not to build ships, but to raise an army. He 
 demanded the tax not only from the coast cities 
 but from inland places. The people were justly 
 alarmed and indignant, and some brave men, 
 John Hampden among the number, refused to 
 pay the tax demanded. 
 
 The king and Laud next exasperated the 
 Scotch people by forcing them to use the liturgy 
 of the Church of England, which they disliked 
 almost as much as the service of the Catholic 
 Church. The first Sunday the service was read 
 at Edinburgh a great riot broke out. All over 
 Scotland the people rose in resistance, and they 
 made a covenant to withstand to the death en- 
 croachments on their religious freedom. 
 
 Charles had neither money nor men to put 
 down the Scotch rebellion, and he could see no 
 alternative but to call Parliament together. But 
 when Parliament began to talk about grievances 
 the headstrong king, who wanted money and 
 not complaints, sent them about their business, 
 and tried once more to rule alone. More ship- 
 money was levied, soldiers were enlisted by 
 force, but they did not want to fight against the 
 Scotch, and the king was compelled to summon 
 another Parliament, the famous Long Parlia- 
 ment (1641). It was his last. All the members 
 seemed now to be of one mind, and immediately 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 59 
 
 they went to work to restore freedom. The 
 three odious courts were abolished and ship- 
 money was declared illegal. The king was 
 helpless in the hands of these determined men. 
 The two tyrants, Laud and Strafford, were im- 
 prisoned and tried for treason. Strafford was 
 beheaded immediately and Laud four years later. 
 They both died bravely, declaring their loyalty 
 to the king and their love for the kingdom. 
 Matters were brought to a crisis early in 1642, 
 when the king attempted to arrest his most 
 daring opponents in the House of Commons, 
 Pym, Hampden, Haselrig, Hollis, and Strode. 
 The House refused to give them up. Charles 
 went with soldiers to seize them, but they re- 
 ceived timely warning of his approach and took 
 refuge among the citizens of London. In a few 
 days they came back to their places in triumph. 
 There was great excitement in London against 
 the king, and feeling himself no longer safe in 
 the metropolis he went to Hampton Court. The 
 queen fled to Holland. Several months passed. 
 Parliament maintained its determined attitude, 
 the king would make no concessions, and both 
 parties began to prepare for war. The king set 
 up his standard at Nottingham in August (1642). 
 His soldiers were called Cavaliers, and they in- 
 cluded the greater part of the nobility and 
 gentry, while the Parliamentary ranks were filled 
 with tradesmen and the lower orders of the 
 people, Roundheads, as they were called, be- 
 cause they wore their hair cropped short in 
 Puritan fashion. 
 
 The first battle of the civil war was fought at 
 Edgehill. The conflict was indecisive, but for 
 some time afterwards the cause of the king 
 seemed to prosper. At last Parliament secured 
 a great general to lead their army, Oliver Crom- 
 well, the most famous man in all the period. Oli- 
 ver had been a member of Parliament. When he 
 first went into the army as a cavalry captain he 
 saw that the clownish soldiers of Parliament were 
 no match for the king's Cavaliers, and on being 
 promoted to the rank of colonel he immediately 
 
 set to work to remodel his regiment. He filled 
 the ranks with better men and subjected them to 
 the strictest military drill and discipline. This 
 regiment soon became famous as " Cromwell's 
 Ironsides." It was not long before Cromwell 
 had control of the entire army. This was thor- 
 oughly reorganized and placed under the same 
 system of drill and discipline. The soldiers had 
 good pay and were men of good character and 
 decent station. There was no swearing, no gam- 
 bling, no drinking, in their camp. Both officers 
 and men frequently gathered in the barracks to 
 pray, and they often sang hymns as they were 
 going to battle. The king's Cavaliers could not 
 withstand such an army as this, and after a series 
 of defeats the Royalists were utterly routed at 
 Naseby (1645). 
 
 The unfortunate king fled and threw himself 
 upon the protection of the Scots, who had in- 
 vaded England on behalf of Parliament The 
 Scots offered to support him if he would sign 
 their Covenant, but this he refused to do, and 
 after some negotiations the Scots gave him up 
 to Parliament (1647). 
 
 Cromwell, finding that some of the members 
 wanted to make terms with Charles, caused the 
 House of Parliament to be surrounded by two 
 regiments under Colonel Pride and all but his 
 own followers to be excluded. This was called 
 " Pride's Purge." Oliver was becoming more 
 tyrannical than the king. 
 
 What was left of Parliament now determined 
 to try Charles for being a tyrant and for waging 
 war against his people. Such a thing had never 
 been done before, and it seemed like sacrilege in 
 the eyes of the masses to bring a consecrated 
 and anointed king to trial. But the Puritan 
 leaders were not to be turned from their pur- 
 pose. The trial lasted seven days, and then 
 Charles was condemned to death. The Neth- 
 erlands interceded in his behalf, the Scots pro- 
 tested against the whole proceedings, and the 
 Prince of Wales offered the judges any condi- 
 tions as the price of his father's release. But in 
 
6o 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 vain, and on the 3Oth of January, 1649, Charles 
 Stuart was beheaded. From the moment his 
 head fell the people forgot their wrongs and 
 looked upon him as a saint and a martyr. 
 
 There is no question that Charles I. was a 
 good man in many respects, certainly in his 
 private life, but he seemed to have an extra 
 conscience to control him in his public acts, 
 and deemed it no sin to deceive his people. 
 This double-dealing proved to be his ruin. 
 
 1658. 
 
 The Commonwealth and Oliver 
 Cromwell. 
 
 After the death of Charles I. the monarchy 
 was abolished, and the English Commonwealth 
 was established, the executive power being placed 
 in the hands of a council of forty-one members. 
 But the nation was in reality under the control of 
 Cromwell and his army. 
 
 A great rebellion in Ireland speedily claimed 
 Oliver's attention. With his iron soldiers he re- 
 duced the country to submission in nine months. 
 But he was guilty of great cruelties in this cam- 
 paign. He slaughtered great numbers of in- 
 nocent people and drove thousands from their 
 homes, which were then given to English Prot- 
 estants. " The curse of Cromwell on you" is to 
 this day an imprecation of deadliest hatred from 
 the lips of the Irish. When Oliver returned to 
 England great honors were showered upon him, 
 and he went to live in the king's palace at White- 
 hall. 
 
 The next trouble occurred in Scotland. On 
 the death of the king the Scots had proclaimed 
 his son Charles their king. Charles came over 
 from the Continent, and was received joyously at 
 Edinburgh ( 1650) after agreeing to sign the Cove- 
 nant and turn Presbyterian. Cromwell marched 
 promptly into Scotland, and defeated the Royalist 
 army at Dunbar. Charles escaped, however, and 
 afterwards invaded England, but his army was 
 routed at Worcester, and the prince was obliged 
 
 to flee in disguise for his life. Oliver's soldiers 
 searched diligently for him. Once while he was 
 hiding in a leafy oak-tree his pursuers came be- 
 low, and he heard them say what they would do 
 with him if they could only catch him. He had 
 many wonderful adventures and hair-breadth 
 escapes before he got safely over to France. 
 
 Placing General Monk in Scotland to complete 
 its subjugation, Cromwell returned and busied 
 himself with affairs in England. A war with 
 Holland broke out, and the English under Ad- 
 miral Blake won some splendid victories over 
 the Dutch Admirals Van Tromp and De Ruyter. 
 Parliament grew very jealous of Cromwell's 
 growing power, and Cromwell determined to 
 get rid of it. Marching one day to the House 
 with a body of soldiers, he bade the mem- 
 bers begone and drove the Speaker from his 
 chair. In a few minutes the soldiers cleared 
 the hall, and Oliver went away with the keys 
 in his pocket, Dictator of England (1653). 
 The country now lay at his feet. Resolving to 
 govern in the old way with a House of Lords 
 and a House of Commons, he summoned a 
 new Parliament. This was composed chiefly 
 of illiterate fanatics, and was called in derision 
 " Barebone's Parliament" because a leather-seller 
 named Barebone took a very active part in its 
 proceedings. This ridiculous assembly was soon 
 dissolved. Cromwell now caused himself to be 
 declared Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, 
 but he was required to summon a Parliament 
 every three years. Cromwell administered the 
 government with great vigor and ability and 
 he raised England again to a rank among the 
 mightiest nations of Europe. Admiral Blake 
 won a series of brilliant victories upon the seas. 
 He humbled the power of Spain and rooted 
 out and destroyed the Barbary pirates, who 
 had long infested the Mediterranean. Wherever 
 the fleet of the Commonwealth approached, the 
 proud armaments of other nations lowered their 
 flags or slunk away under the guns of their own 
 fortresses. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 In 1657 Cromwell's Parliament offered him the 
 crown, but the army hated the title of king, and 
 although Oliver coveted the proffered honor he 
 dared not accept it. The people did not love 
 his arbitrary measures and his military govern- 
 ment, and at length plots and insurrections were 
 formed against him. A tract entitled " Killing 
 no Murder" filled him with ceaseless fears. He 
 wore armor under his clothes, never went out 
 without an escort, and seldom came home by 
 the same road on which he started. At last 
 the cares of government, the apprehension of 
 personal violence, and the death of a favorite 
 daughter so preyed upon his mind as to bring 
 on a fever, of which he died (1658). He was 
 buried in Westminster Abbey with great pomp 
 and magnificence. His son, Richard Cromwell, 
 succeeded him as Lord Protector, but he had no 
 capacity for holding so difficult a position and he 
 soon resigned, leaving the country under the con- 
 trol of the army. 
 
 It was a long time before anything like justice 
 was done to the character of Oliver Cromwell by 
 his countrymen. It is generally conceded now 
 that as general, statesman, and sovereign he was 
 one of the greatest men that England ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 166O. The Restoration. 
 
 After the resignation of Richard Cromwell 
 the army made a sort of government of their 
 own, but they soon fell to quarrelling among 
 themselves, now that Oliver's firm hand was 
 gone, and England was threatened with anarchy 
 and civil war. At this critical moment General 
 Monk marched his troops from Scotland to 
 London, and declared that the people should 
 have a free Parliament. The members of the 
 " Long Parliament" resumed their seats, issued 
 writs for a new election, and then that famous 
 body dissolved itself forever. When the new 
 Parliament met they voted that the government 
 ought to be by King, Lords, and Commons. 
 
 Everybody was rejoiced at the prospect of hav- 
 ing a king again. A fine fleet was despatched 
 to Holland, where Charles was, and the exile 
 returned in triumph to his native land. On 
 the 8th of May, 1660, he was proclaimed King 
 Charles II., and three weeks later he entered the 
 city of London. His progress was a continual 
 ovation. As he himself wittily expressed it, 
 " The fault must surely have rested with him- 
 self that he had been so long absent, for every 
 one seemed glad of his return." 
 
 This event is known in history as the " Res- 
 toration." 
 
 1663. Settlement of North and South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Carolina was named in honor of Charles IX. 
 of France by French explorers, but it was first 
 colonized by the English. 
 
 In 1663, Charles II. of England, ignoring the 
 claims of France and Spain to this section of 
 the New World, granted to Lord Clarendon, 
 Lord Shaftesbury, and others the vast territory 
 south of Virginia. A company of religious ref- 
 ugees from Virginia had made a settlement in 
 this region, upon the Chowan River, about 1650. 
 The new proprietors established government 
 over this colony and changed its name to the 
 Albemarle County Colony. 
 
 In 1665 a company of emigrants from Barba- 
 does settled at a place near the present city of 
 Wilmington, and called it the Clarendon County 
 Colony. These two colonies were both in- 
 cluded in what was afterwards known as North 
 Carolina. 
 
 The proprietors of Carolina contemplated 
 founding a great empire, and an elaborate con- 
 stitution called the " Grand Model" was drawn 
 up by Shaftesbury and the philosopher John 
 Locke. This scheme was a sort of feudal sys- 
 tem, entirely unsuited to the wants and condi- 
 tion of the settlers, and when it was tried upon 
 the colonies it proved utterly impracticable. 
 
62 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 In 1670 a company of emigrants from Eng- 
 land settled near the mouth of the Ashley 
 River in South Carolina. This settlement was 
 known as the Carteret County Colony. About 
 ten years later the colonists laid the foundations 
 of the city of Charleston, at the junction of the 
 Ashley and Cooper Rivers. After the revoca- 
 tion of the Edict of Nantes great numbers of 
 French Huguenots came over to Charleston, 
 and their industry, refinement, and morality 
 made an impress upon the growing town. 
 
 African slaves were introduced into the colony 
 to such an extent by planters from Barbadoes 
 that in a few years they doubled the whites in 
 numbers. 
 
 'The Carolinas existed as one province until 
 1729, when, on account of disagreements be- 
 tween the proprietors and the people, the colony 
 was divided into North and South Carolina, 
 each becoming a royal province. 
 
 1664. Settlement of New Jersey. 
 
 New Jersey was originally apart of the Dutch 
 colony of New Netherlands. When New Neth- 
 erlands came into the possession of the Duke 
 of York, he sold the portion between the Hud- 
 son and the Delaware Rivers to Lord Berkeley 
 and Sir George Carter^ t. The tract was divided 
 between the new proprietors and named the 
 "Jerseys" in honor of Carteret, who had been 
 governor of the island of Jersey in the English 
 Channel. 
 
 The first settlement in New Jersey was made 
 by emigrants from Long Island in 1664, and was 
 called Elizabethtown. Quakers, Scotch Presby- 
 terians, and other persecuted classes of people 
 gradually occupied the country. 
 
 In 1682 the Jerseys were purchased by Wil- 
 liam Penn. Constant trouble prevailed among 
 the settlers concerning the land titles, and in 
 1702 the proprietors gave up their rights and 
 New Jersey became a royal province. 
 
 1665. The Great Plague in London. 
 
 In the year 1665 London was visited by a 
 terrible plague. Although the plague had often 
 been in the country before, this was the most 
 awful visitation of all. Those who had the 
 means fled from the city. The shops were shut 
 up ; the streets were silent and deserted. When 
 the plague entered a house it was marked with 
 a red cross, and on the door was written the 
 words, " Lord have mercy on us." The deaths 
 became so numerous that the dead-carts moved 
 around day and night gathering up the victims, 
 whose uncoffined remains were hurriedly thrown 
 into pits. 
 
 In July, August, and September the deaths 
 rose from one to ten thousand per week, and in 
 one single night four thousand are said to have 
 perished. Evelyn, a contemporary writer, says 
 in his Diary, " I went all along the city and 
 suburbs from Kent Street to St. James', a dis- 
 mal passage, . . . the shops shut up, and all in 
 mournful silence as not knowing whose turn it 
 might be next." 
 
 During the six months that the plague raged 
 one hundred thousand persons died from the 
 disease. 
 
 1666. The Great London Fire. 
 
 In the year 1666, while the city of London was 
 still suffering from the plague, a great fire broke 
 out. It originated in the east end of the city, at 
 the king's baker's, it is said, and was an acci- 
 dent, though it was supposed at the time that 
 the Roman Catholics were the incendiaries. 
 
 London was then built chiefly of wood, and the 
 fire spread very rapidly. From the Tower to the 
 Temple it raged for three days, when its course 
 was checked by blowing up houses with gun- 
 powder, thus making gaps that the fire could 
 not leap. Ten thousand houses and innumer- 
 able churches were reduced to ashes. The loss 
 of life was exceedingly small, but the amount 
 of property destroyed was tremendous. The 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 booksellers of Paternoster Row alone lost seven 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars in books. 
 
 This conflagration proved, after all, to be a 
 blessing to the public, for it destroyed the dirty, 
 ill-ventilated houses in which the plague still 
 lurked, and burned out the filth in the close and 
 narrow streets. When the city was rebuilt the 
 streets were widened, and the plague has never 
 since made its appearance. 
 
 1674. John Milton. 
 
 John Milton, one of England's greatest poets, 
 was born in London in 1608. His father, who 
 was a copying lawyer of considerable means, 
 secured for his son the best educational advan- 
 tages. At the age of sixteen Milton entered 
 Christ College at Cambridge. His personal 
 beauty was very remarkable. His fair com- 
 plexion, slight figure, and innocent life caused 
 him to be styled by his fellow-collegians the 
 " Lady of Christ's." Though destined for the 
 Church, Milton resolved early in his university 
 career to become an author. While at college 
 he wrote Latin elegies of great merit. He left 
 the university in 1632, and spent the next five 
 years in reading and study. During this time 
 he wrote his exquisite minor poems " L'Alle- 
 gro," " II Penseroso," " Comus," and others. 
 These poems contrast strikingly in their delicate 
 fancies and idyllic treatment with those he pro- 
 duced after twenty years' conflict in public life. 
 On the death of his mother in 1637 he left Eng- 
 land and travelled in France and Italy. He had 
 intended to extend his travels to Sicily and 
 Greece, but the political troubles existing be- 
 tween Charles I. and the people induced Milton 
 to return home. The effect of Milton's inter- 
 course with eminent Continental scholars and 
 authors had been to quicken his literary am- 
 bition, and he determined to write a great poem, 
 either epic or dramatic. His meditations were 
 interrupted by the civil war, and during the 
 
 whole era of Puritan supremacy he appears 
 only as a polemical prose-writer and champion 
 of the revolution. In 1643 he married Mary 
 Powell, who lived with him one month and 
 then returned to her father's home, saying that 
 she disliked " Milton's spare diet and hard stqdy." 
 Milton's chief and singular ground of complaint 
 was that his wife would not talk. His domestic 
 troubles led him to write a number of articles 
 upon the subject of divorce, in which he ad- 
 vanced the doctrine that moral incompatibility 
 justifies divorce. In 1645 a reconciliation was 
 effected between him and his wife and she re- 
 turned to his home. 
 
 Upon the establishment of the Commonwealth 
 Milton was appointed foreign secretary to the 
 Council. This office he filled with great ability. 
 His eyesight had been failing for several years, 
 and in 1653 he became entirely blind. He con- 
 tinued, however, to write many of the more im- 
 portant state papers until the Restoration, which 
 he opposed to the very last. 
 
 After the accession of Charles II. a warrant 
 was issued for Milton's arrest, but he lived in 
 concealment until the Act of Indemnity placed 
 him in safety. 
 
 After the death of his first wife Milton married 
 again, but his second wife lived only fifteen 
 months, and after remaining a widower eight 
 years he married the third time. This marriage 
 proved a very unhappy one, his daughters living 
 in constant quarrel with their step-mother. 
 Amid domestic infelicity, in blindness and pain, 
 Milton meditated and dictated his great poems 
 " Paradise Lost" and " Paradise Regained." The 
 former was sold to a bookseller in 1667 for five 
 pounds in hand and the promise of the same 
 sum on the sale of a certain number of copies. 
 Among his later prose publications is a " History 
 of Britain." 
 
 In his last years Milton was afflicted with gout, 
 which caused his death in 1674. He belonged 
 to no religious communion and never had social 
 prayers in his family, although he passed much 
 
6 4 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 of his time in religious reading and medita- 
 tion. He was buried in the church of St. Giles, 
 London. 
 
 As an epic poet Milton has no rival in the 
 grandeur of his subject and the power of his 
 style. His greatest work, " Paradise Lost," is 
 a poem without a model and without a copy. 
 
 1682. Settlement of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In 1680, William Penn, son of the renowned 
 Admiral Penn, applied to Charles II. of England 
 for the privilege of founding a Quaker common- 
 wealth in America. The following year Charles 
 granted him a tract of land west of the Delaware 
 River, which the king himself named Pennsyl- 
 vania. Penn immediately sent over three ship- 
 loads of emigrants, and in 1682 sailed himself 
 for the New World with one hundred settlers. 
 A number of Swedes and Dutch had previously 
 settled in the domain granted to Penn. These 
 were treated with consideration by Penn, who 
 promised that they should still be governed by 
 their own laws. 
 
 One of Penn's first acts was to make a treaty 
 with the Indians, from whom he obtained lands 
 by fair purchase. The friendly relations thus 
 established were never broken. Not a drop of 
 Quaker blood was ever shed by an Indian. 
 
 Penn purchased from the Swedes land lying 
 between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, 
 where he located his capital city, which he called 
 Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. 
 
 Under Penn's wise and peaceful government 
 his colony had a more rapid growth than any 
 other in America excepting Massachusetts. 
 
 Pennsylvania remained in the possession of 
 Penn and his heirs until the Revolution. 
 
 1683. Siege of Vienna. 
 
 During the century following the reign of 
 Soliman the Magnificent the Turks waged 
 
 almost incessant war with Austria, Poland, and 
 Russia, extending the Ottoman dominions at 
 the expense of these neighbors, and, although 
 the Turkish empire gave unmistakable signs of 
 decay, it was still a formidable enemy. 
 
 The last great aggressive movement of the 
 Ottomans against Christendom was the siege of 
 Vienna in 1683. Kara-Mustapha, Grand Vizier 
 of Turkey, hoping to conquer the provinces 
 between the Danube and the Rhine, marched 
 with an army of nearly half a million men upon 
 this fatal enterprise. Vienna was at that time 
 garrisoned by only eleven thousand men, under 
 Count Stahremberg, as brave a man as the 
 Count Salm, who withstood the first siege of 
 Vienna by Soliman I. in 1529. The German 
 emperor Leopold, not having sufficient means 
 to enable him to withstand so formidable an 
 invasion, called to his aid the famous King of 
 Poland, John Sobieski. The Poles were just 
 then at peace with Turkey, but Sobieski cared 
 very little about such obligations, and he ad- 
 vanced to the relief of Vienna with twenty 
 thousand Poles and about fifty thousand Ger- 
 man auxiliaries. 
 
 The siege, which began on the 15th of June, 
 was being prosecuted with great vigor. The 
 walls were shattered by the Turkish artillery, 
 and the heroic garrison was gradually exhausted 
 by the constant assaults they were forced to re- 
 pulse. By the end of August Kara-Mustapha 
 had it in his power to carry the city by storm. 
 But he waited day after day, hoping that the 
 garrison would surrender, and that the wealth 
 
 o 
 
 of the city would fall into his own hands, well 
 knowing that if the place were carried by storm 
 the treasure would inevitably become the booty 
 of his soldiery. The relieving force of Sobieski 
 was known to be on the march, but the avari- 
 cious vizier, trusting in his own power and supe- 
 rior numbers, made no effort to check Sobieski's 
 approach. When at length the Poles stood on 
 the hill overlooking Vienna, the imbecile and 
 infatuated Mustapha coolly reclined in his tent, 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 and would not believe the news. Sobieski, who 
 in former wars had given the Turks just cause 
 to fear him, -led his best troops direct for the 
 Ottoman centre, where the vizier's tent was con- 
 spicuous, and his terrible presence was at last 
 recognized. " By Allah ! the king is really 
 among us," exclaimed the Khan of the Crimea, 
 and he galloped off in haste. The mass of the 
 Ottoman army, struck with terror and dismay, 
 broke and fled, hurrying the discomfited Mus- 
 tapha with them. The worn-out garrison, in- 
 spired by the presence of their friends, dashed 
 with them upon the trenches where the Janizaries 
 still were, and cut these enemies to pieces. The 
 camp and all the military stores of the Ottomans 
 fell into the hands of the victorious army of 
 Sobieski. 
 
 This great victory over the Moslems caused 
 great rejoicing throughout Christendom. Im- 
 proving on Caesar's proud message to the Roman 
 senate, Sobieski announced his victory to the 
 pope in the words, " I came, I saw, God con- 
 quered." 
 
 1685. Death of Charles II. Accession of 
 James II. 
 
 Charles II. began his reign by choosing the 
 wise and virtuous Earl of Clarendon for his 
 lord chancellor. Cromwell's army was dis- 
 banded, and a general pardon was granted to all 
 who had favored Oliver's government, excepting 
 ten of the late king's judges. These regicides 
 were immediately put to death. The bodies of 
 Cromwell and several other Independents were 
 taken from their graves and publicly hanged. 
 With these exceptions the king showed great 
 clemency towards the leaders of the revolution. 
 
 Although Charles II. had signed the Scottish 
 Covenant he now declared that Presbyterianism 
 was no religion for a gentleman, and in 1662 
 Parliament passed an act requiring all ministers 
 to use the Book of Common Prayer in their 
 service. This attempt to compel all to worship 
 9 
 
 according to the forms of the Episcopal Church 
 was resisted, and hundreds of dissenting clergy- 
 men were in consequence turned out of their 
 livings and left penniless. 
 
 The bad traits in the king's character rapidly 
 began to show themselves. He was idle and 
 reckless, and more openly and shamefully im- 
 moral than any king the English ever had. He 
 resorted to all sorts of mean tricks to secure 
 money for the gratification of his wicked pleas- 
 ures. He married Catherine of Portugal for 
 money, and then spent her dowry upon his 
 dissolute companions and treated his wife with 
 shameful neglect. Everything sober and relig- 
 ious was ridiculed at his court, and scenes of 
 revelry and riot alone occupied the attention of 
 Charles and his profligate courtiers. To supply 
 additional means for his extravagant pleasures, 
 Charles sold the town of Dunkirk, Cromwell's 
 most splendid conquest, to the French king. 
 He also plunged into a war with Holland, be- 
 cause he wished to have control of the sup- 
 plies voted by Parliament to carry on the war. 
 Charles spent the money not upon ships for the 
 navy but for his own selfish purposes, and the 
 result was that the Dutch defiantly entered the 
 harbors, burned the ships lying off Chatham, 
 and even sailed up the Thames nearly to Lon- 
 don. Peace was declared soon after. 
 
 Loud remonstrances were now heard against 
 the king for misspending the money raised for 
 the defence of the kingdom. Lord Clarendon, 
 who disapproved of the king's course, was dis- 
 missed from office, and through his enemies in 
 Parliament was banished from the kingdom. 
 Charles then took for his advisers five worthless 
 and unprincipled men known as the Cabal.* 
 This word has ever since been used to denote a 
 clique of political schemers. 
 
 Charles joined Holland and Sweden in the 
 
 * These men were so called because the initials of their 
 names spelled the word Cabal. They were Clifford, Arling- 
 ton, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. 
 
66 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 " Triple Alliance" in 1668 against the ambitious 
 projects of Louis XIV. But while he thus 
 openly professed hostility towards Louis, he se- 
 cretly made a treaty with the French monarch 
 to fight against the Dutch on promise of a pen- 
 sion of two hundred thousand pounds a year ! 
 But the war against the Dutch became so un- 
 popular in England that peace was once more 
 declared between the two countries (1674). 
 
 Several years later the English were greatly 
 alarmed by rumors of a " Popish Plot" to as- 
 sassinate the king and massacre all the Prot- 
 estants. Titus Gates, a man afterwards proven 
 to be of infamous character, came forward as 
 the chief witness. Other false witnesses con- 
 firmed his tale, and before the imposture was 
 discovered many innocent Roman Catholics 
 were put to death. About this time Parliament 
 passed the famous " Habeas Corpus Act," which 
 prevented the king from keeping even the mean- 
 est subject in prison beyond a certain time, and 
 compelled him to grant the prisoner a fair 
 trial. 
 
 The last event of importance during this reign 
 was a conspiracy known as the Rye-House Plot. 
 There were really two plots, one for working 
 reforms in the government, the other for the 
 assassination of the king. But both were dis- 
 covered at once and were included under the 
 one name. Two illustrious men connected with 
 the former, Lord William Russell and Algernon 
 Sidney, were put to death, besides others of less 
 note (1683). 
 
 Two years later the king died. His gay dis- 
 position and witty good nature had won for him 
 the name of the " Merry Monarch," and to the 
 last he remained popular with certain classes of 
 his subjects. One of his witty courtiers estimated 
 his character very correctly when he affixed the 
 ibllowing verse to the king's bedroom door: 
 
 " Here lies our sovereign lord the king, 
 
 Whose word no one relies on ; 
 He never said a foolish thing 
 And never did a wise one." 
 
 Charles II. was succeeded by his brother, 
 James II., a very unpopular man, dreaded and 
 disliked by nearly all the country. 
 
 1685. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 The Edict of Nantes was issued by Henry IV. 
 of France in 1598 for the benefit of the Hugue- 
 nots, who at that time enjoyed no protection 
 under the laws of the land. This edict granted 
 the Huguenots not only religious toleration but 
 also civil and political rights, and under its fos- 
 tering and protecting influence the Huguenots 
 became good, quiet, industrious citizens and 
 subjects. They included in their ranks the 
 most skilful artisans in the land. They were 
 workers in iron, paper-makers, linen-weavers, 
 silk and woollen manufacturers, in fact, were 
 adepts in all the most important industries of 
 the country. Sheltered by the Edict of Nantes 
 the Huguenots lived peaceably and contentedly 
 until the reign of Louis XIV. After Louis 
 assumed the reins of government himself, he 
 showed his hostility to the Huguenots by shut- 
 ting against them all offices and professions of 
 distinction, and in a short time by establishing 
 a regular system of persecution. To crown his 
 work he finally revoked the Edict of Nantes 
 (1685), thus removing from the Huguenots all 
 protection of law. He was influenced in this 
 step by the celebrated Madame de Maintenon. 
 The Protestant worship was forbidden, all chil- 
 dren were to be educated in the Roman Catholic 
 faith, and terrible penalties were to be visited 
 upon any Huguenots who attempted to leave 
 the country. Notwithstanding these severe and 
 cruel measures, thousands of the Huguenots fled 
 across the borders, carrying their arts, their tal- 
 ents, their industry, into other lands. England, 
 Germany, Switzerland, and even Sweden received 
 accessions of skilled and earnest workmen, who 
 spread refinement and taste among the artisans 
 of those countries and enabled them to compete 
 with the French in the markets of the world. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Louis rejoiced when he felt that God was wor- 
 shipped with no heterodox ceremonial from Ca- 
 lais to Marseilles. He imagined that his cruel 
 and impolitic deed was the crowning splendor 
 of his reign. After he discovered that he had 
 driven from the land at least a quarter of a mil- 
 lion of the thriftiest, the bravest, the most intel- 
 ligent, the most industrious of his subjects, he 
 became dimly aware of the misfortune he had 
 brought upon France. 
 
 1688. Abdication of James II. Accession 
 of William and Mary. 
 
 James II., although deservedly unpopular, be- 
 came king of England in 1685 without any op- 
 position. He promised to defend the Established 
 Church and the laws of the land. Scarcely had 
 he assumed the crown when the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II., invaded 
 the kingdom. Monmouth had been connected 
 with the Rye-House Plot, but had escaped to the 
 Continent when the plot was discovered. Many 
 supported Monmouth's claim to the throne, be- 
 lieving him to be the lawful son of Charles II., 
 while they distrusted James because of his at- 
 tachment to the Roman Catholic faith. But 
 Monmouth's army was utterly defeated in the 
 battle of Sedgemoor, and the unfortunate young 
 duke was captured and beheaded. The soldiers 
 who had won the battle were allowed to wreak 
 their.vengeance upon their prisoners, whom they 
 treated with the most shocking brutality. These 
 soldiers were under a savage colonel named 
 Kirke, and they carried a banner with the 
 sacred Lamb upon it in token of their Chris- 
 tianity. They were afterwards bitterly known 
 as Kirke's Lambs. After the soldiers went 
 away a commission was appointed under the 
 infamous Judge Jeffries to pass through the 
 insurgent district and punish all who had taken 
 part in the rebellion. He opened at Winchester 
 a circuit court long known as the Bloody Assize. 
 
 More than three hundred persons perished in this 
 judicial massacre, and crowds who escaped death 
 were doomed to suffer mutilation, imprisonment, 
 or exile. When the brutal Jeffries returned to 
 London, James rewarded his services by making 
 him lord chancellor. 
 
 The king now began to unfold his grand de- 
 sign of becoming an absolute king and restoring 
 Catholicism. His promise to defend the Estab- 
 lished Church and the laws of the land was con- 
 veniently forgotten. In 1688 he issued a proc- 
 lamation declaring that non-conformity to the 
 Established Church should no longer be pun- 
 ished, and required that this declaration should 
 be read in all the churches. The London bish- 
 ops, whether they approved of these liberal sen- 
 timents or not, knew that the king had no right 
 to make or unmake laws at his pleasure, and they 
 were inclined to think that the king intended that 
 this toleration should eventually be granted to 
 Catholics alone. Seven of the bishops accord- 
 ingly refused to read the Declaration, and they 
 drew up a petition against it. James was furious, 
 and he caused the bishops to be arrested and 
 imprisoned in the Tower amid the most intense 
 popular excitement. The bishops were brought 
 to trial at Westminster Hall seven days later, 
 and, contrary to the king's expectation and de- 
 sire, they were acquitted. All London was filled 
 with shouts and tears of gladness. 
 
 In the midst of these exciting events the queen 
 gave birth to a son.* This was the hardest blow 
 of all. A son would of course succeed his father 
 in preference to a daughter, and those who had 
 hoped that James's eldest daughter, Mary, Prin- 
 cess of Orange, would quietly succeed her father 
 ere long, for James was growing old, were in de- 
 spair. They finally determined to invite Mary's 
 husband, William of Orange, to come with an 
 
 * This son was afterwards known as James the Pretender. 
 It was believed by numbers of people that he was not the son 
 of the king and queen, but that he had been smuggled into the 
 palace and imposed upon the people as a prince. No one be- 
 lieves the story now. 
 
68 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 army and save the liberties of England. Wil- 
 liam wished nothing better, and he began to 
 make preparations for the expedition. 
 
 James awaking at last to a sense of his danger 
 granted great concessions, but in vain. The peo- 
 ple were estranged from him, and one by one his 
 former friends deserted him. William landed 
 with a strong armament in November, 1688, and 
 James finding himself without support fled. 
 
 When William reached London he called a 
 convention, which declared the throne vacant, 
 and conferred the crown jointly upon William 
 and Mary as king and queen of England. The 
 son of James was shut out entirely from the 
 succession. Thus was accomplished the blood- 
 less revolution of 1688.* 
 
 1692. The Salem Witchcraft. 
 
 A belief in witchcraft has been prevalent for 
 ages. Punishment of persons accused of it was 
 first sanctioned by the Church of Rome a little 
 more than three hundred years ago. This ter- 
 rible superstition had a strong hold upon the 
 minds of the people of England and also of 
 their brethren in America, and the darkest page 
 in the history of New England is that which 
 records the Salem Witchcraft. 
 
 The English laws against witchcraft had been 
 adopted in New England, and as early as 1648 
 several persons had suffered death for the 
 alleged offence in the vicinity of Boston. The 
 superstition of the people shrouded the whole 
 colony in gloom. 
 
 Excitement upon the subject suddenly broke 
 out at Danvers, then a part of Salem, in the 
 spring of 1692 and spread like an epidemic. A 
 
 * William and Mary were not proclaimed king and queen 
 until February, 1689, but the English at that time used the 
 Old Calendar, their year beginning on the 2$th of March. 
 Hence we speak of the revolution of 1 688. 
 
 daughter and a niece of Samuel Parris, the min- 
 ister, were attacked by a nervous disorder, and 
 under the influence of their own superstitious 
 belief they accused an old Indian servant-woman 
 in the family of bewitching them. Parris tied 
 the ignorant creature and whipped her until she 
 confessed herself a witch. The alarm of the 
 family spread to the community. The cele- 
 brated Cotton Mather, minister of Boston, had 
 recently preached on the subject of witchcraft, 
 and he held the doctrine that witches really ex- 
 isted, that they were dangerous, and ought to 
 be punished by death. Notwithstanding these 
 teachings there were those in the community, 
 both at Boston and at Salem, who denounced 
 witchcraft as a baleful superstition. Prominent 
 among the disbelievers was the Rev. George 
 Burroughs, formerly pastor of Parris's congre- 
 gation at Salem. Something had to be done to 
 save witchcraft from falling into contempt A 
 special court was accordingly appointed by Gov- 
 ernor Phipps, who was a member of Cotton 
 Mather's church, to go to Salem and judge a 
 number of persons who had been accused of 
 witchcraft by Parris and others. About one 
 hundred and fifty in all were accused, including 
 nine children. Fifty-five were tortured or fright- 
 ened into a confession of witchcraft, and twenty 
 were put to death, among them the Rev. George 
 Burroughs. The diabolical superstition was car- 
 ried to such an extent that they actually hanged 
 a dog as a witch ! 
 
 Various were the accusations brought against 
 the victims, such as signing contracts with Satan, 
 entering his employ and obeying his commands, 
 eating red bread and drinking blood, afflicting 
 other persons by pinching, pricking with pins, 
 etc., when many miles distant from the victim, 
 and other charges equally absurd. 
 
 A reaction finally took place in the public 
 mind, and the governor ordered all those ac- 
 cused and not tried to be discharged from prison. 
 Most of those who had participated as accusers 
 in these terrible scenes afterwards confessed the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 69 
 
 wrong they had done, but the Rev. Cotton 
 Mather, who on account of his position probably 
 did more than any other man to promote the 
 
 delusion, clung to his belief and expressed his 
 thankfulness that so many witches had met their 
 just doom. 
 
 ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 THE STUAET PERIOD. 1603-1714. 
 
 Language, Science, Learned Men, Useful 
 Arts, etc. 
 
 The translation of the Bible made during the 
 reign of James I. does not, as might be sup- 
 posed, illustrate the actual state of the English 
 language at that time. This translation was 
 formed upon the basis of that of Parker's or the 
 Bishop's Bible, made nearly forty years before, 
 which had itself been founded upon the transla- 
 tion made under the direction of Archbishop 
 Cranmer in the reign of Henry VIII. The 
 translators sought to retain the antique form 
 of language as nearly as they could, and were 
 careful to avoid the use of new words that 
 would have contrasted offensively with the pre- 
 vailing style of diction. We are glad to see in 
 the late revision of the Bible the same spirit 
 of affectionate veneration for the genius and 
 essential characteristics of its beautiful style. 
 The language of our Bible is not, therefore, the 
 language of King James's reign. It is not the 
 language of Raleigh or Bacon. The Modern 
 English which had begun to be spoken in the 
 days of Elizabeth was the language of this 
 period. 
 
 Much of the English literature of the period 
 was theological, consisting of sermons and con- 
 troversial tracts, that have for the most part 
 passed into oblivion. One of the most learned 
 
 theologians of the early part of the period was 
 Bishop Andrews, but the greatest English divine 
 of the seventeenth century was Jeremy Taylor, 
 the " Spenser" of English prose-writers. The 
 greatest epic poet of modern ages lived and 
 wrote during this century, John Milton. The 
 numerous play-writers of the time are totally 
 eclipsed by the prince of dramatists, William 
 Shakespeare, the greatest poet of any age or 
 country, yet of whose life so little is certainly 
 known. 
 
 About the middle of the century the era of 
 English newspapers begins. These papers were 
 not in any way equal to our modern ones either 
 in size or in the general character of the news 
 published. Where there were no telegraph-lines 
 the news from foreign lands would necessarily 
 be meagre. The oldest English newspaper that 
 has been discovered is a quarto pamphlet of a 
 few leaves, entitled " The Diurnal Occurrences," 
 being an account of the proceedings of the 
 " Long Parliament" from November, 1640, to 
 November, 1641. At first the newspapers were 
 published once a week, but the people so fully 
 appreciated them that ere long they came out 
 twice or thrice a week. The news-letter now 
 became an important feature of social life. 
 Families in the country would subscribe to pay 
 some resident of London who would gather 
 scraps of news at the coffee-houses and various 
 
7 o 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 pleasure-haunts of the capital and send this in- 
 formation to the country in the shape of a letter 
 about once a week. 
 
 There were very few printing-presses in Eng- 
 land except in London and at the universities, 
 and books were scarce and dear. Great prog- 
 ress was made nevertheless in mathematical 
 and physical sciences. The writings of Bacon 
 excited a spirit of scientific observation and 
 research ; Newton's discoveries gave a great 
 impulse to philosophy and astronomy; and 
 Napier's invention of logarithms became one 
 of the most active and efficient servants of all 
 the sciences that depend upon calculation. In 
 the physical sciences the most glorious event 
 was the discovery of the circulation of the 
 blood by Dr. William Harvey. The universal 
 notion upon this subject was and had been from 
 time immemorial that the veins were merely 
 sacks of stagnant or at least unprogressive 
 blood, and the arteries nothing more than air- 
 tubes ! Dr. Harvey encountered as much pop- 
 ular as professional opposition in the advance- 
 ment of his new theory, which was considered 
 a daring attack upon antiquity, common sense, 
 and nature herself. But Harvey's discovery 
 was destined to revolutionize medical science. 
 
 The only great mental philosopher of the latter 
 part of the century was John Locke, author of the 
 " Essay upon the Human Understanding." This 
 was the first comprehensive survey of the whole 
 mind and its faculties, and will always be recog- 
 nized as a fundamental book in modern meta- 
 physics. Pope was one of the most distinguished 
 poets and Swift one of the greatest prose-writers 
 of the latter part of the century. 
 
 The trade and industry of the country suffered 
 considerable depression during the war between 
 Charles I. and Parliament, but after the restora- 
 tion of tranquillity and a settled government the 
 industries of the country began to revive. The 
 manufacture of fine woollen cloth, that had 
 declined very seriously, was now resumed, and 
 once more became a flourishing business. The 
 
 art of gardening advanced more rapidly than 
 that of agriculture. By the middle of the cen- 
 tury cherries, apples, pears, hops, and cabbages 
 were cultivated in sufficient abundance to render 
 the importation of these fruits and vegetables un- 
 necessary. About the middle of the seventeenth 
 century watches for the pocket were made for the 
 first time in England. After the revolution of 
 1688 tea came into general use. This herb had 
 been known and used in China and Japan from 
 the remotest antiquity. Coffee was also intro- 
 duced during this period by a merchant who 
 brought home with him from Turkey a Greek 
 servant accustomed to make this delicious bev- 
 erage. Coffee-houses soon became popular and 
 numerous. The revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes drove thousands of French artisans to 
 England. Many of them were expert silk- 
 weavers, and the looms of England soon pro- 
 duced through their ingenuity, superior taste, and 
 skill a great variety of rich brocades and satins. 
 The art of making fine writing-paper is supposed 
 to have been introduced by these refugees. The 
 printing of calicoes in imitation of the fabrics of 
 India was commenced in London about 1676. 
 
 The national industry and enterprise of the 
 English received new animation and vigor in all 
 departments at the revolution of 1688, which 
 brought universal security of person and prop- 
 erty to every inhabitant of the kingdom. 
 
 Manners and Customs. 
 
 The furniture of the mansions of the English 
 nobility and gentry acquired during the seven- 
 teenth century a degree of splendor and comfort 
 scarcely surpassed by that of the present day. 
 Paper and leather hangings were invented early 
 in the century, and the walls of the wealthy 
 were now enriched with the magnificent paint- 
 ings of Rubens, Vandyke, Teniers, Rembrandt, 
 and other great masters. 
 
 In the retinues and domestic attendance of the 
 nobles of this period everything proclaimed that 
 the era of feudal authority and grandeur had 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 departed. When the civil wars began no lord 
 could drag after him a company of unwilling 
 vassals to the field ; the meanest hind was free to 
 choose between king and Parliament. Retrench- 
 ment in household attendance was more than 
 counterbalanced by an extravagance in dress 
 and personal adornment that became an abso- 
 lute frenzy. It is said that James I. almost daily 
 figured in a new suit, a humor soon copied by 
 his courtiers. When the Duke of Buckingham 
 was sent to France to escort the Princess Hen- 
 rietta Maria to England on the occasion of her 
 marriage to Charles I., the duke provided for 
 this important mission a suit of white uncut 
 velvet and a cloak, both set all over with dia- 
 monds, valued at four hundred thousand dol- 
 lars, besides a feather made of diamonds. His 
 sword, girdle, hat-band, and spurs were also 
 studded with diamonds. Another suit he pro- 
 vided was of purple satin embroidered with 
 pearls, and valued at one hundred thousand 
 dollars. The costume of the Cavaliers of the 
 time of Charles I. was the most picturesque of 
 any period in English history. It consisted of 
 a richly-embroidered cloak, broad-brimmed hat 
 with long plume, silken doublet, knee-breeches, 
 slashed boots, and gilt spurs. Towards the close 
 of the reign of Charles II. cocked hats, straight 
 square-cut coats, low shoes, and immense peri- 
 wigs, which it was the custom to comb in public, 
 came into vogue among the beaux of London. 
 
 The ladies of the period wore the long stoma- 
 cher, tight sleeves terminating at the elbow, and 
 flounced petticoat, which was disclosed by the 
 long gown being looped completely back. The 
 head-dress was exceedingly high in front. Dur- 
 ing the reign of Queen Anne this high cap was 
 abandoned for smaller and more elegant head- 
 dresses, much to the delight of Addison, who 
 freely criticised in the columns of the " Spec- 
 tator" fashions that he thought ridiculous. 
 
 To the charms of dress and address it was 
 an advantage to the gallant if he added some- 
 thing of literary accomplishment. To compose 
 
 a good billet-doux was well ; to be, or at least 
 to pass for, somewhat of a linguist was better 
 still ; but to have the knack of improvising a few 
 rhymes in laudation of a lady or her lapdog 
 was a qualification that usually carried every- 
 thing before it. The learning, however, of a 
 literary beau generally consisted in little more 
 than in having read the miscellaneous poems 
 of the day, a few comedies, and in such an ac- 
 quaintanceship with Ovid's Epistles (in English 
 only) as enabled him to quote from them when 
 the occasion required. The general style of 
 courtship by which ladies were wooed and won 
 comported with the character of the unintel- 
 lectual coxcombs by whom the incense was 
 offered, and in a love-speech angels, gods, furies, 
 demons, and tortures " ran through all the mazes 
 of metaphorical confusion." This ridiculous 
 medley, uttered with pomp and fervor, on bended 
 knee, beat down the strongest defences of a fe- 
 male heart, for the education of women had not 
 advanced far enough to enable them to see the 
 absurdity of such vapid lip-worship. 
 
 The quality of female education corresponded 
 with the superficial frivolity of the other sex. 
 A fashionable lady was thought to be learned 
 enough if she could barely read and write, and 
 if she could finish a letter without notoriously 
 violating the common rules of orthography she 
 might pass for a wit. A very little music, some 
 skill in dancing, and as much arithmetic as suf- 
 ficed for card-playing, made up the list of her 
 external accomplishments. 
 
 The greater number of the houses in London 
 were still built of wood, sometimes wood and 
 brick, with the upper stories projecting over the 
 shops below. The streets were lined with the 
 gorgeous signs of coffee-houses, ale-houses, and 
 shops, and by these landmarks people directed 
 strangers on their way, for there were no num- 
 bers on the houses. The streets were crooked 
 and narrow, and being unpaved they were damp 
 and dirty even in dry weather, while in the rainy 
 season they were almost ankle-deep in mud. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Thieves and robbers infested the city, assaulting 
 and robbing any one they chanced to meet. 
 The drunken and cowardly watchmen would 
 or could give no protection. Shakespeare un- 
 doubtedly found in the streets of London the 
 models for his watchmen in " Much Ado about 
 Nothing," and there is probably as much truth 
 as burlesque in his delineations. 
 
 Superstition flourished as vigorously as in 
 the Middle Ages. Almost every old mansion 
 in England was still ghost-haunted, and every 
 parish was tormented by a witch. James I. 
 had a personal quarrel with the whole race of 
 witches, for during his matrimonial voyage to 
 Denmark they had baptized a cat, by which 
 they had raised a storm that almost wrecked his 
 ship. He wrote, reasoned, and declaimed against 
 witchcraft, and during his whole reign persecuted 
 helpless old women who were supposed to be 
 witches. Nor did his death cool the zeal which 
 his folly had kindled. The persecution became 
 still more rampant under the Long Parliament 
 and Puritan supremacy, for it is estimated that 
 more than three thousand persons were put to 
 death for witchcraft between the year 1640 and 
 the Restoration. 
 
 As money became more abundant through 
 the increase of trade, the science of gastronomy 
 was carefully cultivated. Cookery became an 
 all-important study, but the artificial taste of the 
 period produced the most villanous compounds. 
 Butter, cream, marrow, ambergris, sugar, dried 
 fruits, oranges, lemons, and all kinds of spices 
 entered largely into the composition of almost 
 every dish. On some occasions a coarse and 
 clownish dish was a pleasing variety. In the 
 year 1661 there was a great feast at Newcastle, 
 and each guest was required to furnish his own 
 dish of meat. Of course there was a great deal 
 of competition for pre-eminence, but the speci- 
 men of Sir George Goring was pronounced a 
 masterpiece. It consisted of four huge pigs, 
 bitted and harnessed with ropes of sausage, all 
 tied to a monstrous bag pudding ! 
 
 Greater temperance in eating and drinking 
 prevailed during the Commonwealth, from the 
 ascendency of Puritan principles, which were 
 rigid and austere to a high degree. Music, 
 dancing, festivals, and all sports and games were 
 condemned by this rigid sect as unworthy of 
 Christians. They knew, however, that men must 
 have some social excitement, even though they 
 should only meet to groan, and they endeavored 
 to extract from religious meetings a compensa- 
 tion for their proscription of all ordinary amuse- 
 ments. Nothing that Shakespeare ever penned 
 was equal in their eyes to a long sermon that 
 plunged into the deepest abysms of theology. 
 This was their feast of fat things. Sometimes 
 the preacher, when he meant to give a very 
 vigorous sermon, prepared for action by throw- 
 ing off his cloak, after which he laid about him 
 like a thresher. This was called " taking pains." 
 The extreme sternness and sourness of the Puri- 
 tans may be attributed to the spirit of contra- 
 diction excited by the levity and recklessness of 
 their opponents, the Cavaliers, who on their part 
 were driven to extremes by their disgust at the 
 demureness and, as they deemed it, hypocritical 
 sanctimoniousness of the Puritans. The Cava- 
 liers dressed in gay clothing and were devoted 
 to the curling of their love-locks ; the Puritans 
 cut their hair so close to the skull that their ears 
 stood out in bold and painful relief and gave 
 them a grim and ghastly appearance. Their 
 clothing was dull in color and homely in cut. 
 Upon the same principle of separation from the 
 worldlings the Puritans affected a slowness of 
 speech and a solemnity of tone that often degen- 
 erated into a snuffle or nasal twang, and their 
 talk, even upon the most ordinary occasions, 
 was liberally interlarded with texts of Scripture. 
 These unfortunate peculiarities of manner ob- 
 scured the noble moral qualities which the Puri- 
 tans unquestionably possessed, and the masses 
 of the people became heartily tired of the gloom 
 and constraint of the Commonwealth. The Res- 
 toration of the monarchy in 1660 was hailed 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 73 
 
 with an absolute national frenzy. In this temper 
 of the public mind the Restoration brought 
 with it a tide of levity and licentiousness. The 
 upper classes, encouraged by the royal exam- 
 ple, resumed with fresh ardor the frivolity and 
 profligacy which Puritanism had held in check. 
 The country gentlemen were at this period rough 
 and poorly educated. Seldom leaving their 
 native county, they spent their time in hunt- 
 ing, attending fairs, and drinking. Drunken- 
 ness became an alarmingly common vice among 
 this class. But beneath their roughness lay some 
 sterling qualities, and in the present day the 
 rural gentry form a polished and important 
 class in English society. 
 
 The table in the baronial hall was still laden 
 with the old festive hospitality, and the huge 
 sirloins of beef and mighty plum-puddings 
 seemed to laugh to scorn the innovations of the 
 French cooks in London. 
 
 Four-fifths of the laboring classes were em- 
 ployed in agriculture. The highest wages they 
 received averaged five shillings a week. The 
 chief food of the poor was rye, barley, or oats. 
 An enormous percentage of the population no 
 less than one-fifth the community were pau- 
 pers, but with the progress of trade and the in- 
 crease of manufactures the wages of the poorer 
 classes were increased, and the circumstances 
 of the masses gradually improved. 
 
 10 
 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 1702. William III. of England died; he was succeeded 1752. 
 
 by his sister-in-law, Anne. Green, Eng., p. 682. 
 
 1703. St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great. 1757. 
 
 Kel. Rus., p. 273. 
 
 1704. Gibraltar was captured by the English during the 1759. 
 
 " War of the Spanish Succession." Say. Gib., p. 
 
 99 ; Mor. Anne, p. 49. 
 1707. The First Parliament of Great Britain assembled at 1760. 
 
 Westminster. Mor, Anne, p. 144; Green, Eng., 
 
 P- 687. 1765. 
 
 1709. Charles XII. of Sweden was defeated by Peter the 
 
 Great at Pultowa. Volt. Chas. XII., p. 315; 
 
 Mor. Anne, p. 168 ; Kel. Rus., p 289. 1774. 
 
 1713. The Treaty of Utrecht closed the "War of the 
 
 Spanish Succession." Leek. Eng., vol. i. p. 122; 
 
 Mor. Anne, p. 138. 1774. 
 
 1714. Queen Anne, the last Stuart sovereign of England, 
 
 died; she was succeeded by George I. of Hano- 1775. 
 ver. Green, Eng:, p. 694; Mor. Anne. 
 
 1715. Louis XIV. of France died; he was succeeded by 
 
 his great-grandson, Louis XV. James, Louis 1776. 
 
 XIV., vol. ii. p. 510; White, France, p. 324; 
 
 Guiz. France, ch. 1. 
 1719. Joseph Addison, a famous English essayist, died. 1780. 
 
 Mac. Es., vol. v. p. 321. 
 1725. Peter the Great of Russia died. Kel. Rus., p. 367 ; 
 
 Mor. Anne, p. 158. 178L 
 
 1727. George I. of England died; he was succeeded by 
 
 his son, George II. Green, Eng., p. 702. 1783. 
 
 1727. Sir Isaac Newton, England's greatest philosopher, 
 
 died - 1786. 
 
 1733. Georgia was settled by the English at Savannah 
 
 under General Oglethorpe. Loss. U. S., p. 99. 1787. 
 
 1745. The English and Austrians were defeated by the 
 
 French in the battle of Fontenoy. Rus. Mod. 1789. 
 E., vol. ii. p. 438. 
 
 1746. Charles Edward, the Pretender to the English throne, 
 
 was defeated in the battle of Culloden. Green, 1789. 
 ttg.,p. 1714; Bright, Eng., p. 1007. 
 1752. Benjamin Franklin proved lightning and electricity 
 
 to be the same. 1793. 
 
 74 
 
 The Gregorian Calendar was adopted throughout 
 the British empire. llright, Eng., p. 1014. 
 
 The British East India Empire was founded. 
 Green, Eng., p. 721 ; Mac. Es., vol. iv. p. 194. 
 
 The English defeated the French on the Plains of 
 Abraham, and Quebec was forced to surrender. 
 Rus. Mod. E., vol. ii. p. 537. 
 
 George II. of England died ; he was succeeded by 
 his son, George III. 'Green, Eng., p. 729. 
 
 The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parlia- 
 ment. Mah. Eng., vol. v. p. 88; Buck. Eng., 
 vol. i. p. 342; Loss. U. S., p. 213. 
 
 Louis XV. of France died ; he was succeeded by 
 his grandson, Louis XVI. Guiz. France, ch. Iv. ; 
 White, France, p. 388. 
 
 The First Continental Congress met at Philadel- 
 phia. Ban. U. S., vol. vii. p. 136. 
 
 The first battle of the American Revolution was 
 fought at Lexington, Massachusetts. Ban. U. S., 
 vol. vii. ]>. 288; Mah. Eng., vol. vi. p. 59. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence was adopted by 
 the American colonies. Ban. U. S., vol. viii. p. 
 462. 
 
 Benedict Arnold attempted to betray West Point 
 into the hands of the British. Ban. U. S., vol. x. 
 
 P- 377- 
 Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown, 
 
 Virginia. Ban. U. S., vol. x. p. 522. 
 England acknowledged the Independence of the 
 
 United States. Ban. U. S., vol. x. p. 578. 
 Frederick the Great of Prussia died. Car. Fred., 
 
 vol. xiii. p. 361 ; Mac. Es., vol. v. p. 148. 
 The Constitution of the United States was adopted. 
 
 Loss. U. S., p. 355. 
 The Great French Revolution began. Car. Fr. 
 
 Rev., vol. i., books v., vi. ; 7%/ers, Fr. Rev., vol. 
 
 i. ; Dy. Mod. E., book vi. ch. ix. ; Mor. Fr. Rev. 
 George Washington was elected first President 
 
 of the United States. Irv. Wash., vol. iv. ch. 
 
 xxxvii. 
 Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were beheaded. 
 
OF XVIII GCRTtiRJY. 
 
 See Explanation of Chart 
 on page 9 . 
 
 flB England C3 Spain 
 
 Pill United States 
 ID Russia Sweden 
 
 I Germany ^3 Poland 
 
 Mi Prussia C I Austria 
 
 France D Italy 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 75 
 
 Car. Fr. Rev., vol. iii. pp. 134, 244; Thiers, Fr. 
 Rev., vol. it. p. 22 ; Jones, Mod. E., vol. iii. p. 307. 
 
 1794. Robespierre was beheaded and the Reign of Terror 
 
 ended. Car. Fr. Rev., vol. iii. p. 358 ; White, 
 France, p. 446 ; Dy. Mod. E., book vii. ch. v. 
 
 1795. The Directory was established, and the Great French 
 
 Revolution came to an end. Car. Fr. Rev., vol. 
 iii. p. 396; Fyffe, Mod. E., vol. i. p. 97. 
 
 1795. The kingdom of Poland was dismembered. Jones, 
 Mod. E., vol. iii. let. ii.; Lard. Cy., Pol., p. 246. 
 
 1797. Napoleon completed the conquest of Northern Italy. 
 Dy. Mod. E., book vii. ch. viii. ; Jones, Mod. 
 E., vol. iii. p. 341 ; Lan. Nap. I., vol. i. 
 
 1797. John Adams, of Massachusetts, became second 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1798. The French fleet was defeated by the English under 
 
 Nelson in the battle of the Nile. South. Net. ; 
 White, France, p. 470. 
 
 1799. George Washington died at Mount Vernon, Vir- 
 
 ginia. Irv. Wash., vol. v. ch. xxxiv. 
 
 HISTORIC SKETCHES. 
 
 1702. Death of William III. 
 Anne. 
 
 Accession of 
 
 THE revolution of 1688, which placed Wil- 
 liam and Mary upon the throne, was the 
 last great struggle in English history. Although 
 it was accomplished peaceably in England, in- 
 surrections occurred in Scotland and Ireland, 
 in both of which countries James II. had adhe- 
 rents. The Scottish rising was quickly subdued, 
 but the events in Ireland were of much greater 
 importance. James had fled to France beseech- 
 ing the help of Louis XIV., for he was not in- 
 clined to give up his kingdom without striking 
 a blow. Louis might not have cared much 
 about James, but he hated William, the great 
 Protestant leader of Europe, and he determined 
 to assist James in recovering his dominions. 
 Accordingly, James proceeded to Ireland, where 
 the Roman Catholics welcomed him with en- 
 thusiasm. But William came with an army, de- 
 feated James's troops in the battle of the Boyne, 
 and James, who had watched the battle from a 
 safe place on top of a hill, galloped off to Dub- 
 lin and hurried thence to France (1690). A 
 final effort to restore James to the throne was 
 made by Louis in 1692, but the French fleet 
 
 was defeated by the English and Dutch off 
 Cape La Hogue, and James's hopes were for- 
 ever quenched. William continued the war, for 
 it was the main object of his life to curb and 
 humble the power of Louis XIV. At last he 
 forced Louis to recognize him as king of Great 
 Britain and Ireland, and the treaty of Ryswick 
 closed the war (1697). 
 
 It was during William's reign that Parliament 
 acquired an influence that has never since been 
 lost. The convention that offered the crown 
 to William and Mary drew up a declaration of 
 rights which, by act of Parliament, afterwards 
 became law. The chief features of the Bill of 
 Rights were that the king could raise no money 
 except by consent of Parliament ; that he could 
 keep no standing army in time of peace ; that 
 he could neither make nor unmake laws ; that 
 the people might petition for a redress of griev- 
 ances without fear of punishment; that the 
 members of Parliament should be elected with- 
 out the king's interference, and that they should 
 be allowed freedom of discussion in Parliament- 
 ary debate. 
 
 Queen Mary's death in 1694 left William sole 
 monarch of England. Mary was a most amia- 
 ble and estimable princess, and her death, which 
 
7 6 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 was caused by small-pox, then a most common 
 and fatal disease, was a terrible sorrow to her 
 husband. 
 
 In 1701 James II. died, and Louis XIV., to 
 the astonishment and indignation of the Eng- 
 lish, acknowledged the young son of James, 
 known as the Pretender, as king of England. 
 This insult roused the English spirit, and Wil- 
 liam was preparing for a renewal of the war with 
 France, when he died from the effects of a fall 
 from his horse (1702). 
 
 William III. was a man of great abilities for 
 war and statesmanship, and he was an excellent 
 sovereign, but he was never popular with the 
 English because of his cold and distant manners. 
 Nor did William like England, which he called 
 a villanous country, but to the end of his days 
 he preferred his own flat Holland. 
 
 During this reign the Bank of England was 
 incorporated and paper money came into use. 
 Taxes were laid upon bachelors, widows, births, 
 deaths, and marriages. William left no children, 
 and was succeeded by his sister-in-law, Anne, 
 second daughter of James II. 
 
 1703. Founding of St. Petersburg. 
 
 The city of St. Petersburg was founded by 
 Peter the Great in 1703 at the mouth of the 
 Neva River. The site one of the most ex- 
 traordinary ever selected was in a pestilential 
 swamp, where winter lasted eight months in the 
 year, and where a storm from the west was 
 sure to drive back the waters of the Neva and 
 engulf the place. But Peter was not to be 
 daunted in his new enterprise. Workmen were 
 brought from various parts of the empire to as- 
 sist in building the new city, and before a year 
 had expired about thirty thousand houses and 
 huts were raised. But the hardships and expos- 
 ure to which the laborers were subjected carried 
 them off with frightful rapidity, no less than one 
 hundred thousand, it is said, perishing the first 
 
 year. St. Petersburg is built on piles sunk in 
 the marsh, and this foundation extends as far 
 beneath the surface as the church spires and 
 palace domes tower above it. 
 
 The energy and perseverance of Peter and his 
 successors have raised this city, whose very ex- 
 istence is almost a miracle, to a rank among 
 cities of the first class in Europe. 
 
 17 O4. Capture of Gibraltar by the English. 
 
 The rocky promontory of Gibraltar, which 
 stands like nature's monument at the entrance 
 to the Mediterranean Sea, was known to the 
 ancients as Mons Calpe, one of the Pillars of 
 Hercules. None of the ancient writers mention 
 that it was inhabited during their time, and it 
 was not until the Mohammedan invasion of 
 Spain that Gibraltar first occupied a place in the 
 history of the world. On this rock the first 
 footsteps of the great Moslem host were planted, 
 and from this place streamed the mighty armies 
 which established an infidel dynasty in Spain 
 for upwards of eight hundred years. Excepting 
 for an interval of twenty-four years the Moors 
 retained possession of the fortress of Gibraltar 
 until 1462, when it was successfully besieged by 
 the Spaniards. For many years it was held by 
 the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia, but in 1501 it was 
 annexed to the crown of Spain. Two centuries 
 it remained in the possession of Spain, although 
 the Turks once made a desperate but unsuc- 
 cessful attempt to capture it. 
 
 At length in 1701 the " War of the Spanish 
 Succession" broke out, England joining Ger- 
 many and Holland against France and Spain. 
 An English fleet commanded by Admiral Rooke 
 was sent to the Mediterranean in 1704 with a 
 body of German troops under the Prince of 
 Hesse to make a demonstration on the Span- 
 ish coast on behalf of the Austrian Archduke 
 Charles, one of the competitors to the Spanish 
 throne. *But the Spanish people showed no en- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 77 
 
 thusiasm for the archduke, and Admiral Rooke, 
 aware of the calumnies to which he would be 
 subjected if he allowed the summer to pass 
 away without achieving something of impor- 
 tance with the powerful armament under his 
 command, held a council of war with his offi- 
 cers, the result of which was a resolution to 
 make an attack upon Gibraltar. 
 
 The fortifications were at that time in very 
 bad repair and the garrison was small. A letter 
 was despatched to the Spanish governor of Gib- 
 raltar, Don Diego de Salinas, to surrender at 
 discretion, but he refused and began to make 
 preparations for defence. On the 23d of July 
 twenty-two ships of the fleet commenced a can- 
 nonade, which was kept up with unabated fury for 
 six hours, during which time not less than fif- 
 teen thousand shots were thrown into the town. 
 The effects of this terrible bombardment upon 
 the fortifications became apparent, and Rooke 
 ordered the whole fleet of fifty-two ships to join 
 in the attack and land the troops upon the isth- 
 mus which connects the rock with the main- 
 land. At length the two principal positions of 
 defence were captured, the Spanish artillery was 
 destroyed, and the besieged, seeing no use of 
 prolonging the contest, displayed a flag of truce. 
 Honorable terms of capitulation were agreed 
 upon, and Admiral Rooke took possession of 
 the fortress in the name of Queen Anne. 
 
 The capture of Gibraltar was no source of 
 material advantage to the English, but it pleased 
 their pride mightily. 
 
 1707. The Constitutional Union of England 
 and Scotland. 
 
 For more than one hundred years after the 
 accession of James I. England and Scotland, 
 although acknowledging the same sovereign, 
 were separate kingdoms, each with its own par- 
 liament, laws, and coinage of money. Many dif- 
 ficulties had arisen between the two nations in 
 
 consequence, and they were on very bad terms. 
 The necessity for a union of the two countries 
 with equal privileges became so apparent that 
 during the reign of Queen Anne a treaty of 
 union was framed by commissioners appointed 
 by both countries. After considerable opposi- 
 tion on the part of Scotland, the treaty passed 
 the Scottish Parliament in 1706. The following 
 year it was legalized by the English Parliament, 
 and in October of the same year the First Par- 
 liament of Great Britain met at Westminster 
 (1707). 
 
 The chief terms of the union were that the 
 two kingdoms should be forever united into one 
 nation under the name of Great Britain ; that 
 the nation was to be represented by one parlia- 
 ment, composed of members from both Scotland 
 and England ; that the Scots should be allowed 
 to trade with all the British colonies ; that the 
 laws relating to property and private rights 
 should not be changed except for the good of 
 the Scottish people ; that the Scottish courts 
 should remain as they were ; and that the Pres- 
 byterian Church should still be maintained in 
 Scotland. 
 
 The constitutional union of the two countries 
 has been of incalculable good to Scotland. 
 
 1709. Battle of Pultowa. (Charles XII. of 
 Sweden.) 
 
 Charles XII. succeeded to the throne of 
 Sweden in 1697 at the age of fifteen. From his 
 earliest boyhood he loved to play at soldiers 
 and he had a passionate admiration for Alex- 
 ander the Great. He afterwards became the 
 great rival of Peter the Great. 
 
 Before Charles had been two years on his 
 throne Peter the Great formed an alliance with 
 the King of Denmark and Poland for the pur- 
 pose of dividing the boy king's dominions be- 
 tween them. Hearing of it, Charles immedi- 
 ately prepared for war. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Leaving Stockholm in 1700, he sailed first 
 for Copenhagen. In this, his first campaign, 
 Charles gave evidence of the impetuous cour- 
 age for which he was afterwards distinguished ; 
 for on nearing the place of disembarkation he 
 leaped into the sea, and was the first man on the 
 enemy's soil. Copenhagen was bombarded by 
 the Swedish fleet, and would have been closely 
 besieged but the Danish king, Frederick IV., 
 sued for peace. 
 
 Having humbled this foe, Charles marched 
 to the relief of Narva, a small town of Swedish 
 Livonia, then besieged by Peter the Great with 
 an army of forty thousand men. Taking advan- 
 tage of a storm of wind and snow which blew 
 directly in the faces of the enemy, the King of 
 Sweden with but nine thousand men killed or 
 captured nearly the whole Russian army (1700). 
 When Peter, who was not in the battle, heard 
 the vexing news, he said, " I know very well 
 that these Swedes will have the advantage of us 
 for a time, but they will at length teach us to 
 beat them." 
 
 Charles next marched against Poland, and 
 in three campaigns reduced that country, de- 
 posing the king and conferring his crown upon 
 another. 
 
 At last the conqueror turned towards Russia. 
 " Nowhere but at Moscow will I treat with 
 Peter," said the haughty Swede, when the czar 
 made proposals of peace. " Ah," retorted Peter, 
 "my brother Charles wants to act the part of 
 Alexander, but he shall not find me a Darius." 
 Charles advanced into Russia, but when only 
 ten days' march from Moscow he turned aside 
 into the Ukraine, the land of the Cossacks, on 
 the promise of aid from their chief, Mazeppa. 
 But fear of the czar caused most of the Cos- 
 sacks to desert their chief, the supplies upon 
 which Charles depended were captured by 
 Peter's army after a series of fights in which 
 more than eight thousand Swedes perished, and 
 when the spring of 1709 arrived, battle, famine, 
 and the deadly frosts of Russia had reduced 
 
 Charles's army of nearly eighty thousand men 
 to barely twenty-four thousand, and only half 
 of these were Swedes. With this ragged, half- 
 famished army the Swedish king laid siege to 
 Pultowa, where the czar had supplies of provi- 
 sions and military stores, and which commanded 
 the passes leading to Moscow. The czar ad- 
 vanced to the relief of the place with sixty 
 thousand fresh troops, and a great battle was 
 fought, a battle which was to decide the fate 
 of Russia. On each side the troops fought 
 obstinately and bravely, but at last the hitherto 
 invincible Swedes were overpowered by the great 
 disparity in numbers, and they were forced to 
 flee. It was a hopeless and irreparable defeat. 
 With a few hundred of his followers Charles 
 escaped into Turkey, where he stirred up war 
 between the Turks and Russia. He remained 
 in Turkey five years, completely wearing out 
 his welcome, but he would take no hint about 
 returning home. Meanwhile, Peter the Great 
 helped himself to the Swedish provinces of 
 Livonia, Ingria, and Finland, and the Kings of 
 Prussia and Denmark appropriated the Swedish 
 dominions south of the Baltic. 
 
 Charles XII. left Sweden at his death a wreck 
 of her former greatness, and she has never since 
 risen above the condition of a second-rate power. 
 
 1713. Treaty of Utrecht. " "War of the Span- 
 ish Succession." 
 
 The " War of the Spanish Succession" was 
 caused by the attempt of Louis XIV. to place 
 his grandson, Philip of Anjou, upon the throne 
 of Spain. 
 
 When the Spanish king, Charles II., died he 
 named Philip as his successor, but the Em- 
 peror of Germany, also related to Charles II., 
 claimed the Spanish throne for his own son, 
 the Archduke Charles. The Spanish empire 
 comprised, besides Spain itself, a great portion 
 of Italy and the Netherlands, and possessions 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 79 
 
 in the New World. The crafty and ambitious 
 Louis XIV. saw in the accession of Philip the 
 future consolidation of France and the Spanish 
 empire, and after a pretence at deliberation he 
 sent Philip to take possession of the Spanish 
 throne, saying with significance, " There are no 
 more Pyrenees." But the nations of Europe 
 had no notion of allowing the Pyrenees to be 
 blotted out, and, aroused by Louis's political 
 designs, England, Holland, Portugal, and the 
 German empire united to support the claim of 
 the emperor's son. The war began in 1702. 
 
 The allies had two great generals to lead their 
 armies, the English Marlborough and Prince 
 Eugene of Savoy. Louis's famous commanders, 
 the Prince of Conde and Turenne, were dead, 
 and the generals he now had, men of only mod- 
 erate genius, were greatly cramped in their plans 
 because Louis insisted on their observing punc- 
 tually all his orders when he was incapable of 
 directing military affairs. 
 
 The war was conducted in Belgium, Germany, 
 Italy, and Spain, but the campaigns in Belgium 
 were the most important. The decisive event 
 of the war was the battle of Blenheim, fought 
 in 1704. Marlborough was the hero of this 
 action, which resulted in victory for the allies, 
 and destroyed forever Louis's proud visions of 
 universal conquest. The Bavarians who assisted 
 the French in this battle now submitted to the 
 German emperor, and during the remainder of 
 the war Louis fought only on the defensive. 
 
 The Emperor Leopold died in 1705, and his 
 eldest son, Joseph, who succeeded him, died in 
 1711. On the death of Joseph his brother, the 
 Archduke Charles, was elected to the imperial 
 throne. The allies were no longer interested in 
 supporting Charles's claim to Spain, for the ob- 
 jections against the union of the German empire 
 and Spain were even stronger than those against 
 the union of Spain and France. Louis XIV., 
 whose resources were utterly exhausted, was 
 only too glad to close the struggle, and negotia- 
 tions were accordingly set on foot. Peace was 
 
 declared at Utrecht in 1713. Philip was per- 
 mitted to remain king of Spain on condition 
 of resigning all claims to the French crown. 
 France ceded to England Nova Scotia, New- 
 foundland, and Hudson's Bay in the New World. 
 England also kept Gibraltar and the island of 
 Minorca in the Mediterranean. In 1714 a treaty 
 was arranged between France and the empire, 
 by which all the Spanish possessions in Italy 
 and the Spanish Netherlands were given to the 
 German empire. 
 
 So ended the " War of the Spanish Succes- 
 sion," in Avhich the military power of France 
 was completely broken. This war, which ex- 
 tended to the English and French colonies in 
 America, was known there as Queen Anne's 
 War. 
 
 1714. Death of Queen Anne. Accession of 
 George I. 
 
 Queen Anne succeeded to the throne of Great 
 Britain and Ireland in 1702. Her husband, 
 Prince George of Denmark, took no share in 
 the government. The real governors of both 
 queen and country were two very clever peo- 
 ple, Churchill and his wife, who were raised by 
 the queen to be Duke and Duchess of Marl- 
 borough. The duchess had been for years the 
 queen's most intimate friend. She was a 
 woman of imperious and meddling temper, and 
 would never have been tolerated had not the 
 queen been a person of exceedingly meek and 
 patient disposition. Marlborough was a remark- 
 able man, whose natural genius, for he was un- 
 educated, raised him to be the greatest soldier 
 and commander of the age. 
 
 About the time Anne came to the throne the 
 great " War of the Spanish Succession" broke 
 out, and England joined Holland and the Ger- 
 man empire against Louis XIV. in his efforts 
 to add Spain to his other dominions. The 
 command of the English forces was given to 
 Marlborough, who achieved a series of bril- 
 
8o 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 liant victories over the French, the most famous 
 being the battle of Blenheim in 1704. 
 
 On Marlborough's return to England the To- 
 ries, who had come into power, accused him of 
 dishonesty in connection with army contracts. 
 The accusation proved to be true, and the duke 
 was deprived of all his offices. The queen took 
 another favorite, and the Marlboroughs went to 
 the Continent. After the death of Anne, Marl- 
 borough was called back to England and raised 
 to his former posts. When he died he was 
 buried with great honors in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 In 1713 peace was concluded at Utrecht. 
 Queen Anne died the following year. She was 
 popular with the nation chiefly because she was 
 an Englishwoman, and the people were glad to 
 have again a sovereign of their own blood. But 
 Anne was not an interesting character. She was 
 very susceptible to flattery and blindly guided 
 by favorites. Macaulay says of her, " When in 
 good humor she was meekly stupid, and when 
 in bad humor she was sulkily stupid." 
 
 Queen Anne's reign is noted as a brilliant 
 literary period, and has been called the Augustan 
 Age of England. Addison, Steele, Defoe, and 
 Swift were the chief prose-writers. Pope was 
 the leading poet. The most important political 
 event of the reign was the union of the Parlia- 
 ments of England and Scotland. 
 
 During William's reign it was settled that if 
 neither he and Mary nor Anne left any children 
 the crown should go to Prince George of Han- 
 over, whose mother was the grand-daughter of 
 James I. Accordingly, Anne, whose children 
 all died young, was succeeded by George I. of 
 the house of Brunswick. 
 
 Anne was the last sovereign of the house of 
 Stuart. 
 
 1715. Death of Louis XIV. Accession of 
 
 Louis XV. 
 
 Louis XIV. succeeded to the throne of France 
 when only five years of age. His mother, Anne 
 
 of Austria, was regent, but she gave the entire 
 control of the government into the hands of her 
 able prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin. 
 
 The " Thirty Years' War" was still in prog- 
 ress, and after its close hostilities with Spain 
 continued. The expenses of these foreign wars 
 and the extravagance of the court caused the 
 government to impose unjust and oppressive 
 taxes upon the people, and in consequence an 
 insurrection broke out in 1648, called the War 
 of the Fronde because the rebels were com- 
 pared derisively to the street gamins of Paris, 
 who fought with slings (fronde). Mazarin was 
 compelled to quit the country. After five years 
 of civil war the Frondeurs were crushed, and 
 Mazarin returned in triumph to Paris. He con- 
 tinued to direct the government until his death 
 in 1 66 1. He was a very avaricious man, and it 
 is said that he had two-thirds of the national 
 coin in his money-chests when he died. 
 
 Louis had tolerated the yoke of his prime 
 minister with great impatience, and he now 
 determined to rule without a prime minister. 
 When his officers inquired who was to be con- 
 sulted upon affairs of business, Louis promptly 
 replied, " Myself;" and from that time onward 
 until his death, more than half a century, he 
 was absolute master of the lives and destinies 
 of the French people. While centring all power 
 in himself, Louis was assisted by the ablest 
 statesmen of the age. Colbert was his minister 
 of finance, and Louvois his minister of war. 
 Aided by these two men, Louis now began the 
 most splendid period of his reign. 
 
 During his long reign Louis engaged in a 
 great many wars, for he thirsted for absolute 
 power everywhere. His first warlike adventure 
 after he assumed control of the government was 
 to seize a portion of the Spanish Netherlands, 
 under the pretext that the dowry of his wife, the 
 Spanish Infanta, had never been paid, and that 
 therefore he was not bound to keep the treaty 
 of the Pyrenees, in which he had renounced all 
 claim to the Spanish throne and its possessions. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 81 
 
 England, Holland, and Sweden now formed 
 
 o 
 
 an alliance against him, and for the moment he 
 was arrested in his career of conquest by this 
 formidable confederacy. But he could not for- 
 give the little Dutch republic for presuming to 
 join an alliance against him, and having won 
 Charles II. to his side by means of bribes, 
 Louis proceeded to invade Holland with a 
 splendid army, commanded by the great gen- 
 erals Turenne and Conde. But the Dutch held 
 out manfully under their leader, William, Prince 
 of Orange, and after six years of war, during 
 which Louis tried in vain to break their spirit, 
 peace was declared at Nimeguen (1678). Louis 
 was not altogether disappointed at the result 
 of the war, for he obtained a goodly slice of the 
 Spanish Netherlands. v 
 
 In 1685, Louis dealt his own country a deadly 
 blow by revoking the Edict of Nantes. The 
 Protestant princes of Europe felt themselves 
 insulted and threatened by this measure, and in 
 the following year England, Holland, Sweden, 
 Germany, Denmark, and even Spain joined in 
 war against the haughty pretensions of the 
 " Grand Monarch." William of Orange, now 
 king of England and Louis's mightiest foe, led 
 the armies of the league. The war opened in 
 1689, and was carried on by land and sea for 
 seven years. Then, utterly exhausted, Louis 
 gladly assented to the treaty of Ryswick (1697). 
 
 Unmindful of the poverty-stricken condition 
 of his kingdom, Louis soon after engaged in the 
 " War of the Spanish Succession." Thirteen 
 years of war brought his already exhausted 
 kingdom to the verge of ruin. 
 
 Louis died in 1715, two years after the close 
 of the " War of the Spanish Succession." " I 
 have loved war too much" was his dying confes- 
 sion, but it came too late to benefit his country. 
 Louis XIV. was styled the " Great" by his flat- 
 tering courtiers, but the vastness of his military 
 enterprises, the magnificence of his court cere- 
 monials, and his munificent patronage of science 
 and letters are his only claims to the title. His 
 
 character presents no elements of true greatness. 
 All his efforts were for his own personal ag- 
 grandizement. Fenelon said of him with severe 
 charity, " God will have compassion upon a 
 prince beset from his youth up by flatterers." 
 
 The reign of Louis XIV. is called the Au- 
 gustan Age of French literature. Moliere, Cor- 
 neille, Racine, dramatists, Fenelon and Bos- 
 suet, the great divines, Madame de Sevigne, La 
 Rochefoucauld, La Fontaine, and many other 
 distinguished writers and scholars, flourished 
 during this period. 
 
 Louis XIV. died in the seventy-seventh year 
 of his age. His son and grandson had died a 
 short time before, and the sceptre of France fell 
 to his great-grandson, a child of five years, who 
 succeeded as Louis XV. 
 
 1719. Joseph Addison. 
 
 Joseph Addison, an English author of distinc- 
 tion, was born in 1672. He was the son of a 
 clergyman, and was educated at Oxford. He 
 intended to adopt his father's vocation, but the 
 time was one of political warfare, and when his 
 ability became known to party leaders he was 
 persuaded to devote his services to the state. 
 Through the influence of Lord Somers, Addi- 
 son secured a pension of three hundred pounds 
 a year to enable him " to travel and otherwise 
 qualify himself to serve His Majesty." While 
 on his travels he wrote four acts of his tragedy 
 " Cato." From Italy he wrote a letter to Lord 
 Halifax, which is considered the most elegant 
 of his poetical productions. After two years of 
 travel Addison found it necessary to return to 
 England because his pension, which had been 
 obtained through friends who were now out of 
 the ministry, was discontinued. Soon after his 
 return he published his travels, which abound 
 in useful information and judicious reflections. 
 
 The victory at Blenheim afforded him an 
 occasion for the display of his poetical talents 
 in the poem entitled "The Campaign," which 
 
82 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 celebrates the wisdom and courage of Marlbor- 
 ough. For this poem Addison was appointed 
 commissioner of appeals. In 1708 he entered 
 Parliament, and, although he was a conscien- 
 tious business member, he had not sufficient 
 self-possession to become an orator. In 1709 
 he became secretary to Lord Wharton, lord- 
 lieutenant of Ireland. Towards the close of his 
 term as Irish secretary he frequently contrib- 
 uted to the " Tattler," a paper published by Sir 
 Richard Steele. Such was the superiority of 
 Addison's writing that Sir Richard said " that 
 he himself fared like a distressed prince who 
 called a powerful neighbor to his aid and was 
 undone by his auxiliary." 
 
 When Addison returned to London he ear- 
 nestly co-operated with Steele in establishing 
 and carrying on the " Spectator," a weekly 
 paper, now one of the classics of the language. 
 The first number appeared on March i, 1711. 
 This work forms an epoch in literary history 
 and in that of the periodical press. It was a 
 style of writing peculiarly adapted to Addison's 
 talents. Through it he became a lay preacher, 
 a popular critic, a graceful moralist, and a genial 
 philosopher. His remarks upon Milton's " Para- 
 dise Lost" awakened his countrymen to a just 
 appreciation of that sublime work. His com- 
 ments on the social absurdities and infraction 
 of the minor morals of the day produced a sal- 
 utary reform. 
 
 After the death of Queen Anne, Addison 
 again held office under government. He died 
 in 1719, and was buried in the Poets' Corner in 
 Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Addison's writings have instructed and 
 charmed a greater variety of minds than those 
 of any contemporary authors. 
 
 1725. Peter the Great. 
 
 The death of Feodor III. of Russia in 1682 
 left the crown by right of birth to his brother 
 
 Ivan, but the imbecility of this prince made 
 him incapable of governing, and he and his 
 half-brother Peter, a boy of ten years, were 
 proclaimed joint sovereigns, their sister Sophia 
 acting as regent. Through the intrigues of this 
 ambitious woman and her prime minister, Ga- 
 litzin, an insurrection of the strelitzes (guards 
 organized by Ivan the Terrible) took place in 
 1689, and Peter saved his life by fleeing to a 
 monastery. There gathering around him the 
 soldiers who were attached to his party, he 
 defeated the conspirators, and, although only sev- 
 enteen years of age, he seized the sceptre, and 
 from that time forward was the sole sovereign 
 of Russia. Galitzin escaped death through the 
 intercession of a relative who was a favorite of 
 the youthful czar, but Sophia was locked up in 
 a convent for the rest of her life. 
 
 Among Peter's foreign companions was a 
 young Swiss adventurer named Lefort. To this 
 remarkable man Russia is indebted for the first 
 impulse towards civilization. Lefort possessed 
 wonderful powers of observation, and he was 
 capable of forming a correct judgment of what 
 he saw. He gave Peter an idea of the sciences 
 and arts of Europe, and taught him the great 
 superiority of the disciplined troops of the more 
 enlightened European nations over the anarchi- 
 cal soldiery of Russia. It is said that on being 
 made sensible of the barbarism of his country- 
 men, Peter shed tears of generous sorrow. In 
 the face of national prejudices he set to work to 
 reform the army, as the right hand of his power. 
 Under the direction of Lefort and a Scotch- 
 man named Gordon troops were equipped and 
 drilled in the European fashion. Peter next 
 determined to establish a navy. He had no 
 seaport except Archangel in the frozen regions 
 of the north, for the Swedes ruled on the Baltic 
 and the Turks held the empire of the Black 
 Sea. At the expense of these neighbors Peter 
 proposed to provide himself with sea-coast. 
 He employed foreign shipwrights to build him 
 some vessels of war, and thus equipped he 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 sailed down the Don River, and, after two cam- 
 paigns, drove the Turks from Azov, the key to 
 the Black Sea (1696). The Swedes were not 
 disturbed just yet. 
 
 Peter next determined to visit the principal 
 courts of Europe to improve himself in the de- 
 tails of government, and in the knowledge of 
 naval affairs and of the useful arts, which he 
 wished to introduce among his countrymen. His 
 intention was regarded with the deepest disgust 
 by his bigoted and ignorant subjects, who held 
 all foreigners in contempt; and the turbulent 
 strelitzes, who saw themselves supplanted by the 
 regiments disciplined in the European manner, 
 laid a plot to murder their czar and all the for- 
 eigners set over them as masters. The plot was 
 fortunately disclosed to Peter in time by one 
 of the conspirators, and the would-be assassins 
 were put to death with the most excruciating 
 tortures. 
 
 Order being restored, Peter fitted out a splen- 
 did embassy under Lefort, which set out for 
 Holland in 1697. Peter went along disguised 
 as a subordinate attendant. Hastening in ad- 
 vance as they neared Holland, he reached Am- 
 sterdam two weeks before the ambassadors and 
 hired himself out as a ship-carpenter at the great 
 ship-building village of Sardam near Amster- 
 dam. Here he led the same life as the common 
 shipwrights, cooked his own food, worked hard 
 at the forges, the rope-yards, the saw-mills, and 
 yet from his wretched hut he kept an eye on the 
 vast concerns of his empire. To practical ship- 
 building and kindred trades he added various 
 studies, such as natural philosophy, astronomy, 
 and geography. He also attended the lectures 
 on anatomy at Amsterdam. So intense was his 
 thirst for knowledge that, while examining some 
 old instruments of papal torture, he expressed 
 a great desire to see some one broken on the 
 wheel, and, on offering one of his own men for 
 that purpose, he could not understand why so 
 reasonable a gratification should be denied 
 him! 
 
 From Holland he went to England, where 
 almost his entire time was employed in gaining 
 further instruction in ship-building. On leaving 
 England, King William made him a present 
 of a beautiful yacht ; Peter in return handed 
 William a roll of brown paper, which on being 
 opened disclosed a ruby worth fifty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 On his return to Holland, Peter sent to Rus- 
 sia a large number of English and Dutch naval 
 officers, scientific men, and artisans, whom he 
 had employed to introduce the arts and sciences 
 of England and Holland into his own dominions. 
 
 From Holland he then proceeded to Vienna, 
 to inspect the German emperor's army. While 
 there he received news of a general insurrection 
 of the strelitzes at Moscow. Leaving Vienna 
 secretly, Peter arrived in Moscow with all speed, 
 after an absence of seventeen months. General 
 Gordon had already crushed the rebels, but the 
 savage spirit of the czar could not thus be sat- 
 isfied. The seven thousand strelitz prisoners 
 taken by Gordon were hanged or beheaded 
 after six weeks' diabolical torture, and their 
 bodies were left unburied during the entire win- 
 ter. The strelitzes were soon afterwards entirely 
 disbanded and new troops on the German model 
 were organized. 
 
 Peter then set about a multitude of reforms. 
 The Russian year began upon the 1st of Sep- 
 tember. The czar ordained that thenceforward 
 the year should commence as in other parts of 
 Europe, on the ist of January, and, although 
 some people who were satisfied that God had 
 created the world in September continued to ob- 
 serve the old division, the alteration took placT?' 
 in all the public offices and soon throughout the 
 empire. The untiring czar next endeavored to 
 introduce the Western style of dress among his 
 people, who wore the long Tartar skirts and long 
 beards. But here he met with more opposition. 
 So many of the people clung to their ancient 
 costume that a tax was finally laid upon their 
 coats and beards, which proved quite a revenue 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 to the government. The old Tartar method of 
 reckoning accounts with balls strung on wires 
 was discontinued, and arithmetic was introduced 
 into the exchequer of Russia. The Bible was 
 translated into the Slavonic tongue, the office 
 of patriarch was abolished, and the czar became 
 virtual head of the Russian Greek Church. 
 
 Having effected these reforms, Peter formed 
 a league with Denmark and Poland for the 
 dismemberment of Sweden, then governed by 
 the boy king Charles XII. Peter's first move 
 against the Swedes at Narva proved a signal 
 failure (1700). But he was not dispirited by this 
 defeat. Hurrying back to Moscow, he melted 
 down the bells of churches and monasteries 
 for cannon, and drilled his soldiers with unceas- 
 ing activity. Within a twelvemonth after the 
 battle of Narva the czar's troops were so greatly 
 improved in military discipline that they ob- 
 tained a victory over one of the best generals 
 of Charles XII. " At last," said Peter, " we can 
 beat the Swedes when we are two to one ; let us 
 hope that ere long we shall be a match for them 
 with equal numbers." While the Swedish king 
 invaded Poland, Peter improved the opportunity 
 to make conquests in the Swedish provinces on 
 the Baltic Sea. Filling Lakes Peipus and La- 
 doga with his ships, he worked his way steadily 
 northward and took Noteburg, a strong town 
 on an island in Lake Ladoga. Having by this 
 means secured possession of the Neva River, 
 he proceeded to lay the foundations of his new 
 capital, St. Petersburg, on a swampy island at 
 the mouth of that river. About the same time 
 the celebrated Mentchikof, who from being a 
 pie-vender in the streets of Moscow had risen 
 to be the chief favorite of the czar, was em- 
 ployed in founding a strong fortress on the 
 island of Cronstadt, twenty-one miles from St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 In 1709, Charles XII. made his fatal expedi- 
 tion into Russia. Peter was well prepared by 
 this time to meet him, and the disastrous cam- 
 paign terminating at Pultowa proved that Charles 
 
 had underrated his rough and half-civilized foe. 
 Peter's campaign with the Turks which followed 
 was not so brilliant. Allowing himself to be 
 allured to the Pruth River by the treacherous in- 
 vitation of the hospodars of Moldavia, he found 
 himself surrounded by a Turkish host of much 
 greater numbers, and all seemed lost, when 
 Catherine, Peter's wife, saved her husband and 
 his troops by sending her jewels to the Turkish 
 commander. Peace was proposed and a treaty 
 was concluded. Peter marched safely away, but 
 at the expense of all his fortresses on the Sea of 
 Azov, which by the terms of the treaty fell into 
 the -hands of the Turks. 
 
 In 1716, Peter, accompanied by Catherine, 
 made a second tour of Europe, visiting among 
 other sovereigns Frederick William I. of Prussia, 
 a kindred spirit. On returning to Russia Peter 
 busied himself with developing the industrial 
 resources of his country, building canals and 
 factories, founding schools and hospitals. His 
 last military exploit was an expedition into 
 Persia, undertaken for the ostensible purpose of 
 aiding the shah to suppress a rebellion, but in 
 reality for the purpose of making conquests 
 upon the shores of the Caspian Sea. The 
 expedition, however, was ill-planned, and it 
 achieved no conquest of importance. 
 
 Peter's great crime was his treatment of his 
 son Alexis, the child of his first wife, Eudoxia. 
 This unfortunate prince, having committed cer- 
 tain imprudent and foolish deeds, so incurred 
 the displeasure of his father that Peter not only 
 disinherited him but actually caused him to be 
 tried and condemned to death. The day after 
 sentence was pronounced the unhappy Alexis 
 died mysteriously in prison, and there is every 
 reason to believe that he was poisoned by his 
 inhuman parent. 
 
 Peter died in 1725, and was succeeded by 
 Catherine, whom he had crowned the previous 
 year. His character has been well portrayed 
 by Voltaire, who says, " He gave a polish to 
 his people, and was himself a savage." 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1727. Death of George I. Accession of 
 George II. 
 
 George I. of Hanover succeeded Queen Anne 
 in 1714, and once more England saw herself 
 under the rule of a foreigner. George could 
 not speak English when he came to the throne, 
 and to his dying day never spoke or wrote the 
 language fluently. The only way in which he 
 could talk to his prime minister, Sir Robert 
 Walpole, was in very bad Latin. 
 
 There were still in England and Scotland those 
 who favored the Stuart cause. They were called 
 Jacobites, from " Jacobus," the Latin name for 
 James. The year after George's accession the 
 son of James II., known as James the Pretender, 
 or the Chevalier de St. George, made an effort 
 to regain the throne from which his father had 
 been driven. He went to Scotland, where many 
 of the Highland chiefs espoused his cause, but 
 the rebellion was so unsuccessful that the Pre- 
 tender was very glad to escape again to France. 
 For participation in this revolt the estates of 
 many Scotch nobles were confiscated and some 
 of the most prominent rebels suffered death. 
 
 The years 1719-20 are remarkable for the 
 rise and fall of the great " South Sea Bubble," 
 a speculation in which the most colossal fortunes 
 were lost and won. The public credit was nearly 
 ruined by this huge gambling transaction, but 
 confidence was finally restored through the wise 
 financial measures of Walpole. This great man, 
 whose talents lay in financial politics, directed 
 the government for twenty years, and England 
 is greatly indebted to him for her advancement 
 in commerce and manufacturing pursuits. 
 
 A great part of the history of these times is 
 taken up with the disputes between the two po- 
 litical parties, the Whigs and the Tories. These 
 parties agreed in wishing to have an heredi- 
 tary monarchy and in maintaining the English 
 Constitution, but the Tories, or Conservatives, 
 seemed to think no change ought ever to be 
 made in the Constitution, while the Whigs, or 
 
 Liberals, thought the Constitution ought to be 
 adapted to the condition of the people, and grow 
 as the nation grew. As the principles of the 
 Whig party placed George I. on the throne, 
 that party continued to govern England for 
 many years. 
 
 In 1727, while travelling in Hanover, George 
 was seized with apoplexy and died. He was 
 succeeded by his son, George II. 
 
 George I. was a thorough German. He was 
 neither clever nor attractive, nor exemplary in 
 his private life. He was not fond of England, 
 nor were the English fond of him. 
 
 During this reign inoculation for the small- 
 pox was first tried upon condemned criminals, 
 silk-throwing machines were introduced by 
 Lombe, types were first cast, and Fahrenheit's 
 thermometer was invented. 
 
 1727. Sir Isaac Newton. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton, an illustrious English 
 philosopher and mathematician, was born in 
 Lincolnshire on Christmas-day, 1642. When 
 he was twelve years old he was sent to a gram- 
 mar-school, where he ranked low in his classes 
 until a quarrel with the boy who stood above 
 him roused his pride and caused him to apply 
 himself with such resolution to his books that 
 he stood at length at the head of the school. 
 Instead of joining in the sports of his play- 
 mates, he spent much of his spare time in the 
 construction of little mechanical contrivances, 
 in which he evinced a marked facility of imita- 
 tion and invention. He was very fond of draw- 
 ing, and he covered the walls of his room with 
 excellent charcoal sketches of men, birds, beasts, 
 and mathematical figures. He made a sundial 
 by arranging a set of pins upon the adjacent 
 houses so as to mark the time of day by their 
 shadows. The arrangement served as a sort of 
 town clock, and was known as " Isaac's dial." 
 
 In 1 66 1 Newton entered Trinity College at 
 
86 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Cambridge. He soon became a profound stu- 
 dent of mathematics, making several important 
 discoveries in this branch of science, among 
 them the Binomial Theorem. In 1665 the 
 plague forced him to return to his home at 
 Woolsthorpe. While there he first conceived 
 the identity of gravity with the force that holds 
 the planets to their orbits, but failing to verify 
 his conjecture he abandoned the subject. On 
 the cessation of the plague he returned to Cam- 
 bridge and continued his scientific studies. In 
 the fall of 1668 he completed a reflecting tele- 
 scope, the first of the kind ever directed to the 
 heavens. He then gave his attention to optics. 
 He was the author of. the " Emission Theory," 
 that light consists of material particles emitted 
 by luminous bodies in all directions. Hooke, 
 another great philosopher, believed light to re- 
 sult from a series of undulations of an elastic 
 medium pervading all bodies. This is called 
 the Undulatory Theory, and is the one now 
 generally accepted. Newton's optical researches 
 and disputes occupied him for some years. 
 
 In 1679 his attention was recalled to the sub- 
 ject of gravitation, and after seven years' study 
 and reflection his grand discovery of the laws 
 of gravitation was given to the world in his 
 book the " Principia." After the publication of 
 this, his greatest work, Newton was content to 
 extend and develop the principles of his phi- 
 losophy without advancing into any new fields 
 of science. 
 
 In 1705 he was knighted by Queen Anne on 
 the occasion of a royal visit paid to the Univer- 
 sity at Cambridge. Newton passed his latter 
 years in London. He never married. He was 
 extremely generous with his money, and be- 
 stowed favors upon his relatives in particular 
 with a lavish hand. When absorbed in study 
 he would forget to eat, and his servants fre- 
 quently found it necessary to remind him of his 
 meals. He died in 1727, and was buried with 
 every honor in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Newton's religious opinions were not consid- 
 
 ered by the Church as strictly orthodox, but 
 a certain writer says of him, " It has been justly 
 regarded as a proud triumph of the Christian 
 faith that the greatest philosopher of which any 
 age can boast was a sincere and humble believer 
 in the leading doctrines of our religion and lived 
 comformably to its precepts." 
 
 1733. Settlement of Georgia. 
 
 In 1732 James Oglethorpe, a philanthropic 
 member of the English Parliament, and twenty 
 other trustees obtained from George III. a 
 charter for the country between the Savannah 
 and Altamaha Rivers. In honor of the king 
 the region was named Georgia. Oglethorpe 
 had spent considerable time visiting the prisons 
 of England, where men were confined for debt 
 and trifling offences. The wretched condition 
 of these unfortunates induced him to found a 
 colony in America as an asylum for this class 
 of the poor and helpless. 
 
 In 1733 the first company of emigrants came 
 over with Oglethorpe and founded the city of 
 Savannah. The Indians were friendly and the 
 colony prospered. In 1734 Oglethorpe went 
 to England, and two years later returned to his 
 colony with nearly three hundred emigrants, of 
 whom one hundred and fifty were Highlanders 
 well skilled in military affairs. John Wesley 
 came with Oglethorpe to spread the gospel 
 among the Indians, but he returned to England 
 shortly, where he afterwards became distin- 
 guished as the founder of Methodism. 
 
 The Georgia colonists soon became involved 
 in war with the Spaniards in Florida on account 
 of the claims of the latter to the territory south 
 of the Savannah River. Oglethorpe's shrewd 
 generalship brought the war to a successful 
 termination on behalf of the English in 1743. 
 Soon afterwards Oglethorpe returned to Eng- 
 land. He never visited the colony again. 
 
 Certain restrictive laws concerning trade and 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 labor, which the trustees had enforced, materi- 
 ally retarded the growth and prosperity of the 
 colony. These laws were finally removed and 
 things became more flourishing. In 1752 the 
 charter of the trustees expired, and Georgia 
 became a province of the crown. 
 
 1745. 
 
 Battle of Fontenoy. "War of the 
 Austrian Succession." 
 
 In 1724 Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, 
 issued a law called the " Pragmatic Sanction," 
 by which it was decreed that, if he left no sons, 
 his eldest daughter might succeed him. This 
 law was recognized by all the German princes 
 and by most of the great powers of Europe. 
 But, as one of the wise-headed generals said, " a 
 hundred thousand men would have guaranteed 
 it better than a hundred thousand treaties." 
 
 On the death of the emperor in 1740 the ap- 
 pearance of the young Maria Theresa upon the 
 throne opened to the chivalric princes of Europe 
 a glorious prospect for the dismemberment of 
 her kingdom. Frederick II. of Prussia imme- 
 diately invaded Silesia, a country he especially 
 coveted. Charles Albert of Bavaria, assisted 
 by Louis XV. of France, claimed all the Aus- 
 trian states, which were soon overrun by French 
 and Bavarian troops. Charles Albert was then 
 elected emperor of Germany. 
 
 When her enemies had advanced within a few 
 leagues of Vienna, the young queen fled to Pres- 
 burg and flung herself upon the chivalry of the 
 brave Hungarians. With her little son in her 
 arms she sorrowfully appealed to them for pro- 
 tection, and the Hungarians, moved by her 
 affecting address, flashed their sabres in the air 
 and shouted, " We will die for our queen, Maria 
 Theresa !" The French and Bavarians were soon 
 driven out of Austrian territory, and things began 
 to look brighter for the young empress. 
 
 Meanwhile, England had espoused her cause, 
 and had sent an army into the Netherlands to 
 operate against the French. The chief battle 
 
 of the war between the French and English 
 was fought in Belgium, at Fontenoy, in 1745. 
 The English were commanded by the son of 
 George II., the Duke of Cumberland, and the 
 French by Marshal Saxe. The victory resulted 
 in favor of the French. This was the first and 
 last pitched battle of any magnitude which the 
 French ever gained over the English. 
 
 In the same year (1745) Charles VII. of Ger- 
 many died, and the husband of Maria Theresa 
 was raised to the imperial throne as Francis I. 
 
 The war dragged on until 1748, when the 
 peace of Aix-la-Chapelle left Maria Theresa in 
 possession of all her dominions except Silesia, 
 which Frederick of Prussia retained. 
 
 This European war, placing France and Eng- 
 land as usual on opposite sides in the quarrel, 
 led to war in the American colonies, where it 
 was known as King George's War. All these 
 wars for supremacy in the New World between 
 England and France brought devastation to 
 many parts of the country, while nothing re- 
 sulted but a mutual restoration of conquests. 
 
 1746. Battle of Culloden. 
 
 Several unsuccessful attempts to regain the 
 throne of his father were made by James the 
 Pretender during the reign of George I. When 
 Charles Edward, the son of the Pretender, grew 
 up he determined to try his fortunes in the 
 same direction. Neither of these two princes 
 were great or good men, worthy to occupy the 
 throne, but they had adherents in Great Britain, 
 especially among the Scots, who still had a warm 
 feeling towards the Stuart family. 
 
 In 1745 the young Pretender, encouraged by 
 the French, came over to Scotland to make an 
 effort in his father's cause and his own. Many 
 of the Highlanders joined him, and the city of 
 Edinburgh opened its gates to the " bonnie 
 Prince Charlie," as he was called in the Jacobite 
 songs. Meanwhile, English troops advanced to 
 meet him, but Charles, surprising them in the 
 
88 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 dawn of the morning, gained a signal victory 
 and captured all the royal artillery and stores. 
 This was called the battle of Prestonpans. 
 
 Delighted with his success, the Pretender then 
 marched into England, hoping that the English 
 would join him in great numbers. But he was 
 doomed to disappointment. The English were 
 safe and prosperous under the government of 
 George II., and they had no desire to risk their 
 lives and fortunes by rebelling. When Charles 
 had advanced as far as Derby, bickerings and 
 disunion among the Highland chiefs forced him 
 to turn back, though sorely against his own 
 will. An English army under the Duke of 
 Cumberland followed after and overtook the 
 Scots at Culloden Moor, near Inverness. There 
 a battle was fought, resulting in the complete 
 defeat of the Scots (1746). Out of Charles's 
 army of five thousand men, one thousand lay 
 dead upon the field. This was the last battle 
 fought upon the soil of Great Britain and the 
 last serious attempt of the Stuarts to regain the 
 throne. Charles Edward made his escape to 
 the mountains. For five months he wandered 
 about, meeting with as wonderful adventures as 
 his great-uncle, Charles II., did. A reward of 
 thirty thousand pounds was offered for his head, 
 but the Scots would not betray him. At last 
 he reached France in safety. He spent his 
 latter days in Rome, where he fell into the most 
 degrading and disgraceful habits, dying at last a 
 broken-down drunkard (1788). 
 
 The Jacobites continued to drink the health 
 of the " king over the water" for some years, 
 but they did nothing more for him, and the 
 sentimental attachment to the house of Stuart 
 gradually died out and was forgotten. 
 
 1752, Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, an American philosopher 
 and statesman, was born in Boston, Massachu- 
 setts, in 1706. His father, a manufacturer of 
 
 soap and candles, placed Benjamin, at the age 
 of ten, in his shops to cut wicks and fill candle- 
 moulds. This kind of work soon became dis- 
 tasteful to the active and enterprising boy, who 
 longed to go to sea ; but his father forbade all 
 thought of such a life, and bound him to his 
 brother James to learn the art of printing. 
 Always fond of reading and now having access 
 to books, Franklin often sat up the great part 
 of the night engaged in study. He soon began 
 to write articles for a journal published by his 
 brother James. In a little while James grew 
 jealous of the talent which the young author 
 evinced, and began to treat him very harshly. 
 
 Highly aggrieved at his brother's severity, 
 young Franklin ran away from home, and went 
 to New York to seek his fortune. But he met 
 with no encouragement there, so he continued 
 his flight to Philadelphia, reaching that city with 
 just one dollar in his pocket. There were at 
 that time two printing-offices in Philadelphia. 
 In one of these Franklin found employment. 
 He soon attracted the attention of Sir William 
 Keith, governor of the province, who offered to 
 set Franklin up in business and give him the 
 public printing. Induced by these promises 
 Franklin went to London to purchase types and 
 material, Keith promising to forward the neces- 
 sary funds. But on arriving in London Frank- 
 lin found that he had been grossly deceived, the 
 money was not forthcoming, and he was almost 
 penniless in a foreign country. But he was an 
 expert and efficient workman, and he soon found 
 employment as a printer. At the end of eighteen 
 months he returned to Philadelphia with a mer- 
 chant who had become interested in him. A 
 mercantile career was just opening to Franklin 
 when his patron suddenly died, and he was 
 again thrown upon his own resources. 
 
 He betook himself to his old trade, and, 
 getting an office of his own, established a news- 
 paper. Prosperity dawned upon him. His great 
 intelligence and industry, his ingenuity in de- 
 vising improved schemes of economy and edu- 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 89 
 
 cation, won for him the respect and admiration 
 of the community. He founded the first cir- 
 culating library in America. He was the author 
 of " Poor Richard's Almanac," which he con- 
 tinued to publish for many years. 
 
 While on a visit to Boston in 1746 he wit- 
 nessed some imperfect experiments in electricity, 
 in which he became deeply interested. Having 
 by this time means sufficient to enable him to 
 withdraw from business, he purchased philo- 
 sophical apparatus and began investigations in 
 electricity. In 1749 he began to broach his 
 theory of the identity of lightning with elec- 
 tricity. He believed that thunder and lightning 
 were nothing more than the report and spark of 
 an electric discharge from clouds filled with 
 electricity. To verify this conviction he made 
 a silken kite, and fastened to the top of the per- 
 pendicular stick a piece of sharpened iron wire. 
 The string of the kite was hemp, except the 
 part to be held in the hand, which he made of 
 silk. At the termination of the hempen string 
 a common key was fastened. Taking with him 
 this philosophical apparatus and a Leyden jar, 
 and accompanied by his son, Franklin stole out 
 one day on the approach of a thunder-storm to 
 a common not far from home, and, seeking the 
 shelter of a cow-shed, began flying his kite in 
 the rain. A thunder-cloud passed, no sign of 
 electricity appeared. Franklin was disappointed, 
 chagrined. Another black cloud approached. 
 Suddenly the fibres of the hemp string began to 
 rise as a boy's hair rises when he stands on an 
 insulating stool. Franklin applied his knuckle 
 to the key, and to his great joy received a shock 
 and drew from the key an unmistakable spark. 
 The experiment was a perfect success. The 
 spark was a miniature flash of lightning, the 
 flash of an electric discharge, and the identity 
 of lightning with electricity was proven beyond 
 the shadow of a doubt. Filling his jar with the 
 electric fluid, Franklin went home the happiest 
 philosopher in Christendom. His theory was 
 subsequently verified by eminent French philos- 
 
 ophers, and everywhere Franklin's name was 
 spoken with admiration. The invention of the 
 lightning-rod was the result of this discovery. 
 
 1752. Change of the Calendar. 
 
 The calendar is a method of numbering and 
 arranging days, weeks, months, and years. The 
 day is a natural division of time. The week is 
 not, but it has been used in Eastern nations from 
 time immemorial. The Greeks and Romans 
 originally had no weeks. The length of the 
 month was suggested by the moon, which com- 
 pletes her changes in about thirty days. The 
 solar year is a natural period of time, being the 
 time in which the earth completes the revolution 
 around the sun. 
 
 In the early days of Rome the civil year was 
 regulated so imperfectly that in the time of Julius 
 Caesar the spring occurred in what the calendar 
 called summer. Caesar, with the help of So- 
 sigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer, reformed 
 the calendar. He readjusted the months to 
 their proper seasons, made the year 708 A.U.C.* 
 four hundred and forty-five days long, extend- 
 ing from October 13 to the 3ist of the second 
 ensuing December. At the termination of this 
 year, called " the year of confusion," the Julian 
 year began January I, 46 B.C. 
 
 The Julian Calendar was gradually adopted 
 and used throughout Europe until 1582. It 
 was then ascertained that the Julian year of 
 three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours 
 was too long by nearly eleven minutes, an error 
 which had by that time amounted to ten days. 
 Accordingly, Pope Gregory XIII. corrected the 
 error in 1582, calling the 5th of October the 
 1 5th. 
 
 The change was not made in England until 
 1752, when the error amounted to eleven days. 
 
 * Anno urbis conditse, i.e., in the year of the founding of 
 the city (of Rome). 
 
9 o 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 By act of Parliament eleven days were struck 
 out of the month of September by calling the 
 3d the 1 4th, and thus the time-keeping of the 
 nation was set right. The change met with a 
 good deal of ignorant opposition in England, 
 one of the election rally ing- cries being, " Give 
 us back our eleven days !" 
 
 All the Christian nations of Europe except 
 Russia have adopted the " new style." 
 
 1757. Battle of Plassey. (Founding of the 
 British East India Empire.) 
 
 During the latter part of Elizabeth's reign a 
 company of London merchants, called the East 
 India Company, began to trade in India. They 
 made little settlements on the coast, where they 
 traded and grew rich. This company, at first 
 simply commercial, gradually obtained political 
 influence, Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta be- 
 coming the great centres of their power. The 
 French, Dutch, and Portuguese also made set- 
 tlements in India. Of these the French were 
 most important. 
 
 For many centuries the native government 
 had been under the supreme control of Mo- 
 hammedan emperors called Moguls, to whom 
 the petty Hindoo princes paid tribute for their 
 territories. But the Moguls were sunk in luxury 
 and debauchery, and the native princes had long 
 since become monarchs of their own provinces. 
 The efforts of both French and English agents 
 to obtain the alliance of these princes led to 
 almost perpetual war on a small scale, in which 
 the natives were the only real losers. Things 
 were in this state when, about the middle of 
 the eighteenth century, the French governor of 
 Pondicherry, the central station of the French 
 possessions, devised the scheme of uprooting the 
 British settlements and conquering all India. 
 Madras was seized, and the English became 
 greatly alarmed. 
 
 There was at this time in the service of the 
 
 British East India Company a clerk by the name 
 of Clive. Leaving the civil service of the com- 
 pany, Clive joined the army in 1746, and show- 
 ing great courage he was put in command of 
 a small body of troops. With this handful of 
 soldiers he drove the French from the province 
 of Arcot, and soon obtained control of all South- 
 eastern Hindostan. But his greatest achieve- 
 ment was the conquest of the rich province of 
 Bengal. 
 
 The successes of the English excited the jeal- 
 ousy of Surajah Dowla, Nabob of Bengal, and 
 in the summer of 1756 he attacked Fort Wil- 
 liam at Calcutta. The English garrison was in 
 no condition to sustain a siege, and accordingly 
 surrendered. The nabob, notwithstanding his 
 assurances of protection and safety, shut up his 
 one hundred and forty-six prisoners in a small 
 room twenty feet by fourteen during the hot 
 night of an Indian summer. When morning 
 came only twenty-three were found alive, the 
 rest had perished from the tortures of suffo- 
 cation and thirst. Surajah Dowla followed up 
 this atrocity by totally destroying the factories 
 along the river, thus inflicting by far the heaviest 
 blow which the English had sustained since their 
 first establishment in the country. 
 
 On hearing of this great calamity Clive has- 
 tened to Bengal to punish the nabob. His army 
 consisted of about nine hundred English and 
 fifteen hundred native troops. Surajah Dowla 
 had an army of nearly sixty thousand. The 
 odds were tremendous. Clive called a council 
 of war, and the majority decided against fight- 
 ing. But the brave commander was not satis- 
 fied. After spending nearly an hour in deep 
 thought he announced his decision to risk a bat- 
 tle. The next morning his little army crossed 
 the river which separated them from their foes, 
 and the discipline and courage of the English 
 won the day. This victory, called the battle of 
 Plassey, gave the English the large and fertile 
 province of Bengal and laid the foundation of 
 the British East India Empire. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1759. Surrender of Quebec. 
 
 The boundaries between the English and the 
 French possessions in America were for many 
 years a subject of dispute. The difficulties cul- 
 minated in 1753 in a war between the French 
 and English colonists, known as the French and 
 Indian War, because the former were largely 
 aided by Indian allies. The successes of the 
 English during the first years of the war led 
 Pitt, the English prime minister, to conceive the 
 magnificent scheme of conquering all Canada 
 and destroying completely the French dominion 
 in America. Although the English claimed the 
 entire territory from Newfoundland to Florida 
 and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the French 
 held not only Canada but all the interior portion 
 of the country along the Mississippi River. The 
 Mississippi River was too far away to be of 
 much importance, but the aggressive English- 
 men looked with longing eyes towards the ex- 
 tensive regions of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 In 1759 a competent force under General 
 Wolfe was sent to undertake the siege of Que- 
 bec. Quebec was a very strong place, the most 
 important part being within fortified walls upon 
 the top and sides of a high peninsula. Back of 
 the city was a level plateau, three hundred feet 
 above the water, called the Plains of Abraham. 
 The first attack upon the French intrenchments 
 was unsuccessful. Wolfe then decided to as- 
 cend the St. Lawrence in the night, scale the 
 promontory to the Plains of Abraham, and assail 
 the town where the French were not expecting 
 an attack and where Wolfe hoped it was poorly 
 defended. Landing about midnight on the I2th 
 of September a mile and a half above the city, 
 the English with .great difficulty clambered up 
 the rocks, and at last gained the summit. The 
 Canadian guard was dispersed, and in the dawn 
 of the morning Wolfe marshalled his army for 
 battle on the Plains of Abraham. The French 
 commander, Montcalm, heard the news with 
 amazement, but, perceiving the peril of the city, 
 
 he marched his entire army from the encamp- 
 ment below the city and confronted the English. 
 A fierce battle ensued. Montcalm's army con- 
 sisted in great part of inexperienced Canadians, 
 and, when the English made a final charge with 
 the bayonet, the French army gave way and 
 fled. Both Wolfe and Montcalm were mortally 
 wounded. The former, on hearing the English 
 shouts of victory, cried, " Now I die happy ;" 
 the latter gasped, " I am glad I shall not live to 
 see the surrender of Quebec." A monument 
 was afterwards erected upon the scene of the 
 battle by the English and generously inscribed 
 with the names of both these heroes. 
 
 Five days after the battle Quebec surrendered 
 and the English took possession. The follow- 
 ing year Montreal capitulated, and by the terms 
 of surrender the whole of Canada fell into the 
 hands of the English. 
 
 1760. Death of George II. Accession of 
 George III. 
 
 George II. succeeded his father, George I., in 
 1727, at the age of forty-four years. He had 
 long entertained a dislike towards his father's 
 prime minister, but through the influence of his 
 wife, the queen, Caroline of Anspach, a woman' 
 of great sense and virtue, Walpole and the 
 Whigs remained in power. It is probable that 
 Walpole desired the good of the country, but he 
 degraded its character by bribing men right and 
 left, sometimes with the public money, some- 
 times with offices and appointments. By means 
 of this unscrupulous corruption he retained his 
 influence in the House of Commons. It was 
 sad indeed that the high spirit of the English 
 gentlemen had sunk so low that even members 
 of Parliament would sell their votes. Walpole's 
 administration at last became unpopular, and in 
 1741 he resigned his office. 
 
 The reign of George II. is mostly occupied 
 with wars upon the Continent, in which the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 English engaged without any special reason or 
 necessity. But the king was a good soldier and 
 fond of war. The first of these wars was called 
 the " War of the Austrian Succession." It was 
 very unpopular in England, because the people 
 thought the king took part in it not for the good 
 of England, but for the good of Hanover, of 
 which they were jealous. The most important 
 of these wars were those in which England 
 became involved with France on account of 
 boundary disputes between the colonies of the 
 two nations in America and India. While these 
 wars were in progress William Pitt, formerly a 
 member of Parliament, became prime minister 
 (1757). Pitt was a man of wonderful genius, 
 marvellously eloquent, and a complete master 
 of sarcasm. He scorned bribery and corrup- 
 tion, and his administration was pure and hon- 
 orable. Under Pitt's able direction the war in 
 America, which had been very disastrous to the 
 English arms, was conducted with vigor and 
 ability, and it resulted in the conquest of Canada. 
 The campaign in India also terminated glori- 
 ously, giving the English the large province of 
 Bengal. 
 
 In 1760 the king died suddenly of heart-dis- 
 ease. George II. was very much like his father, 
 thoroughly German in his temper and attach- 
 ments. He spent much of his time in Hanover. 
 On the occasion of a lengthened stay in that 
 country, his enemies signified their displeasure 
 by affixing to the gate of St. James's Palace a 
 placard bearing the inscription, " Lost or strayed 
 out of this house, a man who has left a wife and 
 six children on the parish. Whoever will give 
 any tidings of him, so he may be got again, 
 shall receive four shillings and sixpence reward ; 
 no one judging him to deserve a crown" (five 
 shillings). 
 
 George II. saw no good in " boetry and 
 bainting," and art and literature were left to 
 flourish as best they could. The most distin- 
 guished men in these departments of learning 
 so despised by the king were Gray, the poet, 
 
 Hume, the historian, Richardson and Fielding, 
 novelists, and Hogarth, the great painter and 
 engraver. 
 
 Whatever were the errors of George II.. his 
 
 o 
 
 reign was one of the most prosperous periods 
 England had ever known. His eldest son being 
 dead, George II. was succeeded by his grandson, 
 George III. 
 
 1765. The Stamp Act. 
 
 At the close of the French and Indian War 
 the American colonies looked forward to long^ 
 years of prosperity and repose. But the serenity 
 of the political sky soon disappeared. The war 
 had exhausted the British treasury, and the 
 ministry now proposed to lessen the burdens 
 and increase the revenue of the mother-country 
 by taxing her colonies. To this the Americans 
 objected, on the ground that they had no rep- 
 resentatives in Parliament who might have a 
 voice in laying the tax. Notwithstanding their 
 remonstrances Parliament passed in 1765 the 
 famous Stamp Act, which required that stamps, 
 to be furnished by the British government, 
 should be put upon all legal documents as well 
 as upon newspapers and other printed matter. 
 The money which the colonists were to pay for 
 the stamps would, of course, go into the British 
 treasury. 
 
 The Legislature of Virginia was in session 
 when the news of this Parliamentary measure 
 arrived. Although there was danger in oppos- 
 ing it, Patrick Henry, the youngest member of 
 the House, could not restrain his indignation, 
 and he offered a series of resolutions that the 
 colonists were not bound to yield obedience to 
 any law imposing taxation on them, and that 
 whoever said the contrary was an enemy to his 
 country. A violent debate ensued, but Henry's 
 eloquence prevailed. " Caesar had his Brutus," 
 cried the orator, " Charles I. had his Cromwell, 
 
 and George III. " " Treason !" shouted the 
 
 Speaker. " Treason ! Treason !" exclaimed the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 93 
 
 royalists, springing to their feet. " And George 
 III.," repeated Henry with unfaltering accent, 
 " may profit by their example. If that be 
 treason, make the most of it." 
 
 The indignation at the passage of the Stamp 
 Act was not confined to Virginia, but every- 
 where throughout the thirteen colonies the peo- 
 ple raised their voices against the unjust meas- 
 ure. In October delegates from nine of the col- 
 onies met in New York and drew up a declara- 
 tion of their rights and grievances and forwarded 
 a petition embodying their views to the king. 
 
 At length the day on which the Stamp Act 
 was to take effect the ist of November ar- 
 rived. The courts were closed, bells were tolled, 
 and the day was observed with fasting and 
 prayer. Those who were appointed to sell the 
 stamps were burned in effigy and dare not pro- 
 ceed with their business. Many of the stamps 
 were concealed or destroyed, and the merchants 
 of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston resolved 
 to purchase no more goods of Great Britain 
 until the odious act was repealed. The spirit 
 of opposition was most determined, and the 
 British government, finding that the Stamp Act 
 could be carried into effect only by force of arms, 
 repealed it the following year. 
 
 1774. Death of Louis XV. Accession of 
 Louis XVI. 
 
 Louis XV. was but five years old when he 
 succeeded to the throne of France in 1715. 
 The Duke of Orleans, nephew of Louis XIV., 
 held the regency for eight years. This disso- 
 lute prince was controlled by his prime minister, 
 the Abbe Dubois, an utterly unprincipled man, 
 whose gods were avarice, debauchery, and am- 
 bition. These two wicked men reduced the 
 country to the verge of bankruptcy by their 
 extravagance. The chief event of their admin- 
 istration was the rise and fall of the Mississippi 
 scheme. This was a plan to issue paper money 
 
 upon the security of some imaginary gold and 
 silver mines in Louisiana. It was proposed 
 by John Law, a Scotch adventurer. Orleans 
 eagerly grasped the delusion. The people went 
 mad with speculation. Shares went up to three 
 hundred per cent. ; but the ships laden with 
 gold and silver from Louisiana never sailed into 
 port, a crash came at last, and thousands were 
 involved in ruin. 
 
 In 1723 Orleans and Dubois died within a 
 few months of each other. Three years later 
 Cardinal Fleury, who had been the king's pre- 
 ceptor, became prime minister, and for seven- 
 teen years he continued to direct the govern- 
 ment. His administration was the best part 
 of an otherwise shameful reign. When Fleury 
 died France went rapidly downward in her ca- 
 reer of ruin. The court was plunged into the 
 most costly debauchery by the king's depraved 
 favorites, of whom Madame de Pompadour was 
 the most notorious. Everywhere morality was 
 at a frightfully low ebb. A spirit of scepticism 
 engendered by the writings of Voltaire pre- 
 vailed, and men lost faith in God and in each 
 other. It was the most dismal period in the 
 history of France. 
 
 The "War of the Austrian Succession," in 
 which France took part, left her weaker than 
 before, while the " Seven Years' War" which fol- 
 lowed stripped her of some of her most valuable 
 colonial possessions. 
 
 Louis XV. died in 1774, despised by his peo- 
 ple for his immoralities and for his cold indif- 
 ference to the interests of his country. " It will 
 last my time," he had said with selfish levity 
 when warned of the decay of his kingdom. 
 
 He was succeeded by his grandson, Louis 
 XVI., a gentle prince, just twenty years of age. 
 Dimly conscious of the perils by which they 
 were surrounded, the young king and his beau- 
 tiful wife, Marie Antoinette, fell upon their knees 
 when told of their accession to the throne, cry- 
 ing, " O God, protect us, direct us ; we are too 
 young to govern." 
 
94 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1774. The First Continental Congress. 
 
 The repeal of the Stamp Act proved to be 
 but a truce in the war upon American freedom. 
 While Pitt was absent from Parliament through 
 sickness, the enemies of the colonies succeeded 
 in passing a bill taxing all tea, glass, paper, 
 and painters' colors imported into the colonies. 
 This new measure of oppression caused general 
 excitement, and when the custom officers arrived 
 at Boston they were regarded with as much con- 
 tempt and aversion as the tax-gatherers in the 
 time of our Saviour. The governor of Massa- 
 chusetts, alarmed by the hostile demonstrations 
 of the people, ordered General Gage to Boston 
 with troops to overawe the inhabitants. A col- 
 lision soon took place between the people and 
 the soldiers, resulting in the death of three of 
 the citizens. This affair greatly exasperated the 
 people, and they compelled Gage to remove his 
 troops from the city. 
 
 Through the influence of the friends of the 
 colonies in Parliament, the obnoxious duties 
 were all revoked except that upon tea. But the 
 Americans regarded the imposition of a duty 
 upon one article as much a violation of their 
 rights as a duty upon ten, and they determined 
 to buy no tea from Great Britain so long as the 
 duty remained. Despite their warning several 
 large ships laden with tea came over to the 
 colonies. At New York and Philadelphia they 
 were not allowed to land. At Charleston the 
 tea was landed but was placed in damp cellars, 
 where it soon spoiled. At Boston a party of 
 men disguised as Indians boarded the tea ships 
 one moonlight night and pitched three hundred 
 and forty chests of tea into the water. By way 
 of retaliation Parliament passed the Boston Port 
 Bill, which closed the port against all commer- 
 cial transactions, and by cutting off all water 
 communication with the place seriously crippled 
 her trade and industry. The liveliest sympathy 
 was evinced all over the country for the block- 
 aded people of Boston, and money and pro- 
 
 visions were sent to them in response to their 
 appeal for help. 
 
 In September, 1774, deputies from every col- 
 ony but Georgia met in a general congress at 
 Philadelphia to consult about the course to be 
 pursued in their troubles with the mother-coun- 
 try. Adams, Washington, Patrick Henry, all 
 the able men of the colonies, were present. A 
 Declaration of Rights was drawn up, a petition 
 was addressed to the king for a redress of their 
 grievances, and an appeal was made to the peo- 
 ple of Great Britain. The entire assembly was 
 of one mind, never to submit to tyranny ; and 
 they adjourned to meet again in May of the fol- 
 lowing year, to take more aggressive steps 
 should the king refuse to listen to their final 
 appeal. 
 
 1775. The Battle of Lexington. 
 
 Notwithstanding the eloquent appeals of Pitt 
 and other champions of American freedom in 
 the British Parliament, the petition of the colo- 
 nies was passed by unheeded, and during the 
 summer and autumn of 1774 the colonies began 
 to prepare for the war which seemed inevitable. 
 " I know not what course others may pursue, 
 but as for me, give me liberty or give me death !" 
 said Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of 
 Burgesses, and his thrilling words found an echo 
 in every patriotic heart. 
 
 Men were regularly drilled in military tactics, 
 ammunition was hastily gathered, and every- 
 where was heard the sound of fife and drum. 
 General Gage, who had recently been appointed 
 governor of Massachusetts, fortified Boston Neck 
 and seized the powder-magazine at Cambridge. 
 He felt confident that he could repress the 
 insurrection in Massachusetts with the three 
 thousand soldiers under his command. On 
 the night of the i8th of April, 1775, he secretly 
 despatched eight hundred men to Concord to 
 destroy some stores and ammunition which he 
 learned the patriots had collected there. But 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 95 
 
 the patriots suspected the movement, and when 
 the troops set out Paul Revere galloped off to 
 Concord to arouse the inhabitants. Soon church- 
 bells, muskets, and cannon spread the alarm all 
 over the country, and when at dawn of the igth 
 of April the advance guard reached Lexington, 
 they found a small company of determined 
 men drawn up to meet them. " Disperse, you 
 rebels !" shouted Major Pitcairn, the officer in 
 charge. But the brave little band held their 
 
 o 
 
 ground, and Pitcairn ordered his men to fire. A 
 few random shots were returned, and when the 
 smoke cleared away eight Americans were dead 
 upon the bloody grass, several were wounded, 
 and the remainder were dispersed. So ended 
 the first battle of the Revolution. 
 
 The British pressed forward to Concord and 
 destroyed what stores they could find. The coun- 
 try was now thoroughly aroused, and minute- 
 men, as the Massachusetts militia were called, 
 gathered by scores. The British, alarmed at the 
 storm they had raised, concluded to beat a 
 retreat. All the way back a deadly and unre- 
 mitting fire was poured upon them from behind 
 trees, sheds, and fences, and they would un- 
 doubtedly have been captured in a body had 
 not Lord Percy arrived with reinforcements. 
 Even then it was with the greatest difficulty 
 that they made their way back, for the country 
 swarmed with " rebels." 
 
 The British loss on this eventful day was 
 nearly three hundred, while the Americans lost 
 about one-third that number. 
 
 The news of the bloodshed of American 
 citizens flew like wildfire over the country, and 
 preparations for war went on with unceasing 
 activity. 
 
 1776. The Declaration of Independence. 
 
 The battles of Lexington and Concord ended 
 all hope of a peaceable adjustment of difficulties 
 between Great Britain and her American colo- 
 nies. The second Continental Congress, which 
 
 met in Philadelphia early in 1775, sent a final 
 petition to the king, but at the same time they 
 said, firmly, " We have counted the cost of this 
 contest, and we find nothing so dreadful as 
 voluntary slavery." Measures were taken for 
 the organization of an army, of which George 
 Washington, a member of Congress, was ap- 
 pointed commander-in-chief. 
 
 Instead of any redress of grievances, Generals 
 Howe and Burgoyne and Sir Henry Clinton 
 were sent over from England with fresh troops 
 to subdue the rebellion. The first battle of im- 
 portance was fought at Bunker Hill in June, 
 1775, and, although a defeat for the Americans, 
 it taught their enemies that these " impudent 
 rebels" were not to be despised. 
 
 Washington was anxious to drive the British 
 out of Boston, but his army was so wretchedly 
 equipped that it was not until the spring of 1 776 
 that he felt strong enough to make the attempt. 
 On the night of March 4 he caused intrench- 
 ments to be thrown up on Dorchester Heights, 
 overlooking the city and harbor, and in the 
 morning the British were astonished to see a 
 formidable-looking fortress looming up above 
 them through the fog. Finding himself un- 
 able to dislodge the Americans, General Howe 
 agreed to evacuate the city, and on the I7th of 
 March the British troops sailed for Halifax, to 
 the great joy of the inhabitants of Boston. 
 
 In the mean time the grand idea of an in- 
 dependent nation had been slowly forming in 
 the public mind, and in June Richard Henry 
 Lee offered the resolution in Congress, then 
 in session at Philadelphia, that " These united 
 colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 
 independent states." A committee, consisting 
 of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin 
 Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Liv- 
 ingston was appointed to prepare a formal decla- 
 ration of independence. After long and exciting 
 debate Lee's resolution was passed on the 2d 
 of July. The Declaration was discussed with 
 great spirit on the 3d and the morning of the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 4th, and at two o'clock on the afternoon of the 
 4th it was adopted by a unanimous vote. 
 
 The streets of Philadelphia were crowded 
 with excited citizens all this day, anxious to 
 learn the decision of Congress. At last the bell 
 of the State House rang out the note of freedom, 
 and the multitudes answered with joyous shouts. 
 All over the country the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence was received with enthusiasm and joy. 
 Its leading principles are, " That all men are 
 created equal ; that governments are instituted 
 for the welfare of the people ; that the people 
 have a right to alter their government ; that the 
 government of George III. had become destruc- 
 tive of liberty ; that the king's tyranny over his 
 American subjects was no longer endurable ; 
 and that therefore the United States are, and 
 of right ought to be, free and independent." 
 
 178O. The Treason of Benedict Arnold. 
 
 The one event that occupies a place of pain- 
 ful prominence in the history of the American 
 Revolution is the treason of Benedict Arnold. 
 Arnold was an officer in the American army, 
 and during the early part of the war he behaved 
 with great gallantry and bravery. After the bat- 
 tle of Saratoga, in which he was wounded, he 
 was appointed at his own request to the com- 
 mand in Philadelphia. There he began a style 
 of extravagant living which involved him heavily 
 in debt, and to satisfy his creditors he appro- 
 priated the public funds to his own use. His 
 overbearing manner and sordid disposition had 
 already made him very unpopular, and when his 
 dishonesty became known charges were brought 
 against him, and he was court-martialed and 
 sentenced to be reprimanded by General Wash- 
 ington. Washington performed this unpleasant 
 duty with as much leniency as possible, but 
 Arnold felt his disgrace keenly and he deter- 
 mined to be revenged. 
 
 West Point was at that time the most impor- 
 
 tant post held by the Americans and their main 
 depot of supplies. Arnold opened a treasonable 
 correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton in New 
 York and offered to betray West Point into the 
 hands of the British. On the plea that his 
 wound prevented him from going into active 
 service, and with many patriotic expressions, he 
 then requested to be transferred to the command 
 of West Point. His wishes being gratified, he 
 set to work to make final arrangements for the 
 betrayal of his trust. For several months he 
 carried on a correspondence with Major Andre, 
 Clinton's aide-de-camp, and at length it became 
 necessary to hold a personal interview to arrange 
 the final details of the surrender. Andre ac- 
 cordingly sailed up the Hudson in the British 
 ship " Vulture," and landed about six miles 
 below West Point, where Arnold awaited his 
 coming. While the two were in close confer- 
 ence a small American battery on the river-bank 
 opened fire upon the " Vulture" and compelled 
 her to drop down-stream. Andre was thus 
 forced to return to New York by land. In citi- 
 zen's dress, and armed with a pass from General 
 Arnold, Andre set out upon his homeward jour- 
 ney. But near Tarrytown he met three Ameri- 
 can soldiers, who demanded where he was going. 
 Andre, not suspecting the presence of Americans 
 so near the British lines, told them boldly that 
 he was a British officer out on important busi- 
 ness, whereupon the men began to search him, 
 and, finding in his stockings papers in the hand- 
 writing of Arnold, they concluded that he must 
 be a spy, and hurried him off to the nearest 
 American station, heedless of the offer of un- 
 limited sums of money they should receive for 
 his release. 
 
 The commander of the American post whither 
 Andre was taken stupidly sent Arnold news 
 of the arrest. This gave Arnold a chance to 
 escape. Telling his terrified wife of his peril, 
 he mounted a horse, made his way in haste to 
 the river, and was rowed out to the " Vulture" 
 before any effort to capture him could be made. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 97 
 
 Andre was tried, condemned, and hanged as 
 a spy. He was a talented young officer, and his 
 sad fate awakened universal commiseration. 
 
 Arnold received as the reward of his base 
 treachery fifty thousand dollars and a brigadier- 
 general's commission in the British army. But 
 he was regarded with the greatest contempt by 
 his new associates. It is said that he asked a 
 British officer one day, " How will the rebels 
 treat me, do you think, should I fall into their 
 hands ?" and the officer replied, " Pardon my 
 frankness ; but they will probably cut off the 
 leg that was wounded in storming our lines at 
 Saratoga and bury it with the honors of war ; 
 having no respect for the rest of your body, they 
 will undoubtedly hang it." 
 
 The blighting curse of his treason followed 
 Arnold to his death. Wherever he went in 
 foreign lands he was regarded with horror and 
 aversion, and he finally died in London " unwept, 
 unhonored, and unsung." 
 
 1781. Surrender of Conrwallis at Yorktown. 
 (End of American Revolution.) 
 
 The American colonists made good their Dec- 
 laration of Independence, but it took seven years' 
 hard fighting to accomplish the end they sought. 
 
 At an early stage of the war the British gov- 
 ernment, thinking to put a speedy termination 
 to the rebellion, hired an army of German mer- 
 cenaries to fight in connection with the British 
 troops against the Americans. Great efforts 
 were also made to stir up the Indians against 
 the colonists. Pitt denounced this mode of war- 
 fare openly in the British Parliament. " If I 
 were an American," said he, " as I am an Eng- 
 lishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my 
 country, I never would lay down my arms, 
 never, never, NEVER !" 
 
 France came to the aid of the struggling col- 
 onies, and sent both men and money. The most 
 distinguished of the French officers was the 
 13 
 
 Marquis de La Fayette, a young man not twenty- 
 one years of age when he received his commis- 
 sion in the American army. Other foreigners 
 of distinction who fought for American free- 
 dom were Kosciusko and Pulaski, natives of 
 Poland, and Baron Steuben, a Prussian, who had 
 been an officer in the army of Frederick the 
 Great. 
 
 After the British had evacuated Boston, Wash- 
 ington went to New York and built fortifications 
 for its defence, fearing that in view of its com- 
 mercial importance an attempt would be made 
 by the British to obtain possession of the city. 
 His surmise proved only too true, for in a short 
 time the British fleet under Lord Howe made its 
 appearance in New York Bay. Reinforcements 
 from England arrived shortly after, commanded 
 by Admiral Howe, and a battle was fought upon 
 Long Island, the result of which was that Wash- 
 ington was forced to retire from New York and 
 Long Island. Retreating southward through 
 New Jersey, closely followed by the pursuing 
 British, the Americans made good their escape 
 by crossing the Delaware into Pennsylvania, 
 and not leaving a boat behind them for a dis- 
 tance of seventy miles along the river. When 
 the British arrived at Trenton they had no means 
 of crossing the Delaware, so, leaving a force of 
 Hessians to guard Trenton, they were content 
 to return to New York. 
 
 Washington's army was in a pitiable condi- 
 tion. Many of the soldiers had no shoes, and 
 their footsteps on the frozen ground, for it was 
 now the winter season, were traced in blood 
 during their disastrous retreat from Long Island. 
 One of the British officers in New Jersey wrote 
 to a friend that Washington's army was not to 
 be feared, for they were almost naked and were 
 dying of cold and want of food. Cornwallis, 
 one of the chief commanders in New York, 
 considered that the war was about over, and 
 actually sent his baggage on board a ship to 
 return home. In the mean time Washington 
 had determined to recross the Delaware and 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 attack the Hessians at Trenton. On Christmas 
 night (1776) the ragged but stout-hearted Ameri- 
 can army embarked under cover of the darkness 
 and a storm of snow and sleet, and made their 
 way with great difficulty through the grinding ice 
 to the opposite shore. The Hessians were com- 
 pletely taken by surprise, and after a short re- 
 sistance they were forced to surrender. The cap- 
 ture of nearly one thousand men and a quantity 
 of valuable ordnance revived the drooping spirits 
 of the American army and infused new vigor 
 into the measures of Congress for the prosecu- 
 tion of the war. Washington followed up his 
 victory at Trenton by an attack upon the British 
 at Princeton, but, although again victorious, the 
 fatigued condition of his troops prevented him 
 from following up his advantage, and he soon 
 retired to winter quarters. 
 
 The great event of the campaign of 1777 was 
 the expedition of General Burgoyne from Can- 
 ada. It was the intention of this British general 
 to march down the valley of the Hudson, leav- 
 ing garrisons at all important posts, and join 
 Lord Howe at New York, thus cutting off all 
 communication between New England and the 
 other States. But the expedition proved an 
 utter failure, and Burgoyne finally found him- 
 self hemmed in by an American army under 
 General Gates at Saratoga. After waiting in 
 vain for reinforcements from New York, Bur- 
 goyne surrendered his entire army of over six 
 thousand men, besides all his artillery and mili- 
 tary stores. This disaster to the British arms 
 ended the war in the North. In the mean time 
 Generals Howe and Washington were engaged 
 in a struggle for the possession of Philadelphia, 
 but Washington was defeated at the Brandywine, 
 and the British took up their abode in Phila- 
 delphia. Not content to let his enemies rest 
 quietly in their snug quarters, Washington made 
 an attack upon their encampment at German- 
 town, but after a brisk engagement a dense fog 
 arose, the various divisions of the army fell into 
 confusion, and he gave the order to retreat. 
 
 Early in December the American army re- 
 tired into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The 
 soldiers were destitute of proper food and cloth- 
 ing, and their sufferings were very great. Every 
 effort was made by the British to induce the 
 sufferers to desert and join the British army, 
 but with very little success, for Washington's 
 sublime faith and patience inspired his men to 
 a brave endurance of their sufferings. 
 
 At the opening of the campaign of 1778 Gen- 
 eral Howe was recalled and Sir Henry Clinton 
 was appointed to supersede him. The British 
 now evacuated Philadelphia and returned to 
 New York. Washington gave pursuit, and at 
 Monmouth a battle occurred which resulted vic- 
 toriously for the Americans, although at one 
 time it was very nearly turned into a defeat 
 through the inefficiency of one of Washington's 
 subordinate officers. 
 
 The British soon afterwards transferred the 
 chief seat of war to the Southern States. 
 Charleston, South Carolina, was taken in May, 
 1780, by an expedition under Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton. After reducing South Carolina to subjec- 
 tion, Clinton returned to New York, leaving 
 Lord Cornwallis in command. Cornwallis now 
 determined upon what proved the decisive cam- 
 paign of the war. Pushing forward through 
 North Carolina he entered Virginia, intending 
 to make a junction with Clinton somewhere 
 along the Chesapeake Bay. His march north- 
 ward was opposed by irregularly organized 
 bands of patriots, who fell upon his army at 
 every opportunity. The chief leaders of these 
 bands were the famous Marion, Sumter, and 
 Pickens, the story of whose exploits forms one 
 of the most interesting chapters in the entire 
 history of the war. 
 
 When Cornwallis reached Virginia he found 
 a British army already there, ravaging the coun- 
 try and destroying both public and private prop- 
 erty. General La Fayette had been sent by 
 Washington to put an end to these depreda- 
 tions if possible, but Cornwallis co-operating 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 UNI'-A 
 
 with the other British forces was too strong for 
 the Americans to attack. Sir Henry Clinton, 
 fearing an attack from Washington, was still in 
 New York. Leaving Clinton under this im- 
 pression, Washington secretly hurried his army 
 southward to fall upon Cornwallis, who had in 
 the mean time intrenched himself at Yorktown. 
 But Cornwallis found too late that he had shut 
 himself up in a trap. A French fleet under 
 Count de Grasse blockaded him by water, and 
 Washington invested the place by land. On 
 the Qth of October the allied armies commenced 
 a heavy cannonade upon the British works. 
 Night and day the bombardment continued 
 until the works were nearly all demolished. 
 The British made an effort to escape by night, 
 but it was unsuccessful. No aid came from 
 Clinton, and at last, seeing that further resist- 
 ance was useless, Cornwallis proposed to sur- 
 render. Terms of capitulation were agreed 
 upon, and on the igth of October, 1781, more 
 than eight thousand prisoners laid down their 
 arms. Cornwallis, unable to endure the morti- 
 fication, sent his sword by one of his subordi- 
 nate officers. A few days after the surrender 
 Clinton arrived off the Chesapeake with the 
 promised reinforcements, but on learning the 
 state of affairs he returned crestfallen to New 
 York. 
 
 The news of the surrender of Cornwallis was 
 received with unbounded joy throughout the 
 colonies. In England the demand for peace 
 became universal, for all hope of subduing the 
 colonies was now at an end. 
 
 1783. Independence of the United States. 
 
 The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown 
 practically ended the Revolutionary War. Al- 
 though George III. and some of his ministers 
 were still in favor of continuing the war, the 
 people of England, upon whom the expenses 
 of the war fell, were loud in their demand for 
 
 peace. The House of Commons ;vp$ed; 
 whoever advised the king to continue the war 
 was an enemy to the country. 
 
 Negotiations for peace were accordingly 
 opened at Paris in 1782. To this conference 
 the Americans sent Benjamin Franklin, John 
 Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. A de- 
 finitive treaty was finally adjusted in September, 
 1783. By its terms England acknowledged the 
 independence of the United States ; allowed 
 ample boundaries, extending northward to the 
 Great Lakes and westward to the Mississippi 
 River ; and gave unlimited right to fish on the 
 Banks of Newfoundland. Treaties were signed 
 at the same time between England, France, 
 Spain, Holland, and the United States, and the 
 new republic took its place among the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 1786. Frederick the Great. 
 
 Prussia receives its name from the Porussi, a 
 Slavonic race that in the Middle Ages settled 
 on the lands bordering on the southern shore 
 of the Baltic Sea. The Porussi were partly con- 
 quered by Poland in the eleventh century. In 
 the seventeenth century Prussia was united with 
 the duchy of Brandenburg, a territory farther 
 west, thus forming the nucleus of the present 
 kingdom of Prussia. The electorate of Bran- 
 denburg was recognized as a kingdom in 1701, 
 and the elector took the title of Frederick I. 
 His successor, Frederick William I., was the 
 father of Frederick the Great. 
 
 Frederick the Great was born in 1712. Few 
 princes ever had a more unfortunate or unhappy 
 boyhood. His father was a ferocious tyrant, 
 who cared for nothing but his famous army of 
 giants. When he went out for a walk every- 
 body fled before him as from a tiger broken 
 loose from a menagerie. If he met a lady on 
 the streets he would not hesitate to give her a 
 kick and bid her go home to her " brats." If 
 he saw a clergyman looking at his soldiers he 
 
100 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 would jgiy hir/i a sound caning and tell him to 
 betake himself to prayer and study. But it was 
 in his own palace that he was most unreason- 
 able and ferocious. The young Frederick was 
 the especial object of his brutal father's aver- 
 sion. He was kicked around, sometimes fed on 
 bread and water, and again forced to swallow 
 food so nauseous that he could not retain it on 
 his stomach. At last, weary of his cruel treat- 
 ment, the unhappy prince tried to run away, 
 but he was brought back and condemned to 
 death as a deserter by his inhuman parent. 
 His life was spared only through the interven- 
 tion of neighboring sovereigns. He was, how- 
 ever, kept in prison a long time, but his jailers 
 treated him with a kindness his father had never 
 shown. He had wholesome food to eat, and 
 could play his beloved flute without danger of 
 having it broken over his head. 
 
 In 1733, to please his father, Frederick mar- 
 ried a German princess for whom he had no 
 love. Soon afterwards the king gave him the 
 castle of Rheinsburg. There Frederick passed 
 a more comfortable life. His early education 
 had been gained from French refugees, who 
 awakened in him a strong passion for French 
 literature and French society. He had an un- 
 bounded admiration for the writings of Voltaire, 
 and at a later period Frederick and the witty, 
 but cynical, French poet became great friends. 
 Surrounding himself at Rheinsburg by French 
 and German poets and artists, Frederick spent 
 most of his time in literary recreations. The 
 old king uttered a ferocious growl at these 
 diversions now and then, but he could always 
 be propitiated by the present of a tall grenadier 
 for his army, and Frederick judiciously offered 
 such presents from time to time. 
 
 On the death of his father in 1740 Frederick 
 became king. He had now at his command the 
 best-disciplined army in Europe and a treasury 
 full of money. Forsaking the easy, epicurean 
 life he had led at Rheinsburg, he determined 
 to verify the dream of his unhappy boyhood 
 
 and become a great soldier. The opportunity 
 was not wanting. Charles VI. of Germany had 
 just died, leaving his dominions to his young 
 daughter, Maria Theresa. Frederick had prom- 
 ised, with all the great European powers, to rec- 
 ognize Maria Theresa as empress of Germany, 
 but ambition tempted him to break faith with 
 the sovereign he had bound himself to defend, 
 and he marched his army into Silesia and took 
 possession of that rich province. When the 
 war, which this unwarrantable act kindled, finally 
 closed, Frederick retained his hold upon Silesia. 
 This conquest doubled the number of his sub- 
 jects. 
 
 Frederick's army was his great strength. 
 Nearly one-seventh of the able-bodied men in 
 his kingdom were forced into military service. 
 To sustain such an army the strictest economy 
 was enforced in every other department of the 
 government and even in the royal household. 
 The king examined every extraordinary item 
 of expense with the care of the mistress of a 
 boarding-house. Not a bottle of champagne 
 was opened without his express orders. He 
 had only one fine suit of clothes and this lasted 
 all his life, and it is said that when he died he 
 was buried in his valet's shirt, because none of 
 his own were decent enough for the purpose. 
 
 Maria Theresa had never forgotten the injury 
 she had suffered at the hands of Frederick in 
 being robbed of Silesia, and during the interval 
 of peace she succeeded in forming a powerful 
 league against him. Austria, France, Russia, 
 Sweden, and Saxony joined to crush this aggres- 
 sive king who had proved so bad a neighbor and 
 who amused himself by writing satirical verses 
 upon all the potentates of Europe. Ferreting out 
 the designs of his enemies, Frederick formed a 
 league with the German George of England, who 
 feared for the safety of his beloved Hanover. 
 Then, resolving to anticipate his foes, Frederick 
 invaded Saxony at the head of seventy thousand 
 men and began the " Seven Years' War" (1756). 
 His army was in splendid condition, and at first 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 he won some victories over the French, Aus- 
 trians, and Russians that astonished the world. 
 But then reverses came. England deserted him. 
 The Russians and Austrians entered Berlin and 
 pillaged it, and Frederick in despair was on the 
 point of committing suicide when the death of 
 the Russian empress, Elizabeth, changed the 
 face of European politics. The new czar, Peter 
 III., was a fervent admirer of Frederick, and, 
 after concluding a peace favorable to Prussia, he 
 sent an army to reinforce Frederick's shattered 
 troops. About this time England and France 
 made peace with each other and withdrew from 
 the field, leaving Prussia and Austria to confront 
 each other alone. The Turks were now menacing 
 Austria, and the high-spirited Maria Theresa was 
 forced to close the war (1763). 
 
 Frederick was saved, but his kingdom had 
 suffered terribly. The war had been carried 
 into almost every Prussian province ; the fields 
 lay uncultivated ; the flocks and herds of cattle 
 had been swept away by famine and disease ; 
 the population had decreased ten per cent. In 
 village after village not a single inhabitant re- 
 mained. Frederick spent great sums of money 
 in agricultural and industrial improvements, en- 
 deavoring to repair the mischief done by the 
 war. Amid all his efforts for the advancement 
 of his country he continued to keep a standing 
 army of one hundred and sixty thousand men. 
 
 Frederick the Great died in 1786, having 
 reigned nearly forty-seven years. He was a 
 daring and skilful soldier, a man of inordinate 
 ambition, a scoffer at religion, unsparing of the 
 feelings of others, and malevolent in the ex- 
 treme. Such a character does not merit the sur- 
 name of " Great," often bestowed unjustly upon 
 historical personages. 
 
 1787. Adoption of the Constitution of the 
 United States. 
 
 After the close of the Revolutionary War it 
 was found that the Articles of Confederation 
 
 under which the colonies had organized a gov- 
 ernment during the war were not adapted to 
 their condition as an independent nation. It 
 was evident that a more powerful general gov- 
 ernment was needed. A convention of the 
 States was accordingly held in Philadelphia in 
 May, 1787, to consult as to the best means of 
 remedying the defects in their political organi- 
 zation. George Washington presided over the 
 assembly. Hamilton, Madison, Franklin, Ran- 
 dolph, and other remarkable statesmen were 
 present at this convention. There was great 
 diversity of opinion as to the character of the 
 constitution necessary, and after long and ani- 
 mated debate the task of framing a constitution 
 that should meet the requirements of the States 
 at large was referred to a committee. At the 
 end often days the committee reported a rough 
 draft of the Constitution as it now stands. Every 
 point was ably and critically discussed, amend- 
 ments were made, and at the end of four months 
 the Constitution was signed by the representa- 
 tives of all the States present except three 
 (September, 1787). 
 
 The new Constitution was then sent to Con- 
 gress and to all the State legislatures for adop- 
 tion. It met with considerable opposition, but 
 was powerfully sustained by James Madison, 
 Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, and it was 
 finally adopted by all the States. It went into 
 effect on the 4th of March, 1789. 
 
 1789. The Great French Revolution. 
 
 Louis XVI. began his reign in 1774 with the 
 best intentions. Unlike his predecessors of the 
 previous two hundred years, he cared for his 
 people and meant that they should be happy. 
 But his country was in a sad condition. The 
 ruinous extravagance of the preceding reigns 
 had created an enormous national debt. Two- 
 thirds of the soil was owned by the nobility and 
 clergy, who were almost entirely exempt from 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 taxation, and were intolerably arrogant and op- 
 pressive in their treatment of the wretched peas- 
 ants, upon whom the burden of the taxes pressed 
 heavily, so heavily that the poor creatures had 
 scarcely enough left to keep life within their 
 bodies after their taxes were paid. So utterly 
 exhausted were the poor that cases were known 
 of men literally eating grass like beasts. All 
 over the land there was a cry for bread. The 
 king pitied the distress of his people, although 
 he did not know the extent of their sufferings, 
 and his ministers tried to reform abuses and 
 establish a system of general taxation ; but they 
 were obstinately opposed by the aristocracy, 
 who were unwilling to sacrifice one shilling of 
 their wealth or one iota of their privileges. All 
 this time the young and thoughtless Marie An- 
 toinette was spending unlimited sums of money 
 in balls and other costly amusements. To meet 
 the expenses of the court and government, money 
 was borrowed on every side without a thought 
 or prospect of repayment. But the day came 
 when the royal treasury could not be filled by 
 borrowing, and Necker, the king's prime min- 
 ister of earlier days, was recalled to solve the 
 problem. He advised the king to yield to the 
 cry for the assembly of the States-General, a 
 body somewhat resembling the English Parlia- 
 ment. There had been no such thing since the 
 ominous days when Richelieu made his first ap- 
 pearance in the assembly of 1614. Complying 
 with the demand of the nation, Louis XVI. con- 
 vened the States-General at Versailles in May, 
 1789. For the first time in nearly two hundred 
 years the representatives of the people, the 
 " Third Estate," were to sit in council with the 
 clergy and nobility. At the very outset a diffi- 
 culty arose. The deputies of the people insisted 
 on occupying the same room as the nobles and 
 clergy, and, when the coronets and mitres refused 
 haughtily to meet with them, the Third Estate 
 proceeded to organize independently of the 
 higher orders. The king attempted to close 
 their session, but Mirabeau, one of the most 
 
 prominent among them, cried out, " We are 
 here by the will of the people, and we shall not 
 budge save at the point of the bayonet." The 
 gauntlet of defiance was at last thrown down. 
 The era of the French Revolution was begun. 
 
 Louis XVI., whose fatal weakness was irreso- 
 lution, yielded, and at his request many of the 
 higher orders joined in the deliberations of the 
 National Assembly, as the Third Estate had 
 christened themselves. 
 
 Meanwhile, all Paris was in a state of insane 
 commotion. A fierce mob, brutalized by long 
 years of misery and driven to frenzy by revolu- 
 tionary orators, raged through the streets. Sud- 
 denly there came the rumor that soldiers were 
 on their march to Versailles to dissolve the 
 Assembly. Wild with rage and excitement 
 the populace rushed to the Bastile, the grim 
 old prison whose very name made the blood 
 run cold because of the horrors that had been 
 perpetrated within its dark walls. In a few 
 hours the mob forced an entrance, murdered 
 the governor, and released the prisoners. Two 
 days afterwards this stronghold of despotism 
 was levelled to the ground. Like wildfire the 
 excitement now spread through the land. The 
 villas of many of the nobles were destroyed, 
 and their occupants were killed or driven into 
 the woods to perish. Louis, hoping to save the 
 country by the sacrifice of his personal power, 
 appeared before the Assembly and adopted the 
 Tricolor, the red, white, and blue badge of 
 revolution. But it was too late to stay the 
 gathering storm. 
 
 One day in October a hideous rabble of women 
 toiled down to Versailles, clamoring for bread. 
 The king and the Assembly satisfied them for 
 the time with assurances, but they soon pro- 
 voked a quarrel with the king's body-guard, and 
 a general affray ensued. Early the next morn- 
 ing some of the rioters forced their way into 
 the palace with ribald songs and oaths, and the 
 queen, whom they greatly disliked, had barely 
 time to escape when her room was filled with 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 103 
 
 the squalid throng. The arrival of La Fayette, 
 commander of the National Guard, and the 
 king's consent to return to Paris quelled the 
 tumult. Escorted by the savage mob Louis 
 and his family returned to Paris and took up 
 their abode, virtual prisoners, in the palace of 
 the Tuileries. 
 
 1789. George "Washington, First President 
 of the United States. 
 
 George Washington was born in Westmore- 
 land County, Virginia, in 1732. His father, 
 Augustus Washington, a man of considerable 
 wealth, died when George was eleven years old. 
 His mother was a woman of vigorous character 
 and masculine will, and without doubt the char- 
 acter of her distinguished son was moulded by 
 her influence. Washington was educated in the 
 local schools of the neighborhood, where he 
 was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, with 
 the unusual addition of book-keeping and survey- 
 ing. His surveying he put to practical account 
 when he was about sixteen by surveying a tract 
 of land on the Potomac for Lord Fairfax, an 
 extensive land-owner in Virginia. In such em- 
 ployment he passed the next three years of his 
 life, strengthening his body by exercise and the 
 hardships of life in the wilderness and culti- 
 vating habits of endurance and self-reliance, 
 which served him in good stead in after-years. 
 
 In 1753 the governor of Virginia selected 
 young Washington to be the bearer of a de- 
 spatch to the French commander of Fort Le 
 Boeuf, near Lake Erie, to demand the reason 
 of French intrusion upon the Ohio River and 
 its tributaries, a section claimed by the English. 
 In the autumn of the year Washington set out 
 with four or five companions upon this perilous 
 expedition through lands uninhabited for the 
 most part except by hostile Indians. After a 
 journey of four hundred miles, half the distance 
 through a dense wilderness, he arrived at Fort 
 Le Boeuf and delivered his despatches. Having 
 
 received a sealed reply, he set out upon the home- 
 ward journey without delay. Violent storms 
 overtook him. The streams were swollen. The 
 horses finally gave out, and with one companion 
 Washington was forced to continue his journey 
 on foot. In attempting to cross the Alleghany 
 River on a rude raft Washington was thrown 
 into the stream between the floating ice, and 
 swimming to a small island he was compelled 
 to pass the bitter night in that unprotected posi- 
 tion. 
 
 After an absence of eleven weeks he stood in 
 the presence of the governor with the reply of 
 the French commandant. The French had no 
 notion of giving up the territory in dispute, and 
 the troubles culminated in the French and Indian 
 War. Washington took an active part in this 
 war, and after five years' military service retired 
 to his home at Mount Vernon on the Potomac, 
 having won the confidence and admiration of 
 his countrymen for his courage and discretion. 
 
 When the Revolutionary War broke out, 
 Washington was the unanimous choice of Con- 
 gress for commander-and-chief of the American 
 army. At the close of the war, which had been 
 carried to a successful issue largely through his 
 skill and patience, he resigned his commission 
 and quietly withdrew to Mount Vernon, from 
 which he was called in 1789 to accept the high- 
 est honor that his grateful countrymen could 
 bestow, the Presidency of the United States. 
 
 1793. Death of Louis XVI. and Marie 
 Antoinette. 
 
 After the return of Louis XVI. to Paris in 
 1789 the Revolution advanced with rapid strides. 
 The Assembly, of which Mirabeau was the 
 guiding spirit, adopted a constitution and limited 
 the power of the king. Mirabeau, who was a 
 nobleman by birth and was more anxious for 
 reformation than revolution, died in 1791. Louis's 
 last hope was thus destroyed. He attempted to 
 
IO4 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 flee from the country, but was recognized and 
 brought back to Paris. 
 
 The National Assembly dissolved itself in 
 September, 1791. Its place was taken by a new 
 body called the Legislative Assembly. In this 
 new organization there was a large party hos- 
 tile to the monarchy. Every day the situation 
 of the wretched king became more critical. He 
 had sworn to maintain the constitution and had 
 repeatedly made concessions, but his enemies 
 were not to be conciliated, and each month 
 added to his humiliations. Foreign nations 
 looked on in alarm, and in 1792 Austria and 
 Prussia sent their armies to defend the cause of 
 royalty. The advance of these foreign troops 
 goaded the French to fury. The Paris mob 
 raged through the streets, and on the loth of 
 August rushed to the Tuileries and massacred 
 the king's Swiss guard. Louis escaped, and 
 threw himself upon the protection of the As- 
 sembly, but they ordered him and his family to 
 be imprisoned in the Temple. 
 
 The Assembly was then dissolved and the 
 National Convention took its place (September, 
 1792). France was declared a republic and the 
 fate of the king was sealed. The National Con- 
 vention resolved itself into two parties, bitterly 
 hostile to each other, the Girondists, or mod- 
 erate republicans, and the Mountain (so called 
 because they occupied the highest seats), or red 
 republicans, who were supported by the Com- 
 mune of Paris and were eager to push the rev- 
 olution to the utmost limit. Of this latter party 
 Robespierre, Danton, and Marat were the leaders. 
 A victory gained by the army of the French re- 
 public over the Austrians at Jemmapes in Bel- 
 gium emboldened the revolutionists, and the 
 king was brought to trial for conspiring against 
 the liberties of France. In a simple, manly, and 
 affecting way Louis denied the justness of the 
 charge, but after a trial of seventy-two hours 
 sentence of death was pronounced. On the 
 2 ist of January, 1793, the unfortunate monarch 
 ascended the scaffold to expiate, not his own 
 
 crimes, but those of his ancestors and of his 
 position. " Son of St. Louis," said the priest in 
 attendance, " ascend to heaven !" The drums 
 beat, and all was over. 
 
 In October, 1793, the once beautiful, but now 
 prematurely old, Marie Antoinette followed her 
 husband to the block. 
 
 1794. Death of Robespierre. End of Reign 
 of Terror. 
 
 On the death of Louis XVI. a small body of 
 the Mountain party, called the " Committee of 
 Public Safety," became all-powerful. Foremost 
 among the members of this committee were 
 Robespierre, Danton, and Marat. The most se- 
 vere and sanguinary laws were enacted against 
 those who were known to be adverse to the 
 revolution, and the Reign of Terror now began 
 (June, 1793). Moderation became treason. Great 
 numbers of the Girondists were put to death ; 
 among them the celebrated Madame Roland, 
 famous not alone for the active part she took in 
 revolutionary politics, but also for her literary 
 attainments. 
 
 The blood-thirsty Marat was at length assas- 
 sinated by Charlotte Corday, a young Norman 
 woman, who by this act sacrificed her life to 
 rid the country of this great monster. But the 
 death of Marat left Robespierre sole dictator of 
 the unhappy land. In Paris the guillotine was 
 plied with unceasing activity. Whole families 
 were led to the block for no other crime than 
 their relationship. As fast as the prisons were 
 emptied by this wholesale murder fresh victims 
 were found, and so the frightful carnage con- 
 tinued day after day. Women brought their 
 work and sat by the scaffold, watching with calm 
 satisfaction the terrible tragedies enacted thereon. 
 The nation had gone mad with the lust of blood. 
 It is little wonder that the Christian religion was 
 set aside during this awful period, but it does 
 seem a strange inconsistency that the worship 
 of Reason should have been substituted. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 In the provinces scenes of violence similar to 
 those at Paris were enacted. At Nantes barges 
 were laden with victims and then sunk in the 
 river Loire. Lyons, for resisting the army of 
 the Convention, was razed to the ground, and 
 the inhabitants were mowed down in groups by 
 grape-shot. To escape such horrors Toulon 
 surrendered to the English, who had joined the 
 other nations of Europe in a war against the 
 French republic, but it was recovered by the 
 revolutionary army through the genius of a 
 young artillery officer named Napoleon Bona- 
 parte. The whole country was one vast confla- 
 gration of revolt and vengeance. 
 
 When the Revolutionists had exhausted their 
 rage upon their enemies they turned upon each 
 other. Danton and his adherents were guillo- 
 tined, and at last Robespierre himself, the blood- 
 stained despot, was denounced before the Con- 
 vention. Had there been a moment's hesitation, 
 the Convention itself would have been massa- 
 cred. Pale with rage and foaming at the mouth, 
 Robespierre tried over and over again to get a 
 hearing, but his words were drowned by the 
 violent ringing of the president's bell and by 
 loud cries of "Down with the tyrant!" He 
 was then placed under arrest and led away. 
 Liberated by the Commune, he fled to the Hotel 
 de Ville, but the Convention sent troops thither 
 with bayonet and cannon, and he was recaptured. 
 Thoughts of the guillotine, to which he had 
 condemned so many innocent victims, so terri- 
 fied the wretched coward that, it is said, he 
 attempted suicide, but only broke his jaw.* 
 Groaning with agony and shivering with terror, 
 he was dragged to the place of execution, amid 
 the hoots and jibes of the mob, and there mis- 
 erably perished (July, 1794). His death ended 
 the Reign of Terror. Not less than eighteen 
 thousand persons were put to death during this 
 period of fever heat of the Revolution. 
 
 * Other writers claim that he was wounded by one of the 
 soldiers at the time of his arrest. 
 
 1795. The French Directory. End of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The first inclination of the popular party after 
 the death of Robespierre was to keep up the 
 Revolutionary tribunal, but a reaction took place, 
 and the moderate party recovered its influence. 
 A new constitution was adopted, the third 
 since 1789, and the executive authority was 
 intrusted to a directory of five persons. The 
 sections of Paris objected to these changes and 
 rose in insurrection, backed by the National 
 Guard, forty thousand strong. There were only 
 five thousand troops in Paris on the side of the 
 Convention. Things began to assume a very 
 serious aspect. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, the young officer who 
 had distinguished himself at Toulon, was then 
 at Paris. His promptitude of resources and his 
 firm character recommended him to the Con- 
 vention, and he was selected to conduct the 
 military operations against the rioters. He im- 
 mediately took possession of the artillery, which 
 was collected five miles from Paris, and was not 
 a moment too soon, for a body of the insurgents 
 was advancing for the same purpose. They 
 retreated at sight of the cavalry having the 
 artillery in charge, and it was safely conducted 
 to the Tuileries. Planting his cannon so as to 
 command every street by which the Tuileries 
 could be approached, Napoleon, in the name of 
 the Convention, ordered the advancing columns 
 of the rioters to disperse. They refused. With- 
 out a moment's hesitation Napoleon opened fire, 
 and as the grape-shot tore through the crowd, 
 the masses fell back and dispersed (October 5, 
 1795). The new constitution was firmly estab- 
 lished and the French Revolution was ended. 
 
 1795. Dismemberment of Poland. 
 Poland was an extensive and powerful king- 
 dom during the Middle Ages. About the mid- 
 dle of the sixteenth century it began to decay. 
 One of its most famous kings was John Sobieski, 
 
io6 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 whose reign was largely occupied by wars with 
 the Cossacks and Turks. It was this warrior 
 king who drove the Turks from Vienna in 1683. 
 
 The last king of Poland was Stanislas Au- 
 gustus Poniatowski, who ascended the throne 
 in 1764. Poniatowski was a feeble and fickle 
 prince, and the dissensions and anarchy pre- 
 vailing in his country increased during his ad- 
 ministration. The unsettled condition of Poland 
 excited the cupidity of her powerful neighbors, 
 Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and in 1772 the 
 Prussians and Austrians invaded the country 
 and began its dismemberment. Frederick the 
 Great, Catherine of Russia, and Maria Theresa 
 each secured a share of the spoil, leaving to the 
 Polish king only a nominal authority over the 
 few provinces they allowed him to retain. 
 
 In 1792 the Poles made an effort to rid 
 themselves of the authority of the partitioning 
 powers. This led to an invasion of the un- 
 happy country by the Russians, and Poniatow- 
 ski was obliged to submit to the second par- 
 tition, by which his territories were still further 
 diminished. 
 
 In 1794 a great insurrection broke out, and 
 the Poles, led by the brave and illustrious Kos- 
 ciusko, made a last effort to regain their inde- 
 pendence. But the resources of the country 
 were limited, and there was no unanimity among 
 the leaders. Warsaw, the ancient capital, was 
 taken by storm, Kosciusko was made prisoner 
 by the Russians, and Poniatowski died a broken- 
 hearted exile. Russia, Prussia, and Austria now 
 proceeded to the third and final partition of 
 Poland (1795). This division annihilated its 
 existence as an independent country, and the 
 name of Poland was stricken from the list of 
 European nations. 
 
 1797. Napoleon Bonaparte's Conquest of 
 
 Italy. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, the central figure of 
 French history for twenty years succeeding the 
 
 great Revolution, was born in 1769 at Ajaccio 
 in the island of Corsica. He was educated in 
 the military schools of Brienne and Paris, and 
 in 1785 received his commission as an artillery 
 officer. He first came into notice at the siege 
 of Toulon, and subsequently attracted public 
 attention by the skill with which he dispersed 
 the mob in Paris on the Day of the Sections. 
 
 In 1796 he was chosen by the Directory to 
 lead an army into Italy with the object of ad- 
 vancing upon Austria, with which country the 
 French republic was still at war. Napoleon was 
 only twenty-six years old when he received the 
 command of the army of Italy, but his military 
 talents were of the highest order and were 
 universally acknowledged by the officers of the 
 army. 
 
 Just before leaving Paris to take command 
 of his army, Napoleon married Josephine de 
 Beauharnais, the widow of an officer who had 
 perished during the Revolution. He then set 
 out for Nice, where the army had its head- 
 quarters. The men were in a wretched condi- 
 tion, badly clothed, badly fed, so low were the 
 finances of the government at this time. On 
 reviewing his troops the young general said, 
 " Soldiers, you are naked and ill-fed. Govern- 
 ment owes you much and can give you nothing. 
 It is my design to lead you into the most fertile 
 plains of the world. Rich provinces and great 
 cities will be in your power ; there you will find 
 honor and glory and wealth. Soldiers of Italy ! 
 will you be wanting in courage or persever- 
 ance ?" The army responded with eager accla- 
 mations, and Napoleon gave orders to advance 
 upon the campaign. The French army num- 
 bered forty thousand, the Austrian an equal 
 number, assisted by a smaller force of Sardin- 
 ians. Entering Italy at the only point where 
 the Alps sank to a trifling elevation, Napoleon 
 hastened forward, separated the Austrian and 
 Sardinian armies, always " throwing the strong- 
 est force on the weakest point," and soon made 
 himself master of Piedmont and Sardinia. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 107 
 
 The most famous battle of this campaign was 
 the passage of the Bridge of Lodi, where the 
 French soldiers gave Napoleon the nickname 
 of the " Little Corporal" in compliment to his 
 bravery. Napoleon then entered Milan in tri- 
 umph. Many of the finest works of art were 
 confiscated and sent to Paris to grace the gal- 
 leries of the Louvre. 
 
 The road to Central Italy was now open, but 
 before advancing in that direction the conqueror 
 drove the Austrians out of Lombardy. He then 
 turned towards the Papal States and Naples. On 
 condition of the payment of large sums of money 
 and the surrender of many valuable works of 
 art, these states secured an armistice, and Na- 
 poleon turned northward again to confront the 
 new Austrian army advancing from the Tyrol. 
 In five days the Austrians were driven back, 
 leaving fifteen thousand prisoners in the hands 
 of Napoleon. 
 
 Flushed with continued victory Napoleon de- 
 termined to invade Austria, and he was march- 
 ing rapidly upon Vienna when proposals of 
 peace were set on foot. While these negotia- 
 tions were in progress the conqueror coolly 
 possessed himself of the republic of Venice, 
 although it had tried to preserve a neutrality in 
 the war. The treaty of Campo Formio was 
 concluded in October, 1797. Venice was basely 
 given over to the Austrian emperor, Northern 
 Italy, excepting the parts owned by Austria, 
 was transformed into the Cisalpine Republic, 
 and the boundaries of France were extended to 
 the Rhine. 
 
 When the conqueror returned to Paris the 
 enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds, and 
 everywhere the " quiet-mannered little Corsican" 
 was hailed as a hero. 
 
 republic. But Napoleon deemed it safer to aim 
 a blow at England by conquering Egypt, her 
 great commercial highway to India. In 1798 
 he landed with a large army near Alexandria, 
 captured that city, almost annihilated the Mam- 
 elukes (Turkish slaves trained to war), and 
 marched victorious into Cairo. 
 
 But a great disaster was about to overtake 
 him. Nelson, the great English admiral, had 
 followed Napoleon's fleet down the Mediter- 
 ranean, and when he sighted the French squad- 
 ron in the bay of Aboukir, at the mouth of the 
 Nile, he exclaimed, " Before this time to-morrow 
 I shall have gained a peerage or Westminster 
 Abbey." 
 
 The battle began at sunset and lasted until 
 daybreak. The French fleet was almost en- 
 tirely destroyed, and never was naval victory 
 more complete. Nelson was severely wounded, 
 but he gained his peerage. 
 
 Nothing daunted, Napoleon pushed on into 
 Syria and took Jaffa. He then laid siege to 
 Acre, the key of Syria, but he was repulsed by 
 an army of Turks and English under Sir Sidney 
 j Smith. Returning to Egypt, he learned that a 
 new coalition had formed against France. Aus- 
 tria, Russia, and England were menacing his 
 country, the Directory had fallen into disfavor, 
 and the only soldier who was equal to the occa- 
 sion felt that he was needed in France. Leaving 
 his army with General Kleber, Napoleon has- 
 tened to Paris without delay. 
 
 1798. Battle of the Nile. 
 
 Napoleon's brilliant campaign in Italy led the 
 Directory to urge him to the invasion of Eng- 
 land, the most determined enemy of the French 
 
 1799. Washington's Administration and 
 Death. 
 
 After the Constitution of the United States 
 had been made the supreme law of the nation 
 George Washington was chosen President by 
 the unanimous vote of the electors. John 
 Adams, of Massachusetts, was elected Vice- 
 President. On the 3<Dth of April, 1789, they 
 were inaugurated at New York. The first ses- 
 sion of Congress was chiefly occupied in the 
 
io8 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 organization of the new government. Wash- 
 ton appointed Thomas Jefferson Secretary of 
 State, Alexander Hamilton Secretary of the 
 Treasury, and Henry Knox Secretary of War. 
 Hamilton inaugurated a sound system of finance 
 and placed the credit of the country on a firm 
 basis. 
 
 During Washington's administration a war 
 broke out with the Indians along the Ohio, but 
 it was finally brought to a close by General 
 Wayne, who made a treaty with the Indians 
 which they faithfully kept for years. 
 
 About this time the two great political par- 
 ties, the Federalists and the Democrats, began 
 to organize. The former, led by Washington, 
 Adams, Hamilton, and others, were opposed to 
 States rights; the latter, under such leaders as 
 Jefferson and Madison, favored States rights, 
 and would subordinate the nation to the States. 
 
 In 1792 Washington and Adams were re- 
 elected for a second term. During this admin- 
 istration bitter feelings arose between the United 
 States and Great Britain, each accusing the other 
 of violating the treaty of 1783. To avert war 
 
 John Jay was sent as a special envoy to Eng- 
 land, where, in 1794, a new treaty was concluded. 
 This treaty was considered unfavorable to the 
 United States, and met with no little opposition 
 before it was finally ratified by the Union. 
 
 During Washington's term of office three 
 new States were formed : Vermont in 1791, Ken- 
 tucky in 1792, and Tennessee in 1796. 
 
 In 1790 the capital was removed from New 
 York to Philadelphia, where it remained until 
 1 800, when it was located permanently at Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 Having declined a third nomination, Wash- 
 ington retired to his home at Mount Vernon 
 and resumed the quiet life of a country gentle- 
 man. Two years later the news of his death, 
 on the 1 4th of December, 1799, plunged the 
 country into the deepest affliction. Everywhere 
 throughout the land solemn and impressive 
 funeral services were performed in honor of the 
 illustrious dead, who among statesmen, warriors, 
 and patriots was, in the language of Byron, 
 
 " The first, the last, the best, 
 The Cincinnatus of the West. 
 
 ENGLISH LIFE DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 THE BEUNSWICK PERIOD.* 1714. 
 
 Literature, Science, Pine Arts, etc. 
 
 At the beginning of the eighteenth century 
 the fine arts were in a lower state of develop- 
 ment than at any time perhaps since the Re- 
 naissance. This degradation was not confined 
 to England, but was general throughout Europe. 
 
 The art of architecture alone made rapid 
 strides in the works of Sir Christopher Wren, 
 
 * The Brunswick Period includes the reigns of George I., 
 George II.. George III. .George IV., William IV., and Queen 
 Victoria. 
 
 to whose genius England owes the rebuilding 
 in grandeur of the fire-swept city of London. 
 
 Chief among the artists who achieved celeb- 
 rity in the early part of the century were Sir 
 Godfrey Kneller and William Hogarth. The 
 latter possessed most wonderful genius, both as 
 an engraver and as a painter. Later in the cen- 
 tury Sir Joshua Reynolds became pre-eminent 
 in the profession. 
 
 Music now began to be cultivated to a con- 
 siderable extent, and as early as 1703 the Italian 
 opera was introduced at London. Oratorios 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 109 
 
 followed, and we are told that for a number 
 of years, dating from 1737, these noblest of all 
 musical productions were performed regularly 
 every Wednesday and Friday during Lent. 
 
 About 1785 a series of concerts was held in 
 London, which may be regarded as the germ 
 whence sprung the periodical musical festivals 
 so popular in our times. 
 
 The close of the century brings a host of 
 eminent poets, essayists, and novelists before 
 the public, among them Goldsmith, Cowper, 
 Richardson, the inventor of the modern English 
 novel, Sterne, the humorist, Samuel Johnson, 
 author of the English dictionary, and Edmund 
 Burke, eminent both in literature and in politics. 
 Burke was a member of the House of Commons, 
 and made in 1789, during the impeachment of 
 Warren Hastings, one of the greatest speeches 
 that ever was delivered. 
 
 Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon, the great his- 
 torians, flourished and wrote during this period. 
 Robert Burns, the great Scotch poet of the 
 latter half of the century, deserves more than a 
 passing notice. Born in the lower walks of life 
 and writing in the homely dialect with which 
 as a ploughman he was familiar, his felicity of 
 expression is marvellous. Nothing in Horace 
 excels his graceful style. His poetry is as in- 
 tense as it is beautiful. One writer has said, 
 " It is all light and fire." Burns died at the 
 early age of thirty-seven, with the reputation of 
 being the greatest peasant-poet that has ever 
 appeared. 
 
 In mechanical science, the great event of the 
 century was the invention of the modern steam- 
 engine by James Watt, a Scotch philosopher 
 and chemist. An engine of the rudest and sim- 
 plest character was in use in England at this 
 time, but owing to its crudeness it was of 
 comparatively little value except for pumping 
 water. In 1756 Watt became the manufacturer 
 of scientific instruments for the University of 
 Glasgow. He was requested to make a model 
 of the steam-engine then in use. Seeing how 
 
 defective the engine was, he immediately set to 
 work making various experiments on the appli- 
 cation of steam-power. These experiments led 
 to the invention (1769) of several valuable im- 
 provements, which when applied to the engine 
 then in use gave to the world the marvellous 
 steam-engine in use to-day. Watt's invention 
 is considered second only to printing in its re- 
 sults. All branches of manufacture made won- 
 derful strides as soon as the steam-engine be- 
 came the motive-power of machinery. Towards 
 the close of the century the application of steam 
 to navigation began to dawn upon the thinking 
 public, but it was not until after the beginning 
 of the present century that steamboats and steam 
 railroads came into use. 
 
 In medical science, the great discovery of the 
 century was vaccination for small-pox. This 
 discovery was made by Dr. Jenner, an English 
 physician, in 1798. Small-pox had been the 
 great scourge of European countries. Dr. Jen- 
 ner's attention was first called to the subject of 
 the possibility of preventing this loathsome 
 disease by hearing a countrywoman say that 
 " she could not take the small-pox, because she 
 had had the cow-pox." After thorough investi- 
 gation and experiment, Dr. Jenner found that 
 by inoculating with the virus taken from the 
 cow at a certain stage of disease the human 
 system was fortified against the attacks of the 
 dreaded small-pox. For his valuable discovery 
 Dr. Jenner received from Parliament thirty thou- 
 sand pounds, or one hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 At first Dr. Jenner's theory was bitterly op- 
 posed by the superstitious, but, notwithstanding 
 ridicule and opposition, his discovery proved to 
 be one of the greatest boons medical science 
 had ever conferred upon suffering humanity. 
 
 Manners and Customs. 
 
 The last trace of the feudal nobleman disap- 
 peared before George III. came to the throne. 
 There were no longer trains of armed depend- 
 
no 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ants around each castle hall. The English still 
 indulged their fondness for feasting and enter- 
 tainments, but these had assumed a more ele- 
 gant and refined character than in earlier times. 
 A favorite style of entertainment among the 
 wealthy classes was the lawn fete. Gardens 
 and grounds were brilliantly illuminated, and 
 refreshments, music, dancing, and cards filled 
 in the pleasures of the evening. Balls on a 
 magnificent scale were frequently given. 
 
 Clubs for gentlemen became fashionable. A 
 few had a political character, but most of them 
 were merely resorts of leisure. These clubs 
 were much patronized by the' literary men of 
 the times. A more elevating species of enter- 
 tainment the lecture now came into fashion, 
 but owing to the limited education of the masses 
 it was confined to a small circle. 
 
 About 1781 it became a custom among the 
 ladies of London who were fond of intellectual 
 society to open their homes of an evening to 
 men and women of letters and genius and pass 
 the time in cultured conversation. One of the 
 most eminent attendants at these gatherings was 
 a Mr. Stillingfleet, whose costume, otherwise 
 plain enough, attracted attention because he 
 always wore blue stockings. So entertaining a 
 conversationalist was he that it came to be said 
 when he was absent, " We can do nothing with- 
 out the Blue Stockings," and finally these meet- 
 ings came to be called the Blue-Stocking Clubs. 
 The nobility and educated middle classes here 
 met on common ground, that of literary merit, 
 and the barriers between these two grades of 
 society gradually became less formidable. In 
 the earlier days there were but two classes of 
 society, the nobility and the poor. But the 
 increase of trade and the spread of education 
 had brought to the surface a large and con- 
 tinually growing body of citizens who at this 
 period formed a powerful middle class, and to 
 whom England is indebted to-day for her con- 
 stitutional liberties. 
 
 The police regulations of London during this 
 
 period were little better than in the preceding 
 century. Robbery, abduction, and murder were 
 still common occurrences in the streets of the 
 metropolis. Respectable people were not safe 
 on the streets at night after nine o'clock. The 
 amusements of the lower classes were coarse and 
 brutal. Prize-fights, boxing-matches, cock-fight- 
 ing, and similar pastimes were popular, and drew 
 audiences that were not always composed ex- 
 clusively of the humbler orders of society. 
 
 The English costume of the period was a mod- 
 ification of that of former times. The long hose 
 of the gentlemen had given way to knee-breeches 
 and stockings. They also wore long-waisted 
 coats with skirts reaching to the knees. Wigs, 
 curled and powdered, were indispensable to men 
 of fashion. The buttons on their coats and the 
 buckles on their shoes grew to such an enor- 
 mous size that they were caricatured in the picto- 
 rials of the day. The chief feature of the ladies' 
 costume was the enormous bell-hoop, worn to 
 make the skirts stand out. There was as much 
 variety in head-dresses or bonnets as there 
 always is in ladies' fashions. Some of these 
 head-dresses were enormously and ridiculously 
 tall. Most elegant toilets had long pointed 
 waists, with flowing sleeves and skirts of bro- 
 caded silk or velvet. Spanish mantuas for the 
 shoulders were much worn. Belles and beaux 
 vied with each other in extravagance of dress, 
 both as to style and as to quality. 
 
 The close of the eighteenth century finds the 
 English people more domestic in their habits 
 than formerly. The court of George III. was 
 simple and almost homely in its tastes. The 
 king was illiterate and cared for none of the 
 arts or sciences save music, but he was a man 
 of strict morals, and the tone of his court was 
 in accordance with his life. The domestic habits 
 of the king and queen flattered the middle classes 
 and won their loyal admiration, while the horrors 
 of the French Revolution caused all classes of 
 English subjects to cling more closely to their 
 king and the throne. 
 
See Explanation of Chart 
 on page 9. 
 
 England 1^3 Spain. 
 
 United States. C3 Mexico. 
 
 Russia EH3 Brazil. 
 
 Germany 
 
 Prussia. C3 Turkey. 
 
 France C3 Italy. 
 
NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 CHRONOLOQY. 
 
 1801. Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, became third Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 1801. The first United Parliament of Great Britain and 
 Ireland assembled at Westminster. Green, Eng., 
 p. 776. 
 
 1804. Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of 
 
 the French. Lan. Nap. I. ; Van Laun, Fr. Rev. 
 Ep., book v. ch. i. ; Fyffe, Mod. E., vol. i. p. 226. 
 
 1805. The French and Spanish fleets were defeated by the 
 
 English off Cape Trafalgar and Lord Nelson was 
 killed. Green, Eng., p. 780; Bright, Eng., p. 
 1265 ; Jones, Mod. E., vol. iii. p. 492. 
 
 1809. James Madison, of Virginia, became fourth Presi- 
 dent of the United States. 
 
 1812. The United States declared war against Great 
 Britain. Bry. U. S., vol. iv. p. 185. 
 
 1815. Napoleon was defeated by Wellington at Water- 
 loo, and exiled to St. Helena. Van Laun, Fr. 
 Rev. Ep., book vi. ch. i. ; Jones, Mod. E., vol. iii. 
 p. 629. 
 
 1817. James Monroe, of Virginia, became fifth President 
 of the United States. 
 
 1820. George III. of England died ; he was succeeded by 
 his son, George IV. Bright, Eng., p. 1035 ; Pict. 
 Eng., Geo. III., vol. i. p. 2. 
 
 1824. Lord Byron died at Missolonghi, in Greece. Mac. 
 
 Ex., vol. ii. p. 324. 
 
 1825. John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, became 
 
 sixth President of the United States. 
 
 1826. The Janizaries were suppressed by Sultan Mah- 
 
 moud II. Creas. Ot. T., p. 502. 
 
 1827. The Turco-Egyptian fleet was destroyed by the allied 
 
 fleets of England, France, and Russia in the bat- 
 tle of Navarino. Creas. Ot. T.,p. 511; Jones, 
 Mod. E., vol. iii. p. 659; Fin. Gr. Rev. 
 
 1829. Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, became seventh 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1830. George IV. of England died; he was succeeded by 
 
 his brother, William IV. Grev. Mem., vol. i. ; 
 Bright, Eng., p. 1364. 
 1830. Charles X. of France abdicated, and Louis Philippe 
 
 became king. White, France, p. 537 ; Van Laun, 
 Fr. Rev. Ep., book vi. ch. ii. 
 
 1831. Dom Pedro I. of Brazil abdicated, and his son, 
 
 Dom Pedro II., became emperor. 
 
 1832. Sir Walter Scott died. Lock. Scott. 
 
 1832. Goethe, the greatest of German poets, died. Lew. 
 
 Goethe. 
 1837. William IV. of England died ; he was succeeded 
 
 by his niece, Victoria. Grev. Mem., vol. ii. ; Mc- 
 
 Car. Own Times, vol. i. ch. i. 
 1837. Martin Van Buren, of New York, became eighth 
 
 President of the United States. 
 1841. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, became ninth 
 
 President of the United States. 
 1841. President Harrison died, and the Vice-President, 
 
 John Tyler, of Virginia, became tenth President 
 
 of the United States. 
 
 1844. The First Telegraph Line in .the United States was 
 
 constructed between Washington and Baltimore 
 by Professor Morse. Prime, Morse, ch. xi. 
 
 1845. James K. Polk, of Tennessee, became eleventh 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1848. The Mexican War closed and New Mexico and 
 California were ceded to the United States. Loss. 
 U. S., p. 481. 
 
 1848. The Third French Revolution broke out. Louis 
 
 Philippe abdicated, and Louis Napoleon became 
 President of the French Republic. Al. E., vol. 
 iv. ch. 1. ; Van Laun, Fr. Rev. Ep., book vii. 
 ch. i. 
 
 1849. Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana, became twelfth 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1850. President Taylor died, and the Vice-President, Mil- 
 
 lard Fillmore, of New York, became thirteenth 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1851. Tennyson succeeded Wordsworth as Poet-laureate 
 
 of England. 
 
 1853. Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, became four- 
 teenth President of the United States. 
 
 1855. Sebastopol, the great Russian fortress of the Crimea, 
 was besieged and taken by the English and French. 
 
1 12 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Kel. Rus., p. 502 ; McCar. Own Times, chaps. 
 
 xxvii. and xxviii. 
 
 1857* James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, became fif- 
 teenth President of the United States. 
 1858. The Indian Mutiny was crushed by the British. 
 
 Grant, Sep. War; But. Veda. 
 1861. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, became sixteenth 
 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1861. The Confederate States seceded from the Union. 
 1861. The Italian States were consolidated and Victor 
 
 Emmanuel became king of new Italy. Prob. 
 
 Es., p. 42 ; Ad. Cam. Eu., ch. ix. 
 1863. Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. 
 1863. The Confederates, led by General Lee, were defeated 
 
 by the Union forces under General Meade at 
 
 Gettysburg. 
 
 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation of President 
 
 Lincoln freed the slaves in the insurgent States. 
 
 1864. General Sherman took Atlanta, and began his march 
 
 through Georgia to the sea. 
 
 1865. General Lee surrendered the Army of Virginia to 
 
 General Grant at Appomattox, and the Civil 
 
 War came to an end. 
 
 1865. President Lincoln was re-elected. 
 1865. President Lincoln was assassinated on the I4th of 
 
 April, and the Vice- President, Andrew Johnson, 
 
 of Tennessee, became seventeenth President of 
 
 the United States. 
 1868. Queen Isabella of Spain was dethroned. An. Reg. 
 
 1869. Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, became eighteenth 
 President of the United States. 
 
 1869. The Central Pacific Railroad was completed. 
 
 Nord. Cal., p. 45. 
 
 1870. On the igth of July France declared war against 
 
 Prussia. Ab. Fran.-Prus. War, ch. xvi. ; Ad. 
 Cam. Eu., p. 556; La. Chap. War in 1870. 
 
 1870. On the 2d of September Napoleon III., Marshal 
 
 McMahon, and the French army surrendered to the 
 Prussians at Sedan. Van Laun, Fr. Rev. Ep., 
 book ix. ch. i. 
 
 1871. Paris surrendered to the Prussians, and the Franco- 
 
 Prussian War came to an end. Ab. Fran.-Prus. 
 War, ch. xxv. 
 1871. The Mont Cenis Tunnel was completed. 
 
 1871. A great part of the city of Chicago was destroyed 
 
 by fire. Loss. U. S., p. 739. 
 
 1872. The Alabama Claims were settled. Loss. U. 5., pp. 
 
 707, 740; Tri. Arbt. 
 
 1873. President Grant was re-elected. 
 1873. The Spanish Republic was founded. 
 
 1873. Dr. Livingstone, the great African explorer, died 
 while searching for the head- waters of the Nile. 
 Liv. Jour. 
 
 1873. Napoleon III. died in England. 
 
 1874. The Spanish Republic was abolished, and the mon- 
 
 archy restored with Alfonso XII. as king. 
 1876. The Centennial of American Independence was 
 celebrated at Philadelphia. 
 
 HISTORIC SKETCHES. 
 
 18O1. Legislative Union of Great Britain 
 and Ireland. 
 
 THE French Revolution inspired some of the 
 bold Irish leaders to make an effort to sep- 
 arate Ireland from the British empire and found 
 a republic. But the British government received 
 timely warning of the conspiracy, and the insur- 
 rection was speedily crushed. 
 
 This rebellion convinced the statesmen of 
 England of the necessity of binding Ireland 
 more closely to the empire. " In pursuance of 
 
 this idea the Irish Parliament was dissolved in 
 1 80 1, and Ireland thereafter sent her representa- 
 tives to the Parliament of the United Kingdom 
 of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 There was a great deal of opposition in Ire- 
 land to the Union, and another unsuccessful 
 insurrection took place. Robert Emmet, the 
 unfortunate leader, was tried, sentenced, and 
 executed for his misguided patriotism. 
 
 The Union was not productive of the good 
 results hoped for, and the condition of Ireland 
 has not been much improved. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1804. Napoleon I., Emperor of the French. 
 
 Napoleon returned to France in 1799 at a 
 critical moment. During his absence in Syria 
 and Egypt Austria, assisted by Russia, had re- 
 covered her possessions in Italy, the French 
 armies had been defeated on the Rhine, and the 
 Directory, held responsible for these reverses, 
 had fallen into disgrace. Feeling sure of the 
 devotion of the army to his interests, Napoleon 
 marched into the Council with a band of grena- 
 diers on the loth of November, 1799, and, like 
 a second Cromwell, overturned the government 
 at the point of the bayonet. The executive 
 power was then placed in the hands of three 
 consuls appointed for ten years. Napoleon, as 
 First Consul, held all the real power. With 
 vigor and address he introduced reforms into 
 every department of the government. Then 
 raising an immense army, he resumed military 
 operations, routed the Austrians at Marengo, 
 and recovered Italy (1800). The victory of 
 General Moreau at Hohenlinden followed, and 
 the Austrians once more made peace (1801). 
 
 The First Consul next succeeded in forming 
 a league of the northern powers against Eng- 
 land, the nation he dreaded most, but Lord 
 Nelson crushed the naval power of Denmark in 
 one battle, and the giant league fell to pieces. 
 
 Napoleon then turned his attention to the im- 
 provement of his country. He adopted a wise 
 and liberal policy. Christianity had already 
 been restored, the people gladly welcoming the 
 sound of the church-bells as before the Revolu- 
 tion. A general pardon was offered to all exiles 
 who would swear allegiance to the new govern- 
 ment, and thousands were induced to return 
 home. A new order of nobility was formed 
 called the Legion of Honor; the College of 
 France and various military schools were or- 
 ganized ; and the Code Napoleon gave the peo- 
 ple the best system of laws in Europe. 
 
 Delighted with the rule of the First Consul 
 the people proclaimed him consul for life (1802). 
 15 
 
 But his ambition was not yet satisfied. He 
 caused the senate to proclaim him emperor, 
 and the people raising no objection, in 1804 
 he assumed the imperial crown. 
 
 He then crossed to Italy, transformed the 
 republics into a kingdom, placed on his own 
 brow the " iron crown" * of Lombardy, and as- 
 sumed the title of Emperor of the French and 
 King of Italy. 
 
 1805. Battle of Trafalgar. Death of Nelson. 
 
 Napoleon's ambition was insatiable. Not 
 content with the crowns of France and Italy, 
 he aspired to the conquest of Europe. In just 
 alarm England, Russia, Austria, and Sweden 
 now united to crush this mighty usurper, who 
 threatened so seriously to disturb the balance 
 of power in Europe. The first blow was struck 
 at Trafalgar. The French fleet under Admiral 
 Villeneuve had been blockaded at Toulon for 
 nearly a year by Lord Nelson's fleet, but finally 
 escaped to Cadiz, where it joined the Spanish 
 fleet. Nelson made an unsuccessful chase, and 
 returned disheartened to England, but, there 
 learning of Villeneuve's whereabouts, he sailed 
 with all speed for Cadiz. 
 
 On the 2 1st of October, 1805, he discovered 
 the French and Spanish fleets drawn up in two 
 lines ready for battle about seven miles off 
 Cape Trafalgar. The British fleet numbered 
 twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates, 
 the enemy forty ships. Having issued his 
 orders and signalled the memorable 'words, 
 " England expects every man to do his duty," 
 Nelson bore down upon the allied fleets. Three 
 hours' desperate fighting ensued and resulted in 
 a glorious victory for the English. Nineteen of 
 the enemy's ships lowered their colors, among 
 them the flag-ship of Admiral Villeneuve. 
 
 * In reality a gold crown, but called " the iron crown" be- 
 cause on the inside it was encircled by a small band of iron 
 said to have been made from one of Ihe nails used at the 
 Crucifixion. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 During the conflict Lord Nelson was mor- 
 tally wounded, but he lived long enough to be 
 assured that the most complete success that 
 had ever graced the annals of his country had 
 been won ; and, having repeatedly pronounced 
 the words " Thank God ! I have done my duty," 
 this great man expired. 
 
 Nelson's remains were conveyed to London 
 and interred with royal honors in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral. The death of England's greatest 
 hero was mourned by the people as a national 
 calamity. 
 
 1812. War between Great Britain and the 
 United States. 
 
 Jealousy on the part of England towards her 
 former dependency led to unjust legislation by 
 Great Britain in regard to commerce and the 
 maritime relations between the two countries, 
 and gross outrages on the seas. The British 
 prohibited all trade with America. British 
 cruisers took the unwarrantable liberty of seiz- 
 ing and searching American vessels to take 
 therefrom all persons thought to be British sub- 
 jects. The right of an Englishman to throw 
 off his allegiance to Great Britain and become 
 an American citizen had not as yet been ac- 
 knowledged. " Once an Englishman always an 
 Englishman" was the iron rule. The despotic 
 attitude of Great Britain could lead to but one 
 issue, war; and accordingly, in June, 1812, the 
 President issued a proclamation of war against 
 Great Britain. This war was fought chiefly 
 upon the sea. To the astonishment and chagrin 
 of the haughty English, the little American navy 
 won a series of brilliant victories over her an- 
 tagonist, and in the course of the year two hun- 
 dred and fifty British ships and merchant ves- 
 sels were captured by the American cruisers. 
 Great was the joy in America, greater the as- 
 tonishment throughout Europe, and greatest the 
 rage in England, over these unexpected suc- 
 cesses of the humble republic. 
 
 As the war progressed the campaign on land 
 assumed some importance. Canada was invaded 
 by the American forces. The British sent over 
 in 1814 a squadron of twenty-one vessels with 
 General Ross and an army of four thousand 
 veterans. This armament sailed up the Chesa- 
 peake Bay with the purpose of destroying Wash- 
 ington and Baltimore. General Ross partially 
 burned Washington and then advanced on Bal- 
 timore. Landing at North Point at the mouth 
 of the Patapsco River, on the I2th of Septem- 
 ber Ross was marching rapidly towards Balti- 
 more when he was shot by two young men, 
 Wells and McComas, who had been secreted in 
 a clump of bushes for this very purpose. See- 
 ing their commander fall, and observing the 
 smoke of the discharged rifles ascending from 
 the foliage, the enraged British riddled the place 
 with bullets, and the two young men fell pierced 
 with many wounds. A monument was after- 
 wards erected in Baltimore in honor of these 
 brave young patriots. For an hour after the 
 death of Ross the progress of the British was 
 disputed by the Baltimore militia, and at length 
 the invaders were forced to retire. The next 
 morning the fleet began bombarding Fort Mc- 
 Henry. All day long and all through the night 
 shot and shell were hurled upon the fortress. 
 During this terrific cannonading, Francis Key, 
 who had gone to the British squadron to obtain 
 an exchange of prisoners of war, and had waited 
 according to orders until after the battle, stood 
 in his little vessel and watched with the intensest 
 anxiety the stars and stripes fluttering above the 
 fort. By the light of bursting shells he watched 
 through the night; and when the gray light of 
 morn appeared and his strained gaze met the 
 loved emblem still floating in the breeze, the 
 enthusiasm and joy in his heart burst forth in 
 the inspiring words of the " Star-spangled Ban- 
 ner." The bombardment made no serious im- 
 pression upon Fort McHenry, and on the I4th 
 the British troops embarked and sailed away. 
 Peace was declared in December of this year 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 (1814)) although none of the issues of the war 
 were distinctively settled by the terms of the 
 treaty. The naval power of the United States 
 was tacitly acknowledged, and the outrages of 
 the previous years were not again attempted by 
 Great Britain. 
 
 1815. Battle of Waterloo. 
 
 In seven years from the coronation of Na- 
 poleon as Emperor of the French the armies 
 of the mighty " Little Corporal," controlled by 
 his wonderful military genius, had made him 
 virtual master of Continental Europe. His own 
 immediate empire extended from Denmark to 
 Naples. His kinsmen sat upon the thrones of 
 Holland, Naples, and Spain. One of his gen- 
 erals was recognized by Sweden as heir to that 
 kingdom. The German states and Switzerland 
 yielded their obedience. Prussia and Austria 
 were humbled in the dust and forced to accept 
 such terms as the haughty usurper chose to 
 dictate. England and Russia were the only 
 nations of importance that yet remained uncon- 
 quered. All this was the result of only seven 
 years of war. 
 
 But the wheel of fortune was about to turn. 
 England, guarded by her fleet, was invincible, 
 but Russia was open to invasion, and, having 
 humiliated her, Napoleon might sit down like 
 Alexander of old and sigh for other worlds to 
 conquer. In defiance of the advice of old coun- 
 sellors, Napoleon declared war against the czar, 
 and in the summer of 1812 advanced into Rus- 
 sia with more than half a million men. The 
 Russians disputed his advance, but were driven 
 back. As the Grand Army pressed forward, 
 the Russians retired sullenly towards Moscow. 
 Cunningly retreating through a black and deso- 
 late section of country, they lured the French 
 to follow through barren tracts, where their 
 horses died for want of forage and the soldiers 
 sickened from malarial diseases. Worn out with 
 sickness and fatigue, the French reached Mos- 
 
 cow at last to find an empty triumph. The city 
 was silent and deserted. Then Russian incen- 
 diaries set it on fire, and the greater part was 
 reduced to ashes. There was nothing for the 
 French to do but retreat, and just as the terri- 
 ble Russian winter was beginning they set out 
 upon their fatal march. There is nothing in 
 history more appalling than the story of this 
 retreat. The intense cold, the drifting snow, the 
 icy streams, the murderous attacks of the Cos- 
 sacks, the pangs of hunger, strewed the line of 
 retreat with the bodies of the dead and dying ; 
 and when the remnants of the Grand Army 
 mustered on the banks of the Vistula it was 
 found that nearly two hundred thousand had 
 been made prisoners of war and more than 
 that number had perished in battle or during 
 the fatal retreat. This great disaster encour- 
 aged the great European nations to array them- 
 selves once more against Napoleon. Hastening 
 with all speed to France, the indomitable em- 
 peror raised a new army, and for some time 
 kept his enemies at bay. But the odds were 
 against him. With greatly superior numbers 
 the allies penetrated into France and entered 
 Paris (March, 1814). Napoleon was compelled 
 to abdicate and retire to the island of Elba on a 
 pension. Louis XVIII., brother of the mur- 
 dered Louis XVI., was proclaimed king of 
 France by the allies. 
 
 The next year, while a congress of the Allied 
 Powers was assembled at Vienna to settle the 
 affairs of Europe, there came the startling news 
 that Napoleon had escaped from Elba and had 
 returned to France. The people of France had 
 already become discontented with the rule of 
 the Bourbon, and as Napoleon advanced towards 
 Paris the French soldiers flocked in thousands 
 round his banner. Louis XVIII. fled, and Na- 
 poleon was once more installed in the Tuileries 
 (March, 1815). Europe flew to arms. Well 
 aware of the storm about to break over his 
 head, Napoleon strained every nerve to raise a 
 new army. By the middle of June he had col- 
 
u6 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 lected one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 men, and with them he advanced into Belgium 
 to confront the English and Prussians, who were 
 preparing to march upon Paris. The Prussians 
 under Bliicher were defeated at Ligny, and Na- 
 poleon's hopes began to rise. Could he but 
 crush the English he had no fears of the armies 
 advancing beyond the Rhine. The news of 
 Bliicher's defeat caused Wellington to fall back 
 from Brussels to Waterloo. Here on Sunday, 
 June 1 8, the two greatest generals the world 
 ever saw alive at the same time met face to face. 
 The battle began about noon. For hours the 
 solid squares of British infantry met every 
 charge of the squadrons of France without 
 wavering, but every hour those squares grew 
 smaller. Still they held their ground. Then 
 Napoleon resolved to make one last effort to 
 force them from their position. Forming his 
 " Old Guard" into one dense column he sent 
 them charging upon the foe. Wellington or- 
 dered his men to lie down under the crest of 
 the hill which they occupied, and opened a 
 tremendous artillery fire upon the advancing 
 column. When within fifty yards of the crest 
 of the ridge the signal was given, " Up, Guards, 
 and at them !" and up sprang the British soldiers 
 four lines deep. A terrible volley poured upon 
 the advancing ranks, and then the British Guards 
 dashed forward for the bayonet charge. The 
 French reeled back from this terrible onset, 
 wavered broke fled. Napoleon tried to rally 
 his disordered columns, but in vain, and, turn- 
 ing his horse in the bitterness of despair, he 
 rode fast from the fatal field. So great was the 
 slaughter in this battle that Wellington is said 
 to have wept as he rode over the battle-ground 
 by moonlight. 
 
 Waterloo decided the fate of Napoleon. The 
 allies entered Paris on the 4th of July, 1815, 
 and reinstated Louis XVIII. Napoleon tried 
 to escape to America, but, finding all the ports 
 blockaded by British cruisers, he surrendered 
 to the commander of the " Bellerophon," send- 
 
 ing word to the prince regent that " he came, 
 like Themistocles, to claim the hospitality of 
 the British nation and the protection of her 
 laws." 
 
 But the British nation had no desire to enter- 
 tain so dangerous a refugee, and the allied sov- 
 ereigns exiled him for life to the lonely island 
 of St. Helena. There he lived for nearly six 
 years, restless and uneasy, and ever dreaming 
 of the glorious past. He died in 1821, and in 
 1840 his remains were removed to Paris and 
 entombed with great splendor and solemnity in 
 the church of the Invalides. 
 
 182 O. Death of George III. Accession of 
 George IV. 
 
 George III. ascended the throne of Great 
 Britain in 1760. He was more popular than 
 the first two Georges had been, not alone be- 
 cause he was a better man, but because he was 
 an Englishman by birth. The English never 
 loved their German kings. George III. was 
 not a clever man, but he was honest and he 
 meant to do what was right. His greatest fault 
 was obstinacy. He had been better educated 
 than his father, and he encouraged literature and 
 learned men. A love of books and of culture 
 spread through the land, and men who wore 
 swords and powdered wigs, the insignia of gen- 
 tlemen, were ashamed to be illiterate. 
 
 The greatest misfortune that happened to 
 England during this reign was the loss of her 
 American colonies. This was mainly due to 
 the short-sighted obstinacy of King George, 
 but after the war was over and the colonies 
 were free and independent, George said frankly 
 to John Adams, who was sent by the United 
 States as envoy to the British court, " I was the 
 last man in the kingdom to consent to the in- 
 dependence of America, but, now it is granted, I 
 shall be the last man in the kingdom to sanc- 
 tion a violation of it." 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 117 
 
 In 1783 William Pitt the younger, who in- 
 herited the talents of his father, became prime 
 minister, at the age of twenty-four. He made 
 his first speech in Parliament when only twenty- 
 one years of age, and Burke, one of the most 
 splendid orators of the day, was so delighted 
 with the young man's speech that he burst into 
 tears, exclaiming, " It is not a chip of the old 
 block ; it is the old block itself." 
 
 The English empire in India was at this time 
 rapidly enlarging under Warren Hastings, who 
 had been appointed governor-general in 1773. 
 But the measures which he adopted for the 
 subjugation of the country were so unjust and 
 oppressive that on his return to England he 
 was impeached before the House of Lords for 
 his cruel administration. His trial one of the 
 most memorable in history commenced in 
 1788 and went on at intervals for seven years, 
 resulting finally in his acquittal. During the 
 trial many splendid orations were delivered by 
 the managers of the impeachment, Burke, Sheri- 
 dan, Fox, and others. 
 
 Meantime the great French Revolution had 
 broken out. At first the English sympathized 
 with the Revolutionists, but after a year or two 
 they committed such awful crimes that the 
 English became appalled, and in 1793 war was 
 declared between the two countries. Soon all 
 Europe was convulsed with war, and it was not 
 until after the great battle of Waterloo in 1815 
 that peace was restored. 
 
 In his later years George III. became blind 
 and imbecile. Music was his great consolation 
 in his lucid intervals. He died in 1820, in the 
 eighty-second year of his life. His reign of 
 sixty years was the longest and most eventful in 
 English history. He was succeeded by his son, 
 George IV., who had acted as regent during the 
 last ten years of his father's reign. 
 
 The principal literary men of the period were 
 Samuel Johnson, author of the Dictionary ; 
 Hume and Gibbon, historians ; Byron, Words- 
 worth, Moore, and Scott, poets. 
 
 1824. Lord Byron. 
 
 Lord George Gordon Byron, one of England's 
 most celebrated poets, was born in London in 
 1788. His father's family traced its origin back 
 to the time of William the Conqueror, and on 
 his mother's side he was related to the royal 
 family of Scotland. In 1805 Byron entered 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, but, neglecting the 
 prescribed course of study, he divided his time 
 between dissipation and poetry. On leaving 
 Cambridge in 1807, without his degree, he 
 published a volume of poems called, not inaptly, 
 " Hours of Idleness." This book was severely 
 criticised by the " Edinburgh Review." The 
 poet retorted in a caustic satire entitled " English 
 Bards and Scotch Reviewers." In this work 
 Byron was guilty of many harsh and capricious 
 judgments, sparing neither friend nor foe, and 
 he subsequently regretted its publication. Soon 
 after this unfortunate literary venture the poet 
 made the tour of the Continent, visiting Spain, 
 Portugal, and Greece. He gave a picturesque 
 account of his travels in his great poem " Childe 
 Harold's Pilgrimage," the first two cantos of 
 which were published on his return to England 
 in 1812, and were received by the public with 
 unbounded enthusiasm. As Byron himself 
 said, " I awoke one morning and found myself 
 famous." His most servile admirers even imi- 
 tated his style of dress, and " Byron collars and 
 ties" soon became the rage in fashionable so- 
 ciety. In May of the next year appeared his 
 " Giaour ;" in November, " The Bride of Aby- 
 dos" (written in a week); and about three 
 months afterwards, " The Corsair" (written in 
 ten days). 
 
 In 1815 Byron married Miss Millbanke, but in- 
 compatibility of temper caused a speedy separa- 
 tion. The odium of their separation fell chiefly 
 upon Byron, and he left England in 1816 deter- 
 mined never to return. He resided in Switzer- 
 land until the close of the year, composing 
 while there some of his most powerful works, 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 the third canto of " Childe Harold," "The 
 Prisoner of Chillon," " Darkness," etc. Italy 
 next became the abode of the restless wanderer. 
 There he lived in reckless dissipation, and there 
 he wrote " Don Juan," the most objectionable 
 of his works. He also finished his finest poem, 
 " Childe Harold." 
 
 In 1823 Byron interested himself in the cause 
 of Greek independence. With all the funds he 
 could command he sailed for Greece, arriving 
 at Missolonghi in January, 1824. He was gladly 
 welcomed by the Greeks, mainly, it is to be 
 feared, because of his wealth ; but he had 
 scarcely arranged his plans for the anticipated 
 campaign when he was seized with a fever and 
 expired in April. 
 
 Of the moral character of Byron's poetry 
 there can be but one opinion in every honest 
 and pure mind. His descriptive powers are un- 
 usually great, and his poems are full of exquisite 
 beauty, but the tendency of much of his writing 
 is to shake our confidence in virtue and diminish 
 our abhorrence of vice. 
 
 1826. Suppression of the Janizaries. 
 
 The Janizaries (yeni-tsheri), meaning new 
 troops, were Turkish foot-soldiers originally 
 organized by Sultan Orchan about 1330 A.D. 
 They were recruited from among the conquered 
 Christian nations by taking their strongest and 
 most promising boys and educating them in 
 the Mohammedan faith and in the arts of war. 
 Torn from their homes and cut off from every 
 domestic tie, these boys knew only the religion 
 and the service into which they were forced. 
 They were very carefully trained and were 
 granted a great many privileges, and naturally 
 became a formidable means of defence. The 
 lowest officer of the corps was their cook, for 
 whom the Janizaries manifested great reverence. 
 They always wore a wooden spoon in their 
 turbans, and on all extra occasions assembled 
 around their soup-kettles. Their revolts were 
 
 proclaimed by reversing these kettles. The loss 
 of one of these kettles in battle was as great a 
 disgrace as the loss of its colors by a regiment 
 in civilized armies. 
 
 During the reign of Soliman the Magnificent 
 the Janizaries were without doubt the best dis- 
 ciplined body of troops in Europe. After his 
 death they were no longer recruited exclusively 
 from young Christian prisoners of war or from 
 among the tributary Christian provinces, until 
 the corps finally consisted in great measure of 
 vagabond Turks and Christians, who often en- 
 gaged in bloody strife among themselves. They 
 mutinied against the sultans time after time, and 
 more than once deposed and put to death the 
 Turkish rulers. 
 
 When Mahmoud II. came to the Turkish 
 throne in 1808, he was impressed with the dan- 
 ger of maintaining such turbulent and unruly 
 troops, and he resolved upon their extermina- 
 tion. Having gained over the Mohammedan 
 priesthood and some of his officers to his views,, 
 he published a decree in 1826 ordering that one 
 hundred and fifty of every regiment of the Jani- 
 zaries should be formed into a regularly dis- 
 ciplined militia. As was expected, this decree 
 caused a revolt. The Janizaries assembled and 
 reversed their kettles. But Mahmoud displayed 
 the standard of Mohammed, the sacred em- 
 blem which was never brought out except in 
 seasons of great danger, and, roused to fanatic 
 zeal, all the better class of the population, with 
 many sailors and private guards, fell upon the 
 Janizaries, burned them in their barracks or mas- 
 sacred them in the streets. About twenty-five 
 thousand were thus destroyed. The rest were 
 exiled. Since then they have never been re- 
 organized. 
 
 1827. Battle of Navarino. Greek Indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 Greece was a part of the Turkish empire for 
 nearly four hundred years. The rule of the 
 Turk in Greece, as in every place where he has 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 119 
 
 dominion, was unjust and oppressive, and in 
 1820 the Greeks revolted and began a struggle 
 for independence. The first outbreak, led by 
 Alexander Ypsilanti in the northern provinces, 
 terminated disastrously, but fresh insurrections 
 occurred all over the country soon afterwards, 
 and the Turks practised the greatest barbari- 
 ties in their efforts to suppress the movement. 
 Marco Bozzaris, one of the most famous of the 
 Greek chieftains, sometimes called the " Leoni- 
 das of Modern Greece," was killed in 1823 
 while making a midnight assault upon the 
 Turkish camp near Missolonghi, one of the 
 chief towns in insurrection. The battle resulted 
 in a decisive victory of the Greeks, who had 
 the advantage in the struggle until 1825, when 
 the sultan asked and obtained aid from Egypt. 
 Missolonghi was taken by the Turks and Egyp- 
 tians in 1826 after a long siege, the brave de- 
 fenders having suffered the most dreadful hard- 
 ships from famine and the barbarities of the 
 besiegers. 
 
 The fall of Missolonghi aroused the sympathy 
 of European nations for the struggling Greeks ; 
 and England, France, and Russia, recognizing 
 the independence of Greece, sent their fleets to 
 her asssistance. The Turkish and Egyptian 
 fleets were encountered in the Bay of Navarino, 
 and there a great battle was fought, resulting in 
 the destruction of the Turco-Egyptian squad- 
 ron (1827). This victory delivered Greece from 
 her oppressors. A republic was founded, but 
 this was soon transformed into a kingdom by the 
 allied powers. The independence of Greece was 
 acknowledged by the Ottoman Porte* in 1829. 
 
 1830. Death of George IV. Accession of 
 William IV. 
 
 George IV. became king of Great Britain in 
 1820, at the age of fifty-eight. He was a man 
 
 * The name usually applied to the Turkish government. 
 
 of polished manners and exquisite taste in dress, 
 and was called by his flatterers " the first gen- 
 tleman in Europe;" but he was unprincipled, 
 profligate, and heartless, and treated his wife, 
 Caroline of Brunswick, with the most shameful 
 cruelty and neglect. George was very fastidi- 
 ous, and the slovenly habits and indiscreet ac- 
 tions of his wife were exceedingly distasteful to 
 him, but they were no excuse for his shame- 
 fully profligate life. From the first hours of 
 their marriage, which took place long before 
 George became king, he ill-treated his wife, and 
 in a short time they separated, Queen Caroline 
 going abroad to live. When he succeeded to 
 the throne on the death of his father, Caroline 
 returned to England to claim the honors due a 
 queen, but the king threw every possible ob- 
 stacle in her way, and took steps to obtain a 
 divorce. Queen Caroline was ably defended 
 by Lord Brougham, and the divorce was not 
 granted, to the great joy of the people, who 
 believed the queen innocent of the accusations 
 made against her. 
 
 When George IV. was crowned the following 
 year, he would neither consent to Caroline's 
 demand to be crowned queen-consort nor per- 
 mit her to witness his coronation. This broke 
 her heart, and in a few weeks after the ceremony 
 she died. 
 
 The most important political event of this 
 reign was the passage of the Emancipation Bill 
 in 1829, by which the Catholics were placed on 
 the same political footing as the Protestant sub- 
 jects of the crown. The success of this bill 
 was chiefly due to the efforts of the eloquent 
 Irish orator Daniel O'Connell. 
 
 During this reign Captains Parry and Ross 
 explored the Arctic seas in a vain search for a 
 northwest passage to India. 
 
 George IV. died in 1830, leaving no chil- 
 dren. He was succeeded by his brother, Wil- 
 liam IV., sometimes called the " Sailor King," 
 because he had spent his younger days in the 
 navy. 
 
I2O 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 183O. Abdication of Charles X. Second 
 French Revolution. 
 
 Louis XVIII. died in 1824, and was succeeded 
 by his brother, Charles X. This king, like all 
 his Bourbon kindred, thirsted for absolute power, 
 and his government became every year more 
 unpopular. At last he altered the law of elec- 
 tions and suspended the liberty of the press. 
 This was more than the people could endure, 
 and they rose in insurrection (1830). The streets 
 of Paris were barricaded, the soldiers sent by 
 the king to overawe the mob were dispersed 
 or induced to join the insurgents, and in three 
 days the city was completely in the hands of 
 the people. The insurrection now became a 
 revolution. A meeting was held for the pur- 
 pose of organizing a new government. Some 
 clamored for a republic, but a constitutional 
 monarchy was finally agreed upon. General 
 La Fayette, who took a prominent part in these 
 proceedings, was appointed commander of the 
 National Guards. 
 
 Awaking at last to a sense of his danger, 
 Charles attempted to make concessions, but a 
 cry was heard, " It is too late !" and he was 
 compelled to abdicate and hide his disappoint- 
 ment in foreign lands. A few days later Louis 
 Philippe, Duke of Orleans, having sworn to 
 maintain the constitutional charter, was elected 
 king of the French. 
 
 1831. Dom Pedro II. 
 
 When Napoleon attempted to add Portugal 
 to his list of conquests in 1807, the reigning 
 king, John VI., sought refuge in the Portuguese 
 colony of Brazil. After the fall of Napoleon, 
 Brazil was raised to the rank of a kingdom 
 (1815), and a few years later John returned to 
 Portugal, leaving his son Dom Pedro to act 
 as regent of Brazil. John had scarcely gone 
 when a revolution broke out. Brazil was de- 
 clared an independent empire and Dom Pedro 
 
 was crowned emperor. Yielding too much to 
 Portuguese influence, Dom Pedro became very 
 unpopular with the Brazilians, and in 1831 he 
 abdicated in favor of his son, Dom Pedro II., 
 then a child of five years. A regency admin- 
 istered the government until 1840, when Dom 
 Pedro II., although but fourteen years old, began 
 his career as emperor. Dom Pedro II. was an 
 intelligent and enterprising monarch. Under 
 his progressive rule railways were built and 
 various other internal improvements were carried 
 on. In 1871 he made a tour of the United States 
 and European countries to observe their various 
 governments, institutions, and industries. Al- 
 though the proudest blood of European sov- 
 ereigns courses through his veins his father 
 was a Braganza, his mother a Hapsburg he 
 was always liberal and a friend of the people. 
 He continually encouraged the growth of re- 
 publican ideas. Under his wise government 
 Brazil made rapid strides towards the advanced 
 civilization of North America.* 
 
 1832. Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, poet and novelist, was born 
 in Edinburgh in 1771. He was educated at 
 the university of that city, but gained no dis- 
 tinction as a student while at college. He was, 
 however, an indefatigable reader of romances, 
 old plays, poetry, travels, and whatever miscel- 
 laneous literature came within his reach. After 
 leaving college he studied law and entered the 
 Scottish bar. He had long entertained a desire 
 to be a poet and a writer of romances, and he 
 now found opportunity for his favorite literary 
 recreations. In 1805 he published " The Lay 
 
 * In November, 1889, a revolution took place in Brazil, the 
 emperor, Dom Pedro II., was deposed, and a republican form 
 of government was instituted with Senor da Fonseca as presi- 
 dent. This revolution was remarkable in that it was accom- 
 plished with the greatest despatch and almost without violence. 
 
 Brazil was the last independent monarchy on the American 
 continent. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 121 
 
 of the Last Minstrel," a romantic poem of 
 border chivalry, which was received with en- 
 thusiasm, and Scott was enrolled among the 
 foremost poets of the day. He now devoted 
 himself exclusively to literature, writing a num- 
 ber of poems, among which " Marmion" and 
 " The Lady of the Lake" are the most popular. 
 
 About this time Byron's great fame as a poet 
 warned Scott to seek literary success in other 
 paths. He resolved by way of experiment to 
 complete a novel he had begun some years 
 before, but had put aside in consequence of the 
 unfavorable criticism of a literary friend. In 
 three weeks the book was finished, and in July, 
 1814, it appeared anonymously under the title 
 of " Waverley." The experiment succeeded be- 
 yond the author's expectations, and, encouraged 
 by the success of this novel, Scott wrote in 
 similar style " Guy Mannering," " The Anti- 
 quary," " Rob Roy," " The Bride of Lammer- 
 moor," and a number of other novels, which 
 were received with great delight by the liter- 
 ary public. It gradually became known that 
 Scott was the author of all these works, and his 
 home at Abbotsford, which he had purchased 
 in 1811, became the resort of visitors of every 
 rank. He received all with the unstudied sim- 
 plicity of manner which made him the most 
 delightful of companions. His mornings until 
 eleven o'clock were devoted to composition, and 
 the rest of the day to the improvement of his 
 grounds or the entertainment of his guests and 
 family. Although lame from his infancy, Scott 
 was an indefatigable walker and rider. His 
 winters were passed in Edinburgh. 
 
 In 1820 the title of baronet was conferred 
 upon him by George IV. In 1826 the failure 
 of two publishing houses which printed Scott's 
 works and in one of which he was a partner 
 involved him in debt to the amount of seven 
 hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He was 
 compelled to give up his house in Edinburgh, and 
 most of his available means were devoted to the 
 liquidation of this immense debt. For several 
 16 
 
 years he worked diligently with his pen to re- 
 imburse his fortunes, until both brain and body 
 gave out and symptoms of paralysis began to 
 appear. Hoping to be restored to health he 
 went to Italy, but his strength continued to fail, 
 and after a few months he requested to be taken 
 to his native country, that he might die in sight 
 and sound of the Tweed. He reached Abbots- 
 ford in a state of insensibility, and after reviving 
 a few moments in the presence of familiar scenes 
 and faces, he relapsed again into unconscious- 
 ness, and so passed away (1832). He was 
 buried in Dryburgh Abbey, which had belonged 
 to one of his ancestors. 
 
 By dint of his extraordinary exertions Scott 
 had paid, up to the time of his death, upward 
 of five hundred thousand dollars of his debts. 
 The liberal advances of his publisher satisfied 
 all the remaining claims of his creditors. 
 
 Scott's popularity as a novelist is still undi- 
 minished. The historical tendency which he 
 gave to imaginative literature has led to impor- 
 tant results in other fields of literary labor. 
 
 1832. Goethe. 
 
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the most illus- 
 trious German writer of the nineteenth century, 
 was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1749. His 
 early studies were conducted at home under his 
 father's superintendence. Goethe was a pre- 
 cocious child. Before he was ten years old 
 he wrote several languages, including French, 
 Latin, and Greek, invented stories, and was mod- 
 erately familiar with works of art. At sixteen 
 he went to Leipsic to commence his collegiate 
 course. Here he mastered with an easy grace 
 law, medicine, logic, philosophy, and all the 
 manifold sciences and arts of a German uni- 
 versity. After an interval of sickness at home, 
 during which he commenced the study of chem- 
 istry, the effect of which is seen in " Faust," he 
 went to the University of Strasburg to complete 
 his law studies at the wish of his father. In 
 
122 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 one year Goethe earned his degree of Doctor 
 of Laws and left the university, but it was evi- 
 dent that law was not to be Goethe's vocation. 
 
 In 1774 he published " The Sorrows of Young 
 Werther." The most distinguished literary men 
 praised it as a profoundly philosophical romance, 
 while the masses were carried away by its elo- 
 quence and pathos. The fame acquired by 
 " Werther" brought Goethe under the notice 
 of Charles Augustus, the Grand Duke of Saxe- 
 Weimar, and in 1775 Goethe was invited to 
 spend a few weeks at his court. A strong 
 friendship sprang up between the prince and 
 the poet, and Goethe thereafter made Weimar 
 his home. In the circle of literary notables at 
 the duke's court Goethe at once became the 
 presiding deity. 
 
 In 1786 Goethe went to Italy, where he spent 
 two years in the study of its antiquities and 
 arts. On his return he published " Egmont," a 
 romantic drama, founded upon the revolution 
 in the Netherlands in the sixteenth century. 
 
 Goethe first became acquainted with Schiller 
 in 1794. Schiller's influence upon Goethe was 
 both stimulating and ennobling, and from this 
 time forth Goethe produced his grandest works. 
 " Faust," the great work of his life, was pub- 
 lished in 1805. This most profound, touching, 
 and wonderful drama raised Goethe to the high- 
 est pinnacle of fame, and he was universally ac- 
 knowledged to be the first poet of his age. In 
 1831 a second part to " Faust" appeared, but it 
 was vastly inferior to the first. 
 
 Goethe died in 1832, at the advanced age of 
 eighty-two. His works embrace almost eveiy 
 department of literature. They have exercised 
 an immense influence not only in Germany but 
 over the entire civilized world. 
 
 1837. Death of William IV. Accession of 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 William IV. succeeded his brother, George 
 IV., upon the throne of Great Britain in 1830. 
 
 The greatest event of his reign was the passage 
 of the Reform Bill in 1832. The object of this 
 bill was to extend the right of suffrage and make 
 a new and fairer distribution of representatives 
 in the House of Commons. Previous to this 
 time wretched little villages, called " rotten bor- 
 oughs," with scarcely any inhabitants, had been 
 allowed to send members to Parliament, while 
 such places as Birmingham and Manchester, 
 which had risen within a century to the rank of 
 first-class cities, had no representation. The 
 Reform Bill was fiercely opposed, especially in 
 the House of Lords, but the people were bent 
 on having their rights, and at last the bill became 
 a law. 
 
 The other great event of this reign was the 
 emancipation of the slaves throughout the British 
 colonies. As far back as 1787 William Wilber- 
 force began to agitate the subject of abolishing 
 negro slavery, but the victory was not to be 
 easily won. Year after year it was debated in 
 Parliament, meeting great opposition from slave- 
 owners and merchants, and after twenty years' 
 fighting Parliament decreed that the British 
 trade in slaves should cease. But this was only 
 half the victory. The friends of freedom strug- 
 gled on, and at .last in 1833, the very year in 
 which Wilberforce died, Parliament passed an 
 act abolishing slavery throughout all the British 
 colonies. Eight hundred thousand human be- 
 ings were thus set free. The planters received 
 one hundred million dollars as compensation 
 for the loss of their slaves. 
 
 William IV. died in 1837. He was neither 
 brilliant nor wise, but he was endowed with re- 
 markable common sense. His cordial manners 
 and warm heart and the beneficent laws made 
 during his reign have endeared his memory to 
 the English people. 
 
 William's children had died in infancy, and 
 he was succeeded by his niece, daughter of the 
 Duke of Kent, Alexandrina Victoria, who still 
 lives, beloved by her subjects and honored by 
 all the world. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 123 
 
 1844. Morse and the Telegraph. 
 
 Samuel Finley B. Morse, the inventor of the 
 magnetic telegraph, was born in Charlestown, 
 Massachusetts, in 1791. His father was a dis- 
 tinguished clergyman of the Congregational 
 Church. Finley Morse was educated at Yale 
 College. The study of natural philosophy and 
 chemistry was especially interesting to him, and 
 the lectures of Professors Silliman and Day un- 
 doubtedly sowed in Morse's mind the seed that 
 eventually ripened into the invention of the tele- 
 graph. Morse had a natural fondness for draw- 
 ing. While at college, although he had never 
 had any instruction in the art, he sketched the 
 likenesses of his college chums so correctly as 
 to create astonishment among his friends. His 
 father had given him a liberal education, intend- 
 ing him to choose one of the learned professions, 
 but fondness for art had become an absorbing 
 passion, and when Finley Morse graduated his 
 sole ambition was to become a painter. His 
 father, a man of broad and generous views, 
 yielded to Finley's desire, and we next find the 
 youth studying art under Washington Allston. 
 
 With Allston, Morse soon went abroad. This 
 was in 1811, just before the outbreak of the 
 war between England and the United States. 
 There was, of course, a great deal of excitement 
 in England, and not a little ill-feeling towards 
 Americans. Morse writes in his journal, " At 
 Liverpool, after landing, I went to the mayor to 
 get leave to go to London. He gave me ten 
 days to get there, and told me if he found me 
 in Liverpool after that time he should put me 
 in prison." Morse could not but smile at the 
 unwarrantable severity of the threat, and he 
 adds that the mayor's name was Drinkwater, 
 but, judging from the looks of his face, he 
 (Morse) thought it might be Drink-brandy. 
 
 Morse spent two years in London studying 
 under the famous Benjamin West. He made 
 rapid progress. In 1813 he exhibited at the 
 Royal Academy a painting called the " Dying 
 
 Hercules," which was considered one of the 
 best twelve in a collection of nearly two thou- 
 sand pictures. He remained in London pur- 
 suing his art studies until 1816. On returning 
 home and not receiving orders for work im- 
 mediately, he turned his mind into almost for- 
 gotten channels. With the assistance of his 
 brother Sidney he invented a forcing-pump for 
 stationary engines. His old fondness for science 
 reawakened, Morse now produced various me- 
 chanical appliances, among them a fire-engine. 
 In the mean while the practice of his art gained 
 him a modest living. In 1818 he was married 
 to Miss Walker, of Concord. From that time 
 until 1825 he devoted himself to his artistic 
 profession. In the latter year his wife died 
 suddenly. This was the great affliction of his 
 early life. He had previously established him- 
 self in New York City, and there after the 
 death of his wife he continued to follow his art. 
 In 1826 he founded the Academy of Design. 
 The following year we find him attending a 
 course of lectures upon electro-magnetism at 
 the Athenaeum by Professor Dana. His inter- 
 est in science like Banquo's ghost would not 
 down, and he listened to the lectures and fol- 
 lowed the experiments with the closest atten- 
 tion. Professor Dana knew all of the science 
 of electro-magnetism that was then known to 
 the world. His thoughts sank deeply into the 
 inventive mind of Morse, and all unconsciously 
 to himself formed the second step towards the 
 great invention. 
 
 In 1829 Mr. Morse went abroad to study art 
 in Italy. Three years he studied and painted, 
 and then he turned his face once more towards 
 his native land, intending to continue his chosen 
 profession. But on the memorable voyage home- 
 ward in 1832 "a vision broke upon him which 
 produced a revolution in his life and on the 
 commerce and intercourse of mankind." On 
 ship-board the conversation of the passengers 
 turned naturally into the line of recent discov- 
 eries in electro-magnetism. At the dinner-table 
 
124 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 one day some one asked the question, " Is the 
 velocity of electricity retarded by the length of 
 the wire ?" Another replied that " in all experi- 
 ments made no difference in time had been ob- 
 served between the touch at one extremity and 
 the spark at the other." Mr. Morse, who had 
 been an attentive listener, now remarked, " If 
 the presence of electricity can be made visible 
 in any part of the circuit, I see no reason why 
 intelligence may not be transmitted instantane- 
 ously by electricity." The words had scarcely 
 fallen from his lips when the thought they con- 
 veyed seemed to fill his mind with a sudden 
 light. The conversation went on, but Morse 
 sat and pondered on his own words. Gradually 
 their meaning became plainer to his mental 
 vision, and gradually the new idea took com- 
 plete possession of his mind. Signals had trans- 
 mitted intelligence at a distance. But this was 
 not his conception. He would not only trans- 
 mit intelligence but he would record it at a 
 distance. That would be a telegraph, tele, 
 " far off;" grapho, " I write." After several 
 sleepless nights passed in elaborating in his 
 mind his wonderful discovery and in making 
 drawings of the instrument he would use in the 
 transmission of intelligence, Morse presented 
 these drawings at the breakfast-table and ex- 
 plained the process by which he proposed to 
 accomplish it. So perfectly had he grasped 
 the idea and worked out the details that there 
 was scarcely any alteration required in his tele- 
 graph instrument when it came to a practical 
 test. 
 
 When he reached New York he was met by 
 his brothers, to whom he immediately imparted 
 the news of his invention. And now began a 
 struggle that lasted twelve long years. Art as a 
 profession he could not follow with the idea of 
 the telegraph the one absorbing thought of his 
 being. But he was poor, his motherless chil- 
 dren weighed upon his heart, and listening to 
 the call of duty he maintained himself and little 
 ones several years by his brush. At length his 
 
 brothers erected a new building for the news- 
 paper of which they were the editors. In this 
 building they gave Morse a room for a work- 
 shop. There he worked and lived until he had 
 fashioned the first rude telegraph instrument. In 
 1835 Mr. Morse was appointed Professor of the 
 Literature of the Arts of Design in the City 
 University. Although most of his time was 
 given to his art pupils, his leisure moments were 
 spent upon his telegraph apparatus, improving 
 it and experimenting with it. Among the stu- 
 dents at the university who witnessed the ex- 
 periments with the telegraph was a Mr. Alfred 
 Vail, who immediately took a great interest in 
 the invention. Mr. Vail's father, proprietor of 
 large iron and brass works, also became in- 
 terested, and offered to furnish the necessary 
 means to bring the telegraph creditably before 
 the public. A number of successful experi- 
 ments followed in New York, and then Pro- 
 fessor Morse took his invention to Washington. 
 Congress was asked for an appropriation of 
 thirty thousand dollars to build an experimental 
 line. While waiting for action on the part of 
 Congress, Professor Morse went to England to 
 secure a patent on his invention. Failing in 
 this because of Wheatstone's invention, he went 
 to France, where he was promptly given a 
 patent. Returning to America, Professor Morse 
 found to his chagrin that Congress had not 
 granted the desired appropriation. Morse was 
 in despair. He was about to carry his perfected 
 apparatus once more to Washington when Con- 
 gress adjourned, and another year of suspense 
 began. The Commissioner of Patents, Hon. H. 
 L. Ellsworth, had meanwhile become one of the 
 most earnest supporters of the new invention, 
 and when Professor Morse came to Washington 
 in 1843 to entreat Congress to pass the appro- 
 priation bill, he received much encouragement 
 from Mr. Ellsworth in this dark and trying 
 time. The session wore along when, on the 
 23d of February, the Telegraph Bill was reached 
 and passed by the House. Then it went to the 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 Senate. But there was a great amount of busi- 
 ness before the Senate, and the last day of the 
 session came and the bill was not yet touched. 
 Professor Morse sat in the gallery of the Senate 
 chamber with a heart filled with intense anxiety. 
 Evening came. His friends assured him that 
 his bill could not possibly be reached, and he 
 retired to his hotel well-nigh crushed. Early 
 the next morning a caller was announced. It 
 was Miss Ellsworth, the daughter of the Com- 
 missioner. 
 
 " I have come to congratulate you," she said. 
 
 " For what ?" said Mr. Morse. 
 
 " On the passage of your bill," replied Miss 
 Ellsworth. 
 
 In the expiring moments of the session the 
 bill had been reached and passed without oppo- 
 sition. Mr. Morse was too overcome with joy 
 to speak for a few moments. Then he said, 
 
 " Miss Ellsworth, you shall send the first 
 message over the line." 
 
 The appropriation having been granted, Pro- 
 fessor Morse set to work with delight to con- 
 struct a line from Washington to Baltimore. 
 It was completed in May, 1844, and on the 24th 
 the first message was sent over the line to Bal- 
 timore by Miss Ellsworth, "What hath God 
 wrought !" 
 
 The electric telegraph was an accomplished 
 fact. 
 
 1848. War between Mexico and the United 
 
 States. 
 
 The annexation of Texas, formerly a province 
 of Mexico, to the United States gave rise to 
 boundary disputes between Mexico and the 
 United States, and in 1845 war was declared 
 between the two countries. The Neuces River 
 was claimed by Mexico as the boundary-line 
 between that country and Texas, while Texas 
 claimed the region extending all the way to the 
 Rio Grande. As a precautionary measure Gen- 
 eral Zachary Taylor was sent by the United 
 States government to Texas before hostilities 
 
 actually broke out. In the spring of 1846 he 
 moved his army to the Rio Grande and built 
 a fort opposite Matamoras. The Mexicans or- 
 dered him to retire. Taylor promptly refused, 
 and the war began. Ten important battles were 
 fought during this war, in every one of which 
 the Americans were victorious. 
 
 After the brilliant victory of Buena Vista in 
 1847 General Taylor returned to the United 
 States, and General Winfield Scott went to 
 Mexico to superintend the campaign. Scott 
 bombarded and took Vera Cruz, the key to the 
 country, and then advanced upon the Mexican 
 capital. Santa Anna, the Mexican commander, 
 threw a large body of troops into the moun- 
 tain-passes of Cerro Gordo to dispute Scott's 
 progress, declaring, with great bravado, " I will 
 die fighting rather than the Americans shall 
 proudly tread the imperial city of the Aztecs." 
 His position seemed impregnable, but the Ameri- 
 cans, cutting a new path through the forest at 
 the base of the mountain, drew up their cannon 
 with ropes and placed them on the heights over- 
 looking the enemy's works. The Mexicans were 
 thus forced to abandon their position, and the 
 boastful Santa Anna fled so precipitately that 
 he left behind him his private papers and his 
 wooden leg ! Scott continued his march, and 
 his victorious army swept down into the fertile 
 valley of Mexico. One by one the forts guard- 
 ing the approaches to the city were taken, and 
 on the I4th of September, 1847, the Americans 
 made a triumphal entry into the city of Mexico. 
 The capture of Mexico brought the war to a 
 close. Peace was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo 
 in February, 1 848. The Rio Grande was deter- 
 mined upon as the boundary between Mexico 
 and the United States, and New Mexico and 
 California were ceded to the United States for 
 fifteen million dollars. 
 
 Many of the officers who figured prominently 
 in the Civil War of 1861 Grant, McClellan, 
 Sherman, Beauregard, Lee, and others received 
 their first military experience in this war. 
 
126 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 1848. Abdication of Louis Philippe. Third 
 French Revolution. 
 
 Louis Philippe, who ascended to the French 
 throne in 1830, at the outbreak of the second 
 French revolution, soon became very unpopu- 
 lar. Not profiting by the experience of his pre- 
 decessor, he persistently set himself in opposi- 
 tion to the reforms demanded by the nation. 
 Several attempts were made to assassinate him. 
 After the death of his son, who possessed the 
 confidence of the people, murmurs grew loud 
 and deep against the corruptions of the gov- 
 ernment. The crisis came in 1848. A reform 
 banquet was announced to take place on the 
 22d of February, the birthday of the great 
 American patriot. The French ministry taking 
 alarm prohibited the banquet. The next day 
 crowds gathered in the streets of Paris, the 
 troops were overpowered, and with the shout 
 " A republic !" the throng swept to the Tuileries 
 and made a bonfire of the throne and royal car- 
 riages. Louis Philippe hurriedly abdicated and 
 sought safety in England. 
 
 A provisional government was instituted, but, 
 not meeting the expectations of the lower orders, 
 the streets were once more filled with swarms of 
 Communists, and cries of " Down with the gov- 
 ernment !" were heard on all sides. Efforts were 
 now made by the Red Republicans to renew the 
 horrors of the great revolution, but General 
 Cavaignac and his troops, after a desperate con- 
 flict of five days with the mob, restored order 
 and law. A republic was then formed, and 
 Louis Napoleon, nephew of the great Napoleon, 
 and member of the National Assembly, was 
 elected president. 
 
 1851. Tennyson, the Poet-laureate of Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Alfred Tennyson was born in Lincolnshire, 
 England, in 1809. His father, Dr. George Ten- 
 nyson, was a clergyman. Alfred was educated 
 
 at Cambridge, where, in 1829, he received a 
 medal for a prize poem in blank verse entitled 
 " Timbuctoo." He was still an undergraduate 
 at college when he published in 1830 a volume 
 called " Poems, chiefly Lyrical." It made little 
 impression upon the public. His second vol- 
 ume, in 1833, containing besides several poems 
 from the first a number of new ones, " The May 
 Queen," " The Palace of Art," " A Dream of 
 Fair Women," " The Lotos Eaters," and others, 
 extended the yet small circle of his admirers. 
 
 In the main, his second collection was severely 
 noticed by the critics, and for nine years he 
 remained silent. He then published some of 
 the most admirable illustrations of his power, 
 among them " Morte d'Arthur," " Locksley 
 Hall," " Dora," and "Ulysses." In 1850 ap- 
 peared the poems of " In Memoriam," designed 
 to express the feelings caused by the death of 
 his most intimate friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. 
 The volume contains one hundred and twenty- 
 nine short poems replete with wisdom and 
 beauty. 
 
 In 1851 Tennyson was appointed poet-laureate 
 after the death of Wordsworth, his gifted pre- 
 decessor. The custom of crowning with laurel 
 the poets successful in a musical contest origi- 
 nated with the Greeks, and from them the prac- 
 tice was adopted by the Romans. It was re- 
 vived in the twelfth century by the emperors of 
 Germany, by whom the title of poet-laureate 
 i.e., a poet officially crowned with laurel was 
 invented. 
 
 The early history of the laureateship in Eng- 
 land is traditional. The common story is that 
 Edward III. in 1367 granted the office to Geof- 
 frey Chaucer, with a yearly pension of one hun- 
 dred marks and a tierce of Malvoisie wine. The 
 laureateship was not regularly established until 
 the reign of James I. At first the poet-laureate 
 was expected to write a poem on all public events 
 connnected with the court, such as a birth or a 
 marriage in the royal family. Since Southey's 
 time, however, they have written at their own 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 127 
 
 discretion. Wordsworth wrote nothing in re- 
 turn for the distinction, and Tennyson has writ- 
 ten but little. 
 
 1855. Siege of Sebastopol. (Crimean War.) 
 
 The hereditary ambition of Russia is the ab- 
 sorption of Turkey, and with it the possession 
 of Constantinople and the Bosphorus. In this 
 way alone can Russia hope to become a great 
 maritime power. " I must have the key that 
 unlocks the door of my house," said the czar, 
 Alexander I., to Napoleon at Tilsit when they 
 coolly made their secret agreement to divide 
 Europe and the world between them. But this 
 one point Napoleon would not yield. " Con- 
 stantinople !" said he. " Never ! It is the em- 
 pire of the world !" 
 
 After the death of Alexander, Nicholas I., 
 cherishing the favorite scheme of his prede- 
 cessor, demanded of the sultan to be named 
 Protector of the Greek Christians throughout 
 Turkey. England, ever watchful of her great 
 rival, Russia, advised the Turks not to entertain 
 the czar's arrogant proposal. Nicholas then 
 seized the Turkish provinces of Moldavia and 
 Wallachia. This forced the Turks to declare 
 war against Russia, and in 1853 the so-called 
 Crimean War began. 
 
 To prevent the dismemberment of Turkey and 
 to preserve the balance of power in Europe Eng- 
 land and France soon joined Turkey in the war, 
 and sent their fleets to the Black Sea. After 
 many councils of war, the allies decided to in- 
 vade the Crimean peninsula and attack the great 
 Russian fortress of Sebastapol. 
 
 In September, 1854, the English, French, and 
 Turkish armies landed near Eupatoria, four or 
 five days' march from Sebastopol. A Russian 
 army met them at the Alma River and a terrific 
 battle was fought, but the Russians were at 
 length dispersed and the allies pushed south- 
 ward and invested Sebastopol. The siege began 
 on the i yth of October. Eight days after, thirty 
 
 thousand Russians sallied forth from Sebastopol 
 to attack the enemy at the port of Balaklava, 
 where were the British ships and stores. The 
 Russians, coming on with the early dawn, at- 
 tacked and carried the redoubts of the Turks, 
 but the British cavalry came up, and after a bril- 
 liant encounter the Russians were driven back. 
 Seven guns taken in the redoubts still remained 
 in their possession. Lord Raglan, the British 
 commander-in-chief, sent an order to prevent the 
 Russians from carrying off these guns if possible. 
 The message was wrongly interpreted as an order 
 to charge, and the Light Brigade of six hundred 
 men dashed forward in the face of the whole 
 Russian army. In the twenty minutes occupied 
 by the charge and the return four hundred of 
 that daring band were killed or wounded. " The 
 Charge of the Light Brigade" will ever be re- 
 membered as an example of undaunted heroism, 
 and a proof that at the call of duty a British 
 soldier never pauses to count the odds against 
 him. 
 
 On the 5th of November the Russians made 
 another attack upon the allies on the plateau of 
 Inkermann. But again they were driven back, 
 leaving behind them one of the bloodiest fields 
 ever beheld by a soldier. After this the fighting 
 before Sebastopol consisted only of sorties from 
 the place and attacks upon the besiegers in the 
 trenches. But perils more fatal than Russian 
 shot and shell began to deal havoc among the 
 allies. Bad food, want of clothing, shelter, and 
 medical care terribly thinned the ranks. A se- 
 vere winter set in. Tents were torn from their 
 pegs by a hurricane of wind and blown into the 
 air. Horses and mules died of cold and starva- 
 tion. Cholera raged among the men. The 
 hospitals were wretchedly organized or disor- 
 ganized and the most extraordinary instances 
 of blunder and confusion were constantly occur- 
 ring. Great consignments of boots arrived and 
 were found to be all for the left foot ! Mules for 
 the conveyance of stores were contracted for, 
 and by some unaccountable blunder were deliv- 
 
128 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ered into the hands of the Russians ! Stores of 
 medicine and strengthening food were left to 
 decay at Varna. Ships containing clothing for 
 the troops were wrecked at Balaklava by a tre- 
 mendous storm. At last Miss Florence Night- 
 ingale, an English lady, who had studied nursing 
 as a science, came out to the Crimea with a 
 corps of trained nurses, who devoted themselves 
 to the care of the sick and wounded, and from 
 the time of their arrival there was at least one 
 department of the war which was conducted 
 with system and was never again the subject of 
 complaint. 
 
 The siege of Sebastopol meanwhile dragged 
 heavily along. Indeed, for some months the 
 allies were almost wholly inactive, their own 
 sufferings occupying their attention. In the 
 spring of 1855 the Emperor Nicholas* died, 
 broken-hearted at the Russian reverses. About 
 the same time the King of Sardinia sent an 
 army to the Crimea to support the allies, and 
 the siege began to be more vigorously prose- 
 cuted. In August the Russians made a des- 
 perate effort to raise the siege by an attack 
 upon the French and Sardinians, but they were 
 again defeated, and the besiegers drew their 
 lines nearer and nearer to the city. At length, 
 on the 5th of September, the allies stormed the 
 Malakoff and the Redan, the chief of the Rus- 
 sian batteries. The Malakoff was taken, and 
 the French flag was soon floating from the 
 parapets. The English had retired from the 
 attack upon the Redan, determined to renew it 
 the next morning. But during the night Gort- 
 schakoff, the Russian commander, knowing 
 that it would be impossible to hold out much 
 longer, exploded the magazines, set fire to the 
 city, and withdrew his troops. The allies took 
 
 * Nicholas was succeeded by his son, Alexander II. The 
 emancipation of the serfs in 1861 was one of the most impor- 
 tant events of Alexander's reign. In 1881 Alexander was 
 assassinated by the Nihilists (a dangerous class of Russians, 
 who believe in no form of government), and his son, Alex- 
 ander III., now reigns in his stead. 
 
 possession and completed the dismantling of the 
 great fortress of Southern Russia, which to this 
 day is but a heap of ruins. 
 
 The fall of Sebastopol virtually ended the 
 war. A treaty, at this date obsolete, was con- 
 cluded at Paris in 1856, according to which no 
 ships of war were to be allowed upon the Black 
 Sea. This was a great blow to Russia, for it 
 dispelled her hopes of becoming a great mari- 
 time power. 
 
 1858. The Indian Mutiny. 
 
 The Indian mutiny, or Sepoy rebellion, broke 
 out at Meerut, near Delhi, India, on the loth of 
 May, 1857. There is no doubt that a conspiracy 
 for the destruction of the English had been 
 spreading through the north of India for some 
 time previous to the outbreak, but the immediate 
 cause was the introduction of the Enfield rifle, 
 in which greased cartridges were used. The 
 Sepoys, or native soldiers in the British army, 
 not being allowed by their religion to touch 
 animal food, believed that by biting off the ends 
 of the cartridges they would lose their caste 
 and be compelled to become Christians ! 
 
 It happened, unfortunately, that there were 
 at this time only a few hundred European sol- 
 diers in all Northern India. On the pth of 
 May, 1857, a band of Sepoys at Meerut were 
 imprisoned for refusing to use the new car- 
 tridges. The next evening all the native troops 
 rose in mutiny, murdered their English officers 
 in cold blood, and released the prisoners. The 
 mutineers then fled to Delhi, massacred all the 
 Europeans they could find, and took possession 
 of the city. With frightful rapidity the insur- 
 rection spread. At Cawnpore the English resi- 
 dents took refuge in a hastily-constructed fort, 
 but when induced to surrender on promise of 
 being protected they were all treacherously 
 murdered by Nana Sahib, and the mutilated 
 bodies of the ladies and children nearly two 
 hundred in number were thrown in a quivering 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 129 
 
 heap into a well. At Lucknow, the little Eng- 
 lish garrison held out against the ferocious 
 swarms of the enemy for three months, when 
 General Havelock, who had arrived with a little 
 English army from Persia just too late to save 
 the residents of Cawnpore, came to their relief. 
 With this accession of force the besieged held 
 their ground until November, when Sir Colin 
 Campbell with five thousand Highlanders fought 
 his way inch by inch and rescued the place. 
 Meantime, Delhi had been retaken by the Brit- 
 ish under Sir John Lawrence, and the old Mo- 
 hammedan king, the last of the Grand Moguls, 
 was taken prisoner. 
 
 The remorseless and fiendish cruelty of the 
 mutineers beggars description, and the details 
 of the massacres that took place all over the 
 country are sickening in the extreme. Early in 
 1858 a large force of European troops reached 
 India, and, led by Sir Colin Campbell, they fol- 
 lowed the enemy night and day, and inflicted 
 terrible retribution upon the murderers of their 
 countrymen. By the close of the year 1858 the 
 mutiny was practically subdued. The insurrec- 
 tion still continued in the province of Oude, but 
 soon after the beginning of the year 1859 Oude 
 was completely reduced and peace was pro- 
 claimed. The immediate result of the mutiny 
 was that the government of India was trans- 
 ferred from the East India Company to the 
 British crown. 
 
 1861. Commencement of the Civil War in 
 the United States. 
 
 One of the main causes of the Civil War was 
 African slavery, which had grown to be one of 
 the chief institutions of the Southern States. 
 In the early days of the republic slavery had 
 existed in some of the Northern States, but it 
 had never taken root there as at the South. In 
 1807 Congress passed an act making the impor- 
 tation of slaves into the United States from 
 foreign countries illegal from that time; but 
 17 
 
 although public sentiment in the North was 
 gradually forming in opposition to slavery, the 
 public agitation of the subject did not begin 
 until President Monroe's administration, when 
 Missouri was admitted to the Union. Great 
 efforts were made at various times to com- 
 promise between the pro-slavery and the anti- 
 slavery factions, but the breach only widened, 
 and in the Presidential canvass of 1 860 the crisis 
 came. 
 
 The Republican party, whose distinctive prin- 
 ciple was opposition to the extension of slavery, 
 selected Abraham Lincoln as their candidate 
 for President. The Southern leaders declared 
 that the election of a " sectional President," 
 such as they considered Lincoln to be, would be 
 a just cause for the dissolution of the Union. 
 Southern statesmen had always held the doc- 
 trine of States rights, i.e., that the Union was 
 only a voluntary association, which could be 
 dissolved at pleasure. When, therefore, after 
 an exciting canvass, the election of Mr. Lincoln 
 was announced, a convention met in December, 
 1860, at Charleston, South Carolina, and passed 
 an ordinance of secession. The example of 
 South Carolina was rapidly followed by other 
 Southern States, and by the middle of the year 
 1861 Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
 Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and 
 Tennessee had all seceded from the Union. In 
 February, 1861, delegates from the six States 
 then in secession met at Montgomery, Alabama, 
 and organized a new government under the 
 name of the Confederate States of America. 
 Jefferson Davis was chosen President and Alex- 
 ander Stephens Vice-President. The Confeder- 
 ate authorities immediately seized all the forts, 
 arsenals, and other United States property with- 
 in the seceded States excepting Forts Pickens 
 and Sumter, which were still held by United 
 States troops. 
 
 In his inaugural address Mr. Lincoln said 
 that " he had no purpose to interfere with slavery 
 where it existed, for in his opinion he had no 
 
130 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 right to do so." But he denied the right of 
 secession, and said that " he was determined to 
 enforce the laws and repossess the posts that 
 had been seized by the insurgents." 
 
 Meanwhile, General Beau regard was ordered 
 by the Confederate authorities to secure posses- 
 sion of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. On 
 the 1 2th of April, 1861, Beauregard opened 
 fire upon the fort, and, after a bombardment of 
 thirty-four hours, Major Anderson and his little 
 garrison of sixty-four men were compelled to 
 surrender. 
 
 The fall of Fort Sumter produced an almost 
 uncontrollable excitement throughout the coun- 
 try, and at the President's call for seventy-five 
 thousand men three hundred thousand volun- 
 teers enrolled themselves for the defence of the 
 Union. 
 
 1861. The United Kingdom of Italy. 
 
 During the Middle Ages, and indeed until a 
 very recent period in modern times, Italy con- 
 sisted of a number of small states, some of 
 which were republics, others independent petty 
 monarchies, while others were under the su- 
 preme control of the emperors of Germany and 
 Austria. 
 
 From 1805 to 1814 Napoleon I. held sway 
 over the greater part of Italy. After the down- 
 fall of Napoleon a spirit of nationality began to 
 develop in Italy. This desire of the Italian 
 patriots to unite the states of Italy led to a 
 series of revolutionary outbreaks against their 
 Austrian oppressors and the petty princes who 
 were upheld by the arms and policy of Austria. 
 
 The first war, properly so called, for Italian 
 independence began in 1848, when Charles 
 Albert, King of Sardinia, took up arms against 
 Austria. This campaign proved unsuccessful, 
 and in 1 849 Charles Albert abdicated in favor of 
 his son, Victor Emmanuel II. The honesty of 
 this young king and his fidelity to the constitu- 
 tional liberty granted by his father to his little 
 
 kingdom endeared him to the hearts of all the 
 Italian people, who came to look upon him as 
 their leader and the one who was to release 
 them from the thraldom of Austrian oppression. 
 
 The cause of Italian liberty was greatly ad- 
 vanced by Count Cavour, an Italian statesman 
 and a member of Victor Emmanuel's cabinet, 
 and by the patriotic Garibaldi, who led the army 
 of the Sardinian king. 
 
 In 1859 war was resumed between Austria 
 and Sardinia. France came to the help of the 
 little Italian state, and by the great battles of 
 Magenta and Solferino drove the Austrians 
 from Italian soil. 
 
 A Bourbon king, Francis II., reigned over 
 Naples and Sicily. In the name of Victor Em- 
 manuel II. Garibaldi invaded the dominions of 
 the tyrant Francis in 1860. Having conquered 
 Sicily, Garibaldi crossed to the main-land, com- 
 pelled Francis to flee, and entered Naples amid 
 the enthusiastic shouts of the people. 
 
 The result of these successes in Northern 
 and Southern Italy was the formation of the 
 United Kingdom of Italy under Victor Em- 
 manuel as king* (1861). Venice, which still 
 remained in the hands of Austria, and a small 
 portion of the States of the Church were sub- 
 sequently annexed to the United Kingdom of 
 Italy, of which Rome is now the capital. 
 
 1863. Siege and Surrender of Vicksburg. 
 
 The chief event of the Civil War in the 
 Southwest during the year 1863 was the sur- 
 render of Vicksburg. When the war broke 
 out the Confederates had possession of the Mis- 
 sissippi River from the Ohio to the Gulf of 
 Mexico. To recover this river, the main artery 
 of trade through the Mississippi Valley, the 
 United States government sent a large army 
 
 * Victor Emmanuel II. died in 1878 and was succeeded by 
 his son, Humbert I., the reigning king. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 to the Southwest. By the close of the year 
 1862 the Union forces had recovered all the 
 important posts on the river except Vicksburg. 
 The capture of this stronghold would open the 
 river once more to navigation. General Grant, 
 commander-in-chief in the Southwest, deter- 
 mined to have this prize. In December, 1862, 
 he had sent General Sherman down from Mem- 
 phis to make an attack, but the northern fortifi- 
 cations of the city proved so strong that Sher- 
 man gave up the attempt. When spring came 
 Grant renewed the enterprise himself. It was 
 evident that the attack must be made from the 
 south of the city, but how to get the gunboats 
 and soldiers below the eight miles of fortifica- 
 tions on the bluffs overlooking the river was 
 the problem. Weeks were spent in beating 
 about the bayous (swampy lakes) around Vicks- 
 burg in the hope of getting into the rear of the 
 city, but in vain. All plans proving futile, 
 Grant finally determined to march his army 
 down the west bank of the river and run the 
 fleet of gunboats and transports past the bat- 
 teries. He would then bring his army over to 
 the east side of the river and attack Vicksburg 
 from below. It was a bold plan, difficult and 
 dangerous, but there was one chance of suc- 
 cess, and Grant was willing to take that " one 
 chance." 
 
 The west bank of the river was a vast morass, 
 and to make it possible for the soldiers to march, 
 seventy miles of corduroy had to be built over 
 this expanse of mud and water. When it was 
 finished the army passed quietly and safely down 
 below the city. But the most difficult part of 
 the enterprise was to get the fleet past the city 
 without detection. On the night of the i6th 
 of April, under cover of thick darkness, the 
 gunboats floated gently down-stream, but just 
 as they were opposite the fortifications they 
 were discovered. Instantly a tremendous fire 
 was opened upon them, and the whole bluff was 
 ablaze with the flashes of the guns. The fleet, 
 fully prepared for this event, responded with a 
 
 furious cannonade, and succeeded in running the 
 gauntlet unharmed. Three transports attempted 
 to follow under cover of the smoke. Two passed 
 safely by, the third was struck by a shell and set 
 on fire. A few nights afterwards six more trans- 
 ports were sent down, five succeeding in the 
 attempt to run the blockade. The fleet then 
 ferried the army across to the east bank of the 
 river at Bruinsburg, and Grant hastened north- 
 ward. Having defeated General Johnston, who 
 was advancing to the assistance of Pemberton 
 at Vicksburg, Grant arrived on the I9th of May, 
 and proceeded to invest the place. Two des- 
 perate but unsuccessful assaults were made 
 upon the works and then a regular siege began. 
 Shot and shell were hurled upon the fortifica- 
 tions daily from land and water, and to escape 
 the iron storm the inhabitants of the city made 
 caves in the clay hills on which Vicksburg stands, 
 and there lived during the bombardment. 
 
 Forty-seven days the garrison held out, in the 
 hope that Johnston would come to their relief. 
 By that time provisions and ammunition were 
 almost exhausted, Johnston had not put in an 
 appearance, and Pemberton, seeing that Grant 
 was making ready for another assault, proposed 
 to surrender. On the 3d of July the two com- 
 manders met under an oak-tree between the 
 lines to arrange the terms, and the next day, 
 July 4, nearly thirty thousand men, the defenders 
 of Vicksburg, became prisoners of war. 
 
 The surrender of Port Hudson, the last Con- 
 federate post on the river, followed in a few 
 days, and the Mississippi was once more free to 
 navigation. 
 
 1863. Battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 The Confederate cause was so generally suc- 
 cessful during the first part of the year 1863 that 
 General Lee, commander-in-chief of the Con- 
 federate Army of Virginia, determined to carry 
 the war again into the North, notwithstanding 
 
I 3 2 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 his disastrous invasion of Maryland the pre- 
 ceding year. Early in June he crossed the Po- 
 tomac and advanced through Maryland into 
 Southern Pennsylvania. The Army of the Po- 
 tomac under General Meade followed closely, 
 and Lee was forced to halt and concentrate his 
 troops at Gettysburg. There the decisive battle 
 of the campaign was fought. It began on the 
 1st of July and continued for three days. The 
 first two days the Confederate forces had the 
 advantage, and Lee, in hope of winning a de- 
 cided victory, determined to continue the fight 
 another day. About one o'clock on the after- 
 noon of the 3d, having spent the forenoon in 
 preparation, Lee suddenly opened fire upon 
 Cemetery Ridge, the centre and key of the 
 Federal position. For nearly two hours the 
 air was alive with shells. The Union soldiers 
 crouched behind the rocks and fortifications to 
 await the charge they knew would follow. At 
 last the cannonade lulled, and out from the 
 woods swept a magnificent column of eighteen 
 thousand men, the flower of the Confederate in- 
 fantry. With disciplined steadiness they moved 
 up the hill. The Federal guns tore great gaps 
 in the front ranks, but the men closed up and 
 moved sternly on. When within point-blank 
 range, infantry volleys struck the line, and it 
 literally melted away. But on came the second, 
 resistless still. They reached the summit, bay- 
 oneted the gunners, and planted their flags upon 
 the breastworks. But beyond the crest of the 
 hill was a second and stronger line. Dashing 
 on to charge this force, a storm of grape and 
 canister from the guns on the western slope of 
 the hill met the Confederate line and tore its way 
 down the ranks, marking its bloody track with 
 mutilated dead. The carnage was awful. The 
 brave column gave way, the escaping fragments 
 fell back over the fields, and the battle was over. 
 Lee had staked all on this charge and had no 
 heart to resume the battle. During the night 
 of this fatal day he began his retreat, and nine 
 days later crossed the Potomac. 
 
 In the three days' fight Lee lost over thirty 
 thousand men, more than one-third of his 
 army. 
 
 The battle of Gettysburg and the surrender of 
 Vicksburg occurred simultaneously and marked 
 a turning-point in the war. From that hour the 
 fate of the Confederacy was sealed. 
 
 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation. 
 
 The Republican party in the Congress of the 
 United States considered the emancipation of 
 the slaves necessary to the suppression of the 
 rebellion. The President, kind and forbearing, 
 proposed to co-operate with any State govern- 
 ment that might adopt measures for freeing its 
 slaves, by giving pecuniary aid, but none of the 
 States would listen to any such proposal. Con- 
 gress then abolished slavery in the District _of 
 Columbia, over which it had control, and finally 
 gave the President power to declare freedom to 
 all slaves in the rebellious States. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln prepared a draft of the Eman- 
 cipation Proclamation in July, 1862, but the 
 Union forces were in the midst of reverses, and 
 he put it aside to await a victory. Finally came 
 Lee's invasion of Maryland, and Mr. Lincoln 
 determined to wait no longer. He said after- 
 wards, " I made 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 disastrous battle of Antietam sent Lee 
 back across the Potomac, and, while the people 
 of the North were elated over this success, Mr. 
 Lincoln announced, on the 22d of September, 
 that, unless the Confederate soldiers laid down 
 their arms within one hundred days, he would 
 issue a proclamation freeing all the slaves in 
 the insurgent States. The 1st of January, 1863, 
 arrived, the war was still in progress, no heed 
 had been paid to the President's announcement, 
 and the Emancipation Proclamation went forth 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 133 
 
 declaring freedom to the slaves in all States and 
 parts of States in insurrection. 
 
 Two years later Congress abolished slavery 
 in all parts of the United States. Thus an in- 
 stitution which had lasted two hundred and 
 forty-six years and had largely shaped the des- 
 tiny of the New World came to an end. 
 
 1864. Fall of Atlanta and Sherman's March 
 through Georgia. 
 
 In March, 1864, General Grant was appointed 
 commander-in-chief of the armies of the United 
 States. The strength of the Confederacy at 
 this time lay in two places, Richmond, the 
 Confederate capital, and Atlanta, the great rail- 
 road centre of the South, and the seat of her 
 machine-shops and manufactories. Extensive 
 preparations were at once set on foot for a cam- 
 paign against these two places, which if success- 
 ful would bring the war to a close. 
 
 General Sherman was appointed to conduct 
 the campaign against Atlanta. Early in May, 
 1864, he set out from Chattanooga with nearly 
 one hundred thousand men. General Johns- 
 ton, in command of the Confederate army in 
 Georgia, retarded Sherman's advance as much 
 as possible by skirmishes and skilfully-arranged 
 retreats, the mountainous character of the coun- 
 try favoring such tactics. But Johnston was 
 gradually forced on towards Atlanta. Failing 
 to appreciate his " retreating policy," the Con- 
 federate authorities now took the command 
 from Johnston and appointed General Hood in 
 his place. As Sherman moved down upon 
 Atlanta, Hood made three furious attacks upon 
 the Union forces, but was repulsed every time. 
 He then retired into Atlanta. Sherman spent 
 four weeks carefully examining the formidable 
 works around the city, but finding them too 
 strong to assault, he marched his army to the 
 rear of the place and seized the railroad. Hood 
 discovered the movement and sent out a de- 
 
 tachment to save his line of supplies, but Sher- 
 man got between this body of troops and At- 
 lanta, and thus cut the Confederate army in two. 
 When Hood learned of this disaster he blew up 
 the magazines and machine-shops and escaped 
 from Atlanta, and on the 2d of September Sher- 
 man's army entered and took possession. Hood 
 reunited his army and attempted to cut the 
 Federal communications, but not succeeding he 
 struck out for the Tennessee. Sending Gen- 
 eral Thomas to Tennessee to watch Hood's 
 movements, Sherman now made preparations to 
 march through Georgia to the sea. He de- 
 stroyed the railroads and a large part of Atlanta, 
 cut the telegraph-wires, and on the i6th of 
 November, with his army of sixty thousand men, 
 took up his line of march for the coast, nearly 
 three hundred miles away f For three weeks 
 nothing was heard at Washington of his where- 
 abouts. The army moved in two columns over 
 a track from twenty to sixty miles wide, foraging 
 upon the country and destroying the railroads 
 as they passed. Their path through the heart 
 of the Confederacy was marked by trampled 
 fields, deserted villages, and blackened ruins. 
 As they neared Savannah General Hardee, the 
 Confederate commander, despairing of a suc- 
 cessful resistance, retired from the city. On the 
 2 ist of December Sherman's army entered in 
 triumph. 
 
 In the mean time General Hood had advanced 
 to Nashville. Thefe he was met by General 
 Thomas, and his army was annihilated. There 
 remained but one great weapon to the Confed- 
 eracy, the army of Lee at Richmond. 
 
 1865. Surrender of Lee at Appomattox. 
 Close of the Civil "War. 
 
 In May, 1 864, Grant and Meade, with an army 
 of one hundred and thirty thousand men, began 
 the campaign against Lee and the Confederate 
 capital. The bloody battles of the Wilderness 
 
134 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 and Spottsylvania followed, and Grant was then 
 convinced that he could not reach Richmond 
 from the north. He accordingly determined to 
 cross the James River, seize Petersburg, twenty- 
 two miles south of Richmond, and cut the rail- 
 roads leading north from Petersburg to the Con- 
 federate capital. He sent forward a detachment 
 to secure Petersburg, but Lee, discovering the 
 movement, threw a large part of his army into 
 the defences at Petersburg, and when Grant 
 arrived the Confederates were secure behind 
 their strong intrenchments. Four desperate at- 
 tempts were made to carry the works, but with- 
 out success. The end of June came, and still 
 the Confederates were safe within their fortifi- 
 cations. 
 
 In the mean time some of Burnside's corps 
 had been digging a mine under the works. 
 On the 3<Dth of July the mine was exploded, 
 making a tremendous gap. It was the moment 
 for an overwhelming charge. But the assaulting 
 column was delayed ; the Confederates rallied 
 from their confusion, and when the charge was 
 made it proved a disastrous failure and a fearful 
 waste of life. 
 
 In September General Sheridan made a raid 
 with his cavalry up the Shenandoah Valley. 
 This brilliant campaign cost the Union forces 
 nearly seventeen thousand men, but it stopped 
 the incursions into Maryland and ended the war 
 in the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 During the winter of 1864-65 the contending 
 armies remained comparatively quiet. In the 
 latter part of February Sheridan swept down 
 the Shenandoah Valley with ten thousand men 
 and cut the railroad by which Richmond re- 
 ceived a great part of her supplies. When 
 spring came, while Sherman made his way 
 northward to join the besieging army, Grant 
 skilfully disposed his troops so as to encircle 
 Petersburg and prevent Lee and his army from 
 escaping. Lee's position was beginning to look 
 desperate. He had only forty thousand men 
 present on duty, and to meet Grant as he 
 
 stretched his line westward Lee was compelled 
 to extend his intrenchments nearly forty miles, 
 a necessity which greatly weakened the besieged 
 by spreading out their forces. Lee saw that his 
 only hope now lay in breaking through his en- 
 vironment. On the 25th of March he made an 
 attempt to break the Federal line, but was un- 
 successful, and General Meade, taking advantage 
 of Lee's defeat, fell upon the Confederate picket 
 lines and made a great many prisoners. On the 
 ist of April Sheridan shattered the right wing 
 of Lee's army at Five Forks. The next day 
 an attack was made along the entire line of 
 works in front of Petersburg. The Confederates 
 made a gallant defence, but the onset was irre- 
 sistible, and they were finally driven into their 
 inner line of intrenchments. Seeing that the 
 end was near and that Petersburg could not 
 hold out much longer, Lee telegraphed to Jef- 
 ferson Davis at Richmond that the Confederate 
 lines were broken in three places and that Rich- 
 mond must be surrendered. These fatal tidings 
 produced the wildest excitement at the capital. 
 The streets were speedily filled with panic- 
 stricken people hastening with their goods to 
 leave the doomed city. A terrible conflagration 
 which destroyed thirty blocks added to the hor- 
 rors of the scene, while a lawless mob broke 
 open the stores, strewed the sidewalks with 
 costly fabrics, and reeled through the streets 
 with their plunder. The Confederate govern- 
 ment hurriedly left the city, and Lee with the 
 wreck of his army slipped silently from the in- 
 trenchments at Petersburg by night and set out 
 to join Johnston in North Carolina. When the 
 Union pickets crept over the deserted intrench- 
 ments at daybreak, Lee was already sixteen 
 miles away. The alarm was immediately given, 
 and Grant ordered every available man and 
 horse upon the chase. Sheridan's cavalry dashed 
 ahead and got in front of the retreating army. 
 Lee turned his course and made for the moun- 
 tains. Four days and nights the race for life 
 continued. Many of Lee's men dropped their 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 guns from utter exhaustion. They dare not 
 lie down to rest, for at their heels thundered 
 the remorseless enemy. Grant threw out his 
 troops in all directions, and at last, rinding him- 
 self completely surrounded, Lee surrendered at 
 Appomattox on the pth of April, 1865. 
 
 The surrender of Johnston's army followed 
 shortly, and by the 26th of May all other Con- 
 federate troops had thrown down their arms. 
 The Civil War was over. 
 
 1865. Assassination of President Lincoln. 
 
 While the American nation was filled with 
 rejoicings at the close of the Civil War and the 
 return of peace, there came the appalling news 
 from Washington that President Lincoln had 
 been assassinated. 
 
 On the evening of the I4th of April, Mr. 
 Lincoln attended Ford's Theatre, and, while sit- 
 ting in his box intent upon the play, John Wilkes 
 Booth entered from behind and shot the Presi- 
 dent in the head. The assassin then endeavored 
 to spring upon the stage, but catching his spurred 
 heel in the flag draped in front of the box, he 
 fell and broke his leg. In an instant he man- 
 aged to regain his feet, and in the wild con- 
 fusion and uproar he escaped behind the scenes. 
 Mr. Lincoln fell forward unconscious. In that 
 condition he was carried to a house opposite the 
 theatre, where he died the following morning. 
 His death plunged the nation into the deepest 
 grief. On the 2ist of April his remains left 
 Washington, and, after lying in state in various 
 large cities, were entombed with every honor at 
 Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 Booth was afterwards tracked to a barn in 
 Virginia, where he was shot in endeavoring 
 to resist his arrest. His accomplices (for the 
 assassination of the President was a part of a 
 conspiracy to destroy the chief officers of the 
 government) were tried and punished, some with 
 death and the others with imprisonment. 
 
 1868. Abdication of Isabella II. 
 
 In 1830 Ferdinand VII. of Spain abolished 
 the Salic law,* so that his infant daughter, Isa- 
 bella, might succeed him. When Ferdinand 
 died (1833) his brother, Don Carlos, asserted 
 his claim to the throne, on the ground that Fer- 
 dinand had no right to abolish the Salic law. 
 Civil war ensued. At the head of a formidable 
 party, Carlos sustained the struggle until 1839, 
 when, meeting with reverses, he fled to France. 
 
 When Isabella became old enough to assume 
 the reins of government herself, she manifested 
 a haughty and tyrannical disposition. The 
 Spanish became greatly dissatisfied with her 
 rule, and a series of revolutionary movements 
 ensued. The disturbances culminated in a mili- 
 tary insurrection led by General Prim in 1868. 
 Queen Isabella was forced to abdicate, and a 
 provisional government was established. A 
 large party, headed by Emilio Castelar, desired 
 a republic, but the friends of monarchy pre- 
 vailed, and in 1870 the crown of Spain was 
 offered to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern. 
 This offer led to momentous results. 
 
 1869. Central Pacific Railroad. 
 
 The year 1869 is memorable in the history 
 of the United States for the completion of the 
 Central Pacific Railroad. The entire country, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was thus bound 
 by an iron band, by means of which, in connec- 
 tion with the Pacific steamships, China, Japan, 
 and India are easily and quickly reached, and 
 the valuable productions of these far-off lands 
 are brought into the great American markets. 
 
 The Central Pacific Railroad extends, properly 
 speaking, from Sacramento, California, to Ogden, 
 in Utah. The project of a Pacific railroad was 
 first advocated by Asa Whitney as early as 1846. 
 Surveys were made in 185 3, but nothing further 
 
 * This was a law excluding female members of the royal 
 family from the throne. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 was accomplished. At length five Sacramento 
 merchants became interested in the idea, and 
 determined to build the road. They organized 
 the Central Pacific Railroad Company, received 
 assistance from Congress, and began work in 
 1862. Of all the railroad enterprises in the 
 United States the Central Pacific is the most stu- 
 pendous. All the material for the road, the iron, 
 the spikes, the tools to dig, the powder to blast, 
 the locomotives, cars, machinery, everything, had 
 to be shipped from New York around Cape Horn 
 to San Francisco, and then reshipped one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles to Sacramento. Nearly 
 four years were consumed in building the road 
 over the Sierra Nevada Mountains alone. Long 
 tunnels had to be drilled, and one spring snow 
 sixty feet in depth had to be shovelled away 
 from seven miles of the line to get at the road- 
 bed. Water had to be hauled forty and wood 
 twenty miles for the construction trains on the 
 alkali plains. In spite of difficulties so great, 
 the work went forward with rapidity, the track 
 being laid at the rate of two or three miles per 
 day, though one day in April, 1869, as the road 
 neared completion, ten miles were laid. This 
 day's work is probably the greatest feat of rail- 
 road-building on record. The most remarkable 
 part of the story is that eight men did all the 
 work. They walked ten miles and handled one 
 thousand tons of rail bars apiece ! 
 
 While the Central Pacific road was being 
 built, the Union Pacific was extended westward 
 from Omaha, and on the loth of May, 1869, the 
 last tie connecting the two lines was laid at Og- 
 den with much ceremony. This tie was made 
 of polished laurel-wood bound with silver bands. 
 Three spikes were used, a gold one presented 
 by California, a silver one by Nevada, and a 
 gold, silver, and iron one by Arizona. 
 
 When the junction of the roads was complete 
 an invoice of tea was immediately shipped over 
 the road from San Francisco, and the telegraph 
 announced that the overland trade with China 
 and Japan was inaugurated. 
 
 187 O. Beginning 1 of the Franco-Prussian 
 War. 
 
 A trifling quarrel over the succession to the 
 Spanish throne led to the great Franco-Prus- 
 sian War. After the forced abdication of Queen 
 Isabella, Spain remained for two years in an 
 unsettled condition. The crown was then of- 
 fered to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern. Na- 
 poleon III. had already begun to fear the rising 
 power of Prussia, and he imagined that the bal- 
 ance of power among the Continental nations 
 would be disturbed if he had German neighbors 
 both to right and left. He therefore demanded 
 that King William of Prussia should compel 
 Leopold to refuse the offered crown. King 
 William promptly declined to interfere, on the 
 ground that he had no right to exercise such 
 authority over the prince, who was of age. 
 Leopold of his own accord soon afterwards 
 declined the proffered honor. 
 
 Not satisfied with this, the French next de- 
 manded that King William should guarantee 
 that no German prince should in future be al- 
 lowed to aspire to the Spanish throne. This 
 was going a little too far. King William in- 
 dignantly refused to listen to the French am- 
 bassador, Count Benedetti, when he pressed 
 this insolent demand, and warned him that he 
 would not be approached again upon this sub- 
 ject. The French were determined to pick a 
 quarrel, and, seizing upon the fancied insult 
 offered to Count Benedetti, and the refusal of 
 King William to compel Leopold to withdraw 
 from the candidacy to the throne of Spain, as 
 pretexts for war, declared hostilities against 
 Prussia, July 19, 1870. 
 
 187O. Battle of Sedan. Fall of Napoleon 
 III. 
 
 As soon as France declared war against 
 Prussia the armies of both nations advanced to 
 the frontier. The Prussians certainly showed 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 137 
 
 as great eagerness to begin hostilities as the 
 French. The war spirit was not confined to 
 Prussia, but throughout the German states 
 armies were organized and the most active 
 preparations for war were carried forward. 
 
 In August, 1870, a Prussian army com- 
 manded by the crown prince, Frederick Wil- 
 liam, entered French territory and defeated the 
 French troops under Marshal MacMahon at 
 Woerth. While MacMahon retreated towards 
 Nancy, another immense German army crossed 
 the frontier and -advanced with rapid strides to 
 the investment of Metz, the strongest military 
 post in Northeastern France. Marshal Bazaine, 
 one of the French commanders, in attempting 
 to form a junction with MacMahon was driven 
 into Metz by the Prussians. Having received 
 reinforcements, MacMahon, accompanied by 
 the emperor, suddenly started from Chalons in 
 the direction of Metz to assist Bazaine, but he 
 was overtaken by the Prussians under the crown 
 prince, and after a fierce battle his troops were 
 forced back into Sedan. The ist of September 
 found the French so completely surrounded as 
 to cut off all possibility of retreat. After twelve 
 hours' terrific combat, in which MacMahon was 
 wounded, the emperor, seeing the uselessness 
 of prolonging the slaughter of his army, raised 
 the white flag upon the citadel, and sent word 
 to King William, who was with the Prussian 
 armies, that the French would surrender. On 
 the 2d of September articles of capitulation were 
 agreed upon, and Napoleon III., Marshal Mac- 
 Mahon, and the French army of over one hun- 
 dred thousand men became prisoners of war. 
 
 1871. Pall of Paris. Close of Franco-Prus- 
 sian "War. 
 
 The tidings of the great calamity at Sedan 
 soon reached Paris and created intense excite- 
 ment. The empire was overthrown and a pro- 
 visional government formed by the democratic 
 
 populace of Paris, of which Jules Favre and 
 Gambetta were the leading spirits. The Ger- 
 man hosts, emboldened by their unvarying suc- 
 cesses, advanced with rapid strides towards the 
 doomed city, and by the middle of October 
 (1870) the whole country around Paris was one 
 grand camp. Gradually the lines of the belea- 
 guering hosts drew nearer. Three times at the 
 head of over one hundred thousand men General 
 Trochu, governor of Paris, endeavored to cut 
 his way through the coil of batteries and ram- 
 parts around the city. But the Germans inva- 
 riably held or regained their positions. Armies 
 were gathered in the French provinces for the 
 relief of Paris, but they were overpowered by 
 the Prussians. Day and night the siege was 
 carried on with unceasing activity. Explosive 
 bolts of iron over two hundred pounds in weight 
 were thrown from the Prussian batteries and 
 plunged down through the humblest roofs and 
 the grandest domes in the heart of the metrop- 
 olis, killing women and children, kindling con- 
 flagrations, destroying the most valuable works 
 of art, and scattering dismay and death on every 
 side. At length starvation threatened the in- 
 habitants. All the animals in the menagerie 
 were eaten. Horses, dogs, cats, and rats fur- 
 nished eagerly-coveted food for the famishing 
 people. Midwinter came. Fuel was all con- 
 sumed, and the people began to burn their 
 furniture. Oil gave out. The city was in dark- 
 ness. By the I3th of January, 1871, there was 
 no horse-meat left in the market. Cats brought 
 four dollars each, dogs one dollar and a half a 
 pound, and rats one dollar a pair ! 
 
 The storm of shot and shell grew thicker and 
 more terrible. Every hour of resistance was 
 only submitting to helpless massacre. On the 
 25th of January Jules Favre sought an interview 
 with Count Bismarck, the Prussian premier, at 
 Versailles to propose terms of surrender. Bis- 
 marck consented to an armistice of twenty- 
 one days. In February the National Assembly 
 of France met, preliminaries of peace were ar- 
 
138 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 ranged, and on the ist of March the Prussian 
 troops entered Paris. 
 
 Peace was finally concluded at Frankfort-on- 
 the-Main May 10, 1871. By the terms of this 
 treaty France was compelled to surrender to 
 Prussia* Alsace and a part of Lorraine, and to 
 pay as indemnity for the war one thousand mil- 
 lion dollars ! 
 
 It has been estimated that this unfortunate 
 war cost France ten million dollars a day.f 
 
 1871. The Mont Cenis Tunnel. 
 
 The Mont Cenis Tunnel, in the Alps between 
 France and Italy, was begun in 1857. It is 
 seven and a half miles long and it cost ten 
 million dollars. 
 
 This tunnel is made through a range of rug- 
 ged and almost inaccessible mountains, com- 
 posed of quartz, hard schist, and compact lime- 
 stone. The work of tunnelling was begun on 
 both sides of the Alps, and the triumph in engi- 
 neering was in making these two openings meet 
 in the heart of the mountain. At first the work 
 of excavation was done by hand, but this was 
 soon found to be impracticable. Boring-ma- 
 chines were then tried, and from 1863 until the 
 completion of the tunnel these machines were 
 in constant and successful operation. 
 
 On Christmas-day, 1870, the two gangs of 
 workmen, who for thirteen years had been 
 forcing their way inch by inch through the 
 solid rock, met face to face in the bosom of 
 the mountain, and the Mont Cenis Tunnel was 
 speedily completed (June, 1871). 
 
 * At the close of the war William I. of Prussia was pro- 
 claimed Emperor of Germany. He died in March, 1888, and 
 was succeeded by his son, Frederick III., who, after a brief 
 reign of three months, died, and was succeeded by his son, 
 William II., the present emperor. 
 
 f Since 1871 France has been a republic. The president is 
 now M. Sadi-Carnot, elected in December, 1887. 
 
 France has had four presidents since 1871, viz. : Thiers, 
 1871-1873; MacMahon, 1873-1879 ; Grevy, 1879-1887 ; Car- 
 not, 1887. 
 
 The opening of this tunnel greatly facilitated 
 and shortened railway travel from , France to 
 Italy. 
 
 1871. The Chicago Fire. 
 
 The nearest parallel in history to the great 
 fire of London in 1666 was the Chicago confla- 
 gration of 1 87 1 . At the time of the fire Chicago 
 contained a vast number of wooden buildings, 
 and, with the exception of a single square mile, 
 was very carelessly and badly built. 
 
 The fire broke out in a stable in the west di- 
 vision of the city about nine o'clock on Sunday 
 night, October 8. Fanned by a southwest gale 
 the flames speedily devoured the thousand or 
 more wooden shanties, houses, and planing- 
 mills between the fateful stable and the river, 
 leaped the river into the south division about 
 midnight, and advanced upon the commercial 
 quarter of the city. The fire department fought 
 bravely for a time, but finally succumbed before 
 the awful sea of flame. One by one the lofty 
 business blocks crumbled and fell. By half-past 
 three o'clock Monday morning the flames had 
 crossed the main branch of the Chicago River 
 and gained a foothold upon the north division. 
 The first building attacked was the engine-house 
 of the water-works, although it was nearly a 
 mile from the point where the burning brands 
 must have crossed the river ! When the people 
 saw that the water-works were destroyed and 
 the water-supply was cut off, they gave up their 
 city for lost. A general stampede to the sands 
 of the lake-shore and the prairies west of the 
 city began. Monday night was passed by thou- 
 sands of fugitives in these places of refuge. Still 
 the fire burned on. About two o'clock Tuesday 
 morning there came a heavy rain. The fire had 
 by this time reached the northern limit of the 
 city, and the rain alone prevented it from spread- 
 ing into the suburban towns. 
 
 The total area burned over was nearly three 
 and a third square miles. More than seventeen 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 139 
 
 thousand buildings were burned, and nearly one 
 hundred thousand human beings were rendered 
 homeless. About two hundred and fifty persons 
 perished. The loss amounted to nearly two hun- 
 dred million dollars, and yet before the lapse of 
 three years Western enterprise and Eastern capi- 
 tal had rebuilt the city in more than her former 
 splendor. 
 
 1872. The Alabama Claims. 
 
 During the Civil War in the United States 
 the Southern Confederacy contracted with Brit- 
 ish ship-builders for cruisers to be employed in 
 the Confederate service. The most famous of 
 these ships was the "Alabama." Under the 
 command of Admiral Semmes, of the Confeder- 
 ate navy, the "Alabama" left Liverpool, sailing 
 under British colors and manned by British sea- 
 men, and began her career of piracy. During 
 her cruise of two years she seized sixty-five 
 merchant vessels sailing under the United States 
 flag and destroyed cargoes worth many millions 
 of dollars. At last she was driven into the 
 harbor of Cherbourg, in France, by the United 
 States steamer " Kearsarge," long in pursuit. 
 The French government had preserved a strict 
 neutrality during the war, and the " Alabama" 
 was at once ordered to leave the harbor. When 
 the "Alabama" came out into open sea her 
 antagonist steamed up and opened fire upon 
 her. The battle lasted over an hour, and then 
 the "Alabama" sunk (1864). 
 
 The depredations of the " Alabama" led to 
 serious difficulty between. the United States and 
 Great Britain. The British government at last 
 consented to submit the dispute to arbitration, 
 and in 1872 a tribunal of five arbitrators, rep- 
 resenting Great Britain, United States, Italy, 
 Switzerland, and Brazil, met at Geneva to de- 
 cide upon the case. After carefully examining 
 the claims submitted to them by the United 
 States, the arbitrators decided that Great Britain 
 should give the United States fifteen million five 
 
 hundred thousand dollars as indemnity for the 
 losses sustained through the depredations of 
 the " Alabama" and other cruisers. The money 
 was paid the following year. 
 
 1873. David Livingstone. 
 
 David Livingstone was born near Glasgow 
 in 1815. In his boyhood and youth he worked 
 in the cotton-mills at Blantyre, near Glasgow. 
 When about nineteen years of age he conceived 
 the idea of becoming a medical missionary, and 
 after receiving a course of instruction in the- 
 ology and medicine was sent by the London 
 Missionary Society to South Africa in 1840. 
 He established a station at Kolobeng, more than 
 one thousand miles north of Cape Town. There 
 he labored among the Bechuana tribes nearly 
 nine years, with the ever-increasing desire to 
 advance farther into the interior, for he was 
 convinced that there must be a fertile and well- 
 watered territory lying beyond the Kalahari 
 Desert, close up to whose borders the Bechuana 
 country extends. The earliest Portuguese set- 
 tlers had learned from the natives that there 
 was a large inland body of water which they 
 called Lake Ngami, and that beyond this lake 
 there was a land abounding in natural wealth. 
 But no white man had ever visited this region. 
 
 While Livingstone was waiting anxiously for 
 an opportunity to push his researches into this 
 unexplored country, two English gentlemen, 
 Messrs. Murray and Oswell, to whom he had 
 communicated his desire, came out to Africa to 
 accompany him on a tour of exploration. Con- 
 ducted by native guides, the party set out from 
 Kolobeng on the ist of June, 1849. After 
 traversing three hundred miles of barren coun- 
 try they came upon a magnificent river called 
 the Zouga. As they followed the course of this 
 stream it became broader and deeper, other noble 
 streams flowed into it, and the vegetation along 
 its banks became more dense and luxuriant. 
 
140 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 At last the travellers came in sight of the famed 
 Lake Ngami, which had probably never before 
 been gazed upon by European eyes. They re- 
 mained a short time in the lake region, and 
 then returned to Kolobeng. Livingstone re- 
 ceived a premium from the Royal Geographical 
 Society for his discovery. He made two more 
 journeys to the lake region. In the second of 
 these two expeditions, taking a more easterly 
 direction, he discovered the great Zambezi River 
 (1851). The region he had traversed abounded 
 in mighty rivers and was rich in all useful prod- 
 ucts and precious commodities. Inhabiting this 
 country was a strong, intelligent race of the true 
 negro type. The curse of Africa was and has 
 been until a comparatively recent date the abom- 
 inable traffic in slaves. Livingstone believed 
 that if the natives of the interior could but have 
 a market for the productions of their country 
 they would be encouraged to develop its rich 
 vegetable and mineral resources and would no 
 longer regard the traffic in human beings as the 
 most profitable. Thus he hoped the slave-trade 
 would die out and the first step towards the 
 civilization of the negro would have been taken. 
 With a spirit of self-sacrificing love towards 
 these benighted and half-savage races, Living- 
 stone determined that he would find a way to 
 the coast and open up a highway for commerce 
 between these interior tribes and European na- 
 tions. Resolving to devote his life to this work 
 he was compelled to part from his wife and 
 children, who returned to England. This must 
 have been a heavy trial, for it was very uncertain 
 whether he would ever see them again. 
 
 In the latter part of the year 1852 Living- 
 stone set out upon a journey to the west coast. 
 Plunging into the unknown depths of Africa with 
 a few native followers, he was lost to the civil- 
 ized world for upward of two years. Making 
 his way over swollen rivers, through tangled 
 forests, encountering severe hardships and won- 
 derful adventures, he finally reached the Por- 
 tuguese settlement of St. Paul de Loanda, on 
 
 the west coast, May, 1854. When Livingstone 
 reached Loanda, he was so weakened by the 
 diseases he had contracted while travelling 
 through the swamp regions that he could 
 scarcely sit on his ox for ten minutes at a time, 
 and he looked like a living skeleton. After 
 resting and recruiting he left Loanda in Sep- 
 tember with the intention of finding a way to 
 the east coast. Retracing his course for some 
 distance he reached the Zambezi River, followed 
 it down to the Indian Ocean, and arrived at 
 Quilimane May, 1856, just four years from the 
 time of his last departure from Cape Town when 
 his wife and children sailed for England. In 
 those four years he had crossed the continent 
 from ocean to ocean and had travelled about 
 nine thousand miles. 
 
 He now returned to England to make a re- 
 port of his discoveries. In the seventeen years 
 he had been abroad he had spoken English so 
 seldom that he had almost forgotten his mother- 
 tongue, and it was with great difficulty that he 
 made himself understood in addressing the pub- 
 lic meetings given in his honor. He remained 
 in England two years, publishing an account 
 of his travels, and then returned to Quilimane. 
 
 Accompanied by a party of scientific men, 
 he next made a new exploring expedition up 
 the Zambezi. In 1 864 he returned to England 
 and published an account of this expedition. 
 In 1865 he left England for the last time, and 
 the next year started upon his final journey into 
 the interior of Africa, this time in search of 
 the sources of the Nile. He was accompanied 
 by a party of natives and Sepoys brought from 
 India. 
 
 Early in 1867 news arrived in Europe and 
 America that Dr. Livingstone had been mur- 
 dered by the natives. On investigation this 
 report was believed to be untrue, and relief 
 expeditions were sent out from England and the 
 United States. The honor of finding the great 
 traveller must be accorded to Mr. H. M. Stan- 
 ley (sent by the proprietor of the New York 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 141 
 
 " Herald"), who reached Dr. Livingstone in 
 October, 1871, at Ujiji, an Arab slave-trading 
 post on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. 
 Livingstone was sick and destitute, his goods 
 having nearly all been stolen by his rascally 
 servants, and Stanley's arrival with abundant 
 stores and news from the civilized world was 
 indeed a godsend. Accompanied by Mr. Stan- 
 ley Livingstone proceeded to explore the north- 
 ern shore of Lake Tanganyika in search of the 
 outlet of the lake. This he could not find, but 
 he satisfied himself that Tanganyika was not 
 connected with the sources of the Nile. Stan- 
 ley now prepared for his homeward journey. 
 The doctor accompanied him to Unyanyambe, 
 and there they parted. With the last shake of 
 the hand and the last adieu came the final part- 
 ing between the old explorer and all that could 
 represent the interest and sympathy of the world 
 in his travels. Stanley tried to persuade the doc- 
 tor to return to England to recruit his strength, 
 which was visibly decreasing, but Livingstone 
 was proof against these entreaties. In his jour- 
 nal he wrote, " My judgment said, ' All your 
 friends will wish you to make a complete work 
 of the exploration of the sources of the Nile 
 before you retire.' " 
 
 After a weary waiting of five months Living- 
 stone's heart was gladdened by the arrival of a 
 party of men hired for him by Mr. Stanley at 
 Zanzibar for the purpose of accompanying him 
 upon his contemplated journey to the south in 
 search of the ancient fountains of the Nile, 
 mentioned by Herodotus. In August, 1872, the 
 caravan started. Travelling southward around 
 the southern shore of Lake Tanganyika, they 
 came at length to Lake Bangweolo. Following 
 the southern shore of this lake they became en- 
 tangled among the marshes. The drenching 
 rains and poisonous vapors began to tell visibly 
 and alarmingly upon Dr. Livingstone's strength. 
 He finally grew so ill that the party was obliged 
 to stop at Ilala, a deserted village on the banks 
 of a small river near the shore of the lake. 
 
 There on the ist of May, 1873, the brave and 
 indefatigable explorer died. He had hoped to 
 accomplish the purpose of the expedition, which 
 he believed was almost attained, but this hope 
 was not realized. 
 
 Livingstone's body was rudely embalmed by 
 his African servants, who were greatly attached 
 to him, and amid marvellous dangers and diffi- 
 culties carried by them across the country to 
 Zanzibar, whence it was conveyed to England 
 and buried with due honors in Westminster 
 Abbey. 
 
 1873. Napoleon III. 
 
 Louis Napoleon, son of Louis Bonaparte,* ex- 
 king of Holland, and Hortense Beauharnais, 
 daughter of the Empress Josephine, was born 
 in Paris in 1808. His early life was spent 
 chiefly in Switzerland. When he grew to man- 
 hood not being allowed by Louis Philippe to 
 return to France he joined the revolutionary 
 army in Italy. Afterwards he settled down to a 
 quiet literary life in Switzerland. On the death 
 of the Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon I., 
 Louis Napoleon determined to make an effort 
 to restore the Napoleonic dynasty in France. 
 Having completed his plans, he went to Stras- 
 burg in 1836 and endeavored to raise a revolt 
 in his favor among the troops. But the attempt 
 was unsuccessful, and Louis was arrested and 
 banished from France. In 1840 he again re- 
 solved to try his fortunes on French soil. Land- 
 ing at Boulogne with fifty friends he endeavored 
 to win the soldiery to his standard, but, being 
 again unsuccessful, he was arrested, tried, and 
 condemned to imprisonment for life. In 1846 
 he escaped to England, where he remained until 
 the revolution of 1848. Without fear of arrest 
 he then returned to France, and was elected first 
 a member of the Assembly and soon afterwards 
 president of the French republic. 
 
 * Louis Bonaparte was one of the four brothers of Napo- 
 leon I. 
 
142 
 
 HOW TO REMEMBER HISTORY. 
 
 But his ambition soared to greater heights. 
 He continually disagreed with the Assembly, 
 and it was soon evident that one or the other 
 must be crushed. Gaining over the military, 
 Louis caused the hostile members of the As- 
 sembly to be arrested on the 2d of December, 
 1851, and issued a decree dissolving the As- 
 sembly and restoring universal suffrage. The 
 result of this dishonorable stratagem was that 
 he was elected president for ten years. But he 
 had not yet attained the end for which he was 
 striving. The restoration of the empire began 
 to be talked about, and the cry " Vive 1'Em- 
 pereur !" was once more heard in France. At 
 a favorable moment, the Senate proposed to 
 make Napoleon emperor, the people assented 
 by their votes, and in December, 1852, Napoleon 
 III.* ascended the imperial throne of France. 
 
 The sway of the new emperor was despotic 
 but not unpopular, and he held his power for 
 nearly twenty years. But the people at last 
 became dissatisfied, murmurs were heard, and 
 to avoid a revolution at home Napoleon sought 
 to occupy his people with foreign war. A pre- 
 text for war against Prussia was soon found, 
 and in 1870 hostilities between France and 
 Prussia began. This fatal war caused Napo- 
 leon's downfall. Taken prisoner at the battle 
 of Sedan, he was sent to the castle of Wil- 
 helmshohe by order of the Emperor William. 
 He was released six months afterwards, and 
 joined his wife, the Empress Eugenie, at Chisel- 
 hurst, England, where she had found a refuge 
 after the overthrow of the empire. Napoleon 
 died at Chiselhurst in 1873. 
 
 1874. Abolition of the Spanish Republic. 
 
 Accession of Alfonso XII. 
 The refusal of the crown of Spain by Prince 
 Leopold led the Spanish Cortes to offer it to 
 
 *The Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoleon I., was recog- 
 nized as Napoleon II., although he never reigned. He died 
 in 1832. 
 
 Prince Amadeus, son of Victor Emmanuel of 
 Italy. Amadeus accepted, and entered upon 
 his duties in 1871. His reign was short and 
 stormy. The Carlists revolted. An attempt 
 was made to assassinate the king, and at last 
 disgusted with his new subjects Amadeus abdi- 
 cated and left the country (1873). 
 
 A republic was then proclaimed, Emilio Cas- 
 telar becoming president. The Carlists of course 
 revolted. While the infant republic was strug- 
 gling against this formidable insurrection, young 
 Alfonso, son of ex-Queen Isabella, suddenly 
 made his appearance in Spain and was pro- 
 claimed by his friends. The republic was over- 
 thrown and monarchy restored, Alfonso be- 
 coming king with the title of Alfonso XII.* 
 
 1876. The Centennial Exhibition. 
 
 In 1871 Congress passed an act providing 
 that an international exhibition should be held 
 in 1876 at Philadelphia in celebration of the one 
 hundredth anniversary of the independence of 
 the United States. A general invitation to par- 
 ticipate in the exhibition was extended to all 
 nations, most of whom accepted the invitation 
 and sent exhibits of their manufactures and 
 productions to this great world's fair. 
 
 Fairmount Park, on the banks of the Schuyl- 
 kill, was selected as the site of the celebration. 
 The principal buildings erected were the Main 
 Exhibition Building, the Art Gallery, or Me- 
 morial Hall, and Machinery, Horticultural, and 
 Agricultural Halls. In addition to these struc- 
 tures there were nearly two hundred smaller 
 buildings scattered artistically through the beau- 
 tiful grounds. These were put up by various 
 
 * Alfonso XII. died in November, 1885, and was succeeded 
 by his daughter, Mercedes, a mere child. The following May, 
 1886, Alfonso XIII. was born, and according to the Spanish 
 law of succession, which gives males the precedence, Alfonso 
 was proclaimed king. Maria Christina, the queen-mother, ad- 
 ministers the government as regent during the minority of the 
 young king. 
 
HOW TO REMEMBER HISTOR*/. 
 
 nations, by States, and by different industries 
 and interests as the head-quarters of their repre- 
 sentatives. 
 
 The Exhibition was opened on the loth of 
 May, 1876, by the President of the United 
 States, and closed by him on the loth of No- 
 vember. It thus remained open for six months, 
 every day of the week, Sundays excepted. 
 During this period there were upward of ten 
 million admissions. These visitors came from 
 
 all parts of the United States and many of them 
 from abroad. 
 
 The Centennial Exhibition was the largest 
 world's fair ever held. It gave foreign nations 
 a clearer idea of the progress of the New World, 
 and proved conclusively that the United States, 
 by her rapid advance in the useful arts and 
 sciences and in civilization in general, had justly 
 earned a foremost place among the nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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