pp«ppil ill «ii mm w in Jitw«f*n.>n;itiftt;« ■ ititti h .1 x t A^^ \ \^ ff > <. >" * <\ ^ , X ■* ^^ ^\ ,^' ^0 O, ,0 :v^ ^^. P ^O z 3 ■V^^^ ■<<' ■ ^ ^_ ^\ ^0^ •0' s -/. ■* .:- J ; ^^■ -7 -^ N (, .^ .^ .. -. r^ .vl- - L' A \ ^OO^ •0 X^^x. -^-^ ><^ v " . o -t.. %. ''^> c ^ '^ 21 "oo^ ■>' .^^ ^^. \ \' IJ .> V ^ -^ '^.. <^^ .-is -N \ \ \^ $> -^^ ^ A^ A I. A >A V^ .^ A ^ o^- v^' '^y. ct ^ s \ V -^v v\- \ •s. -r/j. a 1 ' '.^ 1 8 ^ .^^ •^> V P^. ^ci-. / ,'>"^^^/, / 1 \ \' N .\^ .-^ o /- ^^^ ,'\ ,-0- X ■"oo^ A .V V ^' ^^ -%. A .-^^ V c^. r-. '/- ■ « 1 ' >^ ^^ ,V' , ->:> * .0 N >\ 2 T' v J x*"" ^*, c^ .-J.^ . 1364-1380. EDWARD III AND CHARLES V. 113 nent, had been torn from him by a rival, whom he for- merly despised : and a succession of short and precarious truces was sought and accepted as a boon by the mon- arch, who in his more fortunate days, had dictated the peace of Bretigni. "* Three years after the death of Edward, Charles V, kino- of France, also died, leaving his kingdom as prosperous and happy, as he had found it distressed and miserable. In the space of sixteen years, he had, by his consummate pru- dence checked the calamities and repaired the evils of the two preceding reigns. Instead of rashly exposing his own person in battle, as his father and grand-father had done, he confided the command of his armies to generals equally brave and cautious, and through them waged war with uninterrupted success, he himself directing from his cabinet the chief operations of their campaigns. Nor was his prudence less admirable in his civil, than in his mili- tary administration. At his accession to the throne, having found the coifers of the exchequer empty, he re- plenished them, not by an augmentation of the taxes, which he on the contrary diminished, but by a wise ad- ministration of the public revenues. Good order was re- established in the different branches of government; peace was restored to the capital and the provinces; offices of trust were filled by men of well known merit and integrity; the king himself gave to all the example of sincere piety, purity of morals, charity to the poor, and fidelity to the laws of God and of the Church. It was thus that Charles was enabled to deliver France from powerful invaders; to assist his allies; to make his people happy; to protect the arts, sciences and commerce; to lay the foundation of the famous royal library in Paris; in a word, constantly to exemplify the truth of his own maxim: ''That kings are happy, only because they have the power of doing good." His subjects bestowed on him the flattering epithet of * Lingard's History of Engla7id, vol. iv.p. 147-149. 114 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VI. *'The Wise," and posterity has always pronounced him one of the greatest kings that ever sat on the throne of France. He was succeeded by his son Charles VI. Rich- ard II, son of the Black Prince, began to reign about the same time, in the place of his grand-father Edward III. RISE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, AND ITS PROGRESS, TILL THE BATTLE OF NICOPOLIS.— a. d. 1300—1396. We must now turn our attention to the east of Europe, where a new and formidable foe began to make his appear- ance. The fourteenth century beheld the rise and pro- gress of the savage and warlike nation of the Ottomans, who were destined to sweep from the face of the earth the last vestiges of Roman power. Fresh hordes of Turks, eager to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors, were^on- tinualiy pouring from Tartary over the fairest provinces of Asia — restless and uncivilized tribes, who hardly knew how to procure the necessaries of life otherwise than by war and pillage. After the fall of the Seljukian Turks of Iconium, these barbarians occupied their possessions in Asia Minor, under the conduct of seven independent chieftains commonly called emirs. The most skilful and powerful of these chieftains was Othman^ from whom the Turks have derived the name of Ottomans. His valor and activity soon enabled him to prevail over the petty princes by whom he was surrounded ; ne rendered himself master of a great part of Bithynia; and continued his victorious career for the space of twenty- seven years (a. d. 1300 — 1326). His plan of aggrandize- ment was successfully followed by Orcan, his son and successor. Whilst the degenerate Greeks were continu- ally weakening themselves by civil dissensions and wars, the well combined forces of the Turks daily increased the extent and strength of their empire. They captured, in a short time, the cities of Prusium, Nicomedia and A. D. 1300—1396. THE OTTOMANS. 115 Nice; and, crossing the strait of Constantinople, began to carry their victorious arms into Europe. Many important places of Thrace, and even the city of Adrianople, had already fallen into their power, when Orcan died, in 1360. Amurat, who was the third sultan (sovereign) of the Turks, consolidated the throne which his predecessors had reared, by organizing the intrepid band of the Jani- zaries^ whose number amounted, in different times, from ten to forty thousand ; a body resembling, in almost every respect, that of the Praetorians at Rome under the Empe- rors, and of the Mamelukes in Egypt since the time of Saladin. A regular and gallant troop of cavalry, called Spahis^ had already been established by Orcan; it was subsequently improved by Amurat. This able monarch, having chosen Adrianople for the seat of his residence, kept, from that city, a watchful eye on the conduct of the neighboring states, in order to turn all their proceedings to his own advantage; for, although he was, we are told, a great admirer of virtue and lover of justice, yet he lost no opportunity to gratify his ambition. Hence his reign, which lasted twenty -nine years (a. d. 1360 — 1389), was little else than a continual warfare, and was rendered fa- mous by thirty-seven victories, the last of which, however, proved more fatal to himself than to his numerous ene- mies, the Hungarians, Servians, and other nations of eastern Europe, who had united their forces to oppose his progress. After the battle, as he was visiting the plain covered with the dead and dying, a Servian soldier, who lay among the rest, suddenly arose, and with a dagger stabbed the sultan, who expired in two hours, in the midst of his victory. The next sultan, Bajazet I, is well known in history under the surname of Ilderim (lightning) ; an epithet which he fully deserved by the rapidity of his conquests, and the uncommon quickness with which he continually passed from Europe to Asia, and from Asia to Europe. 11 116 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. He assembled and marshaled his forces, separated and re- united them with incredible activity; he would disappear for a time, and suddenly appear again when he was thought to be at a distance. Sometimes, however, Bajazet met with enemies not less brave and skilful than himself; and his life presented a constant alternation of brilliant victo- ries and overwhelmino; defeats. His efforts were at first directed against several petty sovereigns of Armenia and Asia Minor, who were all easily subdued. He then turned his attention to a more powerful and warlike opponent, Stephen, prince of Mol- davia, who had, two years before, defeated in a great bat- tle the generals of Amurat, the father of Bajazet. Anx- ious to restore the honor of the Turkish name, Bajazet marched rapidly through the province of Thrace, crossed the Danube and entered the territory of his enemy, who was as eager as himself for the meeting. After a fierce conflict, the Moldavians were routed; and their leader, who was the last to quit the field of battle, fled towards Nols, a fortified town, where he had left his mother and children. He found the gates closed against him by his mother's command. From the top of the ramparts, this courageous woman upbraided him for his flight, and bade him return, renew^ tlie fight, and, if he could not conquer, rather die than survive his defeat. This revived at once the courage and hopes of Stephen ; he immediately re- turned, rallied about twelve thousand men, and rushed upon the Turks, who were engaged in pillaging, with such impetuosity and vigor, that nearly all were cut in pieces; the imperial tent, with a considerable booty, fell into the power of the Moldavians; and the proud sultan precipi- tately retired to the extremities of his dominions. He soon reappeared, more fierce and formidable than ever. Thrace, Greece and other provinces were overrun and laid waste by his armies; and if, for reasons of policy and prudence, he did not yet attack Constantinople, he at least made the suburbs of that city the limits of the Greek A.D. 1300—1396. THE OTTOMANS. 117 empire. The reigning imperial family was treated by him with the utmost contempt. New fortifications having been added to the capital by the emperor John Paleologus, Bajazet was displeased, and sent an order for their demo- lition, which order Paleologus obeyed. The next emperor, Manuel, received also from the haughty sultan a command to remain in Constantinople; he complied with the injunc- tion, leaving the city but once, in order to appear at the court of Bajazet, which he did at the risk of his life; for his preservation he was indebted to the generous commis- eration of a Turkish officer. He then wrote pressing let- ters to the Christian sovereigns of Europe, for the purpose of imploring their assistance; and his example was imitated by Sigismond, king of Hungary, who was not less anxious to remove the impending storm from his frontiers. These letters and solicitations had little eftect, except in France, which furnished a large number of soldiers and kniglits under the command of the earl of Nevers, a prince of the royal family. They marched through Bavaria, and joined, near the Danube, the Hungarians commanded by Sigismond, whose forces then amounted to upwards of a hundred thousand men. AVhen he reviewed them, he is said to have exclaimed, in a transport of confidence and joy, that ''if the firmament itself should fall, they might support it with their lances." His hopes, however, were grounded more on appearances than reality; for, if bra- very was the distinguishing character of his followers, discord, jealousy, presumption and licentiousness also reigned among them; and Bajazet showed greater fore- sight than Sigismond, when, on being informed of these disorders, he said that his enemies would surely provoke against themselves the justice of their God. After some partial engagements, in which the Chris- tians constantly prevailed over the Turks, they com- menced a general battle near the city of Nicopolis in Bulgaria (a. d. 1396). When the two armies approached, Sigismond entreated the French to unite prudence with 118 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. valor against an enemy with whose mode of warfare they were not sufficiently acquainted. The advice was good, but given to no purpose, the earl of Nevers and other young lords imagining that it was the intention of Sigis- mond to deprive them of the honor of beginning the battle. They therefore, without waiting for the Hungarians, rushed on against the first squadrons of the Turks with equal dis- order and intrepidity. The enemy pretended to be terri- fied, and fled; the French pursued them, with full confi- dence of an easy victory, when, on a sudden, they found themselves not only surrounded by numerous bands of Spahis and Janizaries, whom Bajazet had placed in am- buscade, but also entangled amidst an incredible quantity of stakes which had been purposely planted in order to embarrass their march; so that the Christian cavalry could neither advance nor retire. Resolved at least to sell their lives as dearly as possible, they still continued fighting with undaunted valor, and for several hours spread terror and death among the thickest battalions of the Turks. At length, sinking under the weight of fatigue, and over- powered by the multitudes of their opponents, they fell, almost all, under the Ottoman sword ; the remaining few were taken prisoners. Bajazet immediately led all his forces against the main body of the confederates, put them to flight, and entered their camp, where his soldiers found invaluable riches. Sigismond seeing every thing lost, threw himself into a boat, and following the course of the Danube, and then the coasts of the Euxine sea, succeeded, after many adven- tures, in reaching the imperial city of Constantinople, where his arrival as a fugitive announced his defeat and spread consternation. All trembled at the approach of the victorious sultan; the Greek capital was more than ever threatened with a siege, and would probably have become an easy prey to the Turks, had not its downfal been delayed by the sudden appearance of another con- queror far superior to Bajazet himself* A.D. 1396—1405. TAMERLAXE^ ETC. 119 TAMERLANE AND THE MOGULS— a. d. 1396—1405. BATTLE OF ANCYRA. — 1402. Timor, better known by the name of Tamerlane, had been raised, amidst the confusion of civil wars, from the station of a petty sovereign to the throne of the Moguls and Tartars, in the year 1369. He soon reestablished, by his indefatigable activity and courage, the vast empire of Genghis-Kan in Asia. History can scarcely follow him through his gigantic expeditions; and the imagination itself is astounded at the rapidity with which he carried ' his destructive sword from the centre of Tartary to the borders of Egypt, and from the river Indus to the frozen deserts of Siberia. Such was the man whom Providence , destined to crush the pride and overthrow the power of I Bajazet. Historians are not unanimous in explaining the motives which induced these two mighty princes to turn their arms I against each other. It is generally supposed that the ' complaints of both the Greek emperor and the Mussulman I princes of Asia, against the encroachments of Bajazet, were the chief reason of Tamerlane's conduct on this I occasion ; but it might also be sufficiently accounted for by I the character of the two rivals. In the opinion of the ! Tartar monarch, it was neither proper nor possible that the world could be governed by two sovereigns of equal power; nor was the Turkish sultan inferior to him in point of ambition. This clearly appears from the scornful and arrogant invectives in which they indulged against each other, before hostilities commenced, and which became the signal of the most bloody catastrophe. Tamerlane set out from the East at the head of his in- trepid Tartars; and, as if he had resolved to give Bajazet an idea of the ravages which every where accompanied his armies, he made their march across Armenia and Syria one continued military expedition. These unfortunate 11* 120 MODERN HISTORY, Part VL countries, so often before the theatre of disastrous warfare, were again laid waste, their riches seized, their cities de- stroyed, their inhabitants slaughtered; streams of blood, and towers built with human bodies and skulls, every- where marked the passage of the Mogul conqueror. At length, the Tartars directed their course towards the Turkish dominions. Tamerlane marched through Anato- lia with eight hundred thousand men, whilst Bajazet, on his side, fearlessly advanced to meet him, at the head of four hundred thousand brave soldiers. These formidable armies came in sight near Ancyra (July 1402), and there, through the whole extent of a vast plain, engaged in a conflict more furious and frightful than even imagination can picture. It lasted three days, and cost the lives, according to the lowest calculation, of one hundred and eighty thousand, according to others, of three hundred and forty, or even four hundred thousand of the combatants. Victory at last decided in favor of the Tartars. The remaining Turks were dispersed; and the sultan, after he had fought till the last moment with desperate valor, was surrounded by a host of enemies eager to secure so im- portant a prize, and, in spite of all his efforts, became their prisoner. Not only difterent, but even contradictory, are the ac- counts given of the manner in which Bajazet was treated by Tamerlane. The more probable, as being founded on the testimony of most of the historians who wrote near that time, is that the Mogul prince received his captive into his own tent with great kindness and regard, and, making him sit by his side on the same carpet, spoke to him in the most consoling terms; but that Bajazet, far from being grateful for this noble and generous reception, evinced no other feeling than that of ferocious haughtiness and impotent rage, which deeply offended his conqueror. To the question put by Tamerlane, "what he would have done, if fortune had been favorable to him," he answered, "I would have confined you in an iron cage. "-^"^ Let A. D. 1396-1405. TAMERLANE, ETC. 121 such, then, be your own mansion," replied Tamerlane, The sentence was enforced, and Bajazet, unable to bear the excess of his misfortune, died one or two years after, some say, of grief and despair, others, of apoplexy. His sons were permitted to divide, or rather to dispute among themselves the wrecks of his empire, and the Mogul con- queror returned to his own dominions. It may not be amiss to describe here more fully the character of this extraordinary prince. By the oriental nations, Tamerlane is assimilated to Alexander-the-Great; and the renowned biographer Feller, in his Historical Dic- tionary (article Tamerlane)^ seems to approve of that idea, which he even endeavors to confirm by some exam- ples. The comparison may be true with respect to ex- ploits and military abilities; but, in many other particulars, it is certainly false. Alexander was ambitious, without being naturally cruel; whilst, on the contrary, nothing can be conceived more barbarous than the manner in which Tamerlane conducted his wars, and treated those who presumed to resist. JBy his orders, seventy thousand persons were inhumanly slaughtered in the capture of Ispahan; one hundred and twenty thousand in that of Sebaste; ninety thousand in that of Bagdad, which city was utterly destroyed; and so proportionally in other places. In the conquest of India, millions of the natives were hunted like wild beasts, and put to the sword, the multitude of prisoners being moreover so great, that each of the^ Tartar soldiers had many in his power. On one occasion, Tamerlane caused a hundred thousand of those unhappy captives to be slain in the space of an hour; on another, he commanded multitudes of unfortunate people to be crushed under the feet of horses, or to be buried •alive; and, besides, invariably kept up the horrid custom, which we have already mentioned, of building towers with human skulls, as monuments of his victories.* Never as- * These, and other particulars respecting Tamerlane, may be seen in Ihiivers. Hist. vol. xlviii, p. 220 — 468; Anquetil, Precis, de I'Hist, 122 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. suredly were there deeds of cruelty so awful and so mul- tiplied, perpetrated either by Alexander-the-Great, or any other conqueror except Tamerlane. It is truly astonishing that the man who could commit such atrocities in war, displayed, in the other transactions of his life, justice, generosity and sensibility. Equitable in his judgments, and zealous in the correction of abuses, he was kind towards his relations, attentive to the welfare of his troops, and triumphant in rewarding their services, humane towards all his subjects and desirous of their hap- piness, particularly towards the close of his career. "I do not wish," he once said to his counsellors, ''that the distressed and the poor should cry out for vengeance against me on the day of judgment. I do not wish that any one of my brave soldiers, who have so many times exposed their lives in my service, should have to complain of me and of my ingratitude. I am more sensible of their wants than they are themselves. None of my subjects ought to hesitate to lay his grievances before me ; for my intention is that the world shall^, under my reign, become a sort of Paradise 5 and I know that when a king is just and beneficent, his kingdom is blessed with prosperity and glory." Such was the language in which Tamerlane expressed the noble feelinos of his soul in relation to the o;overnment of his people. With regard to intellectual faculties, to a sound mind, which distinguished him in council as much as his extraordinary valor distinguished him in battles, he is said to have added a wonderful sag-acitv, which enabled him to unravel the most hidden intrigues and detect the most artful stratagems of his enemies, whilst his own se- crets remained impenetrable. His principle in governing was to secure by unshaken firmness the execution of his orders, and to attend in person to all transactions of con- sequence. The palaces, mosques, cities, bridges, canals, Univers. vol. iv. p. 446 — 466; Michaut, Hist, des Croisades, vol. v, p. 289—292; Hist, du Bas Empire, vol. xx\i,p. 362—367. A. D. 1396-1405. TAMERLANE^ ETC. 123 magnificent roads, colleges, hospitals for the infirm, for travellers and for the poor, and many other public build- ings and institutions, which owed to him their existence, would sufiice to illustrate the reigns and the lives of sev- eral monarchs. Tamerlane preserved, till the end of his days, a robust constitution, great bodily strength, and astonishing forti- tude. He disliked flattery, and, instead of being offend- ed by correction and advice, required that the truth, plain and entire, should be spoken to him ; the motto on his seal was, "I am candid and sincere." A friend to learning, he frequently read history, and liked to converse with skilful men, in order to increase his stock of knowledo;e. In fine, a very extraordinary feature in this mighty sov- ereign and conqueror, was the singular modesty which he evinced in the midst of his triumphs, not ascribing them to his own exertions and talents, but to the omnipotence of God, who made use of him to chastise nations and t^ recall them to the path of justice. He believed, as a zealous Mussulman, that he was called to redress grie- vances, and to exterminate the abettors of all religions con- trary to his own; and we have seen how faithfully he com- plied with this imaginary mission. After the successful termination of his campaign against the Turks, his advanced age and protracted labors seemed to call for repose; yet, even at that time, he meditated new conquests. In a fresh transport of Mahometan zeal, he determined to attack the Chinese, and for this pur- pose he set out with two hundred thousand men, in the dead of winter, from Samarcand, his capital city; but, being seized with a violent fever, he expired before he had reached the confines of China, in the seventy-first year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign (a. d, 1405). His death was soon followed by the division of his vast empire into many principalities and kingdoms, the most remarkable of which was that of the Moguls in the East Indies, now under the sway of the British government. 124 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI RENEWAL OF WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE The condition of England and France was much alike during the latter portion of the fourteenth, but became quite different in the beginning of the fifteenth century. The two young kings, Richard II and Charles VI, showed good intentions, and even, on many occasions, displayed great spirit and courage; but the ambition of three uncles (in England, the dukes of Lancaster, Gloucester and York — and in France, the dukes of Berry, Anjou and Burgundy,) proved for both of them a constant source of misfortunes, and occasioned many disturbances in the two kingdoms. England however suffered less, and not only was the first to recover from her losses, but even quickly reassumed her former ascendency and menacing attitude, in conse- quence of the great internal strength which she acquired under the prosperous reign of Henry IV, first king of the house of Lancaster, who had, in 1399, dethroned and succeeded his cousin Richard II. France, on the con- trary, continued to sink deeper and deeper into an abyss of calamities; especially after Charles VI began to expe- rience frequent fits of insanity. Each one of the princes of his family wished to hold the reigns of government; their disputes gave rise to a long train of dissensions and animosities which terminated in the murder of several of their number, and increased the misery of the whole na- tion; nor did England fail to turn these disturbances of France to her own advantage. § I. Henry V and Charles VI. (a. d. 1413 — 1422). Henry V, son and successor of Henry IV, is repre- sented by historians as most sagacious in council, skilled in military tactics, and one of the bravest knights of his age. He had, more seriously than any of his predecessors, A. D. 141 3-14^2. HENRY V ASLT> CHARLES VI. 125 conceived and matured the design of subduing the French monarchy, which, after the example of Edward III, he aftected to claim as his inheritance. Having raised a gal- lant army, he landed at Harfleur, on the 14th of August 1415, before the French were ready to oppose his invasion. The town was invested; and, after a brave resistance of five weeks, its walls were demolished by the English ar- tillery, and its garrison obliged to surrender. The siege however had cost Henry many officers and men, and a dysentery soon reduced his forces to nearly half their number; in this situation, unable to adopt offensive mea- sures, he determined to retire to Calais, whence he might safely reembark for England. But to carry out this resolution was a very difficult task : there were no bridges over the rivers ; and an army of one hundred thousand French soldiers, five times more numerous than that of their opponents, had been stationed between the English and Calais. At Agincourt, on the 24th of October, Henry found himself in the very same condition in which Edward III and the prince of Wales I found themselves, the former seventy, the latter sixty • years before; and, like them, he gave the world anew I proof how much a skilful commander and a few well dis- I ciplined troops can effect against a multitude of undisci- I plined warriors. In his camp and army, perfect order I was observed, and ready obedience paid to the commands ♦ of their gallant leader; on the side of his enemies, not- v/ithstanding some wise dispositions of the commander-in- chief, the constable d' Albert, all was confusion, insubor- dination and temerity. The night previous to the battle was spent by the English in religious exercises, by the French, who did not suspect the possibility of a defeat, in tumultuous merriment. The result as might naturally be expected, w as the complete triumph of the former, and the entire overthrow of the latter, twenty-four thousand of whom, including the chief leaders and twelve princes, paid with death or captivity, the forfeit of their rash and 126 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. presumptous courage. The conquerors referred with gratitude to Almighty God the honor of so signal and as- tonishing a victory; the 113th psalm was sung in thanks- giving after the battle ; and it was an edifying spectacle to behold the king and the whole army prostrate them- selves at these words of the Royal Prophet, ''Not to lis, O Lord, not to us ; but to thy nam^ give glory. The defeat of Agincourt was still more fatal to France than the disastrous battles of Crecy and Poitiers. The road was now opened into the heart of that kingdom; and Henry V was both too ambitious and too skilful not to follow up his advantage with incessant ardor. This was his chief and almost exclusive object during the subse- quent years, and success crowned liis new efforts even beyond expectation. Within a short time, Normandy and the neighboring provinces were subdued ; town after town surrendered; Paris itself, the constant theatre of turbulent factions, opened its gates to the conqueror; and King Charles VI, whose mental powers were almost to- tally prostrated, was induced to taket he English monarch for his son-in-law, and, contrary to the fundamental rules of inheritance in France, to appoint him his successor. The dauphin Charles, who was heir apparent to the crown, appealed from this illegal disinherison to God and to the sword. After the death of his unfortunate and cruelly misled father, in 1422, he caused himself to be acknow- ledged sovereign in all the provinces situated on the south of the river Loire, the others being occupied by the Eng- lish and their partisans, who called him, through mockery, King of Bourges. The same year witnessed also the premature death of his formidable rival, Henry V, who had not reached his thirty-fifth year. This great prince expired on the last day of August, leaving an infant son, Henry VI, who was crowned King of England and France, under the regency of his two uncles, the dukes of Gloucester and Bedford. A.D. 1422-1453. HENRY VI AND CHARLES VII. 127 § II. Henry VI and Charles VII. (a. d. 1422 — 1453). The important events just mentioned, and the chan<>-e of the principal leaders in each party, though ultimately advantageous to France, did not present at first a favora- ble prospect for that kingdom. The duke of Bedford, a courageous and skilful prince, was determined to effect its entire subjection, and for a time was so successful, that Charles VII, after several defeats, found himself destitute of money, troops, and assistance, having but a few knights who remained devoted to his cause. His situation became still more perplexing, when the English, always advan- cing in their course of conquest, laid siege to Orleans, the only town that prevented them from crossing with safety the river Loire, and invading the southern provinces (1629). On both sides the siege gave rise to innumerable and wonderful exertions of ability and vigor, the resistance being, on all occasions, proportionate to the attack. As, however, the English received fresh supplies of provisions and troops with greater facility than the garrison of the place, its fall was confidently anticipated by them, and the most gloomy apprehensions began to prevail in the councils of the French monarch. Charles himself medi- tated a retreat into the distant county of Provence, when he unexpectedly, and from an extraordinary source, re- ceived assistance which revived his hopes, filled his ene- mies with dismay, and turned forever the tide of success. In a village, on the borders of Lorraine, lived a coun- try girl named Joan, about seventeen years of age, and of irreproachable character. When the hope of savino- Or- leans was almost abandoned, she presented herself before the governor of Vaucouleur, and maintained, with extraor- dinary confidence, that she was commissioned by heaven to raise the siege of that place, and to procure the corona- tion of the king in the city of Rheims. Her tone of con- 12 128 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. viction and her repeated assurances prevailed upon the governor to send her well guarded to Charles; she met the French court at Chinon in Touraine. There, whatever may be said by several recent authors in opposition to the multitude of more ancient documents, every precaution was taken to avoid even the possibility of illusion or im- posture. * Joan underwent a most rigid examination before a committee of persons eminent for their prudence and learning, and also before the courtiers, and the king him- self; and constantly gave such marks of sagacity, wisdom, and more than human knowledge, as to cause her claims to a supernatural mission to be very generally admitted. She consequently received the complete armor of a knight, and the liberation of Orleans was intrusted to her charge. The first exploit of Joan was her entrance into the besieo-ed citv* and her success in conveving a plentiful and much needed supply of provisions to the garrison, at the head of which she then successively attacked and car- ried the strongest posts of the English. The enemy, dis- pirited by so many losses, hastily abandoned the siege; but, being pursued by the heroine, and driven from the towns into which they had retired, they were completely defeated at Patay, with the loss of nearly five thousand men, whilst the French had only one man of their number killed. Joan had always declared that the object of her mission was twofold, the liberation of Orleans, and the coronation of the king at Rheims. The first of these objects being accomplished, she now urged the execution of the second ; and, though the attempt was a dangerous one, the inter- mediate country being in possession of the English or of the Burgundians, their allies, she prevailed upon Charles * See Hist, de Jeanne d''Arc, 12mo; — Hist, de I'Egl. Beraut-Berc, vol. vni. jt>. 31-45; — Hist, de I'Egl. Gall, disconrs sur la Pvcelle d' Orleans, at the end of the 16th vol., where the learned author, F. Berthier, ad- duces innumerable evidences, and upwards of twenty contemporary or almost contemporary authors, French, Italian, German, etc. in favor of Joan d'Arc and of her claims to a divine mission. A. D 1422-1453. HENRY VI AND CHARLES VII. 129 to place full confidence in her promises; nor was he in any way deceived. As soon as he began his march with twelve thousand men, all obstacles disappeared, or were easily overcome; and the citizens of Rheims, having ex- pelled the Burgundian garrison, received him with the most flattering demonstrations of joy. The coronation was performed in the usual manner. During the ceremony, Joan, in her warlike dress, and with her banner unfurled, stood filled with grateful emo- tions near the altar; when it was over, she threw herself on her knees, declared her mission accomplished, and with tears solicited leave to return to her country-life; but the king being unwilling to lose her services so soon, she, at his request, consented to remain with the army. Her courage indeed was always the same, but success did not follow her exertions so constantly as before. Having un- dertaken to defend Compiegne as she had done Orleans, and making a sally at the head of some troops, she fell, notwithstanding her heroic eftorts, into the hands of the enemy. The shouts of the English and Burgundians an- nounced her fate to the besieged, whom this melancholy news threw into deep affliction; the place however con- tinued to defy the power of the assailants, and the siege was raised by the approach of a French army (a. d. 1430). The unfortunate maid was treated with neglect by her friends, with cruelty by her enemies. Charles, who owed so much to her, does not seem to have made any eiforts to rescue her from captivity, whether because he thought his endeavors would be unavailing, or because he yielded to the jealousy of some of the courtiers and generals against Joan, is uncertain. The English, exasperated by the re- peated defeats and losses she had caused them, resolved to gratify their revenge. For this purpose, nothing, not even the most iniquitous proceeding, was left untried; and, to the eternal disgrace of the duke of Bedford and of tl\e committee which he had appointed, the awful crimes of heresy, idolatry, sorcery and profligacy were imputed 130 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. to the heroine who had given constant and undeniable proofs of her piety, innocence and purity of life. Her death was desired ; she was executed at the stake as a sorceress, in the market-place of Rouen, before an im- mense concourse of spectators, who could not restrain their tears. Twenty -five years later, her condemnation was reversed by the archbishop of Rheims and the bishops of Paris and Coutances, whom Pope Calixtus III had designated to revise the mock trial. After the most as- siduous and minute inquiries, after hearing one hundred and twelve persons of unexceptionable character, dukes, counts, magistrates, etc., who formerly had been wit- nesses of the superhuman virtues and exploits of Joan d'Arc ; they pronounced the first sentence passed against her unjust, wicked, and slanderous; and she was solemnly declared innocent of all the crimes with which she had been charged by her enemies.* * Several writers, and Dr. Lingard himself, who upon this matter seems not to have been sufficiently acquainted with the best sources of information, have endeavored to explain the marvellous actions of the Maid of Orleans by mere natural causes ; ascribing them to enthusiastic excitement, to a deluded imagination, which the French court was careful to put to profit. If, however, we attentively consider that Joan d'Arc, a timid girl, not more than seventeen years of age, and hitherto employed, not in a city, but in the peaceful and modest occupations of a countiy life, from the moment she appeared in court and at the head of armies, evinced in every thing a surprising wisdom and energy of soul, that she became, on a sudden, an intrepid warrior and an accomplished commander, whilst she always remained a perfect model of innocence, piety and all Christian virtues ; that her claim to a supernatural mission was, after the severest trials, admitted by persons of every description, by her countrymen and by foreigners, by friends and by foes, aqd even by the greatest enemies of France, whose desire it was to have her con- duct attributed to an evil principle ; that all she said was found true ; that all she foretold exactly happened in the time, place and other circumstances predicted : if w^e attentively consider aU this, we will surely find it very difficult, nay absolutely impossible, not to acknowl- edge in the authentic story of Joan d'Arc something above the ordi- naiy laws of nature ; not to believe that she really was under the special guidance of heaven ; not to admit in her public career a display of the power and wisdom of God, who chooses the weak things of the world that he may confovndthe strong (1 Cor. i, 27), and who, after having Awu- bled France, wished to raise it again by the hands of a woman, as he formerly saved his chosen people through the instrumentality of Debo- rah, Judith and Esther. A.D. 1422—1453. HENRY VI AND CHARLES VII. 131 The English had cherished a hope that the death of Joan would incline the balance in their favor; in this they were disappointed. Such was the impulse which that heroine had given to the course of events, that England could no longer arrest the progress of France. Charles took Paris with most of the other places conquered by Henry V, and the British retained the rest only in virtue of a truce which the two nations concluded in 1444. Thus did Henry IV lose one of the two crowns which he had in- herited from his father; whilst the other likewise began to sit lightly on his head, owing to the rise of strong and hostile parties in his own kingdom. During this season of calamity for Great Britain, the state of the French monarchy was considerably improved by the wise administration of Charles VII. The better to repair past evils and prevent their recurrence, he es- tablished several bodies of regular and standing troops, from whose cooperation both he and his successors derived tlie greatest advantages in upholding the dignity of their crown, repelling foreign invaders, and restoring tranquil- lity in the provinces. Stability and peace every where took the place of insubordination and anarchy. The former strength of the nation was restored; and every thino; now conduced to the final overthrow of the Eno;lish on the continent. In the year 1449, Francis Surienne, a British com- mander, having been guilty of an infraction of the exist- ing truce, by capturing and plundering the town of Fou- geres, the French king availed himself of the opportunity to renew the war with immense advantage. England was involved in domestic dissensions; and her power abroad had been much weakened by the recent loss of two battles against the Scots. In one year, Charles recovered Nor- mandy with its hundred fortresses. A like success at- tended his arms in the invasion of Guienne; the decisive victories of Fourmigni and Chatillon, the former in the north, the latter in the south of France, secured his con- 12* 132 3I0DERN HISTORY. Part VI. quests; and the English were driven from every inch of ground thej had possessed in that kingdom with the ex- ception of the city of Calais (1453). About this time, Poland, until then comparatively little known, rose in point of civilization, glory and power, to a conspicuous rank among the European states. For this elevation she was indebted to the government of the Jag- ellos, who occupied the Polish throne nearly two hundred years, from 1386 to 1572. Germany also flourished at this period under the emperor Sigismond, who reigned from 1410 to 1437. Though unsuccessful in war, that prince governed with honor and ability in time of peace, and was enabled to transmit his three crowns of Germa- ny, Bohemia and Hungary to Albert of Austria, his son- in-law; thus laying the foundation of that great power and influence which the house of Austria so long enjoyed in Europe. FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.— A. D. 1453. The Greek empire, in the mean time, was drawing near to its extinction. The defeat of Bajazet Ilderim by Tamerlane had, it is true, delivered Constantinople from that terrible Sultan of the Turks, but not from the Turks themselves, who, in a short time, reappeared on the field of battle, as undaunted and powerful as ever. After the pacific reign of Mahomet I, who died in 1421, Amurat II, his son and successor, renewed hostilities against the Greeks, the Hungarians, and other Christian nations in the vicinity of his frontiers. Notwithstanding the losses and defeats which he occasionally sustained, he continued to gain ground, and at last gave the deadly blow to the league of his opponents in the famous battle of Warna, in 1444. This battle was more fatal to the cause of Chris- tendom than that of Nicopolis had been, in as much as it A. D. 1453. FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 133 opened a wide field to the enterprising spirit of the Turks, and deprived Constantinople of its last resources. In fine, Mahomet II appeared, the most terrible of all the Turkish sultans. No sooner had he grasped the scep- tre left by his father Amu rat, than he resolved to snatch the Greek capital from the hands of the reigning emperor, Constantine Paleologus or Dragazes, a prince worthy of better times, but whose heroic exertions could postpone only for a short period the fall of Constantinople. This was the last struggle between a power recently founded, but already the most formidable in the world, and an an- cient monarchy, the glory of which had filled the whole earth, but which now presented nothing but degeneracy and discord. There was not less difference in the character of the two monarchs than in the respective strength and fate of their empires. All admired the virtue and moderation of Paleologus, his prudence in council, his intrepidity on the field of battle, and his unshaken firmness in adversity. Mahomet displayed on every occasion a bold and haughty spirit, and a boundless ambition. He was, we are told, a lover of the arts and sciences, and could speak several languages; but those pacific studies had not curbed his ferocious temper: in war, he spared neither his enemies nor his own soldiers, and frequently peace itself was ren- dered bloody by the violence of his passions.- — The last successor of Constantine-the-Great possessed all the vir- tues of a Christian and magnanimous prince; the son of Amurat was characterized by all the vices of a Mussul- man and lawless conqueror. As the siege of Constantinople was to be commenced in the spring of 1453, the preceding winter was actively spent by both parties in making the necessary prepara- tions. During the first days of April, the imperial city was surrounded by a fleet of three hundred and twenty vessels, and by a land army of three hundred thousand men, one-third of whom were cavalry. To these formida- 134 MODERN HISTORY. Pan vi. ble forces Constantine Paleologus could oppose only a few ships and galleys, and eight or nine thousand warriors, partly Greeks and partly Italians, with whom he had to defend a territory of about twelve miles in circumference. He appointed for their commander-in-chief, Justiniani, a Genoese officer of great experience; distributed them as well as he possibly could throughout the different posts of the rampart; and reserved for himself one of the points most exposed to the assaults of the enemy. The Turks employed in that siege all the resources of the destructive art of warfare, such as mines dug beneath the walls of the city, rolling towers, battering rams, and a multitude of machines destined to cast stones, darts and arrows. Above all, the use of artillery having now be- come general, Mahomet did not fail to supply his troops with this powerful means of attack, and prepared fourteen batteries of enormous cannon, and balls of proportionate size. Some of those pieces of ordnance could send balls of two hundred pounds weight; and one of them in par- ticular, called Basilica^ sent a ball weighing upwards of six quintals, to the distance of more than a mile. It required two thousand men and about one hundred and fifty oxen to remove it from the spot where it was made, to its intended battery. Its interior circumference was nine feet, and its weight thirty or forty thousand pounds. But experience proved that the use of such enormous guns produced greater encumbrance and disadvantage than real utility; the famous Basilica, being soon overheated, burst with a frightful explosion, and killed, among other per- sons, its very maker, who was a Hungarian apostate. The Greeks too were abundantly provided with mili- tary engines, cannon and Grecian fire, which they used with tremendous eftect against the Turks, day and night repelling their assaults, ruining their works, and consign- ing their machines to the flames. These heroic exertions were owing chiefly to the emperor and his general Justin- iani, whose indefatigable activity seemed to multiply their A.D. 1453. FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 135 persons and make them present in every place where suc- cor was required. This appeared particularly on the fol- lowino; occasion. AVhen Mahomet perceived that the exterior fortifications of the town had been almost entirely destroyed by the continual firing of his artillery, he commanded his troops to prepare for an assault. His hope of success rested chiefly on a tremendous w^ooden tower many stories high, and full of combatants, which he caused, with all possible precaution, to advance towards the wall. Here a fierce conflict took place, which was continued two days with incredible animosity and prodigious eftbrts on both sides. At length victory declared in favor of the Greeks; the Turks were repelled, and had the mortification to see their wooden tower overthrown and soon reduced to ashes. This unexpected result highly exasperated Mahomet, who could not forbear saying that, had thirty thousand prophets foretold so extraordinary a disaster, he would not have believed the prediction. A few weeks after this event, a similar disgrace which befel his fleet, and which he himself witnessed, threw him into a paroxysm of rage. Four Christian vessels appeared in sight of Constantinople, and, disregarding the great number of the Ottoman ships, fearlessly advanced towards the harbor. The enemy went to obstruct their passage, with full confidence of an easy victory ; but the four frigates opened upon them so terrible and so well-timed a fire, that manv of the Turkish vessels were sunk, and others greatly damaged. Mahomet, who had observed the com- bat from a neighboring hill, descended, foaming with rage, and spurring his horse into the sea, even at the risk of his life, loaded the commanders of his galleys with the most bitter reproaches, and was carried so far by his passion as brutally to strike the admiral with a golden rod which he held in his hands. But all his fury and threats were idle; the four ships steadily pursued their course; and, continuing to disperse his navy, opened for themselves a 136 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. free passage to the harbor, where they entered in triumph amidst the acclamations of the Greeks, who, from the top of their ramparts, had also been spectators of the combat. It is thought that the Turks had sent about two hundred ves- sels against this intrepid flotilla, and, without killing one single Christian, lost no fewer than twelve thousand men,* The besieged possessed a vast advantage, as long as they kept possession of their excellent harbor; nor could the Ottoman fleet force its entrance, which was obstructed by a line of strong galleys and an enormous chain of iron reaching from shore to shore. To deprive them of this resource, Mahomet conceived the bold design of trans- porting by land seventy or eighty of his vessels from the sea into the port. This fact, though it may seem incredi- ble, is related in substance by all the contemporary his- torians. > With regard to its circumstances, it appears that, by dint of men and machines, the vessels were caused to roll through a space of three or four miles over planks thickly covered with grease. As all was done during the night and with great celerity, the garrison and inhabi- tants of Constantinople did not discover the plan, until it was too late to prevent its execution. They were sur- prised and alarmed at seeing the enemy now near their ramparts and their homes, and attempted, but in vain, to destroy the Turkish vessels, by means of the Grecian fire, which had so often before saved Constantinople. Forty of their most intrepid warriors, who had taken upon them- selves this hazardous enterprise, were basely betrayed, * This event and other similar incidents plainly show the great supe- riority of the Christians over the Ottomans, in discipline, military science, and valor. If the latter were at length successful in overthrowing the Greek empire, this was evidently owing to their vast multitude, and to the continual arrival of new reinforcements, rather than to real and well directed bravery. How great the difference between the warriors of the fifth crusade and those of Mahomet II. Here we see three hundred thou- smid Turks, supplied with a formidable artillery, scarcely able, after a siege of eight tveeks, to take Constantinople, whose garrison did not amount to more than eight or nine thousand soldiers ; whereas twenty thousand crusaders, in three days, carried it by storm, in spite of the ef- ibrts of more than two hundred thousand nun, by whom it was defended 1 A. D. 1453. FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 137 fell into the hands of the Turks, and paid with their lives for their generous devotedness. The garrison, however, continued to defend itself with admirable vigor, after the example of its emperor, whose exertions seemed to be the effect of almost superhuman energy. This excellent prince was acting, at the same time, the part of a father, a sovereign, a soldier, and a general; scarcely allowing himself any repose, but con- tinually occupied in encouraging by word and example a pusillanimous and ill-disposed people, or sharing with his brave garrison in the fatigues of the siege and the dangers of unceasing combats. During the day, he was foremost in fighting and repelling the enemy; during the night his chief occupation was to reconcile, to soothe and to relieve by every means in his power, his discontented, distressed, and ungrateful subjects. Thus, without ever deviating from the line of social and Christian virtue, Paleologus displayed a valor and magnanimity which made him not only equal but even superior to the perils which sur- rounded him; and, whilst he stood almost alone upon the ruins of his falling empire, he seemed still to bid defiance to his implacable foe. As the virtuous emperor could not banish from his mind the sad apprehension that the day of wo was approaching, he resolved to make an additional sacrifice of his personal feelings for the preservation of his people. He offered the sultan the payment of any tribute that might be ex- acted, provided the possession of the imperial city should be secured to the Greeks; but as Mahomet absolutely re- quired the surrender of Constantinople in exchange for some principality, Constantine nobly rejectedthe degra- ding proposal, and preferred a glorious death. Mahomet himself was not free from uneasiness with re- gard to the final result of the war; and he had reason to fear that it might eventually turn against himself, as his troops, dispirited by their losses and by the obstinate re- sistance of the Greeks, loudly called for the cessation of 138 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. SO bloody and perilous a siege. But the undaunted sul- tan revived their spirits by promising them all the trea- sures of Constantinople, should they prove successful in their next attack upon that city. The assault was to take place on the twenty-ninth of May. At dusk, on the eve of the day appointed, the soldiers were commanded to as- semble, each with a lighted torch at the extremity of his lance or cimeter; Mahomet appeared in the midst of them, renewed his promise, and, to render it more sacred, swore by the eternity of God, hy four thousand prophets, by the soul of his father Amur at, his own children, and his sword', upon which all exclaimed: "God is God, and Ma- homet is his prophet. " When this warlike ceremony was over, the sultan ordered a profound silence to be observed throughout the camp; and nothing then was heard round Constantinople but the low murmurs of an army silently preparing for a terrible and decisive assault. In the imperial city, the garrison was attentively watch- ino- from the ramparts all the movements of the Turks. Their repeated shouts had been heard with anxiety and alarm; the terror was increased by the sudden silence Avhich ensued, and the light of innumerable torches in the camp being reflected by the tops of the towers and by the steeples of churches in the town, rendered still more gloomy, from the contrast, the darkness which covered the other parts of Constantinople. Paleologus assembled his chief warriors, and addressed them in a moving speech, exhorting them to encounter fearlessly the approaching peril. He recommended presence of mind to the officers, obedience to the soldiers, intrepidity to all, and spoke so feelingly as to draw tears from every one of his hearers; they embraced each other as if for the last time; and, after they had separated, the emperor went to pray and receive communion in the church of St. Sophia. He after- wards visited the imperial palace, gave his orders, and asked pardon of all persons there present for the faults which he might have committed in the government of his A.D.1453. FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 139 people; every one answered only by his sighs and tears. He then went out overwhelmed with affliction, but still generous and intrepid, and mounting on horseback, visited all the ramparts, examined the different posts of the gar- rison, and finally resumed his own station, the most perilous of all. The last day of the Greek empire had now arrived. At one o'clock in the morning, the clarions and trumpets re- sounded in the Turkish camp; Mahomet gave the sio-nal for the assault, and no fewer than two hundred and sixty thousand soldiers began to storm the city of Constantine* at day-break, all the troops on each side were engaged in the conflict. The shock was furious, especially at two points; but it was every where sustained with undaunted bravery. The Turks, animated by their usual wild fa- naticism, by the exhortations of Mahomet, by the hope of victory and the expectation of pillage, forced their wav, with a sort of phrensy, through guns and pikes ; nor were they deterred either by the difficult access of the breach, or by the sight of their companions falling dead around them whilst endeavoring to scale the wall with ladders. Reckless of life, they sought only to reach their opponents, and to strike them down with their murderous weapons, while destructive missiles were incessantly thrown from their engines. But, if they dealt destruction amono- the besieged, their own numbers were thinned by death in its most terrible forms. Besides repeated and successful discharges of musketry, the soldiers of the garrison poured upon the thick battalions of the Turks streams of boilino- oil, melted wax, and Grecian fire, and from the top of the wall threw rocks and mill -stones, which crushed all that came in their way. A considerable portion of the battle- ments and several towers having been demolished by the battering rams and artillery, the noble defenders of Con- stantinople presented themselves as a new rampart much more difficult to be overthrown than that built of inani- mate materials. The emperor fought at their head, and 13 140 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VI. set every one an example of the most intrepid courage ; numbers of barbarians were mowed down by the edge of his sword ; and the very sight of the imperial banner struck terror into the enemy. After a tremendous contest of two hours, Mahomet ad- vanced with the choicest of his troops and a body of ten thousand Janizaries. He appeared in the midst of them with a club in his hand, animating his troops by his fierce countenance, and pointing out to them the parts of the wall which they were to attack. Behind this band stood other bodies of troops destined to support the assailants, to stop those who might be tempted to fly, and force them to return to the charge. The sound of the clarions, the clashing of the swords and cimeters, the discharges of the artillery, the crash of the falling ramparts, all contributed to render the assault a scene of horror more easily ima- gined than described. In this awful tumult, the Janiza- ries themselves began to fight with some confusion; and Paleologus, who had perceived the circumstance, was ex- hortins: his brave attendants to make a last and decisive effort, when a fatal circumstance suddenly changed the aspect of the battle. General Justiniani having received a wound, retired, in order to have it dressed. The Ge- noese and other auxiliary troops, deprived of the presence of their commander-in-chief, began to waver, and, imita- ting his example, withdrew from the conflict. In vain did Constantine endeavor to rally them. Finding it im- possible to save-^his empire, he determined to fall with it, and to die as became an emperor. For some moments more, he maintained the unequal contest, saw his last companions perish by his side, and at length overpowered by numbers, fell among the foremost of the slain. Constantinople was now irretrievably left a prey to wild and barbarous conquerors. The weak remains of its gar- rison were dispersed; Justiniani had retired to a distant spot, where he shortly after expired. Amidst the incon- ceivable tumult and desolation that reigned every where. AD. 1453. FALL OF CONSTAI«J^TIJVOPLE. 141 the Turks rushed into the city, and, in virtue of the sul- tan's promise, plundered it during three days. About forty thousand of its unfortunate inhabitants were put to the sword, and sixty thousand detained as captives. Among those who had the happiness to escape, many fled to the western parts of Europe, where, having established their residence, they greatly concurred in reviving the fine arts, polite literature, and a relish for the study of oriental lan";uao;es. Thus, as the Western empire^ which had been founded by Augustus, expired under Augustulus ; so the Eastern empire, which had been founded by a Constantine, was extinguished under another Constantine, eleven hundred and twenty -three years after the building of Constanti- nople. Gradually stripped of its extensive possessions, it had long continued to subsist, at least within the pre- cincts of its capital, like a majestic pillar which supports the last arch of a decaying edifice. It fell at length un- der the repeated attacks of the barbarians, and its down- fall afforded to the world a new evidence of this truth, that nothing is unchangeable which has been established by men, and that the works of God alone remain forever. MAHOMET II CONTINUED. As soon as order and tranquillity began to succeed the awful scenes of bloodshed, plunder and destruction, which attended the capture of Constantinople, Mahomet left his camp, and took solemn possession of this unhappy city which his effbrts had finally subdued. By evincing a cer- tain moderation towards the vanquished, and adopting some other measures of policy, he succeeded in retaining within the town the sad remnant of its inhabitants, or in supplying the absence of those who had perished ; and from that time, the former capital of the Greek empire became the chief city of the Turkish dominions. The sultan then 142 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. examined what country he should next add to his vast monarchy, the measure of his ambition being to acknow- ledge no measure. Unfortunately for the neighboring princes, the long duration of his reign enabled him to attack them all in succession. Either by fraud and strat- agem, or by violence and open war, he succeeded so far in his mighty schemes of conquest, as to destroy another em- pire (Trebisond), subdue twelve kingdoms, and capture more than two hundred cities. Mahomet failed however in his attempt to establish a universal empire, which was the great aim of his ambition. At the time when he assumed the most threatening atti- tude. Divine Providence had already raised up three illus- trious generals to check his progress, and save Europe from his destructive swav. § I. Mahomet II and Hunniades. — a. d. 1453 — 1456. The first of these was John Corvinus Hunniades, prince of Transylvania and governor of Hungary, who had pre- viously distinguished himself by his splendid exploits ao;ainst Amurat II. Althouo-h he lost the battle of Warna in 1444, his name continued to be so formidable to the in- fidels, that the Turkish women made use of it to frighten their little children, and the mere rumor of his approach at the head of an army, almost raised the siege of Con- stantinople. After the fall of that capital, the hopes of Christian Europe chiefly rested upon him, and his sword was in reality its principal defence against the attacks of Mahomet. Belgrade, a considerable and well fortified town at the confluence of the Danube and of the Save, had been for some time an object of particular envy for the Ottomans. In June 1456, it was invested by an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, whom the sultan led in person, and by a fleet so numerous that the vessels covered the two rivers. The soldiers of the garrison bravely maintained A. D. 1453—1456. MAHOMET AND HUNNIADES. 143 their position, and, until the middle of July, withstood with indomitable valor all the efforts of the assailants; still, the place, thus closely besieged and battered day and night by a formidable artillery, was in imminent danger of being reduced by famine or by storm, when the banners of Hunniades, who was hastening to its assistance, appeared waving upon the summits of the surrounding mountains, and his fleet at the same time appeared sailing down the Danube. This great man did not hesitate, with raw and half-disciplined troops, to attack the whole Turkish fleet, which obstructed his passage. The shock was so furious, the resistance so obstinate, and the slaughter so great, that the waters of the Danube seemed changed into blood. At length, the line of the Turks being broken, several of their gallies were captured; the others withdrew; and the conquerors entered the town, amidst the loud acclama- tions of the inhabitants, who hailed the arrival of Hun- niades among them as the sure sign of their approaching deliverance. Still, the danger was not yet past. The sultan, far from being dispirited, with redoubled energy caused the walls of Belgrade to be so furiously and so incessantly bat- tered, as to render their further reparation impossible. No sooner was the breach sufficiently wide, than the Turks rushed to the assault, and in order to divide the forces of the besieged, applied ladders to many places at once; they however advanced but little on that day. After having reposed during the night, the attack was renewed with still greater fury than before. In a few moments, so fierce was the conflict, that the combatants were mixed together sometimes upon the breach, sometimes within the town itself, the Christians and the Turks alternately obtaining the advantage. During this long period of awful sus- pense, Hunniades proved himself both a general and a sol- dier; throwing himself into the thickest part of the battle, he slew, or wounded and dispersed all within his reach ; while on the side of the Turks, Mahomet was seen in the 13* 144 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. midst of the Janizaries, venting his anger, foaming with rage, cursing his soldiers and even heaven itself. It was thus that boldness and the hope of victory, well regulated valor and desperate courage, exhibited the whole day a frightful scene of carnage, and produced a variety of exploits which it would be impossible to enumerate. It will suffice here to mention one of them, which really deserves particular notice. A Hungarian soldier, of com- mon rank, but of heroic sentiments, saw a Turk ascend to the top of a tower, where he began to plant his banner with the view of driving the Christians to despondency, bv making them believe that the city was already taken. Without losing an instant, he hastened after the Turk, and strove to wrest the banner from him; finding himself unable to effect his purpose, he seized the Turk, and, with the strength of despair, dragged him along with himse4f from the top of the tower, and by his death averted im- pending ruin from the Christians. At this moment, Kasan, the bravest of the Turks, was struck dead near Mahomet, and the Janizaries began to waver and retire from the bloody conflict. The sultan, by threats and promises, endeavored but in vain to rally his dispirited soldiers; being himself wounded by an ar- row, and having lost the use of his senses, he was carried away from the field of battle, where the slaughter of the Turks continued until the remains of their army escaped by flight. There were found in the camp which they hastily abandoned, about two hundred pieces of heavy ar- tillerv, forty colors, and an incredible quantity of ammu- nition, baggage, splendid tents, and other valuable objects. The battle had lasted, it is said, twenty hours, and was the severest check that the Ottomans had received during the long reign of Mahomet. When the sultan, after hav- ing recovered his senses, was informed of the extent of his disaster, he was with difficulty prevented from killing himself in despair. Nor was this a transient or momen- A. D. 14G4— 14C7. MAHOMET II AND SCANDERBEG. 145 tary impression; as long as he lived, he could not think of" Belgrade, without falling into a paroxysm of madness. Hunniades did not long survive this glorious event; only five weeks later, a violent fever, occasioned chiefly by the fatigues of the last campaign and by the infection of the Turkish camp, carried him off on the tenth of Sep- tember, 1456. Being attended in his last moments by St. John Capistran, his faithful admirer and friend, whose eloquent exhortations had greatly contributed to the vic- tory of Belgrade, he died, as he had lived, with the pious and noble sentiments of a Christian hero, after having caused himself to be carried to the church for the purpose of receiving the Holy Viaticum, ''it being proper," he said, "that the servant should go to his Lord, rather than that the Lord should come to his servant." The death of this great man, the news of which was rapidly spread, again brought over Europe that gloom which his victory had dispelled. Pope Calixtus III, on being apprized of the sad event, shed an abundance of tears; and Mahomet himself is said to have exclaimed in a melancholy tone : "Never was there a greater general in the world; and now that he is dead, there is none whose overthrow could be a sufficient compensation for my defeat." This, how- ever, was not strictly exact; and Mahomet deceived him- self, if, without considering Matthias Corvinus, who, like his father, inflicted severe defeats on the Turks, he did not look upon Scanderbeg as an opponent worthy of him, and at least equal to Hunniades. § IL Mahomet II and Scanderbeg. (1464 — 146r). Scanderbeg, otherwise called Georges Castriot, was king of Albania, a rough and mountainous district situated on the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea. In the beginning of his reign (1443), he vigorously shook off* the yoke laid by the Ottomans on his father and country, and, with a 146 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. handful of warriors, maintained his position against their innumerable armies during the space of twenty-four years. Amurat II, who attacked him first, soon experienced the effects of his undaunted valor ; and having presumed to besiege Croja, the capital city of Albania, met there, in Scanderbeg who defended it, an invincible opponent, no armor however strong, no warrior how brave soever, being able to resist this hero. During the whole siege, the Turks were continually harassed by sallies and skir- mishes conducted with equal vigor and ability. Their loss, both before the walls of Croja and during their re- treat, was so great, and their defeats so signal and so ignominious, that the grief of Amurat on this occasion is thought to have accelerated his death. The war continued under Mahomet II, who contented himself in the beginning with sending many of his generals against the Albanians; but Scanderbeg knew so well how to avail himself of his perfect knowledge of the country, of its mountains and defiles, that he repeatedly routed the Turks, notwithstanding their superior forces. On several of these occasions, they lost from twenty to thirty thou- sand men. At length (towards the year 1464), the sultan determined to go and avenge in person so many defeats ; having raised one of those formidable armies with which he had so often visited the neighboring states, he invaded the Albanian territory at the head of two hundred thou- sand men. Scanderbeg had not more than a handful of soldiers with him; still, the Turks were again repeatedly defeated, Croja was once more saved from their yoke, and Mahomet was compelled to retire with disappointment and shame. The time was now come for Scanderbeg; to exchange earthly laurels for a heavenly crown, the reward of his piety and of the valor which he displayed in the defence of religion. He was taken dangerously ill in the city of Lissa; and, aware that his last hour was approaching, he prepared for it, with his usual magnanimity and fortitude, AD. 1464-1467. MAHOMET II AND SCANDERBEG. 147 in the most edifying manner. The last spark of life was about to be extinguished, when information was brought that fifteen thousand Turks had reentered his temtory, and were at a short distance; at this news, he seemed to recover his former strength and warlike ardor, looked for his sword, and giving his orders to the little army wliich always accompanied him, waited for the result of the bat- tle, until, hearing the glad sounds of victory, he fell back upon his bed and calmly expired, at the age of sixty-three, on the seventeenth of January, 1467. His death proved an irreparable misfortune for his faithful subjects, who, deprived of their invincible leader, could no longer resist the overwhelming forces of the Ottomans. Hence nothing could be more just and proper than the deep and general affliction caused by the loss of this hero ; even his charger is said to have shed tears over him, and, by refusing to take his food, to have died of grief three days after his noble, and justly lamented master. The Turks them- selves, to whom he had been so formidable an enemy du- ring life, were not the least zealous in honoring his me- mory. They not only touched his coffin with a kind of religious veneration, but having obtained some parcels of his bones, had them enshrined in silver or gold, to be car- ried in battles, as a sure pledge, they imagined, of safety and victory. There indeed appeared in Scanderbeg something almost above human nature; and it is certain that very few gen- erals were ever equal to him in firmness of mind, strength of body, heroic valor and brilliant success. He gained twenty -two victories over the Ottomans, whilst they were in the height of their power and under the most terrible of their sultans; and having, with his own sword, slain about two thousand of them in different engagements, he was but once slightly wounded. Mahomet, imagining that there was perhaps something extraordinary and marvellous in his cimeter, desired to see it; but not having found the famous weapon what he expected it to be, returned it with 148 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. a sort of contempt. "I sent my cimeter to the sultan," said the Albanian prince, "but not the hand which knows how to wield it in battle." Nearly the whole life of Scanderbeg was a series of wonderful actions, the oftspring of the noblest feelings. He not only displayed the intrepidity of a warrior, and the talents of a consummate general, but also practised the social and Christian virtues in a high degree of perfec- tion. Most historians represent him as the mildest of men ; and yet, such was the struggle within him, whenever he met with great opposition, that his lower lip would split and bleed; whence we may conclude that, as he was natu- rally much inclined to anger, his great mildness must have been the effect of a sublime virtue, and of an extraordinary violence which he offered to himself. This self control, united with the highest degree of military heroism, ought to excite universal admiration for Scanderbeg, and more- over convince every one that the spirit of the true religion, instead of debasing the soul and weakening its energy, as some impious men falsely assert, is, on the contrary, the source of the purest sentiments and noblest actions of which man is capable. Besides the striking examples of Scanderbeg and Hunniades, another evidence of this truth will be seen in the illustrious Peter d'Aubusson, who was also raised up by the Almighty as a rampart to his people, against the invading power of Mahomet. § III. Mahomet II and Peter D'Aubusson. (1476—1481.) The sultan was incensed against the Knights Hospital- lers of St. John of Jerusalem, for the severe losses which they daily inflicted on his commerce, navy, and maritime provinces. The storm was now preparing to burst upon them; and the Grand -Master, Peter d'Aubusson, had scarcely completed his preparations to oppose a vigorous resistance, when, in the spring of the year 1480, the island AT). 1476-1481. MAHOMETIIAND P. d'auBUSSON. 149 of Rhodes, the principal residence of the order, was at- tacked by a fleet of one hundred and sixty vessels, and one hundred thousand men destined to fight on land. That powerful armament at once directed all its eflbrts against the capital city of the island, whose walls were, during three months, battered by pieces of ordnance similar to those which had destroyed the ramparts of Constantino- ple. But all this proved no match for Peter d'Aubus- son and his intrepid knights ; besides their cannons, they used aorainst the Ottoman artillery a formidable eno-ine, which, by violently hurling enormous stones and frag- ments of rocks, caused frightful ravages in the camp of the besiegers. Scarcely a day passed without an assault from the Turks or a sally from the garrison ; and in every engagement the advantage, although without a decisive result, was on the side of the Rhodians. As the wall, however, had been, in many parts, thrown down by the continual firing of the cannon, the com- mander of the Turkish army. Bashaw Misach Paleologus, a Greek renegado, led his troops to a general assault. He indeed conducted it with great ability and bravery; but, to his great disappointment, the defence was not less vigorous than the attack. The Grand -Master displayed on this occasion a presence of mind, a magnanimity and courage seldom equalled, never surpassed. Neither the combined efforts of twelve Janizaries who fell desperately upon him during the conflict, nor excess of fatigue, nor five large wounds which he received, could induce him to withdraw for a single moment from the perilous post which his valor had selected. So noble an example in- spired his knights with fresh ardor; all seemed trans- formed into so many undaunted heroes, anxious to save their magnanimous prince, or to perish with him on the field of battle. After a tremendous fight, the assailants were repulsed, at all points, from the breach, and leaving several thousand slain around the walls of the city, they fled to their vessels and reembarked in terror and despair. 150 MODERN HISTORY. Pa,tVl. The Grand-Master, covered with his own blood and with that of his enemies, was conveyed to his palace, where his wounds were dressed. He happily recovered in a short time; and as soon as he was able to walk, re- paired to the church to give solemn thanks to the God of hosts for the splendid victory which he had gained. His next care was to bestow rewards on those of his soldiers and knio-hts who had evinced the greatest courage in the time of danger ; and, in order to give proper relief to the poor inhabitants of the country whose property had been laid waste by the Turks, he generously maintained them until the following harvest, and relieved them for many years from the taxes which they paid before the invasion. It was in those and the like laudable occupations that P. d'Aubusson spent the remainder of his life. When he felt himself attacked by a mortal disease, he was not in the least disturbed at the sight of approaching death, but en- countered it on the bed of sickness with the same tranquil- lity with which he had so often faced it amidst the greatest perils of war. He died at the age of eighty, justly ven- erated and esteemed throughout the whole world as one of the most illustrious Grand-Masters of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, one of the ablest generals of his age, the delight and pattern of his fellow-knights, the father of the poor, the deliverer of Rhodes, the sword and shield of Christendom, a model as well of sincere piety as of intrepid valor. Far different was the sultan of the Turks. This haughty monarch had been exasperated by the disaster of his army in the island of Rhodes, and in his fury he swore ven- geance against the Christians. The city of Otranto, on the shore of the Adriatic, being already occupied by his troops, who had taken and plundered it in August 1480, extraordinary preparations were commenced for fresh in- vasions, and new calamities threatened Italy, Rhodes and other states, when a violent disease suddenly put an end to both the life and the projects of the Mussulman Attila ..D. 1455-1485. CONTEST, ETC. 151 (a. d. 1481). He had reigned thirty and lived about fifty- two years. The Turks, on account of his talents and extensive conquests, place him in the first rank of their sovereigns ; Gibbon and Voltaire praise him as a magnani- jnous prince; but all who know that there is no true greatness without virtue, and are aware of the many acts of insatiable ambition, perfidiousness and barbarity with which the whole of Mahomet's life was sullied, cannot but consider him as a scourge of humanity and a very monster. Dissensions which arose between his sons, and engaged all their attention, left that part of Europe in peace for many years. CONTEST OF THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK IN ENGLAND.— A. D. 1455—1485. England, although not attacked by foreign enemies, still continued in a state of considerable agitation, the causes and progress of which will now be more fully re- lated. King Henry VI was a prince of virtuous disposition and inoffensive character, but had always exhibited great weakness of mind in his government, and such a want of resolution as encouraged some of his relatives to endeavor to deprive him of his crown. At their head was Richard, duke of York, the first prince of the blood, who, by his mother, stood one degree nearer to the throne than the reigning house of Lancaster; he possessed those talents which render the leader of a party extremely dangerous, and exercised great influence over the principal nobility of England. Unfortunately, at this time, there existed great discon- tent against the court, on account of the ill success of the last war in France for the recovery of Guienne. The artful duke was careful to encourage the public opinion, at first secretly, afterwards more openly, as soon as cir- cumstances permitted him to do so without peril. At 14 152 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. length, he raised troops, for the purpose, he said, of re- forming the government; and boldly taking the field, de- feated the royalists at St. Albans, and took the king prisoner (a. d. 1455). This circumstance, still more than the victory itself, served admirably well the ambitious views of Richard, and enabled him, in leaving to his royal captive the insignia of royalty, to assume with impunity the government of the realm. The battle of St. Albans was the first in that awful and unnatural struggle, which armed the rival houses of Lancaster and York against each other, made Great Bri- tain one extensive theatre of atrocities, was signalized by twelve pitched battles, cost the lives of more than a hun- dred thousand men with eighty princes of the blood, and almost completely annihilated the ancient nobility of Eng- land. It was prolonged by the obstinate valor of both parties, and by the great ability of their leaders. Besides Duke Richard, the chief commanders of the Yorkists were his son Edward, whose military skill was superior even to that of his father, and, during a certain time, the in- trepid earl of Warwick, surnamed the maker and the des- troyer of kings. The real head of the Lancastrians was queen Margaret, a princess of masculine courage and wonderful constancy, which she displayed in the most distressing circumstances that can perhaps ever befall a queen, a wife and a mother. This fatal and sanguinary contest is well known under the denomination of the two roses, from the white rose^ the distinctive badge of the house of York, and the red rose, that of the Lancastrian family. Various were the alternations of success; and king Henry VI frequently passed from the state of a sovereign to that of a captive, and again changed his prison for the throne. His parti- sans seemed to prevail in 1460, when, being strongly up- held by the queen, they gained at Wakefield a signal victory against the duke of York, who, with many of his followers, lost his life in the conflict. But this success of X. p. 145^1485. CONTEST, ETC. 153 the royal cause was not of long duration. Prince Edward not only retrieved the losses and fully repaired the defeat of his party, but even marched to London and caused him- self to be proclaimed king without further delay. Re- turning to the northern counties, he overtook the Lancas- trians near Towton, and completely defeated them, after a tremendous and most obstinate conflict, which cost the lives of thirty-eight thousand combatants (a. d. 1461). This battle was decisive against the royalists. The un- fortunate Henry fled to Scotland for refuge; but his queen and son had to encounter very strange adventures. On one occasion, as the young prince and his mother were crossing a mountainous district, they were surprised by a troop of banditti, who stripped them of their money, jewels and other articles of value. It is probable that they con- cealed their quality; otherwise, such distinguished cap- tives would have been more carefully guarded. The ruf- fians began to quarrel about the division of the booty; me- naces were uttered, and swords drawn; when Margaret, watching her opportunity, grasped her son by the arm, and plunged into the thickest part^f the wood. She had not proceeded far, when another robber made his appear- ance. The queen, with the intrepidity of despair, ad- vanced to meet him, and taking young Edward by the hand, "Friend," said she, "I intrust to you the son of your king. " These words so moved the robber, that he took them both under his protection, and conducted them to a place of safety. How desperate soever the cause of the red rose might now appear, the courage and the spirit of Margaret were not yet subdued. Indefatigable in her exertions, she re- peatedly crossed the sea, in order to obtain foreign assist- ance, and often reappeared at the head of her partisans in England. Her hopes were cheered by a temporary gleam of success, particularly in the year 1470, when, by the se- cession of the earl of Warwick from the Yorkist to the Lancastrian side, and by the sudden, though momentary 154 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VI. flight of king Edward, Henry VI was once more replaced upon the British throne. But no later than the following year 1471, the fatal battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury for ever blasted the fruit of so many efforts. The unfortunate monarch again fell into the hands of his implacable ene- mies, was again recommitted to the tower, and shortly after deprived of life. His royal consort, and his son, then eighteen years of age, being now destitute of all re- sources, were also taken prisoners. The young prince was immediately led to the conqueror's tent; and, having been asked the reason of his appearance at the head of an army, replied with equal boldness and candor: "To pre- serve my father's crown and my own inheritance." Ed- ward, enraged at this answer, brutally struck him on the face with his gauntlet; and the assistants imitating his barbarity despatched him Avith their swords. As to Mar- garet, after having supported to the end the cause of the Lancastrian family, and having outlived her fortune, her friends, her husband and her son, she was ransomed for fifty thousand crowns, and died in France a few years after. Edward IV remained in the undisturbed possession of the English crown; but, after his death, which happened A. D. 1483, dissensions again disturbed the peace of the royal family. Of his two next successors, Edward V, his son, and Richard III, his brother, the former was de- throned, imprisoned and put to death by the latter, a faith- less and ferocious prince, who did not long enjoy the fruit of his detestable ambition. Notwithstanding all the pre- cautions of his artful and tyrannical policy, a strong party was formed in favor of another rival, Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond, member of the house of Lancaster by a col- lateral and female line. A single battle fought at Bos- worth in the year 1485, decided the important quarrel; Richard lost his life, and the victorious army presently proclaimed his rival king of England, under the name o Henry VII. The title of this prince was afterwards con- A. D. 1479-1492. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 155 firmed by an act of parliament; and his marriage with Elizabeth the heiress of the house of York, uniting together the claims of both families, put an end to the protracted feuds of the Plantagenets, and to the civil war which had deluged England with blood during the space of thirty years. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.— FINAL OVERTHROW OF THE MOORS IN SPAIN.— a. d. 1479—1492. At this period, Isabella, princess of Castile, who suc- ceeded her brother Henry IV on the throne in 1474, was united in marriage with Ferdinand of Arragon, who in- herited the crown of his father Juan II, in 1479. This marriage permanently cemented the chief states of Chris- tian Spain in one extensive empire. The Spanish mon- archy became thus, almost on a sudden, more respectable and powerful than it had been ever since the flourishing times of the Visigoths. This however was owing less per- haps to the fortunate union of the two crowns in one fa- mily, than to the uncommon ability and perfect accord with which Ferdinand and Isabella governed their domin- ions. By vigorous enactments and still more vigorous measures, they checked the torrent of disorders and crimes to which the preceding civil wars had given rise ; destroyed the castles and fortresses from which restless lords issued forth to infest all the country round; revoked the grant of gratuities, which exhausted the public treasury; rescued the people from the oppression of the nobles; and subjected the nobles themselves to the control of their royal au- thority. It was at this epoch (a. d. 1480) that they estab- lished in Spain the famous and, we may add, the so much and yet so little known tribunal of the Inquisition.* In the mean time, the Moors having, notwithstanding * See Note B. 14* 156 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. the existing truce, imprudently recommenced hostilities, Isabella and Ferdinand conceived the just and glorious de- sign of annihilating their power in the peninsula. Hith- erto, these sworn enemies of the Christian name had main- tained themselves in the southern provinces, and, though they had gradually lost an immense portion of their terri- tory, still remained masters of the flourishing kingdom of Granada, which contained a number of fortified places and three millions of inhabitants. But the time had now come, when, after a struggle of nearly eight centuries between the Moors and the Christians, they were to be stripped of this last possession in Spain. The two sove- reigns skilfully took advantage of the imprudent step ot the Mussulmans and of the bloody factions which began to prevail among their princes; they declared war against them, and prosecuted it with vigor. During the space of eight years (1482 — 1490), the difterent towns and for- tresses of the kingdom of Granada fell successively into the hands of the Castilians; and there remained, in 1491, only its capital to be subdued. This was, it is true, a very difficult and perilous attempt. Two powerful fortresses, a thousand towers, walls of a prodigious size, and thirty thousand warriors defended this superb capital, the last possession of the Moors in Spain. But all these obstacles did not deter Ferdinand and Isabella from pursuing their favorite plan with wonderful activity; and Granada was invested by a gallant army of fifty thousand men, whom the presence of their sovereigns stimulated with unconquerable ardor, patience and constancy. In that siege, the Spaniards neither made use of artillery nor attempted an assault, their only object being to reduce the city by famine, and repel the sallies of the garrison. During six months, the spot between Granada and the Spanish camp was a theatre of almost continual skirmishes, and innumerable exploits were performed by the knights of both parties; but never could the Moors bring their opponents to a general en- A. D. 1479—1492. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 157 gagement. Ferdinand was too prudent to expose the issue of an expedition in which he was nearly certain of suc- cess, to the hazard of a battle: he contented himself with protecting his troops bj solid entrenchments; and then, to let the Moors fully understand his fixed determination to conquer Granada, he built, at the suggestion of Isabella, in the place of the encampment, a regular city with its houses and streets, under the name of Santa Fe, a name which it still retains. The inhabitants of Granada, and Boabdil, their king, were driven to despair when they beheld the unshaken resolution of an enemy who spared neither time, nor ex- pense, nor fatigue, to attain his object. The first pangs of starvation and the fear of still greater evils in future, in- duced them to enter into a negotiation with the besiegers. Having obtained a truce for two months, during which no opportunity presented itself of averting their impending ruin, they finally consented, under the condition of mild and honorable treatment, to surrender into the hands of the Castilian sovereigns. Isabella and Ferdinand took possession of Granada in the beginning of the year 1492, after having granted to Boabdil extensive estates and an annual income of fifty thousand ducats in exchange for his kingdom. Notwith- standing these advantages, the unfortunate monarch could not quit his capital without shedding a flood of tears; and when he gazed at it for the last time from the summit of a neighboring hill, he repeatedly exclaimed: "O splendid city! Lord God of hosts! What misfortunes have ever been equal to mine!" Upon which his mother ironically said to him: "You do well to lament, like a woman, the loss of a kingdom which you did not know how to defend like a man." Being soon disgusted with his new situa- tion, he, after the example of his uncle El Zagal, who had long contended with him for the crown, sold his estates to Ferdinand, and passed over to Africa, where, having lived twenty years longer, he was at last killed in a bat- 158 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI. tie fought by the King of Fez against the sovereign of Morocco. The other Moors, besides the king and his attendants, had also, with due proportion, obtained valuable advan- tages from their new sovereigns. By the treaty of peace, they were allowed either to retire to the African conti- nent with their families and riches, or to stay in the pen- insula, with privileges scarcely inferior to those enjoyed by the other Spaniards, and such as induced great num- bers to remain. Unhappily, the course of time showed their submission not to be very sincere and constant; and experience taught the Spanish government the necessity of adopting severer measures to check their present and hin- der their future rebellions. In fine, some proofs having been obtained that they were planning a general insurrec- tion, about the year 1609, they were expelled from the Spanish territories, by an edict of king Philip III, those only being excepted who had become sincere Christians, and whose descendants still subsist in the southern dis- tricts of Spain. The wonderful abilities of Isabella and Ferdinand had founded on a permanent basis the greatness of the Span- ish monarchy; by the conquest of Granada it was raised to an eminent degree of splendor ; and, within a few years, a variety of other successful events gave it that mighty preponderance which it enjoyed in Europe during this and the two following reigns. REMARKS ON THE DISCOVERIES M.\DE DURING THE SIXTH PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY. Before we quit this period, we will make some remarks on the important discoveries in which it abounds. The celebrated Roger Bacon, an Englishman, who flourished towards the end of the thirteenth century, is said to have prepared the way for the invention of gun-powder; REMARKS ON THE DISCOVERIES^ ETC. 159 but the invention itself is more generally ascribed to Schwartz, a German, who lived at the same time, or shortly after. The use of that tremendous composition produced a material change in military tactics; cannon and musketry gradually taking the place of bows, cata- pults, balisters, battering rams, and other warlike en- gines. During the course of the fifteenth century, the application of artillery to the different parts of warfare, sieges, naval combats, etc., became general among civil- ized nations ; and it is a remarkable fact that, ever since that time, battles have been less cruel and bloody than thev were during: the foreoroino- ages.* * We do not read or hear of any combat having been, ever since the universal adoption of gun-powder, hadf so bloody as many were before, V. g. the battles of Ancyra( A. d. 1402),Tarifa(1340),Murandal (1212), Toure (732), Chalons (451), all which have been mentioned in this his- tory^; and, in more remote ages, the battles of Arbela (b. c. 331), Platea (b. c. 479), each of which cost the lives of nearly three hundred thou- sand Persians ; and particularly the awful fight of the kin^s of Juda and Israel, Abia and Jeroboam (b. c. 958), in which, according to the un- exceptionable account of the sacred vn-iter, there fell, on the part of the Israelites alone, five hundred thousand men slain or wounded (II Paral, xiii. 17) ; whereas, in the most tremendous and decisive battles of lat- ter times, v. g. Austerlitz, Leipzic, Waterloo, the loss of the vanquished did not exceed thirty or forty thousand. Reason itself, if we reflect ever so little, confirms our general asser- tion concerning the great difference to be remarked between recent and ancient battles. It is manifest, all other circumstances being equaJ, that armies fighting at a distance with cannon and musketry, are not exposed to so shocking a mode of spilling blood, nor to such cruel ani- mosity, nor to such terrible destruction, as when fighting hand to hand with swords, spears and battle-axes. For, in the first case, besides the length of time required to fix the batteries, and the vast number of shots which miss their object, if either of the two armies begins to suffer too severely, it may, generally speaking, avoid all further danger of des- truction, by retiring beyond the reach of the enemy's guns — in the se- cond case, the hostile troops being frequently within the reach of the sword, and, as it were, mingled together, a dreadful slaughter must un- avoidably follow, both during the regular fight, and also after it, owing to the closeness of the pursuit. To these facts and reflections we cannot reasonably oppose the frightful disaster of the French army in Russia (a. d. 1812), because it was the effect of a whole campaign, not of a single battle, and of in- tense cold, want of food, and the crossing of difficult rivers, more than of the Russian cannon. The only plausible objection perhaps that can be made against our view of the subject, is, that ^n-powder being a powerful means of destruction added to those which already existed, must consequently be reckoned a real and very great evil — but it should 160 MODERN HISTORY. Part Vl. In 1410, painting in oil was invented at Bruges, by- John Van-Eyck. To the year 1417 is referred by some the useful inven- tion of making paper from linen rags. A still more important invention was that of the art of printing, the authors of which, according to the more common opinion of learned men, were Faust, Schoeffer and Guttemberg, at Mentz, about the year 1440.* It was soon followed by engraving and etching in copper. Towards 1470 post-horses were established by King Louis XI. also be remarked that it is rather a means which has superseded others still worse, more cruel, more bloody, and more drealully murderous, both in public wars and in private quarrels ; and, since there have al- ways been, and unfortunately always will be quarrels among individ- uals, and wars among nations, we are authorized to conclude that the invention of gun-powder, instead of being a great misfortune, as is commonly imagined, has been, on the contraiy, a real and vjduable ser- vice rendered to humanity * The first printers carried their types about in bags, and printed small pamphlets, letters, etc. in noblemen's houses. I'he first entire book issued from their press, was the Psalter in Latin, printed at Mentz A. D. 1457, of which there are yet two copies extant, one in the imperial library at Vienna in Austria; the other was bought by King Louis XVIII for the sum of 12,000 francs. A complete edition of the Bible in Latin, a copy of which was purchased by the same king for 20,000 francs, came out in two folio vols., also at Mentz, a. d. 1462. Fz'om that epoch, the process of typography was so rapid, that, even before the close of the fifteenth century, a variety of editions of the Bible, and an incredible number of other useful books, were published in the different pails of Europe. It is certain that the art of printing, by removing for ever the evil of the scarcity of books, has been highly conducive to the greater diffusion of religious truth and literaiy instruction ; but, alas ! it has also become a powerful vehicle of error, incredulity, sophisms, immorality, infamous and slanderous tales, etc., so apt are men to abuse the very best things which lie within their reach. Indeed, what can be more deplorable than to see the vast number of irreligious, impious, and scandalous pro- ductions of every kind and every size, with which the world is deluged ? However, since the abuse of any valuable art or object does not detract from its intrinsic value, the application of the art of printing to matters of this description cannot be a sufficient motive to inveigh against the art considered in itself, and we ought rather gratefully to consider it as a gift of Divine Providence, intended to be, as it really has been, one of the chief instruments towards completing the revival of science and letters, and securing the triumph of the tme religion over error and infidelity. REMARKS ON THE DISCOVERIES^ ETC. 161 In fine, the last years of this age were signalized by the discovery of America, and that of the passage of the Cape of Good Hope to the East Indies; two events of paramount importance, an account of which belongs to the seventh part of Modern History. PART VII. FROM THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA (A. D. 1492), TO THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES OR PARIS, IN VV^HICH THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES WAS SOLEMNLY AND UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWL- EDGED (A. D. 1783). PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON AMERICA. It is a well founded opinion that America was known to some among the nations of antiquity, particularly the Egyptians and Carthaginians. Besides the mention made by Plato, in his dialogues, and the description ascribed to Solon, of the great island Atlantis, whose existence and identity with the American continent may be called in question; there is in Seneca's Medea a passage showing that the ancients had truly the notion of an extensive por- tion of the world, which, though separated from them by the ocean, might be discovered in aftertimes.* Above all, a very ancient author, who is commony supposed to be Aristotle, expressly affirms that the Carthaginians, in one of their maritime excursions, discovered a vast and beautiful land, far beyond the straits of Hercules (Gibral- tar) ; but that the senate, for fear of depopulating the re- public, forbade other ships to go thither, and endeavored to suppress the notice of the discovery. t * Venient annis secula seris, Quibus oceanus vincula rerum Laxet, et ingens pateat tellus, Tethysque novos detegat orbes, Nee erit terris ultima Thule. — Medea, Act ii. I. 375, t See, on this interesting subject, Univers. Hist. vol. xxx. p. 142 — 186, and vol. cxiv. p. 5 of the Introdxict. to the History of America \ — also Bible Vengee de Duclot, vol. i. Observations preliminaires ; — Dr. Wise- man, Lectures on the connexion between science and revealed religion, p. 82—86. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 163 Whatever may be said on this point, the population of America itself and its descent from the inhabitants of the old world, form no longer a difficulty among learned men, and are satisfactorily accounted for in many different ways. The first is that of a regular and bold navigation, by steerino; either westward from the coasts of Africa throush the Atlantic, like the Carthaginians, several of whom, ac- cording to the ancient author just quoted, remained in the fertile and extensive country which they had discovered — or from the northwest of Europe, through Greenland — or from the eastern shores of Asia, v. g. from China and Japan, by the long and almost uninterrupted series of islands in the Pacific Ocean. This seems chiefly to have been the course followed by the ancestors of the Peruvians and Mexicans; for, besides the wise conjectures of Hor- nius in his work de Origine Gent. America?!, and the solid proofs adduced by Mr. de Guisgnes in the History of the Huns and Researches on the Chinese navigation ; there exists so striking a coincidence of monuments, hierogly- phic figures, strange customs, and arbitrary signs for the computation of time, between the Peruvians and Mexi- cans on one side, and the Egyptians, Thibetians, Mo- guls and Japanese on the other, as to leave no doubt with regard to the identical origin of the nations of both conti- nents, and the direction taken by the migratory colonies in their passage from one country to the other. A still easier means of communication between the two continents was to cross, with boats in summer, and upon the ice in winter, the narrow strait of Behring, which separates North America from the north-east of Asia. That this means was really resorted to, must appear evi- dent to every one from the innumerable marks of resem- blance in color, size, constitution, manners, etc, between the inhabitants of the opposite shores of North America and Asia. Not long since, two learned travellers, Stel- ler and Kracheninnikow, proved this truth to a high de- 15 164 MODERN HISTORY. Part vil. gree of certainty in the first volume of the History of Kamtschatka. In fine, strong winds and tempests have been also justly reckoned among the very probable causes of the population of America, particularly of the eastern parts of South America. How often, during the course of ages, may not ships have been surprised by storms, and driven from the coasts of Europe or Africa to the American shores r Nor is this gratuitously supposed ; it seems rather to rest on well authenticated facts. When Alvarez Cabral, the Portuguese admiral, was going from Portugal to the East Indies, in the year 1500, his fleet was hurried by a furious tempest, across the Atlantic, to the coasts of Brazil, of which he took possession in the name of his sovereign; so that the New World would have become known in conse- quence of this accident, had it not been discovered eight years before by the genius of Columbus. In 1731, a boat carrying six men was driven in the same direction from the Canary islands to the mouth of the river Oronoco; the men were still alive, although nearly starved. Is it not reasonable to believe that similar causes may have occa- sionally produced similar effects in preceding ages .^ Thus is the population of America in its close connex- ion with the inhabitants of the old world, easily and in manv ways explained. But, like many ancient nations shortly after the deluge, most of the American tribes were, at the time of their discovery, totally uncivilized, the only exception found by the Europeans being that of the empires of Mexico and Peru; and even this Mexican and Peruvian civilization was, on several accounts, very im- perfect, nor can it be traced back further than three or four centuries. Yet, they had preserved the remembrance of some religious truths, v. g. of the immortality of the soul, and of a deluge which destroyed all mankind except one family who repeopled the earth. This is a new evi- dence of the identity of origin which links together all the branches of the human family, and of their descent x.D. 1492-1506. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, ETC. 165 from one common stock, as the Scripture asserts (Wisd. X. 1; Act. Apost. xvii. 26). DISCOVERY OF AMERICA— CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. A. D. 1492—1506. The great man whose life connects the history of the ancient continent with that of the new, Christopher Co- lumbus, was born of a wool -comber, at or near Genoa, probably in 1441. From his childhood, he manifested a strong propensity for voyages, and, as soon as he was able, indulged it by partaking in the maritime expeditions of the Genoese his countrymen. In this employment, his natural genius acquired that practical knowledge, that fertility of resource, that undaunted resolution and vigi- lant self-cOmmand for which he was afterwards so remark- able. Success increased his inclination for a nautical career, and existing circumstances gave it a peculiar di- rection which finally led to the discovery of America. About this time the Portuguese endeavored to find out a passage to the East Indies by coasting along the shores of Africa. Though they advanced but slowly, their at- tempts and their discoveries suggested to the mind of Columbus a still bolder idea: the study of both the an- cient and recent geographical maps, together with the knowledge of the sphericity of the earth, led him to be- lieve that, by steering directly to the west across the Atlantic, one might easily reach the Asiatic continent. This theory included indeed a partial mistake, in as much as Columbus had not formed a correct estimate of the size of our globe, nor of the distance of the eastern extremity of Asia from the west of Europe ; but the principal idea was not, on that account, less worthy of a great and mighty genius. A variety of circumstances concurred to impress his theory more and more upon his mind. Reeds of an ex- 166 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIL traordinary size, and such as were said to grow only in India, floated to the Azore islands from the west; pieces of wood carved in an unusual manner, and trees of an unknown species had been lately found drifting from the same quarter; above all, a canoe, driven by westerly winds, had been seen carrying the dead bodies of two men, whose features differed from those of any known race of people. These, and other facts of a like nature, confirmed Columbus in his belief of the existence of undiscovered lands in the west. Having thus formed his theory, he determined to carry it himself into effect; but this required the cooperation of some princely power, and Columbus had the mortification to see his proposal of the noble undertaking rejected, with more or less contempt, by the republic of Genoa and by the court of Portugal, to which he successively applied. Even in Spain, where he met with a reception more favor- able to his views, many years elapsed in a course of fruit- less negotiations and repeated disappointments, before obtaining the aid so earnestly desired. Indeed, having already despatched his brother Bartholomew to England, he himself was on the point of departing for France, when, at the representations of some zealous and influential per- sons, Isabella and Ferdinand at length consented to fur- nish him with three small vessels, and ninety mariners, who were joined by several private adventurers and ser- vants, making the whole number about one hundred and twenty persons. It was with the help of this weak squad- ron that Columbus undertook to brave the dangers of un- known seas, in order to execute one of the boldest designs ever conceived. On the 3d of August, 1492, having, with his oflicers and crew, prepared himself by religious exercises for the ha- zardous undertaking, he sailed from the harbor of Palos in Andalusia, under the royal commission which appoint- ed him admiral of the new seas, and viceroy of the lands he was going to discover. He stopped for some weeks at A D 1492-1508. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, ETC. 167 the Canary islands, to repair his vessels and refresh their crews, and then steered directly west. A gentle breeze blowing from the east, speedily wafted them over a tran- quil sea; so that, at the end of four weeks more, they had come two thousand two hundred miles. No land however yet appeared; and Columbus had often to struggle against the murmurs and dismay of his companions, who loudly insisted on abandoning the voyage. Some even carried their mutiny so far as to propose in their meetings to throw him into the sea and spread the report that he had fallen overboard while observing the stars with his astro- nomical instruments. Columbus, in order to pacify their clamors, had to use consummate prudence; he assured them that they would discover the land within the space of three days. That it was not distant he knew from many certain signs: v. g. birds, and fish of such kinds as never go far from the' shore, and also green branches, which were seen near the vessels as they advanced. The three days had not elapsed, before land was descried; and, a few hours after, on the 12th of October, the crews disembarked, to the very great surprise of the harmless natives. The land thus discovered was called by its in- habitants Guanahani, one of the Bahama islands. It would be difficult to conceive the respect which the Spaniards now manifested for the great man whom they 80 lately threatened with death; and still more so, to describe the feelings of Columbus himself at the sight of his happy discovery. As a memorial of the termination of those dangers from which he had been rescued, he gave the island the name of San- Salvador, and took pos- session of it for the Castiiian sovereigns. Then again putting to sea, he discovered Cuba, and shortly after another extensive and beautiful island called Hayti, a name which it has resumed in these latter times, after having been successively called Hispaniola and San-Do- mingo. Every where, a fertile soil exhibited to the sight of the Spaniards productions and animals unknown in 15* 168 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. Europe. In some places, gold was so abundant that valu- able pieces of it were easily obtained for little mirrors, small bells, and other trifles given in exchange; the sim- ple and artless natives setting little value on that metal so much prized by other nations. Struck with astonish- ment at the dress, color and arms of the Spaniards, they took these new guests for so many supernatural beings descended from the sky, and accordingly received them with all imaginable kindness and respect. As Columbus always supposed that their country was the extremity of Eastern India, he gave them the name of hidians ; an ap- pellation which, notwithstanding the subsequent acknowl- edgment of the mistake, the aboriginals of the new world have hitherto retained. Columbus now thought of returning to Spain, that he might be the first to impart to the sovereigns the news of his success and discoveries. On^ of his vessels having run ao-round, he used the remains of the wreck, with the consent of the Indians, to build a fort upon the shores of Hayti, and leaving in it forty of his companions, sailed for Europe in January, 1493. In the middle of the ocean the two remaining vessels were assailed by so furious a tempest, that Columbus, abandoning all hope, wrote a hasty account of his voyage, and, having surrounded the paper with a waxed cloth, put the whole in a cask, which he threw into the sea, hoping that the Waves might drive it to the land. Happily, this precaution proved unneces- sary; the storm abated, and, on the fifteenth of March, Columbus triumphantly entered the harbor of Palos, from which he had sailed about seven months before. The fortunate admiral proceeded by land to the court, which was at Barcelona; and, as a specimen of his im- portant discoveries, offered to Isabella and Ferdinand a variety of golden ornaments and productions of the new world. The sovereigns, in return, gave him every mark of regard and esteem, and confirmed his title of admiral and viceroy. After their example, the courtiers and lords A. D. 1492-1506. BISCOVERY OF AMERICA^ ETC. 169 seemed to vie with each other in bestowing upon him proofs of personal consideration. As, however, there are never wanting mean characters, jealous of the reputation of others, some persons of this description once publicly- told him that, after all, he had not much reason to glory in the discovery of America, some little share of courage and a fortunate chance havinji; been sufficient to bring: the attempt to a successful issue. Columbus made no direct reply, but, taking an egg, invited the company to make it stand upon one end. As no one could do this, he struck the egg upon the table, so as to break the end, and left it standing on the broken part, showing, in this simple and pleasant manner, that the most perplexing things may be- come the easiest to be done when we are once shown the way, but not before; and that such was exactly the case with regard to the attempt of going in search of unknown lands. The tidings of the great discovery made by Columbus were rapidly spread throughout Europe, filling every one with astonishment, and diifusing among nations a lively spirit for maritime enterprise. The Spanish sovereigns lost no time in taking means to secure their new acquisi- tions. A bull was obtained from Pope Alexander VI, granting them the investiture of all the lands that had been or that might be discovered in Western India, under the condition of planting and propagating the Catholic faith among the inhabitants. But, lest the discoveries of the Spaniards should interfere with those of the Portu- guese, which had likewise been secured by a Papal bull, an ideal line was drawn, by order of the Pope, from the northern to the southern pole, a hundred leagues west of the Azores. All land discovered to the west of this line was conceded to the Spanish crown; all discovered in the opposite direction was to belong to Portugal.* In the mean time, great exertions were made in the * See note C. 170 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI I. Spanish ports to fit out a second expedition upon a larger scale. It consisted of seventeen ships, and about fifteen hundred persons, among whom there were laborers and artisans of all kinds intended for the projected colony, and twelve clergymen destined to impart religious instruction to the natives. With these, Columbus sailed from Cadiz on the twenty-fifth of September, 1493, and had a favora- ble passage to Hayti; but his disappointment \vas very great to find there neither the fort which he had built, nor the forty men whom he had left for its defence. During his absence, their tyrannical and oppressive conduct pro- voked the hostility of the Indian population, who slew them, and utterly demolished their fortress. The return of Columbus, his authority, his prudence and moderation, might have restored tranquillity in the island; unfortunately, the excellent views which he en- tertained, instead of being seconded by the zeal, were constantly opposed by the avarice, ambition and depravity of most of his new companions. In spite of his measures, of the orders of the sovereigns, and of the zealous remon- strances of charitable men (such, for instance, as the cele- brated Bartholomew of Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa), the Indians were cruelly oppressed; and the numbers of that unfortunate race daily decreased, from war, starvation and ill-treatment. Finding himself involved in difficulties, Columbus re- turned to Spain in 1495. His arrival at court easily dis- pelled the clouds which envy and calumny had thrown round his conduct and administration; but he now saw how much more he would have afterwards to endure from his enemies. It was only after two years of fresh disap- pointments and tedious expectation, that he succeeded in obtaining a squadron of six vessels for a new voyage. From various considerations, he was induced to steer more to the south than he had ever done before. This course led him to the mouth of the great river Oronoco, where he for the first time beheld the continent, on the AD. 1492-1506. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, ETC. 171 first of August 1498; a most interesting discovery, of the importance of which Columbus himself was little aware at the time. The continual dangers which he had to en- counter in those unknown seas, together with a variety of other incidents obliged him to hasten his return to Hispa- niola, where he hoped to enjoy the repose he so much needed, before pursuing the great work of exploring the continent. But, while the admiral was thus undergoing all kinds of hardships for the service of Spain, the party of his ene- mies obtained the ascendency at court. Their charges against him of ill-administration were so continual, so art- ful, and so numeroos, that the Spanish sovereigns thought it proper to despatch a commissary to Hispaniola, for the purpose of investigating the real state of affairs. This commissary was Francisco de Bobadilla, an intelligent, but at the same time a passionate man. After his arrival at San-Domingo, he acted with such marked partiality, that, while he readily listened to the accusations of the rabble against Columbus, he refused to hear his defence, and even went so far as to send him in chains to Europe (a. d. 1500). In the midst of such outrageous injuries heaped upon his character and person, Columbus displayed surprising magnanimity. When the vessel on which he embarked, put to sea, the captain, who was a man of feeling, wished to take oflf the fetters of the unfortunate admiral; but he never would consent to it, and protested that he was re- solved to wear them until they should be removed by the express command of his sovereigns. It is said that he ever after kept those chains hanging in his room, and gave orders that they should be buried with him, as a memorial of the ingratitude which the world returns for eminent services. The arrival of Columbus as a prisoner and a criminal, caused throughout Spain a general burst of indignation against his enemies. The king and queen disavowed the 172 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. proceedings of Bobadilla, as contrary to their instructions ; they consoled the admiral by a most gracious reception, and promised to reinstate him in all his privileges and dig- nities. This, however, owing both to the untimely death of Isabella, and to the procrastinating policy of Ferdinand, never was effected. After all, temporal and mercenary considerations had but little weight with Columbus; nor could obstacles abate his zeal for useful discoveries. Hav- ing obtained, after some delay, that a few vessels should be again placed at his disposal, he sailed once more from Cadiz, in the spring of 1502,^ accompanied by his youngest son Fernando, who afterwards wrote his father's life. Never had the admiral to suffer so much as in this his fourth and last voyage; yet never did he evince more won- derful presence of mind and greater resources of genius. This appeared chiefly in the following occurrence. After a long and perilous cruise on the boisterous gulfs near the isthmus of Panama, the shattered state of his vessels obliged him, on his return, to run them ashore on the coast of Jamaica, and to remain there for several months. At first, the Indians were eager to supply the Spaniards with provisions, which they exchanged for trifling objects; gradually their ardor subsided, and their useful visits be- came less and less frequent. The scarcity daily increased in the little camp; and all began to entertain horrible ap- prehensions of famine, when a most happy idea presented itself to the mind of Columbus. From his knowledge of astronomy he ascertained that there would be, in three days, a total eclipse of the moon. He therefore summoned the principal caciques (Indian chieftains) to a conference, appointing for it the day of the eclipse. When all were assembled, he first reproached them, through his interpreter, with their inhuman insensi- bility, and threatened them with the vengeance of the God of heaven whom the Spaniards adored: as a token of this impending vengeance, the moon, he said, would refuse her light to them on that very night. In fact, the eclipse ^. D. 149^1506. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA^ ETC. 173 commenced a few hours after, and struck terror and dis- may into the hearts of the Indians. They fell at the feet of Columbus, and entreated him to ask pardon for them of the God of heaven, assuring him that they would thence- forth bring to the Spaniards whatever he required. He feigned to yield with reluctance to their request, and, shutting himself up for some moments in his cabin, came out to them again, and said, that, under the strict condi- tion of their future fidelity to their promises, he had ob- tained their pardon from the Almighty; in sign of which they would presently behold the light of the moon. The admiral had cunningly waited for the opportune moment when the eclipse was about to terminate. The moon began to appear, and soon recovered all its bril- liancy, to the inconceivable joy of the Indians, who were scarcely able, from excess of astonishment, to testify their admiration, reverence and gratitude for Columbus. They hastened to propitiate him with gifts, and, from that time forward, not only supplied the Spaniards with abun- dance of provisions, but carefully avoided giving them the least displeasure. At last, two vessels, arriving from His- paniola, delivered the admiral with his companions from this perilous kind of exile, and conveyed them to a safer place. As soon as the state of his affairs permitted, he reembarked for Spain, which, after a passage marked by new adventures, he reached on the seventh of November 1504, with a constitution shattered by so long a series of anxieties, hardships and sufferings. About this time Columbus lost his constant protectress, queen Isabella, and, with her, every well founded hope of ever beino; reinstated in his former dio;nities. It was in vain that he had more and more deserved the gratitude of the court by new services and discoveries; in vain too, that he urged the execution of his royal promise; the poli- tical Ferdidand always deferred, under various pretences; till the admiral, who had led since his return a lingering life, died at Valladolid, at the age of about sixty-five, 174 MODERN HISTORY, Pan VII. A. D. 1506. His last sufferings were sanctified by his usual resignation, his last moments devoted to all the pious practices of religion, and his last words, those of the Royal Prophet, Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend m,y spirit. — Psalm xxx. 6. What has been already said of Columbus, clearly shows that he possessed all the characteristics of a truly great man — a noble soul, a vast genius for discovery, and a sur- prising sagacity in finding out expedients and resources in the greatest dangers. His piety was genuine and fer- vent, his heart benevolent and generous, and his conduct in unison with the feelings of his heart. Instead of rav- aging the newly found countries, like many of his contem- porary discoverers, who were intent only on immediate gain, he sought to colonize and cultivate them, to civilize the natives, and subject every thing to the control of law, order and religion. If the noble attempt failed, the whole history of this great man proves that the failure cannot be laid to his charge. When Columbus, by his death, ceased to excite the jeal- ousy of the Spanish court, great honors were paid to his memory; yet, he never obtained the recompense which he had best deserved, that of giving his name to the New World. His just claims were defeated, in this particular, by Amerigo Vespucci, a native of Florence, who in 1499 visited the same coast of Paria which Columbus had dis- covered in 1498, and publishing a relation of the impor- tant fact, as if he had first of all perceived the continent, caused it to be called America. But even admitting the merits of Vespucci, he cannot claim the honor of the dis- covery; to him alone it belongs who was the first to con- ceive, mature and execute the bold design of crossing an unknown ocean in search of a New World. A. p. 148T-1515. PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS. 175 PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS IN ASIA.— a. d. 1497—1615. Numerous expeditions followed the enterprise of Co- lumbus. Most of them started from the harbors of Spain, and were conducted by Spanish adventurers eager to en- rich or distinguish themselves by new and important dis- coveries; but others were also undertaken by foreign na- tions. About the same time that Columbus and Vespucci descried Terra Firma in the south, the celebrated navi- gator, Sebastian Cabot, sailing in the service of Henry VII, king of England, discovered and explored the coasts of the northern continent of America. Not long after, Canada and the river St. Lawrence were visited by James Cartier and other French seamen; but the Portuguese, by following a different direction, did something still more remarkable. In 1497, Vasco de Gama, sent by Don Em- manuel, king of Portugal, succeeded in doubling the Cape of Good Hope^ and after a voyage of thirteen months ar- rived at the fertile shores of East India. During subse- quent years, the Portuguese made, throughout that exten- sive country, acquisitions and settlements nearly equal in value to those of the Spaniards in the New World. The East Indies had always held a conspicuous rank among the states of the Asiatic continent, and been looked upon, from the time of the ancient Assyrians, Persians and Greeks, as an important and enviable country. At later periods, India witnessed frequent revolutions, and was exposed to frightful calamities from the incursions of Saracen, Tartar and Mogul conquerors. Towards the epoch which now occupies our attention, and during the two following centuries, it comprised many independent states, the most powerful of which, and probably the most opulent in the world, was the empire of Hindoostan, abounding in pearls, gold and silver, and enriched both by its commerce and the productions of the soil. 16 176 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VII. Greater resistance was made by the Indians of Asia than by those of America to their European aggressors. It was only after many toils and hardships, after many struggles and battles, after persevering efforts under the command of intrepid leaders, such as Gama, Cabral, Pa- checo, and Albuquerque; that the Portuguese were ena- bled to establish settlements all along the Indian coast, at Goa, Cochin, Malacca, etc. and in various islands of the Southern ocean. Nor was their power throughout these countries of long duration, most of their Asiatic posses- sions being soon wrested from them by the Dutch and the English during the course of the seventeenth century. The Portuguese had also extended their commercial re- lations to the eastern extremities of Asia, as far as China and Japan. These countries, although hitherto little known to the nations of Europe, were ancient and flour- ishing empires. The Chinese, particularly, claim a very high antiquity, their nation having been founded about two thousand years before the coming of our Lord, and governed, since that remote period, by two hundred and forty emperors, of twenty -two different families. Still their history, with respect to the ages preceding the epoch of their great legislator Confucius (towards the year 500 E. c), is involved in obscurity. China is the most populous empire in the world, con- taining nearly three hundred millions of inhabitants, and several cities, if not superior, at least equal in extent to the largest among the European and American cities. The established religion is a mixture of theism and idol- atry; there are also Mahometans and Jews, though in small numbers. In the seventeenth century, Christianity obtained numerous proselytes among the Chinese, under their celebrated emperor Kang-hi; but since that time, the Christians have been always harassed and persecuted with more or less rigor. The northern frontier of this extensive region is pro- tected by a wall twenty-four feet high, thirty or forty feet A. D. 1497-1515. PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS. 177 thick, and fifteen hundred miles long, crossing not only valleys and mountains, but even rivers, over which it passes in the form of bridges. Its gates and towers are almost every where of a colossal size, and defended by numerous troops. It was built two thousand years ago, as a defence against the Tartars, whom it did not however prevent from twice invading and subduing China, first under Genghis-Kan and his sons, and again in the seven- teenth century. The Chinese are generally witty and polite, intelligent and industrious, but only to a certain degree; and they are vain-glorious, self-conceited, and excessively pre- possessed in favor of their nation. Although great lovers of architecture, mechanics, painting, astronomy, natural philosophy, etc., they advance but little in these various departments of the arts and sciences. They could not conceal their surprise and jealousy, when the Jesuit mis- sionaries appeared two hundred years ago in China, at seeing those foreigners much more versed than themselves in all the branches of mathematics and natural history. Even the knowledge and use of the mariner's compass, of printing, of gun-powder and artillery, which they seem to have possessed before our European ancestors, have always been among them in a state of comparative imper- fection. Their armies, how numerous soever, scarcely deserve the name of military force, or their vessels that of navy; whilst, in point of morality, their inhuman treat- ment of infants, their want of uprightness towards for- eigners, their pride, and other vices, place them far below all Christian nations. Japan is likewise a civilized and mighty empire, con- sisting of many islands, not far from the eastern part of Asia. The revenue and forces of the emperor are im- mense, the former being, it is said, nearly two hundred millions of dollars, the latter amounting, if required, to four hundred thousand infantry and sixty thousand cav- alry. The government is absolute and despotic; very 178 MODERN HISTORY. PariVIL little otherwise is known of this nation, owing to the jeal- ousy with which foreigners are excluded. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, St. Fran- cis Xavier and other zealous missionaries preached the gospel in Japan with such wonderful success, that, after a short time (in 1596), it contained no fewer than four hun- dred thousand Christians. Unfortunately, at that time, powerful and profligate princes undertook to destroy this illustrious ;3or/ion of the church, and succeeded in the im- pious attempt. A dreadful persecution arose, which shed torrents of Christian blood in the various provinces of the empire; nor did it cease until there remained no more vic- tims to be immolated by the sword of the persecutors. From that epoch, the avenues of Japan have been closed against foreigners, and the Dutch are the only Europeans admitted into one of its harbors for the purposes of trade. DECLINE OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS.— WARS FOR THE POSSESSION OF ITALY.— CARDINAL XIMENES.— POPE LEO X.— A. D. 1494—1517. The discovery of America and of the passage of the Cape of Good Hope, whilst it proved of the greatest ad- vantage to Spain and Portugal, naturally occasioned the decline of the Italian republics. Up to this period, for- eign commerce had been mostly in the hands of the Vene- tians, Genoese, and other maritime nations of Italy, who, from the shores of the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas, communicated with the Red sea through the Isthmus of Suez, and thus could carry on trade with all the nations of the east. The two great events just mentioned gave a new direction to the ideas, projects and commerce of the European nations ; and Venice, with the other commercial states of the peninsula, saw her traffic decline in propor- tion as Portugal and Spain increased in wealth and power. Another and a still heavier calamity which afflicted A.D.14&4-1517. DECLINE, ETC. 179 Italy at this period, was the almost uninterrupted series of bloody wars in which it was involved during a great numbers of years. The first occasion of these calamities was the envied possession of the kingdom of Naples, Since 1443, it had been under the princes of the house of Arragon; but the French monarchs looked with a jealous eye at that beautiful country, w^hich had once for a long time belonged to princes of their family. King Charles VIII, the successor of Louis XI, whose whole reign had been spent in endeavoring to weaken the power of the great vassals of the crown, undertook to reconquer Na- ples in 1494. He executed his design in the beginning of the following year, but soon lost all his conquests. The Italian princes had now united against him, and, although he gloriously repelled them in the battle of Fornovo, the only advantage he derived from this victory was to save the remains of his army, and return without further ob- stacle to France. A second expedition for the same purpose took place in 1501, under Louis XII, successor of Charles VII. It was attended with similar circumstances and exactly the same result as the first; great success in the beginning, followed by a total failure; repeated advantages obtained over the Neapolitan army by the French troops, who were after- wards frequently defeated at Cerignola, Garigliano, etc, by the Spanish commander, Gonzales of Cordova, sur- named the great general. A treaty almost entirely to the advantage of Spain, was then concluded between the rival powers, and terminated these contests for the kingdom of Naples. But there were not wanting other motives or pretences for renewing the war. In 1508, a powerful league was formed at Cambray between the emperor of Germany, the kings of France and Arragon, and some other sovereigns, against the republic of Venice, whose haughtiness and ambitious views had provoked their indignation or their fears. None of the confederates acted with as much vigor 16* 180 MODERN HISTORY. Part YII, as Louis XII, and none derived less advantage from the defeat of the Venetians. His very exploits and brilliant victory at Agnadel (1509), having soon rendered him an object of jealousy to the other princes, the league turned against him ; and the French, notwithstanding their new and bloody victory at Ravenna, where they lost their young heroic leader, the duke of Nemours (1512), were again expelled from Italy. France itself was invaded, on one side by the Swiss, who, having conquered the duke of La Tremoille, at No- vara, advanced into Burgundy as far as Dijon; on the other, by the emperor Maximilian and Henry VIII, king of England, whose combined armies gained the battle of Guingamp, also called the battle of Spurs, because in it the French cavalry used their spurs more than their wea- pons. In fine, the king of Scotland, James IV, an ally of France, was also defeated by the English at Flodden- field, where he lost his life in the conflict (1513). The conquerors however made but little progress, and Louis happily succeeded in making them consent to a truce, which aftbrded him some respite. He died at this juncture, without male issue, and was succeeded on the throne by his cousin, the earl of Angouleme, who took the name of Francis I. This new monarch, being in the flower of his age, re- solved to conduct the war with fresh vigor. He therefore crossed the Alps at the head of a gallant army, and pressed forward till he was attacked by the Swiss near Marignan, on the thirteenth of September, 1515. These brave high- landers had neither cavalry nor artillery, and yet fought with the most undaunted courage. Notwithstanding the dreadful havoc which the cannon made among them, the survivors repeatedly renewed the charge, and several times were on the point of breaking through the* French line. It was only after a tremendous engagement of two days and the slaughter of several thousands of them, that the survivors retired from the field. A French general, x.D. 1494-1517. DECLINE, ETC. 181 the marshal of Trivulce, who had been present at seven- teen other battles, said that none of them, for the obsti- nate valor displayed on both sides, could be compared with that of Marignan. He consequently called it the battle of giants, under which name it is also known in history. Francis I evinced on that trying occasion a rare intre- pidity. He met in person the most vigorous charges made by the Swiss, without ever losing, in so long a conflict, his presence of mind and his confidence of success. At last, the timely arrival of the Venetians, his allies, under the command of their celebrated general Alviano, entirely turned the day in his favor. Great were the fruits of this splendid victory for France. Some of her opponents presently desisted from further hostilities ; and the Swiss in particular acceded to a treaty of reconciliation with such willingness and sincerity, as to become, from that time, her most faithful ally. King Ferdinand still endeavored, it is true, to protract the war, but, exhausted by mental fatigues and bodily infirmities, he died in the following year (1516), after an almost un- interrupted career of glory, tarnished, however, on some occasions, by a want of sincerity and of fidelity to his pro- mises. In royal qualities and political achievements he had certainly no equal among the sovereigns of his age, if we except his heroic and virtuous consort Isabella, who moreover surpassed him in pure, noble and delicate feelings. The chief personages who contributed most efficaciously with Ferdinand and Isabella to the glory of their reign, were beyond doubt Christopher Columbus, Gonzales of Cordova, both already noticed in the foregoing pages, and Cardinal Ximenes, archbishop of Toledo, the ablest poli- tician, the most zealous minister of state, the most pene- trating genius, in a word, all things taken into considera- tion, the greatest man that ever Spain produced. Im- mense and innumerable were the services which he ren- 182 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. dered to the church, to the state, to his sovereigns and to the people, during the twenty-two years of his religious and civil administration (1495 — 1517). Magnificent, great, generous, the constant protector of merit, virtue and innocence, he conceived and executed such projects only as were calculated to advance the cause of religion and humanity. To him the Spanish nation was indebted for several of her best and most useful establishments, and the literary world for the publication of the first Polyglot Bible,'* which he, with incredible care and ex- pense, caused to be printed at Alcala, in six folio volumes (a. d. 1515). From this period we may date the complete revival of literature and of the arts and sciences. The French king, Francis I, distinguished himself in this respect by his patronage of learning and of learned men. But no one favored their cause and promoted their success, with greater zeal than Pope Leo X, whose name has in conse- quence been adopted to designate the first part of the sixteenth century considered as a literary age. Endowed with the most exquisite taste, he imparted to all around him that relish for the fine arts, for true eloquence and poetry, which is the usual forerunner of masterly pro- ductions. Scholars and artists, roused to uncommon ex- ertions by his signal protection and encouragement, fre- quently vied with the most elevated geniuses of antiquity, and Italy again beheld, as in the time of the Caesars, a multitude of her children, such as Raphael, Michael Angelo, Ariosto, Tasso, Vida, Bembo, Sadolet, etc., as- tonishing the world, some by their masterpieces of paint- ing and architecture, others by their beautiful poems and various kinds of writing, which we still admire, both for their delicacy and for their pure and elegant style, t * Or, Bible in several languages. — There exist three other celebrated Polyglots: that of Antwerp, a, d. 1572; — of Paris, 1645;— and of Lon- don, 1658. t See note D. A. 9. 1517—1529. LUTHER, ETC. 183 LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION.— a. d. 1517—1529. At the termination of the wars of Italy in 1516, there was a prospect of a general and lasting peace among Christian nations, when unforeseen events unexpectedly excited anew all the human passions, and carried to a still higher pitch, the disturbances of Europe. The chief and first cause of these fresh commotions, was the religious revolution effected by Luther in Germany. Martin Luther was born in 1483, at Eisleben, a small town of Saxony. After having studied with great suc- cess in the Latin schools of Magdebourg and Eisenach, he completed his education in the university of Erfurt. In the year 1505, he took the degree of Master of Arts, which authorized him to deliver lectures on Physics and the Ethics of Aristotle. But in consequence of an extra- ordinary event* which happened to him about this time, and produced a deep impression upon his mind, he formed the design of becoming a religious, and accordingly joined the order of the Augustinians at Erfurt. The life of the young monk (he was then twenty-five years of age) was regular, and in many respects exem- plary. He manifested however, in several instances, par- ticularly when he was opposed or corrected, a warm and irritable disposition. His talents and learning caused his superiors to recommend him to the elector of Saxony, as a professor of divinity in the newly erected university of Wittemberg; and when he afterwards began to preach, the vehemence of his discourses, the boldness of his elo- quence, and a nervous kind of expression added to a copious flow of words in his mother-tongue, soon acquired for him the reputation of a good preacher. In the year 1517, Pope Leo X having solemnly pub- * The death of one of his companions, who was killed by a thunder- bolt at his side, when they were walking together. 184 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. lished indulgences to be gained by those who, being truly repentant for their sins, should contribute by their pious offerings, to the rebuilding of St. Peter's church in Rome, and to the expenses of an intended crusade against the Turks, the Augustinians could not see, without some jeal- ousy, the publication of these indulgences intrusted by the archbishop of Mentz, not to them, as had been usual, but to the Dominican order; and as it was reported on the other hand, that great abuses existed in the publication and distribution of these indulgences by the Dominicans, Luther was commissioned by his superiors to preach and write against these abuses. This commission he fulfilled with a great deal of warmth; but he did not stop there. In the heat of the dispute, he passed insensibly from abuses which the whole church condemned with him, to the things abused, and soon began to attack the indul- gences themselves; and to maintain his first position, he was insensibly led to deny also the eflicacy of the Sacra- ments, the invocation of the saints, the sacrifice of the mass, and many other tenets universally admitted in the church. This bold step produced the greatest excitement all over the Christian world. Luther himself was at first terrified at it. When he began the dispute, it was not his intention to carry it so far, still less to come to an open rupture. He had even expressed his perfect submission to the Roman Pontiff in a letter which he wrote to Leo X, and which he concluded with these remarkable words : ''Therefore, most holy father, prostrate at the feet of your Holiness, I place myself at your disposal, with all that I am and all that I have. Vivify, kill, call, recall, approve, disapprove, as you please; in your voice I will acknowledge the voice of Christ, who presides and speaks in you." But having in the interval gained over a strong party, he no sooner saw his condemnation pronounced in the papal bull of 15th June 1520, than he suddenly broke asunder all the ties by which he still adhered to the Roman A. D. 1517-15G9. LUTHER^ ETC. 185 See, openly separated from it, and the better to seal his separation, he publicly burnt the bull in which his opinions had been condemned, together with the decretals of the Popes and the writings of Eckius his principal adversary, in the presence of the professors and the students of the university, and an immmense concourse of the inhabitants of Wittemberg. The die was now cast; from that moment, Luther pro- nounced the Pope to be the anti-christ, the man of sin, the minister of Satan, from whom all should fly; he used simi- lar expressions, not only against the king of England, Henry VIII, who had written a book in refutation of his tenets, but also against the various universities and cath- olic doctors, by whom his doctrine had been unanimously rejected. The vehemence of his discourses, his exhorta- tions to shake off the yoke of sacramental confession, of penitential works, of religious celibacy, and his suggestion to seize upon ecclesiastical property, vastly increased the number of his followers. No later than the year 1523, the doctrines and practices of the reformation were intro- duced into Denmark, Sweden, and many other countries of the north of Europe; whilst, on the other hand, Zuin- glius, and, shortly after, Calvin endeavored to effect sim- ilar or even greater changes in Switzerland and France, where they met however with more opposition and less success. In 1529, an imperial decree was issued at Spire for the purpose of checking the progress of religious dissensions, and restoring the unity of faith in Germany; but it had very little effect. The partisans of Luther protested against it, whence came their name of Protestants ; they moreover appealed to the sword in support of their pre- tensions, and commenced a civil war which disturbed nearly the whole reign of the emperor Charles V. These measures were adopted by them the more willingly, as Luther himself had declared that it was lawful, and even 186 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. necessary, to take up arms in order to defend and propa- gate the reformation. Thus was completed a revolution which split the great Christian family in Europe into many separate and oppo- site communities. Its chief promoter lived long enough to see not only the rise of the other branches of the refor- mation, but also the subdivision of his own establishment into a multitude of parties. He died in 1546. During the same year, his various tenets, together with those of Zuinglius and Calvin, began to be discussed and subjected to the usual form of Ecclesiastical condemnation in the council of Trent, the last of the general councils, first convened in the end of 1545, and, after two interruptions, finally closed in 1563. CHARLES V AND FRANCIS I.— a. d. 1519—1529. Another cause of the disturbances and evils which afllicted Europe at this unfortunate period, was the obsti- nate jealousy of two rival and powerful sovereigns. The imperial throne of Germany, left vacant by the death of Maximilian I in 1519, had been simultaneously claimed by Francis I, king of France, and Charles, archduke of Austria, who had lately succeeded his grand-father Fer- dinand on the throne of Spain. The former indeed was a brave and generous prince, but the latter possessed more prudence and skill, and, being moreover of German ex- traction, was easily preferred before his competitor. He received the imperial crown at Aix-la-Chapelle, on the twenty-third of October, 1520. Francis could not, without deep sorrow, see his hopes disappointed; and, imagining himself injured, availed himself of his other pretensions with regard to the king- doms of Navarre and Naples, to commence hostilities. During the first campaigns, success was almost equally divided between the two parties, till the high -constable A. D. 1519-1529. CHARLES V AND FRANCIS I. 187 de Bourbon, dissatisfied with the French court, and basely abandoning the cause of his sovereign and country, went to offer his services to the emperor. Immediately after, the French lost all their possessions in Italy, together with the brightest ornament of their chivalry, the illus- trious Bayard, surnamed the knight without fear and without reproach. Francis now resolved, in order to repair his losses, to take upon himself the conduct of the war. He crossed the Alps at the head of a fresh army, and marched as far as Pavia, which he besieged; the imperial troops under the command of De Bourbon, hastening at the same time to the relief of the garrison. At their approach, Francis was advised by his ablest officers rather to abandon the siege than expose his wearied soldiers to an attack from superior forces; but his mind, too sensible to the point of honor, could not brook the idea of retreating before the enemy; he therefore determined to abide the issue of a battle. It seemed, in the beginning, that victory would declare for the French. Their well-conducted artillery mowed down whole ranks of their opponents, when, on a sudden, the imprudent valor of the king destroyed his prospect of success. Anxious to fight with the sword, he rushed for- ward, and most awkwardly placed himself between the enemy and his own cannon, which, prevented from firing any longer, of course became useless. This conduct was deservedly followed by a complete overthrow. The im- perialists, having nothing more to fear from the French artillery, rallied and fell with fury on the squadron com- manded by the king. In a few moments, the scale of fortune was inclined ; Francis saw all his attendants fall by his side ; and after having fought with the most des- perate courage, and killed seven of the assailants with his own hand, he was forced to surrender himself a prisoner. Of the French army, one-half had been destroyed, the re- mainder evacuated Italy (a. d. 1525). \7 188 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. The unhappy monarch was, according to his own re- quest, conveyed to Madrid, the capital of Spain. He was detained there for several months, and could not res- cue himself from his tedious captivity otherwise than by promising the full cession of several provinces which he either actually possessed, or had hitherto claimed. No sooner was he set at liberty than he bitterly complained of the rigor of these conditions, and availed himself of the opposition with which the treaty met in the council of state, to leave it unexecuted. This conduct could not but highly displease the em- peror. The feelings of both parties were thus more ex- asperated than ever; the war was renewed, and carried on with redoubled violence, especially by the treacherous constable De Bourbon, who, having no funds to pay his army chiefly composed of Lutheran soldiers from Ger- many, promised, in order to make Pope Clement VII repent of his kind disposition towards France, to enrich them by the pillage of Rome. Accordingly he led his troops to the attack of this capital; and, although he fell by a musket ball as he was mounting a ladder for the assault, the city was taken, and being abandoned for two months to a licentious and infuriate soldiery, suffered more from the German adventurers, than it had formerly done from either the Goths or the Vandals. Still, as neither this nor any other event of the war could be looked upon as a decisive action, both parties became tired of hostilities, and equally desirous of a speedy accommoda- tion of their differences. This was effected in 1529 by the treaty of Cambray, which, although less adverse to the interests of the French monarch than that of Madrid, se- cured many advantages to the emperor. A. D. 1520-1532. CHARLES V AND SOUMAN II. 189 CHARLES V AND SOLIMAN II.*— a. d. 1520—1532. The chief motive which had urged Charles V to con- clude peace with France, was, that he needed all his troops to defend his hereditary dominions against the Turks. The invading spirit of those infidels was still as remarkable as under Mahomet II. Not only had they, within the last years, extended their conquests in Europe and Asia, but even Egypt, the richest country of Africa, was entirely subdued by them in 1517, notwithstanding the brave resistance of its possessors, the Mamelukes. Soliman II, who succeeded his father, Selim I, in 1520, carried still further the glory of the Ottoman name. More fortunate than Mahomet himself, he successfully invaded Hungary; and Belgrade, no longer protected by the sword of Hunniades, fell, after a siege of six weeks, into the hands of the Turks. Many other towns were successively carried by storm, or obliged to open their gates. After this expedition, the sultan thinking it not advisable, for the present, to advance further in that direction, prepared himself for another conquest which he deemed still more important. In 1522, four hundred vessels and two hundred thou- sand men appeared in sight of Rhodes, and laid siege to the capital of this island, which had now been in the pos- session of the knights Hospitallers for more than two hun- dred years. The Grand Master was Villiers de I'Isle Adam, a hero not inferior in any respect to Peter d'Au- busson, but less favored by existing circumstances. The nations of Europe being too actively engaged in the strug- gle between Charles V and Francis I, to send him any as- sistance, all the forces he could oppose to the multitude of * Called Soliman I by several authors who do not reckon Soliman, the son of Bajazet I, among the Turkish sultans, owing probably to the short and precarious duration of his reign. 190 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. the assailants, consisted merely of five thousand soldiers and six hundred knights. Still, with this handful of war- riors, he held out, during six months, against all the efforts of the Janizaries, and all the exertions of Soliman, who had now arrived to conduct the siege in person. Such was the valor of these generous defenders of Rhodes, that, in a general assault, the Turks lost no fewer than twenty thousand, and in other attacks, a proportionate amount of their most intrepid warriors. At the sight of this dreadful slaughter of his troops, the sultan, driven almost to despair, thought of abandon- ing the siege, when the secret but fatal advice of an infa- mous traitor, one of the chief commanders in the town, encouraged him to stay, and redouble his efforts. The treason indeed was detected, and visited almost instantly with capital punishment; but it was too late for the libe- ration of Rhodes, now in great want of ammunition, and almost reduced to the last extremity. Although the knights continued, with their usual heroism, to repel every assault of the enemy, and seemed determined to bury themselves under the ruins of their capital, the in- habitants were not endowed with the same degree of for- titude. Justly dreading the horrors of a city carried by storm, they urged with entreaties and even with threats, the acceptance of an honorable and advantageous capitu- lation offered by Soliman. It had thus become an indispensable necessity to yield, and all further resistance would have been of no avail ; however, the few remaining knights could not leave, with- out deep regret, the spot which had been the theatre of their exploits. Above all, the departure of the Grand Master, at his advanced age, for a distant country, was an afflicting scene, which the sultan himself could not witness without compassion. Like the Trojans of old, under the conduct of iEneas, these noble fugitives, carrying along with them the fortunes and destinies of their order, wan- dered for some time over the seas, in search of a hospita- A. D. 1520-1532, CHARLES V AND SOLIMAN II. 191 ble land. After a short stay in Candia, they reached the shores of Italy, where they met with the most consolino- and cordial reception, and obtained at length from Charles V the possession of the small island of Malta, in the mid- dle of the Mediterranean sea, a situation well adapted to their religious and military purposes. They fortified this new residence, so as to make it, like the former, the bul- wark of Christendom and the centre of their exertions against the infidels. The heavy losses which Soliman had sustained in Rhodes, taught him not to be hasty in undertaking any new expedition. He therefore passed the three or four ensuing years in advancing the interior prosperity of his empire, and securing among his subjects an adequate dis- tribution of justice; till a revolt of the Janizaries warned him again, very unhappily for Europe, not to let these restless warriors live any longer in idleness. Having quelled the sedition, he, for the second time, invaded Hun- gary, at the head of two hundred thousand men. King Louis II, with only twenty-five or thirty thousand sol- diers, fearlessly met him in the plains of Mohats (a. d. 1526), but was, after a sharp contest, overwhelmed by numbers, and paid with the loss of his army, his crown, and his life, the forfeit of his imprudence. The sultan, no longer opposed in his march, now laid waste the sur- rounding country, took Buda, an important place, and advancing westward towards Vienna, laid siege to that city, the capital of the Austrian dominions. Fortunately, Vienna was better supplied than Rhodes with troops and provisions: twenty thousand brave soldiers, under the command of the count palatine and the earl of Salm, composed the garrison, and all of them displayed such in- domitable courage, as finally to compel the Turks to retire, after twenty useless assaults, and the loss of eighty thousand warriors (a. d. 1529). Soliman however did not yet give up his hostile designs against Austria. He reappeared in 1532, with an army of 17* 192 MODERN HISTORY. Part VLl. three, some say, five hundred thousand men. Charles V marched against him with thirty thousand horse, and ninety thousand well disciplined infantry, besides prodi- gious swarms of irregulars. At the sight of these powerful nonarchs and of their formidable hosts advancing against each other, all Europe stood in awe and in expectation of a tremendous conflict; yet, when the armies approached, instead of a decisive battle, there were only a few skir- mishes between the front lines. Soliman did not think proper to risk a defeat; and, retreating in good order, rather chose to turn his arms against the less warlike na- tions of Asia. Nor did the emperor undertake to pursue him in this retrograde march, but, being himself satisfied to see the country free from invasion, he disbanded his own forces, and set out from Germany to visit his pro- vinces of Italy, and his kingdom of Spain. CONQUEST OF MEXICO.— HERNANDO CORTEZ. A. D. 1519—1523. Whilst Charles V caused his power to be obeyed or feared all over Europe, his name was carried to the extre- mities of the earth by the celebrated Magellan, who was the first to undertake the circumnavigation of the globe ; and other intrepid adventurers, about the same time, were subjecting to his sway vast and opulent countries in the New World. Such was, indeed, chiefly during this pe- riod, the heroic spirit, partly religious and partly chival- rous, diffused among the Spaniards, that nothing seemed impossible to their activity, valor and perseverance.* This the reader will easily perceive in the impartial and detailed account of the manner in which a handful of warriors of that magnanimous nation succeeded in con- * "Les Espa^nols," says a recent author, with no less conciseness than truth, " les Espagnols avaient une foi robuste qui leur inspirait des prodiges, et leur donnait la force de les executer." A. D. 1519-1523. CONQUEST OF MEXICO, ETC. 193 quering the mighty empires of Mexico and Peru, the for- mer in North, the latter in South America. In one of their excursions upon the American continent, the Spaniards were informed that there existed, at no great distance from the coast, a rich and flourishing em- pire called Mexico. The governor of Cuba, Velasquez, having conceived the design of subjecting it, if possible, to the power of Spain, fitted out a fleet for that purpose, and placed it under the command of Hernando Cortez, one of his officers, whom he considered as a man equally capable of bringing the most arduous enterprise to a happy issue, and at the same time incapable of ever aspiring to independence. His conjectures as to the abilities of Cor- tez were perfectly correct; for it would have been impos- sible to find an individual possessing more sagacity and prudence, more energy and boldness; but, as the sequel will shew, he had completely mistaken his secret views and real character. Cortez sailed from Cuba, on the tenth of January 1519, with eleven small vessels carrying six hundred men, six- teen horses and six pieces of artillery; not hesitating with this inconsiderable force to undertake the conquest of an empire which exceeded in extent all the European domin- ions of Spain. He had not proceeded far, when Velas- quez began to fear the new general's temper, and revoked his commission; but it was too late. Cortez, protected by the affection of his soldiers, continued his voyage, and landing on the continent, caused himself to be proclaimed independent of the governor of Cuba, and accountable to none but the Spanish monarch for the use of his authority. Immediately after this, he founded the colony of Vera Cruz, and the better to inspire his troops with desperate courage, burnt all his vessels, thus taking from them all hope of return. The undaunted Spaniards began to advance through a populous country towards the Mexican capital, concern- ing which they had obtained new and encouraging infor- 194 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI r. mation. It was then under the sway of Montezuma, a prince who governed with absolute despotism. Many of his subjects and tributaries, especially those at a distance, tired of the yoke which lay heavy upon them, looked upon Cortez as a deliverer, entered into an alliance with him, and supplied him with provisions and every kind of assistance. The republic of Tlascala, however, did not follow their example; on the contrary, it prepared to repel the strangers by open force. Many battles were fought, in which that people displayed uncommon bravery; but they could not long withstand the arms and tactics of the Europeans. Finding themselves constantly overpowered, the Tlascalans at length consented to treat the Spaniards as friends, and in fact became thenceforth their most faith- ful and useful allies. They aided Cortez wonderfully in the prosecution of his enterprise, particularly in subduing the great city of Cholula, and inflicting a severe chastise- ment on its inhabitants for a dreadful -conspiracy which had placed the lives of all the conquerors in jeopardy. In the mean time, Montezuma was endeavoring, by every expedient in his power, to impede the progress of the Spaniards; but Cortez overcame all obstacles, and, after a few days, finally came within sight of the vast and splendid city of Mexico, which contained no fewer than sixty thousand houses with a proportionate number of in- habitants. It was surrounded by a lake, well fortified, and adorned with a great number of temples, palaces, and other public buildings, showing great progress in civili- zation. Cortez entered the town, under his assumed quality of ambassador of the Spanish monarch, and was received with great pomp by Montezuma, who lodged him, together with the other Spaniards, in one of his pa- laces. But whilst these things took place in Mexico, an attack had been directed by a Mexican general against the colony of Vera-Cruz. No sooner was Cortez in- formed of all the circumstances of this new act of perfidy than, in order to secure himself against the dangers of his A. D. 1519-1523. CONQUEST OF MEXICO^ ETC. 195 situation, he conceived and executed the boldest and most extraordinary design of which history makes mention, that of arresting the emperor himself in open day, and in the very presence of his officers and subjects. Taking with him a small band of resolute men, he went to the imperial palace, surrounded Montezuma, and compelled him to come with them to their residence as a hostage. In that new abode the astounded monarch agreed to ac- knowledge himself a vassal of Charles V; and, in conse- quence of this agreement , delivered into the hands of the Spaniards a large sum of gold and silver, which Cortez distributed among his officers and soldiers with admirable disinterestedness and equity. Every thing until now had been successful, and accord- ing to the most sanguine wishes of Cortez; but this course of prosperity was soon to meet with new obstacles. On the one hand, the Mexicans began to evince a strong in- dignation at the long sojourn of their sovereign among the Spaniards, and at the protracted stay of the Spaniards in Mexico ; on the other hand, intelligence was received that the governor of Cuba, Velasquez, had despatched eighteen ships and nine hundred men to attack Cortez as a rebel. This rendered the position of the latter extreme- ly perplexing. Should he remainin Mtxico, or march against his new opponents, there was in either case equal danger of losing all the fruit of his past labors. He therefore adopted a middle course, not less daring indeed, than the other two, but which offered a greater chance of succeedins: on one side without losing; ground on the other. Leaving one hundred and fifty men in the imperial city, under the command of Alvarado, a brave and intrepid officer, to preserve the advantage he had already obtained, he set out with about two hundred and fifty others, to meet his hostile and imprudent countrymen. By prodi- gies of courage and activity, he not only surprised and defeated the nine hundred Spaniards, but even disarmed them all, made Narvaez, their general, prisoner, and ta- 196 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIL king the vanquished troops of that unskilful commander into his own service, returned in triumph to Mexico. His joy was not of long duration. The open insurrec- tion of the Mexicans, which had commenced during his absence, became general after his return. The Spaniards were surrounded, and repeatedly attacked in their in- trenchments. As, on one occasion, the danger appeared more pressing, Montezuma made his appearance, in order to quell the sedition; but the unfortunate monarch was struck by a stone thrown by one of the assailants, and expired after three days of great suffering. His death proved fatal to the Spaniards, in whose preservation and welfare he seemed, in the end, to take a sincere interest. Under Quetlavaca, his successor, the attacks of the Mexi- cans were carried on with redoubled fury; and, although thousands of them were daily destroyed by the swords and cannons of the Spaniards, others fearlessly rushed forward in crowds to fill up the places of the slain, and to maintain the sanguinary contest. In all these occurrences, Cortez made exertions and displayed a valor which seemed to be almost above na- ture. One day for instance, he fought, though painfully wounded, during three hours, till he forced the Mexicans to abandon a post from which they considerably annoyed the Spaniards. On another occasion, having driven the assailants to a distance, and being entirely occupied in continuing the pursuit, he at length found himself cut off, by a numerous body of enemies, from his own troops. In this imminent danger, he endeavored to reach a neigh- boring street, which he supposed might afford him a greater facility for escape. Scarcely had he advanced in that di- rection, when he met another party of Mexicans, and saw in the midst of them his intimate friend Duero, whom they were dragging to a temple of idols, to immolate him to their gods. Cortez, forgetful of his own peril, imme- diately rushed against them, dispersed their troop, and delivered Duero, who was even so fortunate as to find his A.D.1519-im CONQUEST OF MEXICO^ ETC. 197 horse and spear at a small distance. Then, the two noble friends riding together, pierced through the crowd of their enemies, and safely rejoined their soldiers, who had just completed the defeat of the Mexicans. Cortez always considered this adventure as one of the most fortunate of his life. It became necessary however, for the present, to aban- don Mexico. The requisite preparations for a retreat were made with extraordinary diligence and care; and the Spaniards began their march, a little after midnight, on the first of July 1520. Silence and obscurity favored them at first; but all their motions had been watched bv a vigilant foe, and no sooner had they begun to cross a breach in the causeway, than a shower of darts, arrows and stones assailed them from different sides. Dismay and confusion pervaded their ranks, and the preposterous conduct of many who were intent on preserving their riches, was an additional cause of disasters. This awful night, which justly retained the name of Noche triste, cost the retreating army, several hundred Spanish, and more than a thousand Tlascalan soldiers, with nearly all the horses, treasure, artillery and baggage. Cortez appeared inconsolable, and was seen on the following day, when the troops resumed their march, shedding abundant tears, thus giving a mark of paternal sensibility, which endeared him to his soldiers as much as his consummate prudence and valor caused him to be respected. The Spaniards continued their retreat in good order, notwithstanding some skirmishes which they had occa- sionally to repel. It was rather matter of surprise, that they did not meet with more formidable attacks; but the sixth day of their march taught them the new schemes con- trived by the enemy for their destruction. The Mexican forces had been secretly directed to the valley of Otumba, through which the Spanish troops would be obliged to pass, in their way to Tlascala. When Cortez reached the neighborhood of that spot, the whole valley was already 198 MODERN HISTORY. Part vil. occupied by a hostile force amounting, it is said, to the number of two hundred thousand Indians, who had been collected from different tribes, as appeared from the va- riety of their banners and of their bodily ornaments. In the midst of them, the general of the empire appeared con- spicuous, borne upon a splendid litter, from which he gave his orders. He carried in his hands the imperial standard, which was never intrusted to any one but himself, and never unfurled except on the most important occasions. At the sight of this vast multitude of enemies, Cortez fervently implored the divine assistance, and plainly told his followers that there was no alternative now left them but to conquer or die. His plan was, to open for his troops a passage through the Indians in the narrowest part of the valley, where the confined nature of the spot would more easily render multitudes useless. Accord- ingly, he disposed his infantry in the form of a column, the files of which were composed alternately of musketeers and lancers. As to his cavalry, which terrified the In- dians by the mere motion of the horses, it was placed partly in front, to break the first ranks of the enemy, and partly in the rear, to prevent them from reuniting. In this order, the Spaniards descended the hill, in order to commence the perilous conflict. The first discharge of the musketry was made with such success, that the Mexicans who were facing the Spanish column had no time to shoot their arrows. They were instantly attacked with swords and pikes, whilst the cav- alry pushed forward, and crushed or dispersed all who fell in their way. Considerable advantage was gained by this first onset. Similar charges produced similar results; but so great and obstinate was the bravery of the Indians, that, after the musketeers and cavalry had forced them to retire, they fearlessly returned to the charge, and regained the ground which they had just lost; the valley of Otumba, in the mean time, resembling a stormy sea agitated by the perpetual motion of its waves. Cortez, who, at the head AD. 1519-1523. CONQUEST OF MEXICO^ ETC. 199 of the cavalry, was making a terrible slaughter wherever he directed his steps, began to fear that this mode of war- fare would finally exhaust the strength of his little army. His uneasiness increased every moment; when he sud- denly conceived one of those bold ideas which great dan- ger sometimes suggests, but only in men of uncommon enerffV of soul. At the sight of the imperial banner waving in the dis- tance, Cortez remembered having heard that the fate of battles was considered by the Indians as dependent on its loss or preservation. He immediately called around him his bravest officers, Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, with some other courageous horsemen, and, at full gallop, forced his passage towards the banner. Whilst his companions were despatching or putting to flight all who had dared to await their approach, he himself attacked the Mexican general, wounded him, and by a powerful stroke of his lance brouo;ht him to the ground. As soon as the venerated banner disappeared from the sight of the Mexicans, they lowered the other ensigns, and, throwing down their arms, fled precipitately towards the woods and mountains; so that the valley was in a few moments entirely cleared. Aware how important it was to complete their dispersion and overthrow, Cortez ordered his men to pursue them. He himself was suffering from a blow of a stone, which had broken his helmet and made a large contusion on his head. Both his orders, and the knowledge that he was wounded, so animated the Span- iards, that, notwithstanding the dreadful fatigue of the day, their strength seemed to be revived, and their fury to redouble in the pursuit of the enemy. According to the best Spanish authors, Herrera and Antonio de Solis, twen- ty thousand Indians perished in this famous battle, which may be justly reckoned the greatest and most glorious ever fought by the Europeans against the aborigines of America. This brilliant victory removed all further obstacles from 18 200 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. the way of the Spaniards. A few days after, they safely reached the friendly city of Tlascala, where a kind recep- tion made them some compensation for the innumerable hardships which they had hitherto endured, and prepared them for new and more decisive efforts against Mexico. The attention of Cortez was constantly directed to the grand object which he had previously in view; and dif- ficulties rather increased than diminished his courage. Having granted his troops the repose which they needed, and given permission to reembark in the ships of Narvaez to those among his followers who were afraid of another expedition, he devoted all his time and care to the levying of a sufficient force. His good fortune, or rather Divine Providence, seconded his efforts beyond his expectation. Bands of brave soldiers with arms and ammunition suc- cessively came to him from different quarters of the Span- ish settlements; the sulphur of a neighboring volcano ena- bled him to provide as much gun-powder as might be wanted; thousands of Tlascalans and other tribes in the neighborhood offered to assist him in the conquest of Mexico; in fine, he gave orders to prepare materials for building several brigantines, that he might be able to se- cure the command of the lake by which the city was sur- rounded. When all things were in readiness, Cortez, for the third time approached the capital of the Mexicans, and com- menced the regular operations of a siege. By his com- mand, the attack was made under the direction of Sando- val, Olid and Alvarado, at three different points along three causeways leading to the town. Each of these brave captains had under him thirty or forty thousand Indians, with two hundred Spaniards and two pieces of artillery. Cortez reserved to himself the attempt to gain possession of the lake, as being the object on the attainment of which the success of all their exertions chiefly depended. His penetrating mind having easily perceived that this was the surest way to conquer Mexico, he fitted out for this A. D. 1519-1523. CONQUEST OF MEXICO; ETC. 201 purpose a flotilla of thirteen brigantines, each of which had, besides sails, twelve Indian rowers, twenty -five vSpa- nish soldiers with a captain at their head, and a piece of ordnance. Cortez selected for himself the swiftest of his vessels, that he might the more easily aiford assistance wherever it should be needed. The brigantines, disposed in a single line, advanced across the lake towards Mexico. At some distance from the shore, a small island, or rather a large rock, on which w^as a castle defended by bodies of Indian troops, attracted the notice of the Spanish general. When he drew near, the Mexicans, believing their post to be inaccessible, loaded the Spaniards with insults and threats. Cortez thought that such insolence ought not to go unpunished, especially in the sight of the capital and in presence of its inhabitants, who were observing from their balconies the movements of the European flotilla. He therefore landed, for a moment, with one hundred and fifty men, and the castle was assaulted at two diS'erent points with such vigor and success, that one part of the garrison fell by the sword, and the other was obliged to escape by swimming. This easy triumph gave occasion to another of much greater importance. Whilst Cortez and his troops were detained on the island, the Mexicans had sufiicient time to collect their canoes on the other side of the lake, to the number of at least four thousand, with which they ad- vanced towards their foe. This incredible fleet of boats, the agitation of the waves, the glitter of the arms and bodily ornaments of the Indians, presented a spectacle at once magnificent and terrific. Cortez however beheld it without the least emotion, and merely considered it as a warning to prepare for the combat; only, in order to oppose a larger front than before to the enemy, he now caused his ships to be drawn up in the form of a crescent. No sooner had he given the signal for an attack, than all the brigantines, urged forward at the same time by the 202 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. oars and by a favorable breeze, bore down upon the Indian boats with irresistible impetuosity, and, notwithstanding the gallant resistance of the Mexican chieftains, threw them into a state of confusion more easily conceived than described. Nor was the result for a moment doubtful; as the arms of the Spaniards, a favorable wind, and the very bulk of their vessels, gave them, from the beginning of the action, a decided superiority. Great numbers of the Indian canoes were broken to pieces by the artillery, sunk by coming in contact with the brigantines, or dashed against one another; the remainder, closely pursued by a victorious enemy, made a narrow escape. This great naval victory made the Spaniards masters of the lake, and considerably hastened the capture of Mexico. The three divisions of the land army being now aided by their victorious fleet, gradually advanced along the causeways, and proceeded into the very streets of the imperial city, not, however, without terrible obstacles and several bloody conflicts, the Mexicans being occasionally successful in repelling the attacks of the besiegers, and disputing every inch of ground with incredible obstinacy. In these desperate encounters, the Indians were animated by the example of their young and magnanimous empe- ror, Guatimozin, who had lately succeeded Quetlavaca, and who left nothing untried to save his country and em- pire. But the combined efforts of the sovereign and his subjects served only to place in bolder relief the consum- mate abilities of the Spanish general. His measures were so well concerted, and the attack so admirably conducted by himself and his officers, that, in spite of every obsta- cle, the three divisions of the army reached the centre of Mexico nearly at the same time. The other parts of the city were soon forced to surrender; and, as the provinces quickly shared the fate, and followed the example of the capital, the capture of Mexico, in August, 1521, may be considered as the real epoch of the downfall of the Mexi- A. D. 1519-1523. CONQUEST OF MEXICO, ETC. 203 can empire. The siege had lasted three months, and cost the lives of one hundred and fifty thousand Indians. The emperor, with his court and family, had endeav- ored to escape, but all were taken prisoners. The Span> ish soldiery, roused to a pitch of fury, when they found themselves disappointed in the amount of treasures which they expected to obtain in the city, determined, in order to discover them, to put the unfortunate Guatimozin and his chief minister to the rack. That prince endured the tor- ture with invincible constancy. Hearing his fellow-suf- ferer complain, he turned to him and said: "And myself, am I on a bed of roses.^" Cortez rescued him, on this occasion, from the hands of the soldiery, but Guatimozin being afterwards accused of treason and conspiracy, was condemned and put to death about the year 1523. Thus perished the last emperor of Mexico. Cortez himself soon experienced the vicissitudes of fortune. The conquest of an empire at first acquired for him from Charles Y the honorable title of viceroy of the rich and extensive regions which he had subdued, and his indefatigable activity in improving and enlarging his con- quests entitled him more and more to honors and rewards. But he was doomed, like Columbus, to be the victim of envy. Twice was he obliged to cross the ocean, in order to vindicate his innocence; and although he defended it with success, he saw his authority gradually declining, until, through the influence of his enemies, it disappeared entirely. His great services now seemed to be forgotten. The conqueror of Mexico was treated with indifference by the court of Spain, and could scarcely obtain an au- dience from his sovereign. As he had one day pierced through the crowd which surrounded the carria2:e of the emperor, Charles asked him who he was. "I am," re- plied Cortez, "the man who gave more provinces to your majesty than you inherited towns from your ancestors." In fine, baffled in ail his hopes of recovering his former 18* 204 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. dignities, he retired to a little town near Seville, where he died at the age of sixty -two years (a. d. 1547). The life of Cortez exhibits a variety of exploits so ex- traordinary, that, were it not for the testimony of the best historical documents, they would rather appear to exist only in the imagination. The burning of his fleet, after landing on unknown shores; his attack of a powerful em- pire with a handful of men; the capture of Montezuma in the midst of his own capital ; the defeat of Narvaez ; the victory of Otumba; the siege and conquest of Mexico, with all their circumstances, present a series of truly wonderful events — events almost unparalleled in the an- nals of history. Even amongst the greatest conquerors, few possessed, in as high a degree as Cortez, prudence in counsel, sagacity in his plans and measures, intrepidity in their execution, and energy of soul in the sharpest trials. The greater the dangers and hardships to which he was exposed, the more did his courage, presence of mind and military genius appear. To these brilliant qualifica- tions he united genuine piety; sincere modesty, which made him think it no disgrace to ask for advice; a con- stant probity and generosity, which gained him universal confidence and esteem ; in fine, a dignified gravity in his public deportment, and an amiable kindness and decent gaiety in the ordinary course of social and domestic life.* * It would be unjust to charge him with certain barbarous acts com- mitted during the Mexican war. He was perhaps too hasty in con- senting, though he did so with reluctance and for fear of worse conse- quences, to the torture and execution of Guatimozin; but, whatever may have been the cruelty of several soldiers, all historians agree in praising the habitual moderation and generosity of Cortez. He waged, it is true, a terrible warfare against the Mexicans, but it should be re- marked, first, that he did not commence hostilities until he had been treacherously and repeatedly attacked by them ; in the second place, that, even in the midst of his victories, he constantly offered them peace, which they refused ; and, in fine, that he had to fight for the no- ble cause of humanity against enemies not less ferocious than implaca- ble, and addicted to the barbarous custom of immolating human victims to the number of at least twenty thousand every year. The project of extirpating this monstrous barbarity was, on the principles of tlie ablest A. D. 1924-1534. CONQUEST OF PERU. 205 It is certain then, notwithstanding the attacks of envy and prejudice, that the conqueror of Mexico was every way deserving of the extraordinary success which at- tended his arms. If jealousy endeavored to depreciate his transcendent merit during life, justice openly pro- claimed it after his death; and posterity will ever distin- guish Hernando Cortez among the many eminent person- ages of whom Spain so justly boasts, and rank him in the number of her most conspicuous heroes. CONQUEST OF PERU.— FRANCIS PIZARRO. ' A. D. 1524—1534. The same is to be said of the conqueror of Peru, Fran- cis Pizarro, a man whose courage, energy and magnani- mity were not inferior to those of Cortez, though he had fewer occasions to display them on the field of battle. Having entered into a compact with Diego de Almagro, another intrepid adventurer, and collected a small band of followers, he sailed, in 1525, from Panama, and began to explore the shores of the Pacific ocean. His first at- tempts at discovery, were attended with little success. A variety of obstacles, contrary winds, distempers, and the like incidents, often impeded his progress, and so dis- pirited his companions, that nearly the whole crew once abandoned him and returned to Panama, not more than thirteen hardy men consenting to remain with him upon a desert coast, until he should receive a fresh supply of sol- diers and provisions. By his persevering efforts, he suc- ceeded, under the sanction of the Spanish government, in collecting a body of about two hundred men, for the be- ginning of the year 1531. With new ardor he advanced into the very heart of Peru, an extensive monarchy gov- civilians, Grotius, Montesquieu, etc., suflficient of itself to justify the military expedition of Cortez, and to render it a just and honorable enterprise. 206 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. erned by sovereigns called Incas, and the richest country in the world for mines of gold and silver. The Peruvians were not less awed than the other nations of America, at the sight of men mounted upon formidable animals, and carrying thunder in their hands. The whole country was divided at that time between two hostile par- ties headed by the late Inca's sons, who had just made an appeal to arms for the decision of their quarrel concerning the succession to the tlirone. Huascar, the elder, was at first victorious, but afterwards defeated, and fell into the hands of his younger brother, Atabalipa. Both princes were anxious to secure tlie protection of the strangers, and Pizarro did not fail to take advantage of circumstances so favorable to his views. Without manifesting his real de- signs, he marched on to meet Atabalipa, and, after some useless negotiations, so vigorously attacked his army of thirty thousand men, that four thousand of them were killed, and the others dispersed, without the loss of a sin- gle soldier on the side of the Spaniards. The proud mo- narch was made prisoner, and, being soon tired of his cap- tivity, offered for his ransom to fill up with pieces and ves- sels of gold a room twenty-two feet long and seventeen broad, as high as his hand could reach, and double that quantity of silver. The stipulated sum was paid to the Spaniards; still the Inca did not recover his liberty; but, on certain charges of an odious treason, and also as a pun- ishment for his brother's murder, he was put to death in 1533. The two principal cities of Peru, Quito and Cusco, surrendered to the invaders, with scarcely any show of resistance (1534). The rest of the empire was also sub- dued in a short time; and, the better to secure its alle- giance, Pizarro founded, at a short distance from the sea, the rich and celebrated city of Lima. Unfortunately, ob- stinate and bloody quarrels began to arise among the con- querors themselves about the partition of their conquest. Pizarro prevailed for a time over the party of his oppo- A. D. 1535-1559. CHARLES V^ ETC. 207 nents; but, disdaining to give credit to the intelligence of a conspiracy against him, finally became its victim. On the twenty-sixth of June, 1541, he was suddenly attacked in his palace at Lima, by a crowd of assassins, who made the air resound with the cry, away with the tyrant. His friends and servants being either killed or dispersed, he remained alone, without betraying the least sign of fear. Surrounded as he was by murderers, he defended himself with heroic courage, killed some of the assailants, wound- ed others, and at last, having himself received a mortal wound, fell and expired in the midst of them, whilst re- commending his soul to his creator. Such was the deplorable end of one of the most illus- trious conquerors of the New World; of one, to whose undaunted and almost superhuman constancy, Spain was indebted for the subjugation of the Peruvian empire, and Charles V for the invaluable mines of Potosi. After his death, civil wars continued to desolate Peru, until the chief leaders of the first expedition had all disappeared. It was only in 1548 that the virtuous governor Pedro de la Gasca succeeded, by his consummate prudence, in ter- minating those wars, and in establishing the Spanish go- vernment on a permanent basis in that enviable country. The Spaniards acquired also, about the same time, the extensive territories of Chili and Paraguay; and the Por- tuguese profited by their example, to form valuable set- tlements along the coasts of Brazil. CHARLES V CONTINUED— ACCESSION OF PHILIP II, AND FIRST TRANSACTIONS OF HIS REIGN.— a. d. 1535—1559. Whilst the empire of Charles V was thus increasing abroad to an immense extent, that prince continued to as- tonish Europe by the display of his military and political talents. War having been renewed between him and Francis I, Charles generally maintained the superiority 208 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. of his arms; still, when he attempted, on two or three oc- casions, to invade France at the head of formidable forces, he was as often compelled to retire with considerable loss. In 1535, he undertook an expedition into Africa, for the purpose of checking the alarming progress of Barba- rossa, a famous pirate chieftain. Having met him near Tunis, he defeated him in a great battle, took the city, and rescued from twenty to thirty thousand Christian slaves. Another expedition of the same kind, directed against Algiers, in 1541, was far from obtaining the same success : dreadful storms both on sea and land destroyed half of the emperor's fleet and army, and obliged him quickly to depart from those perilous shores. So unfor- tunate a result was so much the more painful to Charles, as he had conceived and followed up the project of con- quering Algiers, contrary to the advice of the celebrated admiral Andrew Doria, and other able generals. How- ever, throughout that series of disasters, he evinced such courage, firmness, magnanimity, and above all, so tender a solicitude for his distressed soldiers, as fully to atone for the partial loss which he sustained in his reputation with regard to prudence and military glory. The same alternation of success and misfortune accom- panied him in his wars against the Protestant states of Germany. He signally defeated them at Mulbert (a. d. 1547), but they recovered from this blow, and continued to give him considerable trouble till the year 1552, when an agreement was entered into by both parties. After having been thus long the chief potentate of Eu- rope, after having filled the whole world with the fame of his glorious achievements, this mighty emperor abandoned all earthly grandeur for an obscure and private life. He left the imperial dignity to his brother Ferdinand, re- signed the Spanish crown with all its appendages and foreign dominions to his son Philip, and retired into a monastery of Hieronymites in Spain (a. d. 1556). In that peaceful abode he lived two years, dividing his time A.D.153&-1559. CHARLES V^ ETC. 209 between spiritual exercises and innocent employments. The manner in which he closed his mortal career was as extraordinary as his life. Stretching himself in a coffin, he caused the funeral rites to be performed, and after the ceremony, retired in a state of deep melancholy, to his apartments, where he was seized with a violent fever, and died on the twenty-first of September, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. His reign, together with that of his grand-father Ferdinand and that of his son Philip, un- doubtedly forms the most brilliant part of the history of Spain. The famous rival of Charles, Francis I, had descended before him into the grave, and was succeeded by Henry II, a prince equal to his father as well in bravery as in his determined opposition to the house of Austria. This hostile feeling he had often evinced during the emperor's life; new causes of excitement urged him to manifest it again during the reign of his successor. Accordingly, France and Spain continued to be engaged in war against each other under their new sovereigns; and, in conse- quence of the marriage of Philip II with the English queen Mary, England interfered in favor of the Spanish monarch. In the year 1557, the war assumed a most serious aspect. The confederates, amounting to seventy thou- sand, under the command of the duke of Savoy, invaded the French territory, and laid siege to St. Quentin, a town of Picardy defended only by a handful of soldiers. The high constable of Montmorency, at the head of an army of thirty thousand men, undertook to relieve the place, and really succeeded in augmenting the garrison; but, not having withdrawn in due time from the approaching enemy, was overtaken by superior forces, and compelled to engage in a very unequal contest. His defeat was en- tire; his cavalry fled; ten thousand of the infantry were killed or wounded; whereas the Spaniards did not lose more than eighty men ; and the French, with their chief 210 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. officers, the constable himself, eighty-eight banners, and all the artillery and baggage, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The battle of St. Quentin might have proved the down- fall of the French monarchy, had the conquerors pursued their advantage without delay. They wasted their time in taking: some inconsiderable towns, until the autumnal rains obliged them to retire beyond the frontier. Henry improved the happy circumstance, by speedily mustering new forces, which enabled him, in the very next cam- paign, not only to stand upon the defensive, but even to attack with success. The duke of Guise, a general justly renowned for having a few years before compelled the emperor Charles to abandon the siege of Metz, was now placed at the head of the army, with the title of lieuten- ant-general of the kingdom. His prudence and valor fully answered the confidence reposed in him. After de- ceiving the allies by a skilful march, he suddenly ap- peared before Calais, and attacked it so vigorously, that this famous town, hitherto considered impregnable, was taken after a siege of eight days. It had been during two hundred and ten years in the power of the English, who lost with it their last possession on the continent (a. d. 1558). At the news of this event, so unexpected, and, under existing circumstances, so glorious for France, all nations admired the vigor of her national spirit and the extent of her resources. No later than the ensuing year, a treaty was concluded between Philip and Henry, in virtue of which they restored to each other nearly all their late conquests; but Calais, with some other places, remained in the possession of the French. This loss sustained by the English naturally leads us to mention the other great transactions both civil and religious which took place in England under the government of the Tudors. A, D. 1509-1588. EJfGLAND UNDER THE TUDORS. 211 ENGLAND UNDER THE TUDORS,— a. d. 1509-1588. After the prosperous reign of the first Tudor, Henry VII, the English sceptre passed, in 1509, into the hands of his son, the famous Henry VIII. For the space of about twenty years, the new monarch enjoyed a great reputation, and increased the glory of his kingdom, by a wise administration at home, owing chiefly to the abilities of his prime minister. Cardinal Wolsey, and by brilliant successes abroad, in his wars against the French and the Scots; (see above, page 180). A vile passion which he would not restrain, transformed him into a despicable prince and a cruel tyrant. Wishing to repudiate his law- ful wife, Catherine of Arragon, for the purpose of con- tracting another marriage with Anne Boleyn, a lady of his court, he applied to Pope Clement VII to obtain the necessary dispensation, which was refused as opposed to the divine law. The unprincipled monarch, disregarded the refusal ; and not content with marrying Anne Boleyn, he, in his anger, abolished the papal jurisdiction in his kingdom, and assumed to himself the exercise of all spi- ritual supremacy over the English church (a. d. 1534). From that time he made his own will the only rule to be followed in church and state; persecuted both Catholics and Protestants; and spared neither his wives nor his most illustrious subjects, such as Bishop Fisher and Chan- cellor More, who were put to death for refusing to admit the assumed power, and to obey the wicked orders of the tyrant. This unhappy prince died in 1547. Under his son and successor, young Edward VI, and by the exertions of the regent, the duke of Somerset, the Protestant doctrine became the religion of England. Mary, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII, reestablished the Catholic worship in 1554; but, in 1563, it was again discarded by her sister Elizabeth, who founded the church 19 212 MODERN HISTORY. Part VH. of England as it now exists. Mary, exasperated by the revolts which disturbed her reign, had treated the Pro- testants with great rigor; Elizabeth, without having any such cause, treated the Catholics with still greater se- verity, and under the influence of unprincipled ministers, began to frame those oppressive statutes, which disgraced the English legislation for nearly three centuries, and have in particular weighed so heavily upon Catholic Ireland. Two other events of remarkable importance contributed to render the reign of Elizabeth for ever famous in a dou- ble point of view. The first was the death of Mary Stuart on the scaffold, in 1587. This unfortunate princess, who had been queen of Scotland, by inheritance, and queen of France, by matrimonial connexion; who possessed in an eminent degree all the gifts and advantages that nature and education can bestow, and was singularly attached to the religion of her ancestors; persecuted with inveterate hatred by an unnatural brother, and other enemies of her faith, her authority and her person; was obliged to seek a refuge in England, where, instead of an asylum, she found a dreary prison. After eighteen years of confine- ment, she was brought to an unprecedented trial, and, upon a variety of slanderous and atrocious charges, con- demned to capital punishment, which she suffered, at the age of forty-two, with truly Christian fortitude. All Eu- rope shuddered with horror at the crime of her enemies; and Elizabeth endeavored in vain, by aff*ected tears, to wipe away the foul stain for ever imprinted on her own character by this deed of darkness. The other event alluded to, and which,' in a political point of view, did great honor to the English queen, was her triumph over all the maritime forces of Spain. Hith- erto, she had, by proper and constant encouragement, placed her own navy on a respectable footing. The fa- mous admiral Drake successively atttacked the coasts of San Domingo, Florida, Peru and Chili, laid waste the Spanish settlements, and each time returned loaded with A. D. 1560-1571. WAR AGAINST THE TURKS. 213 rich booty. Afterwards, he attacked the coast of Spain itself, and captured or destroyed eighty vessels in the harbor of Cadiz. These attacks were too flagrant and too often repeated, not to provoke open hostilities from Philip II. After pa- tiently suffering them for a time, he at last determined to take ample revenge, and prepared, at immense expense, a formidable fleet for the invasion and subjugation of England. It was called the Invincible Armada, and con- sisted of one hundred and fifty enormous vessels, carry- ing nearly three thousand cannons, with numerous troops and the flower of the Spanish chivalry. Nothing was spared to ensure the success of the expedition; England trembled at the approach of this powerful armament, but 'was soon relieved from her fears by the intrepidity of her navy and the skill of her admirals. They carefully shun- ned a general action, confining themselves to partial en- gagements, in which they were constantly successful. After the Spaniards had begun to suffer various losses by this mode of warfare, a multitude of incidents aided the exertions of the English, and a series of violent storms completed the defeat of the Armada (a. d. 1588). The loss of the Spaniards in this unhappy expedition w^as astonishing; but it produced not the least effect upon Philip, who received the disastrous intelligence with as much tranquillity as he would have done that of a signal triumph. ''I had," said he, "sent my fleet to fight ao-ainstthe English, and not against the winds. Let the will of God be done. I thank him that he has given me so many resources to repair this disaster." WAR AGAIST THE TURKS.— SIEGE OF MALTA.— LOSS OF CYPRUS.— BATTLE OF LEPANTO.— a.d. 1560— 157L We may now revert to the affairs of the Turks, and to their new efforts asrainst the Christian nations. At the 214 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIL time when Philip II began to rule over Spain, Soliman, the conqueror of Rhodes and Belgrade, was still seated on the throne of Constantinople. A war having arisen between these two mighty sovereigns for the possession of Tripoli in Africa, a great naval battle was fought in 1560, in which the Turks were completely victorious. This success emboldened Soliman to undertake other con- quests ; and resentment urged him to attack once more the knights of St. John, the greatest enemies of his power, and to drive them, if possible, from the new residence which the liberality of Charles V had conferred on their order. Accordingly, an army composed of forty thousand choice troops, under the command of three able generals, Mustapha, Piali and Dragut, was landed in 1565 on the shores of Malta, and immediately began a siege which, from the uninterrupted vigor of the attack and defence during the space of four months, may be reckoned the most memorable event of this kind recorded in history. The number of the knights and soldiers in the whole island did not exceed nine or ten thousand men ; but the grand master, John Parisot de la Valette, was a host by himself. This worthy successor of P. d'Aubusson and Villiers de I'Isle-Adam had, like them, a mind incapable of fear even amidst the greatest dangers, an extraordinary prudence and ability much improved by experience, and an intrepid valor constantly animated by religious and patriotic principles. The plan which he adopted from the beginning of the siege, and which he followed up with unshaken constancy, was to defend, by the most vigorous exertions, every fort, every post, every inch of ground, against all the eiforts of the Turks, hoping in this manner so to harass them and diminish their numbers, as finally to compel them to evacuate the island. In consequence of this noble determination, sharp skir- mishes daily took place, retarding the progress of the as- sailants. A little fort, called St. El me, stopped their whole army for several weeks; nor could they take it AD. 1560-1571. WAR AGAINST THE TURKS. 215 except bj sacrificing eight thousand of their bravest war- riors; which made one of the Turkish generals exclaim: '' If the son has given us so much trouble, what must we expect from the father!" The garrison of that fort, com- posed of a few knights and some hundred soldiers, ex- hibited a spectacle never seen before. They not only re- pelled the continual assaults of the Janizaries, as long as succors could be sent to them by the grand master, but, even when all communication was cut oft', and when ther were reduced to a small band, all wounded and scarcely able to move, they continued to defend the breach against thousands of assailants. As loss of blood and complete exhaustion did not permit them any longer to fight stand- ing and with one hand only, they sat upon chairs and benches, and, wielding their swords with both hands, combatted to their last breath. Fort St. Elme was not taken till after the death of all the knights who had gen- erously devoted themselves to its defence. Still more awful and bloody was the struggle, when di- rected against the principal forts of the island, and against the town in which most of the knights resided. Desperate courage on the one side, undaunted intrepidity on the other, daily rendered the ramparts of Malta a theatre of unparalleled feats of arms. The energy of the grand mas- ter seemed to have been transfused into the souls of his brave companions, and the valor of the knights to have communicated itself to all the inhabitants; and such was the admiration which the spectacle of this noble heroism excited, that all classes of the people wished to partake in their glorious exploits. Thus, on one occasion, a band of two hundred boys, with their slings, powerfully contri- buted to repel a furious assault; on another, two sailors contrived the best measure to defeat one of the most dan- gerous attacks of the infidels. Persons of every age and condition labored day and night in repairing the walls or making; new intrenchments, without beina: fris-htened by the sight of the swords and of the scenes of carnage, of 19* 216 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. the dead and of the dying. Even females, forgetting their usual timidity, went forward to help their fathers, hus- bands or sons; and fearlessly appearing upon the breach, threw upon the assailants boiling water and oil, melted pitch, fire-works, and even large stones, which they would • not have been able to move in any other circumstance. As to the grand master, besides continually watching every motion of the enemy, and attending to every part of the besieged town, he seemed to multiply himself, and to be present at every attack. The imminent danger of death, which he braved a thousand times, never caused him any fear or disturbance. Having, in one of the as- saults, received a deep wound, he generously disregarded it, and continued fighting until the Turks were repelled. At another time, his nephew, a brave knight, whom he most tenderly loved, was killed at a short distance from him; La Valette contented himself with saying: "To-mor- row we shall have time to weep for the loss of my nephew; let us now avenge his death, by forcing our enemies to ilv." Being told thatMustapha, the commander-in-chief of the Turks, had sworn to put all the knights to the sword, and preserve the grand master alone, to bring him before the sultan, "I will prevent him from doing that," coolly replied La Valette; ''if, contrary to my expec- tation, the result of the siege should prove fatal to us, rather than sufter myself to be taken prisoner, I would put on the dress of a common soldier, throw myself into the thickest bands of the enemy, and fight until a glorious death should unite me to my brethren." Such noble intrepidity, ably seconded by the unabated courage of the knights and of the Maltese soldiers, could scarcely fail to be crowned at last with full success. Yet, the Turks were not dispirited ; and for a long time they seemed to derive new strength and ardor from their very defeats, their shame at not having hitherto been able to subdue a handful of warriors, making them perform pro- dio-ies of valor. Besides having recourse to the ordinary A. D. 1560-1571. WAR AGAINST THE TURKS. 217 modes of warfare, they every day invented new engines to annoy the besieged. Sometimes, by means of powerful machines, they threw barrels filled with gun-powder and case-shot so prepared as to burst upon the ramparts and spread death among their foes. On other occasions they pushed forward to the walls wooden towers, from the tops of which their musketeers might, with deadly aim, shoot down every human being that appeared upon the breach. The besieged, on their side, were not idle in their endeav- ors to prevent the effects of these murderous machines, either destroying them by the brisk fire of their artillery, or even turning them against their very contrivers. It was an awful spectacle to see the fatal barrels, before they had time to burst, hurled back upon the assailants, the wooden towers dashed in pieces, the ladders broken, and numbers of Janizaries crushed to death at the foot of the ramparts. Not only did Mustapha, in these daily conflicts, lose many of his bravest soldiers, he had moreover the most gloomy prospect before him. Instead of reducing the in- habitants of Malta by famine, as he had, for a time, hoped to do, he began to feel the want of provisions and ammu- nition in his own camp. He moreover supposed the de- fenders of the besieged places to be much more numerous than they really were ; and concluding that it was quite useless to continue the attack against the maritime forts, turned his efforts against the city called Notable, the capi- tal of the whole island. Here also his hopes were entirely frustrated. In his perplexity, he resolved to resume the operations of the former siege; when a body of troops, which had been promised by the king of Spain, at length arrived from Sicily. Although it consisted of only seven thousand men, this number was sufficient to raise the siege. Despondency and consternation had already be- gun to spread among the Turks; panic and despair suc- ceeded ; and, after a single powerless discharge of mus- ketry, they hastily fled to the shore and reembarked for Constantinople. 218 MODERN HISTORY. Part VI r. An end was thus put to the harassing and sanguinary conflict. At the arrival of the auxiliary troops and the departure of the enemy, there remained, in the residence of the knights, not more than six hundred men able to bear arms, and even most of that number were wounded. The Spanish and Sicilian allies could not refrain from tears at the sight of these truly invincible but disfigured and emaciated warriors; their beards and hair were in a dreadful state; their garments, owing to the length of time that they had not been changed, were falling to pieces, and covered with dust and gore. It was impossi- ble, at such a spectacle, not to mingle lively feelings of compassion with the transports of joy caused by so happy a deliverance. In order to transmit to posterity an au- thentic memorial of these surprising events, the small town, around which so many exploits had been achieved, received the appellation of victorious city, which it still retains. A great and truly noble object now occupied the mind of La Yalette. In consequence of the furious siege just ended, most of the houses and fortifications were destrov- ed, the cannons broken to pieces or greatly damaged, the stores and arsenals without ammunition, the coffers with- out money, the forts without sufiicient garrisons, and those parts of the country which had been the theatre of the war, almost without inhabitants; in a word, Malta was in such a state of desolation, that the bravest knights lost all hope of ever seeing it recover its former prosperity, and ex- pressed a desire that Sicily should be selected as the resi- dence of the order. But the grand master, who, even in the utmost distress, had never consented to yield any thing, was much less willing now to abandon that glorious soil so well fitted to produce new laurels. All the Chris- tian princes applauded his magnanimous sentiments, and readily assisted him in carrying out his views. Having therefore chosen a favorable spot, he laid the foundation of a new city, which he destined to become the principal AD. 1560-1571. WAR AGAINST THE TURKS. 219 seat of the order of St. John; and the work was prosecu- ted with such diligence and activity as to be nearly com- pleted in the space of five years. The city took the name of her illustrious founder, La Valette, and being protect- ed both by nature and art, was deservedly reputed the strongest place in Europe. The intelligence of these events threw Soliman into a paroxysm of rage; he trampled under foot the letter of his general, and swore vengeance against the Christians. He however thought it prudent not to attack again the heroes of Malta, and rather chose to vent his resentment against the Christian islands of the Archipelago. After- wards, the indefatigable sultan led his Janizaries, for the fourth time, into Hungary (a. d. 1566). The storm at this period burst upon Sigeth, a small but well fortified town, whose brave garrison of three thousand men, and its intrepid commander. Count Nicolas Serini, bound themselves by a solemn oath, if they could not conquer, at least to die too;ether in defence of their religion and their country. Never was there a generous promise bet- ter and more resolutely fulfilled. For the space of two months, they successfully resisted an army of one hun- dred and fifty thousand Turks, destroying upwards of thirty thousand of the foremost among the assailants. At last, findina: their own number reduced to two hundred and fifty, they threw open the gates of the fortress, and rushed into the midst of the Janizaries, where they all fell whilst fighting with desperate courage; only two soldiers, who were left for dead on the field of battle, afterwards recovered from their wounds. Thus Sigeth fell under the power of the Turks, but not until it had become, as it were, a heap of ruins, without any one left to defend it any longer. Soliman had not the satisfaction to see the end of that murderous siege ; his disappointment, roused to fury by so obstinate a resistance, brought on an attack of apoplexy, of which he died three days before the last conflict. As, however, the ultimate result was the con- 220 MODERN HISTORY. Part Vll, sequence of his exertions, the capture of Sigeth maj be justly accounted as one of the exploits, and as the last but dearly-bought victory of that renowned sultan. Although implicit credit should not be given to all the encomiums bestowed on Soliman by the Turkish writers, since various instances of cruelty and restless ambition are found in his life, which are a stain on his memory; still it must be confessed that his reign was, at least, one of the most brilliant and successful of the Ottoman dynasty. This prince nearly equalled Charles V, his co- temporary, in activity, prudence and warlike genius. A famous conqueror and a great general in the field, he was also an able politician and a wise legislator at home; he left behind him many useful institutions; he embellished Constantinople, erected a powerful navy, protected learn- ing, and, by his munificence, justice and liberality, not only secured to his person and government the respect of his Mahometan subjects, but even on many occasions was an object of admiration to the Christians themselves. Selim II, who succeeded Soliman on the Turkish throne, did not posses the military qualities of most of his prede- cessors, and yet successfully carried on their plan of aggrandizement and conquest. Looking with a jealous eye at the rich island of Cyprus, then in the possession of the Venetians, he equipped a numerous fleet and army, in order to bring it under his power. The greater part of the country surrendered without opposition, Nicotia and Famagusta being the only places that ventured to sustain a siege. The former was taken at the expiration of seven weeks; the latter held out four months, during which the Turks lost, it is said, forty thousand men, and were obliged to fire one hundred and fifty thousand cannon balls. They sullied their victory by shocking cruelties, and the defenders of Cyprus expiated in tortures the guilt of their vigorous resistance. Above all, the resent- ment of the infidels vented itself on the intrepid com- mander of Famagusta, Marc Antony Bragadino, whose A. D. 1560-1571. WAR AGAINST THE TURKS. 221 heroism on that occasion will be remembered by the latest posterity. This great man, being, contrary to the terms of the capitulation, carried into captivity, experienced the most barbarous treatment from the Turkish general, Mus- tapha, and was finally flayed alive, without betraying the least symptom of pain, but piously reciting the fiftieth psalm, until he expired in the hands of the executioner. This barbarity of the Turks roused the indignation, while their increasing power excited the fears of Christen- dom. To avert the danger which threatened at once reli- gion and civilization in Europe, Pope Pius V exerted all his faculties, authority and zeal. He, on one hand, by letters and embassies, procured the conclusion of a pow- erful league, consisting of his own states, the kingdom of Spain and the republic of Venice; on the other hand, he endeavored to secure victory to their cause by fervent sup- plications and by ordering the dismissal from the Chris- tian host of all persons, whose vices and immorality might provoke the wrath of heaven. This being done, the com- bined fleet, consisting of about two hundred and forty vessels, under the command of Don Juan of Austria, a half brother to Philip II, went in search of the Turkish fleet, which was still more numerous. The belligerent parties came in sight in the gulf of Lepanto; and nearly on the same spot where Augustus and Antony had former- ly contended for the Roman empire, were the Christians and the Mussulmans now about to fight for the possession of Europe. The seventh of October 1571, witnessed one of the most terrible naval battles recorded in history. For sev- eral nours the conflict all along the line was awful, and victory uncertain. At length, the persevering courage of the confederates, the intrepidity of Don Juan and other generals, their superior skill in naval and military tactics, in fine, a strong and favorable breeze which arose just at the beginning of the battle, and carried clouds of smoke towards the Turks, gave the Christians a decisive victory. 222 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII The fierce Ottomans lost in that memorable action thirty five thousand soldiers, with their admiral and chief ofli- cers, fifteen thousand Christian slaves, about two hun- dred and fifty men-of-war and galleys, three hundred and seventy-two large guns, and an immense booty with which their vessels were loaded.* So signal an overthrow every where spread terror and dismay among the Turks, chiefly in Constantinople, whereas the victory of the confederates filled the Chris- tian world with exultation. In Rome, Toledo, and other places, it was celebrated with extraordinary rejoicings; the Venetians, above all, manifested their enthusiasm by forbidding any one to mourn for the loss of those who had perished in the glorious conflict. The conquerors, it is true, did not know how to pursue and improve their vic- tory as much as might have been expected ; yet, it cannot be denied that its result was of an immense advantage, since it proved not only a check to the progress of the Ottomans, but also the beginning of their decline, at least as a maritime power. PHILIP II CONTINUED.— THE REPUBLIC OF HOLLAND.— FRANCE UNDER THE LAST VALOIS AND HENRY IV.— GENERAL STATE OF EUROPE IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.— a. d. 1566—1618. The prosecution of the Turkish war did not occupy the whole attention of Philip II; he was also, during the same period, and for many years after, engaged in a series of hostilities against Holland. That country, which had been dependent on Spain ever since the accession of . * A more detailed account of the battle of Lepanto may be found in Univers. Hist. vol. lx; — Mignot, Hist, de V Empire Ottoman {reign of Selim u) ; — Hist, du Bas Empire, continuee par Ameilhon, vol. xxvii ; — also in the Eccles. historians, Beraut-Bercastel, and Fleury, or rather his continuator, ad.ann. 1571; and Alban-Butler's ii/e of St. Pius F, under the fifth of May, with the notes. A, D, 1566-1618. PHILIP II CONTINUED^ ETC. 223 Charles V, began openly to shake off the yoke in 1566, under the pretence of political and religious tyranny. Neither the severity of the duke of Alva, nor the abilities of Don Juan, nor the heroic qualities of Alexander Far- nese, duke of Parma, could reestablish in it the Spanish domination ; and, in spite both of conferences and arms, the republic of Holland, or of the Seven United Pro- vinces, was proclaimed in 1581. It rapidly increased during the first part of the following century; and, by uniting an active spirit of trade and maritime enterprise with great military skill and numerous exploits on land, it acquired such prosperity, wealth and power, as fre- quently to counterbalance the influence of the mightiest sovereigns of Europe. However, it was not universally acknowledged as a free and independent state before the year 1648, in the treaty of Westphalia. The Spanish monarch was more successful in his expe- dition against Portugal. Not long before, under the reign of Emmanuel and John III, this kingdom had reached the height of opulence and glory. One single act of impru- dence on the part of the young king Don Sebastian, in 1578, caused it not only to fall from the high rank which it held among European nations, but even to lose for a time its independence. Contrary to the advice of his wisest counsellors, that impetuous prince obstinately wished to engage in an expedition against some princes of Africa. A battle was fought, in which he displayed sur- prising valor, but finally met with a complete overthrow. The Portuguese troops were cut to pieces, and he himself disappeared, and was never seen afterwards. As he left no issue, the crown of Portugal was claimed by many competitors, who prepared to support their pretensions by recourse to law or by force of arms; but Philip of Spain, who was beyond comparison the most powerful of all the aspirants to ;the throne, overcame his rivals. Portugal was subdued in one campaign, and, with its numerous settlements in other parts of the globe, remained annexed 20 224 MODERN HISTORY. tan VI I. to the Spanish monarchy during sixty years, viz : from 1580 to 1640, when a sudden and successful revolution restored it to its native princes. By the addition of Portugal and its appendages to his hereditary dominions, Philip II became the sovereign of the most extensive monarchy that had hitherto existed. Several countries of Europe and Asia, and nearly all the regions of America until then descried, obeyed his laws; hence he was used to say, and with truth, that the sun never set for all his dominions at once. Nor was his mind unequal to the task of regulating so vast and so compli- cated a machine. He was continually watching over the different provinces of his amazing monarchy, there being no department of the public administration with which he Wias not familiarly acquainted, no aft air of importance to which he did not personally attend, no minister of state, no general of his army, whose public conduct he did not diligently observe, in order to keep all within the bounds of duty. Philip moreover exercised a considerable influence over the other states of Europe, particularly France ; indeed, he cherished for a long time the hope of placing one of his children upon the French throne. That kingdom, after the vigorous reign of Henry II, had fallen into a deplora- ble state under his weak successors, Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, owing chiefly to an almost uninter- rupted series of civil wars between the Catholics, who wished to maintain the ancient faith, and the Huguenots or Calvinists, who were anxious to establish their own religious system. The evil was increased, in 1572, by the massacre on St. Bartholomew's day, in which several hundred Protestants were, by an act of cruel retaliation, immolated to the resentment and vengeance of the Court.* At the death of Henry III, who fell by the sword of an assassin in 1589, Philip II endeavored, by every means * See note E. A. D. 1566-1618. PHILIP II CONTINUED^ ETC. 225 in his power, to exclude the nearest heir, Henry of Bour- bon and Navarre, who was a Protestant, from a throne which had always been occupied by Catholic monarchs; but the many victories of Henry, enhanced by his truly royal qualities, and finally his return to the Catholic church,* baffled the projects and frustrated the hopes of the Spanish sovereign. All obstacles were removed in 1593, and the king of Navarre, the head of the Bourbon family, was universally acknowledged king of France under the name of Henry IV; a name ever to be held, notwithstanding the individual frailties of the monarch, in grateful remembrance for the return of happiness and prosperity which it secured to this long afflicted kingdom. In the mean time, Philip II, worn down by age, infir- mity and toil, was called from this world, and left his immense possessions to his son Philip III. His last mo- ments, amidst the acute pains of a complicated disease, more and more manifested that firmness and energy of character which he had so frequently displayed during his long career. He died, after a reign of forty -two years, on the thirteenth of September, 1598. Five years later, the famous queen of England, Elizabeth, also departed this life, and was succeeded by the son of the unfortunate Mary Stuart, James of Scotland, who was really the nearest heir to the British throne, when the posterity of Henry VIII became extinct by the death of Elizabeth. Being the first who reigned over the united kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland, James, on that account, took the title of King of Great Britain. Under these new and pacific sovereigns, Europe, gene- * The conversion of Henry IV was not, as the infidel Voltaire pre- sumed to assert, owing to political and interested motives, but the fruit of doctrinal conferences held in his presence. Having asked the Pro- testant doctors whether he could be saved in the Catholic religion, and being answered in the affirmative, he concluded that it was undoubtedly the safer step to become a Catholic. He immediately be|^an to act up to this conclusion ; and, from that time, never ceased to evince the most sincere and strong attachment to the faith which he had embraced. 226 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII . rally speaking, enjoyed a profound peace during the first part of the seventeenth century. Still, a violent storm was preparing against the house of Austria, whose pre- ponderance destroyed, in the opinion of many, the neces- sary equilibrium among the monarchs of Europe. It was the desire of the neighboring princes, and particularly of the French king, to weaken her power, and great prepara- tions were already made for that purpose, when Henry IV fell by the poniard of a base assassin, on the fourteenth of May, 1610. This tragical event delayed for a time the project of the confederates, and plunged France into the deepest affliction. At the news of Henry's death, all labor ceased; commerce was interrupted; in the towns, especially in the capital, nothing was heard but sobs and lamentations, and country people werp, seen to slip.d torrents of tears, thus testifying their gratitude for the truly paternal affec- tion which the good king had always manifested for this class of his subjects. It was his delight to talk with them about their toils, their profits and losses, and even their smallest concerns. He wished them to have a fowl to eat every Sunday. In a word, to promote the happiness of his people may truly be said to have been his predominant passion ; hence we need not wonder that he conciliated to himself the love of the French nation, and won the admi- ration of all ages and countries. Even at present, the name of Henry IV reminds every one of a gracious, mild and beneficent king, who rendered himself still more com- mendable for the generous feelings of his heart than for all his other noble and heroic qualities. THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.— a. d. 1618—1648. The intended war against the Austrian family, which had been postponed on account of the death of Henry IV, at length broke out in 1618, and lasted, almost without A. D. 1618-1648. THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 227 interruption, during the space of thirty years. Its com- mencement coincides with the beginning of the reign of Ferdinand II, an emperor whose magnanimity and other virtues won the admiration even of his enemies. His chief allies were the king of Spain, his relative, the king of Poland, and the duke of Bavaria: the principal among the belligerent powers on the opposite side were Denmark, Sweden, France and Bohemia. The two first mentioned of these four nations had hitherto been little known, ex- cept from their quarrels with each other; but they now began to take an active part, and to exert a certain influ- ence in the general affairs of Europe. The first manifestation of hostility in this sanguinary contest, was made by the Bohemians, who had revolted against the Austrian domination, and by Christian IV, king of Denmark, who supported them with a powerful army; but both the Danes and Bohemians were entirely overthrown by the imperial troops. In a few campaigns, Tilly and Walstein, two skilful generals, compelled the enemies of Ferdinand to desist from their hostile designs, and submit to the conditions which he thought proper to impose on them (a. d. 1629). Unfortunately, the victorious emperor refused to com' prise Sweden in the treaty of peace. This kingdom was at that time under the sway of Gustavus Adolphus, a young hero, with whose abilities, energy and resources Ferdinand II and his allies were but slightly acquainted. Deeply offended at the refusal, Gustavus immediately prepared to renew the struggle; and, like another Anni- bal, resolved to attack his enemies in the centre of their possessions. His very first appearance in the north of Germany, at the head of a brave and well disciplined host, inclined the scale of fortune in his favor. All fled before him, and Tilly, who attempted to stop his progress, was himself, after an obstinate engagement, completely defeated in the plains of Leipzig (a. d. 1631). A second battle was equally unfavorable to that great general, who 20* 228 MODERN HISTORY. Fart VII. died a few days after of his wounds, having lived, it was said, one year too long for his reputation and glory. Walstein then assumed the chief command, and has- tened with fresh troops to oppose Gustavus. The armies again met near the village of Lutzen, and fought with such animosity that victory was for a long time doubtful. At length, the Swedes, by tremendous and desperate efforts, remained in possession of the field, but lost their invinci- ble leader, who was slain during the hottest part of the action (1632). This accident w^as more fatal to them than the defeat of their army would have been. For, although several able commanders, by order of their senate, con- tinued the war with great vigor, yet they wanted his pen- etrating genius; and no later than the year 1634, the Swedish army was signally overthrown by the imperialists in the battle of Nordlingen. This victory of Ferdinand raised his party again, whereas the loss of eighteen thou- sand men weakened his opponents to such a degree, that France, their most powerful ally, was obliged, from that time, to take the principal share in the prosecution of the war. The French throne was, at this period, occupied by the son of Henry IV, Louis XIII, a just, brave and religious prince, who had given many proofs of great personal cou- rage and of a successful administration. Louis, it is true, did not seem much inclined of himself to make foreign conquests; but he possessed in the person of Cardinal Richelieu, a minister of state equally skilled in conceiving mighty plans, and in carrying them into execution. This powerful genius had already rendered very important ser- vices to his sovereign and country, by destroying the ex- cessive power of some of the lords, and giving the last blow to the feudal system; by crushing the restlessness of the Huguenots, rooting out the seed of new civil wars, and subduing La Rochelle, the principal seat of discontent and rebellion; in fine, by establishing the French acad- emy, and laying the founda^on of the glory of the fol- AD 1618-1642. THE THIRTY YEARS WAR. 229 lowing reign. He had just raised the kingdom to this state of prosperity, when the Swedes experienced that defeat at Nordlingen which obliged their allies to make greater exertions against the common enemy. Hostilities were now carried on chiefly between Austria and France. As each nation possessed brave troops and skilful gener- als, numberless exploits were achieved on both sides; still no decisive action took place for several years, so that neither the emperor Ferdinand II on one hand, nor Louis XIII and Richelieu on the other, lived to see the termina- tion of the war. It continued under Ferdinand III, and during the mi- nority of the young king Louis XIV, who began, at the ao-e of five, a glorious reign which lasted seventy-two years. Its very beginning, in 1643, was marked by a brilliant victory. The duke of Enghien, better known under his subsequent name of prince of Conde, had been, a short time before, placed at the head of the French army. The first act of his military career was to conquer and destroy, near Rocroy in Champagne, the formidable Spanish in- fantry so renowned for its discipline and valor ever since the time of king Ferdinand. This victory, gained by a general scarcely twenty-two years of age, gave France a decided superiority, which the same prince, together with his rival in glory, the marshal of Turenne, strengthened more and more by his subsequent triumphs at Friburg, in 1644, Nordlingen, in 1645, and Lens, in 1648. So many victories for one party, and losses for the other terminated in the famous treaty of Munster and Osnaburgh, commonly called the treaty of Westphalia, towards the end of 1648. By that treaty the authority of the emperor was reduced to narrower limits, and by a na- tural consequence, which the French plenipotentiaries endeavored in vain to avert, the Catholics lost much of their influence in Germany. Holland was formally ac- knowledged as an independent state, and valuable pos- sessions were acquired to France and Sweden. Thus was 230 MODERN HISTORY. Pan vil. peace restored in the greater part of Europe; but, the treaty of Westphalia not having been fully accepted by the Spanish king, Philip IV, who still cherished the hope of retrieving his late defeats, hostilities continued for some years longer between him and France. As to Eng- land, she had been, nearly all that time, too deeply en- gaged at home by dissensions and civil wars, to take any active share in these distant broils of continental Europe. CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND.— COMMONWEALTH.— RESTO- RATION.— A. D. 1625—1660. The whole reign of James I had passed in comparative tranquillity ;* but this was rather a deceitful peace, and one of those calms which prognosticate a storm. At his death (a. d. 1625), he left to his son Charles I, an empty treasury, a refractory parliament, a kingdom given up to religious disputes, and distracted by rival societies, the principal of which were the Episcopalians or Anglicans, and the Presbyterians or Puritans. James always desired to put down the latter of these two parties, but left the work to be accomplished, if possible, by his successor; and when Charles made the attempt, he met with a resist- ance which proved the first cause of his own ruin. An order had been issued for the general adoption of the Anglican doctrine and liturgy even in Scotland. The Puritans, who were numerous and powerful there, boldly opposed the royal decrees, and swore to defend their man- * It was under that reign that some infuriated persons, nominal Cath- olics, formed the horrid project, called the gun-powder plot, of blowing up the parliament-house during the session. The plot was detected, and its authors met with condign punishment; unfortunately, several innocent persons were involved in their ruin, and prejudice went so far as to throw the blame upon the entire Catholic church, as if Catholics at large could be accountable for the mad conduct of nine desperadoes whose plot they never knew — or the code of Catholic principles an- swerable for a crime which it always condemned and abhorred. A. D. 1654-1666. CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND^ ETC. 231 ner of worship against every attack, from whatever quar- ter it might proceed. In order to quell the insurrection, Charles marshalled an army, and led it towards the fron- tiers; still, yielding to his inclination for peace, he con- sented to come to an agreement with the Scots, even at the risk of diminishing his authority. This act of con- descension, instead of dissolving the Scottish covenant, seemed rather to give it new strength ; and the covenanters grew bolder than ever, especially when they saw their cause openly supported by the English parliament, which was still more opposed to the court than themselves. This parliament seemed absolutely resolved to thwart the monarch in all his views, and to strip the crown of its best prerogatives. Charles yielded on many points; but, finding all his condescension of no avail in reestablishing concord and tranquillity, and moreover, never receiving the necessary subsidies, he had recourse to arms, and summoned around him those who were still attached to his person, his government, or his fortunes. The parlia- ment also raised troops ; the exasperation of both parties burst into an open flame ; and civil war in every part of the realm was the dire consequence (a. d. 1642). This revolution was at first favorable to Charles, who gained in person great advantages, and forced one of the parliamentary armies, under the command of the earl of Essex, to capitulate and surrender. But these successes of the royal cause were counteracted by the loss of the bloody battle of Marston Moor, fought in the north of England (a. d. 1644); and, on the fourteenth of June of the ensuing year, the still more fatal battle of Naseby deprived the king of nearly all his resources. Believing that there was no safer way to escape from the fury of his enemies than to take refuge among the Scots, he deter- mined to throw himself upon their loyalty, and to surren- der himself into their hands. This was running from one danger into another; the Scottish army (not the nation at large), after a short hesitation, shamefully delivered him 232 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. to the English parliament for the sum of four hundred thousand pounds. A new party had now arisen in England, very appro- priately called the Independents, because in reality they claimed an entire independence in all matters both civil and religious. At their head were Fairfax and Cromwell, two men famous in the history of those times, the former for his valor and skill in the command of armies, the latter for his penetrating genius and wonderful talent in every sort of political and military transactions. With a boundless ambition, which he artfully concealed under the veil of modesty and religious zeal, all means, whether just or criminal, were equally good in his sight, provided they would promote the object of his designs. In a short time, his ability raised him to the chief command of the troops, his refined intrigues to the first rank in his party, and his artful ambition to the sovereign power. Cromwell had contributed more than any one to the overthrow of the royalists in the battles of Marston Moor and Naseby. Possessing, on that account, vast influence in the army, he made himself master of the king's person, and, confining him in a prison, defeated all the attempts that were made to set him at liberty. Afterwards, the bold usurper appointed a committee, which he took care to compose of his warmest partisans, for the trial of the royal captive. Charles indeed refused to acknowledge the competency of that tribunal, and answered the absurd charges laid against him by a dignified silence or a smile of contempt ; still, the proceedings went on with unusual rapidity; after a mock examination, he was outlawed, condemned to death as a tyrant and a foe to the English nation, and, in fine, executed in London on the thirtieth of January 1649. His most faithful defenders and friends soon experienced the same fate; and England saw with dismay her most distinguished lords perish on the scaffold. On this sanguinary foundation a commonwealth arose in the place of the ancient monarchy, a new constitution A. D. 1625-1660. CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND, ETC. 233 was published, and Cromwell was acknowledged as head of the government under the title of Protector. Great and numerous were the obstacles which he had to encounter in this elevated station. No sooner had the intelligence of the king's death spread abroad, than par- ties were formed in Ireland, Scotland, and England itself, against the usurpers. A man of ordinary talents would have sunk under these accumulated obstacles; Cromwell overcame them all by his prudence and activity. After giving in charge to some of his generals to quell the in- surrection in England, he himself rapidly passed over to Ireland, compelled the inhabitants into submission by the superiority of his forces, and, returning with the same celerity, advanced against the Scots, whom he surprised and defeated at Dunbar (a. d. 1650). This overthrow did not prevent Charles, the eldest son of the late mon- arch, from penetrating into England at the head of four- teen thousand men. But Cromwell closely followed him, met the royalists again near Worcester, and gained over them a complete and decisive victory; Charles succeeded, with extreme difficulty, in saving his life, and escaped into France by crossing the channel in a boat. Cromwell returned in triumph to London, and thence- forth occupied himself in securing the prosperity of the realm by a vigorous and wise administration. Although the government was called a republic, he acted more abso- lutely than perhaps any English king had ever done, dis- solving the parliament whenever it opposed his views and measures. Tranquillity was restored to England, litera- ture, arts and sciences were protected, and useful laws enacted, as well against blasphemy and luxury, as for the maintenance of order and justice. Commerce also was revived, and the navy greatly increased. Having thus secured the prosperity of his government at home, Cromwell caused it to be also respected abroad. *'I wish," said he, "to see the British commonwealth as much honored by other nations, as the Roman republic 234 MODERN HISTORY. Pan Vll. once was." Accordingly, the English vessels trium- phantly swept every sea; haughty conditions were imposed on the rival powers of Europe; and the Dutch, who alone ventured to question the superiority of the British flag, were soon compelled to respect it in a series of great naval battles, in the last of which they lost their celebra- ted admiral Van Tromp. Cromwell received still greater honor, in beholding his alliance sought with equal eagerness by France and Spain. Between these two nations, war had already lasted more than twenty years, although of late it had begun to lan- guish, owing to the civil feuds which disturbed the minori- ty of Louis XIV, and divided the attention of the French court. After some hesitation, the protector preferred the alliance of France, and afforded the young king such assistance, in troops and vessels, as to destroy the equili- brium which had so long protracted the war against Spain. As a compensation for this efficient aid, and an indemnity for the expenses incurred, he required that the important city of Dunkirk should be besieged, and the keys delivered into his hands, and that France, moreover, should afford no refuge or protection to the exiled sons of Charles I. In consequence of this treaty, preparations were made for two grand expeditions. A British fleet, under the command of Blake, went in search of the Spanish forces, and gained two victories near the shores of Spain and Africa; and Jamaica was also conquered by the English, in whose possession it has since continued. On the land. Marshal Turenne, already famous for many glorious cam- paigns and victories, led his army, composed of French and English troops, to the siege of Dunkirk. The Span- iards, on their side, were not idle; they approached the French lines for the purpose of raising the siege, but were entirely defeated in the celebrated battle of Dunes, the more honorable to Turenne, as he vanquished at once three able generals, viz. Don Juan the commander in chief, the Prince of Conde and the Duke of York, both of A. D. 1625-1660. CIVIL WAR IN ENGLAND^ ETC. 235 whom, discontented with the court of France, had gone over to the party of the Spaniards (a. d. 1658). Within a few days Dunkirk capitulated, and, accord- ing to the previous agreement, was surrendered to the English. Two other victories, and the capture of several other towns, terminated that decisive campaign, which was soon followed by the conclusion of peace between Spain and France on terms very advantageous to the latter. The Prince of Conde was included in the treaty between the two crowns. Cromwell did not witness the termination of the war, having died a short time before, just when the prosperous issue of his alliance with France had raised him to the zenith of his glory. However, neither in this nor in any other successful scheme had he ever enjoyed real happi- ness. From the moment in which he was invested with the supreme power to that of his death, his mind labored under ^ constant dread of assassination; nor were his numberless precautions and multiplied guards able to re- move his fears. The nights especially he passed in a state of feverish anxiety, never sleeping twice, or more than twice in succession, in the same chamber, and taking care that, besides the principal door, there should be some other secret one for the facility of escape. He died at the age of fifty-nine (a. d. 1658), on the third of Septem- ber, the anniversary of the victories obtained by him at Worcester and Dunbar, the former seven, the latter eiirht years before. Almost simultaneously with Cromwell fell the form of government which he had established. Richard, his son, was, it is true, appointed Protector in his place; but, pos- sessing neither the abilities nor the ambition of his father, he soon resigned the office, and the English, beino- at length tired of so precarious a state of things, agreed to recall among themselves the royal family of the Stuarts. The whole affair, admirably well conducted by General Monk, afterwards called duke of Albemarle, was finally 21 236 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VIL accomplished in May 1660, when Charles II was, with universal satisfaction and applause, replaced upon the throne of his ancestors. BRITISH AND FRENCH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA. These successive changes of government were adopted without much difficulty by the numerous settlements which England already possessed in North America. It would have been impossible for these rising colonies, especially at such a distance, efficaciously to resist the course of events which took place in the mother-country; the more so, as many of the emigrants had a long and bloody strug- gle to maintain against the Indians, who frequently op- jwsed with all their might the rise and progress of the English settlements. Notwithstanding these obstacles, the colonies gradually improved, and at length, by dint of labor, industry and courage, became very prosperous. The most remarkable of them were all established un- der the government of the Stuarts, and in the following chronological order: Virginia, in 1607, by Episcopa- lians; — New Amsterdam, or New York, in 1614, or there- about, by the Dutch; this colony lost the former and took the latter name in 1664 or 1665, when it passed under the power of the English; — Massachusetts and Boston, in 1620 — 1630:* — Maryland, in 1632 — 1634, by Catholics, through the exertions of Sir George Calvert, Lord Balti- more, a nobleman of liberal character and distinguished abilities, and under the direction of his son Cecil, and of * Some years later, were founded most of the other New England States. Those of Delaware and New Jersey were first settled by Swedes and Dutch, shortly alter New York. Lord Clarendon and other Endish emigrants commenced, in 1663 — 1670, the establishment of Carolina, but it was only in 1729 that the country was completely divided into Nurlh and South Carolina. Georgia was settled in 1732 — 1735. The other States of the union, besides those mentioned above, are of much u)ore recent date BRITISH AND FRENCH COLONIES^ ETC. 237 his brother Leonard Calvert; the city of Baltimore was not however built till a much later period : — Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, in 1681-1682, by the Quakers, under the celebrated William Penn, to whom that portion of the American territory was ceded by the British court as a reward for the services of Admiral Penn, his father. In these two last States, a system of equity, humanity and meekness was adopted with regard to the Indian tribes, which did great honor to the first settlers, and greatly contributed to their rapid increase and early pros- perity. A still more distinguishing feature of the colony of Maryland is the example of Christian moderation and mildness which she gave to her sister colonies; an ex- ample hitherto unknown in the history of America. For, w^hilst Viro-inia and New England were doominjTi the for- mer to exile, the latter to still harsher treatment, all who dissented from their respective creeds. Lord Baltimore and his associates, without in the least admitting religious indifterence, being themselves sincere Catholics, removed however all idea of religious persecution, and legally re- cognized from the beo-inning; that freedom of conscience which has since been adopted by the Constitution of the United States. It was also chiefly during the course of the seventeenth century that the French made regular settlements in those parts of North America which they had previously des- cried, particularly in Canada. Champlain, an active and enterprising officer, founded Quebec in 1608, and in 1642 Montreal began to rise and soon after to prosper under the active care of a colony of zealous settlers, and chiefly of the congregation of the Sulpitians, to whom the whole island was ceded about this time. Louisiana also became one of the French colonies, though somewhat later. New Orleans not having begun to exist before the year 1718. Florida belonged at that time to the Spaniards, 238 MODERN HISTORY. Pa^t vil. SPLENDOR OF THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. When the restoration of the Stuarts to the throne of England took place, Louis XIV of France had been king for seventeen years ; but, as he fully relied upon the ex- perience of his mother, Ann of Austria, and the consum- mate skill of his prime-minister, Cardinal Mazarin, he at first interfered little in the government of his kingdom. However, even at that time, he occasionally evinced such an energy of character as plainly to indicate what he might effect in a subsequent period. Mazarin died in 1661, and Louis, then twenty-three years old, took the reins of government into his own hands, and never after- wards relinquished them, nor ceased to hold them in a manner suitable to his power and dignity. He soon verified a saying of the deceased cardinal, that there was in him sufficient material to make four kings. Every branch of the public administration assumed under him a grand and majestic aspect. He settled with preci- sion the extent of power to be exercised by each one of his ministers, required them to come to an account with him at stated hours; and, whilst he encouraged them by sincere marks of confidence, carefully observed their proceedings, lest they should abuse their authority. His manner of governing, alike dignified and courteous, se- cured to him the respect of foreigners and the aff*ection of his own people. Military discipline was enforced, the public revenues were managed with prudence and wisdom, and strict order was observed in the courts of justice. Safe and capacious harbors were in a short time con- structed and made ready to receive all kinds of vessels; the canal of Languedoc, a work not unworthy of the genius of ancient Rome, opened an easy communication between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, and a powerful navy was equipped to contend for the empire of the ocean with the chief maritime forces then in existence. REIGJV OF LOUIS XIV. 239 Under such an impulse given to every improvement, commerce and industry increased, splendid manufactories arose, which astonished the world by the beauty and ele- gance of their productions in porcelain, looking glasses, tapestry, etc. The academies of sciences, belles-lettres, sculpture and painting, were no sooner established than they issued master-pieces of every description. Archi- tecture displayed all its magnificence in the palaces of the Louvre and of Versailles. All the fine arts, with the va- rious branches of literature and useful knowledge, were encouraged, enlivened, protected both at home and abroad, no fewer than sixty learned men, in the different coun tries of fiurope, receiving from l-.ouis presents and other marks of esteem, with letters not less honorable to the monarch than to themselves. France alone produced at that epoch an incredible multitude of personages highly distinguished for their qualifications; and the same ao-e which saw with admiration Conde and Turenne, Luxem- burg and Villars at the head of armies, Duquesne and Tourville in the navy, Louvois and Colbert in the cabi- net, beheld also with astonishment the transcendent merit of Bossuet, Fenelon, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Flechier, in sacred eloquence; of Mabillon, Montfaucon, Thomassin, Petavius, Huet, in sacred learning; of Pascal and Des- cartes in mathematics and philosophy; of Lamoignon and d'Aguesseau, in jurisprudence; of Corneille, Racine, Boi- leau, J. B. Rousseau, Lafontaine, in poetry; etc. In a word, the reign of Louis XIV was, in every re- spect, the reign of taste and genius; one, during which the capital of France seemed to have become another Rome or Athens, so as to render that age, if not superior, at least equal to the most brilliant ages of antiquity. Hence the name of Louis was respected among the re- motest nations of the earth; and ambassadors came from the eastern extremities of Asia to court his alliance and friendship. Nothing however can appear so honorable to the memory 21* 240 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. of that monarch, as the great zeal which he constantly evinced for the interests of religion. He encouraged and promoted the diffusion of Christianity in various parts of the world. It was chiefly during his reign that crowds of pious and learned missionaries set out from France to preach the gospel in South and North America, in China, Persia, Egypt and other countries, where they rendered invaluable services as well to the church as to science and to the cause of humanity. In his own kingdom, he ex- tended the same protection to all good and useful institu- tions, checking by severe edicts the practice of duelling and the profanations of the name of God; and also enact- ing various laws for the preservation of good order, tran- quillity and justice. As for himself, although his personal conduct was not always irreprehensible, he however al- ways remained strongly attached to religion, always set the example of modesty in prayer and profound respect in church, and ultimately atoned for the faults of youth by the practice of the most solid -virtues and genuine piety in a more advanced age. With regard to the glory of arms, never perhaps did either France or any other country behold a greater and more brilliant display of military talents than under the reign of Louis XIV. This will be the object of the fol- lowina: sections. WAR OF FLANDERS— OF CAKDIA, ETC.— a. d. 1664—1669. The reader has already noticed the glory and advan- tages acquired by France in the last war against Spain and Austria. Spain was again humbled, in 1667-1668, by the arms of Louis, and such was the rapidity of his conquests both in Franche Comte and Flanders, that a confederacy of the neighboring nations was thought neces- sary to stop his progress. A league was therefore con- cluded, under the name of the triple alliance, by England, A. i>. 1664-1669. WAR OF FLANDERS^ ETC. 241 Holland and Sweden; the contracting powers agreeing among themselves to settle the difterences of France and Spain upon reasonable terms capable of reconciling their opposite pretensions. Bj a sybsequent treaty signed at Aix-la-Chapelie, the French monarch was permitted to retain his conquests in Flanders, and the Spanish king, now Charles II, was contented with the restoration of Franche Comte. In the year preceding the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1667), a similar transaction had taken place at Breda between the English and the Dutch, for the adjustment of their own differences. A new contest had previously arisen among them, which raged for some years with great fierceness, much bloodshed, and enormous expense; seve- ral naval battles had been fought, equally obstinate and undecisive; however, the final result was favorable to the English, who obtained from the Dutch, by the treaty of Breda, the unqualified cession of extensive and valuable settlements in America. Louis XIV was not so much engaged in these great concerns of war and peace with his neighbors as not to take an active share in the interests of more distant nations. In the year 1664, he had sent a body of troops to assist the emperor Leopold against a fresh invasion of the Turks. This and other succors granted by different princes enabled Montecuculli, the commander in chief of the Austrian forces, to fight, near the river Raab, the ce- lebrated battle of St. Gothard, in which the Turks were entirely defeated, with the loss of twenty thousand men, and compelled to postpone their projects of invasion. Four years later, a similar though less prosperous as- sistance was sent by the French king to the Venetians, for the defence of the island of Candia now vigorously attacked by the same infidels. The siege, or rather blockade of the capital, also called Candia, had already lasted twenty years, when the Grand-Vizier, Achmet Kiuperly, determined to bring it, by redoubled efforts, to 242 MODERN HISTORY. Part Vir. a speedy issue. He himself landed in the island, and closely invested the town with an army not less formida- ble for its numbers than for its valor and discipline. The siege still lasted two years and a half, being thus one of the most celebrated of either ancient or modern ages, for the obstinacy of both parties and the mighty exertions performed on each side. The besiegers stormed the place no fewer than fifty-six times; and, in the intervals, their artillery, consisting of three hundred cannons, played with such incessant fury, as to make the ramparts of Can - dia so many heaps of ruins. The besieged, on their part, fired against their foes upwards of five hundred thousand bombs or bullets, expended fifty thousand barrels of guii- povvder, and, besides repelling assaults, made ninety-six sallies against the Turkish intrenchments. Such warfare could not fail to be extremely murderous. Accordins: to the most moderate account, the Turks, be- fore they could take possession of Candia, lost one hun- dred and twenty, and the Christians thirty thousand sol- diers. There was not, all round the city, one spot which had not been moistened by the blood of many heroes. But the garrison being now reduced to a handful of men, mostly wounded, or exhausted by their exertions, it ap- peared evident that the place could hold out no longer: and the Venetian commanders were at length induced to surrender it upon the terms of an honorable capitulation, which Kiuperly granted and faithfully executed (a. d. 1669). In all this, the Grand-Vizier acted with a mode- ration which did him no less honor than his manner of con- ducting and concluding the siege. This great man, still more to be admired as a minister of state than as a general, presently applied to repair in the island the numberless evils which it had suffered from so furious a war, and his efforts aided by the natural salubrity of the climate and fertility of the soil, were soon attended with complete success. He then returned to Constantinople, where, under the young sultan Mahomet IV, he continued to A. D 1672-1687. WAR OF HOLLAND; ETC. 243 govern the state with prudence and ability until the mo- ment of his death, which happened in 1 676. To return to Louis XIV, this monarch was more suc- cessful in checking the depredations of the Algerine pirates than he had been in saving Candia from the arms of the Ottomans. Squadrons which he dispatched at different times, obliged those pirates to disappear for a while, and restored security to commerce on the Mediterranean Sea. WAR OF HOLLAND— AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS TILL THE LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG.— a. d. 1672—1687. A still greater design engaged at the same time the at- tention of Louis. The Dutch having of late given him many causes of complaint, he resolved to humble their pretensions and chastise their ingratitude. In the year 1672, a well, disciplined force of one hundred and ten thousand men, commanded by the king in person, and by Conde and Turenne under him, crossed the Rhine, and overran a great part of Holland with little or no opposi- tion. Their march was so rapid and successful, that, in the space of two months, three of the seven united pro- vinces and forty fortified towns were captured. The army continuing to advance, and the conqueror refusing to grant peace except on rigorous and humiliating terms, the Dutch, in their despair, came to the determination of opening their dikes and inundating the country. This bold measure saved them from utter ruin, and the French, finding themselves in the midst of waters, were at last forced to a retreat. On the other hand, William, prince of Orange, who had been just appointed stadtholder of the republic, was using all his efforts to rouse the great European powers against Louis XIV. His exertions easily induced the king of Spain, the emperor of Germany, and the elector of Bran- deburg, all of whom were alarmed at the views of the 244 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIL French monarch, to declare in favor of the Dutch 5 Eng- land alone remained at this time an ally to France, and that for two years only. In 1673, great naval battles were fought in the channel between the fleet of Holland and the combined fleets of England and France, without any considerable advantage for either party. Three other engagements which took place on the Mediterranean Sea, were more decisive; in the first, the celebrated Dutch admiral, Ruyter, was worsted by the French under Du- quesnej in the second, he lost his life near Messina, a maritime town of Sicily; and shortly after, his fleet, at- tacked for the third time, was almost entirely destroyed (a. d. 1676). Still more important events happened on land, chiefly along the frontiers of Germany and Flanders. Franche Comte now became inseparably annexed to the French crown, being a second time subdued by the king, who commanded in person an army on that side. Conde, with another, attacked near Senef the united forces of the al- lies, surprised their rear, and, before it could receive re- inforcements, cut it in pieces. He then bore down upon the main body of their troops, and, after a sharp engage- ment, forced them to abandon the field of battle. Not satisfied with this, and, like Caesar, accounting nothing to have been done as long as there remained something to do,* the victorious prince pushed forward, and, for the third time, attacked the confederates in a strong position, where all their forces were assembled under the command of the prince of Orange. Here the conflict was most ob- stinate and bloody, the slaughter on both sides being car- ried on from ten in the morning till eleven at night, so as to cost the lives of twenty-seven thousand combatants. The allies, though not positively defeated, retired first from this melancholy scene of carnage, and perceiving that Nil actum credens, quum quid superesset agendum. Lucan, lib. u, I. 657. A. D. 1672-1687. WAR OF HOLLAND^ ETC. 245 they were yet too closely followed by the French, with- drew to a greater distance from the frontier (a. d. 1674). Whilst Conde drove his opponents before him in the Netherlands, Turenne, with twenty thousand men, had to oppose, near the Rhine, sixty thousand German troops, who aimed at nothing less than the conquest of Alsace and Lorraine, whence they might, after winter, strike terror into the very heart of France. The French gen- eral, who had until then separately defeated the different bodies of their army before a junction could be effected by them, now seemed to be frightened at the approach of their joint numbers so superior to his own. He therefore left the banks of the Rhine, and retiring as far as the confines of Lorraine, abandoned the whole province of Alsace to the enemy. This retreat, though admirably well conducted, and achieved without the loss of a single man, seemed contrary to the promise which Turenne had previously made to save the French territory from inva- sion, and was to every one a subject of astonishment, and the more so as he had, at the same time, countermanded fifteen thousand men who were advancing through Lor- raine to reinforce his army. In the mean while, the German troops freely overran all Alsace, choosing the best positions for their winter quarters, and acting with as much security as if they had been in their own native land. This was exactly the op- portunity that Turenne wanted for the execution of a de- sign which he had been maturing for two months. Having divided his troops into different bodies, he put them all in motion in the dead of winter, and, without disclosing his intention to any person in the army, commanded them to march on by different and difficult roads across mountains and defiles, and to meet at the same time and place, both which were specified. After a month of separation and painful marches, they found themselves all collected in one spot, with Turenne at their head, not far from the first quarters of the enemy. 246 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. The chief commanders of the allies refused to believe the first information that was given them of the return of the French; but their incredulity was soon obliged to yield to the evidence of the fact. Their posts were briskly attacked and obliged to surrender, their scattered troops fell into the hands of the assailants, and those only who had been stationed at a great distance, avoided the snare laid for their destruction. Such as could escape, precipitately retreated towards Colmar, where their lead- ers had appointed the general rendezvous. Although their number had been greatly diminished, it still sur- passed that of the conquerors; and having, besides, taken a very advantageous position, they could scarcely believe that the French would attack them in this their last and strono-est intrenchment. But Turenne was too skilful either to lose the opportunity of striking a decisive blow, or to forget any thing that might ensure success. No sooner had he arrived in sight of the enemy, than he posted the greater part of his forces just opposite to their front; and he himself, making a wide circuit with some squa- drons and regiments, suddenly appeared on their flank. The attack then commenced, and was conducted, on the side of the French, with such vigor and skill, that the dispirited imperialists soon began to waver ; a general flio-ht ensued, and the sad remnant of their forces availed themselves of the darkness of the night to retire to Stras- burg, whence, by recrossing the Rhine, they speedily re- turned to their own territory. This wonderful campaign filled up the measure of Tu- renne's reputation and glory. In hearing its details, not only France, but all Europe was filled with admiration;* especially when from a letter written two months before by the marshal himself to the secretary of state, it became publicly known, that so many encampments and marches, * See Anquetil, Hist, de France, ad ann. 1674; — and Raguenet, His- toire de Vicomie du Turenne, p. 249. A. D. 1672-1687. WAR OF HOLLAND; ETC. 247 even the movements of the allies and the ultimate result of the expedition, had been foreseen and prepared in his mind exactly as they happened. The ensuing year (1675) again beheld Turenne at the head of the French army near the Rhine. He had now to fight against the earl of MontecucuUi, an opponent in every way worthy of him on account of his consummate ability and experience. During four successive months, these two great men exhausted against each other all the stratagems and resources of military tactics, without either of them being able, all that time, to surprise his enemy in any fault or inconsiderate measure. Turenne, however, by his masterly manoeuvres began to obtain some slight advantage, gradually gaining ground, and pushing the Germans from station to station, till they reached the village of Salsbach. Here he made his last preparations to give them battle, and was already expressino- to those around him his full confidence of victory, when, at the commencement of the cannonade, a bullet struck him dead on the spot (27th of July, 1675). The whole army bewailed with bitter tears the loss of that incomparable leader, whose beneficence, generosity and other Christian as well as military virtues had gained their most devoted aifection. His death was equally lamented throuo-h all France; and Louis, the better to honor his memory, caused him to be buried with extraordinary pomp in the sepulchre of the French kings at St. Denis, a privilege which had been granted to no private individual before, except to Du Guesclin, in the time of king Charles V. Immediately after the death of Turenne, in order to compensate his loss, if possible, and fill his place in the army, no fewer than eight new marshals were created; but Conde was then in truth the only general capable of following up with success the plan of the deceased hero. He not only stopped the progress of the imperialists, who had once more invaded Alsace, but oblio-ed them to retire again beyond the Rhine; after which he himself was com- 22 248 MODERN HISTORY. Pari VII. pelled by the gout to withdraw from the army. Monte- cuculli also resigned the command of the imperial troops, not judging it worthy of his reputation to fight against newly appointed generals, after he had had the honor of opposing Turenne and Conde. Thus the year of our Lord 1675 closed the military career of three among the chief heroes of modern times; just as the year 183 b. c. terminated that of Annibal, Scipio and Philopemen, three of the most illustrious generals of antiquity. Conde and Turenne left behind them skilful disciples in the art of warfare; and Crequi, Luxemburg and others maintained the superiority which the French monarch had already acquired. The king himself, with his brother, the duke of Orleans, frequently appeared at the head of his armies, and gained so many advantages, that the allies were at length induced to come to a treaty of peace, which they all signed at Nimeguen, on the conditions which he proposed (a. d. 1678-'79). It was then that the surname of Gi^eat was conferred upon Louis for his mani- fold triumphs, military and political, over the multitude of his enemies. Even the time of peace was improved b}^ the victorious monarch to consolidate his power at home, and to extend it abroad. He deprived his Huguenot subjects of the means of exciting in France new disturbances and civil wars, by revoking the privileges which Henry IV had been compelled to grant them at Nantes in 1598.* Genoa, Tripoli and Algiers having dared to brave his authority were so severely bombarded by his navy as to leave them no other resource than to send deputies to apologise for their conduct. Nor did he act less vigorously on land against Strasburg, then a free town, which had been re- peatedly guilty of a breach of faith in his regard ; twenty thousand men suddenly invested it, and in his name took immediate possession of that city, one of the most impor- tant in Europe for its position and strength. * See note F. AD. 168S-1697. LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG. 249 LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG.— a. d. 1686—1697. This continual increase of power again alarmed the neighboring states, and a new league, destined to check it, was formed at Augsburg in 1686, by the emperor of Germany, the king of Spain, the republic of Holland, etc. Louis might have found an ally in the king of England James II, who had lately succeeded his brother Charles II; but James, by granting universal liberty of conscience in his kingdom, and endeavoring in particular to do jus- tice to the hitherto oppressed Catholics whose religion he had embraced, incurred the aversion of his other subjects. Seeing himself betrayed and almost universally abandon- ed, whilst his son-in-law, the famous William of Orange, advanced to dethrone him, he fled, and sought refuge in France; so that the whole effort of the league of Augs- burg, now rendered still more formidable by the accession of England, was directed exclusively against the French monarch. The first campaigns produced few important events ; but, in 1690, the struggle became most animated in the various provinces which were the theatres of the war. The exiled king having, with a strong armament, passed over to Ireland, where the bulk of the population was fa- vorable to his cause, attacked with more resolution than prudence the formidable force of his enemy near the river Boyne. The Irish and French began indeed to fight bravely, but without much order; and victory soon de- clared in favor of superior numbers aided by valor and discipline. James retreated, and giving up too soon all further hope of success, departed from Ireland, which in a short time was entirely surrendered to the conquerors. Many however of its inhabitants, through a heroic at- tachment to a dethroned and fugitive prince, followed him into France, which they accustomed themselves to con- sider as their own country, and whose battles they fought 250 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. in subsequent years with such determined valor, that her great monarch bestowed on them the flattering name of his brave Irish. Just at the time of the defeat of James in Ireland, an important action took place at sea. Admiral Tourville attacked in the channel, near the Isle of Wight, the com- bined fleets of England and Holland, and, with very trifling loss on his side, burnt or captured fifteen of their vessels. He was not so fortunate two years after (1692). Having to oppose, off Cape La-Hogue, ninety or ninety- nine sail under the command of admiral Russel, with only sixty-three, or, as some say, only forty-four ships of the line, he maintained indeed the unequal contest for twelve hours, but could not prevent fifteen or seventeen of his finest vessels from being destroyed by the English. This was a fatal blow to the French navy, of which France at this period was justly proud. England, on the contrary, recovered her maritime preponderance, and all the hopes of James II for the recovery of his kingdom were extinguished for ever. The defeat of La-Hogue was the only severe check then suffered by the arms of Louis XIV; the expeditions of his land forces were much more prosperous, and, for the space of several years (1690 — 1695), oftered one con- tinued series of victories and conquests. Whilst the king took in person the important places of Mons and Namur in the Netherlands, the dukes of Noailles and Vendome subdued a considerable part of the province of Catalonia in Spain ; Marshal Catinat completely defeated the duke of Savoy at Stafarda and Marsiglia, and con- quered nearly all his dominions ; in fine, the marshal of Luxemburg, by mere superiority of talent, gained the splendid victories of Fleurus, Steinkirk and Nerwinde, over the chief army of the confederates, taking from them so great a number of colors, that these trophies, being sent to Paris, and serving to ornament the cathedral, ac* A D. 168&-1697. LEAGUE OF AUGSBURG. 251 quired for the victorious general the singular but honora- ble appellation of Tapissier de Notre Dame. So many triumphs reflected immense glory on France ; but her very victories, which she did not obtain without great exertions and expense, gradually exhausted her strength, whereas the allies, from their superior numbers, were like a hydra, not less powerful and formidable after than before their defeats. This chiefly appeared at the death of Marshal Luxemburg, whom an attack of apo- plexy carried off in the beginning of the year 1695.* The confederates availed themselves of his absence from the French army, to besiege and retake the important city of Namur. Both parties being now tired of the war, nothing of great consequence was performed on either side during the ensuing year 1696; France, however, made in 1697 a new and vigorous effort, which enabled her generals to obtain some advantages in Catalonia and Flanders. More- over, her naval squadrons, under the command of Tour- ville, d'Estrees, Forbin, Duguay-Trouin and John Bart, all of them excellent mariners, every where annoyed the commerce of the enemy, and bore off immense prizes from the maritime towns and colonies of England, Hol- land and Spain. These multiplied losses, and the withdrawing of the duke of Savoy from the confederacy, at length induced the allied powers to accept of the moderate terms which Louis XIV had for a long time been offering to them. On the twentieth of September 1697, a treaty of peace was signed at Ryswick, by which the victorious monarch con- sented to resign nearly all his late conquests, especially those made upon the Spanish territories. Many persons * At that awful moment, this general, one of the most skilful, active, and successful that France ever produced ; who never experienced a defeat, and who incessantly filled the world with the renown of his military exploits; this great man publicly acknowledged the illusion and emptiness of all earthly glory. " Alas !" he exclaimed, "what will my victories avail me at the tribunal of my sovereign Judge ? Would to God that I could offer him, instead of so many useless laurels, the merit of a cup of water given to the poor in his name!" 22* 252 MODERN HISTORY. ^^ VIL found fault with that great moderation, the secret causes of which they did not perceive ; but time soon disclosed the wisdom of the king's measures and the depth of his policy. SUCCESSION OF SPAIN.— DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. A. D. 1700—1715. Charles II, king of Spain, being about to die without issue, appointed for his heir and successor the duke of Anjou, his grand-nephew by his sister Mary Theresa, and grand-son to Louis XIV. The French court, after mature deliberation, admitted the important though dangerous inheritance, and the duke was proclaimed, in the year 1700, king of Spain, Naples and West Indies, under the name of Philip V. This momentous transaction excited the jealousy and awakened the fears of Europe, and par- ticularly of the German emperor, Leopold I, who claimed the same succession for his second son, the archduke Charles. In the course of two or three years, Holland, England, Prussia, Savoy and Portugal, either from an apprehension that the house of Bourbon might become too powerful, or from a desire of their own aggrandizement, were induced to embrace the party of the emperor. The allies of France and Spain were the electors of Cologne and Bavaria; neutrality was observed only by the Eccle- siastical State, Venice and Switzerland. As this was also the time when Charles XII, king of Sweden, engaged in an obstinate and bloody contest against Poland and Rus- sia, it thus happened that the earliest period of the eigh- teenth century beheld the blaze of war rekindled through- out nearly all Europe, so as to spread its ravages from Gibraltar to the northern pole. The British king, William III, who had been the prin- cipal ringleader in the two last confederacies against France, was again preparing to take a prominent part in this new league; but he died just in the beginning of the A. D. 1700-1715. SUCCESSION OF SPAIN^ ETC. 253 war (a. d. 1702), with the reputation of a skilful thouo-h unfortunate general, of whom it has been said that none perhaps could boast of having lost more battles. His chief qualification was that of a profound politician; and, upon the whole, he proved to be the most successful as well as the most constant opponent of Louis XIV. The death of that prince caused, however, no alteration in the plan of the allies ; his views were followed up by his sis- ter-in-law, Anne, who succeeded him on the throne, and his absence from the army was more than compensated by the duke of Marlborough at the head of the English, and by Prince Eugene of Savoy at the head of the imperial troops. These were the two great generals destined to interrupt the long course of the prosperity of Louis. France, it is true, also possessed at that time skilful and brave commanders, among whom the duke of Ven- dome and Marshal Villars were conspicuous; both gained several advantages during the first campaigns ; but as they could not be present at every point occupied in this com- plicated warfare, the year 1704 witnessed a total change of fortune. Eugene and Marlborough having united their forces, attacked, near the village of Blenheim, the com- bined armies of the French and Bavarians, commanded by the elector-duke and by Marshals Tallard and Marsin. The battle was a decisive one; the Germans and English lost indeed twelve thousand men, but the French and Ba- varians lost about forty thousand, including prisoners and the slain and wounded. The artillery, ammunition, bag- gage, in a word, every trophy that can distinguish a com- plete triumph, fell, with Marshal Tallard, into the hands of the victors. Moreover, the whole electorate of Bava- ria became their prize; and not only were the vanquished driven from the plains of Hochstadt near the Danube to the banks of the Rhine, but even the remnant of that army, which had first spread terror to the gates of the Aus- trian capital, was obliged to take shelter within the fron- tiers of France. The conquerors, finding no further ob- 254 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. stacle, crossed the Rhine, entered Alsace, and the strong place of Landau surrendered to them before the close of the campaign; whilst, in a very distant quarter, the Eng- lish captured also the important fortress of Gibraltar, which has ever since remained in their power. Louis XIV possessed in an eminent degree that Chris- tian fortitude which enables the soul to bear misfortunes with composure and resignation. Although accustomed to victory, he received without dismay the sad intelli- gence of the ruin of his army at Blenheim, and took the most vigorous steps to check the progress of the allies. Understanding that the duke of Marlborough meant to carry the war, by the river Moselle, into the heart of France, he assembled on that side an army of seventy thousand men under Yillars, whose conduct was so mas- terly, that he prevented Marlborough from effecting any measure of consequence during the whole of the year 1705. In Italy likewise, the French under Vendome maintained their superiority against all the efforts both of Prince Eugene and the duke of Savoy. The ensuing year (1706) presented one continued series of defeats and losses for France and Spain. In the pen- insula, Philip V had the mortification to see his fairest provinces conquered by the allies, his very capital in- vaded, and his rival, the archduke Charles, proclaimed king in his place. In the Netherlands, Marlborough com- pletely defeated Marshal Villeroi in the battle of Ramil- lies, which was followed by the reduction of all Brabant and nearly all Spanish Flanders. The sudden overthrow of the French armies in Italy was the finishing stroke of that eventful year, the most singularly disastrous perhaps that France ever experienced. The duke of Vendome having been recalled to oppose Marlborough on the north- ern frontier, the command of the troops in Piedmont was given to the duke of Orleans, assisted by the duke of La Feuillade and Marshal Marsin, all of them full of zeal and courage, but destitute of the talent and experience of A. D. 1700-1715. SUCCESSION OF SPAIN^ ETC. 255 the departed general. They were besieging Turin, when Prince Eugene, by a masterly and successful march, ar- rived from Germany at the head of fresh forces to relieve the town. The French were attacked, and, in spite of their courageous resistance, conquered in their intrench- ments. Their loss on the field was dreadful, their defeat entire; and the battle, as disastrous at least as those at Ramillies and Hochstadt, cost them all their conquests in Italy. Never had the arms of the conquering Louis received so severe a check as during this fatal campaign. He made proposals of peace suggested by his situation, and yet could not satisfy the enemies of France, who, elated with past success, expected greater advantages from the con- tinuation than from the cessation of hostilities. His af- fairs, however, as well as those of Philip V, seemed to take a more favorable turn in 1707, when Marshal Villars defeated the imperialists at Stolhofen, and Marshal Ber- wick gained, at Almanza in Spain, a splendid victory over the united troops of the English, Dutch and Portu- guese. But this return of good fortune did not last long; Philip was again driven from the capital of his kingdom, and obliged to fly before his rival; in Flanders, a hundred thousand men, under the dukes of Burgundy and Ven- dome, were routed at Oudenard by Eugene and Marlbo- rough; and neither that numerous army, nor the heroic exertions of Marshal Bouflers, could prevent the victo- rious generals from taking the city of Lille, the strongest bulwark of France in that direction. The dreadful winter of 1709 served to increase the misfortunes of the French nation. Nearly all the fruit trees were frozen, and the harvest having failed, distress and famine became so general as to render it scarcely possible to provide a scanty sustenance for the troops. It was under these trying circumstances that they had to fight against the superior force of the allies at Malplaquet; and yet such was their ardor for the combat, that, al- 256 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. though they had spent the day before without eating, they threw away half of the bread which they had just re- ceived, in order to rush the sooner against the enemy. The conflict was extremely fierce and bloody, the French especially fighting Avith desperate courage, till Marshal Villars being dangerously wounded, they began to give way; but although they left the field, their retreat after the battle was so well conducted by Bouflers, that not one man was taken prisoner. This victory of the allies, if victory it may be called, cost them the lives of twenty thousand men; the French, though they retreated, had not lost half that number. The campaign not having been very unfavorable to Louis, he thought he could again without dishonor ask for peace; among other conditions he was required not only to abandon the cause of his grand-son, but even positively to concur in dethroning him and expelling him from Spain. At the news of this base and shocking proposal, the king exclaimed that, since he must have war, he preferred to carry it on against his enemies rather than against his children. The whole nation, equally indignant at the haughtiness of the allies, approved of his generous reso- lution and appeared ready to sacrifice their property and lives for the honor of the kingdom, the glory of their aged monarch, and the support of a just and necessary contest. In conformity with these sentiments, new soldiers enlisted for the army, and money was still found to bear the ex- penses of the war. Philip V, who had also been reduced to the greatest distress in his disputed kingdom of Spain, displayed the same constancy and obtained the same success. Well aware that his grand- father could not furnish him with troops, he contented himself with asking for the services of the duke of Yendome, a general in whom he placed entire confidence. His hopes were quickly realized : the duke had no sooner arrived upon the Spanish territory, than soldiers, through esteem for his well-known abilities, A. D. 1700-1715. SUCCESSION OF SPAIN, ETC. 257 flocked to his standard from all sides; in a short time, he had collected an army of thirty thousand men, with whom he retook Madrid, and immediately went in search of the confederates, to give them battle. Having overtaken them on the ninth of December (1710), he first surprised a body of five thousand English, who were all made pri- soners with their general Stanhope, and, on the following day, gained over the earl of Starenberg the decisive though long disputed victory of Villa Viciosa, which secured the Spanish crown upon the head of Philip. This prince was present in the battle, and fought with great courage ; when worn out with fatigue, he slept upon the most glorious bed that a conqueror ever had, a bed made, by order of Ven- dome, of banners taken from the enemy. Another unexpected event greatly attracted the atten- tion of the politicians of the age. The emperor Joseph I, who in 1705 had succeeded his father Leopold on the Ger- man throne, died in 1711, and his brother the archduke, who had so long contended for the sceptre of Spain, be- came emperor under the name of Charles VI. This en- tirely changed the prospect of the war; for, had this prince been allowed to reign both over Spain and the em- pire, that balance of power for the preservation of which nearly all Europe had risen against the house of Bourbon, would have been effectually destroyed by the unavoidable preponderance of the house of Austria. Influenced by this and other considerations. Great Britain began to listen to overtures of peace from France, and, besides dismissing Marlborough from the command of the army, gradually withdrew her forces from the confederacy. This was an important point; but^ as the remaining al- lies still maintained at the northern frontier a formidable force under the command of Prince Eugene, and kept France in constant danger of invasion, much was yet to be feared for that monarchy. The king himself, with all his firmness, could not conceal his anxiety when Villars took leave of him to go and rejoin the army in Flanders. 258 MODERN HISTORY. Pari VII. "Sire," said the marshal with emotion, ''this is your last army!" The king answered: "I rely upon your zeal, and upon the bravery of my troops. Go, and fight the enemy wherever you can find him. If, by some accident, you happen to be conquered, write to me alone; I know the devotedness of my people; I will raise a hundred thousand soldiersmore ; and we will go together, either to repair all our disasters at once, or bury ourselves under the ruins of our monarchy" (a. d. 1712). This magnanimous design was never put in execution, as it soon became known that Villars, by a skilful and bold attack, had destroyed the army of Prince Eugene at Denain. The different posts of that army being too dis- tant from each other, the French successively assaulted them with equal promptness and success, bore down every obstacle, and, besides destroying the enemy's best troops, took a great number of prisoners, with a prodigious quan- tity of ordnance, ammunition, provisions, etc. This bril- liant victory not only saved France from utter ruin, but suddenly gave her a superiority of which it was no longer in the power of her enemies to deprive her, and, being followed by the rapid conquest of several towns or for- tresses, accelerated the conclusion of peace. It was signed at Utrecht in 1713 by nearly all the belligerent powers, who agreed upon a variety of mutual concessions, the principal of which was the solemn recognition of Philip V as king of Spain and of the West Indies. The emperor, his rival, was offered, in compensation for the loss of Spain, several valuable provinces in Italy and the Netherlands; still, of all the allies, he was the only one who refused to ratify the treaty. Hostilities therefore continued for some time longer along the banks of the Rhine, till Villars having gained new and important ad- vantages over Prince Eugene, Charles VI thought it pru- dent to yield. A treaty was then concluded at Radstad (1714) between that prince and France, upon terms sub- A, D. 1683-1718. DECLINE OF THE TURKS. 259 stantially the same, yet a little less favorable to him than those which he had rejected at Utrecht. Thus did Louis XIV, after a long series of disasters, secure by his courage and unshaken constancy a peace more glorious than that which he had obtained at Ryswick by the splendid victories of Luxemburg and Catinat One year later (1715), this monarch, by far the most con- spicuous of his age, this great king, to whom, on account of his zeal for religion, so little justice is done by many writers, ended at the age of seventy-seven a magnificent reign of seventy-two years. He had lately seen most of the princes of his family, among others the pupil of the immortal Fenelon, descend before him into the grave; their loss, though most painful to his paternal feelings, he had sustained with his usual firmness and Christian majr- nanimity; the approach of his own death had no greater power to frighten or even disturb his noble soul. Nothing then appeared in him but piety, meekness and resignation. His last moments were those of a truly Christian and great monarch; of one who humbly acknowledges his faults in the hope of obtaining the divine mercy; who willingly leaves all earthly honors because he knows their emptiness; and quits this life even with joy, because he expects a much better and happier one in the heavenly kingdom. DECLINE OF THE TURKS.— a. d. 1683— 171S. We shall now, after a long interruption, revert to the affairs of the Turks. The battle of Lepanto had long since proved that their progress could be checked; and the defeats which they afterwards experienced in Hun- gary and Poland, were not less calculated to remove from their minds the notion that all Europe must pass under their sway. Still, that warlike ardor which had so long animated their troops, still subsisted among them, and, 23 260 MODERN HISTORY. Part Vll. being again stirred up by the conquest of Candia, could not be extinguished by the new losses which they suffered in Poland from the great general Sobieski. The Janiza- ries loudly called for new combats; and in 1683, Vienna, the capital of Austria, was invested by two hundred thou- sand men, Turks and Tartars. As there was not in all Germany a force suflicient to oppose such a host of ene- mies, the emperor Leopold with his family fled at their approach; despondency and consternation reigned every where; and, though Vienna possessed a brave garrison, and an excellent commander in the earl of Starenberg, the ruin of that city seemed inevitable. In this new danger to which Christendom was exposed, Pope Innocent XI had raised his voice to solicit the succor of Catholic princes and nations, applying chiefly to the great Sobieski, whose numerous exploits and conspicu- ous virtues had lately raised him to the throne of Poland. That hero had several subjects of complaint against Leo- pold; but, generously sacrificing his resentment to the public good, he hastened at the head of twenty-four thou- sand warriors, and joined the imperial troops commanded by the duke of Lorraine. As soon as their union was effected, they descended the mountains, and attacked the Turkish camp at three different points. The Turks, seized with a sudden panic, were routed almost without resistance; their spirits had already drooped in conse- quence of the length of the siege, and the numerous blun- ders of their general Kara Mustapha; and now their flight was so precipitate that they left behind them, among other spoils, one hundred thousand tents, three hundred pieces of artillery, and nearly five thousand barrels of gun- powder. The conquerors, not satisfied with the liberation of Vienna and of all Germany, were eager to improve their victory by a warm pursuit of the fugitives. During this expedition, king Sabieski having on one occasion attacked the Turks too hastily, was repulsed with great loss; but X. D. 1689-1725. PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA, ETC. 261 he took ample revenge two days after, by cutting in pieces a body of twenty-five thousand men near the banks of the Danube. He then returned to PoLind, leaving the con- duct of the war to the brave duke of Lorraine, who not only continued to drive the Turks before him, but also made important and extensive conquests. Tliese advan- tages were secured by a new and brilliant victory gained (a. d. 1687) in the plains of Mohats, the very same spot on which the Austrians and Hungarians had experienced an entire overthrow one hundred and sixty years before. During the following campaigns, until 1698, and also at the renewal of the war in 1716, the house of Austria, well served all that time by zealous and skilful generals, again defeated the Ottomans in several battles. Their most formidable enemy, during this period, was Prince Eugene of Savoy, who gained over them the decisive victories of Zenta, Peterwaradin and Belgrade. These bloody contests ended in the treaties of Carlo witz (1699) and Passarowitz (1718), both of which showed the enor- mous losses lately sustained by the Turks, and the incon- testable superiority now possessed by Christian Europe over their once dreaded and formidable empire. RISE OF PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA.— PETER THE GREAT.— CHARLES XII, KING OF SWEDEN.— a. d. 1689—1726. The rapid decline of the Turks in the scale of power and political importance, coincided with the sudden rise of Prussia and Russia to a high rank among the European nations. Christianity and civilization had begun to be introduced into Prussia towards the close of the crusades; since that time, it had been governed by the grand mas- ters of the Teutonic order, and then by the princes of the house of Brandenburg, under the title of dukes. In 1701, it arose to the dignity of a kingdom, the title of king being then conferred by the emperor of Germany on 262 MODERN HISTORY. Part vn» the elector of Brandenburg, Frederic I. Prussia became flourishing and powerful during the reign of the next monarch, Frederic William, and still more so under his son and successor, Frederic II, whom we shall see, after a short time, giving a strong and lasting impulse to the general affairs of Europe. Russia is also known to have been governed by a long series of dukes, and of princes called Czars^ under whom it remained almost totally uncivilized, until the accession of Peter I, which took place in 1689. That prince, pos- sessed of an active mind and a superior genius, inces- santly applied himself to improve the condition of his nation, and to render it conspicuous above the neighboring states. He twice left his dominions, and travelled through different countries, in order to acquire, by experience, a knowledge of the various arts, institutions and practices which it might be useful to introduce among his subjects. Being attacked by conspirators and rebels, he overcame them all, and punished them with inexorable severity. In the year 1699, Peter formed with the kings of Po- land and Denmark a coalition against Charles XII, king of Sweden, in the hope of wresting some provinces from that young prince, then only in his eighteenth year ; but it soon appeared that the allied monarchs had relied too much for success upon his youth. Charles already united the tal- ents of a general with the intrepidity of a warrior. Fired with indignation, and seconded by his brave Swedes, he successively overran Denmark, Saxony and Poland, cros- sing rivers, capturing towns, defeating armies, and carry- ing every thing before him. So continual and decisive were his victories, that the king of Denmark was very soon forced to accept such conditions as it pleased Charles to impose on him ; and the king of Poland, who had offered a greater resistance, found himself compelled to resign his crown to Stanislaus Leckzinski, whom the conqueror protected. The exertions of the Swedish hero against the Russians A. D. 1689-1725. PRUSSIA AND RUSSIA, ETC. 263 were also for a long time extraordinarily successful. He defeated them in several engagements, particularly in the famous battle of Narva, where, with only eight thousand men, he destroyed an army of eighty thousand Musco- vites, fifty thousand of whom were slain, drowned, or taken prisoners, and the rest dispersed. Having at last advanced too far into Russia, he lost in two hours, near Pultawa, the fruit of nine years' success (a. d. 1709). His half-famished and exhausted army being soon over- powered by numbers, experienced a most signal over- throw, and Charles himself, wounded and forced to leave the field, with difficulty escaped to Bender, a Turkish town in Bessarabia. There he spent a long time in en- deavoring to engage the Ottoman Porte in a war with the Russians. Seeing the little success which attended his efforts, he resolved, after an absence of five years and many adventures worthy of a romantic hero, to return through Germany to Sweden, which he found in a mise- rable condition, without troops, without money, without resources, and attacked on all sides by her numerous enemies. Charles made desperate exertions to defend his kingdom and retrieve his losses, but he did not live to recover his former ascendency, being killed by a musket ball at the siege of Fredericshall, a town of Norway, in 1718. His death was the signal for a general cessation of hostilities; and Sweden hastened to conclude a peace, disadvantageous indeed, but required by the situation of her affairs. These events allowed the Czar to carry his views of improvement fully into execution. In the course of a few years, Russia beheld with admiration the establish- ment in her cities, of schools, academies, manufactures, arsenals, and the rapid rise of St. Petersburg, her present capital. A powerful navy was created; harbors were opened on the Black and Baltic seas, to shelter numerous ships of the line, as well as frigates and merchant vessels; the standing army was trained in all the exercises of mili- 23* 264 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. tary discipline; laws were enacted and measures adopted to amend the defects and polish the manners of the people. A prudent management of the public revenue enabled Peter to accomplish his grand and extensive designs with- out oppressing his subjects. By these noble efforts, occa- sionally disgraced however by acts of cruelty, this prince not only laid the foundation, but also raised the super- structure of Russian greatness, and secured to himself the surname of Great. He died in 1725. WESTERN EUROPE FROM THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV IN 1715 TO THE TREATY OF VIENNA IN 1735. The other leading sovereigns in Europe at this time were: Charles VI in Germany, Philip V in Spain, Louis XV in France under the regency of the duke of Orleans, and in England George I, a prince of the house of Bruns- wick, who, upon the death of Queen Anne, had been called to the throne in preference to the surviving mem- bers of the house of Stuart. Peace continued among these different courts for the space of twenty-five years (\Ti5 — 1740), except during two very short wars, one in 1718, the other in 1733. Spain under Philip V was governed in the beginning by Cardinal Julius Alberoni, whose bold and vast genius, not satisfied with regulatins; the internal concerns of that kingdom, undertook also to change the whole political sys- tem of Europe. His general view was to raise Spain again to the pinnacle of active influence and power; in particu- lar he intended 1°. to en2:ao;e the Russians in a war against Austria, and through this powerful help wrest from the emperor's hands that part of Italy which the treaty of Utrecht had allotted to him out of the Spanish possessions. 2°. his object was to dethrone the British king George I, in favor of the son of James II, called the pretender ; and 3°. to transfer the regency of France, during the minority A, D. 1715-1735. WESTERN EUROPE, ETC. 265 of Louis XV, from the duke of Orleans to the Spanish monarch. Had these projects proved successful, Alberoni would have gained a reputation, if not superior, at least equal to that of Ximenes and Richelieu; but all his bril- liant schemes were baffled by the vigilance and activity of the interested parties. The quadruple alliance formed by Germany, England, France and Holland against Spain, compelled Philip V to adopt views very ditferent from those of his minister; the Spanish troops, who had already entered Sicily and Sardinia, were obliged to evacuate those islands, and Alberoni fell into disgrace (a. d. 1 720). Next came the war for the succession of Poland, in 1733. After the death of Augustus II, Stanislaus Leck- zinski, who had already, though for a short time, occupied the Polish throne under the protection of Charles XII, was a second time chosen king. But the emperor Charles VI having with the help of the Russians obliged the Poles to set about a new election, the elector of Saxony, his kinsman, was raised to that high dignity under the name of Augustus III, and Stanislaus, as formerly, was forced to abandon his crown. Louis XV thought himself injured in the person of that prince, who had become his father-in-law, and determined to be revenged on the emperor. The more surely to effect his purpose, he entered into an alliance, not only with the court of Spain, now almost constantly hostile to the house of Austria, but also with the king of Sardinia, formerly duke of Savoy, and war was begun at the same time on the German frontier near the Rhine, and in different parts of Italy. Philipsburg was invested by a gallant army under Marshal Berwick, and although this experienced commander was killed by a cannon ball whilst visiting the trenches, the place was taken, notwithstanding the pre- sence of Prince Eugene, who being destitute of the en- ergy of youth, did not dare hazard a battle, to prevent its surrender. The French were not less successful in Italy, where Marshal Villars closed his military career by the 266 MODERN HISTORY. p^^ vjj capture of Milan, and Marshal Coigny, his successor, gained the bloody victories of Parma and Guastalla. In the south, still more rapid was the progress of the Span- iards under the duke of Montemar and Don Carlos, son of Philip V; they defeated the imperialists in the decisive battle of Bitonto, and, in two campaigns, rendered them- selves masters of the kingdom of Naples and of the island of Sicily. Thus vanquished at every point, the emperor intimated a desire of peace, the principal terms of which were ar- ranged at Vienna in 1735. By this treaty it was stipu- lated that Stanislaus, instead of the crown of Poland, should enjoy the duchies of Lorraine and Bar, under the title of king, and that after his death these duchies should be for ever annexed to France; that the duke of Lorraine, the emperor's ally, should have Tuscany in exchange for his hereditary dominions; in fine, that whilst the king of Sardinia would gain some districts in the north of Italy, the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily should be left to the house of Bourbon, in the person of Don Carlos. In con- sideration of these cessions, Louis XV agreed to restore to the empire his late conquests near the Rhine. EASTERN EUROPE.— TH AM AS KOULI KAN, OR NADIR SCHAH, THE PERSIAN CONQUEROR, ETC. A. D. 1736—1755. Scarcely was this peace negotiated, when a fresh war broke out between the Russians and the Turks, in which Charles VI, owing to his intimate alliance with Russia, found himself involved. He resolved to attack the Otto- mans in the direction of Hungary, while his allies pressed them on the borders of the Black Sea; but the imperial commanders were repeatedly defeated, several important places were lost, and, as little hope remained to retrieve these disasters, the emperor had recourse to the mediation A.D.173&-1755. EASTERN EUROPE, ETC. 267 of France for the conclusion of a new treaty. Anne also, the Russian empress, though recently victorious at Choc- zim, consented, for fear of being deserted by her ally, to a negotiation. The Turks, under circumstances so fa- vorable to them, obtained an advantageous peace; the em- peror ceded to them Belgrade with two provinces, and the Czarina agreed to withdraw her troops from the city and territory of Azof, so as to reestablish the limits be- tween the Turkish and Russian empires as they were be- fore the commencement of hostilities (a. d. 1739). That treaty, how glorious soever to the Ottomans, did not long retard their decline ; the Russians soon reassumed the ascendency, and even about this time the Turks were rather unsuccessful in a war which they had against Per- sia. Having subdued, between the years 1723 and 1733, rich and extensive provinces, their career of success was at length stopped by the famous Nadir Schah, or Thamas Kouli Kan, who, after fighting the battles of his sovereign Schah Thamas against powerful rebels, usurped the Per- sian throne. He renewed the foreign war which had ceased for a while, and, though defeated three times in succession by Topal Osman, a brave and skilful general, victory declared in his favor on every other occasion, and the Turks were compelled to give up what they had lately conquered. After this. Nadir Schah, who seemed to have inherited the enterprising spirit of Genghis Kan and Tamerlane, turned his arms against the rich empire of Hindoostan. With only sixty thousand warriors, he destroyed or dis- persed an army of twelve hundred thousand Hindoos and Moguls, took Delhi, their capital city, and returned with so prodigious a quantity of pearls, gold and silver, that the amount is commonly estimated to have been upwards of a billion of dollars. He did not long enjoy these fruits of his insatiable avidity: not less dreaded by his subjects for his cruelty than by his enemies for his valor, he fell a victim to a conspiracy, and was assassinated in his tent 268 MODERN HISTORY, Part VII. (a. d. 1747). His death was followed by a series of revo- lutions so bloody and destructive, that the populous city of Ispahan saw, within a few years, the number of its in- habitants reduced from a million to a few thousand per- sons, and a long time elapsed before Persia could even begin to recover from her astounding calamities. WAR FOR THE SUCCESSION OF AUSTRIA.— THE PRE- TENDER IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.— a. d. 1740—1748. The death of the emperor Charles VI without male issue, in 1740, threw all Europe again into war. In vir- tue of a previous agreement called the Pragmatic sanc- tion^ and also by the emperor's last will, his hereditary dominions of Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, belonged to his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, who had lately mar- ried Francis, duke of Lorraine. Her claims were sup- ported chiefly by England and Holland, but opposed by Spain, Prussia and Saxony, whose sovereigns brought for- ward different claims to a share in that immense inherit- ance, and especially by the elector of Bavaria, who caused himself to be proclaimed emperor at Frankfort, under the protection of the French armies, and with the name of Charles VII. Every thing at first prospered according to his wishes, and the wishes of his allies; Austria, Bohemia and Silesia were invaded by their troops, so as to oblige Maria Theresa to take refuge in Hungary. She appeared amidst the Hun- garian nobles in the city of Presburg, holding her young son, afterwards Joseph II, in her arms, and earnestly re- commending him to their fidelity. This affecting scene moved the assembly to tears; all swore to die, if neces- sary, for their sovereign, Maria Theresa,* and she was in- * Moriamwr pro rege noslro Maria Theresia ; Such was their sudden and unanimous exclamation. A. D. 1740-1748. SUCCESSION OF AUSTRIA^ ETC. 269 Btantly supplied with a fresh array zealously devoted to her interests. By a sudden change of fortune, her com- petitor Charles VII was not only driven from his con- quests, but even stripped for a time of his own hereditary dominions ; he died shortly after at Munich, more of grief than of disease. It might have been expected that his death, and the gen- eral acknowledgment, on the part of the German princes, of Francis of Lorraine as emperor, would put an end to these bloody quarrels; and in fact, some of the belligerent powers hastened to conclude separate treaties of alliance; but the obstinacy of some others protracted the war for three or four years longer. It was prosecuted with vigor particularly by the English and the French, who thus, from mere auxiliaries, became chief actors. Even before the death of Charles VII, the king of Eng- land, George II, had taken the command of the British and allied forces in Germany. He was marching forward to join an additional body of auxiliary troops, when, near the village of Dattingen, he saw himself almost surrounded by the enemy, and reduced to a very critical situation. In effect, by the masterly manoeuvres of the French gen- eral. Marshal de Noailles, all supplies were cut off; the neighboring hills were covered with a formidable artil- lery; and, had not the duke of Grammont's rash descent from the defiles into the plain with a portion of the army given the allies an opportunity of fighting on equal terms, a surrender, or total destruction would, in all probability, have been the consequence. The French charged, as usual, with impetuosity; but the English, animated by the presence of their king and of his son, the duke of Cum- berland, received the shock with undaunted valor. After three hours fighting, the assailants were repulsed, having lost five thousand men, killed, wounded and prisoners (a. d. 1743). Two years after, Louis XV and his son, the dauphin, in their turn defeated the army of the allies. The French 270 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VII. king, having a large number of excellent troops com- manded, under him, by Marshal Saxe, invested Tournay, one of the strongest towns in the Austrian Netherlands, and perhaps the most important place on that frontier. The combined forces of the British, Dutch and Hanove- rians,- amounting to about fifty thousand men under the command of the duke of Cumberland, advanced to its re- lief, and attacked the French, who had posted themselves on a rising ground in front of the village of Fontenoy. The battle began at nine in the morning, and lasted till three in the afternoon, being maintained all that time with equal courage by the two parties. Although the fire from the French batteries was so heavy that it swept off whole ranks at a single discharge, the British infantry, in the form of a close column, continued to advance as if they had been invulnerable, and the French began to give way. Marshal Saxe, fearing a total overthrow, sent advice to the king to provide for his safety by a timely retreat; but Louis refused to quit his post, and his firmness contributed to gain the honor of the day. At the suggestion of Mar- shal Richelieu, a fresh battery was erected just opposite to the front of the English column, at the distance of a few paces only; whilst it played upon them with dreadful exe- cution, the French returned to the charge, and, after seven or eight minutes of heroic efforts on both sides, finally compelled the enemy to retreat, with the loss of twelve or fifteen thousand men. The surrender of Tournay, and of many other fortified towns in the Austrian Flanders, was the fruit of this great victory. The following years equally exhibited a vicissitude of good and ill success. The French armies experienced signal defeats at Plaisance and Exilles in Italy, but were victorious in the great battles of Raucoux and Laufeld, which rendered them absolute masters of the Netherlands. At last, by the skilful movements of Marshal Saxe and Count Lowendhal, they began to penetrate into Holland, carried by storm cities and fortresses which were deemed A. D. 1740-1748. SUCCESSION OF AUSTRIA, ETC. 271 impregnable, and by this rapidity of conquest obliged the allied powers to receive the favorable conditions of peace which Louis XV had been offering to them since the year 1744. He made no difficulty to acknowledge Maria Theresa for the lawful heiress of Charles VI, willingly restored his conquests, and contented himself with secur- ing reasonable advantages for his own allies, saying that he wished to treat of peace, not as a merchant, but as a king. This treaty was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, in October 1748. Some time before its conclusion, and while the Bi*itish forces were yet employed on the continent, Charles Ed- ward, the s;rand-son of the dethroned kinir of Endand, James II, undertook to revive the claims of his family by an invasion of that country. He first landed on the shores of Scotland with one single frigate, some ammunition and a few officers. The public assertion of his rights, his promise of a just government, and the brilliant qualities of his person soon gathered around him a little army, with which he immediately took the field. His first exploits were the capture of Edinburgh and the total overthrow of four thousand Englishmen at Prestonpans; he then pro- ceeded into England, took the city of Carlisle, and ad- vanced as far as Derby, within eighty or ninety miles of London, when the approach of the duke of Cumberland at the head of superior forces obliged him to retreat with some disadvantage, though in good order. The victory of Falkirk, which he gained in January 1746, revived his hopes; but his subsequent defeat at Culloden blasted them for ever. Being now destitute of money and troops, with- out any sure asylum, constantly pursued by his enemies, always in danger of falling into their hands, and of ending his career upon a scaffold, wanting food and garments, wandering from place to place and from cavern to cavern, he exhausted, as it were, all the rigors of misfortune, and endured them with such fortitude, as to gain the admira- tion of the world. 24 272 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. In the midst of his calamities, and although the sum of thirty thousand pounds was offered as the reward of his capture, he had the happiness never to be betrayed by any one, not even by the poor who happened to recognize him under his various disguises. As he was once quite ex- hausted, and almost dying of starvation, he determined to ask some assistance of one of his enemies whose house he perceived at a distance, whilst wandering through the country. He went, knocked at the door, and, as soon as the owner appeared, '* Behold," said the young prince, ''the son of your lawful sovereign, who craves a little bread and some garments. I know you are my enemy ; but on your probity I rely enough to believe that you will not betray my confidence in you, nor take advantage of my extreme distress." The gentleman, deeply moved at the sight of such misfortune united with such magnani- mity, bestowed on his guest all the assistance which he needed, and observed an inviolable secrecy. In fine, after five months of incredible sufferings, Ed- ward embarked on board a French frigate, and, escaping the sight of the British vessels which were cruising along the coast, safely reached the shores of France whence he had sailed on his adventurous expedition. He afterwards repaired to Rome, where he died at the age of sixty -eight 3'ears (a. d. 1788). OLD FRENCH WAR, OTHERWISE CALLED WAR OF HA- NOVER, OR SEVEN YEARS WAR.— a. d. 1756—1763. The boundaries of the French and British possessions in North America not having been sufficiently settled by the treaties of Utrecht and Aix-la-Chapelle, there soon arose complaints of mutual encroachments. A fresh ne- gotiation was indeed opened between the courts of London and Versailles, but to no effect; hostilities followed, and after being carried on for a time without any previous A D. 175&-1763, OLD FRENCH WAR. 273 declaration of war, at last came to an open rupture in 1756. This new warfare, which, in a short time extended to all parts of the world, entirely changed, from the begin- ning, the political aspect of Europe. France and Austria, so long opposed to each other, now united their interests, and were joined bj Russia, Sweden and Saxony. Hol- land and Spain kept at first a sort of neutrality; but the English, besides the superiority of their naval forces, suc- ceeded in securing to themselves a powerful ally on the continent, Frederic II, king of Prussia, who had already acquired great renown for his ability and gained many laurels in the preceding conflict of the Austrian suc- cession. The first chances of war were favorable to France in almost every place. The English and their allies were defeated in North America, on the Mediterranean Sea, in the island of Minorca, where the supposed impregnable fortress of St. Philip, or Fort Mahon, was taken almost at the first onset; and particularly in the north of Ger- many, where forty thousand men commanded by the duke of Cumberland, experienced such reverses as to be obliged at last to capitulate. Nor was Frederic II in a better condition. After a transitory success, he had been routed by the Austrians; his kingdom was ravaged by the Rus- sians and the Swedes, and a French army was marching from another quarter to complete his ruin. In this extre- mity, his courage and presence of mind did not fail him : he retreated before the French, as if frightened at their approach, and took at Rosbach a formidable position. Here, whilst the enemy advanced against him in the hope of a sure and easy triumph, the tents which concealed his army suddenly disappeared, and the Prussians were seen in battle array, between two hills covered with artillery. At this unexpected sight, a panic seized the assailants, and they had scarcely fought a quarter of an hour, when they fled in every direction. This brilliant exploit, which 274 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. was entirely owing to the genius of Frederic, restored his decaying affairs; it enabled him to repel the imperialists from Silesia; and the French also had to give up their last conquests. The three following campaigns offered a series of bat- tles and a variety of events, which it would be equally tedious and useless to enumerate. The French now main- tained their ground well enough in Germany; but on every part of the ocean, as well as in the East and West Indies, they suffered incredible and irreparable losses. Hitherto, the Marquis of Montcalm had ably and successfully de- fended their Canadian possessions; but, as no fresh sup- plies could be forwarded to him across the Atlantic, where the English every where prevailed, the numbsr of his troops daily diminished, and it was not in his power to hinder a superior force under general Wolfe from reaching the vicinity of Quebec. In order, if possible, to save that capital, he ventured to give them battle. The disposition of the two armies was masterly, and the action commenced with great resolution on both sides. During the conflict, Wolfe and Montcalm, who had given equal proofs of per- sonal courage, were both mortally wounded ; the former died in the enthusiasm of victory, which he saw favoring the English, and the latter with the sad consolation of not having to witness the approaching surrender of Quebec. It took place six days later, and was followed in one year by the reduction of all Canada (a. d. 1759-1760). The same happened to the French settlements in the East Indies; sooner or later, all fell into the hands of the English. Nor could France put a stop to that astonish- ing series of disasters; her navy, which had severly suf- fered during the preceding war, was now in a wretched condition, and though privateers greatly annoyed the Bri- tish commerce, her weak squadrons were totally inade- quate to cope with the imposing forces of England. The only subject of hope that remained was the assistance, if it could be obtained, of the other branches of the Bourbon A, ». 1764-1776. AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 275 family, actually reigning in Spain, Naples and Sicily. Louis requested it through his ministers, and the Spanish king, Charles III, generously consented to help him with vessels and troops. A treaty to this eftect was framed under the name oi family compact; but it was of no ad- vantage to Louis XV, and proved most prejudicial to his ally. No sooner were the English apprized of the trans- action, than they directed their efforts against the Spanish settlements in Asia and America, destroyed their com- merce, and made immense captures. All the resources of France were now exhausted ; one year had been sufficient to baffle the auxiliary measures of Spain, and England herself was much depressed by the amazing efforts which she made to obtain such superiority over all her enemies. This weariness of the chief belli- gerent powers made all parties desirous of peace (a. d. 1763). "Whilst it was concluded at Hubersburg between the Prussian monarch and his numerous adversaries; the British, French and Spanish courts signed the treaty of Paris, by which it was agreed that England, upon restor- ing a few of her conquests, should retain the whole of Canada and many other valuable possessions. Thus did that mighty nation secure her maritime and commercial preponderance, though the time was not far distant, when she was to be deprived, by an unexpected revolution, of her own colonies in North America. ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLU- TION.— a. D. 1764—1776. The great accession of power and territory just acquired by Great Britian, had not been gained without enormous expenses, increased taxation, and a rapidily accumulating debt. No sooner were hostilities at an end, than the Eng- lish ministry made it their chief object to find out new sources of revenue, and devise means for replenishing the 24* 276 MODERN HISTORY, Part VII. treasury. North America opened to their view, so they at least flattered themselves, a new and abundant field for levying taxes; and, on motion of Lord Grenville, first commissioner of the exchequer, the famous act for impos- ing stamp duties on the colonies was passed, in 1765, by both houses of the British parliament. This act excited serious alarm among the Americans. Without altogether contesting the power vested in parlia- ment, to make regulations for trade, they sternly denied its right to impose direct revenue taxes on them without their own consent. Petitions and remonstrances drawn up in energetic language, were instantly despatched to the government; nor were there wanting in England itself men of remarkable talent and eloquence, as the celebrated William Pitt, earl of Chatham, who strenuously main- tained the privileges of the Colonies. All these protests, supported by the measures which the Americans took to prevent the exaction of the stamp duties, succeeded, on the accession of a new British ministry, in procuring the revocation of the obnoxious act (1766). The rejoicings which that repeal produced in America, were great and sincere, but still much diminished by a certain act which parliament issued at the same time, as- serting its pov.'er to bind the Colonies in all cases whatso- evet*. A variety of particular restrictions fostered the spirit of dread and mistrust in American hearts, and sub- sequent events revived all former irritation. The scheme of raising a revenue in the colonies was again practically adopted, by imposing duties on tea, glass, paper and painters' colors imported from Great Britain. The colo- nists opposed these new attempts on their liberties, by a fresh series of petitions, remonstrances and protests, and chiefly by non -importation agreements; nor did their re- sentment stop there: an immense quantity of tea, which had been shipped for Massachusetts, not only was not suf- fered to land, but was even thrown into the bay by the Bostonians. A. D. 1764-1776. AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 277 This bold measure formed a new and momentous crisis in the relations between America and Great Britain. While in England bills were passed, coercive expedients adopted, and powerful reinforcements of vessels and troops despatched against the city of Boston, the American states were not slow in espousing the cause of their sister Colony, in organizing a militia, and procuring, by every means in their power, arms, ammunition and all necessary supplies for the defence of privileges dearer to them than life. Still, it was again the lot of the New Englanders to begin the conflict. A party of men having been sent by General Gage, from Boston, to destroy some military stores collected at Concord by the provincials, were, on their way back, attacked near Lexington, and lost two hundred and seventy-three of their number, whereas the loss of their opponents was only ninety-three. This was the first blood spilled in battle during the American revolution. Two months later (June 1775), a still more memorable action took place at Bunker Hill, or rather Breed's Hill, near Boston, between fifteen hundred New Englanders, and three thousand British regulars. The coolness of the provincials at the approach of a veteran force double their number, was astonishing, and the order of General Put- nam not to fire till they could distinguish the whites of the enemy's eyes, was scrupulously obeyed. The regu- lars were permitted to advance to within about sixty yards, when a deadly fire of small arms was opened upon them with such effect, that whole ranks were mowed down, and the line, wavering for a moment, at last broke, and gave way. They rallied, advanced again, and were again re- pulsed by the same destructive and incessant fire. A third charge, led on by General Clinton, proved more suc- cessful, and the provincials, who had nearly exhausted their ammunition, were obliged to retire; but, although they left the field of battle, they could justly claim the advantage of victory, their loss being only four hundred 278 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIL and fifty-three, that of the British, one thousand and fifty-four. The spirit displayed by the Americans in these engage- ments greatly increased their confidence, and urged them to new exertions. In the mean time, a general Congress of the colonies, represented by their deputies, had met in Philadelphia for the purpose of adopting measures ade- quate to the important crisis. They voted to raise an army of twenty thousand men, appointed the general of- ficers, and, on motion of Mr. Johnson of Maryland, unani- mously chose GEORGE WASHINGTON commander- in-chief of the American forces. The great man who thus already possessed the universal confidence and esteem of his countrymen, accepted the appointment with unfeigned modesty, and immediately took command of the army in the vicinity of Boston.' Before his arrival, the scheme of surrounding the royal forces in that city had already been contrived, and was about to be put in execution; Wash- ington pursued it with such ardor and success, as to leave them no resource but immediate departure on board their vessels hitherto anchored in the harbor. Accordingly, on the seventeenth of March 1776, the British troops, amounting to more than seven thousand men, evacuated the town, which was immediately occupied by the trium- phant provincials. Shortly after this, the English, having endeavored first to surprise New York, and then to reduce Charleston by a vigorous attack, were foiled in both attempts. The Americans, it is true, were not equally fortunate in their own attempt upon Canada, and rather suffered a consider- able loss, in the siege of Quebec, which cost the life of General Montgomery, and reduced Colonel Arnold to the necessity of retreating; but this unhappy expedition served at least to show the ardor of the colonists even for offensive warfare, whilst all their energies were required to defend themselves against a powerful enemy. All these actions however they had performed without A. D. 1764-1776. AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 279 renouncing their allegiance to the British crown. There was indeed in the Colonies a spiiit of open and unflinch- ing resistance to the invasion of their privileges; but the people and their representatives had, until "the close of the year 1775, entertained the hope and expressed the desire of bringing their controversy with Great Britain to a speedy and amicable conclusion. Unfortunately for England, her existing ministry had determined to main- tain by force the right of taxation and the legislative su- premacy of Parliament over the Colonies ; and the Colonies were equally determined to repel the claim by force. The exasperation of the people in America rose to the highest pitch, when they were informed that measures for fresh hostilities had been taken by Great Britain against them, so far as to hire multitudes of foreign troops for a more vigorous prosecution of the war. The public mind, under the constant excitement of sufferings or fears, be- gan to think of adopting a course different from that hith- erto pursued. The winter and spring of 1776 were spent in discussions, appeals and publications of every sort, urging the necessity and advantage of a total separation from the mother country. The momentous step was taken into serious consideration by Congress, then assembled at Philadelphia and consisting of the representatives of thir- teen colonies, viz. Massachusetts including Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. After lonsc and animated debates, a Declaration of Indepen- DENCE, drawn up by Thomas Jefferson, was unanimously approved on the Fourth of July, a day for ever memora- ble in the annals of America, and then solemnly pro- claimed to the people. In this important instrument, the members of Congress, in the name of their constituents, after enumerating their grievances and subjects of com- plaint against the British government, renounced all alle- giance to it, dissolved all political connexion with England, 280 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VII. and declared the United Colonies to be free, independent and sovereign states; at the same time, mutually pledging to each other, for the support of this declaration, " their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.— A. d. 1776—1783. The declaration of independence was certainly a point of very high importance for the people of the United Co- lonies, but to render it an efficient and irrevocable mea- sure, it required all their energies in the open field ; the more so, as the prospect of their affairs at that epoch was by no means encouraging. The British were ready to prosecute the war vigorously by land and sea. Their ar- my consisted of twenty-four thousand of the best troops from Europe, to whom several regiments of Hessian in- fantry were expected soon to be added, carrying their number to the amount of thirty-five thousand men, under the command of very able generals and experienced offi- cers, and well supplied with every thing necessary for an active and successful warfare. To resist the attack, and check, if possible, the progress of these combined forces, the American general had un- der his command troops not only far inferior in numbers, but still more so in military discipline, and, owing chiefly to the pecuniary embarrassments of the country, ill-pro- vided with food, clothing, arms and ammunition. It re- quired his utmost sagacity and indefatigable efforts to train them to habits of necessary subordination and to a regular manner of fighting, and particularly to retain them in suf- ficient force under his banners, at a time when the ill-ad- vised practice of short enlistments easily permitted them to withdraw from the service. Yet, under these trying circumstances, never did the great mind of Washington, even after many a defeat which neither his courage nor A. D. 1776-1783. WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 281 skill could prevent, abandon the hope of ultimate success. Never did Congress, even when surrounded by obstacles, and seeing the cause of independence on the brink of ruin, listen to any proposals of peace, except on the con- dition of an acknowledgment from England of the free- dom and sovereignty of the Colonies. Like the Romans of old, who showed their contempt of the victorious host of Annibal, by selling at a high price the field on which it was encamped near their city, so the leading American patriots, far from suffering themselves to be dejected by the gloomy state of their aftairs, constantly expressed their determination to carry on the struggle at all hazards, ra- ther than ever return under British subjection. These lofty hopes and resolutions of Congress, in which a large majority of the people always concurred, were sustained not only by the consciousness of their own en- ergy, but also by a well founded expectation of foreign alliance and succors. In fact, almost from the beginning of the war, the Colonies successfully applied to various places abroad to secure supplies of arms and ammunition, and, though no foreign state had yet acknowledged their independence, such a number of able officers came over to them from Poland and France, as greatly added to the skill and strength of their armies. In 1778, the successful exertions of the commissioners of Congress, and particu- larly of the celebrated doctor Franklin, induced the French government openly to declare in favor of the Americans. Public hostilities commenced from that moment between France and Great Britain, and the contest became still more animated, when Spain in 1779, and Holland in 1780, joined in the war against England; whilst the league, called the armed neutrality, was also formed against her interests, by the northern powers of Russia, Sweden and Denmark. To oppose such an array of enemies, the English nation, roused by danger to exertions worthy of her opulence and greatness, displayed a spirit truly magnanimous, and as- 282 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. tonishing resources. Her fleets covered both hemispheres, and her armies every where fought with a valor which challenges unqualified admiration. Still, it was easy to foresee, that, since the English were obliged to divide their forces, however successful they might be in various particular engagements, they would in the end lose the main point at issue, the recovery of their Colonies. It is true, the allied European powers did not, at least in the beginning, lend to the Colonies so direct and efficient a cooperation as might have been anticipated ; yet, it is self- evident that, occupying the immense navies of Great Bri- tain, as well in the East and West Indies, as along the shores of Europe and Africa, they afforded, by thus pre- venting her from concentrating her energies, an immense advantao-e to the American cause. The successful result of the war of independence was, therefore, to be produced, and in fact was achieved in America itself, through a long series of hardships and battles, of disasters and victories. This naturally leads us to resume the course of military events, and relate in the order of time, those which imme- diately followed the declaration of independence. Two months had not elapsed since that remarkable event, when the Colonies saw with dismay theirj troops signally defeated in the disastrous battle of Long Island. Washington, unable to cope with the superior forces of the English and Hessians, was obliged to evacuate not only this island, but even, a few days after, the city of New York; nor was this the end of the misfortune. At the approach of a victorious enemy, it became necessary and urgent to abandon the province of New Jersey, and cross with all speed the river Delaware. It was truly a dispiriting scene to behold that scanty, destitute and di- minishing band, scarcely amounting to three thousand, pursued by a triumphant, well disciplined and abundantly supplied army of thirty thousand men. About the same time an American flotilla on Lake Champlain was almost A. D. 1776-1783. WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 283 entirely destroyed, and the State of Rhode Island con- quered by the British. Of all the periods of the revolution, this was the most gloomy and disheartening. Fortunately, so hopeless a state of things did not last long, and Washington having received reinforcements which made his army amount to about seven thousand, was enabled to raise the drooping spirits of his countrymen by a bold and successful attempt. Observing the scattered and loosely guarded positions of the enemy along the left bank of the Delaware, he re- crossed that river on Christmas -day, suddenly attacked the Hessian troops at Trenton, and captured about nine hundred men and officers, with the whole artillery and ammunition. Ten days later, he again defeated three regiments at Princeton, and pursuing his advantage, made such skilful manoeuvres as to wrest from the enemy almost all their conquests in the Jerseys, and gained for himself among tacticians in Europe the surname of the American Fahius. At the reopening of the campaign in 1777, he was again obliged to retreat before the overwhelming force of the British, and even, in consequence of the unfavora- ble actions of Brandywine and Germantown, to leave Philadelphia for a time in the power of the enemy; yet, he so well conducted his army, so judiciously chose the positions for his encampments, that the conquerors were unable to derive any material advantage from their pro- gress and victories. Towards the close of the same year 1777, the previous losses of the Americans in the north were most advanta- geously repaired. General Burgoyne had undertaken to effect a junction of the British troops from Canada with those stationed at New York, for the purpose of cutting off all communication between the northern and southern States. His march from Quebec and upon the American territory was at first successful and rapid, though it cost him much labor to make the roads passable. The fierce battles of Bennington and Stillwater checked this trium- 25 284 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. phant course; and he was still far from having accom- plished his project, when desertions and scarcity of pro- visions increased his embarrassment. A speedy retreat towards the north might perhaps have delivered him from his perilous position; but this last resource was also ren- dered impossible by the skilful efforts of General Gates to surround him. Burgoyne, thus deprived of all means of escape, opened at Saratoga a negotiation with the Am- erican general, and on the seventeenth of October sur- rendered the remnant of his troops, now reduced from twelve to six thousand, with the whole train of artillery and an immense quantity of warlike stores. The capture of Burgoyne's army was, especially in a moral point of view and as an encouragement, of vital importance to the Americans. Still, much remained to be done and suffered, before the war could be brought to a close. The chief theatre of hostilities was now transfer- red, as it were by common consent of the hostile parties, from the northern to the southern States. Here the cause of liberty seemed totally lost for a long time. The cap- ture of Savannah, and the subsequent conquest of all Georgia by the British in 1779; afterwards, their success in subduing Charleston and South Carolina, with a consi- derable loss of men and artillery on the part of the Ame- ricans, in 1780; finally, the signal defeat of General Gates by Lord Cornwallis at Camden, opening a free road to the invasion of North Carolina and Virginia: such was, in the beginning of 1781, the discouraging and almost desperate situation of affiiirs throughout that extensive part of the American territory. In this extremity, the command of the republican forces there happily devolved on two men endowed with that courage, activity and perseverance which the emergency required; men of peculiar and fer- tile genius, who stimulated the spirits of the patriots, roused them to fresh exertions, and, by a series of gallant actions, not only checked the victorious career of the ene- A. D. 1776-1783. WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 285 mj, but even prepared the way for the final triumph of American Independence. The first of these prominent personages was General Greene, justly surnamed, for his brilliant achievements, the liberator of the South. Being appointed to succeed Gates after the defeat of Camden, he entered the state of South Carolina with a dispirited and almost destitute army, and found the country in the possession of a mighty foe, intrenched in a long chain of well garrisoned and fortified posts. He successively broke through and cap- tured them, and although several times defeated in the open field, found such resources in the energy of his cha- racter and the fertility of his genius, that he was always formidable, and did not cease to harass his opponents, until he had driven them from their different posts through- out the State into the fortifications of the capital. The victory of General Morgan at Cowpens opened, and the battle of Eutaw Springs won by Greene in person, closed this decisive campaign.* Nearly the same success was obtained in Virginia by Lafayette, who, with only three thousand men, mostly undisciplined militia, had to defend the country against the superior numbers and the victorious veterans of Lord Cornwallis now advancing, with full confidence, to the conquest of this important State. The French general, well taught in the school of Washington, so tempered his characteristic ardor with reflection and wariness, manoeu- vred with so much prudence and skill, as to baffle the efforts and frustrate all the lofty designs of his opponent. Cornwallis, thus constantly disappointed, retired towards * As well in this as in other periods and theatres of the war, the officers and soldiers of the Maryland regiment highly distinguished themselves by their intrepid and gallant behavior. None fought more resolutely in the disastrous battles of Long Island and Camden ; and, could victory have been won, their courage would have achieved it on both occasions. See Marshall, Life of Washington, vol. i,p. 346-347 ; — Wilson, History of the American Revolution, p. 160 and 300; — Frost, History of the tlnited States, p. 200 and 271. 286 MODERN HISTORY. Part VII. the coast with all his troops, and at length took a strong position at Yorktown and Gloucester Point, near the mouth of York river. Here the protracted struggle was to be finally decided. No sooner did Washington, who was now actively occu- pied in the vicinity of New York, receive an exact account of the state of things in Virginia, and of the destination of a powerful French armament for the Chesapeake, than he resolved to turn these advantages to the best account, by capturing the whole army of Cornwallis. This required profound secrecy, a skilful combination of means and a mighty concentration of forces near Yorktown: but the mind of the commander-in-chief was not unequal either to the planning of all the parts of that complicated scheme, or to its successful execution. His first care was to conceal his real object from Sir Henry Clinton, who commanded the British army in New York; and this was easily done by threatening a serious attack on that city. He then, with the French general Rochambeau and their joint forces, marched rapidly through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and crossing the Chesapeake on board of vessels kept ready for the occasion, effected the reunion of his army with that commanded by Lafayette on the Virginia side. The combined host amounted to nearly seventeen thousand men, twelve or thirteen thousand of whom were regulars, filled with confidence, ardor, enthusiasm, and well pro- vided with all the materials necessary for a siege. More- over, the French fleet, composed of about thirty ships of the line under the command of Count De Grasse, lay an- chored at the mouth of York river and the entrance of the Chesapeake, so as to render the escape of Cornwallis im- possible by sea, as his retreat was impracticable by land, in presence of the superior force of the allies. After a council of war held on board the ship La Ville de Paris, the attack on the British was commenced from the land side, in the beginning of October, 1781. On the tenth of the same month, the besiegers opened their batte- A, D. 1776-1783. WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 287 ries with such eiFect, that the enemy's cannon was silenced for a time, and the shells and red-hot balls, flying over the town, even reached the ships in the harbor. It was in vain that Cornwallis endeavored to retard the progress of the assailants by a vigorous sally, and shortly after to effect his escape by Gloucester Point during the night; both attempts failed, and no resource was left but uncon- ditional and immediate surrender, which was made on the nineteenth of October: the whole British army, amounting to seven thousand men, yielded themselves as prisoners of war, and delivered to the victorious allies their artillery, military chest, public stores, and their vessels in the harbor. The victory of Yorktown which was soon followed by the recovery of Savannah and Charleston, may be justly considered as the virtual termination of the War of Inde- pendence. Hostilities, it is true, were still carried on between the European powers with fierce animosity and unabated vigor; but the signal defeat of the French by Admiral Rodney in the West Indies, and the total failure of the Spaniards at the siege of Gibraltar (a. d. 1782), counterbalancing the partial success previously obtained by the two nations, taught them to put an end to the con- test. England too, notwithstanding her late triumphs, had no interest to continue it, since she had now lost all rational expectation of ever recovering her colonies. A negotiation was accordingly opened, and commissioners from the interested parties assembled at Paris, (or rather Versailles), to settle the terms of a general peace. After long and animated debates, the definitive treaty was final- ly signed in September, 1783, by which, besides various advantages of minor importance granted to France and Spain, the Independence of the United States was solemn- ly and universally acknowledged. On the twenty-fifth of November following, the British army and fleet evacuated New York, their last remaining possession on the territory of the United States. General 9.5* 288 MODERN HISTORY Pan vii. Washington entered the city in triumph, and, after a short stay, took an affecting leave of his ofl&cers, and set out for the purpose of resigning his office of commander-in-chief into the hands of Congress, then in session at Annapolis in Maryland. Here, on the twenty-third of December, "In the presence of the representatives of the States, and a large concourse of civil and military officers, foreign agents, and citizens, he delivered his commission with a simple and moving address, in which, after congratulating the country on the successful termination of the war, and recommending the officers and the army to the justice of Congress, he concluded by bidding them an affectionate farewell. The highest testimony of popular love and ad- miration followed him into his retirement; and his return to the domestic shades of Mount Vernon, accompanied by the blessings and plaudits of millions whom he had guided to liberty and safety, was the closing scene of the war of the American Revolution" (Wilson, p. 372). With this interesting event we shall also close the seventh part of Modern History. As there is no peculiar remark to be made on the discoveries of this period, their bare enumeration will find a more proper place in the chronological table at the end of the volume. PART VIII. FROM THE TREATY OF PARIS, OR VERSAILLES, IN WHICH THE INDE- PENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES WAS SOLEMNLY ACKNOWL- EDGED (A. D. 1783), TO THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1842. FORMATION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.— A. d. 1783—1789. WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT. It was not enough for the happiness of the United Co- lonies to have become free, independent and sovereign States; a mode of general government was moreover to be established among them, calculated at once to maintain their union, provide for their defence and ensure their prosperity. Experience had already taught, and for some years more continued to teach, that the existing loose con- federation which they had adopted during the war, could by no means effect these purposes. The great dijficulties which occurred in disbanding the troops and satisfying their just demands, the want of pecuniary resources in Congress, the absence of a proper system and of uniform rules to carry on foreign commerce, and other similar cir- cumstances, were serious evils, threatening still worse consequences for the future, unless checked by a speedy and powerful remedy. Virginia and Maryland had the honor of taking the first efficient steps towards the desired and so much needed measure. Their endeavors, upheld by the cooperation of several other States, induced Congress to pass a resolu- tion that a committee of delegates, invested with ample powers, should assemble for the purpose of framing a Constitution adapted to the exigencies of the country. The proposed committee, composed of the ablest men in 290 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. the union, met at Philadelphia, in 1787, under the pre- sidency of General Washington; after four months of dis- cussion and labor, the important work was completed, and transmitted by Congress to the several States for their consideration and acceptance. By the Federal Constitution, the general government is made to consist of three distinct departments, the legis- lative, executive smd judicial. The legislative department consists of a Senate and House of Representatives, col- lectively called the Congress. The executive is composed of a president, who, together with the vice-president, is chosen for four years by electors from all the States, and of several subordinate officers appointed by the president. In fine, the judicial power is vested in a supreme court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The attributions of each power are defined and regulated ; the principal article is that which authorizes Congress to declare war, raise and sup- port armies, provide and maintain a navy, coin money, lay taxes, regulate commerce, and provide in general for the government, welfare and security of the nation. No sooner was the Constitution made known to the public, than it met with earnest opposition from those who thought that it vested too much power in the general go- vernment, to the detriment of the individual States. It was also very strongly supported by others; and hence arose the two opposite parties of the federalists and anti- federalists or democrats, which have divided the country ever since. Notwithstanding this contrariety and clashing of views, the Federal Constitution was, after some amendments, sooner or later admitted by all the States. The time be- ing near at hand, when the newly framed government was to be carried into operation, Washington was unani- mously chosen president; he was inaugurated on the thirtieth of April, 1789, and, being reelected after the lapse of four years, continued in office until 1797. His A. D. 1783-1789. FEDERAL CONSTITUTION^ ETC. 291 public conduct, all that time, was marked by the same firmness and integrity which he had displayed at the head of armies. Although some of the measures which he pur- sued did not meet with universal approbation, he however never lost the esteem and affection of the great body of the people; the general advantages of his administration being too evident and the purity of his motives too well known, to permit any change of the public feeling in his regard. Scarcely had he retired from office to the em- ployments of a private life, when the votes of the nation again appointed him commander-in-chief of a provisional army raised for the purpose of carrying on war against the leaders of the French revolutionary government. It for- tunately happened that hostilities were confined to some private encounters at sea, as the disputes between the two powers were soon amicably adjusted; still, Washington did not see their termination, having died almost suddenly at Mount Vernon, on the fourteenth of December, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. There have been in the world, more powerful geniuses, mightier conquerors than Washington; yet, if every thing be well considered, if we call to mind the scantiness of his means together with his undaunted and successful per- severance, few will be found who merited from their con- temporaries as high encomiums as the American general did; still fewer who evinced as much magnanimity in the most distressing cases; and none perhaps who, placed in the same or in the like situation, ever equalled him in in- tegrity, disinterestedness and patriotism. In this point of view, Washington seems to stand alone; in this chiefly must he appear to every one an extraordinary man ; a man truly deserving of being forever called the Father of his country, truly worthy of the eternal gratitude of Ameri- cans, whose independence he secured by his military achievements, whose national strength he increased by his political wisdom, and whose prosperity he so success- 292 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. fullj promoted by his unabated zeal, and the vast influ- ence of his moral character. FRENCH REVOLUTION.— A. D. 1789—1795. While the newly founded republic of the United States was rapidly rising from embarrassment to wealth and greatness, one of the most ancient and powerful mo- narchies in Euroj>e crumbled, as it were, in pieces, and disappeared for a time from the rank of civilized nations. France, who had been so instrumental in assisting the Americans throughout their hardships and difficulties, was now plunged in an abyss of confusion and anarchy unpre- cedented in the annals of the world. The proximate cause of this frightful revolution is generally supposed to have been the deranged state of the finances, which could be remedied neither by the measures of a vacillating min- istry, nor by the personal sacrifices of the virtuous King Louis XVI. To this may be added the desire of imitating the example of the United Colonies in their struggle for independence; a desire conceived and cherished by those who, expecting to derive profit from a change of govern- ment, little considered that the case of America was wide- ly different from that of France, and that, moreover, the same course which had, from a variety of circumstances, benefited one of these countries, might, on the contrary, produce the most pernicious effect on the other. But the chief, though remote cause of the French revo- lution, was that spirit of irreligion and infidelity which, from the regency of the duke of Orleans in 1715 — 1723, had made such a deplorable progress in France. This fatal seed, transplanted from England and Holland to the soil of their neighbors, received there its full growth by the diabolical exertions of such men as Voltaire, Dide- rot and others of the same stamp. During a weak admin- istration, under several faithless ministers, the most vio- A. D. 1789-1795. FRENCH REVOLUTION. 293 lent attacks were directed with impunity against relio-ion and all lawful authority, against the altar and the throne. The contagion rapidly spread from the capital to the pro- vinces; and, although a multitude of excellent writers victoriously refuted the sophisms of incredulity concealed under an elegant style and the assumed name of philoso- phy, impious and infamous productions of every descrip- tion continued to go forth and destroy, in the mindsjof their incautious readers, the germ of piety, of respect for the law, and of every virtue. This anti -Christian conspiracy was carried on chiefly during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Upheld by human pride and passions, it received additional strength from its union with the Jansenists, a body of sec- tarians equally hostile to church and state, who had now existed in France for upwards of a hundred years. Last- ly, the evil was rendered in some measure desperate by the expulsion of the Jesuits, that society of men so learned, so zealous, so eminently useful in defending religion, pro- moting piety, and training up youth in all good, moral and social principles. Thus, throughout a nation hitherto so universally at- tached to her faith as well as to her sovereigns, numbers of persons permitted themselves to be seduced into a va- riety of impious systems, and an unbounded desire of per- nicious innovations. This was unfortunately the spirit which animated most of those who composed, in 1789, the famous assembly of the States-general, convened at Ver- sailles for the purpose of finding out means, and adopting measures conducive to the improvement of the finances. Their first step, at the opening of the session, was to op- pose the excellent views of King Louis XVI; and this was soon followed by the still bolder attempt of framing a new constitution for France. The immediate effects of this illegal enactment were, the equally illegal seizure of ecclesiastical property, the tender to the clergy of an oath wholly incompatible with 294 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. the principles of jurisdiction established by Christ in his church, and edicts of persecution against those who should refuse to sacrifice their conscience for temporal considera- tions. Of one hundred and thirty-five bishops, only four took the unlawful oath; and but a comparatively small number of the inferior clergy imitated their example, myriads of others preferring to lose every thing upon earth rather than betray their duty. Most of those who remained thus faithful, were forced to quit the kingdom, and fly for refuge to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, or even to cross the seas, in order to reach the hospitable shores of England, Ireland or North America; while others, who stayed in France, were daily exposed to im- prisonment and death. By the leaders of the revolution, the nobility were not better treated than the bishops and priests. One hundred and fifty thousand persons, chiefly from the distinguished classes of society, are said to have emigrated to a foreign land, for the double purpose of avoiding the evils which threatened them, and of returning with a regular force to chastise the oppressors of their unhappy country. But the storm had already burst with too much violence. Af- ter removing the supporters of the throne, wliom they called the abettors of tyranny, the real tyrants of France, under the successive names of national, constituent, le- gislative assembly, and of national convention, exerted their utmost endeavors first in degrading, and afterwards in demolishing the throne itself. They skilfully took ad- vantage of the excessive condescension of Louis, gradually to limit his privileges, and of his reluctance in shedding any blood in his defence, to oblige him, by the repeated and atrocious attacks of an infuriated populace, to surren- der himself and his family into their hands. This event sealed the fate of the unfortunate monarch. The tigers who thirsted for his blood, Marat, Danton, Robespierre, and others of their party, now the most pow- erful in the capital, lost no time in procuring his con- X. D. 1789-1795. FRENCH REVOLUTION. 295 demnation. It was in vain that Louis, brought before that iniquitous tribunal, easily refuted their absurd charges; in vain too, that eloquent advocates powerfully vindicated his innocence: the death of the virtuous king was desired; capital punishment was decreed; and he met his fate on the twenty -first of January, 1793, with the magnanimity of a christian prince and the piety of a martyr. * In the ensuing October, his royal consort, Marie Antoinette, and in May 1794, his angelic sister, Elizabeth, were also led to execution. One year later, the young dauphin, Louis XVII, died in prison of a disease contracted from close confinement, and from the barbarous treatment inflicted on him by the monsters who regarded neither rank nor vir- tue neither sex nor age. Of all the members of that un- fortunate family whom the revolutionary storm had placed within their reach, the daughter of Louis XVI, afterwards Duchess d'Angouleme, was the only one that they did not think proper to sacrifice to their frantic fury. Massacres of priests and other innocent persons had been already committed in various quarters of Paris, even before the king's execution; his death seemed to be a sig- nal for fresh and more extensive slaughters. The levelling fury of Robespierre and his accomplices now rapidly reach- ed from the capital to the boundaries of the kingdom. A dark veil of terror and death covered all France; scaffolds were erected in various provinces and in almost every po- pulous city; new torments were invented against the de- fenders of religion and monarchy; and, from the year 1792 to 1794, blood continued to flow in every part of this un- happy country. Nor was this enough for the madness and impiety now in possession of the sovereign power in France; * Everj'' one knows the perfect resignation of Louis XVI to his fate ; the noble tranquillity of his soul, marked by that profound sleep from which his valet-de-chambre was obliged to wake him a few hours before the execution ; the pure feelings of heavenly charity expressed in his last will; the glowing fervor vvdth which he received the last succors of religion; and those sublime words which his confessor (Abbe Firmont Edgeworth) addressed to him at the foot of the scaffold: " Son of Saint Louis, ascend to heaven!" 26 296 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. whatever appertained to the divine worship, became the peculiar object of their hatred; sacred things and places were either desecrated or destroyed ; Sundays and festi- vals abolished ; every mark of Christianity was obliterated ; and instead of the hallowed rites and ceremonies of the church was substituted the infamous worship of the god- dess Reason. Such a state of things could not fail to excite feelings of horror in the breasts of those who had not lost all sense of humanity and religion. Whilst a kind of stupor oppress- ed all ranks, whilst millions, either destitute of sufficient energy or deprived of adequate means of resistance, si- lently wept over the awful scenes of calamity and blood- shed by which they were surrounded, several great cities, Lyons, Toulon, etc. made distinguished efforts to resist the oppressors of France, but in vain. The vigor of the national convention, and the bravery of her armies easily baffled these ill-concerted, though generous exertions, and the result served only to expose their authors to the in- creased fury of the revolutionary tempest. The conflict between the abettors and the opponents of anarchy was still more remarkable in the western pro- vinces of the kingdom, particularly in Vendee, whose re- ligious and brave inhabitants had unanimously risen up in arms for the support of the ancient faith and government. The astonishing exploits of these heroic countrymen more than once caused the reigning impiety to tremble; unfor- tunately, incidents and obstacles beyond their control im- peded their further progress. Their native land was de- voted to all the atrocities of revenge; the Vendeans fell before an enraged and constantly increasing foe, but it was only after having fought seventeen pitched battles, mostly with success, and destroyed or dispersed nearly three hundred thousand of the best republican troops. In another and more distant quarter, the French emi- grants were not idle. Having formed themselves into a regular and gallant force under the command of the prince A. D. 1789-1795. FRENCH REVOLUTION. 297 of Conde, they also evinced in various engagements that brilliant valor which always distinguished the French no- bility; but their efforts, not being sufficiently seconded by the foreign powers, proved equally unsuccessful. The Austrians and Prussians, who had first made a rapid ad- vance and gained great advantages over the republicans, suddenly abandoned the enterprise, and, being defeated by general Dumouriez at Yalmy and Jemappes towards the close of 1792, evacuated the French territory. The war however was not ended, but soon recommenced with still greater animosity than before, when the Aus- trians and Prussians who, just at that time, received a vast increase of power and territory from the dismemberment of Poland, were joined, in their confederacy against France, by Holland, England, and afterwards by Russia, which last country the genius of the empress Catherine II, and her recent victories over the Poles and the Turks, had now rendered most powerful. At the sight of this mighty coalition against the newly founded republic, one might naturally have anticipated her speedy downfal ; and it is true that her armies occasionally experienced severe checks and defeats; still, hers generally were the honors and the advantages of the field ; almost every where, her troops, guided by able generals, won the laurels of victory, and would have thrown imperishable glory round the French name, had they fought for a better cause. Thus, after the defeat of Dumouriez at Nerwinde in 1793, Hoche and Pichegru succeeded in driving the allies beyond the Rhine. Jordan overthrew another of their armies near Fleurus, after an obstinate and protracted en- gagement, during which he skilfully made use of balloons to discover all the movements of the enemy (a. d. 1794). Belgium, Holland, and all the left side of the Rhine, being no longer protected by a sufficient number of troops, fell under the power of the victors. Such was, in 1795, the situation of affairs, when a still greater man appeared at the head of the Republican armies, who carried the mili- 298 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VII L tary glory of France to its highest pitch, and, by a long series of brilliant achievements, cast all preceding adven- turers into the shade. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, GENERAL AND CONSUL, A. D. 1796—1804. Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio in Corsica^ some say, in 1768, but, according to other accounts and his own opinion, on the fifteenth of August, 1769. Having gone successfully through a course of studies in the mili- tary school of Brienne, he was appointed an officer in a corps of artillery, and when the French revolution broke out, warmly espoused and defended its cause. He signal- ized himself, in 1793, at the siege of Toulon, whose cap- ture by the republicans was owing chiefly to his exertions; and still more so in 1795, when he rendered the national convention, at the close of its career, victorious over the Parisian populace. For these services rendered to the re- public, Bonaparte demanded as a reward, and obtained from the directory which succeeded the convention, the chief command of the army in Italy (a. d. 1796). In his very first campaign, he appeared a consummate general. Finding the troops in a state of great destitution and despondency, he first endeavored to animate their courage, and succeeded in infusing his own ardor into their breasts, by pointing out to them the fertile plains of Pied- mont as the remuneration of their valor. He then opened that brilliant campaign, in which a bold natural genius, improved by a profound study of all the parts of warfare, enabled him to fight with astonishing success against the most experienced generals of the age. His peculiar mode of attack consisted in precision of movement, concentra- tion of forces and formidable charges upon a determinate point. Having, from the beginning, cut off all communi- cation between the Austrian and Sardinian troops, he A. D. 1796-1804. NAPOLEOIS-^; ETC. 299 gained, in a few weeks, the victories of Montenotte, Mil- lesimo, Mondovi and Lodi, conquered Lombardy, and laid siege to Mantua, the strongest bulwark of Italy in that quarter. The court of Vienna, sensible of the vast importance of that place, despatched numerous troops under able generals to its assistance; but their efforts were of no avail. One of the Austrian armies, led by the intrepid Wurmser, was signally defeated at Castiglione and Bassano; another, under the command of Alvinzi, was, after an obstinate conflict, driven from its formidable position at Areola; and another, in fine, experienced a complete overthrow in the decisive battle of Rivoli. Throughout that series of bloody engagements, Bonaparte gave numerous instances of both tactical ability and personal valor. He soon reaped the fruit of his exertions; Mantua, reduced to the last ex- tremity, was obliged to surrender; and the French saw themselves undisputed masters of all northern Italy (a. d. 1797). The treaty of Campo Formio, concluded in the same year with Austria, secured this brilliant success; whilst, in virtue of other agreements, an end was put to the independence of the Venetian republic, and enormous contributions were levied on other Italian States in behalf of the conquerors. Bonaparte now thought of undertaking a grand expedi- tion into the East, where he would be placed beyond the reach of any superior command, and enabled to destroy the British power in India. The French directory, who began to dread his influence in the government, and M^ere glad to get rid of him in an honorable manner, willingly gave their consent to the projected expedition. Four hun- dred transports and thirteen ships of the line were assem- bled in the port of Toulon to convey to Egypt forty thou- sand warriors, together with a great number of learned men, and all the materials requisite for the conquest, the exploration and the colonization of that distant country. This powerful armament sailed on the twentieth of May, 26* 300 MODERN HISTORY. Part Vllf , 1798, and, after taking easy possession of Malta through the treachery of some knights and the pusillanimity of the grand-master, safely reached the Egyptian shores. The troops were landed, and began the work of conquest by the capture of Alexandria. Their subsequent victory over the Mamelukes in the celebrated battle of the Pyramids, rendered them masters of Cairo and Lower Egypt. But the fleet, under admiral Brueys, was almost entirely destroyed in the bay of Abou- kir by the English admiral Nelson; and the land troops themselves were foiled in their attempt upon Acre in Pa- lestine. Moreover, their numbers were daily thinned by distemper or excessive fatigue; and though they continued to perform prodigies of valor under Bonaparte and Kleber, his successor in command, they were at length unable to cope successfully with the combined forces of the English and Turks. A capitulation followed, in virtue of which they were not only allowed to return, but even afforded the means of returning to their native country'. Their departure from Egypt had been preceded by that of Bonaparte, whom the course of events in France had recalled to Paris. Seeing that his arrival there was greeted with general congratulation and rejoicing, he skilfully availed himself of these favorable dispositions, to overturn the unpopular government of the directory; and, causing a new form of government to be adopted, was appointed its head and sovereign leader under the title of first con- sul (a. d. 1799). During his absence, Italy had been the theatre of sur- prising revolutions. The French republicans, not satisfied with their late conquests, had further indulged their am- bition and rapacity, by invading the Ecclesiastical State, taking possession of Rome, and dragging into exile the un- offending and venerable Pope Pius VI, who soon died at Valence in France, at the age of eighty-two years (1799). The kings of Naples and Sardinia were likewise driven from their continental dominions; and the whole peninsula A. D. 179&-1804. NAPOLEON^ ETC. 301 now appeared prostrate at the feet of the French, when suddenly at the norihern frontier the hero of Russia, Su- warrow, made his appearance with an Austro-Russian army proud of fighting under such a leader, the irresistible foe of the Turks and the Poles. One campaign of this great man was sufficient to wrest from the possession of the French those fair Italian provinces, which they had acquired with so much labor and loss of life. However, it seemed as if Suwarrow had come for no other purpose than to facilitate the election of a new Pontiff*: no sooner had he prepared the way for it by compelling the revolu- tionary troops to evacuate Italy, than, finding himself ill seconded by the Austrians, he was obliged to retreat across the Alps before the superior force of General Ma*ena, and by incredible efforts, to extricate the sad remnant of his once flourishing and victorious army. The road into the peninsula being thus again opened to the French, Bonaparte did not fail to seize the favorable occasion for the recovery of his former conquests. Tread- ing in the bold steps of Annibal, he fearlessly crossed with his army the most dangerous steeps of the Alps, and in a few weeks reached Marengo, where the Austrians under General Melas occupied a strong position. Here, on the fourteenth of June, 1800, a most obstinate and fierce battle was fought, which lasted from morning till night. Nearly the whole day, the French were on the point of being en- tirely defeated, but the timely arrival of General Dessaix with his division of fresh troops enabled them at length to gain a signal and decisive victory, which made them once more masters of northern Italy. The celebrated general Moreau was not less successful in Bavaria and near the banks of the Danube. The im- portant victories of Hochstadt and Hohenlinden led him almost to the gates of Vienna; and the Austrian court, destitute of further resources, was obliged to conclude the disadvantageous peace of Luneville, which ceded the whole left bank of the Rhine to the French republic. Russia and 302 MODERlSr HISTORY. Part VIII. Spain had already laid down their arms, so that England was left alone to continue the struggle. Her navy, it is true, constantly retained the empire of the seas, capturing the remaining squadrons and colonies of the French, driv- ing them from the island of ^lalta, and severely harassing near Copenhagen the fleet of Denmark, which government had become favorable to the interests of France. Still, as these actions, brilliant though they were, did not strike at the continental superiority of Bonaparte, the continuation of the war seemed to be without an object. Negotiations were opened, and the two parties agreeing to restore sever- al of their conquests, the definitive treaty was signed at Amiens, on the twenty-seventh of March, 1802, to the grea^oy of both the French and English. Bonaparte spent the short interval which elapsed between the cessation and the renewal of hostilities, in performing several acts of a vigorous and generally very useful ad- ministration. In compliance with a concordate agreed upon between him and Pope Pius VII, he reestablished religious worship in France; reorganized the public instruc- tion; published a civil code; afforded great facilities to commerce; and greatly embellished Paris with new build- ings and monuments. But he, at the same time, for ever blasted his memory by the rigor with which he prosecuted as guilty of treason the two illustrious commanders Mo- reau and Pichegru, one of whom was sent into exile, and the other was found dead in his prison before the conclusion of the trial. Still more odious was the juridical assassination of the Duke D'Enghien, a young and hopeful prince of the Bourbon family, who, contrary to all right, was arrested upon a foreign territory, hurried to Paris, and, after a mock trial, shot during the night in the ditch of the castle of Vin- cennes. In fine, the measure adopted by the French go- vernment to crush entirely the insurrection, which had now lasted twelve years, of the blacks against the whites of San-Domingo, proved likewise the more prejudicial to the first consul's glory, as it was, if not perfidious, at least A. D. 1805-1815. NAPOLEON^ EMPEROR. 303 ungenerous and imprudent. The chief leader of the in- surgents being, notwithstanding his previous submission, arrested and sent a captive to France, the exasperated blacks completed with fire and sword the destruction of the French colony, and on its bloody ruins began to erect the new republic of Hayti. During all these transactions, Bonaparte was chiefly intent on establishing his power upon a firm basis. After causing himself to be named consul for life, with liberty to appoint his successor, he finally resolved to assume the sceptre. Addresses were made by the civil and military bodies, offering him the imperial dignity, which he con- descended to accept. He was crowned emperor of the French, in December 1804, by the Pope himself, who, wishing to avoid the fatal consequences of a refusal, went to Paris for that purpose. Spain, Prussia and all the other European powers, except England, acknowledged Napo- leon in this new title, to which he soon added the appel- lation of king of Italy ; while the successor of Maria Theresa and of Charles V, Francis II, changed also his title of emperor of Germany, into that of emperor of Austria* NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, EMPEROR.— a. d. 1805—1815. Since the treaty of Amiens, the two rival cabinets of France and England had frequently expostulated with each other, either concerning the execution of the stipula- ted articles, or about other more or less important matters. Napoleon was particularly offended at the delay of Great Britain in evacuating the island of Malta; the English, on their side, thought they had equal reason to complain of Napoleon's ambitious views and continual increase of power on the continent. War, therefore, was again de- clared; and for several years the world beheld the singu- 304 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. lar spectacle of the equally extraordinary success of the French on land, and of the English at sea. Whilst the combined fleets of France and Spain were destroyed, near Cape Trafalgar, by the British admiral Nelson, who died, like Epaminondas, in the moment of victory. Napoleon, after vainly threatening England with an invasion, made a decisive campaign against the Austro- Russians, her allies. Having, by a rapid advance, trans- ported his troops into the heart nf the enemy's country, he obliged the Austrian general Mack, at Ulm, to surren- der with forty thousand men. Shortly after, he entered Vienna, and, pressing forward, soon overtook the army of the confederates, whom he attacked with all his forces near the village of Austerlitz. In this memorable action, which the soldiers called the battle of the three emperors, the superior genius and masterly movements of Napoleon gave him one of the most brilliant victories that the annals of war can present. It was with the greatest difficulty, that, rallying the remains of their routed armies, the two allied sovereigns effected their retreat. The Russian monarch retired towards his own dominions, and Francis of Austria was obliged to sign the treaty of Presburg, by which he lost more than twenty thousand square miles of territory, and two millions and a half of his subjects (a. D. 1805^). The conqueror resolved to chastise in the ensuing year the King of Prussia, who, previously to the overthrow of the allies at Austerlitz, had manifested hostile intentions against France. The battle of Jena (October, 1806), in which the Prussians lost fifty thousand men slain or taken prisoners, sufficed to place Berlin, their capital city, and nearly their whole kingdom at the mercy of the French. Bonaparte then marched a second time against the Rus- sians, and, after the bloody and well contested battle of Eylau, entirely defeated them at Friedland (June, 1807). This series of victories led to the treaty of Tilsit, by which the King of Prussia yielded a great part of his A. D. 1805-1815. NAPOLEON^ EMPEROR. 305 dominions to the victors ; and both he and the emperor of Russia promised to support the favorite scheme of Napo- leon, which aimed at closing the European ports against the vessels of Great Britain, and was on that account named the continental system. About this time also Bonaparte formed the confederation of the Rhine, or a coalition of German princes favorable to his interests ; and raised the duchies of Bavaria, Wurtem- burg and Saxony to the rank of kingdoms, as a reward for the services which their sovereigns had, in quality of allies, rendered to the French during the last expeditions. In order to prevent the Danes from imitating their example, the British government compelled them to surrender their whole fleet, consisting of sixteen ships of the line and fif- teen frigates, which were all conveyed to England. This haughty proceeding did little honor to the character of Great-Britain, and, even in a political point of view, was perhaps more unfiivorable than really advantageous to her cause, as it provoked against her the indignation and re- sentment of her most powerful ally, the emperor of Russia. War had scarcely ceased in one country, when it com- menced or was revived in another. The Austrians, exas- perated by the lofty pretensions and the encroaching mea- sures of Napoleon, determined to oppose them again in the field. They made, for that purpose, truly gigantic exer- tions, raising their armies to the extraordinary number of five hundred and fifty thousand men; still, in spite of their unyielding courage and the abilities of their chief com- mander. Archduke Charles, this new struggle proved fully as disastrous to their arms as any preceding conflict. The French poured with their usual rapidity upon the German provinces, gained four victories within five days, and took Vienna for the second time. Their subsequent repulse at Esling cost them, it is true, thirty thousand brave soldiers with the intrepid Marshal Lannes, and exposed them to a complete overthrow; but the Austrian prince, though pos- sessed of remarkable talents, was not so capable of improv- 306 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VIII. ing his advantage, as his enemy was of remedying his dis- aster. By prodigious exertions of energy, activity and skill, Napoleon soon found himself in readiness to renew the attack, and, on the sixth of July, the dreadful battle of Wagram was fought, in which it is supposed that three hundred thousand men were engaged, and which terminated in the entire defeat of the Austrians. Their sovereign was compelled once more to sue for peace, nor could he obtain it but by making new concessions of a large extent of ter- ritory, and giving his daughter Maria Louisa in marriage to the victorious emperor. Napoleon had now reached the summit of power and glory. Having reared the edifice of his greatness by con- tinual and almost unexampled success in war; supported in that high station by formidable armies, excellent gen- erals, and the superiority of his talents; enjoying the sat- isfaction of having placed his brothers, Louis, Jerome, Josepli, and his brother-in-law, Murat, upon the thrones of Holland, Westphalia, Spain and Naples; his own royal and imperial authority seemed to rest on the strongest basis that could be desired. Yet, this powerful conqueror, this mighty sovereign, w^as destined to experience the ut- most severity of fortune, and that too, in a manner so much the more striking, as he began, just at the time of his splendid expedition of Wagram, to dig with his own hands the precipice into which he was soon to fall from his ele- vated station. Elated witli prosperity, and anxious to bring every thing under his control, Napoleon solicited the Pope to close his harbors against British commerce, and become a party to the war against England and Russia. This Pius VII positively and constantly refused; being, he answered, the Father of all Christian nations, he could not, consist- ently with that character, become the enemy of any one. The emperor was highly incensed at this courageous refu- sal, and determined on following a more audacious course to gratify his ambition. By a decree dated at Vienna, the A. D. 1805-1815. NAPOLEON^ EMPEROR. 307 seventeenth of May, 1809, he declared the Ecclesiastical State annexed to his empire; and, as this unwarrantable proceeding was instantly punished with excommunication, the French troops who had already taken possession of Rome, received an order to send the excellent Pontiff into captivity and exile. This outrageous act filled up the measure of Napoleon's blindness and ingratitude, and, by provoking alike the justice of God and the indignation of all sensible men, was undoubtedly the chief among the re- mote causes of his subsequent downfal. Equally ungrateful towards the Spaniards, his most faithful allies, Bonaparte invaded their country as well as Portugal, and, after the forced resio;nation of Kin to Charles IV and of his son Ferdinand, placed his own brother Joseph upon the Spanish throne. The whole king- dom was overrun, and nearly all its fortified places were surprised or conquered by dift'erent bodies of French troops under the command of Murat, Ney, Massena, Su- chet, Soult, Marmont, etc. and sometimes of Napoleon himself. These able commanders, well provided with all things necessary for a vigorous warfare, and almost con- stantly receiving strong reinforcements, gained easy victo- ries over the brave but astounded and now inexperienced Spaniards. Still, the conquerors did not make such rapid progress without suff'ering great losses, and occasionally meeting with very serious disasters. Seventeen thousand of their troops were obliged to surrender at Baylen to General Castanos; their subsequent capture of Saragossa, so nobly defended during two months by the heroic Pala- fox, cost them an immense multitude of their bravest warriors, and they completely failed in the siege of Cadiz. Moreover, in the midst of a magnanimous people, persons of all classes, of every age and condition, became soldiers for the defence of their liberties and country. Swarms of guerillas or partisans continually harassed the march of the French armies, attacking their separate detachments, intercepting the. convoys, and cutting oif the stragglers. 27 308 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VIII. The territory was occupied, but the nation was not sub- dued; and Spain seemed to have become a vast and pro- found abyss destined to swallow up the numberless troops of Napoleon, in proportion as they made their appearance. Next to this unanimous effort of the Spanish population, nothing contributed more powerfully to rid the country of its invaders, than the efforts of the celebrated Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington. This great man first signalised himself at the head of the troops sent from England to the relief of the Peninsula. Being, after many exploits, appointed commander-in-chief of the Por- tuguese and Spanish, as he was already of the British forces, he was enabled to display his talent with greater advantage, and vigorously to pursue his former success. Several times he had been compelled to retreat before the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, but he repeatedly regained the ground that had beeen lost, and after defeat- ing the French at Talavera in 1809, at Busaco in 1810, and at Salamanca in 1812, he finally drove them from Spain by the signal victory of Vittoria (a. d. 1813). Precisely at this time, northern and central Europe, uniting in one general league against Bonaparte, for ever shook off the yoke of his ambition. A little before, in 1812, he had declared a new war against the Russians, under the plea that they favored British commerce, and had marched into their country with an army of nearly five hundred thousand men, French or allies, perfectly equipped and well disciplined. In the presence of such a host, the most formidable, it may be said, that the world ever beheld, the enemy, far inferior in numbers, wisely adopted the plan of acting on the defensive, and making a stand only in favorable positions. In its retreat, the Russian army laid waste all the country through which the invaders had to pass, and burnt the towns where they mio-ht have found a shelter. Even Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia, which the French at last reached after the bloody victories of Smolensk and Moscowa, was no- A. D. 1805-1815. NAPOLEON; EMPEROR. 309 bly sacrificed to sa^e the empire; during the very first night after their arrival, the city was simultaneously fired in several parts, and in a short time reduced to a heap of ruins. Thus deprived of winter quarters and of necessary pro- visions, in the midst of an exasperated enemy, who had now collected his forces. Napoleon, after in vain offering peace to the emperor Alexander, commened a retreat on the nineteenth of October. He had not proceeded far, when famine began to rage among his wearied troops; the Russian army, hovering around them, incessantly harassed and obstructed their march, especially at the crossing of rivers ; winter set in with unusual rigor; and the mortality arising from these various causes became so dreadful, that, when the campaign closed (on the thirteenth of Decem- ber), it was found that upwards of two hundred and fifty thousand men had perished, besides nearly two hundred thousand made prisoners. Thus ended the memorable Russian expedition, the first of Napoleon's undertakings in which he was completely defeated, and one too, whose further consequences were for him of the most disastrous character. Prussia and Sweden now joined the Russians against the French em- peror, and Austria with Bavaria soon imitated their ex- ample. Bonaparte, however, was not yet disposed to descend from his high pretensions, and having, by asto- nishing exertions, recruited his army to the amount of about two hundred and eighty thousand men, fearlessly encountered his still more numerous foes in the eventful campaign of Saxony (a. d. 1813). Such was even now the display of his military abilities and the courage of his troops, that he routed the allies at Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden with great slaughter, yet without any permanent advantage. Their numbers always appeared the same, and seemed rather to be daily increasing. They attacked him again under the walls of Leipzig with three hundred thousand troops and nine hundred field pieces, whilst he 310 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. could not concentrate on that point more than one hundred and seventy thousand men with seven hundred pieces of artillery. The conflict was one of the most awful during that tremendous war, and such as language cannot de- scribe. During three days, the French maintained their position with undaunted courage, having, it is said, shot from their cannons the enormous number of two hundred and fifty thousand balls; but, on the third day, being aban- doned by the Saxons their allies, and overpowered by numbers, they were finally compelled to quit the field, with the dreadful loss of forty thousand men, besides a vast multitude of prisoners taken during the pursuit. Still, the vanquished preserved their usual intrepidity, which they displayed at Hanau, by defeating the Bava- rians who had presumed to intercept their retreat. A free passage was thus opened for them to the French frontier; but their conquests in Germany were lost for ever. Napoleon was now deserted by all his allies, and ob- liged to withstand alone the efforts of the European league formed against him. The beginning of the year 1814 beheld half a million of men, Austrians, Russians, Prus- sians, etc. under their respective sovereigns, rush from all directions upon the French territory. They had pre- viously issued a manifesto declaring their intention both to maintain France in all her rights as a nation, and to crush the military system of her present ambitious ruler; a two- fold object which their moderation and their decisive mea- sures soon enabled them to attain. It was to no effect that Napoleon, by new prodigies of activity and courage, defeated the allies at Brienne, Montereau, Champeaubert and Montmirail, Having made a better disposition of their forces, they at length moved towards Paris, and arrived near that capital before the French emperor, who was engaged elsewhere, could come to its relief. After a vigorous, though short and hopeless resistance from the heights of Montmartre, terms of capitulation were signed; and, on the thirty-first of March, the allied A. D. 1805-1815. NAPOLEOI^, EMPEROR. 311 sovereigns, with fifty thousand chosen troops, made their solemn entry into Paris, amidst the general and continued plaudits of the inhabitants, who received them more as deliverers than as conquerors. A provisional government was formed, and a decree passed by the Senate, declaring that Napoleon Bonaparte had forfeited the throne. It was also decided that the Bourbon dynasty should be re- stored, France, in the mean while, being allowed by the generosity of the allies not only to retain her ancient limits, but even to receive some augmentation of territory and recover her colonies. As to the fallen emperor, the island of Elba, in the Mediterranean, was allotted to be possessed by him in full sovereignty, with an annual revenue of six millions of francs. The allied monarchs soon left Paris, where Louis XVIII, brother to Louis XVI, arrived on the third of May, 1814, to take possession of his throne. The Pope, after five years captivity, had returned to Rome; Bona- parte had also departed for his new residence; and Eu- rope, after such tremendous agitations, began to enjoy a long desired and much needed repose, when the storm again burst upon it with renewed fury. The unexpected news arrived, that the dethroned emperor had escaped from his island and landed on the shores of Provence with an escort of nine hundred men. In fact, he was already on his way to Paris; the troops joined him from all quarters, and, on the twentieth of March, he trium- phantly entered the capital, which Louis XVIII had left but a few hours before, in order to reach the northern frontier. The account of Napoleon's return quickly reached the ears of the great European potentates, then assembled at Vienna for the purpose of settling upon a sure basis the affairs of the continent. Surprised and afllicted, but not dismayed, they declared that the ex-emperor of the French, by breaking the last treaty, "had placed himself without the pale of civil and social relations," and pledged 27* 312 MODERN HISTORY. Part VIII. themselves not to lay down their arms until he should be deprived of the power of ever again disturbing the tran- quillity of the world, Bonaparte, on his side, was not idle in making adequate preparations for the approaching con- flict. Having reorganized his army, he rapidly advanced towards the Belgian frontier, in order to attack the Eng- lish under Wellington, and the Prussians under Blucher, before they could be joined by the Austrians and the Rus- sians. His first operations were prosperous, the allies being obliged to make a retrograde movement, and the Prussians in particular having suffered a severe check in the battle of Ligny. He now directed his main efforts against the English, who had just taken a formidable posi- tion near Waterloo; and, on the eighteenth of June, 1815, was fought the decisive battle on which the peace of Eu- rape and his own fate depended. The two armies, under the command of such wonderful men as Napoleon and Wellington, presented the most imposing and terrific appearance: they were nearly equal as well in discipline, valor and fierce national animosity, as in numbers, which amounted to about seventy-five thousand men on each side. How dreadful must have been the conflict between troops of this character, every one may easily conceive. It commenced about noon with a tremendous cannonade, and was continued many hours with almost frantic fury, the French infantry and cavalry making incessant and desperate charges, which were all met with dauntless courage. Towards seven o'clock in the evening, Bonaparte determined to carry his point by redoubled efforts, ordered, in person, a new powerful attack upon the British line; his celebrated guard reso- lutely advanced in the form of a double column, but was received with so galling a fire from the enemy's artillery and musketry as to be soon compelled to give way, and had to sustain in their turn a similar charge from the English. Just at this decisive moment, the Prussians, having by a skilful march deceived Grouchy, who waa A. p. 180S-1815. NAPOLEON, EMPEROR. 313 opposed to them, joined their allies, and opened a heavy cannonade on the right wing and rear of the French. It was a moment of irretrievable confusion : those brave co- lumns of Napoleon, just before so formidable, now broken and unable to rally, at last fled from that scene of carnage where they left twenty thousand slain, and, being closely pursued by the Prussians, dispersed in every direction. Truly awful was the loss of the English also in this tre- mendous battle, since it amounted to six hundred officers, eleven generals, and fifteen thousand men killed and wounded. Still, the victory of the allies was complete; the whole artillery of the vanquished army, consisting of three hundred guns, fell into their hands, and the power of Bonaparte was now prostrated, to rise no more. Wellington, not being opposed in his march, soon ap- peared with his victorious troops in sight of Paris. That capital was again entered and occupied for a time by the confederates; while the remains of the imperial army were obliged to retreat beyond the river Loire. The Bourbons once more recovered their vacillating throne; but France was not so advantageously treated by the allied monarcha as she had been at the time of the first invasion : besides a variety of severe or humiliating measures to which she had to submit, she was condemned to pay about seven hundred and fifty millions of francs as an indemnification for the expenses of the war. In the mean time, Bonaparte, who had already left Paris, withdrew to Rochefort, a sea-port on the western coast of France, in hopes of being able to effect his passage to America. That port was, however, too closely blockaded by English cruisers, to permit any escape; the emperor, seeing all his attempts to effect his purpose ineff"ectual, re- solved at length to throw himself on the protection of the British government, and went on board their ship of the line, the Bellerophon, stationed at a short distance from the shore. It was immediately determined to send him to St. Helena, a remote island in the middle of the Atlantic, 314 MODERN HISTORY. Pan VIII. as a place where he could be kept in perfect security, with- out too much confinement or restraint. Here, in the society of a few devoted friends who had chosen to accompany him to the place of his exile, he lived about six years, spending much time and labor in dictating memoirs of his own life. The assistance of a priest and the succors of religion which he had earnestly begged, consoled his last moments; and the fifth of May, 1821, closed the earthly career of that extraordinary man before whom Europe had so long trem- bled, and who, notwithstanding the sad reverses which clouded the evening of his life, is justly considered the most powerful genius and the greatest captain of the age. SECOND AMERICAN WAR.— a. d. 1812—1815. England was not yet disengaged from her perilous and gigantic struggle against the emperor of the French, when, by a series of attempts on the liberties of maritime com- merce, she again provoked the hostility of the Americans. This may be called a political fault so much the greater, as the United States had, during the last years, rapidly increased in population, wealth and power, both from the tide of emigration, the industry of their inhabitants, and the accession of many new states, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, etc. to their confederacy. New causes of provoca- tion continuing to take place between the ships of the two nations, and the majority of the American people being desirous of war for the redress of their grievances. Con- gress openly declared it on the eighteenth of June, 1812. Its commencement was very unfavorable to the arms of the United vStates, as all attempts then made at the north- ern frontier to invade Canada were not only fruitless, but also attended with a considerable loss of men and ammu- nition. However, the spirit of the people was not sub- dued, nor the army disheartened, and before the close of the year 1813, they began to reap the fruit of their perse- A. D. 1812-1815. SECOND AMERICAN WAR. 315 verance by capturing, under the direction of Commodore Perrj, the whole British fleet on Lake Erie, and gaining, under General Harrison, the victory of the Thames, which recovered the posts previously surrendered to the enemy. Another victory on land near the cataract of Niagara, and the destruction of another British flotilla on Lake Cham- plain, gave the Americans a decided superiority in those quarters, at least with regard to the defence and protection of their own territory. Their warlike exertions upon the ocean were also gen- erally fortunate; so much so, that almost every week brought the tidings of some brilliant capture made, or some splendid exploit achieved by the spirit and intrepidity of American seamen ; but success upon the land was more equally divided. Five or six thousand troops under Gen- eral Ross, having reached the vicinity of Washington, routed the American force, amounting to seven or eight thousand men, including militia. The city was abandon- ed by the president and the heads of departments, and soon after entered by the conquerors, who did not, how- ever, occupy it more than one day. Elated with success, they resolved to undertake also the capture of Baltimore, intending to make this important place their winter quar- ters. Their landing at North Point, on the 11th of Sep- tember, 1814, met with little or no opposition; but their general Ross being killed, on the 12th, in his advance to- wards the city, and all the attacks made by his vessels and troops on Fort McHenry being bravely repulsed, they were compelled to abandon the enterprise. The Eno-lish turned now their main efforts against the southern States. New Orleans being the principal object of their views, a powerful armament was fitted out for an attack on this opulent city. Fortunately, an able and ex- perienced commander, one already distinguished for his feats of arms in other parts of the union. General Jackson, was there to oppose the progress of the enemy. Besides his regular troops and the militia of the neighboring States, 316 MODERN HISTORY. PartVIIl. he required of every citizen who could bear arms, to take an active part in the military operations on which the safety of all depended. The fortifications were strengthened; an extensive line of works was erected four miles below the town, well furnished with artillery; and, the better to protect his troops from the fire of the assailants, Jackson conceived the happy idea of covering the intrenchments with a great number of cotton bales. In this favorable po- sition, he resolutely defied every attack of the enemy. Towards the last days of December, 1814, the English, under the cover of their batteries, made several attempts to carry by storm the works before them ; but they were invariably repulsed by the superior fire of the American artillery. The British then resolved to make a general assault, for which they appointed the eighth of January following. It lasted about one hour and a half, during which the valor of the assailants only served to expose them without adequate defence to the incessant and des- tructive fire from the cannons and musketry of the be- sieged; while the breast-works of cotton-bales, which no ball could penetrate, afforded complete protection to their opponents. The British were obliged to retire from the sanguinary conflict with the loss of two thousand six hun- dred men, wounded, captured, or slain, including their general Packenham and their chief officers; whilst the victorious Americans had not lost, in this decisive action, more than six killed and seven wounded. The news of this important victory filled the whole country with exultation, and was the closing event of the second American war. Shortly after, intelligence was re- ceived from Europe of the peace concluded by the Amer- ican and English commissioners assembled at Ghent for that purpose. The treaty, already signed hy the court of England, was ratified by the President and Senate of the United States in February, 1815; and thus, in the same year, with the interval of a few months, peace was rees- A. D. 1815-1842. GENERAL VIEW, ETC. 317 tablished in America by the treaty of Ghent, and in Eu- rope by the second fall of Bonaparte. GENERAL VIEW OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD, FROM THE YEAR 1815, TO THE YEAR 1842. CONCLUSION. Since the eventful period of the battles of New Orleans and Waterloo, most of the civilized nations of the world have been in a state of comparative tranquillity. Fortu- nately for the rising generation, neither sovereigns nor their subjects seem inclined to indulge any longer that fatal ardor for military glory which characterized the pre- ceding epochs. The leading powers, whether in America or Europe, appear generally desirous to enjoy in repose the laurels which their respective countries formerly won in the field, and to contend for the palm of national preemi- nence only by the arts of peaceful and prosperous industry. To Great Britain, above all, belongs the honor of having arrested the course of the French revolutionary armies and of Napoleon's ambitious career. Notwithstanding the heavy taxes laid on her citizens, and the prodigious amount of her national debt, which is about four billions of dol- lars, she seems to have attained the height of power and political influence, chiefly by the superiority of her naval force. In late years, the world has beheld her successful exertions in protecting the independence of Greece against the Turks, and the Turks themselves against the encroach- ments of the New Egyptian dynasty ; defending her im- mense possessions in the East and West ; chastising the pirates of the Mediterranean 5 attacking the Chinese, and compelling them to conclude a disadvantageous peace, etc. Among the transactions of her civil government in the same period, the most remarkable is the act of emancipa- tion from civil disabilities and persecuting laws, granted to 318 MODERN HISTORY. Pan viil. her Catholic subjects in 1829; an example of moderation and justice highly worthy of a generous nation, yet little valued, and still less imitated by the contemporary sove- reigns of Prussia (Frederic IV) and Russia (Nicholas I).* Like Great Britain, France has continued, after so many agitations and storms, to occupy that high national rank which her advantageous position, her vast resources of soil and industry, and the lofty spirit of her people call her to hold among the chief European powers. Neither the clashing of parties, nor the substitution of the Orleans in the place of the Bourbon dynasty, has prevented her from securing additional lustre to the glory of her arms. Not only did she amply share with England and Russia in the victory gained at Navarino over the Turks; but the successful expedition of Spain under Louis XVIII, the still more brilliant conquest of Algiers under Charles X, the siege of Antwerp and the capture of Vera Cruz under Louis Philip, have again shewn to the world, what, even after the disasters of Napoleon's last campaigns, can be effected by French valor, skill and discipline. The last named sovereign is yet seated upon the throne, and, not- withstanding a thousand difficulties, holds the reins of government with such firmness and prudence, as to attract the admiration even of his enemies. Fortunate will it be for his family and intended successor, if the measures which he has taken in consequence of the premature death of his son, the Duke of Orleans (1842), or the prolonga- tion of his own life, should remove the evils which ordi- narily attend the minority of a sovereign. Austria, Russia and Prussia, which formerly suffered most from the wars of Bonaparte, have not only repaired their losses, but even acquired, in the final settlement of their claims, a greater extent of territory. Among the chief European states, Spain has been, and is still the most unfortunate. In consequence of the impolitic mea- • See Note G. A. D. 1815-1842. GENERAL VIEW^ ETC. 319 sures of King Ferdinand VII, and a variety of other causes, factions and civil wars have continued, almost witliout interruption, during the last twenty years, to de- solate that noble country, the land of chivalry and heroism. Spain, formerly so much celebrated for her national and political strength, so long placed at the head of European civilization, is now plunged in an abyss of confusion, and a prey to calamities the end of which no human sagacity can foresee. Nor is this deplorable train of internal evils the only misfortune that has befallen the Spaniards during the pre- sent century. All their ancient dominions in the New World, except Cuba and Porto Rico, have of late thrown otf their allegiance to the mother country, and formed themselves into independent governments, viz. Buenos Ayres, in 1816; Chili, 1818; Peru and Bolivia, 1821> 1824; Colombia, towards 1820, divided into tliree sepa- rate states in 1831; Guatimala and Mexico, 1820-1824. All these regions have become so many confederacies or republics from which others have successively sprung; up, such as Texas, in 1836, by its total separation from Mexico. But in none of them, perhaps, is the government as yet firmly settled; nor do they assume any flourishing and powerful aspect, approaching in the least to that of the United North American States. Here, notwithstanding some embarrassments in the finances, the country has been constantly advancing in population and national importance. The number of its inhabitants is five times greater than it was sixty years since, at the close of the war of independence. Several new States have been added to the Union; agriculture and manufactures are prosperous; foreign commerce is carried on upon an extensive scale; and there exists, moreover, an immense inland trade, by means of the nu- merous navigable streams, canals and rail-roads by which the country is intersected. All these advantages, together with the extent and resources of the land, the wisdom of 28 320 MODERN HISTORY. p^rt VllI, its rulers, and the active, industrious, elevated spirit of the people, leave little room to doubt, that the United States are destined to possess a very considerable share of influence in the future destinies of the civilized world. But let us always remember, as Bossuet observes, that this connexion of particular causes which destroy empires and establish others in their place, depends upon the se- cret orders of Divine Providence. God, from the highest heavens, holds the reins of all the kingdoms of the earth in his hands. When he wishes to make conquerors, he causes terror to march before them, and inspires them and their soldiers with invicible courage ; when he intends to make lawgivers, he sends to them his spirit of wisdom and foresight, enabling them to prevent the evils that threaten states, and to lay the foundation of public tran- quillity. It is thus that God reigns over all nations, and exercises his judgments upon them, according to the rules of his ever unerring justice. Let us speak no more of chance nor of fortune, or speak of them onl}' as of names with which we cover our igno- rance. What is chance to our uncertain views, is a con- certed design in a higher counsel, that is, in that eternal counsel which comprises all causes and effects in one and the same order. Thus is verified the saying of the Apos- tle that, God is the Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. (1 Tim. vi. 15). Blessed, whose peace is unalterable, who sees every thing change, without himself changing, and who effects all changes by an immutable counsel; who gives and takes away power; who transfers it from one individual to another, from one dynasty to another, from one people to another, to shew that they all hold it by a precarious tenure, and that in Him alone it essentially resides. Thus we have beheld the series of great empires and states which have figured on the theatre of the world during eighteen centuries. While we see them succes- sively appear and disappear, some falling, as it were, of A. D. 1815-1842. GENERAL VIEW^ ETC. 321 themselves, and others rising in their place; while the Religion of Christ, in the midst of these vicissitudes, invariably maintains her strength and dignity; we may easily understand where solid greatness exists, and where a prudent man should place his hopes and all his aftec- tions. (See Discourse o?i Universal History^ Part in, last chapter). OF HIS KINGDOM THERS SHALL BE NO END. NOTES. NOTE A.— PAGE 9€. ON THE PROSECUTION AND ABOLITION OF THE KNIGHTS-TEMPLARS The authentic acts of the whole trial of the Knights-Teraplara, are still extant (apud Natal. Alexand., Dissert, x. in Sec. xiv. Qucpst. ir. .M. i; — Brumoy, Hist, de VEglise Gall., I. xxxvi, ad ann. 1307—1312; — Dupuy, — Baluze, etc). From those documents it is manifest that tlie royal commissaries, men of exemplary virtue and probit}'-, examined a vast number of Templars in the different parts of France, viz: one hun- dred and forty at Paris, one hundred and eleven at Troyes, eleven at Caen, ten at Pont-de I'Arclie, forty-five at Beaucaire and neighboring places; and that all, except three, acknowledged tliemselves guilty of the denial of Christ, of sacrilege, and other abominable crimes. We have moreover the acts of the Council of Vienne (Labbe, Colledio Conciliorum, vol. xi, part ii, Col. 1557 — 1560), and the letters of Pope Clement V {ibid: Col. 1559 and 1572) concerning this affair. In one of these, addressed to all the Christian princes in Europe, the Pontiff de- clares that, he himself having examined sevent}''-two Templare on the charge of apostacy, sacrilege and other crimes, they had expressly, spon- taneously and repeatedly acknowledged the justice of the charges; and that the same free and spontaneous acknowledgment was made, in pre- sence of his delegates, by the grand-master and other chief personages of the order. Nor was this depravity, although more common among the Templars in France, confined to that country; several others were found guilty of the same enormous crimes in Tuscany, Lombardy, Eng- land, etc. (Natalis Alexander, in Dlssertatione citaia, vol. vii, pp. 505 and 512;— Hist, de VEgl. Gall. vol. xii, pp. 431 and 433). The Pope, therefore, with the approbation of the general council then assembled at Vienne, published his bull suppressing the institute, on account of the infamy of so many among its members, whicli had made it an object of contempt and scandal; and decreed that their propei-t}- .should be given for ever to the Kniglits Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The whole transaction being thus stated from original and authentic sources, it is surely impossible for any reflecting mind to consider the series and duration of the inquiries; the fair manner in which they were conducted ; tlie great number of witnesses tliat were heard ; the perfect agreement in the avowals made by the accused in so many different parts 28* 324 NOTES. of Christendom ; the his;h standing and character of their judges, who were the first and most commendable personages of the church and state ; in fine, the deliberations and unanimous decision of the Pope and of three hundred prelates assembled in the Council of Vienne : it is, I say, impossible to take all these circumstances into consideration, without being at once fully convinced that the Templars deserved to be suppress- ed, and that the sentence pronounced against their Order, in the Council of Vienne, was not only proper and just, but even, being the only sure means to remove a shameful scandal, ought to be considered as a very signal service rendered by Pope Clement V and King Philip, to religion and society. Who will not, after this, feel astounded and indignant at the following narrative of Hume, when, having stated the indolence and degeneracy of the Templars, he adds, in his usual positive manner; "But, though these reasons had weakened the foundations of this Order, once so celebrated and revered, the immediate cause of their destruction proceeded from the cruel and vindictive spirit of Philip the Fair, who, having entertained a private disgust against some eminent Templars, determined to gratify at once his avidit}' and revenge, by involving the whole Order in an undistinguished ruin. On no better information than that of two Knights, condemned by their superiors to perpetual imprison- ment for their vices and profligacy, he ordered on one day all the Tem- plars in France to be committed to prison, and imputed to them such enormous and absurd crimes, as are sufficient of tliemselves to destroy all the credit of the accusation. Above a hundred of these unhappy gen- tlemen were put to tlie question, in order to extort from them a confes- sion of their guilt. The more obstinate perished in the hands of their tormenters: several, to procure immediate ease in the violence of their agonies, acknowledged whatever was required of them : forged confes- sions were imputed to others ; and Philip, as if their guilt were now cer- tain, proceeded to a confiscation of all their treasures." The writer then proceeds to relate, at great length, Uie punishment inflicted on the Templars; which indeed he does with affected pathos, but not without several inaccuracies ; and at last concludes thus : " In all this barbarous injustice, Clement V, who was a creature of Philip, and then resided in France, fully concurred ; and, without exam- ining a witness, or making an inquiry into tlie truth of facts, he sum- marily, by the plenitude of his apostolic power, abolished the whole Order. The Temphtrs, all over Europe, were thrown into prison ; their conduct underwent a strict scrutiny ; the power of their enemies still pursued and oppressed them ; but no where, except in France, were the smallest traces of their pretended guilt to be found. England sent an ample testimony of their piet}^- and morals ; but, as the Order was now annihilated, the Knights were distributed into several convents, and their NOTES. 325 possessions were, by command of the Pope, transferred to the order of St. John." (History of England, reign of Edward II). Such is, concerning the affair of the Knights-Templars, the narrative of Hume, which evinces indeed much of the inventive i machination of an orator, but very little of the exactness and sincerity of ai^liistorian. Here we see an almost uninteiTupted series of inaccuries and falsehoods blended with some true statements, a violent spirit of rancor against one of the two interested parties, scarcely concealed under the veil of affected compassion for the other, and an inveterate desire of finding fault with the conduct of the Pontiff and the King. The author takes little care to relate facts in the order in which they happened, and does not even know the names of several among the chief personages of whom he speaks, calling tlie grand-master John instead of James of Molay ; and the com- panion of his punishment, a brother to the sovereign of Dauphimj, instead of a brother to the Dauphin of Avvergne ; mistaking likewise the place in which they underwent their last trial, for that in which they suffered death. These blunders, however, are mere trifles, compared with the calumnious charges of precipitancy and want of investigation; of vio- lence employed to extort a confession of guilt; of avarice and reveno-e; of injustice and barbarity; which he so readily lavishes on King Philip the fair and Pope Clement V, and which we will now successively ex- amine. 1st. It is wrong to state that King Philip ordered the imprisonment of all the Templars- in France on tlie mere deposition of two knights. Be- fore issuing this order, he had instituted new inquiries which gave addi- tional strength to the former charges. Hence it is manifest that the im- putation of enormous crimes to the Order of the Templars did not proceed from that monarch, as Hume asserts, but from the verj- members of the Order, it being, moreover, justified by their proverbially bad character, which gave rise to the expression, boirc comme un Tcmplier. ' 2d. It is equally false that the confessions of the Templars with regard to the crimes imputed to them, were forged, or wrung from them by the violence of torture. The one hundred and forty knights who were tried by the royal commissaries at Paris, and the seventy- two others whom the Pope himself examined at Poitiers, were not toitured, but voluntarily and freely confessed their guilt (see again Brumoy; — Natalis Alexan- der; — especially the letters of Pope Clement V, quoted above; — also Bergier, Diction. Theolog. art. TempUers). The grand-master and the chief commanders did the same, without any constraint whatever; liberk ac aponte, absque coaciione qualibet et timore. Most of them persevered in their avowals ; and, if several aftenvards retracted wliat they had said, this circumstance may prove indeed that th.ey could no longer bear to see themselves the object of public scorn, but not that they were sincere in their retractation. For, how many culprits are there, who obstinately maintain their innocence, notwitlistanding the clear evidence of the 326 NOTES. crimes laid to their charge, or, changing their plan of defence, deny what they had previously confessed, or vice versa. 3d. Notwithstanding the peremptory assertion of Hume, that no where but in France were there to be found the smallest traces of what he calls the pretended guilt of the Templars, the contrary is certain from various testimonies concerning the Templars of Tuscany, Lombardy, and even England, as Walsingham relates ( Hist. Angl. in vita Edward II ), and Dr. Lingard acknowledges with regard to a few individuals {Hist, of Engl. vol. Ill, p. 472). It appears, indeed, that in several countries, most of the accused were acquitted ; but this only proves what we before said, that the Order was not equally corrupt every where, and that the poison of impiety and vice had not infected the whole body of the Knights-Tem- plars, although it had tainted many of its members. — It was also incum- bent on Mr, Hume to furnish some proofs of the reality of that violent and universal persecution which, he supposes, was carried on against the Templars, after the suppression of their institute : he probably thought it, as usual, an easier task to assert boldly than to prove. The truth is, there is no trace of such a persecution to be found in history. 4th. Groundless too is the assertion made by the same author, that King Philip acted as a vindictive and avaricious tyrant. That prince may have been too eager and hasty in his proceedings, particulajly witii regard to the chief personages of the Order ; still, it ought to be observed that, in inflicting the rigorous punishment of death by fire, he merely followed the jurisprudence commonly adopted in those times against heinous crimes. Witli regard to the confiscation of the property of the Templars in France, there are undeniable proofs of the disinterestedness of Philip in this transaction ; all that he did had for its object to preserve that property for the public utility of Christendom, as the Pope and the general council should deem advisable, nor did any portion of it pass into his own hands, except what was requisite to defray the expenses which he had incurred in so long and so complicated a suit. The immense pos- sessions of the Templars (except those situated in Spain and Portugal), were, as is well known, and as Hume himself acknowledges, transferred to the order of St. John of Jerusalem. 5th. Still more iniquitous and atrocious than the preceding, is the charge of violence, injustice and barbarity directed against Pope Clement ; who, far from acting as the unfaithful historian assures us he did, adopted the diametrically opposite course, as all the monuments and authentic acts of tliis important affair invariably testify. He continually endea- vored to moderate the hasty temper of Philip ; he constantly recommend- ed equity and prudence to the commissaries appointed to preside in this complicated trial; neither he nor his legates had any thing to do with the precipitate condemnation of the grand-master. Whilst the papal commissaries heard upwards of tw^o hundred witnesses either for or against the accused Order, Clement himself tried and examined seventy- NOTES. 327 two knights, with equal impartiality and care ; he took all possible means to know the truth, and had recourse to all possible sources of informa- tion; in a word, he continued the inquiries with indefatigable patience during five years, before he would come to a decision respecting the Order, the persons, and the property of the Templars. Is there, in such conduct, any thing that savors in the least of violence, injustice and bar- barity ? 6th. Moreover, what can be more equitable, prudent and wise than the decision which the Pontiff, after long deliberation, and many confer- ences with the cardinals and other prelates, published in the second ses- sion of the Council of Vienne, on the third of April, 1312. In that do- cument, he did not pronounce the whole Order guilty of the horrid crimes which had been the object of so many inquiries ; but, considering the state of acknowledged degeneracy into which it had fallen, the infamy with which it was loaded by the mere imputation of such disorders, and the well ascertained guilt of many of its members, he abohshed it as having become not only useless, but even an object of scandal to all Christendom. Such was the dignified conduct which Hume has dared to brand with the appellation of barbarous injustice, and which another equally bold and superficial writer has presumed to call an infamous proscriptvm. If there is, on this subject, any thing calculated to provoke the feelings of a just indignation, let the reader judge on which side it stands, on that of a Pontiff and a prince whose proceedings, throughout the whole of this grand affair, were marked with so much equity and disinterestedness ; or on that of two unfaithful authors, who, careless about historical truth and justice, have ventured, without proof, and against all reason, to paint the important transaction in such sombre colors. NOTE B.— PAGE 155. ON THE INQUISITIO.V. What has not been said about, or rather against, the Spanish Inqui- sition ? We every where see it depicted in the blackest colors, and re- presented as the offspring of papal ambition and ecclesiastical tyranny; as a bloody tribunal, condemning innocent persons to death for mere thoughts and opinions ; an institution, whose proceedings are the most terrific that human bigotry and malice could suggest; etc. In answer to these charges we will remark, in the first place, that the Inquisition forms no part of the Catholic creed and obligatory discipline of the church. We find, it is true, that it was established in some Cath- olic states as a political means to maintain the unity of religion within their limits, and remove from them the disturbances occasioned by newly invented systems ; but this was commonly done, either at the request, 328 NOTES. or by the authority of the sovereigns themselves, v. g., of King Ferdi- nand in Spain (a. d. 1480), of John III in Portugal (a. d. 1557), The Inquisition therefore, besides being a local and temporary institution, was rather civil than ecclesiastical in its origin. Its chief members, par- ticularly in Spain, were indeed selected from the ecclesiastical order, but they always remained under the authority of the king, without whose previous consent their decrees could be neither executed nor even pub- lished. In the second place, the Inquisition, far from being as bloody and in- exorably severe as is commonly imagined, far from inflicting capital punishment even for mere thoughts and opinions, on the contrary never inflicted it even for open and atrocious crimes, the ti'ibunal having never been authorized to pass sentence of death or of mutilation upon any per- son ; this power resided entirely and solely in the civil authority. All that the council of the Inquisition had to do, was to pronounce the individual arraigned before them guilty, on the clearest evidence, of a crime de- clared capital by the law of Spain. There they stopped; and, instead of prosecuting to death, they rather displayed a degree of indulgence and clemency seldom witnessed in any other tribunal. If the culprit mani- fested sincere repentance, he was immediately screened from capital pun- ishment, and condemned merely to undergo temporary and trifling pen- ances. If, notwithstanding the convincing proofs of his guilt, he re- mained obstinate and impenitent, then, and not till then, was he deliver- ed over to the civil power to be dealt with according to law. Surely this was his own fault; and, even then, the inquisitors recommended the wretched individual to the mercy of the secular judge.* They had no- thing to do with his deatli ; and, when, at the moment of execution, the priest appeared by the side of the guilty man, it was only to inspire him, if possible, with sentiments of repentance, to soothe his agony by words of consolation, and to prepare him for eternity. Even admitting that some inquisitora, from time to time, acted with excessive rigor, which led to certain abuses and unjustifiable executions, still it is tnie that such proceedings should be charged only to the indi- viduals in question, but not to the tribunal itself fairly considered in its nature, its end and its regulations ; nor to the generality of its members, whose prudence, justice and integrity have elicited the admiration of all attentive and impartial travellers (v. g., Abbe de Vayrac, in his Voyage en Espagne et en Italie, 1731; Bourgoing, Nouveau Voyage en Espagne; * The case of tlie famous heresiarch John Hiiss, in 1415, was conducted in the same manner. The Council of Constance, not havin;; heen able, by remonstrances and exhortations, to overcome his obstinacy and brine him to a retraction of his errors, handed him over to the civil power, without however soliciting his punish- ment. The secular court was not so indulijent: the emperor Si^ismund thought it his duty to punish the man who, besides repeatedly infringing the conditions of the safe-conduct he had received, every where preached seditious doctrines ; accord- ingly, John IIuss was placed under the custody of the magistrate of Constance, who, following the jurisprudence of the age with regard to such trespi\9se8, consigned him to the flames. KOTES. 329 ^nd Journal de V Empire, 1805). Again, these abuses, if they ever ex- isted, might be ascribed to the civil, but not to the ecclesiastical power, as is well explained by Count de Maistre in his two first letters on the Spanish Inquisition ; much less could they be imputed to the Catholic church at large, of which the church of Spain is but a portion, or to the Roman See in particular, since the Inquisition at Rome never once led to capital punishment, and always displayed such moderation, indul- gence and meekness, as to astonish the French infidels themselves (Encyclop. art. Inquisition). With regard to the awful and terrible forms which the Inquisition is said to have adopted, the charge may be peirtl)'- admitted without furnish- ing any ground for invective ; nor is it at all sui-prising that a tribunal should make an exterior show of rigor, the better to strike the minds of the people, and the more surely to prevent the perpetration of crime. It is however certain that, on this point also, there have been many exag- gerations and slanderous reports. Thus, as Count de Maistre observes, lett. II., it is by no means true that the most trifling charge was suffi- cient to cause a man to be arrested ; that the accused remained unac- quainted with the reasons of his confinement, and was not allowed the privilege of a lawyer to defend his cause. The punishment of burning, too, far from being, as is commonly supposed, the ordinary one to which the convicted persons were condemned, was, on the contrary, very sel- dom employed, and by the civil power only, against such enormous crimes, sacrilege, apostacy, and the like, as were not more mildly treated by the other European nations. Faults of a less grievous nature were punished merely by exile or imprisonment, sentence of death being very rare, especially in latter times, when, as well natives as foreigners, who did not attempt to disturb religious or social order, could live with a.s much tranquillity and security in Spain as in any other country. When the Spaniards are reproached with the rigors, real or pretended, of this famous tribunal, their answer is, that, by punishing a few obsti- nate individuals, it saved their monarchy from the awful disturbances and civil wars which desolated Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France, etc. in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and did not, after all, cause so much blood to flow in all their dominions together, aa the Cal- vinian reformation did in the single kingdom of France. NOTE C.-^PAGE 169. ON THE BULL OF ALEXANDER VI, CALLED THE BULL OF PARTITION. " Writers," says Dr. Lingard, "have not always sufficiently appre- ciated the benefits which mankind derived from the pacific influence of the Roman Pontiffs. In an age which valued no merit but that of arms, Europe would have been plunged in perpetual war, had not Pope after 330 NOTES. Pope labored incessantly for the preservation or restoration of peace. They rebuked the passions, and checked the extravagant pretensions of sovereigns : their character, as the common fathers of Cluristians, gave to their representatives a weight which no other mediators could claim : and their legates spared neither journey nor fatigue to reconcile the jar- ring interests of courts, and interpose the olive of peace between the swords of contending armies" (Histor. of Engl. vol. iv. p. 80 J. These general remarks on the happy influence exercised at different times by the Sovereign Pontilfs, are particularly applicable to the con- duct of Pope Alexander VI, with regard to the Spanish and Portuguese sovereigns. He had to settle between them, by a solemn decision, the respective boundaries of their foreign possessions, and, by so doing, pre- vent the endless and sanguinary contests that might have otherwise fol- lowed; this the Pontiff did by issuing the famous bull hiter catera; he, at the same time improved the opportunity of benefiting the natives of the newly discovered countries, by requiring of their conquerors that they should procure for them religious and Christian instruction. Had he refused to listen to the appeal of the interested parties, he might in- deed have removed the danger of being charged with entertaining am- bitious views, but would he not have incurred the guilt of unjustifiable want of zeal and care, both to prevent the effusion of human blood, and to promote the advantage of the defenceless Indians ? For, it should ever be remembered that the kings of Spain and Portugal would, in any hypothe- sis, have taken and kept possession of the lands lately descried by their navigators, this having been their full determination from the beginning ; hence, there would have existed, on one side, a continued subject of quarrels between tlie two nations for the determination of their foreign limits, and, on the other, tliere would have been no condition imposed on them to better the fate of the Indians. The decision therefore of Alexander VI, was not only conducive to the preservation of peace among the conquerors, but highly advantageous to the vanquished themselves ; and it was not the fault of that Pontiff, if the conditions prescribed by him did not afterwards receive their full accomplishment. " Ferdinand," says the elegant historian of Columbus, " had dispatch- ed ambassadors to the Court of Rome, announcing the new discovery as an extraordinary triumph of the faith At least as politic as he was pious, he insinuated a hint at the same time, by which the Pope might perceive that he was determined, at all events, to maintain his important acquisitions. His ambassadors were instructed to state that, in the opin- ion of many learned men, these newly discovered lands, having been ta- ken possession of by the Catholic Sovereigns, their title to the same did not require the papal sanction ; still, as pious princes obedient to the holy chair, they supplicated His Holiness to issue a bull, making a concession of them, and of such others as might be discovered, to tlie crown of Cas- tile" (Irving's Columbus, b. v. ch. viii). NOTES. 331 From this, it manifestly appears that the Spanish Sovereigns had not depended upon the grant of the pope, to take possession of the West- Indies. " The question," says a learned critic (Bergier, art. Z)t'7aar- cation) "was not to decide whether their conquests, and those of the King of Portugal, were lawful or not, but to remove, by the fixation of their limits, the evils of war which would have visited the European dis- coverers, without rendering the fate of the Indians better." Hence, it is useless to ask what right the pontiff had to give lands and countries which did not belong to him ; since his solemn award, although it seems to express a real grant, was rather a measure tending to prevent bloody quarrels between two jealous and powerful monarchs. To act the part of an authoritative arbitrator, does not require to have jurisdiction over the object of the debate, but over the contending parties; especially, if they themselves have referred the case to their common acknowledged supe- rior, and have asked his decision. Instead then of inveighing against the bull of Alexander VI, it would be better, as Feller and Count de Maistre observe, to regret that the time has passed when a single word from the Roman Pontiff was sufficient to maintain peace among kings and nations, and when his impartial voice and universally revered influence easily removed the danger of obstinate dissensions and sanguinary conflicts. NOTE D.— PAGE 182. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE ROMAN CHURCH ON THE IMPROVE- MENT OF SCIENCE. AFFAIR OF GALILEO. THE CALENDAR. The Roman Church, as we have already noticed in several parts of this work, has rendered multiplied and signal services to the arts, sciences, and belles lettres. Still, it is often said that she has, within the last ages, rather opposed their improvement; and were we to believe certain au- thors in their poetical, astronomical, and geographical descriptions, the very land and cily in which there has always been found, to the present day, a greater share of true taste and solid learning than any where else, should be considered a half barbarous and hardly civilized region. The principal fact adduced to support this unjust charge, is the affair of Gali- leo, whom a multitude of writers represent as having been persecuted on account of his astronomical discoveries, and condemned by the Roman in- quisitors merely for teaching, according to the opinion of Copernicus, the true system of the world. But it is now well proved, from the letters of Guichardin and of Marquis Nicolini, both of them disciples, friends and protectors of Galileo, from the letters and WTitings of Galileo himself, that, for a long time, the public has been grossly imposed upon with re- spect to this point of history. 29 332 NOTES. This celebrated man was not arraigned as an astronomer, but as a bad theologian, and for having pretended to impute to the Bible dogmas of his own invention. His great discoveries, it is true, provoked envy against him ; but his pretension to prove the Copernican system from the Bible was the real cause of his being summoned before the inquisitors at Rome ; and the resdessness of his mind, the only source of the troubles which he underwent on that account. In his first journeys to Rome (1611, etc.), Galileo found only admi- rers among the cardinals and other distinguished personages. The Pope himself granted him a favorable audience, and Cardinal Bellarmine mere- ly forbade him, in the name of His Holiness, to blend in future the Bible with his astronomical systems. Other learned prelates equally pointed out to him the course of prudence to be observed by him on this point; but his obstinacy and vanity did not permit him to follow their advice Some years after, he published his ' Dialogues and Memoirs,' in which he a-ain took upon himself to raise the system of the rotation of the earth to th'e di.o-nity of a dogmatical tenet. Being summoned before the tribu- nals of R^ome, the lodging assigned to him in that city, was not a gloomy prison, not a frightful dungeon, but the palace of Tuscany, and, for ei.-hteen days, the apartments of the attorney-general, where he had ev^ery facility to take exercise and cany on his correspondence. During the trial, the main object of liis answers was not the scientific view of the question, since he had been allowed to defend his system as an as- tronomical hypothesis, but its pretended association with the Bible. \fter having received his sentence and made his recantation, Galileo ob- tained leave^to revisit his native country, and, far from being persecuted, was dismissed with hew mai'ks of esteem for his talents and of regard for his person. r /-. ii For these interesting documents respecting tlie affair of Galileo, we are indebted to the researches of an impartial Protestant, Mr. Mallet Du Pan of Geneva, who wrote a dissertation on the subject, in the Meraire de France, 17 Millet 1784, no. 291,-see Beraut-Bercastel, Histoxre de VEglise, ad ann. 1634; and Bergier, Theological Dictionary, art. Monde, and Sciences. The Roman church, far from impeding the progress of astronomy or of other sciences, on this or any other occasion, has on the contrary ren- dered, even in that respect, the most undeniable and signal services. We allude chiefly to the reformation of the calendar, an event w^hich took place under Pope Gregory XHI, some years before the Ume of Ga- lileo and which is well deserving of notice. By Calendar is meant a certain distribution of time adapted to religious a«d civil purposes, and pointing out the order and succession of the days, weeks, months and festivals of the year. All civihzed nations have ever felt the necessity of having such a regular distribution of time; but it NOTES. 333 required a long series of ages, a deep study of astronomy, and innumera- ble calculations, to contrive a good and exact calendar. In former times, the year was believed to be eleven minutes longer than it is in reality. This difference, though apparently trifling, had become, by being repeated from year to year during the course of many centuries, so very sensible and material, that, in the year 1582, the ver- nal equinox fell on the eleventh of March, whereas the calendar marked it on the twenty-first of the same month ; a day which had been assigned to it by the astronomers of Alexandria, in 325, The consequence was, that festivals were no longer celebrated in their proper time ; and Easter, in particular, which depends on the full moon of March, would, in the course of ages, have been successively found in Summer, Autiunn and Winter. To remedy this confusion, Gregory XIII suppressed at once from the year 1582 ten entire days (those between the 4th and 15th of October), by which the real equinox was in advance of the equinox of the calendar ; thus making them again coincide, and restoring all Christian festivals to their proper epoch throughout the year. Moreover, measures and pre- cautions, suggested by skilful mathematicians and astronomers, were taken to prevent the like confusion in future, and the whole work being completed, received the solemn sanction of the Pope, in his bull of the same year, 1582. These corrections in the calendar were successively adopted by nearly all Christian nations, even those separated from the See of Rome; v. g., by tlie English, in 1752 ; by the Swedes, in 1753 ; by the German States, in 1776. The Russians are the only civilized people in Europe, who have hitherto refused to admit the important improvement, and still ad- here to the old style ; the consequence of which is that they are now, in their computation of the year, twelve or thirteen days behind the real time ; thus preferring, as a judicious author pointedly remarks, rather to be at variance with the heavens and the stars, than to agree with the Roman Pontiff. NOTE E.— PAGE 224. ON THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY. Nothing perhaps is more common, and yet nothing can be more un- just, than to take advantage of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's da}% to inveigh against the Catholic community and the Catholic principles, as if the awful deed had proceeded from their influence. If we consult the authentic and contemporary documents collected and adduced by those persons who have made a deep and impartial study of the whole transaction, (v. g. Caveirac, Dissert, sur la St. Barthtlemi; — Lingard, VIII, Note T.; — Daniel, Hist, de France, ad ann. 1572), we shall find 334 NOTES. that religion had nothing to do with it, except to check its course as much as possible, and to weep over the devoted victims of the Massacre ; that the whole affair was merely the effect of political resentment and of a sudden ebullition of anger ; in fine, that a much smaller number of persons perished on the occasion than is commonly believed. The series and close connexion of the events immediately preceding the Massacre, are sufficient to show that it originated in the animosity of the French court against the Protestant party, and was dictated by a violent desire of revenge. The mind of the 3^oung king, Charles IX, had been frequently harassed and exasperated by the repeated attacks of the Huguenots against his authority, and by the report of the many cruelties which they had committed throughout the kingdom during the last civil wars. Notwitlistanding these causes of provocation, he would not have adopted the dreadful measure, had it not been for the positive assertion of his mother and chief counsellors, that he could no longer escape the plots of that party, without putting to death or in confinement its chief leaders, and that, were he to wait till next morning, his most faitliful officers, his family, perhaps himself, would be sacrificed to tlieir vengeance. The king then gave his consent to the projected massacre ; the time was appointed; and the execution took place during a consid- erable part of the following day, the twenty-fourth of August, 1572. Thus, the odious deed was not the result of a long premeditated and general plot, but the effect of a sudden fit of anger and revenge ; it was, moreover, projected against the leaders only of the Huguenot party, and intended to have taken place only in Paris. If the example of the capi- tal was followed in many other cities, v. g., Lyons, Rouen, Toulouse, Bourdeaux, etc., this was owing chiefly to the violent excitement which the conduct and cruelties of the Calvinists, during the preceding insur- rections, had produced in the minds of the Catholics. Far from sending orders to the provinces against Protestants, Charles IX, on the contrary, both in \^Titing and by word of mouth, frequently expressed his inten- tion that the bloody scene should not be repeated, nor extended beyond the limits of Pai-is. And indeed, the great difference of the epochs at which the massacres were committed in the cities just mentioned, also shows that they ought to be attributed rather to sudden ebullitions of popular vengeance, than to any previously concerted and general plan. Every one may see the detailed proofs of these assertions in the two first authors above mentioned. Of the number of victims in all these towns, including the capital, it is impossible to speak with certainty. Among the Huguenot writers, some reckon seventy thousand ; others, thirty or twenty or fifteen thou- sand ; but all these amounts are surely exaggerated. " The reformed mar- tyrologist adopted a measure of ascertaining the real number, which may enable us to form a probable conjecture. He procured from the minis- ters in the different towns where the massacres had taken place, lists of NOTES. 335 the names of the persons who had suffered, or were supposed to have suffered. He published tlie result in 15S2; and the reader will be sur- prised to learn that in all France he could discover the names of no more than seven hundred and eightj-^-six persons. Perhaps, if we double that number, we shall not be far from the real amount." Above all, it is certain that religion had nothing to do with the Mas- sacre, whether as a motive or an encouragement. In the contriving of the wretched scheme, the passions of the French court, jealousy, animos- ity, revenge, were the real and only cause ; and the pretence was a sup- posed conspiracy of the Protestant leaders against the king, his servants and his family. No clergymen were consulted about the adoption of the awful measure, and, when they heard of it after its execution, far from obtaining their approbation, it rather excited in their bosoms feelings of horror for the deed, and of commiseration for its victims. The only share which bishops, priests and monks took in it, was to save as many as they could of the Protestants, who, in many towns, v. g., Lisieux, Toulouse, Lyons, Bourdeaux, had taken refuge in their hospitable dwel- lings. It is objected that Pope Gregoiy XIII publicly returned tlianks to God on that occasion ; — but what was the real object of this rejoicing ? Charles IX, in order to palliate the shame of his murderous edict against the Parisian Huguenots, wrote to eveiy court in Europe, that, having just detected their horrid plots against his authority and person, he had been fortunate enough to escape from the imminent danger, by put- ting the conspirators to death without delay. The Pope then, under that impression, rejoiced, not for the death of the supposed traitors, whose rigorous punishment he on the contrary deplored, but for the pre- servation of the French monarch and of his kingdom from utter ruin : ex- actly, as in a case of war and of a signal victory against invaders, public rejoicings would take place, and every sensible person would willingly share in them, not indeed at the blood shed in battle, but at the advan- tages gained by his country; and w^ho could dare to find a fault in such conduct ? NOTE F.— PAGE 248. ON THE REVOCATION OF THE EDICT OF NANTES. Before attempting to present a vindication of this famous Revoca- tion, we will quote the words in which it is recorded by Hume, in the eighth volume of his History. " Louis XIV," says he, " having long harassed and molested the Protestants, at last entirely revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had been enacted by Henry IV for securing them the free exercise of their religion ; which had been declared irrevocable ; and which, during the experience of near a century, had been attended with no sensible inconvenience. All the iniquities inseparable from 29* 336 NOTES. persecution were exercised against those unliappy religionists; who became obstinate in proportion to the oppressions which they suffered, and either covered under a feigned conversion a more violent abhor- rence for the Catholic communion, or sought among foreign nations for that liberty of which they were bereaved in their native country. Above half a million of the most useful and industrious subjects deserted France, and exported, together vnth immense sums of money, those arts and manufactures which had chiefly tended to enrich that kingdom. They propagated every where the most tragical accounts of the tyranny exercised against them, and revived among the Protestants all that re- sentment against the bloody and persecuting spirit of popery, to which so many incidents in all ages had given too much foundation." Such is, without the change of a single word, the language of Hume concerning the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, That it is, in most points, and especially in the conclusion, the language of virulence, un- tmth and calumny, will appear manifest from the bare recital, in this, and tlie following note, of the facts connected with the important sub- ject now before us, and of such notorious facts, too, as tlie most envious criticism cannot rationally deny. Previously to the reign of Louis XIV, the Huguenots, by dint of threats and violence had extorted from the French Kings, particularly from Henrj' lY in 1598, innumerable privileges, and a sort of separate government in the very heart of tlie kingdom. Their repeated insur- rections under Louis XIII were checked, and tlieir military forces anni- hilated by the genius of Richelieu; still they continued, ev^en under this powerful minister, to possess a legal existence, and to enjoy the free exercise of their religion. Unfortunately, their spirit of rancor and animosit}' always continued the same ; tliey constantly manifested the most shameful opposition to tlie interests of their own country, repeat- edly endeavored to overturn her constitution and government, always favored her foreign foes, as was manifest from their authentic acts and writings, and carried so far their hostile designs, as to open, as far as they were able, her frontiers to the Germans and the Dutch, and her maritime towns, Le Havre and La Rochelle, to the English, the greatest enemies of France; in a word, so multiplied were their infractions of several articles of the Edict of Nantes, that it required no fewer than two hundred decrees of various courts to check tliese new encroach- ments, as may be seen in the work of Abbe Caveirac on this subject, p. 195 — 246, and lxi — lxiii of the notes. Moreover, the bloody civil wars formerly excited by the Huguenots, were not yet forgotten, and the fresh remembrance of past evils inclined the nation to adopt measures calciUated to prevent their repetition. " I do not speak," says the illustrious pupil of Fenelon, the Duke of Bur- gimdy, in his memoirs, " of the calamities produced by the new doc- bines in Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I speak of France NOTES. 337 only. Nor shall I enumerate one by one, the evils of which it was the theatre, and which are recorded in so many authentic documents ; the secret assemblies; the leagues formed with foreign enemies; the at- tempts against the government; the seditious threats, open revolts, con- spiracies, and bloody wars ; the plundering and sacking of towns ; the deliberate massacres, and atrocious sacrileges; suffice it to say, that, from Francis I to Louis XIV, during seven successive reigns, all these evils and many others, with more or less violence, desolated the French monarchy. This is a point of history which, although it may be va- riously related, can neither be denied nor called in question ; and it is from this capital point that we should start in the political examination of this grand affair." Under the fresh recollection of so many trespasses and obnoxious deeds of the Huguenots, an intimate persuasion, founded on the natural rights of nations and the security of governments, had pervaded all classes of people, tliat the king was justifiable in adopting vigorous measures for the purpose of checking this ill-affected portion of his subjects. It was the general opinion, that the Edict of Nantes, both from its nature and on account of its numerous violations by the very party whom it favored, might be revoked ; since the good and tranquillity of the state called for its revocation. So little doubt did there exist concerning this right of repeal, that even Arnauld, a Jansenist, and Grotius, a Protestant, openly acknowledged it in their writings ;* nor indeed could it.be denied without unjust partiality, since there was not, at this period, a single Protestant government in Europe which, not- withstanding much more sacred ties or contracts, did not act more severely against their peaceful Catholic subjects, than the French court prepared to do against the restless and ever disaffected Huguenots. Moved by these considerations, the ministry under Louis XIV em- ployed itself in gradually undermining their party, and taking away from them the power and opportunities of exciting new disturbances in France ; still nothing appeared to threaten the entire abolition of their privileges, when, alarming symptoms of insurrection manifested by them throughout the southern and western provinces, caused it to become a matter of serious debate in the council of the king. The proposed mea- sure passed by the unanimous vote of the counsellors and ministers ; the Edict of Nantes was revoked ; and, as the factious and hostile spirit of the Huguenot ministers was too well known to be safely tolerated, such of their number as refused to abjure tlieir tenets wdthin the space of two months, were commanded to quit the kingdom. As to the other Protest- ants, they were not only allowed, but even encouraged to remain in * The following are the words of the latter : " N6rint illi, qui Reformatonim eibi impoiiunt vocabuluin, non esse ilia Icedera, sed regum edicta, ob publicain factn ntiiitatem, el revocabilia, si aliud regibus publica utilitas suaserit. — Rivetiani apoh- getici discussiO) p. 22. 338 NOTES. France, where they might freely carry on their business and commerce as before, and enjoy their property and their civil rights under the pro- tection of the law, "without being troubled and vexed on account of their religion." These are the very terms of the repealing statute. It is, therefore, a gross inaccuracy to assert or suppose that the French Huguenots were promiscuously condemned to banishment, or doomed to oppression and aU the iniquities inseparable from persecution in their native country. Many of them, it is true, preferred to follow their min- isters into exile ; but this was a mere effect of their own choice, which the government never intended nor encouraged. It is true also that, in several places, acts of rigor, owing to unforeseen incidents, were exer- cised against them ; but this happened only in the places where the re- ligionists, misunderstanding the moderate views of their sovereign, pro- voked his justice by their excesses and revolts. As to the acts of vio- lence which some individuals occasionally recommended or practised, tliey were entirely repugnant both to the character and intentions of the monarch, who bitterly complained of this criminal abuse of his authority'. He not only published new enactments to check these disorders, but also endeavored to remove from the attendance of Protestants at reli- gious instructions even the appearance of constraint; following in this the advice of Bossuet, Fenelon, and other distinguished persons of the clergy, as Cardinal de Bausset relates in the lives of these two illustrious bishops. Even before this, so remote were the ideas of the King from any thing like persecution, that in a letter to the intendants of the pro- vinces he said in express terms, that he recommended to them above all to treat the Protestants with mildness, je vous recommande suriout de menager avec douceur les esprils de cevx de ladite religion ; and, when information was given him that two of these governors had followed a different course, he severely reprimanded one, and recalled the other. But did not Louis XIV at least commit a great political fault, or, as some call it, a suicidal act against France, by giving occasion to so many industrious and useful subjects to leave the kingdom? — So indeed it seems to several persons, but on what grounds does not appear. Even supposing the commercial and pecuniary disadvantage for some parts of France to have been as great as is commonly supposed, Louis XIV may have justly considered it a mere trille, when weighed in the balance against the security and tranquillity of the whole kingdom. After all, there has evidently been much exaggeration in estimating the loss which France may have suffered on that occasion. "Whatever were the com- plaints issued by some interested individuals, time and experience showed that arts, manufactures and trade had scarcely suffered any sensible detriment; or it was, at least, quickly repaired, since from nearly that period, commerce and industry' became more and more flou- rishing in France, and no later than two years after the Edict of Revo- cation, the revenues of tlie crown were augmented. Nor is it at all true N0T2S. 339 that the French refugees exported much money; the richest among them had remained in France, and those who freely chose to emigrate were mostly workmen and laborers, rather requiring support from the coun- tries which received them, than capable of enriching their benefactors, as their own historians confess; (apud Caveirac, p. 93 — 97). Nor, in fine, did they materially contribute, except perhaps in Prussia, to the splendor of foreign manufactures, which were flourishing and prosperous before their arrival. As to the number of the emigrants, it is difficult to ascertain it, though we may be assured that there is another gross exaggeration in the amount of above half a million asserted by Hume. Larrey and Benoit, two Pro- testant authors, admit it to have been of about two hundred thousand persons ; but several critics think that it ought to be reduced, upon fair calculation, to one- fourth or at least one-third of that amount. Among others, the Duke of Burgundy, whose candor and sincerity, as well aa means of research,, cannot be doubted, assures us that the French refu- gees were not more than sixty-eight thousand in all ; a number less than was carried off by a single civil war. So little injury was thought at the time to result to France from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, that Louis XIV received innumerable congratulations on this account. Both subjects and foreigners appearec^ more surprised at the rapid execution of the measure, than at the mea- sure itself; even the famous Bayle proved to his fellow exiles that it was their own conduct that had forced the king to revoke their privileges, and that, after all, the laws enacted in most Protestant countries against Catholics were more stern and rigorous than any published by Catholic princes against Protestants, (jivis aux Rffugies, etc). If then the Hu- guenots filled the world with their invectives against the French govern- ment, no reasonable man will refuse to ascribe their conduct rather to the dictate of passion, than to their love of truth and justice. For, who does not know that the guilt}^ commonly complain of the tribunal by which they were condemned ? And who will ever consider as worthy of credit the historian who, lending an attentive ear to those complaints and invectives of one party, sets aside the victorious defence and the unexceptionable reasons of the other? NOTE G.— PAGE 318. ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. To all persons ever so little acquainted with the historj'- of the last ages, it must be matter of the greatest surprise to see the charge of bloody and persecuting spirit so incessantly urged against the Catholic Church by those against whom it may be so easily and so victoriously retorted. Without again mentioning the oppressive conduct of the late 340 NOTES. Prussian government, the rigor of the former penal laws of England, etc.^ what violence and persecution did not the Catholics of the sixteenth cen-- tury suffer in Denmark, Sweden and Scotland, although theirs was tlie ancient and established faith, whilst the doctrines of their persecutors were novelties both in Church and state ! What cruelties were not com- mitted against them in different parts of Germany, where it may be said that streams of blood marked the progress of the reformed religion ; — in Holland, where the sanguinary Vandermerk slaughtered more unoffend- ing Catholic priests and peasants in the year 1572, than the severe Duke of Alva executed Protestant insurgents during his whole government ; — in France, where the fury of the Huguenots, besides many particular atrocities, burnt nine hundred towns and villages in the province of Dau- phine alone, and excited nine or ten civil wars, which cost the lives of more than two millions of men ; and that, loo, upon avowed principle, and according to the maxims laid down by the very authors of the re- formation, Luther, Calvin, Beza, etc. On the contrary, we have proved, in different Notes, that neither the pastors, nor the tenets and principles of the Catholic Church, had any sheire in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, in tlie Gun-powder Plot, in the abuses which may have accidentally taken place in the Spanish Inquisition, or in the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Some- times, indeed, when there have existed sectarians, like the Albigenses, implacable disturbers of the public peace, and enemies of all social and religious order, the Church exhorted and requested the civil power to repress their excesses ; but this surely cannot, witliout a manifest abuse of language, he termed persecuiion ; otherwise we ought to call by the same name all civil laws enacted against robbers and murderers. As to the acts of real persecution, cruelty and violence of which some Catho- lics may have occasionally been guilty, they not only never met with any kind of encouragement or approbation from her; but she rather endeavored, as much as lay in her power, to prevent or check those ebullitions of individual and popular lury ; and, however zealous to pro- pagate the Christian faith, always inculcated, that principle, which has even become a part of the Canon Law, tliat no one is to be compelled to embrace it by force. That this has been constantly, from the primitive ages down to the present time, her true spirit and the rule of her con- duct, may be easily shown from a great variety of facts and testimonies, even confining ourselves to such as are connected with the events and personages mentioned in the course of this history. The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, was far from re- taliating upon the heathens the rigor which his predecessors had exer- cised against the Christians. However great was his zeal for the diffu- sion of the true religion, in which he had been instructed by Catholic bishops, he did not so much as attempt to compel, but contented himself with mildly exhorting his subjects to embrace it, and even gave orders NOTES. 341 that no one should be in the least annoyed on account of his religion. See his life by Eusebius, b. ii. ch. 47, 48, etc. Another Christian emperor, Honorius, having in 410 passed very se- vere edicts to repress the horrid excesses and cruelties of the Donatista in Africa, St. Augustine and other orthodox prelates exerted all their influence to mitigate in favor of these wretched people the severity of the law, and to procure their conversion by instructions and conferences, rather than let their bodies perish by capital punishment. We learn from Possidius, the disciple and friend of St. Augustine, in the life of this holy doctor, that they had the satisfaction to succeed in their charitable un- dertaking. Pope St. Leo the Great, who lived at a time when the Church was attacked by very dangerous heretics, speaking of the Manicheans, the worst of all, says that " the ecclesiastical lenity was content, even in this case, with the sacerdotal judgment, and avoided all sanguinary pun- ishments." A remarkable fact had recently proved the ti'uth of his as- sertion. It was against a branch of these sectarians, the Priscillians, that tlie secular arm first exerted its severity, at Triers under the empe- ror Maximus, about the year 385. This event served to show how ad- verse the Catholic Church is to the bloody spirit of persecution : Pope St. Siricius, and the most holy prelates of the West, blamed the rigor that had been exercised against the Priscillians, and the two bishops Ithacius and Idacius, who had obtained their condemnation in a civil court, were themselves condemned for that very reason in the councils of Milan (a. d. 390) and of Turin (401). When Ethelbert, King of Kent, was converted to the true religion by the apostle of England, St. Austin, he had a great desire that all his subjects should like him embrace Christianity ; but, as venerable Bede relates, he did not compel any one to do so, because he had learned from the Roman missionaries that the service of Christ ought to be voluntary. — Pope St. Gregory the Great, by whom these holy missionaries were sent to England, evinced on many other occasions his firm adherence to this mild spirit of Christianity. Writing to the bishop of Terracina, who had used some violence against the Jews, he said: "It is by mild- ness and exhortations, not by threats and terror, that the infidels must be induced to become Christians j" and again, to a patriarch of Constanti- nople : " This is indeed a very strange way of preaching, which en- forces the true faith by ill-treatment!" Such were the principles and the constant doctrine of that holy pontiff. St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux and the brightest ornament of his age, having learned that a fanatical preacher exhorted the people to murder the Jews as enemies of Christianity, rose against him with aU the force of his eloquence, and rescued these devoted victims from the danger which threatened them. Pope Clement VI, in a similar crisis of popular fury, hastened to forbid, even under penalty of excommu- 342 NOTES. nication, any violence to be oiFered to them either in their persons or in their property ; and it is well known in general that the Jews never enjoyed greater protection than under the Roman Pontiffs; so much so, that the city of Rome, where they occupy a separate quarter, with mere precautions of police, has been proverbially called the Para- dise of the Jews. Robertson, in his History of America, renders full justice to the zeal and charity of the Spanish ecclesiastics in favor of the Indians of San Domingo, at the time when these uiihappy people were harshly treated by their conquerors. "The missionaries,"' says he, "in conformity to the mild spirit of that religion which they were employed to publish, early remonstrated against this conduct.'" Besides the Dominican fathers, and the zealous Bartholomew Las Casas whose exertions in that noble cause are so justly renowned, the monks of St. Jerome dso " neglected no circumstance that tended to mitigate the rigor of the yoke ; and by their authority, their example and their exhortations, they labored to inspire their countrymen wilh sentiments of equity and gentleness towards the Indians." {b. iii, ad ann. 1.517). In the fiftli book of his work, the same historian relates that Cor- tez having resoh ed, in his march towai-ds Mexico, to destroy by open force the altars and the idols of the Tlascalans, was checked in his inconsiderate design by Father Olmedo, a chaplain to the expedition. This venerable man "represented that religion was not to be propa- gated by the sword, or infidels to be converted by violence; that other weapons were to be employed in this minishy, namely, patient instruc- tion and pious example The remonstrances of an ecclesiastic no less respectable for wisdom than virtue, had their proper weight with Cortez. He left the Tlascalans in the undisturbed exercise of their own rites, requiring only that they should desist from their horrid prac- tice of offering human victims in sacrifice." We have already noticed the charity and mildness displayed by the French clergy in favor of Protestants, at the time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's day and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. We may now make a similar remark concerning the penal statute passed, under the reign of Queen Mary, against her Protestant subjects, in con- sequence of the provocations which she had often experienced from their inordinate zeal. Motives of state policy actuated, indeed, the abettors of tliat rigorous measure; but far from being supported by any argu- ment from ecclesiastical authority, it was on the contraiy powerfully opposed by Cardinal Pole in the cabinet council, and even by King Philip's chaplain from tlie pulpit. When likewise, Emmanuel, king of Portugal, ordered some violent measures to be resorted to, apparently for the good of religion, the celebrated Jesuit and historian Mariana observed, that tlie edict Vvas most repugnant to the laws and statutes of NOTES. 343 the Christian Church , decretum a legibus et instituiis Christianis abhjor- rens maximh. It was from these sacred statutes and laws, still more than from his own benevolent heart, that Fenelon drew the following beautiful maxims and counsels which he addressed to the son of King James II, called the Pretender: "Above all, never force your subjects to change their religion. No human power can reach the impenetrable recess of the free will of the heart. Violence can never persuade men ; it serves only to make hypocrites Grant civil liberty to all, not in approving every thing as good, nor regarding every thing as indiiferent, but in tolerating with patience whatever Almighty God tolerates, and endeavoring to convert men by mild persuasion." " Sur toutes choses, ne forcez jamais vos sujets a changer de religion. Nulle puissance humaine ne pent forcer le retranchement impenetrable de la liberie du cceur. La force ne peut jamais persuader les hommes ; elle ne fait que des hypocrites Accordez a tons la tolerance civile, non en approu- vant tout comme indifferent, mais en souffrant avec patience tout ce que Dieu soufFre, et en tachant de ramener les hommes par une douce per- suasion." ( Vie de Fenelon, par Ramsay,^. 176; or by Cardinal Baus- set, vol. III. p. 208). The same benevolent and mild spirit of Catholicity has been also strikingly displa3'-ed on this side of the Atlantic. To prove this, we need merely refer to the history of the settlers of Maryland, the only one of the early British colonies that was founded by a body of Catholics, " Its history," says Bancroft {vol. i, p. 268), "is the history of benevo- lence, gratitude, and toleration The Roman Catholics, who were oppressed by the laws of England, were sure to find a peaceful asylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesapeake; and there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestant intolerance." (See also Wilson, Amer. Revol. ch. ii, p. 21). Whilst the Episcopalians of Virginia would suffer no other form of worship than their own ; whilst the Puritans of New England punished with exile, fines, or tortures, the dissenters from their creed, the Catholics of Maryland alone, instead of imitating the example, invited the sufferers to come among them, and kindly received into their hospitable colony the victims of intolerance from the other settlements. Nor has the American Catholic of the present day degenerated from the maxims of his ancestors. However ready to defend his just rights against all illegal attacks and actual violence, he is equally disposed never to attempt the least unjust aggression against persons of a different creed. How strongly soever attached to his faith, it is only by a fair and mild exposition of his doctrines that he seeks to vindicate them ; being satisfied that the true religion neither needs nor requires to be defended or promoted by plots and associations, riots and conflagrations, misrepresentation and calumny ; he would be ashamed to use, and he is 30 344 NOTES. above all, careful not to employ such unworthy weapons for the support of so sacred a cause. How falsely, then, do the enemies of the Catholic Church ascribe to her a bloody and persecuting spirit, than which nothing is more con- trary to her constant maxims and conduct! Is it not rather evident that the same society to which we are indebted for the preservation of religion, civilization, literature and learning; for the complete revival of sciences and belles-lettres in the age of Leo X, and their greatest splendor in the age of Louis XIV; for the most successful exertions in repelling the invasion of barbarians and saving the liberty of our Euro- pean ancestors ; for the most useful institutions ; for the most important discoveries; etc., enjoys also the honor of having always maintained the true spirit of Christianity upon earth, and ever practised, with un- shaken adherence to the deposit of faith, that toleration and mildness towards individuals, that universal benevolence and charity so much recommended in the Gospel? Wonderful Providence of God towards mankind in the institution of his Church, that, whilst she seems to have been established only to promote our spiritual and eternal welfare, she has moreover been rendered so zealously active and so vitally instrumental in procuring even our temporal happiness ! TABLES or CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. N. B. THE DATES MARK THE BEGINNING OF EACH REIGN. 346 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. TABLE I. A. D 1099 1110 1118 1131 1142 1143 1162 1173 1180 1183 1185 1186 1195 1203 1204 1204 1206 1206 1219 1222 1228 1255 1259 1261 1282 EMPERORS OF CONSTANTINO PLE. Alexius Comnenus. John Comnenus. Manuel Comnenus. Alexius II. Andronic I. Isaac r Ange Alexius III. Isaac and Alexius IV 1' Ange C Alexius V Ducas, or Murzu- ( phlis. Constantinople taken by the Latins. Baldwin I Henry. Peter de Courtenay. Robert de Courtenay. C John of Brienne. I Baldwin 11. Constantinople recovered by the Greeks. Michael Paleologus. Andronic II. KINGS OF JERUSALEM. Godfrey of Bouillon. Baldwin I. Baldwin II. Foulques of Anjou. Baldwin III. Almeric or Amaury. Baldwin IV. Baldwin V. Guy of Lusignan. Fall of the kingdom of Je- rusalem. Greek emperors at Nice. Theodorus Lascaris I. John Ducas Vatace. Theodorus Lascaris II C John Lascaris. \ Michael Paleologus. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 347 TABLE II. A.D. 1100 1106 1108 1109 1125 1126 1135 1137 1138 1152 1154 1157 1158 1180 1189 1190 1198 1199 1214 1216 1217 1218 1223 1226 1250 1252 1256 1270 1272 1273 1284 1285 1292 1295 EMPERORS OF GERMANY. House of Fran- conia. Henry V. Lathaire II, the Saxon. Conrad III. House ofSuabia Frederic I, I3ar- barossa. Henry VI.' C Philip. I Otho IV. Frederic II. Conrad IV. William of Holland. Interregnum. Anarchy. KINGS OF ENG- LAND. Norman dynas- ty. Henry I. House of Blois. Stephen. Plantageneis undivided. Henry II. Richard I, Cceur de Lion. John, Lackland. Henry III. Rodolph I of Hapsburg. Adolph of Nas- sau. SO* Edward I. KINGS OF FRANCE. Capetian dynas- Louis VI, the Big. Louis VII, the younger. Philip II, Au- gustus. Louis VIII, Li- on hearted. Louis IX, or St. Louis. Philip III, the Bold. Philip IV, the Fair. KINGS OF SPAIN. House of Bigore Alfonso VII. House of Bur- gundy. Alfonso VIII. Sanchez III and Ferdinand II. Alfonso IX. Henry I. Ferdinand III (St.). Alfonso X, the Wise. Sanchez IV. Ferdinand IV. 348 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. TABLE III. A.D. 1300 1326 1328 1341 1360 1389 1391 1402 1406 1413 EMPERORS OF CONSTANTINO- PLE. OTTOMAN SULTANS. othman. Orcan. Amurat I. Bajazet I, Ilderim. Soliman I. Musa. Mahomet I. Amurat II. Mahomet II. Bajazet II. Seiim I. Soliman II, the Magnificent. Selim II. Amurat III. Mahomet III. Achmat I. Mustapha I. Osman I. Amurat IV. Ibrahim. Mahomet IV. Soliman III. Andronic III. C John Cantacuzene and ( John Paleologus I. Manuel Paleologus. 1421 1425 1448 1451 1481 1512 1520 1.566 1.574 1.595 John Paleologus II. Constantine Paleologus, or Dragazes. FaU of the Greek empire. 1603 1617 1618 1623 1640 1648 16S7 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 349 TABLE IV. A.D 1298 1307 1308 1312 1314 1316 1322 1327 1328 EMPERORS OF GERMANY. Albert I of Aus- tria. Henry VII of Luxemburg f Frederic of j Austria. ] Louis of Ba- (^ varia. 1347 1350 1364 1368 1377 1378 1379 1380 1390 1399 1400 1406 1410 1413 1422 1438 1440 1454 1461 1474 1483 1485 1493 1498 1504 1509 House of Lux- emburg. Charles IV. Wenceslaus. KINGS OF ENG- LAND. Planlagenets. Edward II. Edward III. KINGS OF FRANCE. Capeiians. Louis X. John I. Philip V, Charles IV. House of Valois. Philip Vl. John II Charles V, the Wise. Robert, Count Palatine. Sigismund. House of Austria Albert II. Frederic III. Richard II. House of Lan- caster. Henry IV. Henry V. Henry VI. Charles VI. KINGS OF SPAIN. House of Bur- gundy. Alfonso XI. Maximilian I. House of York. Edward IV C Edward V I Richard III. House of Tvdor. Henry VII. Henry VIII. Charles VII. Louis XI. Charles VIII. Valois -Orleans. Louis XII. Pedro the Cruel Henry II, Tran- stamare. Juan I. Henry III. Juan II. Heniy IV. Isabella and Ferdinand V, Castile and At- rasron united. r Philip I of J Austria, and I Ferdinand V y of Arragon 350 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. TABLE V. A. D. OTTOMAN SUL- TANS. EMPERORS AND EMPRESSES OF RUSSIA. KINGS OF PRUSSIA. PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1689 1691 1695 1701 1702 1713 1725 1727 1730 1740 1741 1754 1757 1762 1774 1786 1789 1796 1797 1801 1807 1808 1809 1817 1825 1829 1837 1839 1840 1841 Peter I, the Great. Frederic I. Frederic Wil- liam I. Frederic II, the Great. Frederic Wil- liam II. Washington, first president. John Adams. Jefferson. Madison. Monroe. John Quincy Adams. Jackson. Van-Buren. Harrison-Tyler Achmet II. Mustapha II. Achmet III. Catherine I. Peter II. Anne. Iwan Mahomet V, or Mahmoud I. Elizabeth. Peter II--Cathe- rine II the Great Osman II. Mustapha III. Abdul-Hamid. Paul. Frederic Wil- liam III. Alexander Mustapha IV. Nicholas Abdul Medjid. Frederic Wil- liam IV. CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. 351 TABLE VI. A. n. EMPERORS OF GER- MANY. KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND. KINGS OF FRANCE. KINGS OF SPAIN. 1515 1516 1519 1547 1553 1556 1558 1559 House of Austria continued. House of Tudor, continued. Valois — ^ngou- Icme. Francis I. House of Austria Charles I ; same as Charles V in Germany. Philip II. Philip III. Philip IV. Charles II. House of Bour- bon. Philip V. Chai-les V. Edward VI.... Mary. Henry II. Ferdinand I. Elizabeth. Francis II. Charles IX. Henry III. House of Bour- bon. HeniT IV, the Great. L560 1564 1574 1576 15S9 Maximilian II. Rodolph II. House of Stuart. 1598 1603 1610 1612 1619 1621 1625 1637 1643 1649 1658 1660 1665 1685 1689 1700 1702 1705 1711 1714 1715 1727 1740 James I. Louis XIII. Matthias. • Charles I. Louis XIV, the Great. Ferdinand III. Commonwealth. Cromwell, pro- tector. Restoration. Charles II. Leopold I. James II. — Re- volution. C Mary and I William III. Anne. House of Hano- ver or Brunsicick George I. Louis XV, Joseph I. Charles VI. George II. Charles VII of Bavaria. 352 CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS. TABLE VI.— CONTINUED. A. D. 1745 1746 1759 1760 1765 1774 1788 1790 1792 1793 1799 1804 1806 1808 1814 1820 1824 1830 1833 EMPERORS OF GER- MANY. KINGS AND QUEENS OF ENGLAND. KINGS OF FRANCE. KINGS OF SPAIN. House of Lor- raine. Francis I. House of Hano- ver or Brunsmck House of Bour- bon. House of Bour- bon. Ferdinand VI. Charles III. Charles IV. Forced abdicaVn Spain invaded. Ferdinand VII. Civil war and Revolutions. George III. Louis XVI. Joseph II. Leopold II. Francis II. Revolution. Republic. Louis XVII. Napoleon, First Consul. Napoleon, Em- peror. Austria. Francis. Louis XVIIL Charles X. Branch of Or- leans. Louis Philip. George IV. William IV.... 1835 1837 Ferdinand. Victoria. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF MEMORABLE EVENTS AND REMARKABLE PERSONAGES N. B The dates in the first column, denote the years in which the events happened; — those placed in the second column, mark the years in which the persons mentioned there, died. PART V A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1095 Council of Clermont — First Crusade. 1097 Siege of Nice, and battle of Dorylaeum. 1098 Siege of Antioch, and battle of Orontes. 1099 Siege of Jerusalem, and bat- tle of Ascalon. Kingdom of Jerusalem. Knights Hospitallers of St. John. 1118 Knights Templars. 1147 Second Crusade. 1170 Military order of St. James. 1187 The Christians defeated by Saladin in the battle of Ti- berias. Fall of tlie Kingdom of Je- rusalem. 1188 Third Crusade. 1190 Teutonic Order. 1196 Fourth Crusade. 1200 Fifth Crusade. 1204 Latin empire of Constanti- nople. 1212 Prodigious victory of the Christians of Spain over the Moors of Murandal. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Adhemar de Monteil, bishop of Puy, A. D. 1098. Urban II, Pope, 1099.— St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian order, 1101. — Raymond, count of Tou- louse, 1105. — Robert, earl of Flanders ; and Bohemond, prince of Tarentum and Antioch, 1111. — Tancred, warrior, 1112. — Pe- ter the Hermit, 1115. — Robert, duke of Normandy, 1134. William of Malmesbury, historian, towards 1150. — Suger, abbot of St. Denis, 1152.— St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, 1153. Nouradin, conqueror, 1174. — Alex- ander III, Pope, 1181.— William, archbishop of Tyre, historian, about 1191. — Saladin, conqueror, 1193. — Dandolo, doge of Venice, 1205. — Averroes, Arabian philo- sopher, 1206. Maimonides, Jewish rabbin, 1209. Villehardoin, historian, 1212. 354 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D. 1214 1217 1220 1230 1248 1250 1258 1261 1268 1270 MEMORABLE EVENTS. Battle of Bouvines, in which Philip Augustus conquers all his enemies. Sixth Crusade. Battle of the Jaxartes, be- tween Genghis-Kan and Sultan Mohammed. Opposite parties of the Gu- elfs and Gibelins in Italy. Mariner's compass, in- vented some time before, began to be used. Seventh Crusade. Captivity of St. Louis. Bagdad taken by the Mo- guls; end of the Arabian Caliphate. Fall of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Eighth and last Crusade. Death of St. Louis. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Innocent III, Pope, 1216. Simon of Montford, general, 1218. St. Dominic, founder of the Domi- nicans, 1221. St. Francis of Assisium, founder of the Franciscans, 1226. Genghis Kan, Mogul conqueror, 1227. Blanche of Castile, queen, 1252. Matthew Paris, historian, 1259. PART VI. 1291 1300 1308 1310 1312 1313 1315 1340 1348 1340 1346 1356 1367 Final overthrow of the Chris- tian power in SjTia — In- vention of Gun-powder about this time , — also, ac- cording to many, of the magnifying glass and spectacles. Rise of the Ottoman Empire. Commencement of Swiss in- pendence. Conquest of Rhodes by the Knights of St. John. Suppression of the Knights templars. Battle of Bannockburn, in which the Scots signally defeated the English. Battle of Morgarten, which secured the independence of Switzerland. Awful and complete over- throw of the Moors at Ta- rifa. Universal and dreadful pes- tilence. Battles of Sluys, ] | _, Crecy,Nevirs Cross, ! >.| Poitiers, .' = "5 Navarette, J St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bona- venture, doctors of the Church, 1274. Charles of Anjou, conqueror of Na- ples and Sicily, 1285. Roger Bacon, Mathematician, as- tronomer, etc. 1294. William Tell, warrior. Joinville, historian, 1318 — Dante, poet, 1321 — Robert Bruce, King 'of Scotland, 1329. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 355 A. D. 1372 1396 1397 1402 1429 1440 1450- 1453 1456 1461 1480 1492 MEMORABLE EVENTS. English fleet destroyed by the Spaniards near La Ro- chelle. Signal defeat of the Chris- tians at Nicopolis. Treaty of Cahnar for the union of Denmark, Swe- den and Norw-ay. Tremendous battle of An- cyra between Sultan Ba- jazet I and Tamerlane. Siege of Orleans. Invention of the art of print- 1453 The English defeated at Fourmigny and Cha- tillon— Lose their pos- sessions in France. Fall of Constantinople. of Belgrade — Maho- met repulsed with great loss. Destruction of the empire of Trebisond. First siege of Rhodes. Extinction of the power of the Moors in Spain. Siege REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Petrarch, poet, 1374 — Edward, prince of Wales, 1377 — Bertrand Du Guesclin, general, 1380. Tamerlane, the tartar conqueror, 1405. Margaret, queen of Sweden and Denmark, 1412. Joan d'Arc, the maid of Orleans, 1431. Hunniades, general, 1456. Scanderbeg, king of Albania, 1467. Guttemberg, Faust, Shoeifer, first printers. Thomas-a-Rempis, 1471. Warwick, general, 1471 — Margaret of Anjou, queen of England, 1482. Matthias Corvinus, king of Hun- gary, 1490. PART VII. 1492 1497 1497 1509 1515 1517 1517 1519 1521 1522 1525 1529 1530 1531 1534 Discovery of America. Discovery of the Northern American continent. Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. League of Cambray. Battle of Mari^nan. The Protestant Reformation. Egypt subdued by the Turks. First circumnavigation of the globe. Conquest of Mexico. Second siege of Rhodes. Battle of Pavia; Francis I taken prisoner. First siege of Vienna by the Turks. Malta ceded to the knights of St. John. Conquest of Peru. Picus, prince of Mirandola, 1494 — Peter d'Aubusson, grand-master of the Order of St. John, 1503— Christopher Columbus, 1506 — Gonzalez of Cordova, general, 1512 — Bramante, architect, 1506 — Albuquerque the Great, con- queror of the East-Indies, 1515 — Ximenes, cardinal and statesman, 1517 — Magellan, 1520 — Leo X ( Medicis ) , Pope, 1521— Eman- uel the Great, king of Portugal, 1521 — Bayard, warrior, 1524 — Vasco de Gama, 1525. Zuinglius, 1531 — Ariosto, poet, 1533 — Wolsey, cardinal, states- man, 1533 Villiers de I'lsle Adam, grand-master of the Or- der of St. John, 1534 — Cajetan, cardinal, divine, 1534 — Fisher, 31 356 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D. 1534 1534 1545 1556 1557 1558 1565 1571 1572 1580 1581 1582 1587 1588 1590 1610 1620 1626 1607 1608 1613 1630 1634 MEMORABLE EVENTS. England separates from the See of Rome. Foundation of the Order of the Jesuits. Opening of the Council of Trent, the last general council. Abdication of Charles V. The French defeated by the Spaniards at St. Quentin. The French recover Calais from the English. Siege of Malta. Battle of Lepanto. Massacre of St. Bartliolo- mew's day. Portugal annexed to Spain. Republic of Holland pro- claimed. Reformation of tlie Calendar. Unjust Execution of Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland. Defeat of the Spanish Ar- mada. Invention of the telescope by Jansen. Invention of the thermome- ter and the microscope by Drebbel. Invention of the Baiometer by Torricelli. Beginning of the English and French settlements in North America, Foundation of New Amster- dam, or New York. Foundation of Boston. Foundation of the colony of Maryland. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES, bishop of Rochester, and Thomas More, chancellor, 1535 — Eras- mus, divine, 1536 — Garcilaso de la Ve^a, poet, 1536 — Guicciar- dini, historian, 1540. Francis Pizarro, conqueror, 1541 — Copernicus, astronomer, 1543 — Luther, 1546 — Hernando Cortez, conqueror, 1547 — St. Francis Xa- vier, the apostle of East-Indies and Japan, 1552 — St. Ignatius of Lo)^ola, founder of the Society of Jesus, 1556 — Pole, cardinal, 15.58 — Julius Scahger, physician, phi- losopher, etc., 1558 — Cranmer, 1556 — Robert Stephen, printer, 1559— Calvin, 1564. Michael Angelo, painter and arch- itect, 1564— Vida, poet, 1566— John la Valette, grand-master of St. John, 1568— S. Pius V, Pope, 1572 — D. Juan of Austria, gene- ral, 1578 — Camoens, poet, 1579 — Ferdinand Alvarez, duke of Alva, general, 1582 — St. Theresa, foun- dress of the Carmelites, 1582 — St. Charles Borromeo, circhbishop of Milan, 1584 Gregory XIII, Pope, 1585 — F. Louis Granada, divine, 1588— Sixtus V, Pope, 1590. Alexander Farnesius, duke of Par- ma, general, 1592 — Tasso, poet, 1.595 — Drake, admiral, 1596. Tyco-Bralie, astronomer, 1601 — Baronius, cardinal, historian, 1607 —Joseph Scaliger, historian, poet, etc., 1609 — Casaubon, historian, divine, etc., 1614 — F. Alfonso Rodriguez, divine, 1616 — Shaks- peare, dramatic poet, 1616 — Cer- vantes, Spanish writer, about the same time — Suarez, divine, 1617 — Duperron, cardinal, controvert- ist, 1618 — Bellarmine, cardinal, controvertist, 1621 — St. Francis of Sales, founder of the Visitation, 1622— Mariana, historian, 1624. Herrera, historian, 1625 — Bacon, philosopher, divine, 1626. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 357 A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. 1649 King Charles I beheaded. — Commonwealth in Eng- land. 1659 1669 1672 1674 1674 1675 1676 1679 1680 1682 1683 1685 1686 1688 1690 1690 1692 1658 Battle of Dunes. 1692 1693 Treaty of Pyrenees between France and Spain. Conquest of Candia by the Turks. Invasion of Holland by the French, Battle of Senef. Brilliant campaigns of Tu- renne in Alsace and Ger- many. Sea-fights near Messina be- tween the French and the Dutch. Peace of Nimeguen. Foundation of Chaiieslon. Foundation of Philadelphia. Second siege of Vienna; Turks repelled witli im- mense loss. Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. League of Augsburg. Revolution in England. Battle of Boyne in Ireland. 'Naval battles of La Manche and La Hogue; French ] victorious in the first, de- 1^ feated in the second, f Splendid victories of Mar- shal Luxemburg over the allies at Steinkirk and (^ Nerwinde. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Kepler, astronomer, 1630 — Spi- nola, general, 1630 — Tilly, gen- eral, 1632 — Gustavus Adolphus king of Sweden, 1632 — Walstein, general, 1634. Cornelius a Lapide, divine, 1637— Jansenius, 1638 — Rubens, paint- er, 1640— Sully, statesman, 1641 — Richelieu, cardinal, statesman, 1642 — Galileo, astronomer, 1642 — Bentivoglio, historian, 1644 — Grotius, civilian, divine, 1645 Gerard Vossius, historian, 1649 — Descartes, metaphysician, philosopher, 1650 Montrose, general, 1650 — Petavius, divine, historian, etc. 1652— Van-Tromp, admiral, 1653 — Usher, historian, 1655 — Gassendi, mathematician, philosopher, 1655 — Blake, admi- ral, 1657 — Harvey, physician, 1657 — St. Vincent of Paul, foun- der of the Lazarists, and of the sisters of charity, 1660 — Maza- rin, cardinal, statesman, 1661 — Pascal, mathematician, etc. 1662 — Bollandus, historian, 1665 — Anne of Austria, queen, 1666 — Moliere, dramatist, 1673— Mil- ton, poet, 1674 — Turenne, gene- ral, 1675 — Kiuperli, general and statesman, 1678 — Ruyter, admi- ral, 1676— Monk, general, 1679 — Montecuculli, genera!, 1680 — Bernini, architect and sculptor, 1680— Colbert, statesman, 1683 — Corneille, dramatist, 1684 — Prince of Conde, general, 1686 — Solis, historian, 1686 — Isaac Vossius, historian and philoso- pher, 1688 — Ducange, historian, 1688 — ^Duquesne, admiral, 1688 Lebrun, painter, 1690 — Charles, duke of Lorraine, general, 1690 Boyle, philosopher and divine, 1691. \ Puifendorf, civilian, 1694"Arnauld, controvertist, 1694. 358 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1697 Peace of Riswick between France, Eno;land, Ger- many and Spain. 1697 Decisive battle of Zenta in favor of the Austrians against the Turks. 1699 Peace of Carlowitz, between the Ottoman Porte, Aus- tria, Venice and Poland. 1700 Eight thousand Swedes de- leat eighty thousand Mus- covites near TS~arva. 1701 War for the succession of Spain. 1704 The French and their allies, defeated at Hochstadt. 1706 Ramilies and Turin. 1708 Oudenarde. 1709 Malplaquet. 1707 Victorious at Almanza. 1710 Villa- Viciosa. 1712 Denain. 1713 Peace of Utrecht. 171.5 Regency of the Duke of Or- leans, r Turks signally defeated at 1716 J PeterwEiradin and Bel- 1717 ] grade by prince Eugene (^ of Savoy. 171S Treaty of Passarowitz. 1734 Naples and Sicily gained to the house of Bourbon. 1736 Voyages of the French ma- thematicians to the North and to the Equator, for the purpose of ascertaining the true figure of the eaith. 1739 Capture and pkinder of Del- hi by Thanias Kouli Kan. 1740 War for the succession cl Austria. 1745 Battle of Fontenoy. 1746 The Pretender in England and Scotland. 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 1752 Identity of lightning and electricity ascertained by Franklin, at Philadelphia. About the same time, inven- tion of the achromatic tel- escope. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Tillotson, orator, 1694 — Tho- massin, divine, 1695 — Luxem- burg, general, 1695 — Lafontaine, poet, 1695 — Domat, civilian, 1796 Madame Sevigne, 1696 — Sobies- ki, king of Poland, 1696— TiUe- mont, historian, 1698 D'Or- leans, historian, 1698 — Racine, dramatist, 1699. Tourville, admiral, 1701 — Dry den, poet, 1701. Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, 1704 — Bourdaloue, orator and divine, 1704 — Locke, philosopher, 1704 Bayle, 1706 — Marshal Vauban, 1707 — Auren2:-zeb, Mogul em- peror, 1707 — Mabillon, historian, divine, etc. 1707 — Flechier, bish- op of Nismes, 1710 — Boileau, poet, 1711 — Dominic Cassini, as- b'onomer, 1712 — Malebranche, philosopher, metaphysician, 1715 — Fenelon, archbishop of Cam- bray, 1715. Leibnitz, mathematician, divine, etc. 1716 — Cliarles XII, king of Sweden, 1718 — Addison, poet, etc. 1719 — Madame de Mainte- non, 1719 — Marlborough, gene- ral, 1722 — Kang Hi, Chinese em- peror, 1722 — Prideaux, historian, 1724 — Newton, astronomer, 1727 — Daniel, historian, 1728 — Vil- lars, general, 1734 Ferreras, historian, 1735 Prince Eu- gene of Savoy, general, 1736 — Boerhaave, physician, 1738 — Po- lignac,tLivine and statesman, 1739. Rollin, historian, 1741 J. B. Rousseau, poet, 1741 — Montfau- con, historian and divine, 1741 — Halley, astronomer, 1742 — Mas- sillon, bishop of Clermont, 1743 — Pope, poet, 1744 — Thamas Kou- li Kan, the Persian conqueror, 1747— Bernouilli, mathematician, 1748— Thomson, poet, 1748— Count Saxe, genersd, 1750 — Cal- met, divine, 1757 Benedict XIV, pope, 1758— Wolf, Mont- calm, generals, 1759. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 359 A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1755 Lisbon laid in ruins by an earthquake. 1757 The French are defeated at Rosbach. 1759 C The French lose Quebec 1760 I and all Canada. 1765 Stamp act, the first cause of the American revolution. 1775 Battles of Lexington and Bunker-hill. Declaration of independence. Surrender of Burgoyne. Surrender of Cornvvallis. Treaty of Paris or Versailles. Bi'itish troops evacuate New York — General Washing- ton resigns his commission into the hands of Con- gress, REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Clairaut, mathematician, 1765. Goldsmith, historian, poet, etc. 1776 —Hume, 1776 William Pitt, Lord Chatham, statesman, 1778 — Voltaire — J.J. Rousseau, 1778 Linnaeus, naturalist, 1778 — War- burton, divine, 1779 — Cook, the navigator, 1779 — Maria Theresa, empress, 1780 — Blackstone, ci- vilian, 1780 — Alban Butler, bi- ographer, 1782 — Euler, mathe- matician, 1783. PART VIII. 1792 1793 Balloons invented by Mont- golfier. Durin;^ the following years of this and the next cen- tury, great progress of the natural sciences, chemis- try, mineralogy, geology, natural history ; invention of rail-roads, steam-boats, etc. Formation of the Federal Constitution of the United States. Federal government carried into operation — Washing- ton unanimously elected president. Turkey and Poland humbled and almost prostrated by the arms of the Russians. French revolution — Perse- cution against the clergy and nobles — Emigration. Battles of Jemappes and Valmy ; the Austrians and Prussians repelled from the French territory. Death of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette on a scaifold, 31* Dr. Johnson, 1784— Greene, general, 1786. Franklin, philosopher and states- man, 1790 — Bergier, divine, 1790 — Laudon, general, 1790 — Ro- manzow, general, 1790. Rodney, admired, 1792 — Mozart, musical composer, 1792— Robert- son, historian, 1793 Gibbon, 1794 — Lavoisier, chemist, 1794. 360 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 1796 3797 1798 A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1793 The first general coalition against France. 1794 Battle of Fleurus— Fall of the tj'rant Robespierre. 1795 Total dismemberment of Po- land — Holland conquered by the French — The di- rectoiy — Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. ' Brilliant campaign of Bona- parte in Italy — Victories of Lodi, Areola, Rivoli — Capture of Mantua— Trea- ty of Campo-Formio— Ex- tinction of the Venetian republic. Ecclesiastical State occupied by the French — Pope Pius VI dragged into captivity and exile. Second coalition against France. Expedition of Bonaparte in Eg\-pt— Battle of the Py- ramids and Aboukir. 1799 Bonaparte, on his return to Paris, becomes the head of government under the title of Consul — Kingdom of Naples subdued by the French, who are soon af- ter driven from Italy, by Suvvarrow. 1800 Election of a new Pope— Sit- ting of the American con- gress at Wasliington foi' the first time — Invention of the Galvanic battery — Battle of Marengo — Ex- ploits of General Moreau in Germany — Malta sur- renders to the English. 1801 French evacuate Egypt — Peace of LunevilTe be- t\veen France and Aus- tria. 1802 Treaty of Amiens between England and France — Re- establishment of the Cath- olic worship in France, in virtue of a concordate passed the year before. KEMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Wayne, general, statesman, 1797. 1796 — Burke, Pius VI, Pope, 1799 — "Washington, first president of the United States, 1799 Patrick Henry, statesman, 1799 — Saussure, natu- ralist, 1799. Suwarrow, general, 1800 — Blair, rhetorician, 1800. Feller, biographer, 1802 — O'Leary, controvertist, 1802 — Gerdil, car- dinal, metaphysician, divine, etc. 1802. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 361 A. D. 1803 1804 1805 1805 1806 1807 1807 1807 C 1808^ 1809 1812 1813 1814 MEMORABLE EVENTS. San-Domingo entirely lost to the French — Republic of Hayti. Napoleon crowned emperor. Third coalition — French and Spanish fleets destroyed at Trafalgar by Admiral Nelson. Signal victories of the French At AusterlitZj over the Aus- trians. . . . Jena, over the Prussians. . . . Friedland, over tlie Rus- sians. Treaty of Tilsit. Invasion of Portugal and Spain by the French — Their defeat at Baylen — Siege of Saragossa. Fourth coalition— Prodigious efforts of the Austrians rendered unavailable by the courage and activity of Napoleon — Battle of Wagram terminates the war — Peace of Vienna — Attempt of the French emperor on the Ecclesias- tical State — Pope and car- dinals persecuted. America declares war against England— Disasti'ous cam- paign of Napoleon in Rus- sia. Fifth coalition — Campaign of Saxony — Frencli victo- rious at Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden, are entirely defeated at Leipsig, and lose all their conquests in Germany Driven also from Spain by Welling- ton ; battle of Vittoria — A British flotilla on Lake Erie all captured by the Americans. New defeat of the English on Lake Champlain — Vic- torious at Washin^on, they are foiled in their at- tempt on Baltimore. Allies enter France — Abdi- cation of Napoleon. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Pichegru, general, 1804 — Priestley, chemist, 1804. Nelson, admiral, 1805. William Pitt, the younger, and Charles J. Fox, orators and statesmen, 1806— Walker, 1807. Lalande, astronomer, 1807. Haydn, musical composer, 1809- Koutousoff", general, 1813. — Mo- reau, general, 1813 — Prince Po niatowski, 1813. 362 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE* A. D. MEMORABLE EVENTS. 1815 Second American war closed by the signal victory of New Orleans. Return of Napoleon from Elba Sixth coalition against France — Decisive battle of Waterloo, which prostrates the power of the French emperor — His se- cond fall, and exile to St. Helena. 1816 Independence of Buenos- Ayres. 1818 Independence of Chili. f Colombia. 1820 ! Bolivia. 1824 1 Peru. (^ Mexico. 1820 Discovery of Electro-Mag- netism. 1823 Civil war in Spain— Success- ful exertions of the French in favor of Ferdinand VII. 1827 Naval battle of Navarino, which secured the inde- pendence of Greece. 1829 Emancipation of tlie British Catholics. 1830 Conquest of Algiers by the French — Revolution of July. 1833 New disturbances in Spain after the death of Ferdi- nand VII. 1836 Formation of the republic of Texas. 1840 Intervention of England, Russia, Austria, and Prus- sia, in favor of the Turk- ish sultan against the en- croachments of the pacha of Egypt. Q „ C War between China and G. JeTo \ Britain, terminates to the ^^■^"^ ( advantage of the English. REMARKABLE PERSONAGES. Ney, prince of Moscova, general, 1815 — Murat, king of Naples, 1815 — Robert Fulton, the inven- tor of steam-boats, 1815. John Carroll, first archbishop of Baltimore, 1815. Sheridan, orator and poet, 1816. Kosciusko, general, 1817 — Blucher, general, 1819 — Count Stolberg, historian, controvertist, 1819 — Count de Maistre, statesman, controvertist, 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte, the fallen emperor of the French, 1821 — Castelreagh, statesman, 1822 — Herschell, as- tronomer, 1822 — Pius VII, Pope, 1823. Milner, controvertist, 1826. Fifty years exactly after the decla- ration of independence, Thomas Jelierson and John Adams, its chief supporters in Congress, die both on the fourth of July, 1826 — Laplace, astronomer, 1827 — Davy, chemist, 1829. Bolivar, general, 1830 — Cuvier, na- turalist, 1832 — Lafayette, gene- ral, 1834— Humboldt, geoCTapher, 1835 — Marshall, chief Justice, historian, 1835- Bowditch, astron^ omer, 1838 — Talleyrand, states- man, 1838. John England, bishop of Charles- ton, 1842. TABLE OF AUTHORS AND WORKS CHIEFLY USED IN THE COMPOSITION OF THIS VOLUME; NOT INCLUD- ING SEVERAL ALREADY MENTIONED AT THE END OF VOLUME I, V. G. ALBAN-BUTLER, BERAUT-BEBCASTEL, FELLER, FLEURI, LEBEAU, d'oBLEANS, ETC. Alexander (Natalis): Historia Ecclesiasiica, 8 vols, folio, Paris, 1699; — the sixth and seventh vols, have been used. Anquetil: Hisioire de Frarice, 6 vols. 8vo; or 14 vols. 12ino. Art de Verifier les dates, folio, Paris, 1770. Baldassari : Histoire de Venlevement et de la Captivite de Pie VI, translated from the Italian, 1 vol. 8vo. Bancroft : History of the United States, 3 vols. 8vo. third edition, Bos- ton, 1838. BouGEANT (F): Histoire du traite de Wesiphalie, 6 vols. 12mo., Paris, 1744; a master-piece in almost every respect. Caveyrac : Apologie de Louis XIV et de son Conseil sur la revocation de I'edit de Nantes, and Dissertation sur la joumee de la St. Barthe- lemi; 1 vol. 8vo. Coyer: Histoire de Jean Sobieski, roi de Pologne, 3 vols. 12mo., War- saw, 1761. Daniel (F): Histoire de France, 3 vols, folio, Paris, 1713. Frost: History of the United States, 1 vol. 12mo., Philadelphia, 1841. GuYARD de Berville : Histoire de Bertrand Duguesclin, 2 vols. 12mo. Histoire Universelle (translated from the English), 125 vols. 8vo; the volumes containing the history of the Tartars, the Ottomans, Amer- ica and France, have been particularly useful. Histoire de V Eglise Gallicane, remarkable for soundness of criticism and purity of style; 18 vols. 8vo., Nismes, 1780-81. History of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 vols. 12mo., Cork, 1815. Histoire de Venise, 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1839. Histoire de la Revolution Frangaise, 1 vol. 12mo., Paris, 1838. Hurter : Histoire du Pape Innocent III, translated from the German by Alexandre de St. Cheron, 3 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1838. Irving (Washington): History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 2 vols. 8vo., New York, 1831. 364 TABLE OF AUTHORS. Irving (Washington): Conquest of Granada, 2 vols. 12mo., Phila- delphia, 1829. Lacroix : Geographie, 2 vols. 12mo.; too old as a geographical work, yet full of historical information. La Harpe : Mrege de Vhisfoire des voyages, continued by Baron de Roujoux; 30 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1830. Lebrun: Adventures et conquetes de Femand Coriez, 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1839. Conquite du Perou et Histoire de Pizarre, 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1840. Lefranc : Histoire Modeme, 2 vols. 12mo., Lyons, 1840. Histoire de France, 2 vols. 12mo., Lyons, 1838. Lingard : History of England, 14 vols. 8vo., London edition, 1825. Maimbourg: Histoire des Croisades, 4 vols. 12mo., Paris, 1680. Maistre (Count de): Lettres sur V Inquisition Espagnolc, 1 vol. 8vo., Paris, 1822. Marles : Histoire de Marie Stuart, Reine d'Ecosse, 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1840. Marshall: Colonial History, 1 vol. 8vo., Philadelphia, 1824. Life of Washington, 2 vols. 8vo., Philadelphia, 1832. Marsolier: Histoire duMinisttre du Cardinal Ximenh, 2 vols. 12mo., Paris, 1704. Michaut: Histoire des Croisades, fourth edition, 6 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1825. MiGNOT : Histoire de VEmpire Ottoman, 1 vol. 4to. or 4 vols. 12ino., 1771. Nonnotte: Erreurs de Voltaire, 2 vols. 12mo., Besan9on, 1818. Pacca: Memoir es du Cardinal Pacca sur la Captivite duPape Pie VII, translated from the ItaHan, 2 vols. 8vo., Paris, 1833. Perefixe ; Histoire de Henri le Grand, roi de France et de Navarre, 1 vol. 12mo. Proyart: Vie du Dauphin (Duke of Burgundy), jD^rc de Louis XV, 2 vols. 12mo. Histoire de Stanislas, roi de Pologne, due de Lorraine et de Bar, 1 vol. 12mo. Raguenet : Histoire du Vicomte de Turrenne, 1 vol. 12mo. Robertson : History of America, 2 vols. 4to., London, 1777. the reign of the emperor Charles V, 3 vols. 8vo., second American edition, Philadelphia, 1812. RoscoE : The Life and Pontificate of Leo X, 4 vols. 8vo., Philadelphia, 1805. Roy : Histoire de Jeanne d'Arc, 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1840. Sadler: Lingard's History of England continued, 1 vol. 12mo., Paris, 1836. Vertot : Histoire des Revolutions de Portugal, 1 vol. 12mo. TABLE OF AUTHORS. 365 Vertot: Histoire des Chevaliers de Malte, abregee en 1 vol. 12mo., Tours, 1837. Voltaire : Histoire de Charles XII, 1 vol. 12mo. Walter Scott : The Life of Napoleon Bmiaparie, 2 vols. 8vo., Exeter, 1839. Wilson: History of the American Revolution, 1 vol. 12mo., Baltimore, 1834. It is almost superfluous to observe, that several of the authors here mentioned, v. g. Roscoe, Walter Scott, Robertson, etc. have been re- sorted to as historians, but not as politicians or philosophers ; and have been followed when they relate well-substantiated facts, but not when they bring forward their own private views and religious prejudices. END OF vol. ir. •V f "^^82 4 I <1 P •J^. ,-^ '^ ^ , v~^ . -^^'' O V^ '/-' 'v" ^ ^ ^' -O' ^^ >^' ^2- -fi -^ •^o 0^ rC- i 1 \ \ •^ ■^- -p i I -A « 4 -y ^ '^^ 4 * a- ri. , - . ^. \^ ^\ ^ A^^ <> -":) •^. .A \ , .*] ' V ■I' . V -^^-^^ ^^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces '' Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide ■ Treatment Date: HAY - 2C5Z| PreservationTechnologiep A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATI0|l 111 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township. PA 16066 (724)779-2111 •V a\ •■iv' .0 C •\^' '■>'^ '\. ^ , V ^ . A^' \. V * o 0^ c^. ,\ -P r:. ■ ^ ,0O, .*.'* -o v\^ f ci-. .'^■ •o ^-' cJ- '^c. ?,^'' "^^^ ' 'r'. •v O ■O' '% V '> 0^ o-^ \^^ vV 'S-- 'ci- ^y^ V c; 0- c^ <> .-^ ■N^ V V .\. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 009 493 623 8