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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines, by Clayton
+Edwards, Illustrated by Florence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines
+       A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D.
+
+
+Author: Clayton Edwards
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 30, 2008  [eBook #25652]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TREASURY OF HEROES AND
+HEROINES***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Mark C. Orton and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
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+
+
+
+
+
+A TREASURY OF HEROES AND HEROINES
+
+A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure
+from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D.
+
+by
+
+CLAYTON EDWARDS
+Author of "The Story of Evangeline"
+
+Illustrated in Colour by Florence Choate and Elizabeth Curtis
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: JEANNE D'ARC DREW THE ARROW FROM HER BREAST WITH THE
+COURAGE OF A VETERAN--_See page 100_]
+
+
+
+Cupples and Leon Company
+New York
+
+Copyright, 1920, by Frederick A. Stokes Company
+
+All rights reserved. No part of this
+work may be reproduced without the
+written permission of the publishers
+
+Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+It would be pleasant indeed to gather the characters of this book
+together and listen to the conversation of wholly different but
+interested couples--for this is a book of contrasts and has been
+written as such. Lives of the most dramatic and adventurous quality
+have been gathered from all corners of the earth, and from every age in
+history, in such a way that they may cover the widest possible variety
+of human experience.
+
+The publishers believe that such a book would not be complete without
+some characters that are no less real because they have lived only in
+the minds of men. No explanation is needed for semi-historical
+characters like King Arthur, Robin Hood and William Tell, while Don
+Quixote, the Prince of Madness, and Rip Van Winkle, the Prince of
+Laziness, have been included, not because they were essentially heroic
+in themselves (although Don Quixote might well have claimed the laurel)
+but because they became heroes in the opinion of others through the
+very qualities that brought about their downfall. As involuntary
+heroes, they furnish a pleasant contrast to the more serious, actual
+and transcendental figures of saints, martyrs, warriors, discoverers
+and statesmen with which these pages are filled; they enrich the
+"Treasury," widen its range of colors and perform the necessary
+function of court jesters in the Hall of Fame.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+HEROES OF REALITY
+
+CHAPTER                                        PAGE
+
+     I BUDDHA                                     1
+
+    II JULIUS CAESAR                              12
+
+   III SAINT PATRICK                             26
+
+    IV KING ARTHUR OF BRITAIN                    33
+
+     V MOHAMMED                                  42
+
+    VI ALFRED THE GREAT                          52
+
+   VII ROBIN HOOD                                65
+
+  VIII SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY                72
+
+    IX DANTE                                     80
+
+     X ROBERT BRUCE                              89
+
+    XI JEANNE D'ARC                             100
+
+   XII CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS                     114
+
+  XIII WILLIAM THE SILENT                       127
+
+   XIV QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND               137
+
+    XV SIR FRANCIS DRAKE                        146
+
+   XVI HENRY HUDSON                             156
+
+  XVII PETER THE GREAT                          165
+
+ XVIII GEORGE WASHINGTON                        172
+
+   XIX JOHN PAUL JONES                          187
+
+    XX MOLLY PITCHER                            196
+
+   XXI NAPOLEON BONAPARTE                       201
+
+  XXII GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI                       216
+
+ XXIII ABRAHAM LINCOLN                          223
+
+  XXIV GRACE DARLING                            236
+
+   XXV FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE                     241
+
+  XXVI FATHER DAMIEN                            248
+
+ XXVII CATHERINE BRESHKOVSKY                    254
+
+XXVIII THEODORE ROOSEVELT                       262
+
+  XXIX EDITH CAVELL                             272
+
+   XXX KING ALBERT OF BELGIUM                   278
+
+  XXXI MARIA BOTCHKAREVA                        286
+
+
+HEROES OF FICTION
+
+ XXXII WILLIAM TELL                             297
+
+XXXIII DON QUIXOTE                              304
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"Jeanne d'Arc drew the arrow from her breast with the
+    courage of a veteran"                             _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                        FACING PAGE
+
+"King Arthur grasped the magic sword that none but the bravest
+    might hold"                                                  36
+
+"Robin Hood's band made merry by killing the King's deer"        68
+
+"'I have not yet begun to fight,' shouted Paul Jones"           188
+
+"The cannon balls fired by Molly Pitcher fell squarely in the
+    British lines"                                              196
+
+"Don Quixote suffered nobody to draw water from the well"       276
+
+
+
+
+A TREASURY OF HEROES AND HEROINES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+BUDDHA
+
+
+About five hundred years before the birth of Christ a mighty king
+reigned in India over the land of the Sakyas, from which the snowy tops
+of the Himalaya Mountains could be seen. His name was Suddhodana and he
+had two wives called Maya and Pajapati; but for a long time they bore
+him no children, and the King despaired of having an heir to his
+throne. Then Queen Maya bore a son and after he was born, the legends
+tell us, she had a dream in which she saw a great multitude of people
+bowing to her in worship. Wise men were summoned to interpret the
+dream, and they told her that the King's son, so golden in color and so
+well formed, was destined for greatness as surely as rivers ran to the
+sea--that he would become either a mighty conqueror who would subdue
+all the people of the earth, or a holy saint, a "Buddha" (the word for
+one enlightened) who would have more power over the minds of men than
+the mightiest conqueror could gain over their bodies.
+
+All this was confirmed in the minds of the wise men on account of the
+wonderful portents that took place at the birth of the child: flowers
+bloomed in barren places and springs gushed from dry rock on the day
+when the Prince was born. He was named by the King, "Siddartha,"--a
+word meaning one who always succeeds in what he undertakes--and because
+of the portents at his birth the King himself bowed down to his own son
+and did him homage.
+
+Now the King desired greatly that the first of the two prophecies
+should come to pass. He wished the Prince to be a conqueror, not a
+Buddha, and extend the power of the Sakyas by the sword through every
+part of the world. And he did everything in his power to bring this end
+about and to weaken the possibility that his son should ever be a holy
+man.
+
+When the child was still very young a further prophecy was made to the
+King--namely that the Prince would only become a Buddha after he had
+seen four common sights which for him would be four omens--an old man,
+a sick man, a dead man and a holy man in the yellow robe of a beggar.
+Then and then only, said the prophecy, the Prince would leave his
+country; furthermore, if he remained at home for a certain length of
+time he would never leave at all, but would turn all his attention to
+the art of war, and his armies would sweep over the face of the earth
+like a devouring flame.
+
+The King summoned his counsellors. He commanded them to make sure that
+no sick men or old men, no funeral escorts or beggars should ever be
+allowed on the streets of the city when the Prince was passing. All
+ugly sights were to be kept from him; he was to be surrounded with such
+pleasures and such beauties that he would never desire to leave his
+home; he was to know nothing of the meaning of death; poverty was to be
+hidden; suffering and sorrow of all sorts were to be concealed in his
+presence. In these ways, thought the King, any desire to be a priest
+would be stifled in the Prince, and he would at last become a mighty
+conqueror as the prophecy had foretold.
+
+In pleasure and luxury, surrounded by beautiful attendants, fed on the
+most delicious viands, hearing no sounds save music, laughter and the
+voices of delight, Prince Siddartha passed his boyhood. The King
+allowed him to study under wise men (who taught him only the most
+carefully prepared lessons), and it was notable that he easily learned
+all that was imparted to him and in a short time appeared to be wiser
+than his instructors. It was notable too that he possessed
+extraordinary skill at arms, for the King sent to him also the keenest
+archers and the mightiest swordsmen in his dominions, to teach him the
+art of war. These men whispered to each other that no more terrible
+warrior had ever been born than Siddartha, who soon was more than a
+match for the best of them and whose strength in comparison with theirs
+was as three to one.
+
+When a young man the Prince was married to his cousin Yasodhara. His
+mother had died in his earliest childhood, but that sad event took
+place too early for him to remember. Now he was happy in the possession
+of the most beautiful wife in all his father's dominions, for Yasodhara
+had been chosen for him on account of her great loveliness as well as
+for her sunny and gracious nature. Truly in all the history of the
+world no son of fortune had more in the way of love, treasure, beauty,
+and all things that make for happiness than the blessed Prince
+Siddartha!
+
+Up to his twenty-ninth year no sorrowful sight had come before his
+eyes, and he knew nothing of Death, Sickness or Old Age. Then, however,
+he stepped into his chariot one day to visit the pleasure grounds of
+the city, and on his way thither an old man ran across the street and
+fell in front of the horses and barely escaped death. Siddartha was
+startled at the sunken eyes, the wrinkled yellow cheeks and the gray
+locks of an old man, and turning to his attendant asked him what
+terrible misfortune had brought such a fate upon a fellow creature. And
+the attendant, inspired, we are told, by Heavenly spirits, said to the
+Prince that what he had seen was nothing but old age and the lot of all
+men--a lot to which he himself and the Prince with him must surely come
+in time.
+
+Sadly the Prince rode back to the Palace with his appetite for pleasure
+spoiled for the day, and when his father heard what had taken place he
+was greatly alarmed, for the first of the omens had now been fulfilled.
+
+It was not long before Siddartha looked also on Sickness. Try as he
+might the King could not keep sorrowful sights from the eyes of his son
+any longer. One day as the Prince went out behind his splendid horses,
+a man, writhing in the agony of disease, lay by the roadside, and the
+Prince was told that he suffered from some complaint of the body such
+as all men are heir to. And again he returned to the Palace more sad at
+heart than on the occasion when he had seen Old Age.
+
+When the Prince next went to drive in his chariot another terrible
+sight met his eyes. He beheld a still form carried upon a bier and
+asked his companion what it might be. He was told that he was now in
+the presence of Death, who came at last for all men, cutting them off
+from their friends and relatives and bearing them away, none knew
+whither. And the Prince returned to the Palace in deeper sadness than
+ever. Of what worth were all the joys that surrounded him if they were
+to be taken from him after he had learned to love them, and how might a
+man take pleasure in Love and Life if these were to be snatched away as
+soon as he had grown to realize their full value? The Prince could no
+longer take delight in the pleasures that surrounded him, or even in
+the love of his wife, who was about to bear him a child. And he was
+sick at heart with the fear that he would lose the things that he
+loved.
+
+When the King heard that three of the four omens had been fulfilled, he
+trembled with apprehension and stationed guards at all the city gates
+to intercept the Prince should he fly from home; for now that the
+prophecy had so far been fulfilled the King was sure it would soon be
+completed. Nevertheless he sent his soldiers to scour the streets for
+beggars and holy men and drive them away from the city.
+
+Only a few days afterward, the Prince again went forth in his chariot
+just as a beggar in yellow robes approached the walls. There was an
+expression of great peace upon the beggar's countenance, and he seemed
+far happier than the Prince himself. Siddartha asked the attendant who
+the man might be and what he did, and he received the reply that the
+stranger was a priest and sought happiness through giving up all the
+joys of the earth and begging his bread from door to door--and it
+seemed to the Prince as though a great light had suddenly burst through
+the clouds of his unhappiness, and he knew that he too must give up his
+palace and his pleasures, his wife and his future child and fare forth
+as a priest. Surely, thought the Prince, all the things that he enjoyed
+were no better than wraiths of mist that rose from the river in the
+morning, since like the mist they were forever changing, and must
+surely be terminated in sickness, old age or death itself; and he
+resolved to search for things more lasting than the happiness and
+pleasure of his youth.
+
+He also resolved to leave his kingdom and become a beggar in a foreign
+land, attempting to find through fasting and contemplation the truth
+that must lie behind the changing forms of life, for he knew well that
+there must be some deep cause for all the things that he had witnessed
+and some impelling force behind the universe. Otherwise the whole earth
+and all that was in it and all things that breathed upon its bosom
+would be idle and wicked delusions. And the Prince knew too that in him
+lay the power to discover the truth if he should search for it
+diligently and give his whole heart and mind to this one purpose.
+
+Just then a messenger came to him telling him that his wife had borne
+him a son. On hearing this the Prince cried out that he wished it were
+otherwise, for his new-born son would be a hindrance to his design and
+an added bond that he must tear from his heart before he could go away.
+
+That night, however, when all lay sleeping the Prince and one faithful
+servant made their way secretly from the Palace. It had strangely come
+to pass, perchance through the work of spirits, that all the guards at
+the Palace and the city gates were asleep, and the two went forth
+unhindered, riding on horse-back; and they spurred their horses to the
+utmost so when the morning came they would be far away. Then the Prince
+gave his attendant, who was named Channa, all the money and jewels that
+he possessed and told him to return to the Palace and tell the King
+that he, the Prince, had gone forth in search of enlightenment and
+would some day become a Buddha.
+
+When Channa departed, the Prince gave his fine clothes to a beggar who
+was passing and took in return the beggar's faded yellow robe, and he,
+who had been used to all the luxuries of the Court, went from door to
+door begging his food and eating the bitter bread of poverty.
+
+He crossed the river called the Ganges and came at last to a city named
+Rajagha. And here he soon attracted attention because his appearance
+and mien were so noble that even his coarse clothes and his new way of
+life could not disguise him. He called himself a prince no longer, but
+instead took the name of Gotama, this being one of the names of the
+family from which he sprang.
+
+In course of time the King of the new country where the Prince was
+begging his bread and meditating on Life and Death desired to see the
+holy man of whom he had heard much talk, and he offered the Prince
+lands and riches. But the Prince told him that he had already laid
+aside far greater riches than these, and that nothing in life mattered
+to him except his quest for the truth, which one day he would surely
+find. And the King, whose name was Bimbasara, asked him when he had
+found the truth to return and teach it to the people of his
+country--and this the Prince promised to do.
+
+For a long time the Prince lived in a cave not far from Rajagha and
+studied the faith of India as it was then taught, but his studies
+brought him no nearer to gaining the truth. So he went into the
+wilderness, where, he believed, fasting and meditation might bring him
+the things he sought.
+
+He traveled southward for many miles and entered the very heart of the
+great Indian jungle, teeming with poisonous snakes and filled with
+savage beasts. Here he prayed and fasted, seeking enlightenment; and he
+carried out his fasts with such severity that he nearly died as a
+result of them.
+
+While in the jungle the Prince met five other holy men who were so much
+impressed with his fasts and his thoughtful demeanor that they became
+his disciples. But when he ceased to fast because he did not come any
+nearer the truth by going hungry, these disciples left him, believing
+that he had strayed from the path of the truth and never would gain the
+enlightenment he sought.
+
+After several years the Prince left the jungle and commenced traveling
+through the country, begging his food wherever he happened to be. And
+now he was close to gaining the vision that he so greatly desired, for
+without his knowledge his years of thought and of self-denial had borne
+their fruit.
+
+One day, bitterly discouraged, and heartsick with his many failures and
+temptations, he seated himself beneath a peepul tree with the firm
+resolve that he would not stir from the spot until he gained the truth
+that he sought. And while he sat there, the legends tell us, he was
+assailed by all the powers of darkness and evil, and devils crowded
+upon him so thickly that they darkened the sky and threw all Nature
+into convulsions in which the earth shook and the air was filled with
+thunder. All night the Prince sat motionless and all through the night
+the evil forces strove to turn him from the truth that they knew he was
+about to achieve. In the morning they departed, and the Prince as he
+sat, saw flowers spring up and blossom all around him with miraculous
+swiftness. The air seemed purer than ever before, the sun was
+wonderfully bright and a peaceful serenity seemed to enfold the entire
+earth. And when night came and the stars awoke, the truth for which the
+Prince had been seeking flowed into his soul. He had indeed become a
+Buddha.
+
+Gone were the temptations and the sorrows in a divine peace--a peace
+that became the reward of all disciples of the religion that he
+founded. This peace was called by him Nirvana and his disciples say he
+is the only man who attained it in his lifetime, for Nirvana is
+supposed to come only to the spirits of the dead, who have purified
+themselves not in one life, but in many. In Buddha's belief (for as
+Buddha we shall now know him), human beings live many times and receive
+the reward or the punishment of past existences in those that follow.
+This belief is known as "the transmigration of souls." It is the
+foundation of the faith of Buddha which is believed in to-day by
+millions of persons in India and China, as well as in other countries.
+
+In the truth that Buddha had acquired he learned many things. Chief of
+them, as he believed, are four great facts of life and nature from
+which the soul cannot escape--that there will always be sorrow and
+suffering in the world; that these are caused by clinging to things
+that are always changing or dying; that the only way to obtain peace is
+to renounce these things and care for them no longer; and that the only
+way to live is to walk in the paths of righteousness, honesty, virtue,
+and to believe in the Buddhist faith.
+
+Buddha also believed that animals have souls just as men do, and that
+by some good action these animal souls become the souls of men. Then
+the souls go through many existences. If they are righteous they
+approach the peace of Nirvana, which is attainable only when they are
+entirely purified; if they are unrighteous they are cast down again
+into lower forms of life and once more have to struggle upward toward
+the truth. There is no escape from the consequences of sin in the
+Buddhist faith. Just so certainly as a man sins he will be punished for
+it--if not in this life in the next one--and if his sin is sufficiently
+deadly he will lose again the form of a man and return to the shape of
+a snake or a lizard to expiate his wickedness through countless
+generations.
+
+Heaven and Hell have a place in the belief of Buddha also. They are
+different from the Heaven and Hell that Christians know because in the
+Buddhist religion they are only temporary abodes for the spirit between
+its many existences on earth.
+
+When his new faith had come to him, Buddha left the jungle to preach it
+to mankind. On his way he met the five disciples that had deserted him
+and he told them that the truth had indeed come to him and that he was
+now a Buddha. After they heard him preach they were converted, and
+after three months the number of Buddha's disciples had increased to
+sixty, who, like himself, gave all their worldly possessions to assume
+the garments of beggars and ask for their bread from door to door.
+
+Buddha then told his disciples that they must go in different
+directions and teach all that desired to learn. He himself went back to
+Rajagha where King Bimbasara, who desired to know the truth, was
+living. And he preached to King Bimbasara and converted him, and the
+King presented Buddha with a bamboo grove in which he might hold his
+assemblies and preach to the many thousands that now came to hear his
+sermons.
+
+The fame of Buddha's teachings soon reached his native city and his
+father, the old King Suddhodana, yearned to see the son who might have
+been a great conqueror but who had chosen to be one of the most
+enlightened teachers that the world has ever seen. So he sent a retinue
+to greet Buddha and ask him to return to his native city. One thousand
+men went forth upon this errand, but none returned, for all were
+converted by Buddha and remained to listen to his teachings and then to
+spread the faith themselves. Then King Suddhodana sent another
+thousand, and these too remained with Buddha. At last, however, he sent
+one messenger, the same Channa who had accompanied the Prince when he
+left the city, and the faithful Channa bore the message to Buddha.
+
+Buddha decided to visit his father and see his family once more, for he
+desired to bring the faith to the land of the Sakyas. With thousands of
+his followers accompanying him he went to the royal city and met his
+father without the walls. And the father's heart was heavy to see how
+the son had changed, for Buddha was no longer young, strong and
+handsome, but wrinkled and emaciated, with gray hair and a bent figure
+from the hardships he had endured in many years of wandering and
+preaching.
+
+Buddha would not enter the city of his countrymen but preached in a
+banyan grove without the walls. And when he preached he converted many
+of his former friends and relatives. His wife whom he had deserted and
+who had grieved for him ever since, gained happiness once more, for she
+too, became converted to the Buddhist faith, and entered the Buddhist
+sisterhood, becoming a nun. Even the King himself was finally converted
+by Buddha's teaching, and we are told that he too entered the faith and
+became a disciple. The son that Buddha had only seen once when a day
+old became a disciple also, and, when he had mastered the teachings of
+Buddhism, was made a monk in the Buddhist order.
+
+Buddha lived to be eighty years old and all the rest of his life was
+spent in traveling through the world and preaching the faith wherever
+he went. The land that he visited most frequently lay on both sides of
+the river Ganges and for thousands of years has been called the
+Buddhist Holy Land. Wise men of all ages have believed in the faith as
+he taught it, and even to-day and in modern European nations there are
+those that profess to be of the Buddhist faith.
+
+The order of monks that was founded by Buddha is the oldest existing
+religious order in the world. For nearly two thousand five hundred
+years these monks have practised renunciation and high thinking and
+have worn the yellow robes of the holy man and the beggar.
+
+Many tales and legends sprang up concerning Buddha even in his
+lifetime. In fact it is only through legends that we know he was ever a
+Prince at all. He had a marvelous faculty for controlling the anger of
+wild beasts and once tamed an elephant that had killed many people,
+simply by speaking to it in a quiet tone, at which the great animal,
+which had been raging through the streets of Rajagha, followed him like
+a dog. A tale of his great wisdom that is still told by his disciples,
+is of a woman who had lost her child through Death and who came before
+Buddha maddened with grief, begging him to bring the child back to life
+or at least to provide some comfort from the sorrow that tortured her.
+And Buddha told her to get mustard seed from a house that Death had
+never visited and when she had done so to bring it to him and he would
+bring the child back to life.
+
+The poor woman went from door to door asking if Death had visited
+there, and in every home the answer was "yes!" Nowhere could she find a
+house that was free from the blight of Death. Then the woman saw that
+the only happiness lay in renouncing the ties that bound her to other
+human beings and in seeking the peace of Nirvana, for Buddha had taken
+this way of teaching her that Death is the common lot of all; and she
+entered the Buddhist sisterhood and found there the happiness that she
+sought.
+
+Buddha was supposed to have lived many times and there are many tales
+of his deeds in previous lives. Some of them tell of happenings when he
+was an animal and how he finally acquired the human form. Others tell
+of his good deeds when his spirit had entered the human body but was
+not yet ennobled sufficiently to become a Buddha.
+
+There are hundreds of such tales in the Buddhist faith. Some deal with
+Buddha himself; some with his disciples. In all the stories, however,
+the virtue of self-sacrifice and of renunciation is strongly painted.
+It is the cornerstone of the Buddhist religion.
+
+When Buddha grew very old he called his disciples around him and
+enjoined them to preach the faith after he had passed away for he knew
+that at last the hand of Death was near. He died in a little town in
+the depths of the jungle, and heavenly music sounded and the trees
+burst into blossom as his spirit passed away. He was given a funeral
+with all the honor due to a mighty king and after his body was burned,
+eight cities requested a share of his ashes. These were placed in eight
+great tombs, and the ruins can be seen to the present day.
+
+After the death of Buddha the religion that he preached rapidly spread
+through Asia. To-day it is taught in very different forms in different
+countries, and the Buddhism of Thibet in China has many elaborate
+ceremonies attached to it that the Buddhism of India lacks completely.
+Unlike most of the great religions of the world, Buddhism has never
+been spread by the sword, but has crept into the minds of men through
+its own power. And everywhere it is granted that Buddha was a great man
+and a great teacher, and that many of the principles he taught are
+second only to those included in the Christian faith.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+JULIUS CAESAR
+
+
+Once in a great while a man is born with such a temper of brain and
+will that he seems like a bright star among other men and can do things
+easily that are impossible for others to accomplish. One hundred years
+before the birth of Christ such a man was born in the city of Rome. His
+name was Julius Caesar and he came from a long line of Roman noblemen
+which ran back so far into history that it not only reached beyond the
+beginning of Rome itself, but was believed to have sprung from the
+goddess, Venus. Caesar's father died when he was little more than a boy
+and his mother was partly responsible for the greatness that he later
+maintained, for she strove constantly to develop in him those qualities
+of mind and character that were an inheritance from his family,
+although they were brought to far greater light in Caesar himself.
+Little is known of Caesar's boyhood. It is probable that it was not very
+different from that of other young Romans who belonged to the nobility,
+or, as it was then called, the patrician class. He had a tutor named
+Gnipho who was not a Roman by birth, but a Gaul--that is a man who came
+from one of the less civilized tribes that lived to the north of Italy
+in the country that is now called modern France--and received from him
+the usual education.
+
+Apparently Caesar was not a prodigy when a young man, and there seemed
+little to distinguish him from any other young nobleman who went about
+the city in dandified apparel with hair oiled and perfumed,--but Caesar
+had quietly made up his mind to be the first man in Rome and to surpass
+all others in greatness. Occasionally he showed this resolution. And
+once on his birthday, when passing the statue of the great conqueror,
+Alexander, he wept because he had reached an age when Alexander had
+conquered the entire world, while he, Caesar, as yet had done nothing.
+
+Rome, in Caesar's boyhood, was embroiled in civil war, and the leaders
+of the Roman armies were constantly fighting among themselves. There
+had been a great public man named Marius who championed the rights of
+the common people, or the plebeians, and who was greatly loved by the
+more humble men of Rome, but Marius had been overthrown by a fierce,
+cruel nobleman named Sulla, who made himself the head of the Roman
+State and slew every one who stood in his way.
+
+Here appeared the first sign that Caesar possessed the qualities of
+greatness--for while still a young man, he dared to defy the terrible
+Sulla. Caesar had just married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, and was
+ordered by Sulla to divorce her. But he resolutely refused to allow the
+word of the dictator to come between him and his wife, and was obliged
+to leave Rome by night to escape Sulla's vengeance. He fled into
+Samnium, but was followed there by Sulla's soldiers, taken prisoner and
+brought back to Rome. And Sulla would certainly have put him to death
+if some powerful men had not interceded for him and asked for his life.
+"I will grant this boon," said Sulla, with a glance that made them
+quail, "but take heed for this young man who wears his belt so
+loosely," meaning that he saw in Caesar dangerous qualities that might
+one day threaten the elaborate machine of Roman government.
+
+As all young Romans were obliged to serve in the army, and as Caesar was
+not safe in Rome where Sulla at any time might send assassins to murder
+him, he went to the far east where a Roman army was waging war against
+a king named Mithridates. At the siege of a town called Mytelene Caesar
+so distinguished himself for bravery that he won the civic crown, for
+saving the life of a fellow soldier in the face of the enemy.
+
+When Sulla died, Caesar returned to Rome, and became one of the leaders
+of the party that had been against Sulla and his government. And Caesar
+did everything that he could think of to win power for himself and
+damage Sulla's adherents. He became an orator and a lawyer and
+prosecuted certain men who had misused the money of the people. But
+although it was clearly proved by Caesar that these men were no better
+than common thieves, the Roman senators and judges were so corrupt that
+it was impossible for Caesar to have them punished as they deserved.
+
+Caesar was not discouraged, however. He believed that if he had been a
+better orator the men would have been brought to justice in spite of
+all the obstacles that stood in his path; so, on the advice of a friend
+named Cicero, who was the greatest orator in the world at that time, he
+started on a journey to Rhodes to study rhetoric under a great teacher
+of that art named Appollonius Molo.
+
+Travel from Rome was as dangerous as going to war, for there were
+bandits everywhere and the seas swarmed with pirates. And when Caesar
+took ship to go to Rhodes, the pirates swarmed about his vessel and
+took him prisoner. Because he was a nobleman and an important person
+the pirates did not put him to death but demanded ransom for him. They
+told Caesar the sum of money they had asked and he agreed to obtain it
+for them, and haughtily told them that he was even greater than they
+had supposed and worth three times the money they had demanded. So the
+pirates trebled the amount called for, and told Caesar that if they did
+not receive it he would be put to a cruel death, but he waited
+unconcernedly; and while in the hands of the pirates he treated them
+almost as companions and shared in their games and exercises.
+
+At times he even read to them poems and compositions of his own. But
+the pirates did not understand the highflown Roman phrases and did not
+give Caesar the applause that he believed his work had merited.
+
+"By the Gods," he said laughing, "you are ignorant barbarians, unfit to
+live. When I am freed you had best look to yourselves, for I shall
+return and nail you to the cross."
+
+The pirates were angered by these words, but they did not slay their
+bold-tongued captive on account of the money they expected, and when
+Caesar's ransom came he was set free. But, true to his word, the first
+thing he did when set ashore was to gather some men and ships and
+pursue them. Setting upon them with the swiftness of lightning he
+killed a great number and took many prisoners. And the pirates then
+found to their cost that he was a man of his word, for Caesar had every
+prisoner crucified, as he had warned them he would do.
+
+He then continued his journey to Rhodes as if nothing had happened and
+studied rhetoric under Molo; and so apt a pupil was he that in a very
+short time he became an orator second only to Cicero himself.
+
+Rome was in great turmoil and confusion at this time, and the vice of
+the men that ruled had weakened her power. There was a great revolt of
+slaves not only at Rome but throughout Italy, and the slaves formed
+into an army strong enough to defeat the Roman legions.
+
+The slaves barred the roads from Rome, captured their former masters
+and made them fight as gladiators in the arena. They set towns afire,
+killed women and children, plundered, murdered and cruelly ravaged the
+country, until they were defeated in battle by two military leaders who
+were sent against them--a rich man named Crassus, who was one of the
+most powerful men in Rome, and a soldier named Pompey, who was
+considered by the Romans to be one of the greatest generals that their
+city had ever seen.
+
+While these things were being accomplished Caesar had finished his
+course in rhetoric and returned to Rome, and made his plans to win a
+glory greater than that of Pompey and Crassus, who were high in public
+favor through their victory over the slaves.
+
+To succeed in Rome without money was impossible in those days, for
+large sums had to be expended in bribery and in gaining the favor of
+the idle and dissolute Roman people, who refused to work but demanded
+to be amused at the expense of others, and would always follow the man
+who treated them with the greatest display of liberality. So Caesar
+borrowed huge sums of money which he planned to repay from the sums he
+could gain when once he was elected to public offices. It is not to be
+thought that Caesar always was honest and just, and it has already been
+shown that sometimes he was heartless and cruel--but in his favor it
+must be said that he never wantonly injured anybody, as so many others
+did in the cruel times in which he lived--and that in all things,
+except where his own power and future were concerned, he was merciful
+and temperate.
+
+Caesar became an official known as quaestor, going to Spain in charge of
+certain affairs pertaining to Roman government, and later on he was
+made a curule aedile.
+
+In this office his generosity delighted the people. Caesar, with
+borrowed riches, made a lavish display to ensure future political favor
+at their hands, and was more magnificent than any of the aediles who had
+preceded him. At one time he displayed in the arena three hundred and
+twenty pairs of gladiators who fought with swords and spears and with
+the net and trident,--and he would have brought in a greater number had
+not the Senate feared to allow so many armed men in Rome at one time.
+But Caesar did something else that delighted the people even more than
+the show of the gladiators. One morning they beheld the statues of
+Marius, that had been overthrown by Sulla, set up once more in their
+old places, bright with gold and ornaments. Marius had been the
+people's idol, and Caesar by this bold stroke gained much of the
+popularity that had formerly been attached to that beloved leader.
+
+Another office that Caesar attempted to win was that of Pontifex
+Maximus--that is, the High Priest and leader in all of the religious
+ceremonies of the Romans, an office with great power and prestige and
+the stepping stone to greater things by far.
+
+Caesar staked everything on winning this office and he increased his
+debts, which were already enormous, amounting to hundreds of thousands
+of dollars in our money, to bribe and flatter and make sure of enough
+votes to win the election. He was so deeply in debt, he told his
+mother, that in case he did not win the office he would be obliged to
+leave Rome, never to return. But luck was on his side and he succeeded,
+making his term as Pontifex Maximus notable by revising the Roman
+calendar so thoroughly that, with only slight changes, it is used
+to-day.
+
+Later on he was made Praetor, and by means of these various offices he
+succeeded in becoming one of the leading men in Rome--although his
+greatness was not yet as bright as that of Pompey, who had, as he said,
+only to stamp his foot to fill Italy with soldiers.
+
+Then there befell in Rome what was known as the conspiracy of Catiline,
+in which Caesar had a narrow escape from the intrigue and malice of the
+noblemen who hated him because he was a foe of Sulla's and a champion
+of the people. Catiline was a nobleman of violent temper and bad
+reputation. With many companions he strove to win public office in
+Rome, and plotted, if unsuccessful, to raise an army, set fire to the
+city and place his party in power by rioting and violence. And under
+Catiline's government Caesar, who probably knew nothing of the affair,
+was to be elected to public office in the new government.
+
+The conspiracy was discovered, chiefly through the vigilance of Cicero,
+who was Consul at the time. Catiline had fled from Rome and was raising
+an army, but a number of the other plotters were arrested. The noblemen
+who hated Caesar did everything in their power to have his name included
+in the list of the conspirators, but Cicero resolutely refused to
+believe that Caesar had been in league with them and would not press the
+charges against him. Through the gifted oratory of Cicero, however, a
+sentence of death was brought against all the prisoners, who were
+promptly put to death in Cicero's presence.
+
+Caesar's wife, Cornelia, had died sometime before these events took
+place, and Caesar had then married a relative of Pompey. At the festival
+of Bona Dea, where only women were admitted, and which was held at
+Caesar's house because he was Pontifex Maximus, a great scandal took
+place owing to the fact that a young man, dressed in woman's clothes
+was discovered hiding in the house while the festival was going on.
+This bade fair to injure Caesar's name in the city, and partly on this
+account he divorced his wife, Pompeia, saying that while nothing evil
+had been proved against her, yet Caesar's wife must be above even the
+breath of suspicion.
+
+After this Caesar went to Spain to govern that land for the Romans.
+While there he had much military experience that helped him to become
+one of the mightiest generals the world has ever seen, and in his
+struggles against the wild, hill tribes he laid the seeds of success
+for his later wars in Gaul,--wars in which he was to carry the Roman
+eagles into lands that had only been known by hearsay and legend.
+
+When Caesar returned from Spain he did his utmost to cement the bonds of
+friendship between himself and Pompey and Crassus--with Pompey, because
+he was the greatest man in Rome and because Caesar hoped to rise through
+his patronage,--with Crassus because he was possessed of fabulous
+riches, that Caesar would have great need of in fulfilling his ambitious
+designs. To strengthen his friendship with Pompey he forced his own
+daughter to marry him. The alliance of these three men is called the
+First Triumvirate.
+
+Caesar was eager at this time to be elected Consul, an office that would
+give him great power in the Roman state, and with his usual success and
+some luck he succeeded in doing so. With him was elected another Consul
+named Bibulus, who was put into office by the noblemen to check Caesar
+and limit his ambitious designs, which included doing all that he could
+to better the condition of the common people. But Caesar soon had the
+upper hand in all the affairs of the consulship, so that the people
+said jokingly that the two consuls for the year were Julius and Caesar,
+instead of Caesar and Bibulus.
+
+Among other things that Caesar accomplished was the passing of a land
+law that provided land for all of Pompey's old soldiers, and was also
+designed to give land to the people at Rome who were without occupation
+and often on the verge of starvation. Naturally this law made Caesar
+even more popular with Pompey, as for the people they cheered him
+lustily and said among themselves that this Julius Caesar was certainly
+a most noble and generous leader. Had he not been the follower of
+Marius and replaced his statues which were overthrown by tyranny? Had
+he not provided games the like of which the people had never seen
+before? And now, by his land law, had he not shown that he was devoted
+to the poor, ready at all times to fight their battles and to provide
+generously for them?
+
+Such were the means by which Caesar endeared himself to the Romans. And
+now was to come the opportunity by which at a single leap he placed
+himself above all others. The province of Gaul which lay to the
+northwest of Italy, and included most of what is now modern France, was
+an extremely rich and fertile country, occupied by wild tribes that
+were hardly friendly to the Romans. Through his political power, and
+much scheming, Caesar had himself made governor of all Gaul for five
+years. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, for he could not only make
+himself famous as a conqueror by subduing the Gaulish tribes, but could
+raise an enormous army, devoted to his interests, by which he could
+take by force the entire control of the Roman State as Sulla had done
+before him.
+
+Naturally Caesar did not voice these designs, but he entertained them
+just the same, and began a series of wars in Gaul in which over a
+million of his enemies are said to have perished on the battlefield.
+
+When Caesar entered upon his duties in governing Gaul, certain tribes
+came to him with complaints of a people called the Helvetii, who were
+leaving their own country, or what is now Switzerland, to enter upon
+the more fertile and less mountainous lands of their neighbors. Caesar
+mustered his soldiers and marched against the Helvetii, meeting them at
+a place called Bibracte. Here he showed how skilfully he could direct
+the Roman legions, for in a comparatively short battle the Helvetii
+were entirely overthrown, and a terrible slaughter followed. Caesar
+himself, in writing of this battle, says that out of three hundred and
+sixty-eight thousand men, women and children, who composed the tribe of
+the Helvetii, only one hundred and ten thousand were left after the
+battle. The poor beaten remnant of the tribe he ordered at once to
+retrace their steps into Switzerland and to enter Gaul no more.
+
+His success in dealing with the Helvetii turned the eyes of all Gaul
+upon the conqueror. Many tribes then asked his aid against Ariovistus,
+a German chief who came from across the river Rhine and with his yellow
+haired followers, clad in the skins of animals, was plundering the
+Gaulish province. Caesar, with the quickness that always won him success
+in battle, advanced against Ariovistus and completely defeated him,
+driving his men in confusion back across the Rhine to the lands they
+had come from.
+
+In the following spring there was great danger that all Gaul would
+revolt to free itself from the control of the Romans. Of all the tribes
+that were opposed to him, Caesar considered that the Belgae, the people
+who lived in what is now Belgium, were the bravest and the most
+dangerous enemies against whom he must fight. So he marched against
+them and placed his legions behind strong fortifications until he could
+gain a favorable moment to come forth and attack them. The Belgae tried
+all sorts of tricks and ruses to draw Caesar from his position, but they
+did not succeed in doing this. Then, perhaps because they had not
+sufficient food, they commenced a retreat back to their own country,
+from which they had issued to attack Caesar. On their heels rode the
+Roman cavalry, who harassed them constantly, darting in and killing
+stragglers and attacking the rear guard whenever the opportunity
+offered.
+
+One night, however, when the Romans were about to encamp in some wooded
+country on the River Sambre, three tribes of the Belgae fell upon them
+in a surprise attack that came so swiftly and so violently that the
+Roman legions were almost routed. Caesar's force was not wholly composed
+of Romans, and all the soldiers under his command except the Romans
+fled pell mell from the field, but the Roman soldiers, in spite of
+everything, stood firm, displaying the marvelous discipline that had
+conquered the world, and soon had victory in their grasp. But the Roman
+soldiers were seldom merciful and scarcely a foeman escaped the
+slaughter that followed.
+
+That winter Caesar returned to northern Italy, leaving his legions in
+Gaul under the command of his lieutenants. In his winter retreat he
+enjoyed himself and spent enormous sums of money, listening eagerly to
+news of everything that had taken place in Rome since his departure.
+
+In the following spring his friend and political partner, Crassus, was
+killed while engaging in battle with the Parthians in the east, leaving
+Pompey and Caesar the only two men of first importance in Roman affairs.
+In that year also the Roman Senate prolonged Caesar's rule of Gaul for
+five years more.
+
+When spring came Caesar led his legions from their winter encampments to
+battle against their enemies once more, and this time the victims of
+his skill were two German tribes who had again crossed over the Rhine
+to invade Gaul.
+
+Caesar routed them and chased them back across the Rhine, building a
+bridge to pursue them into Germany. Then he came back to Gaul,
+destroying his bridge behind him; and made his plans to invade the
+island of Britain, which is now England, Scotland and Wales. In Britain
+there lived tribes that were considered to hold the last extremity of
+the earth. Beyond them was nothing except mystery and darkness.
+
+Boats were built by the Roman soldiers, who had been trained by Caesar
+to turn their hand to any kind of labor, and the Roman army rowed
+across the English channel to the island where the warlike Britons
+awaited their coming. The Romans sprang from their boats into water up
+to their necks and waded ashore to battle, killing and capturing a
+large number of Britons, many of whom Caesar took back with him into
+Gaul to adorn his triumphal entry into Rome when his term as governor
+of Gaul had come to an end.
+
+The Roman Senate was astonished at Caesar's success and all Rome rang
+with his fame. The island of Britain was held to be the last extreme
+that Roman arms could reach, and hitherto had been nothing but a place
+of fables and wild sea tales, and the Senate declared a thanksgiving in
+Caesar's honor that was to last twenty days.
+
+That winter Caesar again returned to northern Italy, leaving his army
+under the command of his lieutenants, for, possessed of a great
+ambition to become the ruler of Rome, he desired to learn everything
+that was taking place there. His absence was taken by the Gauls as a
+sign that his power was weakening, and they considered that they had a
+splendid chance to revolt successfully and throw off the Roman power.
+And among them there sprang up a leader named Vercingetorix, who in his
+way was almost as great a genius as Caesar himself, possessed of
+boundless courage and hardihood.
+
+A revolt in Gaul at that time would endanger all Caesar's chances for
+success in Rome. Should his army be overcome he would have no means of
+enforcing his power there, and a defeat would utterly destroy the
+prestige that he had built up among the Romans at the cost of so much
+money and labor. So Caesar hurried across the Alps and after maneuvering
+his legions in a manner that showed to the world he was a genius in the
+art of war, he succeeded in surrounding the greater part of the forces
+of Vercingetorix.
+
+To save his comrades Vercingetorix gave in to Caesar, and galloped out
+of his stronghold to give up his sword. He laid his arms at Caesar's
+feet and surrendered himself as a captive. Caesar kept him as a prisoner
+for a number of years, after which time he was taken to Rome and forced
+to walk in the triumph of the conqueror. Then he suffered the fate of
+the captives of Rome. He was shut up in a dungeon and strangled, and
+his body was thrown upon one of the refuse heaps of the mighty city.
+
+Continued success in Gaul had by this time made Caesar's name so great
+in Rome that the Senate had grown to fear him. Pompey too was jealous
+of his growing power, and Caesar was finally ordered by the Senate to
+disband his army. The two officers of the people, called the tribunes,
+whose names were Antony and Cassius, vetoed this act on the part of the
+Senate, and were hunted from Rome and fled to Caesar's camp for refuge.
+
+Then the Senate, wildly afraid that Caesar would return at the head of
+his troops and become a tyrant like Sulla, declared war against Caesar
+and put in Pompey's hands the task of humbling his former friend. Caesar
+had no intention of disbanding his troops. His soldiers loved him
+deeply and would follow wherever he led them. And Caesar exhorted his
+men to stand by him, promising them honor and riches if he should
+succeed in overcoming his enemies at Rome, and the men with wild cheers
+swore that they would follow him to the death.
+
+At the head of a powerful and well disciplined army that was devoted to
+him, Caesar advanced on Rome. When he came to a stream called the
+Rubicon, which marked the limit of his power as governor of Gaul, he
+hesitated for a brief time, as there was still time for him to draw
+back from his tremendous venture had he seen fit to do so--but at
+length he plunged into the stream with the remark, "The die is cast,"
+and advanced upon the city that he intended to win for himself.
+
+Pompey had been through an exceedingly hard time in getting soldiers to
+follow his banner, for the reputation of Caesar was very formidable and
+his army even more so. Finding that it was impossible to make a stand
+against Caesar in Italy, Pompey fled across the Mediterranean Sea,
+leaving Caesar the master of Rome and Italy as well. Caesar, however, was
+not in the habit of leaving an enemy to fly unmolested. He pursued
+Pompey to Thessaly and there fought a battle against him in which
+Pompey was utterly defeated and his soldiers scattered and routed.
+Pompey fled to Egypt, where Caesar followed him--and the first thing
+that was brought to Caesar when he arrived was Pompey's head. The once
+great Roman had been treacherously murdered by the Egyptians, who
+believed that in so doing they would curry favor with Caesar.
+
+In Egypt there was a beautiful queen named Cleopatra, who used all her
+great art to force Caesar to fall in love with her. She believed that
+when he loved her he would place her firmly on the Egyptian throne and
+send the Roman soldiers against her enemies. So completely did she
+succeed that Caesar, who never had been averse to the charms of
+beautiful women, remained at her court for a considerable time and led
+his armies against a king named Pharnaces at Cleopatra's bidding. After
+this he returned to Rome, where he was made dictator, with absolute
+power, and was as great as Sulla had ever been.
+
+But there were still a number of Romans who refused to submit to his
+power, and Caesar was compelled to go once more to Africa to vanquish
+Pompey's friends, Scipio and Cato, who were raising a new army against
+him. With his usual military genius, he overthrew them easily and
+returned again to Rome.
+
+Nothing in Roman history equalled his welcome there. He was received as
+a returning king and the honors that were heaped upon him were greater
+than had been given to any other Roman in all the long centuries that
+Rome had been a city. He was called "Father of His Country" and had a
+bodyguard of Roman noblemen to accompany him wherever he went. His
+person was considered sacred, and the month of Quintilis was called
+after his name, July, for Julius, the name it has borne from that far
+time to the present day.
+
+Now, in his hour of triumph and greatness, Caesar showed himself of far
+different mettle from any Roman who had previously gained power over
+the state. He did not mar his success by murdering his enemies as Sulla
+had done, but rather sought to be the friend of all, and busied himself
+with good deeds and public works that would benefit the people. And
+while a royal crown was offered to him many times,--notably by the same
+Marc Antony who had fled to his camp as a fugitive when the Senate rose
+against his power--Caesar refused to accept it, believing that he could
+govern wisely and temperately without the name of King, which was
+bitter in the ears of all true Romans.
+
+However, his kindness did not save him, and his glory was short lived.
+Certain Romans considered that their state had fallen under the power
+of a tyrant, and believed that Rome could be brought back to its former
+freedom by Caesar's death. A conspiracy was hatched against him among
+the senators, and one of its leaders was a man named Brutus, to whom
+Caesar had shown every kindness. Brutus, with his comrade, Cassius, and
+some sixty others held secret meetings at night in which they discussed
+the best way to murder Caesar, and it was finally decided that they
+would fall upon him with swords and daggers when he entered the Senate
+House.
+
+In connection with this evil plot a strange thing happened. Caesar was
+approached by an old man who claimed to be a prophet or a soothsayer.
+This man warned him that on a certain day, which began what was called
+the Ides of March, he must not stir out of his house or evil would come
+to him. Caesar laughed at this prediction, but on the night before this
+very day, his wife, Calpurnia, had an evil dream in which she beheld
+specters walking in the streets of Rome; and she begged Caesar as he
+loved her to remain at home. Caesar was about to give in to her request
+when Brutus called at his house to take him to the Senate, and, knowing
+of the conspiracy, of which he was one of the leaders, Brutus ridiculed
+Caesar for being frightened by the dream of his wife and persuaded him
+to go, although Calpurnia wept bitterly when he departed, believing
+that she would never see him again.
+
+On the way to the Senate Caesar passed the soothsayer, and remembering
+his prediction called out to him that the Ides of March were come.
+
+"Aye, Caesar," replied the strange old man, "but not yet past." And
+Caesar entered the Senate.
+
+As he took his place he was surrounded by the conspirators who crowded
+about him with their weapons ready to hand under their cloaks and
+robes, and while one of their number presented a petition to Caesar, and
+drew his cloak aside, Casca, another conspirator, stabbed him from
+behind. Then, as Caesar turned and grasped Casca's arm, the whole
+murderous pack of them set upon him, crowding and jostling each other
+to drive their weapons into his body. And when Caesar saw the hand of
+Brutus, his best friend, treacherously raised against him, he drew his
+cloak over his face so that he might keep his dignity in the agony of
+death, and exclaiming "You, too, Brutus?" fell at the base of Pompey's
+statue, which was stained with the life blood of the man who had
+conquered him.
+
+So died Julius Caesar, whose name is even brighter after two thousand
+years than it was in the time when he lived. As to the conspirators
+they profited nothing by their deed, for the Romans, inspired by an
+oration made at Caesar's bier by Marc Antony, set fire to their
+dwellings and drove them from the city. Within three years not one of
+them remained alive. Rome soon proved that she could not live without a
+master, and the power that Caesar had won passed into other hands that
+were not so great or worthy as his own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SAINT PATRICK
+
+
+No saint's name is more familiar than holy Saint Patrick's. Legends
+have sprung up around it as thick as the grass of Ireland from which he
+is believed to have chased the serpents into the sea--but in all the
+calendar hardly a saint is known less about than this marvelous man,
+who carried the Christian religion to every corner of the emerald
+island.
+
+Saint Patrick was not a native of Ireland--he was born, perhaps in 373
+A.D., in the little town of Banavem Taberniae, a Roman town in ancient
+Scotland not far from the modern city of Glasgow. Rome had ruled the
+world for hundreds of years and the swords of her soldiers had been
+uplifted in every known land. Hence it was that Saint Patrick came into
+the world as a future citizen of Rome and the son of a wealthy and
+respected Roman colonist. His father was named Calpornius and was a
+deacon of the Christian church in the town where he lived, and the
+mother of the future saint was also a devout Christian, the niece of
+the renowned Bishop Martin of the city of Tours in France.
+
+Calpornius and his wife were so ardent in religion that they spent day
+and night in teaching their son the story of the gospel and the psalms.
+They desired first of all that he should be a good Christian and a
+bearer of the faith--but they wearied the growing boy with long hours
+of study and monotonous recitals of religious hymns and proverbs when
+he was eager to be ranging the hills or playing with his fellows. At
+that time he had no particular desire to be a priest, and, like most
+boys, was far more interested in the stories of heroes than the stories
+of saints, preferring to hear of the wild Scottish chiefs and the Roman
+Generals with whom they had engaged in bitter warfare.
+
+He thirsted for adventure, and adventure was to come to him. Those were
+wild days, and law only reached as far as it could be upheld by the
+sword and the arrow. Pirates harried the seas and from the north the
+galleys of the sea robbers were soon to range southward in search of
+lands where plunder was to be found and men and women to be carried
+into slavery.
+
+One night, when a gale was blowing from the northeast, St. Patrick, we
+are told, sat with some friends in the glowing light of a great peat
+fire, where they warmed themselves at the same time that they told
+stories of adventure and sang Scottish songs as wild and melancholy as
+the wind that was scouring the hills. Saint Patrick was now a lad of
+sixteen, with well knit limbs and a powerful body that made him appear
+older than he really was, and at the same time gave promise of greater
+strength to come. He listened keenly to the singing, but at the same
+time gave ear to sounds that he heard without the hut, for the rough
+voices of men speaking an unknown tongue seemed to be mingling with the
+noise of the storm. At last he sprang up with a shout of warning, a
+shout that was answered by a battle cry from without. A pirate galley
+had made its way to the shore and the crew were engaged on a raid to
+capture slaves. Some of Saint Patrick's companions were clubbed or cut
+down where they sat, but he was thrown and strongly bound, dragged
+roughly to the shore and tossed on board the robber craft that quickly
+made its way to sea in spite of the tremendous surf that broke over the
+backs of the oarsmen.
+
+For several days they fought the sea and at last came to the coast of
+northern Ireland, where Saint Patrick was sold as a slave to an Irish
+chief named Miliuc. It is probable that the pirates gained a rich
+reward for the clean-limbed boy, whose strength and ability were
+evident to all who saw him. When the bargain was finished they boarded
+their vessel and sailed away, leaving the luckless boy in the hands of
+his new master.
+
+And straightway there commenced for Saint Patrick a bitterly hard life,
+for little kindness was wasted on those who were sold into bondage, and
+slaves were compelled to labor terribly with aching muscles and empty
+bellies, beaten and cuffed at the whim of their master--who had a
+perfect right to slay them if he so desired Hunger, blows and fatigue
+were Saint Patrick's portion and were added to the homesickness of a
+young man torn from affectionate parents.
+
+And then Saint Patrick found consolation in the religious teachings
+that had been drummed into his unwilling ears, and in the midst of his
+suffering he turned to his faith for comfort. He remembered the psalms
+that had been taught by his father and mother and said them repeatedly,
+and he even forbore at times to eat his meagre rations, thinking that
+by fasting he might prove worthy in the eyes of the Lord.
+
+And one night he had a dream in which he heard a voice, which said to
+him: "Fast no more, but fly, for a vessel now awaits you to carry you
+away from your bondage. Truly you shall behold your parents again and
+once more be free and happy."
+
+Saint Patrick woke in amazement after this dream, but he was so certain
+that the voice which spoke to him was real that he did not hesitate to
+obey it. Watching his opportunity he slipped away from the chief who
+had held him for six years in bitter servitude, and walking and running
+by turns he made his way southward in search of the vessel that he knew
+must be awaiting him.
+
+He did not concern himself about the path, for he felt that Heaven
+would guide him; and indeed after he had marched for two hundred miles,
+he came to the coast, and just as he had dreamed a vessel lay at anchor
+near the shore and some of the sailors were standing on the beach.
+
+Saint Patrick ran up to them and implored the captain to carry him away
+from Ireland back to his own country. His wild appearance startled the
+master of the vessel, but after considerable doubt the captain
+consented, and Saint Patrick boarded the ship where he was to work his
+passage across the channel.
+
+They set sail at once and bent their backs to the oars, for in those
+days ships were moved over the water by rowers as well as by sails; and
+after three days they came not to Scotland, but the shore of France,
+landing in a wild and desolate region where no human habitation was to
+be seen. Their provision had run low and they were in danger of dying
+of hunger, when the captain, who had closely watched Saint Patrick
+during the voyage and observed his piety, asked him to pray to the
+Christian god to bring them food, for the captain himself was not a
+Christian and believed that his own prayers would be worthless on this
+account. And Saint Patrick knelt and prayed, and before he had risen to
+his feet again a wild boar ran from the thicket and then another and
+still a third, all of which were promptly slain and the meat roasted on
+sticks.
+
+Then Saint Patrick bade farewell to his shipmates, and made his way to
+the city of Tours, where to his joy he met Bishop Martin, who was his
+own great uncle. And he stayed at the home of the Bishop for four
+years.
+
+After this time he tried again to reach Scotland, to which he was drawn
+every hour by ties of blood and affection; and at last he embarked on a
+vessel bound to a port very near his own native town. He found his
+father and mother still living and they rejoiced mightily to see him,
+for to them he was as one who had returned from the dead. In place of
+the boy they had lost there appeared a tall and finely built man with a
+face hardened by toil but made noble by thought and suffering. And they
+had a feast to celebrate his return and wept for joy because they had
+their son again.
+
+But the dreams that Saint Patrick had experienced in Ireland once more
+came to him, and in his sleep he heard the Heavenly voice telling him
+that he had been rescued from slavery for no mean or ordinary purpose,
+but must go again into Ireland as a priest, and teach the Christian
+religion to the savage Irish clans. So Saint Patrick knew that he must
+return to Ireland, and, bidding his parents farewell, he departed to
+become a priest in preparation for the labor that lay before him.
+
+He studied to such purpose that he became a Bishop, celebrated for his
+learning and famous among the clergymen; and when this was accomplished
+he set sail once more for Ireland with a retinue of priests and
+clergymen accompanying him. But although he was going to a savage land
+where he had already experienced much bitterness and sorrow, he went
+unarmed, and among his entire company there was not so much as a single
+sword or lance.
+
+He came to a place called Strangford Lough and there landed with his
+band of missionaries. The Irish fled at his approach, for they feared
+that the tall man who bore the cross was the leader of an invading
+army, and also that he possessed the arts of magic by which he would do
+injury to them.
+
+Many of the Irish believed in the religion of the Druids--a strange
+faith that brought in the magic arts and endeavored to teach above all
+other things that a man's soul when he dies enters another human body.
+This belief was widely established throughout the world, and it is true
+that many persons beside the Druids believed in it; but the Druids had
+other beliefs that were cruel and dangerous. They were said to perform
+human sacrifices and their priests to practise black magic. These
+priests wore about their necks the "serpent's egg," a ball formed of
+the spittle of many poisonous snakes; they knew many strange things
+about animals and plants and held the oak tree to be sacred. For this
+reason they worshipped in oaken groves, and considered the mistletoe
+that grew around oak trees to have divine powers. It was cut by
+white-robed priests with golden knives in an impressive ceremony.
+
+It can readily be seen that such people, who believed in such a faith,
+would not easily become Christians. Their priests were clever and knew
+how to place the stamp of fear and wonder on their minds. And--in
+company with all other people in those days--the Irish distrusted
+outsiders and were far more ready to believe them coming in treachery
+than in friendship.
+
+When Saint Patrick and his followers set foot in Ireland it was the
+time of a great religious festival in which no lights were allowed to
+be lit or fires to be kindled for several days. Saint Patrick knew
+this, for he was well versed in the religious customs of the Irish, and
+he knew, too, that the penalty for disobeying the priestly order was a
+terrible death.
+
+None the less, and in spite of being unarmed, he ordered his followers
+to build an enormous fire that could be seen for miles. When the great
+logs and the faggots were piled together Saint Patrick kindled the pile
+with his own hands and the flames shot high in the air, throwing
+strange shadows on the trees and causing the Irish to cry out in fear
+and astonishment. The Druid priests were greatly angered and perturbed
+at what Saint Patrick had done, and they went at once to the King, who
+was named Laoghaire MacNeill, telling him that the foreign band had
+desecrated the Druid faith and must be punished with death. Then the
+King told the priests to go and fetch Saint Patrick and bring him to
+judgment, but the priests feared the fire that had been kindled,
+thinking that it had magic powers. So they went as far as they dared
+and called out to Saint Patrick, summoning him to appear before the
+judges of the land.
+
+Promptly and with fearless demeanor, Saint Patrick joined the priests
+and was taken before the King. And when the King demanded of him how he
+had dared to disobey the laws of the country and profane its religion,
+Saint Patrick answered that he did so because the light of the
+Christian faith was infinitely brighter than the light of any fire that
+he or any one else had power to kindle; and that the fire he had built
+was merely a sign to call the Irish to the worship of the true God.
+Then he preached, and his words were so wise and spoken with such
+weight of eloquence that many that heard him became Christians on the
+spot, and the work of converting Ireland was soon well under way.
+
+There were many of the Irish that loved Saint Patrick, but he had many
+bitter enemies. On one occasion a powerful Irishman, who was enraged at
+the Saint for having taken a stone sacred to the Druids for a Christian
+altar, vowed that he must die. So he lay in wait in a patch of woods
+near a road over which he knew Saint Patrick would pass, with a sharp
+javelin to pierce his heart.
+
+Saint Patrick had an Irish boy for his servant and this boy knew of the
+threat and the place and was greatly afraid for the life of his beloved
+master. But he knew, too, that it would be useless to ask Saint Patrick
+to go by another road, for fear was unknown to him. So the boy
+pretended to be weary and asked Saint Patrick to take the reins of the
+horse that they were driving; and the brave lad seated himself in his
+master's place. They came to the wood; there was a sudden stirring of
+the bushes and the hiss of a javelin which imbedded itself in the boy's
+heart, killing him instantly. The assassin had taken his master for the
+ordinary driver and Saint Patrick's life was saved.
+
+Ardently the Saint set to work to bring about the conversion of the
+Irish, and he did his work so well that when he became an old man there
+were no heathen left in Ireland, and his name was loved and venerated
+from one end of the island to the other. And the legends grew up so
+quickly about him that it is hard to separate the true from the false.
+
+He had written a famous hymn which was called "the breastplate," being
+as he said the best and strongest armor he or any other Christian could
+bear, since it was a confession of his faith in the Christian religion.
+On many occasions, when men sought his life, it is said he chanted this
+hymn and they let him pass.
+
+Saint Patrick is said to have driven all the snakes out of Ireland into
+the sea--and it is notable that there are no snakes there to-day. And
+the other marvelous things he is believed to have accomplished are
+manifold. He died at a ripe old age and from the day of his death to
+the present one no man has been more revered in the land where he
+labored,--for the name of Saint Patrick is in every Irish heart and
+Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated by Irishmen in every part of the
+world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+KING ARTHUR OF BRITAIN
+
+
+More than fourteen centuries ago there lived in the Island of Britain a
+very wise king named Uther Pendragon. And at his court there dwelt an
+enchanter of great art whose name was Merlin. Now Merlin, among his
+other arts, had the power of seeing into the future, and what he could
+not prevent he could often foretell; and looking forward with this art
+of his, Merlin saw that after the death of King Uther there would be
+war and confusion in Britain; and the only one who could save the land
+would be the King's son, Arthur. But Merlin knew that the King would
+not live very long, and that Arthur was too weak to govern as a
+child--nay more, that unless Arthur were concealed he would be murdered
+by the noblemen that sought to obtain the kingdom. So he told this to
+King Uther, and they agreed to hide the child and have him reared in
+secret. And for this purpose they gave him to a nobleman named Sir
+Hector de Bonmaison, who was possessed of a good heart, telling him
+that the child, though of noble blood, was no better than a waif whose
+parents were both dead.
+
+Everything that Merlin foresaw then came to pass. King Uther Pendragon
+died, and war and confusion seized Britain. For eighteen years there
+was no peace or safety in the land, and at the end of this time the
+people were weary of bloodshed and sought a King who should govern them
+with a strong hand.
+
+Merlin was known to be the wisest man in the entire land, if not in all
+the world, and the Archbishop of Canterbury came to him and sought
+advice concerning a worthy King for Britain. And Merlin, thinking of
+Arthur, prepared by enchantment a test whereby the rightful King of
+Britain should be known. In front of the cathedral there appeared a
+great block of marble with an anvil upon it, and into the anvil was
+thrust a great, bright sword that shone full as brilliantly as the
+stars themselves; and on the handle of the sword was a legend saying
+that whosoever could draw the sword from the anvil was the rightful
+King of Britain.
+
+A mighty tournament was then proclaimed, and after the tournament all
+the nobles were to attempt to draw out the sword from the anvil. All
+the great men in the land were to be present and the one who drew the
+sword was to be proclaimed as King.
+
+Sir Hector de Bonmaison went to the tournament, and with him went his
+rightful son, Sir Kay, and the boy, Arthur. Sir Kay was a powerful
+knight famous in war and he intended to win the tournament for the
+credit of his house. And it seemed as if he would indeed succeed, for
+with his sword he struck down all that were opposed to him--until the
+sword snapped and left him without a weapon.
+
+Then Sir Kay called Arthur to his side and bade the boy get him another
+sword, and quickly. And Arthur, who knew nothing about the sword in
+front of the cathedral, except that he had seen it there, ran to that
+spot and sprang upon the marble block--and when he pulled upon the haft
+of the sword it came forth from the iron block into his hand as easily
+as though it had been thrust into a pat of butter, and with it he ran
+to Sir Kay.
+
+But Sir Kay when he saw it looked strangely upon Arthur and bade the
+lad say straightway where he had obtained it; and when Sir Kay heard
+how Arthur had pulled it from the anvil he fought no more, for an evil
+scheme had come into his mind,--and going to his father, he said that
+he himself had drawn the sword from the anvil and so must be the
+rightful King of Britain.
+
+Marveling greatly, Sir Hector with Arthur and Sir Kay went to the
+cathedral and Sir Kay tried to thrust the sword back into the metal,
+but could not do it. Then Arthur took the sword and thrust it in as
+easily as though the iron were soft earth, and for all his efforts Sir
+Kay could not draw it forth again. But Arthur drew it forth and thrust
+it back--and then did so once more--and at this Sir Hector knew that
+the child whom he had reared was no other than the son of King Uther
+Pendragon, and kneeling at Arthur's feet, both he and Sir Kay offered
+him their homage.
+
+And then all the nobles and the kings and the great men in the land
+gathered about the cathedral and tried one after one to draw the sword.
+And none could stir it. But Arthur drew the sword so easily that he
+needed but to lay one hand upon the hilt to have it come into his
+grasp--and after much amazement and doubt and further trials the people
+of Britain proclaimed Arthur as their King.
+
+It was soon seen that this lad who had been reared in obscurity and was
+hitherto unknown, was to be a greater King than even his father had
+been before him. For Arthur quelled the wars that had been ravaging the
+country and brought justice and peace to all the land; and those that
+rose against him he punished with a hand of iron. But all the people
+loved the young King, who was knightly and chivalrous, and the fame of
+his deeds rang through his dominions. For in all Britain there was no
+knight better than he with sword and lance,--no surer horseman or
+bolder warrior than the King himself. And for a time he conducted
+himself according to the fashion of noble knights and rode abroad
+combatting evil and conquering all those who sought to oppose him.
+
+Everywhere that Arthur went the enchanter Merlin watched over him, and
+on more than one occasion Merlin saved his life. And the wise old man
+with his enchanter's art looked into the future and saw where Arthur
+would gain the strength and power that has made his name live down to
+the present day,--aye, and that will make it shine long after those who
+read this book are laid away in their own tombs and forgotten!
+
+Merlin knew that in a certain lake that lay in a land of enchantment in
+Arthur's dominions, there was a marvelous sword called "Excalibur,"
+possessed of such great power that all those who fought against it must
+fall,--while in the scabbard of the sword there rested the healing
+virtue that nobody who wore it could ever be wounded or lose any blood
+in battle.
+
+Many knights had tried to gain this sword, but a terrible fate had
+befallen them without exception,--for nobody could claim it who was not
+true at heart, and who knew not the meaning of the word fear. The sword
+itself was held in a mighty arm that uplifted itself from the center of
+the lake, and this arm was clothed in the purest white, marvelous to
+look upon.
+
+Merlin took Arthur to the edge of the lake, and the King beheld the
+great arm holding the sword above the water; and when he saw it he was
+possessed of the desire to have it for his own, for the blade gleamed
+like the sunlight, the handle was bright with the purest gold and
+jewels, and there seemed to be a greater strength and a luster in it
+than the work of mortal hands could bring about.
+
+While the King with Merlin stood at the edge of the lake and wondered
+how it would be possible to obtain the sword, all of a sudden a barge
+appeared in the shape of a beautiful white swan. In it stood a radiant
+lady, clad all in green with white pearls in her hair and pearls like
+drops of weeping mist all over her garments--which themselves appeared
+like woven and intermingled rushes. The boat made its way through the
+water without motive power, until it grated gently on the sands where
+Arthur and Merlin were standing. And the lady spoke to Arthur and told
+him that she was no other than the Lady of the Lake and that the sword,
+Excalibur, should be his own. And Arthur stepped into the boat, which
+promptly left the shore and glided straight as an arrow to the place
+where the sword appeared.
+
+Although the King had never felt fear in his life, he felt a wonder
+approaching to fear at the mystic, white hand that grasped the handle
+of Excalibur so firmly; but leaning from the boat he took the sword,
+and the hand at once disappeared in the waters of the lake. And due to
+Merlin's gifts of magic, Arthur himself was able to look into the
+future at that time and see one thing--namely, that when his reign was
+over and he himself sore wounded and near to death, he must return
+Excalibur to the hand that gave it to him, casting it back into the
+lake before he died.
+
+With Excalibur at his side, Arthur was invincible in war and he struck
+down all that opposed him--but he was so chivalrous that he never used
+the sword except against the wicked, and from that time on forbore to
+do any battle in the way of sport, but fought only against his enemies.
+
+[Illustration: KING ARTHUR GRASPED THE MAGIC SWORD THAT NONE BUT THE
+BRAVEST MIGHT HOLD]
+
+King Arthur had beheld a lady named Guinevere at Cameliard, and was
+smitten with love for her and desired to make her his bride. But first
+of all he wished to be near her, and he asked Merlin to furnish him
+with some disguise by which he could accomplish this without her
+knowledge.
+
+Merlin agreed and gave Arthur a cap on which he had cast a spell. For
+when Arthur put it on he appeared to be no longer a king, but a simple
+gardener's boy. On pain of discovery, however, he must always wear the
+cap, for when he took it off he showed himself once more as Arthur the
+King.
+
+So Arthur went to Cameliard disguised as a gardener's boy, and he
+sought work in the castle grounds where he might often behold the Lady
+Guinevere. And for some days he worked in the gardens while she walked
+there and looked upon her to his heart's content--and every time he saw
+her she seemed to be more beautiful than before.
+
+One morning, however, while he was bathing at the fountain with his cap
+laid aside, the Lady Guinevere looked out of the window and saw him.
+She did not know he was the King, she only knew that a very handsome
+knight was bathing at her fountain,--but in a trice the King put on his
+cap again and became the gardener's boy, who said that none had been
+there save himself.
+
+At last, however, Arthur was discovered by Guinevere, although even
+then she knew not that he was the King; and after this had happened he
+went forth on a quest in her behalf and overcame four knights whom he
+sent to her as his captives, with orders to serve her and do what she
+desired.
+
+These knights were well known to Arthur and were his friends; but like
+Guinevere they had not known him, because he kept down the visor of his
+helmet when he did battle with them. And they returned and told
+Guinevere that they were conquered by an unknown knight who had ordered
+them to come to her and do her bidding.
+
+Guinevere was guarded in the castle of Cameliard by a knight named Sir
+Mordaunt of North Umber who was greatly desirous of wedding her. And at
+last he kept her a close prisoner and with six companions mounted guard
+before the castle proclaiming that unless some champions came forward
+in her behalf he would marry her against her will.
+
+At this Guinevere was greatly distressed, for she had grown to love the
+unknown knight that she had seen in the garden, and she asked the four
+that were in her charge to go forth and do battle with the knights that
+guarded her. But they would not, although they were bound to do her
+word, because they were angered that she should demand this of them
+when she knew that they were only four against seven. When Arthur
+returned, however, he placed himself at their head and they charged the
+seven knights so fiercely that three were slain in their onslaught and
+the others fled. And shortly after this Guinevere was brought to Arthur
+for marriage, and he disclosed his state as King, and their nuptials
+were celebrated with gorgeous pomp and ceremony.
+
+Merlin told Arthur to ask from Guinevere's father, whose name was
+Leodegrance and who was himself a king, a marvelous round table that he
+possessed. This table had magic powers, said Merlin, and Arthur would
+add greatly to the strength of his kingdom by possessing it. The table
+had many marvelous properties,--and the chairs that went with it were
+equally marvelous. The names of those who should sit in them appeared
+in letters of gold when such knights approached, and disappeared again
+when they rose to depart. There was also a seat richer than the rest
+for the King himself--and another chair, wonderfully carven and wrought
+with gems, that was called the "Seat Perilous," where even Arthur might
+not sit--for that chair was reserved for the knight who should look
+upon the "Holy Grail," a vessel containing the blood of Christ that had
+been taken to Heaven on his death. It could only be beheld by the
+purest knight that went in quest of it, which Arthur could not do,
+because he must rule his kingdom.
+
+Then Arthur gathered all the best knights in the realm about him and
+they were called "the Knights of the Round Table" and they bound
+themselves by vows to noble deeds and gallant conduct, to redress
+wrongs, to think no evil or allow it to appear in any guise at the
+Round Table. And through the deeds of his knights of the Round Table
+Arthur's name became even greater in his kingdom than it had ever been
+before.
+
+But little by little doubt and suspicion began to appear among Arthur's
+knights, and these were fostered by the evil plots of Arthur's nephew,
+Modred. Above all, Modred hated a knight named Sir Lancelot, who, with
+the exception of the King, was the bravest knight in Britain. Sir
+Lancelot was loved by Queen Guinevere, and loved her in return. And
+through Modred's schemes it befell that fighting commenced between
+Lancelot and other knights of the Round Table, in which many were
+slain. And then the whole kingdom of Britain was torn apart and
+Arthur's former glory was lost; and at last the unhappy King even found
+himself at war with his former friend, Sir Lancelot himself, who had
+stolen the love of the Queen.
+
+After bitter fighting Sir Lancelot went back to his own country of
+Brittany, taking Queen Guinevere with him, beyond the sea, and Arthur
+pursued him there. And while Arthur was laying siege to Sir Lancelot's
+castle, the false knight Modred rose against Arthur in his own country,
+hatching a rebellion against the King, so Arthur had to give up the
+siege of Lancelot's castle and return to Britain to fight against the
+traitors that had risen from the ranks of his own subjects.
+
+This was the last war that Arthur ever engaged in. Merlin had foretold
+that when the seats at the Round Table had all been filled, Arthur's
+kingdom must gradually decline. The seats had been filled long since,
+and the decline had come about through the distrust and the evil deeds
+of Arthur's own knights. And now he must fight a number of them both in
+the ranks of Lancelot and under the banner of Modred.
+
+In a battle with Modred's forces King Arthur's army fought so fiercely
+that when dusk fell almost all the men on both sides who had engaged in
+that fight were slain, and none were left but the leaders of the
+opposing forces. And Arthur engaged in personal combat with Modred just
+as the sun was going down. Now Arthur had long since lost the scabbard
+of his sword, Excalibur, so it was possible to wound or slay him in
+battle, although he that stood up against the stroke of that sword must
+also be slain. And this very thing came to pass in Arthur's battle with
+Modred. For as Arthur ran him through, Modred struck him so terrible a
+blow on the head that his helmet was cut in two and the sword sank deep
+in his skull.
+
+Grievously wounded, Arthur was carried from the field by one of his few
+remaining knights, named Sir Bedivere; and Arthur, seeing that he must
+die, gave to Sir Bedivere the sword, Excalibur, telling him to throw it
+in the lake.
+
+When Sir Bedivere approached the shore of the mysterious lake, which
+lay not far from the spot where Arthur had been wounded, his heart
+misgave him at throwing away so beautiful and magical a sword.
+Therefore he hid the sword in the rushes and returned to the dying
+King, telling him that he had done as was commanded. But Arthur did not
+believe him, and asked him what he had seen when Excalibur sank beneath
+the waves. And Bedivere told him that he had seen nothing except the
+rippling of the water under the wind and the rustle of the reeds at the
+margin of the lake. And Arthur told Sir Bedivere to return and do as he
+had been commanded, for the King knew well that he had been deceived.
+
+Once again Sir Bedivere returned to the lake and once again he came
+back to Arthur with a lying tale that he had obeyed the King's
+commands. Then Arthur in high anger commanded him to deceive a dying
+man no longer and Sir Bedivere at last went back and threw Excalibur
+into the lake.
+
+As Excalibur hurtled through the air and approached the water a great
+hand arose from the depths and caught it by the hilt, waved it thrice
+in the air and vanished beneath the waves, and Sir Bedivere returned to
+Arthur and told him what he had seen.
+
+Then Arthur knew that Sir Bedivere had indeed spoken the truth, and the
+dying King put one more command upon him--namely to bear him to the
+shore of the lake where he had thrown Excalibur.
+
+As they approached the shore a barge was seen cleaving the water
+without visible motive power, and on the barge which was draped all in
+black were four damsels who wept bitterly. When the prow of the barge
+reached the shore, Arthur commanded Sir Bedivere to lay him on it--and
+at once it moved out into the mists of the lake with the black robed
+figures bending over the King. And Arthur called out to Sir Bedivere in
+farewell, telling him that he was going to Avalon either to die or to
+be healed of his grievous wound, and he asked Sir Bedivere to pray for
+his immortal soul.
+
+From that day Arthur was not seen again, although many believed that he
+would come back and rescue his countrymen when dangers beset them; and
+to-day the legends of Arthur leave it doubtful if he will return or
+not. But the great King as well as the realm that he ruled over have
+been lost forever in the mists of time. And the story of Arthur is
+ended.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+MOHAMMED
+
+
+The Arabs are a dark skinned people that live near or on the great
+deserts of Arabia, one of the hottest and most desolate regions of the
+world. They have lived there for thousands of years in roving tribes
+and many of their traits and manners have come from their association
+with the desert, and the hardships that they have been obliged to
+undergo in making their journeys upon its fiery sands.
+
+Thousands of years ago the Arabs had a religion that was not entirely
+different from that of the Jews. As the years passed, however, they
+began to turn away from the old beliefs and to worship stone idols.
+These idols were set up in their principal cities and villages, notably
+in the city of Mecca, where there also remained a temple, built in the
+time of the older religion, that the Arabs still held to be sacred.
+
+As the Arabian tribes were very different from each other in many ways,
+it was only natural that their religion should grow different also.
+Some men worshipped the fire and some worshipped the stars. Some became
+Jews or Christians. For the most part, however, they worshipped stone
+images and many wise men preached and labored among them in vain to
+bring back the old religion of their fathers.
+
+Such was the state of affairs when a child was born in the city of
+Mecca who was destined to become one of the greatest prophets of the
+world, and draw all the Arabs into a single religion that would spread
+as far as Spain and India. This child was named Mohammed, and he was
+born five hundred and seventy years after the death of Christ. His
+father, Abdallah, died soon after he was born, and Mohammed's mother,
+according to custom, gave the baby into the charge of a nurse who might
+rear him in the free, open air of the desert where Arabs believed that
+children became strong and vigorous.
+
+Mohammed was strong in many ways, but had one great physical failing:
+he was often seized with fits of a kind that nowadays would be ascribed
+to the disease called epilepsy. In those days, however, these fits were
+thought to be the work of devils who entered into and possessed the
+body. When he was six years old his mother died and he was brought up
+by his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, a poor man, but one who was
+greatly respected by everybody that knew him.
+
+Abd al-Muttalib put him to work. When he grew old enough, he watched
+the flocks of the people of Mecca, and gained a meager livelihood by
+doing this. He had no schooling, but once or twice had the opportunity
+to travel, when he went with his uncle to southern Arabia and to Syria,
+where he saw people different from those of Mecca and learned of many
+different forms of religion.
+
+When Mohammed was twenty-five years old there befell a change in his
+fortunes. In this year he entered the service of a rich widow, whose
+name was Kadijah, and went with her to the great fairs and bazaars on
+which journeys, perhaps, he acted as her camel driver. Kadijah soon
+fell in love with the young man of bright, piercing eyes and thoughtful
+demeanor, and one day she drew Mohammed aside and told him that she
+loved him, offering to become his wife and to give him her hand in
+marriage. By marrying Kadijah Mohammed became rich. He managed his
+wife's affairs at Mecca with great success, and became greatly
+respected there as a man of business. He and Kadijah had six children,
+four girls and two boys, but both of the boys died in their infancy.
+
+But Mohammed was soon marked as being different from other men. He
+spent a great deal of his time in religious contemplation and would go
+off by himself into the solitude of the mountains, to think and ponder
+without interruption.
+
+When he was forty years old he went one day to a mountain called Hira
+which was not far from Mecca. And here a trance came upon him and in
+the night he believed that he saw the angel Gabriel. The angel was
+surrounded by a flaming aureole and in his hand he held a scroll of
+fire from which he commanded Mohammed to read. Now Mohammed knew not
+how to read or write, but to his amazement he found that the words on
+the scroll were quite plain to him, and he read a wonderful message
+that proclaimed the glory and the greatness of God, whom he called
+Allah.
+
+Mohammed was frightened by what he had seen; he thought that perhaps
+the form of the angel had been taken by some evil spirit to lead him on
+to his undoing. But at last he had another vision in which Gabriel came
+to him again and called upon him to arise and preach the word of Allah
+throughout the land and bring back to the Arabs the faith of their
+fathers and the worship of a single god. And then for the first time
+Mohammed believed his visions and thought himself God's Prophet, and he
+called the new faith that he was to teach the faith of _Islam_, which
+means righteousness.
+
+Mohammed went back to Kadijah and told her what he had seen. He said he
+was chosen by Allah to spread his faith over the land, and he himself
+was a prophet greater than any other in the world. Kadijah was a true
+and faithful wife and loved Mohammed better than herself. She believed
+that he spoke the truth, and looked upon him as some one who through
+God's means had become more than a man.
+
+At first Mohammed did not try to preach his new faith to the people of
+Mecca, but contented himself with teaching the word of Allah to his
+nearest relatives. Most of them believed in him, but one of his uncles
+called him a fool and would have nothing to do with the new religion.
+
+After four years of teaching Mohammed had only converted to the new
+belief forty people, who were mostly men of low degree or slaves. He
+then thought that Allah called upon him to go forth publicly and preach
+his new belief to the entire world. And soon afterward Mohammed could
+have been seen in the market place preaching the word of Allah.
+
+The faith that Mohammed taught was very much like the faith that we
+ourselves believe in. That is, it was much more like the religion of
+Christ than the worship of idols or the belief of the Romans and Greeks
+in gods and goddesses, or the worship of fire or the stars. Mohammed
+preached that there was one God only, and that this God was greater
+than all things. If you died and had led a righteous life you went to
+Paradise; if you had been wicked you went to the lower regions to
+undergo eternal punishment. And there were a great many things in
+Mohammed's religion that any one would do well to follow, for he
+preached that God was merciful and his people on earth must be merciful
+also, that cleanliness was next to Godliness and that all his followers
+must wash themselves before they prayed.
+
+In many ways, however, the Mohammedan faith was not so pure as the
+Christian faith, for the Heaven that Mohammed believed in was a place
+of feasting and merriment, but little else, and Mohammed also believed
+that it was right to teach his religion by the sword. In this, however,
+Mohammed's followers became more zealous than he had ever thought of
+being, and we must remember also that Christians of those days did not
+hesitate to use the sword, themselves.
+
+To spread the faith Mohammed set about preparing a great book which was
+to be the bible of those who believed in his religion. This book was
+called the Koran. Because Mohammed could not write and still produced
+this marvelous book, which contained the word of Allah, he claimed that
+he was divinely inspired. It is thought, however, that he was helped in
+preparing the Koran by one of his disciples who could read and write.
+
+When Mohammed prepared the Koran there was no paper, and writing
+materials were far removed from the Arabs who made little use of them.
+So Mohammed was compelled, as we are told, to write the Koran on any
+material that came to hand. He wrote it on pieces of stone and strips
+of leather, and on dried palm leaves,--and some of the verses were even
+written on the bleached shoulder blades of sheep. Anything that could
+hold a mark was used by him as writing material, and the verses were
+later collected and made into a book by his disciples.
+
+When Mohammed commenced to preach before the people, the citizens of
+Mecca looked on him as a madman. They did not molest him, however,
+because they held him to be a worthless dreamer who could do no harm to
+anybody. But as weeks went by, and the number of those who became
+converted to his faith grew larger, the wise men who still believed in
+the great stone idols named Hubal and Uzza began to grow afraid.
+
+They were too cowardly to molest Mohammed, because he was a rich man
+and was protected by his uncle who had much influence among them,--but
+they vented their spite on the humbler people who followed him and who
+were unable to protect themselves. So it came to pass that the poor men
+who were Mohammedans, particularly the slaves, were made to suffer
+dreadful tortures. They were scourged with whips and placed all day in
+the burning sunshine without a drop of water for their thirst. At last,
+however, the people of Mecca became bold enough to go to Mohammed's
+uncle and tell him that Mohammed must cease preaching against their
+idols. Mohammed, however, indignantly refused, and went on preaching,
+and his uncle continued to protect him.
+
+At last Mohammed's enemies became so afraid of the success he was
+gaining that they decided they must have his life at all costs, and a
+plot was hatched against him. He was saved by being warned of this and
+hidden away, but at last he and all his relatives who believed in his
+teachings, as most of them did, were driven from Mecca and were made
+outlaws.
+
+His uncle's influence was so strong, however, that after Mohammed had
+lived in the mountains for three years, he and his relatives were
+allowed to return to Mecca. But a great misfortune fell upon him, for
+his faithful wife Kadijah, whom he had loved deeply, and who was the
+first person to believe in him as a prophet, died, and left him
+inconsolable. His uncle also died, and Mohammed lost his protection.
+
+Without the influence of his uncle Mecca again became too dangerous for
+Mohammed to remain in. When he tried to preach he was pelted with
+stones and mud and mocked on every side. He was consoled, however, by a
+dream in which he thought that he was preaching to certain spirits
+whose bodies were made of fire and who were known to the Meccans as
+_Djinns_. And these spirits listened attentively to what Mohammed said
+and did him reverence.
+
+Because he had converted a number of men from the nearby town of
+Yathrib, Mohammed decided that a better opportunity was given him to
+teach his faith there than in Mecca itself, and in the year 622 A.D.,
+he and his followers fled to Yathrib and were made welcome. This flight
+was called the "Hegira," and the date of it is very important to the
+Mohammedans, for their calendar dates from it, and for them is
+practically the beginning of time.
+
+In Yathrib the faith of Mohammed spread quickly and he received
+attention and reverence wherever he went. And when he had a large
+following he desired to put up a house of prayer, or a temple which he
+called a mosque. This was done, but the first Mohammedan mosque was a
+very simple affair indeed and the roof was supported by trees that were
+not removed from the earth where they had been growing.
+
+And then for the first time began to be heard the call that to-day
+rings through so large a part of Asia and Africa, when the muezin, or
+crier, summons Mohammed's followers to prayer five times a day. They
+must all face toward Mecca as they pray, for that is the sacred city;
+and Mohammed so considered it because of the mysterious temple or
+Kaabah that was in it, and because, before the days of the idolaters,
+this temple had been connected with the religion of Abraham. And every
+morning since that time up to the present day, Mohammedans have been
+summoned to prayer with the following words:
+
+"God is great; there is no god but the Lord. Mohammed is the Apostle of
+God. Come unto prayer! Come unto salvation! God is great. There is no
+god but the Lord."
+
+Another change was effected by Mohammed. Since Yathrib had been the
+first place to take him in and receive his religion, its name was
+changed to Medinat al Nahib, the city of the prophet, to do the place
+honor. And in Medinah, as it was later called, Mohammed spent the rest
+of his life.
+
+It was not long before word came to Mecca that the man whom they had
+driven out had become powerful and mighty in a city not far off and
+that he was considered greater than a king among the disciples that
+followed him. Then the Meccans were again afraid, for they feared that
+some day Mohammed would appear with an army before their walls and
+revenge himself for the injuries that they had worked upon him. So,
+when a frightened messenger brought word to the Meccans that a number
+of Mohammed's followers were plundering the Meccan caravans, the people
+of Mecca raised an army to raze Medinah to the ground and put an end
+for all time to the man that had so troubled their affairs.
+
+Mohammed, however, had already designed to march against Mecca and had
+raised an army for that purpose. And he came upon the Meccan soldiers
+at a place called Badrh. There were a great many more Meccans than
+Mohammedans, and should have won the day, for the odds against Mohammed
+and his followers were huge, but Mohammed had the advantage that every
+one of his soldiers was glad to die for his leader and his army had the
+fierce, fanatical zeal which religion inspires in eastern people.
+
+It was a wild fight, for the battle was fought in a furious storm of
+rain and wind that beat like whips upon the faces of the soldiers as
+they dashed against each other. It was desperate, too, and lasted
+nearly all day--and it was one of the important battles of the world,
+although the numbers engaged in it were not large. At first the fray
+went badly for the Mohammedans, for the enemy with their superior
+numbers forced them back. Everywhere Mohammed himself might have been
+seen, encouraging his followers and urging them to greater efforts.
+Then, when it seemed as if his forces were breaking and that nothing
+could be done to hold them together any longer, he stooped to the
+ground and picking up a handful of gravel, hurled it against his foes.
+
+"May confusion seize them," he cried loudly, and at that the
+Mohammedans in the vicinity who had seen the act, rushed so furiously
+upon the Meccans that they recoiled. That was all that was needed. The
+entire Mohammedan army charged, shouting the names of Allah and
+Mohammed, and the battle was won. Many horses and camels and much
+valuable plunder were captured, and word was sent back to Medinah that
+a great victory had been gained.
+
+The Meccans swore vengeance and in due time another army was advancing
+against Mohammed. He was engaged in prayer when the word was brought to
+him that the Meccans were coming and at once he summoned his followers
+and exhorted them to do their utmost and to die in defense of the
+faith.
+
+With his army at his heels Mohammed went forth from Medinah and pitched
+his camp near Mount Uhud, only a bowshot away from his enemies. As soon
+as it was dawn both sides were drawn up ready for battle--and then the
+Meccans saw a sight that had never before taken place on any
+battlefield--for at the call of the Muezin, which took place as though
+the Mohammedans were at home, the entire army bowed down in prayer.
+
+At first the fight went well for the Mohammedans, but when a group of
+archers left their post to engage in the pursuit of the defeated
+Meccans this gave some of the enemy's cavalry a chance to surround or
+outflank Mohammed's soldiers. The Meccans rallied and attacked him in
+front and the rear at the same time, and the day was lost. However, the
+Meccans were too exhausted to pursue his men for a time and they
+believed that Mohammed himself had been slain, which was the first of
+their desires. So they returned to Mecca.
+
+For about two years there was little fighting, and then the Meccans
+planned an attack against Medinah, and advanced upon it with a large
+army. And now Mohammed showed great military skill, for he conceived a
+plan that had never been known to the Arabians and that is still
+employed in modern warfare,--namely that of fighting from the
+protection of trenches. With the hostile army almost upon them the
+Mohammedans worked furiously digging a deep ditch around the city, and
+so well did the ditch answer their purpose that the Meccans could
+accomplish nothing against them, but were obliged at last to turn tail
+and retreat to their own city.
+
+In this siege there was a Jewish tribe in Medinah that had been
+treacherous to the Mohammedans, deserting them in their hour of need,
+and going over to the enemy. This caused Mohammed great difficulty and
+might easily have brought about his defeat. So, when the fight was
+over, he took a large number of soldiers and advanced against this
+tribe which had taken refuge in a stronghold in the mountains. When
+they saw the numbers that were against them a great fear came upon them
+and they surrendered to the Prophet without a fight, throwing
+themselves upon his mercy. They found, however, that from that mercy
+they could expect nothing, for all the men were put to death, and the
+women and children were sold into slavery.
+
+Warfare between the Mohammedans and the Meccans continued in scattered
+outbursts until at last when both sides were weary of the struggle a
+treaty was made, and the Mohammedans were to be allowed to make a three
+day pilgrimage to Mecca to worship at the Kaabah or holy temple which
+was a part of Mohammed's religion.
+
+This was considered by Mohammed as a great triumph for his cause.
+Determined now to spread his faith to the uttermost ends of the earth,
+he sent messengers to the rulers of all the civilized kingdoms that he
+knew. One went to Heraclius, Emperor of the Romans, who was in Syria at
+the time; one to the Roman Governor of Egypt, one to the King of
+Abyssinia and one to each of the provinces of Gassan and Yamam that
+were also under Roman control.
+
+Then a ten year peace was agreed upon between the Meccans and the
+Mohammedans. This, however, was not kept long, for the Meccans killed
+some of Mohammed's followers. In fear for what they had done, they sent
+a deputation to request that he overlook what had taken place and allow
+the peace to continue as before, but Mohammed would give them no
+promises, and told his followers that the death of those who were slain
+by the Meccans would be amply avenged. With great secrecy he prepared
+an army and went forth once more against the city with which he had
+been engaged in warfare for so many years.
+
+So swift was Mohammed's advance and so secret had his plans been kept
+that the Meccans knew nothing of his approach until they saw the
+camp-fires of his mighty army shining about their walls. They had no
+way of resisting his force for they had been surprised, and even if
+they could have prepared against him, their numbers were now far
+inferior to his own. And then came the greatest triumph of Mohammed's
+entire life, for the Meccans surrendered without conditions and
+promised to embrace the Mohammedan faith.
+
+With ropes and axes Mohammed's followers tore the stone idols of Mecca
+from their pedestals and hewed them to pieces, while the Meccans
+sorrowfully beheld the destruction. And from that day to the present
+there has resounded over the city of Mecca five times each day the cry
+of "Allah Hu Akbar"--God is great, and the rest of the ritual calling
+the people to prayer.
+
+Soon after this one desert tribe after another came under Mohammed's
+power, and finally all of Arabia had acknowledged him as God's prophet.
+He was planning to extend his religion still farther when a misfortune
+fell upon him that probably caused his death. With one of his followers
+he had partaken of a dish that had been prepared for him by a Jewish
+girl who hated him and all of his sect. The food was poisoned, and
+while Mohammed discovered it at once and ate but a single mouthful, the
+poison remained in his body.
+
+Feeling that he was about to die he summoned his followers and preached
+to them a last sermon in which he exhorted them to obey all the rules
+of his religion, to treat their slaves and animals kindly and to beware
+of the works of the devils that were leagued against them. Not a great
+while after this the Prophet fell ill of a fever, and at last died, to
+the great grief of those disciples who had known and loved him.
+Although he had always given his wealth to the poor so that he lived as
+meanly as the humblest of his followers--for this was one of the first
+things that he preached,--he was worshipped as being divine and had
+more than the homage of a mighty king. In the hands of his fanatical
+followers the scimitar became the symbol of the Mohammedan faith and
+hundreds of thousands were conquered and made to acknowledge its power.
+To-day Mohammedanism is still one of the great religions of the world,
+and the name of the Prophet still sounds from thousands of mosques,
+when the muezin calls the people to prayer with the same words that
+were used while Mohammed was living.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ALFRED THE GREAT
+
+
+More than a thousand years ago England was composed of a number of
+small kingdoms, which were as separate and distinct as the nations of
+the world are to-day. They were either making war upon each other, or
+looking on at the wars of their neighbors; and it seemed impossible,
+and nobody ever dreamed at that time, that England and Scotland and
+Wales would be united into one great state.
+
+Among these people were the yellow-haired Saxons, who had entered
+England as invaders and driven the Celts to the westward. The Saxons
+brought with them the ideas that they practised in the region north of
+Gaul, whence they came. They refused to live in walled towns, and tore
+down or abandoned the buildings left by the Romans, erecting their own
+mud huts outside the ramparts. Their homes were rude indeed, and they
+had few comforts and luxuries. Glass was unknown to them, and the cold
+rain and wind swept through their dwellings. They had no books in their
+own tongue, and got all their learning from a few scholars and priests.
+But in spite of all these drawbacks they were a brave and hardy people,
+lacking only a great leader to become a nation whose influence would be
+felt throughout the world.
+
+For a time, however, no such leader appeared; and it seemed as if they
+must be swept away entirely by a new enemy that came upon them from the
+north--a people called respectively the Danes, the Northmen and the
+Vikings, who lived on the shores of the creeks and fiords of what is
+now Denmark and the Scandinavian peninsula--a wild and hardy race of
+sailors, who loved fighting and gained their livelihood by piracy,
+sweeping forth in their open boats upon unprotected shores and burning
+and plundering wherever they went.
+
+The Northmen, who were great seamen, speedily found out that because
+the British Isles were divided into numerous small nations, there would
+be no concerted resistance when they came to plunder; and forthwith the
+people in the English kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia beheld to their
+dismay a number of strange, piratical craft upon the shores. The prows
+of the boats were shaped like dragons' heads, and round shields ran
+along the gunwales beside the rowers. From these boats came pouring out
+a wild horde of gigantic and bloodthirsty men, heavily armed, ravens'
+wings attached to their helmets and long hair streaming over their
+armor. The Saxons quickly learned that it was well to flee when these
+men appeared. Otherwise they would be mercilessly slain. Even the women
+and little children were not spared, for the Northmen used to make a
+sport of butchery. And when they fought with the English armies they
+were nearly always victorious, for they were trained soldiers
+accustomed constantly to war, with better weapons and better armor than
+the English.
+
+Such was the state of affairs in England when Ethelwulf reigned over
+the kingdom of Wessex. Ethelwulf was an easy going king who loved
+prayer better than fighting, but was forced again and again to defend
+his kingdom from the Northmen. He had a wife named Osburgha, and five
+sons who were called Ethelstane, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethelred and
+Alfred. The two oldest of these, Ethelstane and Ethelbald, aided their
+father in defending the country, while the others were trained in
+hunting and warlike exercises with the same purpose in view,--but
+Alfred, when only five years old, was sent by King Ethelwulf upon a
+pilgrimage to the holy city of Rome, to receive there the blessing of
+Pope Leo the Fourth, who was head of the Christian Church and a ruler
+far mightier than any other in the world.
+
+It is not to be thought that so young a child was sent alone on such a
+journey which would require months to finish and on which many dangers
+would have to be encountered. With Alfred were many soldiers and
+retainers, and also a famous churchman called Bishop Swithin who later
+became a saint. The object of this journey was to have the Pope's
+blessing brought back to England by Alfred, and to show the Pope by
+sending a Royal Prince so far for such a purpose what devout Christians
+the people of Wessex were.
+
+Ethelwulf himself had desired to go to Rome, but the danger from the
+Danes was too great and too near at hand. However, after some months he
+believed he could safely join Alfred, who, although so young, could
+never forget the marvels that he beheld in the Holy City. Ethelwulf
+also desired to seek a wife in France, for Alfred's mother, Osburgha,
+had died since her son departed for Rome.
+
+In due time Ethelwulf and Alfred came back from Rome to Wessex where
+great troubles awaited them. Ethelstane had died and, during
+Ethelwulf's absence, Ethelbald had revolted and was trying to take the
+kingdom away from his own father by force of arms. A number of nobles
+had joined Ethelbald because they believed that he was the better
+soldier and would protect them more sturdily against the Northmen. The
+people were also enraged against Ethelwulf, because, when crossing
+France, he had married a French Princess named Judith, who was only
+fourteen years old; and had caused her to be proclaimed Queen, which
+was against the laws of the Saxons.
+
+True to his peaceful nature Ethelwulf refused to fight against
+Ethelbald. He said that he would never draw sword against his own flesh
+and blood no matter what wrong had been done to him--moreover that it
+behooved the English to draw their swords against their common enemy,
+the Northmen, rather than to wrangle among themselves when the invader
+might appear upon their shores at any moment. And Ethelwulf agreed to
+divide his kingdom with his son, to whom he gave the more important and
+valuable part, and spent the rest of his life in following the church
+and its doings--still a king in name to be sure, but with little of the
+kingly power remaining in his hands.
+
+The baseness of his son in turning against him, however, broke the
+heart of the old king. And Ethelwulf soon died, leaving the small part
+of his kingdom which he had continued to rule to his son, Ethelbert.
+Like his father, this prince was of a peaceful disposition, and did
+little to stop the raids of the Northmen, never appearing himself
+against his enemies, but spending his time in prayer and divine
+worship. Nor was his disposition changed when the base Ethelbald died
+and the entire kingdom was reunited. The Danes once made a bold raid
+against the city of Winchester, burning a large part of it and escaping
+with much plunder--but before they were able to return to their boats
+they were cut off by a force of English men-at-arms and archers led by
+the aldermen of Hampshire and Berkshire, and almost all of the invaders
+were slain. Even in this grave conflict, King Ethelbert was not
+present, and the victory of the English was not due to their King.
+
+Alfred, however, who was now eleven years old, gave signs that if ever
+he gained the throne of Wessex his enemies would have good reason to
+fear him. Although a young boy he used to love to go on foot in the
+dark forest to hunt the fierce wild boars that lived there--a dangerous
+sport even for a grown man. He also gave every promise that some day he
+might be a great ruler and bring the people of England to peace and
+safety, for not only was he bold and proficient in arms and manly
+exercises, but a diligent scholar, who spent a great part of his time
+in acquiring wisdom. And of all his brothers Alfred loved Prince
+Ethelred best, and when he grew older the two brothers fought side by
+side against the Danes.
+
+When Alfred was nineteen the Danes raided England again, but did not
+enter the kingdom of Wessex. And there was so weak a bond between the
+small English kingdoms that none of the untroubled states felt it their
+part to go and help their neighbors. After this the Danes invaded East
+Anglia and captured the king of that country, whose name was Edmund.
+They offered to spare his life if he would give up Christianity and
+believe in their own gods whose names were Odin and Thor. He refused
+and they beheaded him. Later the head was found watched over by a wolf
+and all the people believed that it had been preserved by a miracle. So
+Edmund became a Saint, and many churches throughout England were built
+in his honor.
+
+Then the Danes raided Wessex and terrible trouble began. Ethelred was
+now king, and Alfred was old enough to go to the wars and take command
+of an army. So he and his brother went forth against the Danes together
+at the head of every available fighting man who could be mustered to
+bear a spear. The Danes had rowed up the River Thames and captured the
+town of Reading. Ethelred and Alfred attempted to recapture it from
+them, but pouring out of the gates of the town they routed the English
+forces. They then marched along the banks of the Thames where they had
+an idea of settling and holding the land.
+
+The King and Alfred worked desperately to collect their scattered
+soldiers and lead them again to the combat. At last they gathered a
+sufficient number and moved against the Danes on Berkshire Downs.
+
+They were advancing to the attack when the Danes poured down the
+hillside toward them. King Ethelred was at prayers and refused to fight
+until he had finished--but Alfred, seeing that the English would be
+defeated if they did not attack at once, took command of the entire
+army and charged fiercely against the Danes, himself in the foremost
+rank, a target for the arrows and spears of all his enemies. So fierce
+was his onslaught and such was the enthusiasm of the soldiers whom he
+led that, although the Danes outnumbered the English, the pirates were
+put to flight with terrible slaughter. A Danish king and five earls
+were killed in this fierce conflict, in memory of which the people of
+Berkshire cut into the white chalk of the downs the giant figure of a
+horse--a figure that can be seen at the present day in honor of the
+victory of more than a thousand years ago.
+
+The Danes, however, though checked, were not sufficiently weakened by
+this fight to give up thoughts of capturing Wessex, and soon were
+harrying and plundering again. In another battle with them King
+Ethelred received his death blow, and upon his death, Alfred, who was
+still a very young man, became king.
+
+It was a sad entry into the powers of kingship. Practically all of
+England except Wessex was at the mercy of the Danes, who came so fast
+and in so many different directions, that when the King had started
+against one hostile band he would get word of others who had landed and
+perhaps were burning and plundering the very country he had just left.
+
+Alfred was as shrewd as he was brave, and he knew that if his people
+could not have a respite from wars and a chance to organize themselves,
+they must end by submitting wholly to the Northmen, so he offered the
+Danes a large sum of money to leave Wessex in peace for four years.
+
+This was accepted by the sea-robbers. They believed that they could
+find rich booty elsewhere and return to Wessex when they chose. And
+with the English gold in their pouches they sailed from Alfred's
+dominions.
+
+Now the young King had not bought the Danes off because he was too
+cowardly to fight with them further--rather did he plan to strengthen
+his nation for future fighting, and the Danes were highly foolish to
+accept his terms. No sooner were their sails out of sight than Alfred
+commenced to build a navy so that he would be able to meet them equally
+when they next came against him, and he studied the Danish craft to
+serve as models for the English boats.
+
+The galleys of the Northmen were pointed at both ends and could be
+rowed in either direction. There were generally from fifteen to thirty
+rowers on either side, and the boats also carried a number of extra
+soldiers. They were provided also with square sails pitched about
+amidships and were steered by a large paddle. These boats were
+excellent in creeks and rivers, but owing to their low bulwarks were
+somewhat unseaworthy, and it was necessary for the Danes to cross the
+sea and the English Channel in fair weather.
+
+For four years the Danes left Alfred alone, but after the time agreed
+upon had expired they sent a powerful army into Wessex. Alfred at once
+marched against them and came upon them in Wareham, where he was able
+to surround them in their camp and starve them until they cried for
+peace. He then made a treaty with them agreeing to allow them to pass
+unmolested back to their ships in return for which they were to trouble
+his kingdom no more.
+
+The Danes, however, like most barbarians, were extremely treacherous.
+They pretended to fall in with Alfred's plans but in the night, when
+the English had relaxed their vigilance, they stole past his army and
+fortified themselves in a strong position, preparing for a siege of
+many months. At this all the English thanes and lords became
+discouraged. They came to King Alfred and told him that they could not
+fight any longer. It would be better, they declared, to submit to the
+invaders rather than to undergo the ceaseless war and bloodshed that
+tortured their land. And Alfred, as he listened to them, knew that
+every word of what they said was the truth.
+
+But the stout-hearted king had no intention of submitting to the Danes.
+When his nobles were through speaking, Alfred cried: "As long as there
+is a single man who can wield a sword, I will fight on. Nay, I will
+fight alone with none to help me, sooner than surrender my kingdom to
+the barbarians."
+
+At this a lad who was at the gathering drew his sword and shouted: "And
+I will follow you, my King, wherever you lead me." And the nobles
+returned to Alfred's side, and took heart to continue the unequal war.
+
+At the head of his army Alfred pursued the Danes to Exeter and laid
+siege to it. And now it was manifest that he had shown great wisdom in
+building a fleet, for the English ships prevented reenforcements from
+joining the Danes, who finally were forced to surrender and were driven
+from the country. And many pirate ships were sunk by Alfred's vessels.
+
+In the winter, however, the Danes came again in such numbers that the
+English could not withstand them. The coast swarmed with the pirate
+galleys and bands of marauders entered Wessex, plundering and burning
+in every direction. Alfred knew that for the time being further
+resistance against them was hopeless, and with his wife and only a
+handful of faithful followers he fled into the marshes of Athelney
+where he remained in the strictest hiding. To all intents and purposes
+England had become a Danish country and even the English nobles did not
+know what had become of their King.
+
+While in hiding Alfred had numerous strange adventures which are told
+in various old chronicles and legends. On one occasion, when caught in
+a snowstorm, he sought shelter in the hut of a swineherd who knew him,
+but who was so faithful to him that even his wife was not taken into
+the secret. Alfred, who was poorly dressed, was given the task of
+watching some loaves of bread which were baking at the hearth, but,
+troubled with gloomy thoughts, did not give as strict an eye to them as
+he should have done, but suffered them to burn. When the swineherd's
+wife came back and found the burning bread, she rated the king soundly
+for his carelessness.
+
+"Idle lout," she cried, "thou couldst not keep an eye to the bread
+although thou wouldst be glad to fill thy belly with it. Play another
+trick of the kind and I will thwack thee on the snout."
+
+The king said nothing, but in better days when he had regained his
+kingdom, he is said to have presented the honest couple with a fine
+house and land as a reward for their hospitality, if not for their
+politeness.
+
+While in hiding Alfred was constantly planning how it would be possible
+to vanquish the Danes, and another story tells how he disguised himself
+as a musician and boldly entered the Danish lines, to learn for himself
+how great their numbers might be. Here he wandered from one camp-fire
+to another, harping and singing, all the while keeping his eyes and
+ears open and escaping at last with information that would ensure his
+victory when the cold weather departed.
+
+In the spring the King came forth from his hiding-place and sent forth
+messengers with a proclamation to the Saxons that they were to join him
+at a place he gave them word of, for once again they would fight to
+free their country from the foreign yoke.
+
+The place where he commanded them to meet him was by a rock in the
+midst of a forest which was known as "Egbert's Stone." Here the thanes
+assembled with their forces, and great was their rejoicing when they
+beheld Alfred again, for they believed that he had been killed or had
+fled to France or Italy. With drawn swords they swore undying devotion
+and fealty to him and shouted for him to lead them as speedily as
+possible against the Danes.
+
+In spite of their patriotism, Alfred's army was far smaller than that
+of the Danes, and he knew that to succeed he must surprise them. The
+Danes were at a place called Ethandune, and Alfred came upon them by
+night marches and by passing so far as possible through little
+frequented paths. When the sea-robbers finally saw the army of the
+Saxons they could hardly stir for amazement, for they had believed
+themselves absolute masters of all England and were bringing their
+women and children from the north. But here were the Saxons and their
+King, fully armed, their banners flaming in the sunlight.
+
+The battle raged all day, and in it lay the fate of England. If the
+Danes won, the last chance of the Saxons under Alfred would have
+departed and the country must necessarily become like the other
+countries of the far north. At nightfall, however, the pirates gave way
+and for protection fled into a fortress on Bratton Hill, where the
+Saxons surrounded them and besieged them. The Northmen at last ran out
+of food and were forced to surrender.
+
+The result of this battle was a treaty between Alfred and the Danes.
+The Danish king, Guthrum, desired to settle in England, where he had
+lived for many months; and he sent messengers to Alfred, offering to be
+baptized as a Christian, promising never again to bear arms against the
+people of Wessex. Alfred accepted the Danish proposal gladly, for his
+people were weary to death of war and hardship, and needed peace to
+till their lands. So Alfred, while he probably could have conquered all
+England, left the Danes in the part that had been most thoroughly
+conquered by them, calling it the Danelaw, and gave the Danes
+permission to live there unmolested, providing they promised to disturb
+his kingdom no further. The pact held good, and although at times it
+was broken, in general it was adhered to for many years. Saxons and
+Danes intermingled and married into the families of their enemies, and
+from them a new people gradually came into being.
+
+As soon as peace was assured Alfred provided against future attacks on
+the part of the Northmen by ordering all the forts and strongholds
+throughout the kingdom of Wessex to be rebuilt and put into good order.
+He knew that the Danes could not be trusted and feared that at any time
+new galleys might be seen bearing down upon the English coast. So he
+organized his army into several parts and thought out a system by means
+of which soldiers might always be on guard duty to withstand an
+invasion, while the rest of the people were peacefully tilling the
+soil.
+
+He also framed a code of laws. In the war and confusion into which his
+country had been thrown, the laws had fallen into a sorry state and
+were frequently disobeyed. In his code Alfred did not introduce new
+laws, which his people disliked, but rather arranged and put in order
+the laws then existing, and his dominions soon became so orderly and so
+free from robbers that it is doubtful if all our police could do better
+to-day. Also the King found that the law had been hindered and impeded
+by many corrupt and worthless judges, some of whom knew nothing
+whatever about the duties of their office--and these he warned to study
+and acquaint themselves with what a judge must know or renounce their
+positions in law altogether.
+
+Then the Danes came again. They landed with a large army and tried to
+take Rochester Castle. Alfred hastened to the relief of this fortress,
+which was a most important one, and drove them away, pressing them so
+hard that they scrambled on to their vessels and set sail for the open
+sea.
+
+However, the Danes did not go back to their native land, but landed in
+Essex, where they were joined by their countrymen in the Danelaw, who
+thus broke the word that they had pledged to Alfred. The new Danish
+army was much larger than Alfred's and at first was victorious,--but
+the entire navy of Wessex came to the rescue of the English and
+vanquished sixteen Danish ships in a tremendous sea fight. The war then
+raged with varying fortunes until Alfred signed another agreement with
+Guthrum, and laid siege to London which had been taken by the Danes.
+
+In due time London fell. Its capture gave Alfred a tremendous advantage
+over his enemies. He had the city strongly fortified and it stood as a
+barrier to Danish vessels that strove to work their way up the River
+Thames. Moreover it became one of the world's great trading centers,
+and merchants from all quarters of the earth visited it.
+
+When the Danes were finally defeated, Alfred, according to his custom,
+lost no time in building up his kingdom. First of all he commenced to
+rebuild the monasteries and abbeys which had been destroyed by the
+invaders. The first one that he founded was at Athelney in
+Somersetshire, in the midst of the marshes where he had fled for refuge
+when the Danes overran his country. He also founded a number of other
+monasteries and abbeys, among them the abbey of Shaftesbury, making his
+daughter, Ethelgeda, the abbess.
+
+Alfred loved books and learning, and had made his chief aim in life to
+acquire wisdom. He knew that if his people were to become really great
+they must labor in the arts and letters and acquire knowledge from
+books. Practically all the books of that time were written in Latin
+which few could read, so Alfred set himself about the task of making
+translations of the best and most valuable books of his day. The
+translation was done either under his direct care, or by his own hand,
+and the boon to his people was greater than can be told. Alfred ordered
+the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to be written, which was designed by
+him to treasure up for future the historical happenings of his own
+time.
+
+To make the most of his time, the King divided the day into three
+periods of eight hours each. In the first of these he labored for the
+Church; in the second for his kingdom, and the third was devoted to
+rest and recreation. But although he labored hard and gained much by
+performing these good and wise deeds, Alfred had not yet heard the last
+of his old enemies the Danes, who were to trouble him almost to the end
+of his life. After the defeats they had suffered at his hands they had
+turned toward Europe and followed there their usual course, killing and
+plundering and bearing the women and children into slavery. At last,
+however, they were defeated in battle by the Emperor of Germany and
+they turned once more to England, where they hoped the heroic king had
+relaxed his vigilance. Under the great viking, Hastings, a large force
+of them landed in Kent, and prepared to ravage the country.
+
+Alfred sent his eldest son, named Edward, to keep close watch upon
+their movements, ordering him, however, not to engage them in battle
+until he himself should arrive with the bulk of the army. When he was
+on the march and when the Danes knew that a large force was advancing
+against them, they tried once more their old trick of pretending
+friendship in order to throw their enemies off their guard. Hastings
+sent to Alfred professions of friendship, and to show his apparent good
+faith sent with the messengers his two sons, requesting that they be
+baptized as Christians. Alfred received the two Danish princes with
+great joy. After they were baptized he welcomed them to a feast and
+sent them to their father with many costly presents.
+
+The Danish plan succeeded, for by their professions of friendship the
+English relaxed their watchfulness and gave their enemies an
+opportunity to plunder and ravage the country and maneuver themselves
+into a position favorable to withstand either siege or battle. And
+Prince Edward sent word to his father that the Danes were doing these
+things and that he was unable to withstand them. Then Alfred at the
+head of his army joined his son and came up with the Danes at a place
+called Farnham in Surrey. There he met them in battle and the bravery
+of Prince Edward was largely responsible for the victory that followed.
+The Danes were utterly routed and many of their galleys fell into the
+hands of the English, with many women and children. And among these
+prisoners were the wife of Hastings and his two sons, who had so
+recently been baptized. And when Alfred learned who they were he sent
+them back to Hastings in spite of his treachery, and, not content with
+doing this, loaded them down with more presents for the Danish king.
+
+The work of defeating the Danes was not yet finished, for they were in
+many different strongholds which must all be captured before the
+country could be wholly rid of them. But after several campaigns Alfred
+saw if he could obstruct the river Lea near London he would strand
+their ships and be able to attack them at his pleasure.
+
+The King accomplished his ingenious design by digging a number of
+ditches that soon drained the water from the river into another
+channel. And when the Danes beheld that their ships would soon be
+useless to them, they took to flight, pursued by Alfred's soldiers.
+Hastings then sought to go back to the Danish women and children on the
+few boats that were left to him, and finally sailed away for good and
+all with only a small part of the vast force with which he had
+attempted to conquer England. And Alfred saw how mistaken he had been
+to show any kindness to Hastings' force, and had some Danish prisoners
+hanged as a lesson to the freebooters.
+
+For four years thereafter Alfred was able to lead a peaceful life and
+continue the good works that were to change history and make England a
+nation in other things than mere force of arms. All his life, however,
+the King had suffered from a disease that afflicted him sorely, and it
+was only his great spirit that had enabled him to continue so arduously
+in the wars and labors that had made him greater than all others. In
+the year 901 or close to that time he died, and was succeeded by his
+son, Edward, who bravely defended his country against any further
+attacks by the Danes, becoming after his father, one of England's
+greatest kings, known as Edward the Elder.
+
+One thousand years after Alfred's death a great festival was held in
+his honor in the city of Winchester which he had defended against the
+Danes and where he was buried. His statue stands there to-day, watching
+over and guarding the great nation that would not be in the world at
+all if his hand and heart had failed it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ROBIN HOOD
+
+
+When the wicked John tried to sway England many honest men turned
+outlaws rather than obey or suffer his evil rule. For John and his
+noblemen tortured and oppressed the poor, driving them from house and
+hearth to make a hunting ground, and taxing them so heavily that they
+frequently starved to death. Forests were plentiful in England in those
+days, but John often tore down houses of his subjects to make the
+forests even greater so that he might have more sport in hunting the
+deer and the boar that ran wild there. And while he did not scruple to
+take the peasants' lands for such a purpose, it was a terrible crime
+for a peasant to shoot the deer that often fed upon his crops. Even
+were he starving, he might not slay a deer in his own yard. And if he
+so transgressed he was punished with the most inhuman cruelty.
+
+Now, as has been said, many men were too high-spirited to suffer the
+injustice that John laid upon them. They fled into the forests instead
+and formed armed bands, setting upon travelers and robbing them of
+their goods; and they lived by shooting the King's deer and whatever
+game they could catch and kill.
+
+Among these men was an outlaw called Robin Hood, whose fame was known
+through the length and breadth of England. Although many men at-arms
+had pursued him, they never could catch him, and his daring surpassed
+belief. He surrounded himself with the bravest and boldest young men in
+all England, and if he encountered any stout-hearted man among those
+whom he robbed, or even among those that the Sheriff sent to pursue
+him, that man was often added to his band of outlaws.
+
+Robin Hood became an outlaw through no fault of his own, but through
+the common injustice of the day. When he was a very young man he was
+journeying to the town of Nottingham, where the Sheriff had prepared a
+bout in archery and had promised a butt of ale to whatever man should
+draw the best bow and shoot the most skilful arrow.
+
+As Robin Hood was passing through the forest on his way to Nottingham,
+he met a group of the King's foresters, who were there to see that
+nobody transgressed the laws; and they made fun of his beardless face
+and boyish figure--still more of the bow he carried, since they knew he
+was on his way to shoot at Nottingham and they did not believe that
+such a youth could ever hope to gain the prize.
+
+After bearing their jests for a time Robin became angry, and challenged
+any one of them to test his skill with the bow. They replied that he
+did but boast, for they had no target. And then, looking down the
+glade, Robin espied a herd of the King's deer a great distance away and
+he cried:
+
+"Look you, now, if you think that I am no archer, I shall slay the
+noblest of that herd at a single shot, and I'll wager twenty marks upon
+it into the bargain!"
+
+"Done!" cried one of the foresters. Whereupon Robin laid an arrow to
+his bow and shot so cleverly that the deer lay dead in its tracks.
+
+The foresters were greatly angered that he had succeeded, and not only
+refused to pay him, but when he set forth again one of them sprang to
+his feet and sent an arrow after him. Whereupon Robin turned like a
+flash and made even a better shot than his first one--for the fellow
+who had loosed his bow upon him lay dead on the greensward with an
+arrow in his heart.
+
+The King's foresters could not be slain with impunity in those days and
+Robin was made an outlaw--not only because he had slain his man, but
+because he had killed the King's deer; and in such a way it came to
+pass that he gathered a band of followers about him in Sherwood Forest
+and his fame as an outlaw soon became known throughout the land.
+
+But although Robin Hood was a robber, the common people soon learned to
+love him, for no poor man was ever the poorer on account of his
+outlawry--rather were the countryfolk in the neighborhood of Sherwood
+Forest better off than before, because he made it a point of honor to
+rob the rich only to bestow large gifts upon the poor--and many a
+present of food and gold was brought by him to the starving serfs and
+humble people in the neighborhood.
+
+Now the Sheriff of Nottingham was eager for the King's favor and the
+deeds of Robin Hood were soon brought to his notice. He sought more
+than once to capture the bold outlaw, but always failed, and he was so
+clumsy and so cowardly that Robin Hood became emboldened to defy him
+openly, and enter the town of Nottingham under his very eyes. On one
+occasion an outlaw who had been taken by the Sheriff was rescued by
+Robin from a formidable array of men-at-arms just as the hangman was
+about to string him up on the gallows.
+
+There are so many tales about Robin Hood that it would be impossible to
+tell them all here, and one or two will have to suffice, to show what
+manner of life he led and what sort of men his followers were. One of
+these was called "Little John," because he was seven feet tall and
+broad to match, and in all England there could scarce be found his
+equal with the cudgel. Another was a great, brawny priest or friar, who
+loved his wine better than prayers, and believed a pasty made of the
+King's deer was better for the heart than any amount of fasting. This
+jovial priest was named Friar Tuck and took upon himself the task of
+looking after the spiritual welfare of Robin's band--which he
+accomplished more by a free use of his cudgel on the heads of the
+offenders than by prayer or divine exhortation. But of all the men in
+the band, Will Scarlet was the strongest.
+
+[Illustration: ROBIN HOOD'S BAND MADE MERRY BY KILLING THE KING'S DEER]
+
+Will Scarlet came among Robin's outlaws in a curious manner. One day
+when Robin and Little John were strolling through the woods, they saw a
+stranger sauntering down a road and he was clad in the most brilliant
+manner imaginable in rosy scarlet from head to heel. He seemed a very
+ladylike kind of person and carried in his hand a rose of which he
+smelled now and then as he walked along, and he sang a little song that
+sounded for all the world as though it were being sung by a girl in her
+teens. And Robin's gorge rose at the sight of him for he hated
+unmanliness and thought that this gaily clad ladylike fellow who seemed
+to turn his nose up at the ground he walked upon must be a courtier or
+some nobleman that had never done an honest day's work or robbery in
+his life.
+
+"When he comes nearer," said Robin to Little John, "I'll show him that
+there be some honest folk abroad who are not afraid to earn their
+living, for by my faith I'll take his purse and use the gold therein to
+far better advantage than he could do." So, when the young man
+approached, Robin stepped out into the path to meet him with his trusty
+cudgel in his hand.
+
+The young man, however, seemed in no way to be afraid of the bold and
+resolute outlaw who stood in front of him, and when Robin demanded his
+purse he smiled and said it would be better to fight for that article
+and the better man should have it. Whereupon he went to the side of the
+road, still humming his snatch of a tune, and to the amazement of Robin
+and Little John, laid hold of a young oak tree and tore it up by the
+roots, with apparently but little exertion of his strength. Then,
+trimming off the branches, he stood on guard.
+
+Robin was warned by this exhibition of power and approached him warily,
+but the stranger struck with such force that nobody could stand up to
+him, and although Robin put up a long and furious fight his guard was
+at last beaten down and he was knocked senseless on the ground.
+
+With an aching head, but with admiration of the strange young man in
+his heart, Robin asked him to join his band, promising him food, booty
+and good Lincoln green to wear; and the stranger, after learning who
+Robin was, disclosed himself as no other than Robin's own nephew, Will
+Scarlet, whom the outlaw had not seen since he was a baby. Delighted at
+the meeting, Will Scarlet, Little John and Robin Hood made haste to
+join the rest of the band beneath the greenwood tree, where a feast was
+set forth and good brown ale poured out in honor of the newcomer.
+
+On another occasion Robin and his band married two lovers who had been
+forced to part because the maiden's father had determined that she was
+to become the bride of a wicked but wealthy old nobleman. The outlaws
+surrounded the chapel in which the wedding was to take place and when
+the ceremony was begun Robin stepped between the bride and groom and
+declared that the ceremony could not continue. When the wedding guests
+learned that it was indeed Robin Hood that stood before them, they were
+greatly frightened, and the outlaws with drawn weapons made their
+appearance among them. Friar Tuck himself finished the wedding--only
+this time a different groom was substituted and one more after the
+maiden's heart, for they gave her the man she loved.
+
+There are many tales about the English King Richard, the Lion Hearted,
+and none is more interesting than that of his meeting with Robin Hood
+in Sherwood Forest. King Richard was the brother of the base-hearted
+John--who tried to steal the throne from him when he was imprisoned on
+the continent after the Crusades. But Richard won back his kingdom and
+pardoned his brother, and later on John regained the English throne.
+
+Richard traveled a great deal in England, and in the course of his
+journeying came to Nottingham, which was near the woodland retreat of
+Robin Hood. Now although Robin Hood was an outlaw and had transgressed
+the King's laws, Richard held something approaching admiration for him,
+because Robin's adventures greatly resembled his own, when he had been
+wandering as a knight errant, without a kingdom. So Richard told the
+Sheriff of Nottingham that he himself would do what the Sheriff had so
+often tried to do and always failed in--namely drive Robin Hood's band
+away from the woods. And with some followers he disguised himself as a
+monk and started across the forest, hoping that Robin Hood and his
+outlaws would fall on him and attempt to rob him.
+
+This is just what happened. The outlaws fell on Richard and took him
+prisoner, and after taking his purse they led him to their secluded
+hiding-place and set before him a feast of meat and wine, a custom of
+theirs whenever they robbed a worthy monk or priest, to remove some of
+the sting from the consciousness of his loss.
+
+"I have heard," said the supposed monk, after he had eaten and drunk
+his fill, "that you have good archers in your band. I fain would see
+some of them at work."
+
+In answer Robin Hood called for his men to set up a mark, telling them
+that they must shoot to good purpose, for he that missed, were it only
+by a hair, should be knocked down by Will Scarlet.
+
+One after one of the outlaws shot, and they all struck the mark. But
+when Robin himself shot something happened that his band had never
+before seen, for a gust of wind blew his arrow aside, and he himself,
+who was the finest bowman in England, had missed the target. With
+shouts of delight the outlaws called upon their leader to pay the
+penalty. Robin disliked to do this, for he was the leader of the others
+and did not think it good for discipline that his men should behold
+their leader undergo such an indignity; however, he ended the matter by
+asking the monk, who was Richard, to administer his punishment himself,
+since he could take from a member of the church what he could not take
+from one of his own band. Richard consented gladly. He always had loved
+such adventures,--and the strength of his arm was twice that of Will
+Scarlet's,--for the English King was the strongest man in all
+Christendom, if not in the entire world. Rising to his feet he drew
+back his heavy fist and gave Robin so terrible a buffet that it hurled
+him senseless on the ground, doubly stunned from the force with which
+he had hit the earth.
+
+The outlaws were amazed when they saw what had befallen their
+leader--still more so when a band of the King's horsemen rode up and
+surrounded them, and called the monk who had so lately been feasting
+with them, "Your Majesty." Then Richard took off his monk's dress and
+appeared in his own royal garments; he gave the outlaws a free pardon
+on condition that they serve with him thenceforward and be archers in
+his army, for he ever had liked brave men, and he knew that these would
+lay down their lives to serve him, even if they did cut purses and rob
+priests in the seclusion of the woods.
+
+In Richard's service many adventures befell Robin Hood even greater
+than what had befallen to him in Sherwood forest. He returned to his
+old haunts, however, and again became an outlaw when King Richard died
+and the wicked John came to the throne once more.
+
+One day Robin Hood was stricken with a fever and he went to a woman who
+lived nearby to be bled, which he believed would lessen his pain and
+cure his sickness. But this woman was an enemy of Robin's, although he
+knew it not; and she rejoiced at her chance to do him evil. So she
+opened a vein in his arm and gave him a drink that threw him into a
+deep slumber--and when he awoke he saw that he had lost so much blood
+that he had not long to live.
+
+With the last of his strength the dying outlaw blew his horn that
+called his followers around him, and as they supported him he asked for
+his bow and an arrow, saying that where the arrow fell he desired to be
+buried. Bending the bow with the last of his power, he let loose the
+arrow which flew out of the window and struck the ground beside a
+little path at the edge of the greenwood. And here was laid to rest the
+bravest heart that England had known for many a day, and one whose fame
+has lived to the present time. For if we should tell you all of the
+adventures of Robin, there would be no room left for any other tales,
+so our counsel is to find the books about him and read these adventures
+for yourselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+SAINT ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
+
+
+More than seven hundred years ago there was born at Presburg in
+Hungary, a royal princess, who became one of the most pious women that
+the world has ever seen and whose good deeds have lived until the
+present day. This woman was christened Elizabeth. She was the daughter
+of King Andrew the Second of Hungary and of Gertrude, formerly a
+princess in Dalmatia; and soothsayers and prophets at the time of her
+birth foretold her coming greatness.
+
+Elizabeth was born in 1207--a century when religion was more simple
+than it is to-day and when people believed that miracles were still
+being performed. It was a time, too, when a fiery passion for religion
+ruled the world. Soldiers were intent on crusades into the Holy Land to
+capture the city of Jerusalem and to rescue the tomb of the Savior from
+the hands of the heathen, and fanatical bands called "flagellants" were
+soon to appear throughout Europe--men and women who scourged each other
+with whips in public places until they fell down fainting from pain and
+exhaustion, believing that this practice was welcome in the eyes of the
+Lord and would assure them a place in Paradise.
+
+It was a time when unquestioning faith held the minds and beliefs of
+men. Nothing seemed too marvelous to be accomplished through Divine
+means. When a great poet of whom we shall tell you later, wrote about
+Hell, Heaven and Purgatory, his neighbors all believed that he had
+really visited those places and seen all the wonders that he described.
+So when soothsayers and astrologers foretold that the infant Elizabeth
+was to become one of the Saints of Heaven, as the legends tell us they
+predicted, people marveled, but believed, for it did not seem strange
+for Angels and Saints to appear to the eyes of mortal men.
+
+It was customary in those days for children of high rank to be
+betrothed almost before they had quitted the cradle, and when Elizabeth
+was four years old she was engaged to be married to the eldest son of
+the Landgrave of Thuringia--a boy named Herman who was about ten years
+older than herself. And it was also customary at that time for the
+future bride to be brought up in the house of her intended husband, so
+a number of lords and ladies came from Thuringia to fetch the Princess
+Elizabeth away.
+
+She returned with them in great splendor, and many wagons and strong
+horses were needed to carry back to Thuringia all the costly things
+that went with her, for she was provided with every comfort and luxury
+then known. We are told that her dresses were all of the most costly
+silks adorned with precious stones, that her cradle, which was of
+silver, accompanied her to the house of the future bridegroom, that
+even her bath was of silver and so heavy that it was all that her
+handmaidens could do to carry it, and a large sum of money was allotted
+as her bridal portion or dowry.
+
+Elizabeth was too young to remain homesick for any length of time after
+she left her parents, and she was kindly received in her new family.
+The Landgrave himself, Herman the First, was a kind-hearted man as well
+as a noble and distinguished ruler, and his second son, Ludwig, had
+qualities of greatness that gave every promise for the country if it
+should ever come under his direction. But the other children of the
+Landgrave, the princes named Conrad and Heinrich, were of different
+calibre from their brother Ludwig, and so was the girl, Agnes, who was
+about Elizabeth's own age. Herman, the eldest son, soon died, and
+Elizabeth was then betrothed to Ludwig.
+
+When she was little more than a baby Elizabeth began to show signs of
+the religious fervor that was to shape her entire life. She prayed
+frequently and always tried to bring the forms of religious worship
+into the games that she played with her companions. She spent long
+hours at prayer and frequently arose to pray at night, and whenever she
+had the opportunity she practiced self-denial that was believed to be
+acceptable in the eyes of Heaven by withdrawing herself from some
+pleasure that she was taking part in, or abstaining when at table from
+some dainty that she loved.
+
+Three years after Elizabeth had gone to live in Thuringia something
+happened that deepened her spiritual ardor, for her mother, Gertrude,
+was murdered in the absence of the King, and Andrew himself had to
+engage in war to put down the rebellion that had arisen in his country.
+This was a great sorrow to the little girl, although she remembered her
+mother only dimly, and it resulted in her saying more frequent prayers
+and giving more thought to her religion than before.
+
+Many stories are told us of Elizabeth's piety. On one occasion, when
+she was dressed in her finest garments she beheld a crucifix supporting
+a life-size image of the Savior, and with an outburst of tears she
+threw herself on the ground at the foot of the crucifix, declaring that
+she could not bear to wear fine raiment and jewels, while her Lord was
+crowned with thorns. She did many other things of the same sort, and at
+last reaped the displeasure of the Landgrave's wife, Sophia, and of the
+courtiers and menials of the royal castle,--for Elizabeth's gentleness
+and piety were a constant reproach to the more worldly persons that
+surrounded her.
+
+When Elizabeth was ten years old there took place another of the
+crusades in which knights, nobles and common peasants set forth for the
+Holy Land to make war against the heathen; and Elizabeth's father, the
+King of Hungary, left his dominions to engage in the holy war. There
+was grave doubt if he would ever return, and it seemed too as if his
+throne might be wrested from him by rebellion in his absence; so many
+of the noblemen and statesmen of Thuringia believed that the marriage
+of Ludwig with Elizabeth would be unwise, since there might be no
+benefit to be reaped from it on behalf of the State. The Landgravine
+Sophia, we are told, was inclined to agree with them--all the more so
+because the kind ruler, Herman, had lately died and Ludwig was now on
+the throne of Thuringia, and could marry some great princess whose
+country was not in the danger of civil war.
+
+It is not known if the stories of the ill-treatment that was then
+visited on the helpless little Elizabeth are true or not, but many
+writers have told us that Sophia was determined by harshness and
+unkindness to force Elizabeth to enter a convent so that her son would
+be free to marry elsewhere. At all events, Ludwig heard of the plans to
+break off his engagement, and angrily refused to listen to them,
+declaring that he loved Elizabeth dearly and would marry her in spite
+of every person and relative in his dominions. And when Elizabeth was
+fourteen years old, she was married with great magnificence to Ludwig,
+who was as handsome as he was honorable, and made a fitting husband for
+the beautiful young girl who had already become famous for her great
+piety and her charitable deeds.
+
+The marriage was ideally happy, for the young couple was passionately
+attached, and Ludwig encouraged his wife in her pious and kindly
+undertakings. He understood her so well and gave her such hearty
+support in her dealings with the poor and her gifts of food, money and
+clothing, that after his death he was often referred to as Saint
+Ludwig, just as his wife was called Saint Elizabeth.
+
+Ludwig, however, did not like to see his wife go poorly dressed, and
+she wore splendid raiment to please him. Moreover, he disapproved of
+her giving so much time and effort to her charity and her prayers that
+she taxed her strength. She had to desist from many of her
+undertakings, or perform them without his knowledge, when he feared
+that her severe fasts and her long prayers were wearing out her health;
+and Elizabeth would steal from her chamber to pray when she thought him
+asleep, and would wear a coarse sackcloth skirt beneath the silks that
+pleased him.
+
+One time, when Ludwig was climbing the steep path to the castle of the
+Wartburg where he held his court, he met Elizabeth, who was carrying in
+her dress loaves of bread for the poor people in the nearby village of
+Marburg. Elizabeth always tried to perform her charity secretly, for
+she believed that it would lose its value if it were widely known--and
+moreover she feared that her husband would not approve of her taking a
+heavy burden down the steep path into the village. When he stopped her
+and gaily asked her what she had in her apron, she opened it shyly,
+expecting him to blame her when he saw its contents--but how great was
+her amazement as well as his when there tumbled forth upon the ground a
+profusion of the sweetest smelling roses of all colors, which had
+miraculously taken the place of the provisions that Elizabeth had
+carried!
+
+That was only the first of a series of miracles that those who
+worshipped her memory have accredited to her lifetime, and Ludwig,
+astonished and awed by what had taken place, is said to have erected a
+monument at the spot where the beautiful roses appeared.
+
+Elizabeth pitied the sick and tended them with the utmost kindness--and
+she was particularly kind to the wretched sufferers from the dreadful
+disease of leprosy. From earliest times the leper was an outcast from
+his fellow men. They fled at his approach, and he was obliged to warn
+them of his coming by outcry, or by use of a clapper or bell. But
+Elizabeth went to the lepers without fear and fed and comforted them,
+and even bathed their sores and bandaged them with her own hands.
+
+At last her father, King Andrew, returned from the crusade, and on his
+way back to his own dominions stopped in Thuringia to see his daughter.
+By this time Elizabeth had refused to wear her splendid garments any
+longer and had parted with all except her simplest dresses; and Ludwig
+feared that her father the King might blame him for not maintaining
+Elizabeth in the state that was her due as a royal princess, so he
+inquired of Elizabeth if she had any fine dress to wear when greeting
+her father. She replied that she had none, but that by grace of God
+some way would be found out of the difficulty; and when she put on the
+only dress that was left to her it suddenly changed by a miracle into a
+gown so beautiful and lustrous that its like had never been seen
+before, and King Andrew rejoiced in the appearance of his daughter when
+she came before him.
+
+By this time Elizabeth had two children, and the Landgrave was
+rejoiced. He was a powerful and a wise ruler, and while he was
+perfectly just, he punished evil-doers with a hand of iron. On one
+occasion he was called away from home to give aid to the Emperor
+Frederick the Second in putting down a revolt in his dominions; and
+Elizabeth ruled over Thuringia until his return.
+
+Famine and pestilence wasted the country, and the gentle lady was
+sorely beset to give aid to her suffering people. She spent so much on
+charity that she nearly emptied the treasury, and even sold the robes
+of state and the official ornaments to feed the poor. When Ludwig
+returned he found his coffers nearly empty--but the money had been
+wisely used, for Elizabeth had saved the lives of many of his subjects.
+
+Then another crusade took place and the brave Ludwig planned to join it
+and do his share in driving the heathen Saracens away from the tomb of
+Christ. With bitterness and sorrow he said farewell to his wife whom he
+loved above all things, and kissed his children for the last time. For
+when he was waiting at Otranto to embark for the far east, a terrible
+pestilence broke out among the crusaders and Ludwig sickened and died.
+
+Word of his death was brought to Elizabeth, who had just given birth to
+her third child. And when she heard of it she wept bitterly, crying out
+that now the world was dead to her indeed, and she never could know joy
+again, since her dear lord was taken from her.
+
+For a time she ruled over Thuringia, but she was hated in the court on
+account of her piety, and according to many stories of her life, the
+dead Landgrave's brothers, Conrad and Heinrich, conspired against her.
+At all events, her life was most unhappy, and in the dead of winter she
+quitted the court and went to live in the village, earning her daily
+bread by spinning for her living, and eating barely enough to keep
+alive. And all the villagers whom she had treated kindly, now that they
+found her alone and poor and out of favor at court, would do nothing
+for her, and she was laughed at and insulted on the streets.
+
+But in this time she was sustained by divine means, for she began to
+have visions of Heavenly things and beheld angels, and once, so she
+declares, she saw the face of the Savior himself, who looked down on
+her and comforted her.
+
+At last Elizabeth went to live with her uncle, the Bishop of Bamberg,
+who treated her with the utmost kindness. She had been obliged to send
+her children away in the bitter winter that she had been through, and
+soon she was obliged to leave the Bishop's protection, for he desired
+her to marry again, and this she refused to do. She went to live in a
+cottage and took with her two of her former waiting women who
+accompanied her all through the hardships she had suffered, and she
+busied herself with caring for the sick and giving alms from the small
+amount of money that was allowed for her support.
+
+At this time Elizabeth came under the influence of a priest and a
+religious enthusiast called Master Conrad, previously known to her, who
+was an ardent, though a narrow-minded believer in the Catholic faith;
+and Conrad encouraged her in the severe rites of self-denial that she
+practised. At times he punished her with the lash and at last he
+brought her completely under the domination of his will. But she
+yielded so readily to all penances and voluntary inflictions of
+sufferings that even this fanatical zealot was compelled to restrain
+her, for Elizabeth desired constantly to do more than he suggested or
+wished. At last, with her two waiting women, Elizabeth became a member
+of the Third Order of Saint Francis, renounced her family and children,
+and spent all her time in caring for the sick and visiting the
+afflicted.
+
+She ate almost nothing, and her strength soon gave way under the
+privations that she endured. Although she was only twenty-four years
+old, she had suffered so greatly that her vitality was sapped and she
+had not long to live. She died on November 19, 1231, and Master Conrad
+himself soon followed her to the grave.
+
+Elizabeth had not wasted herself in vain, in spite of the fanatical
+zeal of her belief and the needless sufferings that she inflicted upon
+herself. For years she had cared for nine hundred poor folk every day,
+and she had founded a hospital of twenty-eight beds that she visited
+daily. She had encouraged her husband in kindness and generous
+government, and she saved countless lives in the winter when she
+herself sat on the throne of Thuringia.
+
+After her death the zealous Conrad set about collecting proofs of the
+miracles that had happened in connection with her, to submit them to
+the Pope, who might declare her to be a Saint. Further proofs were
+forthcoming even after she had died, for when pilgrims visited her tomb
+many of them were marvelously cured of the sicknesses from which they
+had been suffering. Her brother-in-law, Conrad, repenting of his former
+treatment of her, built a splendid church in her honor, and her bones
+were laid in their last resting-place a few years after her death. In
+the meantime the Pope examined all the proofs of her piety and
+holiness, as well as of the cures that had been effected at her tomb,
+and at last Elizabeth was made a Saint, and became known as Saint
+Elizabeth of Hungary. For centuries pilgrims have worshipped at her
+shrine, and the church that was built in her memory still stands as a
+monument of the wonderful life of this holy woman who lived and died
+the better part of a thousand years ago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+DANTE
+
+
+In the year 1265 there was born in the city of Florence in Italy a man
+who was destined to become one of the four greatest poets that the
+world has ever produced. This man was Dante, the son of Alighiero, a
+Florentine who was popular and well known as a man of affairs.
+
+When Dante was born Italy was very different from what it is to-day,
+for instead of being formed of a single nation, or even of a number of
+smaller ones, the cities themselves were nations and made their own
+laws. These cities, moreover, were constantly at war with one another,
+and fighting was the order of the day. Even within the cities there
+were often bloody frays and brawls between the supporters of one or
+another noble family. These brawls sometimes became so extensive that
+they grew into civil war, and penetrated beyond the limits of the
+cities in which they were hatched. Such was the state of affairs in
+Dante's time, and it is important to remember this, because the
+quarrels of these different factions had a great effect upon his life.
+
+Particularly long and bloody in Florence and other cities had been the
+strife between two families and factions who called themselves
+respectively the Guelfs and the Ghibellines. Dante's father belonged to
+the Guelf party and the boy was brought up with the idea that he must
+always serve the Guelfs, and support them in all their quarrels. The
+Guelfs, moreover, were high in the affairs of Florence and had overcome
+their opponents there. And for this reason those who belonged to the
+Guelf cause had the chance to rise in the affairs of the city.
+
+So Dante's boyhood was not spent like that of some other poets, in the
+midst of books alone, or in the quiet seclusion of school and college.
+He was thrown neck and heels into the midst of the fiery Italian
+politics of an age when one could poniard his enemy on the streets and
+go unpunished, providing he had power or influence. And it is probable
+that he saw many wild doings. He was, however, of studious habits and
+loved reading more than the air he breathed. And while little is known
+of his boyhood years, it is certain that he mastered then and in his
+early manhood many of the best books that had been written since the
+beginning of the world. Moreover, as Dante later said, he had taught
+himself "the art of bringing words into verse"--an art that he mastered
+so thoroughly that his name was to live forever.
+
+When Dante was still a young boy there befell something that proved to
+be the most wonderful happening in his entire life. This was nothing
+else than meeting a little girl named Beatrice Portinari. Although
+Beatrice was only a child, and Dante himself hardly ten years old, he
+felt a love for her that lasted from that minute until the day of his
+death and that inspired him to write the great poem that made his name
+famous throughout the world.
+
+A festival was given by the family of the Portinari which was a noble
+one and possessed such wealth that its members afterward became bankers
+for King Edward the Third of England. Among the guests was the boy,
+Dante, and he beheld Beatrice there as a beautiful little girl. How
+strangely he was affected by the sight of her he told in later years,
+and his words have been translated and quoted as follows: "Her dress,
+on that day," said Dante, "was of a most noble color,--a subdued and
+goodly crimson, girdled and adorned in such sort as best suited her
+very tender age. At that moment, I say most truly, that the spirit of
+life, which hath its dwelling in the secretest chamber of the heart,
+began to tremble so violently that the least pulses of my body shook
+therewith. From that time Love ruled my soul."
+
+Dante did not speak to Beatrice on that occasion,--in fact, he saw her,
+or addressed her, only two or three times in his entire life. But from
+the day when she first appeared to him in her crimson dress, he sought
+to perform some deed that would make him worthy of her love, and the
+result was the great poem in which he placed her name beside his own.
+
+In spite of his love, Dante did not become an idle dreamer, but
+developed into an active and studious young man, ready to take up the
+sword to defend his city whenever it might call on him to do so. And
+when he was twenty-four years old he put on his armor and went forth to
+battle against the citizens of Arezzo, a town where the Ghibellines
+were powerful and had been acting in a hostile manner toward the
+Guelfs, who controlled Florence.
+
+War was not so serious an affair then as it is now, and everyone
+engaged in it. Moreover, the towns that warred against each other were
+so near that it was sometimes an easy matter to go forth and fight on
+one day and be back in your own home on the day following. Everyone was
+expected to bear arms for his city, and going to war was held to be a
+matter of course; but in spite of these things Dante gained great
+praise for the way in which he conducted himself in the war with
+Arezzo, perhaps because he was braver than the rest, or perhaps because
+a poet is not generally considered to be as warlike as other men.
+
+After the fighting had ended, Dante returned to Florence and prepared
+to take his part in city politics. Before he could accomplish anything
+it was necessary for him to go on record that he belonged to one of the
+great guilds into which all the citizens at that time were divided, and
+which controlled all the different branches of business and
+manufacturing, and all the sciences. So Dante entered the guild of the
+Doctors and Apothecaries--not because he knew anything about their
+professions--that was not necessary--but to give himself an apparent
+vocation when he came to assume some one of the city offices.
+
+By this time Dante's great intellect and scholarly attainments had made
+him well known in Florence, although he was only a young man. He was
+high in the esteem of many learned men and had a great many poets and
+artists for his friends. Among them were the artist named Giotto and
+the poet called Guido Cavalcante. So well did he appear in their eyes
+and to the men of the city of Florence who ran its affairs that in the
+year 1300 Dante was made one of the Priors of Florence, that is, one of
+the chief rulers of the city.
+
+It was not to be thought that a man could gain such a position in those
+turbulent times without making many enemies, and as Dante belonged to
+the controlling faction, others who were not in power planned his
+overthrow and that of his fellow rulers. Dante himself, however,
+disliked this civil strife and did all in his power to bring the
+opposing factions together. But his enemies got the upper hand, and he
+was finally driven from the city in exile.
+
+Another sorrow had befallen him. Beatrice, whom he still continued to
+love ardently (although he had married a good woman named Gemma Donati
+and had three children) had died some years before, leaving him nothing
+but her memory. But Dante's love for Beatrice had not interfered in his
+relations with his wife. It was not an earthly love. He had not wanted
+Beatrice as his wife, but rather as an ideal that he could worship. And
+after her death he became both gloomy and unhappy.
+
+His exile, moreover, was a bitter blow to Dante, for he had loved
+Florence dearly and could not imagine making his home elsewhere. With
+bitterness in his heart he wandered from city to city, and then he set
+out in earnest to write the great poem which is called the _Divine
+Comedy_. Dante had already written a number of beautiful poems, but
+they were more in the style of other Italian and Latin poetry. What he
+now planned was entirely new and so daring that it had never been
+thought of since the beginning of the world.
+
+He planned in this poem to describe a journey into the nethermost
+regions of Hell, then into Purgatory and finally into Heaven, where
+Beatrice should be his guide and conduct him to the throne of God
+Himself.
+
+Such a poem, as we have said, had never been written or even wildly
+imagined, but Dante's imagination was so vivid that it seemed as if he
+really had beheld the scenes that he described. And he told the story
+of the poem as though the adventures in it were real and had happened
+directly to himself.
+
+Hell, according to Dante's belief, and that of the religion of his day,
+was a gigantic funnel-shaped gulf directly beneath the city of
+Jerusalem, shaped into nine vast circles or pits with a common center
+that reached down to the center of the earth like a circular flight of
+stairs. In the lowest pit of all Satan himself was to be found, ruling
+his kingdom. On the other side of the earth was a wide sea, from which
+arose a mighty mountain called the Mount of Purgatory--the place where
+the souls of human beings did penance for their sins until they were
+fit to enter Heaven. Heaven itself was composed of nine transparent and
+revolving spheres that enclosed the earth, and in which were fastened
+the sun, the moon and the stars. The motion of these heavenly bodies as
+they rose and set above the earth's horizon was believed by Dante to be
+due to the turning of the spheres, which were moved by the hand of God.
+
+It was in accordance with this idea of Heaven and Hell that Dante began
+his poem.
+
+One day, he said, when he was lonely and sad in spirit, he found
+himself standing in the midst of a deep forest that was so gloomy, wild
+and savage that no mortal eyes had ever seen its equal--and even to
+think of it afterward caused him a bitterness not far from that of
+death itself.
+
+As he stood there he was aware of a presence close by, the stately
+figure of a man, who proved to be the great Roman poet, Vergil,--and
+Vergil told him that Divine Will had ordered him to guide Dante through
+Hell and as far as the gates of Paradise.
+
+He made clear to Dante that this journey was the part of a Heavenly
+order and had been decreed by Heaven itself, and Dante, in great fear
+at what he was about to see, was led by Vergil through the forest until
+he came to the mouth of a black cavern. Carven on the rock above it was
+a verse that told Dante that here was the entrance to the lower
+world,--the gateway to Hell. And the verse concluded with the grim
+words--"_All Hope Abandon, Ye Who Enter Here_."
+
+Sighs, groans, lamentations and terrible voices were heard from the
+depths below as they passed through this evil doorway, and now they
+were in a region of murky gloom, where no ray of sunlight ever had
+entered. All around them were the spirits of the dead. They came
+flocking to the Acheron or River of Death, where the ferryman named
+Charon, with eyes like flaming wheels, bore them across. When Charon
+saw a living man among the dead he sternly ordered Dante to return
+whence he had come. Vergil interceded for him, and they passed on.
+
+After they had crossed the River of Death they entered the first circle
+of Hell, where those who had the misfortune to die without being
+baptized, or who had believed in some other religion than Christianity,
+must spend the rest of time. Here were a number of noble spirits from
+the days of Rome and Greece, including many of the poets,
+mathematicians and astronomers of olden days. Dante would gladly have
+remained with them, for they were not unhappy and spent their time in
+learned discourse and scholarly friendship, but Vergil urged him
+onward.
+
+Deeper and deeper they descended. They passed through great spaces
+where mighty winds swept before them the souls of the dead, whirling
+them around forever without rest; through regions of chill rain and
+sleet, where the spirits of those who had been gluttonous in their
+lifetime were perpetually torn into pieces by a three-headed dog called
+Cerberus. And after many awful scenes that Dante could hardly bear to
+witness, he saw in front of him the towers of the dreadful city of Dis,
+or Satan, in which the spirits of the damned underwent punishments that
+were worse than any he had witnessed thus far.
+
+Guarding the walls were the three Furies of the Greek legends. When
+they beheld Dante they howled for the Gorgon, Medusa, with the snaky
+locks to come quickly and turn him into stone--a fate that must befall
+all men that gazed upon her face. But Vergil bade Dante hide his eyes,
+and to be sure that he might be saved he covered them with his own
+hand.
+
+They entered the city--and there and from that time on the punishments
+became so fearful that we shall not describe them here.
+
+In their journey they had constantly to be on their guard against the
+monsters of Hell that strove to arrest their progress. And in passing
+by a lake of burning pitch, in which tortured souls were burning, the
+demons that guarded them rushed at Dante and pursued him, eager to hurl
+him into the lake to lose his life and the hope of Heaven at one and
+the same time.
+
+Lower and lower they descended, passing from one horror to another
+still more terrible, until they came to the nethermost pit of all,
+where Vergil told Dante that now he would need all his courage to
+sustain him, for he had come at last to the abode of Satan. This was a
+region of eternal ice and a bitter wind blew on them, so cold and
+dreadful that Dante was half dead from it and it seemed that his numbed
+senses could not support life any longer. The wind, he saw, was caused
+by the bat-like wings of Satan himself--a gigantic and hairy monster,
+with only the upper half of his body protruding from the icy pit in
+which he stood. He had three heads, one red, one green and one white
+and yellow; and in his three mouths he munched the three greatest
+traitors of all time--Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius.
+
+When Dante was about to swoon from the terrible sight, Vergil watched
+his opportunity, and as the great wings of Satan rose he sprang beneath
+them, with Dante following him. Grasping the hairy side of the monster,
+they commenced to descend still lower. And soon, to Dante's amazement,
+their downward path became an upward one, for Satan's waist was at the
+center of the earth and after they had passed it they must climb
+instead of descend.
+
+Up and up they went, toiling with the greatest difficulty, passing
+through a chimney-like passageway that led for an incredible distance
+to the open air above; and when they arrived beneath the blue sky they
+were at the base of the Mountain of Purgatory, where men's spirits that
+were not doomed to Hell must purify themselves before they could hope
+to enter the Heaven that lay above them.
+
+After the soot of Hell was washed from Dante's countenance he began
+with Vergil to ascend the mountain. They passed countless spirits all
+engaged in severe tasks, to cleanse themselves of sin before they could
+hope to attain the wonderful regions above; but these spirits were
+almost happy, although many of them were undergoing pain and suffering,
+for their trouble was not endless as was the case with the spirits of
+Hell, and they would certainly find happiness at last.
+
+When they came to the summit of the mountain a wall of fire lay between
+them and Paradise. Through this they passed, and once on the other side
+Dante lost sight of Vergil, who could accompany him no further.
+
+Dante was then greeted by his long lost Beatrice, now a radiant spirit,
+who had been chosen by divine will to show him the glories of Heaven.
+And with Beatrice guiding him, Dante passed upward through the crystal
+spheres, once getting a glimpse of the earth in his heavenly progress
+as it lay beneath him shining in the light of the sun. At last Dante
+had ascended to so great a height in Heaven that he beheld God
+Himself--but what he saw was so wonderful that it was impossible for
+him to write about it, and in this way his wonderful poem came to an
+end.
+
+After completing the Inferno Dante went to Paris, where he met a great
+many scholars and wise men, who treated him with the utmost respect,
+but all the time he desired to be in his native city of Florence. When
+Henry of Luxembourg planned to lay siege to it, Dante encouraged him,
+hoping that he might enter with the conquerors and that his enemies
+might be overthrown. The siege took place, but it was unsuccessful, and
+the poet was compelled to wander far and wide among strangers for the
+rest of his life. As he lacked money, he had to take many humble
+offices to earn his bread, and more than once had to undergo the
+indignity of sitting among the jesters and buffoons at some great house
+that had honored him with its favor.
+
+At last, weary of life and sick at heart, Dante went to Ravenna, where
+his genius was honored more worthily. His name had now penetrated
+throughout the greater part of the civilized world and he was known as
+one of the greatest geniuses that had ever lived. Many people believed
+that Dante had actually beheld the scenes that he described. When they
+met him on the streets they would draw aside to let him pass, thinking
+him a man whose destiny was different from their own, and they would
+whisper to each other that he was the man who had descended into Hell
+and come forth again alive and had looked with his own eyes at the
+horrors of the Infernal Regions.
+
+No doubt the fame and the almost frightened homage that he received
+were pleasing to the sad soul of Dante, but he always remembered that
+he was still an outcast from his native city. Florence stubbornly
+refused to remove her ban and when Dante died he was buried at Ravenna.
+There his body still lies, with a Latin inscription on his tombstone
+that tells the world of the ingratitude of the city of Florence to her
+greatest son, who is also the greatest poet that Italy has ever seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ROBERT BRUCE
+
+
+If you ask a Scot who is the greatest man that ever lived he will
+probably say Robert Bruce. It does not matter that Robert Bruce died
+six hundred years ago--his name is as bright in Scotland as though he
+had lived yesterday. Songs and stories are told about him there and
+every school boy hears of him as soon as he is old enough to listen to
+the tales of his country.
+
+The reason for this is that Robert Bruce made the Scots free from the
+rule of England, which country they used to hate. Also because he was a
+great warrior, so strong in body and with such courage that it was
+almost impossible for any foe to stand against him.
+
+When Edward the First ruled over England he extended his power over the
+free land of Scotland, where the race and the speech were different
+from those of the English. A dispute had arisen among the Scottish
+chiefs as to who was to succeed to the Scottish throne. Many claimants
+came forward, and as a result of this the chieftains were embroiled
+among themselves, giving Edward a chance to seize their country which
+he was not slow to take.
+
+So great had been the jealousy among the Scots that many joined
+Edward's army to fight against their fellow countrymen. Among them was
+a young nobleman named Robert Bruce, whose grandfather had himself been
+one of the claimants to the Scottish throne.
+
+It was not a noble deed on the part of Robert Bruce to serve under the
+English banner. Indeed, in his younger years he does not seem to have
+been a hero at all. While the great Scottish chief, Wallace, was waging
+bitter war against King Edward, Bruce was content to rest under
+Edward's protection,--even after Wallace was captured and put to a
+cruel death in Berwick castle, where he was beheaded at Edward's order.
+
+At last, however, Bruce began to show that he intended to become a
+champion of the Scottish cause. He did not do this all at once, and, in
+fact, he acted treacherously both to the Scots and to the English--for
+he renounced his fealty to Edward on two separate occasions, and each
+time was won back to him and received gifts and forgiveness from him.
+At last, however, Bruce was obliged to fly for his life from the
+English court and trust his fortunes to the Scottish cause.
+
+He had been betrayed to Edward by a nobleman called Lord Comyn, and he
+now determined that Comyn must be slain. He sent his two brothers as
+messengers to Comyn, asking this lord to accompany them to a church in
+Dumfries, where Bruce was waiting for him at the altar. When Comyn
+approached, Bruce told him that his treachery was discovered. "Be
+assured you shall have your reward," he cried loudly, and drawing his
+dagger he plunged it in Comyn's breast.
+
+Murder was little thought of in those days, but murder in a church,
+before the altar itself and under the very eyes of the priests who were
+engaged in their religious offices, was a crime that made the whole
+civilized world ring with horror. And it blackened the name of Robert
+Bruce with a stain that has lasted to this day, in spite of his great
+glory.
+
+Bruce, however, had been greatly provoked to this bloody deed, and was
+now to prove himself a true champion of the Scottish people. He sought
+safety in flight for a time, and at last rallied the Scots about him at
+Lochmaven Castle, from which place he told them that he would make
+himself King over all Scotland and liberate the land from the English
+yoke. With his vassals and retainers about him, he issued proclamations
+for all who would fight against England to join his banner, and at
+Scone he had placed on his head the Scottish crown.
+
+When King Edward heard of what Bruce had done--how he had murdered
+Comyn and been crowned king and was inciting all of Scotland to rise
+against the English rule, he fell in such a rage that he could hardly
+speak for anger, and swore a great oath that the rest of his life
+should be devoted to punishing Bruce for his crimes. A strong English
+army was promptly raised and sent against the new Scottish King.
+
+The English soldiers under the Earl of Pembroke fell on the Scots at
+night in the woods at a place called Methven, when the followers of
+Bruce believed themselves to be safe from attack, and had taken off
+their armor. As the English with shouts and battle cries attacked the
+unguarded Scots, Bruce leaped to his horse and with his great
+two-handed sword drove his enemies before him like chaff. But while the
+English recoiled before the blows of his powerful arm, they succeeded
+in routing his followers. A large number of Bruce's friends and
+retainers were captured, and he himself only escaped by killing with
+his own hand three men who laid hold of his equipment and were trying
+to drag him from his horse. For the time being the Scots were
+thoroughly defeated, and were obliged to take shelter wherever they
+could find it.
+
+With his army scattered and only about five hundred followers remaining
+faithful to him, Bruce fled into the mountain forests of Athole. His
+troubles had only begun, for many fierce Scottish noblemen themselves
+were his bitter enemies on account of wars between the different
+Scottish clans, and particularly because of the foul murder of Lord
+Comyn.
+
+Then began a period of wandering and suffering for Bruce and his
+followers. They made their way across the mountains to Aberdeen, where
+their wives joined them, preferring to be hunted outlaws with their
+husbands rather than to remain in safety away from them. And finally
+the little band of ragged highlanders came to Argyl, where they were
+confronted in battle by a Scottish chief called John of Lorn.
+
+Bruce's men were in poor condition on account of the hardships they had
+undergone and were also outnumbered by their enemies. The result of the
+battle was a second defeat for Bruce, who now must hide more closely
+than ever, as his enemies were hunting for him everywhere.
+
+Once more his wife had to part from him, for his state was now so
+dangerous and the hardships he endured so great that no woman could
+withstand them. And the lords who remained in his company had likewise
+to say farewell to their wives and children. No spot in Scotland was
+safe for them. Nowhere could Bruce rest his head and be sure that his
+enemies would not attack him before morning. English soldiers and Scots
+who had become their allies were looking for him everywhere. Moreover,
+those Scots who fell into the hands of the enemy could not hope for
+mercy. If they were men of low degree and with no title of nobility
+they were hanged. If they were of noble birth, they suffered the more
+aristocratic fate of beheading.
+
+Still further misfortunes were to follow Bruce. The Pope could not
+forget his desecration of the church and passed on him what is known to
+all followers of the Catholic faith as the sentence of excommunication.
+This was a terrible punishment, for it meant that so far as the power
+of the Church went--and that power was absolute in those far
+days--Bruce could never be received in Heaven or even have the
+privilege of repenting for his sins. He was cast out of the Church into
+the outer darkness, and the hands of every priest and of all righteous
+men were turned against him.
+
+He was obliged to flee to a little island off the coast of Ireland,
+where with a few followers he had a comparatively safe hiding place,
+although the ships of King Edward were hunting for him high and low. In
+the meantime his Queen and her ladies, whom he believed he had sent to
+a safe refuge in a stronghold called Kildrummy Castle, were captured by
+the English and kept in close confinement, being made to undergo many
+indignities because Bruce himself had succeeded in eluding vengeance.
+
+But all the time he lay in concealment Bruce considered how he could go
+back to Scotland, whose shores he could see from his hiding place, and
+he and his followers were constantly making desperate plans to return.
+Chief among them was one James Douglas, who was a brave and noble
+warrior, second only to Bruce himself in the strength of his arm and no
+way inferior to him in the quality of his courage. After many a talk
+with Douglas and the rest of his followers as to what would be best for
+them in their extremity, Bruce decided to send a trusty messenger in a
+small boat to the Scottish shore to learn if there was any discontent
+under the British rule, and if the time for a second uprising had not
+perhaps arrived. For Bruce knew he had many friends, if he could only
+reach them and gather them to his side.
+
+The messenger who made this dangerous journey was to signal to Bruce if
+it was safe for him to return by lighting a beacon fire on the headland
+that was most visible from the Island of Arran where Bruce was then
+hiding. If Bruce saw the fire on the following night he and his
+followers were to embark at once for Scotland. There they would be met
+by friends and their further course made clear to them.
+
+How great was Bruce's joy when the night fell to see the beacon fire
+spring up on the distant headland! With a high heart he and his
+followers embarked and pulled strongly at the oars. They believed that
+Scotland would be theirs again.
+
+But when Bruce and his small band of followers arrived on the mainland
+they found the messenger awaiting them. It seemed that some ill chance
+had befallen, for the beacon had been kindled by accident and for some
+other purpose than to call Bruce from his hiding place. So far from
+being prepared for his invasion, Scotland seemed more dangerous than
+ever for him. Two of his brothers had been captured by the English and
+both had been beheaded. Bruce learned also that the Queen and her
+ladies whom he believed to be safe in Kildrummy Castle had fallen into
+English hands and were pent in dungeons like wild beasts.
+
+Discretion told the little band of adventurers to return to their
+island retreat, but after consulting together over their bitter
+fortunes, they decided to make a bold stroke for success and die if it
+did not succeed. An English garrison lay at Turnberry Castle not far
+off, and had been divided in two parts, one being billeted in a nearby
+village, while the other occupied the castle itself. It was decided to
+attack the English soldiers who were in the village and not to leave a
+man of them alive.
+
+Silently Bruce and his men stole up to the little town. As the
+frightened English came running half clad into the streets they were
+met by the swords and axes of the Scots. Few escaped the grim vengeance
+of that attack, and Bruce retaliated heavily for the injuries the
+English had worked on his wife and his kinsmen in his absence.
+
+The Scots, however, did not rally to Bruce's standard as quickly as he
+hoped, and he was once more compelled to take shelter in the mountains.
+To escape the enemies who fell on his little band in far superior
+numbers and with better arms and equipment he was obliged to flee as
+swiftly as possible. His enemies, however, had tracked Bruce himself by
+a bloodhound, and it seemed impossible for him to escape the unerring
+scent of this terrible animal, which picked up his trail from among
+those of his followers. At last, with a few men, he separated entirely
+from his soldiers, telling them of a rendezvous where they were to meet
+him in case he should escape.
+
+Bruce avoided the bloodhound by wading through a running stream, and
+then had adventures which have become the subject of legends in his
+country. At one time he was ambushed and attacked by three traitors of
+his own force, who hoped to make their fortunes by bringing his head to
+the English. Instead of this they dug their own graves, for Bruce slew
+all three with his own hand. On another occasion he took refuge with a
+single companion in a deserted house where three more enemies
+endeavored to kill him as he slept. Bruce had a companion at his side,
+but both were worn out by the hardships they had undergone and were
+fast asleep as the ruffians with drawn swords and daggers stole upon
+them.
+
+The good angel of Scotland made one of them tread too heavily. All at
+once Bruce awoke and leaped to his feet with his mighty two-handed
+sword in his grasp. His companion was slain, but alone Bruce struck
+down and killed the three murderers that had set upon him.
+
+There are many stories about Bruce while he lay hiding in the mountain
+fastnesses of Scotland. We are told that on the day following his
+victory over the three would-be assassins he went to the house of an
+old woman and asked for something to eat. And when he begged for food
+she replied that she would give it to him willingly for the sake of one
+wanderer that she loved; and Bruce inquired of her who that might be.
+
+"No other than King Robert himself," she responded. "He is hunted now
+and without friends, but the time will come when he shall rule all
+Scotland." "Know, then, woman," said Bruce, overjoyed at this evidence
+of devotion that had followed him in his trouble, "that I am he of whom
+you speak and have returned for no other purpose than to resume my
+crown and throne."
+
+When the old woman recovered from her amazement she did him reverence
+as the rightful King of Scotland and called in her three strong sons to
+wait on him and join the ranks of his soldiers.
+
+Bruce slowly collected the men that had remained faithful to him, and
+at Loudon Hill in May he and his followers met an English army. The
+English leader, whose name was De Valence, had done everything in his
+power to make Bruce come forth from his mountain retreat and do battle
+with the English, for he believed that on open ground he could defeat
+the Scots decisively and do away with the long chase of Bruce that was
+wearying himself and his followers. So De Valence sent Bruce a letter
+in which he called him a base coward for refusing to meet him in
+battle, and challenged Bruce to stand up to him as a soldier at Loudon
+on the tenth of May. Stung with anger, Bruce accepted the challenge and
+the crafty English leader rejoiced because his enemy had delivered
+himself into his hands.
+
+Bruce, however, had no intention of being defeated. He arrived on the
+appointed spot several days before the English and studied his ground
+with the eye of a trained general. He knew the route that must be taken
+by the English and so arranged his forces that it would be impossible
+for his enemies to outflank him, entrenching himself behind marshes and
+ditches that the English could not pass.
+
+On the appointed day he saw the gay banners and shining armor of his
+enemies. They approached recklessly and hurled themselves against his
+line in a headlong charge. But the Scots held firm. Again and again the
+English sought to break the Scottish ranks or to take them on the
+flank, but to no avail. And then when their ranks showed signs of
+wavering, Bruce himself gave the signal for the charge. With a shout
+his men rushed forward and the English were routed. Victory had crowned
+the arms of a tattered and ragged band of outlaws who fought with
+English halters around their necks.
+
+Then a terrible calamity befell the English and turned the scale still
+further in favor of Bruce. Old King Edward, embittered because his
+cherished schemes regarding Scotland had failed, died, and with his
+last breath he asked his son, the Prince of Wales, to see his bones
+were carried in their coffin at the head of the English army invading
+Scotland.
+
+The Prince of Wales who succeeded him was called Edward the Second and
+was a hollow echo of his father's greatness. While Edward had been the
+finest general of his time either in England or in Europe, the new king
+knew little of military art and was idle and of a pleasure loving
+nature. He knew nothing of generalship and cared less, being content to
+leave the leading of his armies in the field to the nobles who served
+him.
+
+At once it was seen that the death of the strong King Edward the First
+was a great stroke of good fortune for his equally strong opponent. In
+the two years that followed King Edward's death nearly the whole
+country of Scotland rose against the English and threw off the foreign
+yoke, acclaiming Bruce as their rightful king. Border warfare was
+constant and raids and skirmishes were carried on both by the Scots and
+the English, with varying success on either side.
+
+In these raids, sieges and forays one of Bruce's followers particularly
+distinguished himself. This was James Douglas, who had shared all his
+leader's hardships.
+
+While most of Scotland was now under Bruce's banner, the English still
+held many important strongholds which were thorns in the side of Bruce
+and his followers. Chief among these fortresses were those of Stirling
+and Berwick.
+
+Realizing that the overthrow of these strong fortresses was necessary
+to the success of the Scottish cause, King Robert in the autumn of 1313
+sent his brother, Edward Bruce, to lay siege to Stirling Castle. So
+well did the Scots succeed and so ruthlessly did they beset the strong
+walls of Stirling that at last the English commander, one Sir Philip
+Mowbray, agreed to surrender, providing the besieged soldiers were not
+relieved by the English before the twenty-fourth of June of the
+following year. This was a strange agreement and showed that the old
+laws of chivalry which bound all noblemen to certain forms of warfare
+and certain conditions of fighting were still in operation.
+
+But the English had no intention of allowing Stirling Castle to fall
+into the hands of the Scots and before the stipulated date a strong
+army advanced into Scotland, led by King Edward the Second in person.
+It numbered, we are told, about one hundred thousand men, while the
+total number that Bruce was able to muster was thirty thousand, so that
+his force of seasoned veterans was compelled to fight at odds of more
+than three to one.
+
+Bruce sent out scouts to keep close watch of all the English movements,
+and on the twenty-second of June they brought him word that the English
+were advancing on Stirling Castle by way of a place called Falkirk.
+
+This information enabled Bruce to know exactly how his enemies must
+travel, for to reach Stirling after passing Falkirk they would have to
+cross a stream called Bannock Burn, and Bruce was thoroughly acquainted
+with the country in the vicinity of this stream.
+
+He assembled his army on its bank and strengthened his position with
+hundreds of pits in which sharp stakes were planted to trip and impale
+the English cavalry. When these pits were prepared they were covered up
+again with turf in such a way that they were practically invisible.
+Bruce also took his position at a ford in the river, knowing that his
+flanks would be protected by deep water and high banks so that the
+enemy could not get around him.
+
+When his men had taken their positions he spoke to them. He told them
+that the hour had come when they were to make Scotland free or die as
+they faced the foe. If the men did not like his conditions, he
+continued, they were free to depart before the battle began.
+
+But the Scots stood firm. Although they had an idea of the odds against
+which they must fight, their confidence in their leader was so great
+that they had no doubt in their minds that victory would be theirs.
+Behind their rude fortifications, with sharpened pikes and swords, they
+awaited grimly the coming of Edward's horsemen.
+
+The battle opened in a curious manner. While Sir Thomas Randolph, one
+of Bruce's kinsmen, was fighting with a body of English cavalry that
+sought to outflank Bruce and make its way to Stirling Castle, Bruce
+himself engaged in single combat with an English knight named Sir Henry
+de Bohun. This knight had recognized Bruce as the latter rode up and
+down in front of the line of Scottish warriors and spurring his horse
+with lance in rest he charged at the Scotch King. Bruce was only
+mounted on a small pony, while the Englishman rode a heavy charger--but
+when the knight was upon him, Bruce, by a deft twist of the bridle,
+avoided the deadly lance, and in another second had driven his battle
+axe through the skull of his enemy with so mighty a blow that the
+handle broke in his hand.
+
+A great cheer rose from the Scottish ranks as they beheld this deed,
+and with the greatest bravery they routed the English as they charged.
+The English had not reckoned on such stubborn resistance from a force
+far inferior to their own, both in size and equipment, and as the day
+was waning they withdrew in good order, planning to hold a council of
+war and gain the battle on the following day.
+
+Early in the morning the Scots were in position, and with a great rush
+of horses and men the English surged upon them. It was to no avail.
+Again and again the flower of the English nobility charged the squares
+of Scottish infantry and were driven back in confusion.
+
+At last the English lines wavered and with a deafening cheer the Scots
+rushed upon them. Pell mell the English retreated and the battle was
+won. It is said that thirty thousand Englishmen were slain in this
+encounter--a number equal to the total number of the Scottish army.
+
+The victory that Bruce won at the battle of Bannockburn changed the
+entire course of English history. Instead of being a hunted fugitive he
+was now acknowledged as king and openly received the fealty of his
+subjects. The English strongholds in Scotland were overthrown, and
+Scotland became a kingdom in fact as well as in name. Moreover, Bruce's
+wife and daughter, who had been imprisoned in England, were set at
+liberty. Fighting was not yet over, however, and border warfare for a
+time continued with varying success on either side. Edward Bruce, the
+brother of King Robert, was killed when fighting in Ireland.
+
+In 1328 a treaty was signed with England in which the English
+recognized that Scotland was now fairly entitled to her independence
+and that Bruce was her rightful ruler.
+
+But the great king was not to enjoy for long the fruits of his victory.
+His hardships in the wilderness when flying from his enemies, and his
+great suffering and lack of food when he fled in the Scotch heather
+like a hunted animal, had made him fall prey to a terrible malady--the
+disease of leprosy. So great was the love in which the Scots held him
+that even this did not make them shun him with the fear that is shown
+toward ordinary sufferers from this disease. Surrounded by friends,
+Bruce gradually wasted away and died in 1329. His noble follower,
+Douglas, who had won the name from the English of "the black Douglas,"
+took the heart of the dead king and placed it in a silver box, planning
+to carry it to Jerusalem. But Douglas himself did not live to place it
+there, for he was killed in a battle with the Moors.
+
+In all history there have been great soldiers and chiefs of Scottish
+birth. How great the Scots are as soldiers has been shown in the recent
+war, where they rendered the most distinguished service for Great
+Britain, fighting under the British flag, their former quarrels with
+England reconciled, if not forgotten. But of all none was more glorious
+than Robert Bruce, and his name is a household word to-day through the
+whole of Scotland.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+JEANNE D'ARC
+
+
+In northern France the river Meuse runs through broad meadowlands,
+where the sun shines dimly for many months each year, and cold, rolling
+mists sweep down upon the earth in winter, coating each twig with
+silver. There, in the little village of Domremy, in the year 1412, was
+born a girl named Jeanne d'Arc, whose father, Jacques d'Arc, was a
+simple peasant.
+
+When Jeanne d'Arc was born life was hard and dangerous in Domremy. The
+villagers were hard put to it to protect themselves against fierce
+knights and noblemen who rode at the head of marauding bands to steal
+and plunder at will. The peasants had to look on sadly, with no hope of
+redress, when brutal men at arms drove off their sheep, or tossed the
+torch into their cottages--and as there was little to choose between
+friend and foe, the villagers stood guard in the tower of a nearby
+monastery, and gave the alarm when any soldiers approached the town.
+
+Domremy, however, was no worse off in these respects than other towns
+and villages in that far time. And it must not be thought that the
+village folk were wholly without pleasures. Roses grew along the walls
+of their cottages, wine flowed from their vineyards, and there were
+village festivals and dances in which they loved to take part. Although
+they could not read or write, their priests instructed them in the
+history of the Church and its mighty power, and in the lives of the
+Saints and Martyrs and their teachings--how those that obeyed the
+Church and its priests were blessed, while those that broke its laws
+must surely enter the dismal fires of Hell. There were also bands of
+players who acted the religious stories taught by the priests in so
+vivid a manner that the peasants were thrilled and delighted; and while
+their cottages were bare and poor, their church was glorious with gold,
+rich with embroidery and bright with candle light that gleamed upon the
+carven, painted figures of the Saints that they adored.
+
+It had been prophesied in France that from a forest near Domremy there
+would come a maid who would deliver the country from the perils that
+beset it--and when Jeanne d'Arc was a little girl the times seemed ripe
+indeed for the appearance of such deliverer. A great war had been
+raging between France and England; the English had captured many French
+towns and laid claim to the crown itself; the French King, Charles the
+Sixth, was quite mad; his Queen had leagued herself with the enemies of
+France, and her son, Prince Charles, who was called the Dauphin, had
+been compelled to flee to escape the English and the Burgundians.
+
+Perhaps Jeanne d'Arc had heard the prophesy about the maid,--certainly
+she had listened to many beautiful tales about the lives of the Saints.
+In those days the Saints were believed to take sides in war with the
+countries that were dearest to them. The English believed in St.
+George, who slew the dragon; but the patron Saint of France was the
+Archangel Michael. He was portrayed in the churches as a knight in
+shining armor with a crown above his helmet, and sometimes he bore
+scales in which he weighed the souls of men. Jeanne had listened to
+many stories about him, and to tales of other Saints as well--legends
+of St. Margaret, whose soul escaped from her persecutors in the shape
+of a white dove, and stories of the gracious St. Catherine, who died by
+the sword because she was a Christian.
+
+These tales made a great impression upon her--all the more because she
+did not know one letter of the alphabet from another. She was a serious
+child, with something about her that marked her as being different from
+the other children of the village, and as she grew older she grew apart
+from them and did not share their games and dances. Often, when her
+father believed her to be tending his sheep, she was kneeling at
+prayer. Her girl friends, Mengette and Hauviette, urged her to share
+their pleasures and to give less heed to the dreams that seemed to hold
+her in their spell, but Jeanne persisted in her way of life, and gained
+a reputation for piety that passed beyond her village into the
+neighboring countryside.
+
+When a mere child, something happened to Jeanne that was destined to
+shake the entire Kingdom of France. When she listened to the church
+bells as they rang out over the meadows, she believed that she heard
+heavenly voices calling her name. She was only thirteen years old when
+she began hearing them and they seemed to come from the direction of
+the church that was near her cottage. The first time was at noon and a
+bright light appeared to her, while a grave, sweet voice said, "I come
+from Heaven to help you to lead a pure and holy life. Be good,
+Jeannette, and God will aid you." Badly frightened, she ran into the
+cottage and said nothing of what had happened; but a few days later the
+same voice called out to her again. In amazement she knew it to be the
+voice of an angel--and then--Saint Michael himself appeared to her in
+the light!
+
+From that time on the visions and the voices came more frequently. And
+it seemed to Jeanne that not only St. Michael came, but St. Margaret
+and St. Catherine appeared to her also, coming with a bright light, and
+speaking with sweet and musical words. And they were so real that she
+believed she had actually touched their garments and tasted the sweet
+scents their robes emitted.
+
+They began to urge her to take a strange course of action far removed
+from her birth and station and marvelous to think of, telling her that
+she must alter her way of life, put on armor and become a captain in
+the wars, for she was chosen by the King of Heaven to save France from
+its enemies. And they called her "Daughter of God." But Jeanne was
+filled with fear and grave misgiving, for how was she, a poor,
+unlettered girl and the daughter of peasants, to lead armies and wield
+the sword of war?
+
+In the meantime the mad Charles the Sixth died and left his throne to
+be fought for by the Dauphin, who was destined to be Charles the
+Seventh--but this prince found his dominions so harried by war, so
+divided against themselves, and his path beset by so many enemies that
+he was unable to go to the city of Rheims, where all French kings must
+be anointed with sacred oil before they could be considered as the
+rightful sovereigns of France. His failure to do this gave added power
+to the English and better reason for them to claim the French crown for
+their young King, Henry the Sixth, whose armies had joined the Duke of
+Burgundy. And it became more plain each day that France would be ruled
+by whichever king was the first to be crowned at Rheims.
+
+In the meantime the heavenly voices that spoke to Jeanne grew more and
+more insistent, telling her that she must go forth to the wars and lead
+the Dauphin Charles to the Cathedral at Rheims to be crowned and
+anointed. And at last she could no longer disobey, but prepared to
+fulfil the strange destiny that they pointed out to her.
+
+Clad in her poor best dress, Jeanne visited a garrison of French
+soldiers, and told their captain that Heaven had called on her to lead
+the French to victory and see that the Dauphin Charles was duly crowned
+at Rheims. For a week she remained, imploring the captain to listen to
+her, but gaining nothing but insults and mockery that drove her at last
+to return to her home. But the Archangel Michael and Saint Catherine
+and Saint Margaret continued to appear to her, and she had no choice
+except to listen to their words.
+
+Again she went to the French stronghold and told the captain, whose
+name was Robert de Baudricourt, that if the Dauphin Charles would give
+her men at arms she would deliver the city of Orleans, which was being
+besieged by the English, and drive the English enemy from their
+strongholds in all France. And this time the captain gave heed to her
+and wrote to the French Court, telling the Dauphin of what she had
+said; and after many days of weary waiting he received a reply ordering
+that Jeanne be taken to Chinon where the Dauphin was awaiting her.
+
+This was not accomplished all at once, and Jeanne had to answer many
+tedious and wearisome questions; for wise men and clergymen from all
+over the land desired to know if she were inspired by angels or devils,
+and they feared that the visions she had seen might be the work of
+Satan himself. But they decided at last that there was great virtue in
+what she had beheld and that perhaps after all she was to be the
+deliverer of France that prophets had told of. And they decided that,
+as travel was dangerous and there were many rough characters on the
+road, Jeanne should go to the French Court dressed as a boy, and a
+jerkin, a doublet, hose and gaiters were given to her.
+
+Attired in these garments and accompanied by men at arms Jeanne set
+forth on her journey, and traveled for more than seventy leagues
+through a hostile country with enemies on every hand. At length she
+came to Chinon and sent the Dauphin a letter, telling him that she was
+sent by God to crown him as King of France.
+
+Charles was suspicious of Jeanne and desired to see for himself if she
+was inspired by angels; and when he summoned her to the Court he
+prepared a trick to deceive her. He had one of his courtiers wear the
+royal robes and seat himself on the throne, while the Dauphin,
+disguised in humble garments, stood quietly in the group of courtiers
+and servants that crowded the room.
+
+When Jeanne entered she stopped for a minute and glanced about her.
+Then, instead of going to the throne where the supposed Prince was
+sitting, she went straight to Charles where he stood among his
+courtiers, and falling on her knees before him she told him that the
+King of Heaven had called upon her to deliver the city of Orleans from
+the hands of the English and to take him to Rheims to be crowned.
+
+All who beheld this were amazed, for Jeanne had never seen Charles
+before,--nor had she so much as looked upon his portrait--and Charles
+and his noblemen believed that this was indeed a sign that Jeanne was
+guided by heavenly powers.
+
+Before they went any further, however, they put her to further tests
+and she was questioned again by learned doctors and ministers.
+Messengers were even sent to the village of Domremy to learn about her
+early life. They asked her to give signs and to perform miracles--but
+Jeanne told them that it was not in her power to do these things. Her
+deeds, she declared, should answer for themselves and before the walls
+of Orleans all should receive the sign that they required in the rout
+of the English army. And she begged them to make haste and let her go
+there, for the English were battering at the walls and the besieged
+garrison was suffering.
+
+In Tours Jeanne was fitted out with plain white armor and received a
+sword that was believed to have belonged to the great Charles Martel,
+who had saved France and all Christendom from the invader several
+hundred years before her time. She also had a banner painted for her,
+snowy white, with fleur de lis upon it and a picture of God holding up
+the world, with angels on each side. And then, in company with skilled
+captains and men of war, and with her two brothers, Jean and Pierre,
+riding behind her, Jeanne went to the city of Blois, where the army to
+relieve Orleans was awaiting her arrival.
+
+With priests marching at the head of the column, chanting in Latin,
+accompanied by captains decked in all the panoply of war, and followed
+by men at arms, Jeanne left Blois for Orleans. She was in command of a
+convoy of supplies and provisions and the larger part of her army was
+to come up later. There were two roads to Orleans, which was built on
+the margin of the river Loire--one road leading directly past the
+English camp, the other running down to the river, where entrance to
+the town was to be gained only by bridges and boats.
+
+Jeanne had desired to march directly past the English, and so strike
+fear into their hearts, but her captains deemed that the other road was
+the safer and without her knowledge guided her upon it, so that when
+she beheld Orleans the river was between. And she spoke bitterly to the
+captains for deceiving her.
+
+"In God's name," she cried in anger, "you deceive yourselves, not me,
+for I bring you more certain aid than ever before was brought to a town
+or city. It is the aid of the King of Heaven," and in truth the way
+that the captains had chosen in their timidity was more dangerous and
+uncertain than the one that Jeanne had chosen.
+
+The English, however, were so negligent, that they allowed the entire
+army to enter the city in safety, and the people of Orleans rejoiced
+beyond words when Jeanne in her shining armor appeared within the
+ramparts of the beleaguered town. They beat upon the door of the house
+where she was lodged and clamored to see her, and they crowded so
+closely about her as she rode through the streets that a torch set fire
+to her white standard, and the Maid, wheeling her horse, was obliged to
+put it out with her own hands.
+
+On the following day Jeanne sent two heralds with a letter to the
+English leaders, bidding them to depart and save their lives while
+there was time, for otherwise the French would fall upon them and slay
+them all--but the English laughed greatly at the letter pretending to
+scorn it and really believing it to be the work of a witch who was led
+by evil spirits; and they answered her with vile taunts and insults,
+and one of their captains named Glasdale shook his fist in her
+direction and shouted in a voice that reached her ears: "Witch, if ever
+we lay our hands upon you, you shall be burned alive."
+
+None the less the English were more frightened by the sight of this
+young girl in white armor than they cared to admit, for they believed
+they were now fighting the powers of darkness; and in this way Jeanne's
+presence did the French army more good than the thousands of soldiers
+she brought with her.
+
+It came to pass that soon after Jeanne's arrival in the city, although
+she was now considered the real leader of the French rather than the
+captains, an attack was made by the French against one of the English
+forts that rose without the city walls. And things went badly for the
+French, for the English repulsed them with great slaughter.
+
+Jeanne had not been told of the attack and was asleep at the time it
+took place, but the Saints that watched over her appeared to her in a
+dream and told her that she must rise instantly and go forth against
+the English; and when she rose she heard the hearty shouts of the
+English soldiers and the screams of the French who were being
+slaughtered.
+
+She put on her armor as quickly as possible and galloped to the scene
+of the fight with her white standard in her hand. The French were in
+full flight when she appeared, but their courage returned when they saw
+her and they ran to gather around her banner. She cried out to them
+that they must return to the charge and take the English fort, and
+although the English hurled great stones upon them and fired with
+crossbows and cannon, the French soldiers swarmed over the English
+ramparts and gained the victory. And through the fight the Maid stood
+unmoved beneath the hail of missiles that the English showered down
+upon her followers, and she led the attack in person when the French
+climbed over the walls.
+
+This was only the commencement of the fighting, for the French with
+Jeanne to lead them, now commenced a determined series of attacks
+against the English forts that lay about the city. And everywhere
+Jeanne and her white standard were in the front rank of the battle, and
+she risked her life a thousand times each day.
+
+At last the French attacked one of the strongest of all the English
+forts, the bastille of Les Tourelles. Before the fight began Jeanne
+told the men-at-arms who were detailed to accompany her on the field to
+stay particularly close to her that day--"For," said she, "I have much
+work to do, and blood will flow from my body--above the breast."
+
+As the French approached the stronghold they were met with showers of
+stones and arrows. The English crossbowmen did deadly work and the
+English cannon fired stone balls into the ranks of the French soldiers.
+The French brought scaling ladders to mount the walls, but above them
+the English stood ready with boiling pitch and melted lead to hurl into
+the faces of those who succeeded in mounting.
+
+In spite of all these dangers Jeanne was constantly close to the
+English walls and her white standard always rose where the fighting was
+hottest. When a scaling ladder was placed against the wall she was the
+first to mount and was half way to the top when an English crossbowman,
+taking careful aim, fired an arrow with such force that it pierced
+right through her steel coat of mail and stood out behind her shoulder.
+Her grip relaxed from the ladder and she fell.
+
+A mighty cheer went up from the English who believed that in drawing
+the blood of the witch they had drawn her power too. And for a time it
+seemed as if this really were so, for Jeanne's wound was very painful
+and she seemed no longer a warrior, but a pitiful little girl, overcome
+with tears and faintness. At last, however, when her steel shirt had
+been removed, she grasped the arrow with her own hands and drew it from
+the wound. And after this she rose and insisted on donning her armor
+once more.
+
+The French had seen her fall and their courage had left them, and they
+were in full retreat when Jeanne returned to the battle.
+
+"In God's name," she cried, riding toward them, "forward once more. Do
+not fly when the place is almost ours. One more brave charge and I
+promise you shall succeed."
+
+The English were still rejoicing at what they had accomplished when to
+their dismay the French trumpets blew the charge again and they beheld
+the Maid with her white standard directly beneath their walls. And they
+considered that her return to the fight was nothing less than magical
+and fear gripped their hearts. Then the French swarmed up the scaling
+ladders like monkeys, leaped over the ramparts, and a horrible din
+arose from the interior of the fort, where, amid oaths and outcries and
+the clangor and crash of axes and meeting shields, the English were
+savagely slaughtered.
+
+Glasdale, the same leader who had threatened Jeanne from the English
+camp, was guarding the retreat of his men as they ran across a bridge
+over the Loire, but the French brought up and set fire to an old barge
+piled high with straw, tar, sulphur and all kinds of inflammable
+material, and the only escape for the English lay directly through the
+flames.
+
+Jeanne, on seeing this, was smitten with great pity for her enemies.
+
+"Yield, Glasdale, yield!" she cried. "Thou hast called me witch, thou
+hast basely insulted me, but I have great pity on your soul."
+
+But the brave English captain refused to give in and continued to guard
+the escape of his comrades. When all had passed through the smoke and
+flame he tried himself to rush across--but the planks were now eaten
+through with fire and would not hold him. With a crash of breaking
+timbers he plunged into the river beneath, where the weight of his
+armor pulled him down and he was drowned.
+
+With the capture of this English stronghold the siege of Orleans came
+to an end. The English saw that they were beaten and that their months
+of fighting to gain the city had availed them nothing. On the following
+day the French beheld them marching away in good order, and Jeanne
+cried out for joy.
+
+"Let them go," she said to her captains who wished to pursue them. "It
+is Sunday and God does not will that you shall fight to-day, but you
+shall have them another time." And the French held a solemn mass in
+thanksgiving for their victory.
+
+Jeanne had made good her word and Orleans was saved. And now the Maid
+returned to Tours to meet the Dauphin, who had been so faint hearted
+that he stayed out of harm's way while a girl had gone forth and fought
+his battles for him. But he was very glad to see the Maid and he gave
+her a royal welcome and Jeanne told him that no time was to be lost but
+that he must come to Rheims and be crowned.
+
+At last the tardy prince yielded to her request, and Jeanne with the
+army set forth once more to capture the towns that still were held by
+the English--and with the Maid at the head of the French army the towns
+of Jargeau, Meuny and Beaugency were soon taken. The English were so
+frightened by the marvelous feats performed by Jeanne that it was not
+long before their entire army was in full retreat toward the city of
+Paris. But Jeanne pursued them and defeated them in the battle of
+Pathay, where the mighty English leader, Talbot, was taken prisoner.
+
+And then Jeanne took matters into her own hands, for Charles continued
+to delay. She issued a proclamation to the people to come to Rheims to
+the King's Coronation, and she left the Court again to join the army,
+where Charles was compelled to follow her. And at last through the
+efforts of this simple peasant girl, the sluggard Charles was crowned
+with divine pomp and glory in the Rheims cathedral, and Jeanne in her
+white armor and with her white banner floating over her stood beside
+him all through the ceremony. The holy oil was poured on his head and
+all the people shouted in rejoicing, because they now had a king.
+
+Among the spectators was Jeanne's father who had journeyed to Rheims to
+see his famous daughter. All the old man's expenses were paid by the
+King, and when it was time for him to depart he was given a horse to
+carry him back to his native village.
+
+Jeanne now desired to besiege and capture Paris which was held by
+Charles' enemies, but since he had been crowned he was reluctant to
+make any further effort to secure his kingdom. Paris was besieged, to
+be sure, but only half-heartedly, for the King did not send up the
+necessary reinforcements, and the siege was unsuccessful.
+
+Then came months when Jeanne was forced to wait at Court, where the
+laggard King did nothing whatever, quite content with what had already
+been accomplished in his behalf. It is true that he gave Jeanne many
+presents, among other things a mantle of cloth of gold; and that many
+sick persons believed her to be a saint and came to touch her, in order
+to be cured of illness and suffering. But when Jeanne was asked to lay
+her hands upon some sufferer and cure him, she replied that his own
+touch would be as healing as her own, for that no extraordinary power
+lay in her.
+
+The English and the Burgundians sought to retrieve their fortunes by
+capturing Compiegne, a town that was important in its relation to Paris
+and as large and strong as Orleans itself. Word of this was brought to
+Jeanne, and she learned also that her enemies had already appeared
+before the city walls.
+
+With her usual swift decision she went to help the beleaguered
+garrison. She arrived before the city by secret forest paths and
+succeeded in gaining an entrance to it. And one morning with about five
+hundred followers she rode through the city gates to do battle with the
+besiegers. Her force drove the Burgundians before them like chaff, and
+the attack would have been wholly successful if a company of English
+men at arms had not come up at the gallop and attacked the French from
+the flank and from the rear.
+
+All of the French fled except a small band in the immediate vicinity of
+the Maid. They were driven back into the town with the English and
+Burgundians so close on their heels that the archers on the walls of
+the town could not shoot for fear of wounding their own comrades. Then
+the drawbridge was raised to keep the English from forcing an
+entrance--and Jeanne and her few followers were surrounded by the
+enemy. The Maid was dressed in a scarlet and gold cloak which covered
+her armor, and more attention was drawn to her than usual on account of
+the richness of her apparel. A Burgundian archer laid hands on her and
+dragged her from her horse. She was a prisoner.
+
+A great shout of triumph went up from the Burgundians when they saw
+that it was indeed Jeanne the Maid whom they had taken, and she was
+brought before the Duke of Burgundy, who, with great joy, sent many
+letters abroad informing the heads of the Church and the English of his
+good fortune.
+
+The English were determined to get Jeanne in their power, for they had
+planned a cruel death for her. The Holy Inquisition likewise demanded
+her "to receive justice at the hands of the Church."
+
+And now must be recorded the black and shameful fact that Charles made
+no effort to ransom Jeanne or do anything to relieve her misfortune, as
+might well have been possible, for the French held important English
+prisoners. And not content with leaving her to die, he proceeded to
+slight the name of the girl that had won him his throne. For in
+official accounts of how he had been crowned he made no reference to
+Jeanne at all. Orleans was won "by the grace of God." His enemies were
+routed "by the will of Providence." Of Jeanne and her efforts in his
+behalf he said not one single word.
+
+Jeanne was sent from castle to castle and confined in one prison after
+another. On one occasion she was jailed in a high tower and she tried
+to escape by leaping from a window more than sixty feet above the
+ground, only to be picked up insensible and bleeding as she lay at the
+foot of the castle wall.
+
+Then her worst enemy appeared before her. This was Pierre Cauchon, the
+Bishop of Beauvais. He persuaded the English to buy her from her
+captors so that they might try her and punish her, and the sum of six
+thousand francs was paid by them as blood money.
+
+Jeanne was then taken to the town of Rouen and imprisoned in a grim and
+ancient castle, which was already centuries old. Not content with
+lodging her in a damp cell, the English placed fetters on her leg and
+chained her to a great log so that she must needs drag the chain about
+whenever she moved. And instead of allowing her women to be her
+attendants, her only jailers were rough men at arms, who were
+constantly with her.
+
+To try this simple girl came the greatest dignitaries of the realm--men
+aged in experience and the law, grave doctors and wise bishops, all
+with the single purpose of accomplishing her death. With every
+advantage on their side they did not even allow a counsel for their
+prisoner, and when they saw that in spite of this she might be able
+skilfully to defend herself, they had her answers set aside as being of
+no importance and having no bearing on the trial. And they were right,
+for nothing that Jeanne said could possibly affect an issue where the
+stake and the executioner were already decided upon. And when some of
+the spectators showed signs of pity for her youth and innocence they
+had the trial continued secretly in her cell.
+
+They played with her as a cat plays with a mouse and tortured her in
+mind as well as in body. And under the guise of compassion they
+pretended to spare her life, only in the end to tell her that the stake
+had been made ready and that she must come at once to the market place
+to be burned.
+
+On the thirtieth of May, 1431, Jeanne was taken from her cell by two
+priests and escorted by men at arms to the market place of Rouen, where
+three scaffolds had been prepared. On one sat the priests who had been
+her judges, on another Jeanne must stand and hear a sermon before she
+died, and on the third was a grim stake with fagots piled high for her
+burning, and at the top of the stake was nailed a placard that bore
+these words:
+
+"_Jeanne, who hath caused herself to be called the maid, a liar,
+pernicious, deceiver of the people, soothsayer, superstitious, a
+blasphemer against God, presumptuous, miscreant, boaster, idolatress,
+cruel, dissolute, an invoker of devils, apostate, schismatic and
+heretic._"
+
+Then, with the learned doctors and churchmen drinking in the words, a
+sermon was read for the benefit of her soul. After it was ended the
+Bishop of Beauvais read the sentence which concluded by abandoning her
+to the arm of the law, for the Church itself could not pronounce
+sentence of death, but must leave that to the civil magistrates.
+Neither could the clergymen behold the infliction of the sentence, and
+they all came down from their seats and left the market place. What
+followed was supposed to be too dreadful for them to see.
+
+So Jeanne was burned, and even in her death there took place something
+approaching a miracle, for when the fire was extinguished her brave
+heart was found intact among the embers, and the frightened English
+threw it into the river.
+
+But the end did not come here. The enemies of Jeanne were so afraid of
+her power that they followed her with persecution after she was dead
+and made various attempts to darken her reputation, and give her memory
+an evil name. But they defeated their own ends, for twenty-five years
+later another trial was held in which the Maid was pronounced to be
+innocent. And nearly five hundred years later, in 1909, Pope Leo the
+Thirteenth took the first step toward making her a Saint by pronouncing
+her "venerable." Her canonization followed in 1920.
+
+The marvels wrought by Jeanne still continue,--for without her there
+might be a different France from that which we know to-day. In Domremy
+the house of Jacques d'Arc still stands, much the same, in many ways,
+as it was when she beheld her visions there. In addition a splendid
+church has been built to her memory not far from the village she loved.
+And her name and fame grow greater as time passes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
+
+
+In the year 1447, or about that time, there was born in the city of
+Genoa in Italy a boy named Christopher Columbus. He was the son of a
+wool weaver named Domenico Columbus, and spent his early boyhood in the
+dark and busy weaver's quarter of Genoa, always within hearing of the
+sound of the loom. His father was an industrious and hard-working man,
+and designed that Christopher should become a wool weaver like himself.
+It was a good business, he thought, and all his sons might enter it
+with credit and profit; and though they must work hard, they would have
+an honest business and an occupation for their lives.
+
+But Christopher was an adventurous boy and preferred the crowded harbor
+and the busy docks of Genoa to the stuffy weaving room. In his spare
+time he was constantly beside the water, talking with the sailors from
+all parts of the earth and hearing wonderful tales of adventure that
+stirred his blood. The sea was a dangerous place in those days, for not
+only were the ships small and badly built so that they could only with
+the greatest difficulty weather the gales that beat in vain against the
+steel sides of our great ships to-day, but there were many outlaws and
+pirates who followed the sea and made every voyage a peril. There were
+dark-skinned Moslems or Moors who would swoop in their swift boats upon
+Christian craft to kill or capture all on board, selling their
+prisoners into the horrible slavery of the Far East. There were also
+fearful tales of serpents and dragons that lived in the far waters of
+the "Sea of Darkness," for so the Atlantic Ocean was known among the
+seafaring men of Italy, Spain and Portugal, and stories galore of gold
+and undiscovered land. And many of the more adventurous youths of those
+days became sailors to see with their own eyes the marvels that the
+mariners would describe, while splicing rope upon the docks.
+
+When ten years old, however, Christopher was made to work in the wool
+shop and became his father's apprentice, with little free time from the
+loom to go about his own affairs. It is thought that he did not take
+kindly to this business and he may have run away, for a few years later
+we hear rumors of him in the University of Pavia, where, although a lad
+in his teens, he was greatly interested in the studies of geography and
+astronomy. He had already learned all that was then known about the
+science of navigation and the use of the few rude instruments with
+which mariners determined their position on the sea. He had also
+mastered the science of making maps and was so skilful at drawing them
+that he could earn his living by this means. He had taken his first
+trips as a sailor and visited many ports in the immediate vicinity of
+Genoa and perhaps he had gone even farther, for the love of adventure
+and of a wandering life were in his blood.
+
+When a very young man the wanderings of Columbus brought him to
+Portugal, where he lived for a time, at Lisbon, with his brother
+Bartholomew, who already had made his home there and was drawing maps
+for a living. The Portuguese were the best sailors of Europe and the
+boldest explorers. Perhaps that was the reason why Columbus went to
+Portugal to live. But another story, later told by his son, says that
+he was attacked by pirates when in command of a vessel not far from the
+Portuguese coast, and saved his life by swimming to the shore.
+
+While Columbus was drawing maps in Lisbon, he used to go to a church
+that was visited by a beautiful girl called the Lady Philippa, the
+cousin to no less a person than the Archbishop of Lisbon himself.
+Columbus fell in love with her and attended the church whenever he
+believed that it would be possible to see her there. She, in turn,
+began to look with kindness upon him and at last Columbus and the Lady
+Philippa were married and the marriage proved to be a very happy one.
+
+Philippa's grandfather had himself been a bold sailor and an
+adventurous explorer and discovered the Madeira Islands, where his
+granddaughter owned some property. As she did not like the idea of
+having her husband work constantly making maps, the young couple went
+to live on the Madeira Islands at a place called Porto Santo, where
+Philippa's brother was Governor.
+
+Porto Santo was on the edge of the Sea of Darkness and was full of the
+most terrible and mysterious tales concerning it. While a few learned
+men of the time began to think that the world was round, most of the
+sailors and even the scholars thought that it was flat and that by
+sailing westward on the Atlantic you would eventually fall off of the
+rim of the world. The west was also thought to be inhabited by fearful
+monsters. Sea serpents were there, of a size so great that they could
+easily crush a sailing vessel in their jaws; there were dragons and
+giant devil fish; in one place there was a burning belt, where the air
+was like molten flame and the sea a mass of fire; in another there
+lived evil spirits and demons, and a fate worse than death would befall
+any sailor that ventured there. If you sailed to the south, so the
+mariners believed, you would come to a land where the air was too hot
+to support life, while if you sailed to the north you would arrive at a
+clime so frigid that you would certainly freeze to death. The sailors
+believed these things because the air grew warmer as they ventured down
+the coast of Africa toward the equator, and colder when they sailed
+past England and the Scandinavian peninsula to the chill seas that
+border on the Arctic Circle.
+
+While Columbus lived at Porto Santo, however, he heard other tales that
+interested him greatly and made him believe that the world was round
+and that all the legends of the Sea of Darkness were idle fancies--or
+at least that it would be possible to sail across this sea and come to
+the wonderful countries of India and China and Japan.
+
+For the Governor of Porto Santo had told him of strange things that had
+been washed on shore when the wind had blown for many days from the
+west--of a cane so thick through that it would hold a gallon of wine,
+of a piece of wood carved in a manner that never had been seen
+before,--and once of a canoe, which had been made by hollowing out a
+giant tree, in which were the dead bodies of two strange men such as
+the European world had never seen,--yellow in color with flat, broad
+faces.
+
+Columbus thought greatly about these things and studied again what
+little was known of the world's geography; and he became convinced that
+by sailing to the westward he would reach Japan and China, and
+determined to set out upon this marvelous and brave adventure.
+
+First he went to the King of Portugal in whose dominions he had made
+his home, and asked the King for ships and men to undertake a trip that
+would make Portugal the richest and most powerful kingdom in the entire
+world,--for once the new lands were discovered, said Columbus, there
+would be gold for all and land a plenty,--to say nothing of the
+opportunity for carrying the religion of the Holy Catholic Church into
+far lands and saving the souls of the heathen.
+
+The King of Portugal was greatly interested in Columbus' words, but he
+thought that Columbus was too greedy in what he demanded for himself,
+for the ambitious sailor desired a tenth part of all the profits that
+would be gained by his voyaging and wanted also to be considered as
+King in the countries that he would discover. Therefore, without saying
+anything about it to Columbus, the King of Portugal tried to cheat him
+out of the fruits of his great idea by secretly sending a sailing
+vessel with another captain on a voyage to that part of the ocean where
+Columbus thought that China and Japan could be found.
+
+This boat sailed into the west for many days, but encountered terrible
+gales and turned back; and the captain, to save his face among the
+mariners, exaggerated the difficulties that he had encountered,
+declaring that it was idle nonsense to think that anything could be
+gained by sailing westward.
+
+Columbus soon heard how the King had deceived him and determined to
+leave Portugal forever. In addition to the deceit that had been
+practised upon him in which others had so basely tried to rob him of
+the rewards of his great design, a far greater sorrow had come into his
+life by the death of his good wife, whom he had loved tenderly. So,
+with his little son, Diego, Columbus went to Spain, thinking that
+perhaps the Spanish King and Queen would listen to him, and give him
+ships and money to carry out his plan.
+
+The King and Queen of Spain, or rather the rulers of the two related
+kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, were named Ferdinand and Isabella. A
+terrible war was going on between these Spanish kingdoms and the Moors,
+who had overrun Spain hundreds of years before. Queen Isabella,
+however, was deeply interested in the words of Columbus,--particularly
+because she was a devout Catholic, and desired to spread the Catholic
+religion in the Far East. She told Columbus that she was too busily
+engaged in fighting the Moors to help him then and that he must wait
+until the wars were finished when, she assured him, he should have the
+money and ships he needed to carry out his design for the glory of
+Spain and the Catholic faith.
+
+But the war against the Moors lasted for years, and Columbus, vainly
+waiting at Court, seemed no nearer to getting the ships and crews that
+he so ardently desired than when in Portugal being cheated by the
+Portuguese King. He had no money, and in following the Court it was
+hard for him to earn anything to pay for his needs. His garments became
+worn and tattered,--so much so that he became known as "the man with
+the cloak full of holes." At one time he went into the army and battled
+against the Moors, but as he received no pay, he was compelled at last
+to take up his map drawing once again to earn enough money for food and
+clothing. Disappointed and discouraged he sent his brother Bartholomew
+to the Court of the King of England, but the ship was robbed by pirates
+and Bartholomew was obliged to return.
+
+After compelling Columbus to wait for seven long years, the King and
+Queen of Spain went back on their word and refused to have anything to
+do with his adventure. Scientists had ridiculed it and told them that
+they might just as well cast their gold into the sea as to give it to
+Columbus. So the unhappy Columbus was compelled to leave Court, his
+hopes extinguished and plunged into the lowest depths of despair.
+
+With him was his son who was now old enough to accompany him in his
+wanderings. Together they passed a monastery called La Rabida where
+Columbus paused to beg a mouthful of bread and a drink of water for his
+boy,--and here there came an absolute change in his fortunes, for here
+there dwelt a friar who had formerly been confessor to Queen Isabella
+with whom he still had a great deal of influence; and after going over
+Columbus' plans with a shipbuilder named Martin Pinzon and an
+astronomer named Hernandez, the good friar promised to ask the Queen to
+grant Columbus' request. At all speed he went to the Spanish Court and
+brought back word that Columbus was to receive another interview with
+the Queen, with the additional good news that he was to be of good
+heart in the meantime, for his request was to be granted. And Queen
+Isabella also sent Columbus a sum of money with which to buy decent
+raiment and pay his expenses in coming back to the Court.
+
+In this way it befell that, after weary years of waiting, the great
+idea of Columbus was finally received, and he was allowed to set out on
+his wonderful voyage; and he was so sure of success that he almost
+seemed to see the new lands that lay thousands of miles across the Sea
+of Darkness.
+
+Columbus went back to Court and made certain demands of King Ferdinand
+and Queen Isabella that they finally consented to--namely that he was
+to be the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea"--for so he called the
+Atlantic--and should rule over all new lands that he discovered. One
+tenth of all future profits from these lands were to be his, and he
+alone should have the right to settle trade disputes that might arise.
+In addition to these things he was to receive one-eighth of the profit
+of his first voyage, as he was willing, and in fact his agreement with
+the Queen demanded, that he should pay one-eighth of the expenses of
+the venture.
+
+Once the consent of the King and Queen had been given and the money
+provided, Columbus set about collecting his vessels and their crews.
+This last, however, was a difficult undertaking, for so many and
+terrible were the stories about the Sea of Darkness and the monsters
+that lived near the far edge of the world that the boldest mariners
+refused to venture with him on such an errand, and finally his crew was
+gathered by proclaiming in the jails that any criminal who accompanied
+him was to receive full pardon on his return to Spain--a means that
+filled his ships with the most worthless and evil men.
+
+Three ships were provided. They were called the _Santa Maria_, the
+_Pinta_ and the _Nina_,--the last of which was so small that it seemed
+in size little more than a modern life boat as it only had room for
+eighteen men. The _Pinta_ carried twenty-seven men and was under the
+command of the same Martin Pinzon who had aided Columbus in gaining the
+ear of Queen Isabella--a man whom Columbus trusted completely, but who
+was to betray that trust long before Columbus returned from his
+perilous voyage. The _Santa Maria_ was the largest of the three ships,
+and held fifty-seven men. This was Columbus' flagship.
+
+At a seaport called Palos these vessels were made ready for their
+voyage and on the Third of August, 1492, they might have been seen with
+the sunlight gleaming on their white sails, on which were painted the
+huge red Crosses of the Catholic faith, as they made their way into the
+open sea and bore to the westward under a favoring breeze. They stopped
+at the Canary Islands, where food and water were taken aboard, and
+then, leaving behind them the entire civilized world, they sailed
+boldly out into the Sea of Darkness toward that far region where not
+only the Unknown but all the fears that superstitious seamen could
+invent awaited them.
+
+It was not long before Columbus saw that among his crew of desperate
+ruffians and jailbirds there were many who would betray him on the
+first opportunity. On the way to the Canaries and while stopping there,
+the rudder of the _Pinta_ was twice broken; and now that the open sea
+was reached and they were sailing into the far west, the helmsmen tried
+to alter the course of the vessels so that they might not go any
+further. When Columbus slept, the men at the tillers of all three ships
+would steer into the northeast instead of the west, so that the
+vessels, unperceived, might turn upon their own course and eventually
+return to the Canary Islands and to Spain. But Columbus was too shrewd
+a sailor to be tricked by any such clumsy means and placed the few men
+that he could trust in charge of the helm. Fortunately for his design a
+breeze came from the eastward and bore them rapidly along their course.
+Columbus, moreover, did not let the men know how far they had sailed,
+but every day gave out a distance far less than what had actually been
+completed, so that his sailors might think themselves nearer to Spain
+than was the reality.
+
+On the Thirteenth of September, however, something took place that
+caused even Columbus' bold heart to beat quicker with fear, for the
+compass, that infallible instrument of direction, which was trusted by
+the mariners of those days even more than it is in the present time,
+began to veer around from the north and no longer pointed steadily to
+the pole. Only a few of Columbus' men were aware of this, and Columbus
+strengthened their resolution by telling them that it was not the
+compass which was at fault,--but rather the Pole Star that was
+changing, so that the compass still pointed truly--and on and on they
+sailed into the west.
+
+As days and weeks went by a great fear gripped the hearts of the
+sailors. Never had any men been so far from shore as they. Day after
+day they saw nothing but roaring waves and the empty sky. They believed
+that even if they turned their vessels about it would be almost
+impossible for them to return, and anger and bitterness arose in their
+hearts against their brave leader whose strong will and steady hand
+forced them to continue the perilous voyage.
+
+At last, however, they began to see signs of land that cheered them
+greatly. Terns and sea gulls appeared about their vessel, diving for
+the scraps of food that they tossed overboard. One day some little
+birds that came from the land rested in their rigging and sang. With
+their hearts high they watched for land, but it did not appear. On and
+on they sailed and still nothing was to be seen but the wide sky and
+the watery horizon. But more signs of land soon appeared. A branch from
+a wild rose bush floated past. Weeds were seen in the water. A careful
+lookout was kept and a large reward was promised to that sailor who
+might first see land.
+
+On the night of October eleventh, Columbus believed that he saw a light
+directly in front of his vessel. It moved, glimmered, and disappeared,
+only to appear again a moment later. Some of the lookouts also thought
+that they had seen it, and the watch for land became keener than ever.
+At about two in the morning the cry of land was raised. One of the
+sailors had seen a sandbar and a low line of land. At once the vessels
+anchored, and with beating hearts the sailors waited for the morning
+that was to be fraught with such tremendous adventures.
+
+Sure enough the rising sun disclosed green hills from which the breeze
+brought a most delicious perfume and where, as they drew closer, the
+birds could be heard singing. And on the shore a crowd of savages was
+gazing with astonishment upon the mysterious ships that floated with
+sails furled on the smooth waters of the bay. Hardly able to speak for
+excitement and joy the sailors leaped into their rowboats. First of all
+was Columbus, richly appareled, with the banner of Spain in his hand.
+And as the prow of his boat grounded in the sand he sprang ashore and
+took possession of the land in the name of King Ferdinand and Queen
+Isabella, unfurling the gorgeous banner to the breeze. Then he and his
+men kneeled and said a prayer of thankfulness, and they also planted in
+the earth a great wooden cross, to show that the new land had come
+under the power of the Christian Church.
+
+The natives, who had gazed with wonder upon these actions, now
+approached timidly but with every sign of friendship, offering Columbus
+gifts of flowers and fruits and gay colored parrots, and lances tipped
+with bone and feather belts. They seemed to have no difficulty in
+understanding the sign language that the Spaniards used to make their
+wants understood, and they worshipped the newcomers as though they were
+more than human, and indeed their simple minds were convinced that
+these gorgeous strangers in velvet and armor were no less than
+superhuman beings.
+
+By the sign language the savages made Columbus understand that there
+were other lands not far off, and he believed that he had arrived at
+India and could sail in the course of a few days to the rich countries
+of China and Japan. And he called the natives "Indians," as a token of
+his belief--a name that they and all the other natives of the American
+continent have borne to the present time. To his dying day Columbus
+believed that he had reached India and the Far East. How great would
+have been his astonishment had he known that another ocean nearly twice
+as broad as the one that he had crossed, lay between him and the
+Orient, and that he had come upon an entirely New World where no
+civilized men had ever set foot before!
+
+Columbus named the island that he first set foot upon San Salvador.
+After he had remained there for some time he gathered his crews and set
+sail once more to discover other lands. He came to the island of Cuba
+and he discovered Haiti, but he thought that these were islands or part
+of the mainland of Japan, China or India, and so reported them in his
+writings. And now came his first bitter taste of the treachery that was
+to wreck his fortunes, for Martin Pinzon in command of the _Pinta_
+deserted him to search for gold, sailing away in the _Pinta_ to cruise
+where he pleased.
+
+Then, through the carelessness of a helmsman, the _Santa Maria_ was
+wrecked upon a reef,--and Columbus was left with only the _Nina_, which
+could carry at most eighteen men, to bear the news of his great
+discovery back across the ocean to the Kingdom of Spain. A native king,
+however, came to his aid and with his tribe helped Columbus to save
+everything that was aboard the _Santa Maria_, and trusting in his
+kindness Columbus decided to found a colony where the greater part of
+his followers could remain, while he with a few men sailed back to
+Spain in the _Nina_ to carry the word of what had been accomplished.
+
+This was done and Columbus founded his colony after building a fort
+from the timbers of the _Santa Maria_; and he cautioned his men to
+treat the natives kindly and to respect in every way their rights and
+their property. Then, with a few men, he boarded the _Nina_ and set
+sail for Spain.
+
+On his way he encountered the treacherous Martin Pinzon in the _Pinta_,
+and the voyage across the ocean recommenced. It was a terrible voyage,
+for a hurricane fell upon the tiny vessels and they were almost
+destroyed. The seas, said Columbus, ran first in one direction and then
+in another, and at times completely submerged his ships. Convinced that
+he was going to be drowned and that the news of his discovery would die
+with him, he placed an account of it in a water-tight keg which he
+tossed overboard with his own hands, preparing another one which he
+left upon the deck of the vessel to be floated off when it sank beneath
+the waves.
+
+In the nick of time, however, the waves moderated, and after a weary
+voyage and many adventures Columbus dropped anchor in the harbor at
+Palos from which he had sailed months before. He then sent word to
+Ferdinand and Isabella of his discovery, and was received with the
+utmost pomp and ceremony. The King and Queen were overjoyed at his
+achievement and granted him honors which hitherto had never been
+allowed to any of their subjects. Columbus sat with them enthroned
+beneath a canopy of cloth of gold and he rode at the side of the King
+in a triumphal procession. He gave the King and Queen who had so
+greatly befriended him many gay-colored parrots and rich fruits and
+spices that he had brought with him from the west, and he showed
+Isabella a number of the Indians whom he had brought back across the
+sea. His fame quickly penetrated beyond Spain and the entire Christian
+world rang with the deeds he had accomplished and the wonders he had
+seen. And Columbus' triumph was in no way marred by the treachery of
+Martin Pinzon who once again had sought to betray his master and
+leader. For when the vessels reached Spain, Pinzon had hastened to send
+to the Queen word of their arrival and had represented the discovery as
+the result of his own courage and sagacity. He was, however, coldly
+received, and shortly afterward died beneath a cloud of disgrace that
+he richly deserved.
+
+Then Queen Isabella bade Columbus prepare for another voyage to the
+west and add to his discoveries,--particularly to find gold that the
+Kingdom of Spain was in great need of. This time it was not difficult
+to raise a crew, and soon Columbus once more set sail into the west
+with many vessels under his command.
+
+When he arrived at the spot where his colony had been founded he
+learned that terrible things had happened in his absence. The Spaniards
+had abused the unsuspecting natives until these had risen in revolt and
+attacked the fort, and of all the Spaniards that Columbus had left
+behind not a single man remained alive.
+
+And this was only the beginning of the trouble that was to pursue
+Columbus until the end of his life. Quarreling and strife broke out
+among the men that were under him. When he sent a part of his fleet
+back to Spain his enemies and those who were jealous of his greatness
+hastened to spread evil reports about him that came to the ears of the
+King and Queen. Still, however, they continued to trust him, and when
+Columbus returned they sent him forth on a third voyage in which he was
+to bend all his efforts to find the mainland of Asia, which he believed
+lay only a short distance beyond the colony that he had founded.
+
+On this voyage, however, strife broke out to such an extent among his
+followers and so many and so lawless were their ill deeds in their
+commander's absence--for the need of further discovery had forced
+Columbus to leave the governing of the colony in the hands of others
+than himself--that the King and Queen finally sent out a man named
+Bobadilla to succeed Columbus and take over his powers.
+
+Bobadilla hated Columbus and forced upon him an indignity that it is
+pitiful to think of,--for the discoverer of the New World and the
+Admiral of the Ocean Sea was compelled to return to Spain wearing
+chains that had been locked upon his wrists at Bobadilla's orders.
+
+When the Captain of the vessel that bore Columbus homeward was about to
+remove the fetters, Columbus haughtily refused to take them off, saying
+that he would not part with them until he had knelt in chains before
+his sovereigns and given them this proof of the ingratitude with which
+they had treated him. And Columbus at last came before Queen Isabella,
+ill in body and broken in mind from the hardships and indignities that
+he suffered.
+
+When the Queen saw how her commands had been twisted and the shame that
+had come upon the man who had served her so splendidly, she wept and
+asked his forgiveness,--and Columbus wept also at the memory of what he
+had suffered.
+
+Unhappily the full measure of Columbus' misfortune was yet to come.
+Queen Isabella died, and Ferdinand, who, at the best, had been no more
+than lukewarm toward the achievements of the great sailor, refused to
+take any further interest in Columbus or what might become of him. The
+pension that Columbus had earned was never given to him, nor did he get
+the share in the profits of his venture that rightfully should have
+been his. So ill that he could not walk, he entreated Ferdinand at
+least to pay his sailors for their last voyage,--but this was never
+done. Deserted, old and broken-hearted, Columbus, who had aged before
+his time as a result of his hard life, died in 1506 in a room where he
+had hung his chains as a sign of the ingratitude of his sovereign. He
+knew, however, that he had accomplished something that would make his
+name immortal and he died with this consolation. He did not know,
+however, that he had done something far mightier than his original
+design of crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Asia--namely that he had
+discovered a New World that was to give birth to a great nation,
+greater one thousandfold than the Spain that he had served.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+WILLIAM THE SILENT
+
+
+In the year 1560 two horsemen were riding in the Forest of Vincennes in
+France, followed by a splendid retinue. It could be seen from their
+costume and bearing that they were officials of high rank and large
+following--and indeed they were no less personages than Henry the
+Second, the King of France, and a Prince from the Netherlands named
+William of Orange, a powerfully built young man of commanding
+appearance and great nobility of demeanor.
+
+The Netherlands which were ruled by the King of Spain, had been at war
+with France and William had been sent to the French court as a hostage
+while peace was being arranged. He was brave, generous, handsome and
+wealthy, and gained the respect and liking of all that knew him,
+wherever he happened to be. But his heart was as heavy as lead while
+the French King was talking to him, for Henry the Second was telling
+him of a secret scheme by which all people in the Netherlands who did
+not believe in the Catholic religion were to be wiped out by fire and
+sword.
+
+"Everything has been arranged," said Henry triumphantly, "and the King
+of Spain has agreed with me to carry out the affair in the Low
+Countries as shall be done in France. The ancient edicts are to be
+brought forth again. The Holy Inquisition is to be revived in its
+greatest severity, and before long there will be no place in Spain,
+France or the Low Countries where a heretic may lay his head in
+safety."
+
+Now Henry of France was very foolish when he spoke this way to Prince
+William of Orange. He believed that because the Prince had been
+commander of the army of King Philip of Spain that he was in the
+complete confidence of the Spanish King--but this was not the case.
+Although William had been brought up in the Catholic faith he was a
+Protestant at heart, and came from a Protestant family. He had only
+turned to the Catholic religion because it had been necessary for him
+to be of that faith to become the ruler of the Principality of
+Orange,--and even if his own father and mother had not been
+Protestants, William would never have consented to the hanging and
+burning of innocent people because they happened to believe in a
+religion that was slightly different from his own. His blood ran cold
+with horror when he heard what the King of France and the King of Spain
+were planning--but in spite of what he heard he had presence of mind
+enough to listen quietly without showing any sign of the rebellion and
+anger that were in his heart. He knew that he could aid the Protestants
+and the Netherlands far more if the powerful monarchs who were in
+league against them did not realize that they would have him to reckon
+with as one of their enemies, but from that time on Prince William
+determined not to rest until the last Spanish soldier had been driven
+from his country and the people were allowed to worship God in their
+own way.
+
+Still William said nothing. He pretended to be greatly interested in
+the measures that he had learned of and expressed no disapproval of
+their severity. The King of France never learned what an error he had
+made. But William, from his attitude on this matter and the way that he
+conducted himself, gained the nickname of "William the Silent" which
+clung to him throughout his life and has been attached to him in
+history ever since.
+
+William was well liked in the Netherlands or the "Low Countries" as
+they were then called. He was the son of a nobleman, Count William of
+Nassau, and succeeded to the principality of Orange on the death of his
+cousin Rene of Nassau who was killed in battle. Rene was an ardent
+Catholic, and stipulated that to gain the principality William would
+have to be brought up in the Catholic faith. So young William went to
+the Court of Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Spain and Germany, and
+became a page in Charles' establishment in the city of Brussels.
+
+When a youth of eighteen William married a girl of high birth named
+Anne of Edgemont and lived happily with her until he went to the wars
+with the Spanish army. He did not like military life, but none the less
+he did so well that before he was twenty-one he was made a General. His
+record was creditable to the utmost, but through all his life William
+never showed any great military ability. He was slow to come to
+decisions and too deliberate to make a military leader of the highest
+order.
+
+When William returned to the Netherlands after his sojourn in the
+French court he was made Governor of the principalities of Zeeland,
+Utrecht and Holland. And here, in his efforts to help the Protestants
+from the harsh decrees that were being carried out against them, he
+first came in collision with the cruel and cold-blooded Philip of
+Spain.
+
+Philip believed in the instrument of justice called the Holy
+Inquisition and for years this had been in operation in his own kingdom
+of Spain. It was a body of Priests and wise men who judged and
+condemned all persons who were accused of heresy, as any difference
+from the Catholic religion was called. The punishments dealt out by the
+Holy Inquisition were most severe and brought great suffering. For the
+Inquisition employed the most inhuman tortures, not only for those who
+were convicted of guilt, but also for unfortunate people who were
+accused, maintaining that under torture nobody could refrain from
+telling the truth, nor conceal any wickedness that he had ever
+committed. As a result of this, confessions were often wrung from
+innocent people, who could not support the agony of torture, preferring
+to be punished for crimes they had not committed than to bear it. And
+this punishment was almost invariably to be hanged or burned alive at
+the stake.
+
+At the time when William was put in control of the three small states
+that we have spoken of, Philip had left the Low Countries for Spain,
+and had placed the government of his dominions in the Netherlands in
+the hands of his half sister, Margaret the Duchess of Parma, and under
+her rule the cruel measures enacted by Philip against the Protestants
+were ruthlessly carried out.
+
+As Governor under Philip, William was expected to apply these measures
+himself, and on one occasion was ordered to put to death certain people
+who were accused of heresy. Being unwilling to do this he sent them
+private warning, suffering them to escape before his men came to arrest
+them; and from this time on he followed a course of action that soon
+brought him into disfavor with the Duchess of Parma who suspected him
+of treachery and wrote to the King of Spain accusing William of many
+crimes.
+
+Greater and greater grew the unrest and dissatisfaction throughout the
+Netherlands. And one curious sign of this was in the formation of a
+society of noblemen who called themselves "The Beggars." This
+organization had come about in the following manner. Three hundred or
+more noblemen had presented to Margaret a request that the Inquisition
+be abolished and the edicts against the Protestants revoked. Some of
+her advisors laughed at the request of the Flemish nobles, referring to
+them scornfully as "beggars," and the term came to their ears. At once
+they took the word for their watch cry and dressed themselves in the
+costume of beggars with wallets and begging bowls, declaring that they
+would not resume their ordinary dress until their requests had been
+granted. And this organization did a great deal to fan the opposition
+to Spain, which was increasing every day throughout the Netherlands,
+into a flame of rebellion.
+
+Another disturbance soon took place that made the King of Spain more
+bitterly angry against the Low Countries than any other thing that
+could have happened. A storm against the Catholic faith swept through
+the country and churches were sacked and the holy images destroyed in
+every province. Mobs marched through the streets attired in the sacred
+vestments of the priests that they had torn from the altar. Stained
+glass windows were broken with stones; entire churches were ransacked
+and plundered of everything of value that they contained. The people at
+last had turned in revolt, and "the image breaking" as this rioting was
+called, was the first sign of it. And then, or shortly after, William
+the Silent became a Protestant.
+
+Frightened by the signs of revolt Margaret pretended to consent to the
+wishes of the nobles and stated that the Inquisition should be
+abolished in the Netherlands and the edicts against the Protestant
+religion revoked. And she sent a secret letter to the King of Spain,
+informing him of what she had done.
+
+Philip was determined on the most bitter vengeance, but until he could
+bring a powerful army into the Low Countries it suited him to have his
+subjects there believe that he had actually consented to their demands.
+So he pretended to agree to what Margaret had granted, and all through
+the Low Countries the bells rang and the bonfires burned in rejoicing
+that freedom from persecution had at last been gained.
+
+But Philip had put a nobleman named the Duke of Alva in charge of the
+army that was to subdue the Netherlands, and could not have chosen a
+better or surer man to carry out his dark ends. The Duke of Alva was a
+monster of cruelty, implacable as iron, and possessed of a skill in
+warfare that few could equal. He had been ordered to seize William of
+Orange as well as other leaders and bring them to instant execution,
+and then so to punish the Netherlands that not a trace of the recent
+rioting or rebellion should remain.
+
+The Netherlands were not then in a position to offer a strong
+resistance to such a highly organized, well trained army as the Duke of
+Alva's, but secret preparations were going through the country for a
+great struggle of which the recent rioting was only the smallest
+beginning. The Duke of Alva, proud soldier that he was, did not
+estimate the strength of the Lowlanders at its proper value. He boasted
+that he had tamed men of iron in his time and could easily tame the men
+of butter who were now opposed to him. And his first act was to carry
+out King Philip's demands against the noblemen who were chiefly
+implicated in the recent uprisings.
+
+These were the Counts Egmont and Horn and rightly or wrongly William of
+Orange. William himself had been shrewd enough to fly to Germany. He
+knew Philip and he urged Counts Egmont and Horn to fly with him. But
+they, foolishly feeling secure in their own country, decided to remain
+where they were.
+
+For a very brief time they thought they had decided rightly, for the
+Duke of Alva was courteous to them. He invited them to his house to
+dinner and made them his guests--but while they were eating his bread
+and drinking his wine, an armed guard surrounded his house and the two
+unfortunate nobles were arrested by the treacherous Spaniard and
+promptly thrown into prison. They never regained their liberty. After
+being held as captives for the better part of a year they met their
+fate courageously on the public scaffold where so many of the bravest
+and best heads of the Netherlands were falling by the Duke of Alva's
+orders.
+
+A reign of terror then swept over the Netherlands that has had
+practically no equal in history. Alva was relentless as flint in every
+dealing with the people under his charge. To meet the numerous trials
+that were necessary under his regime he appointed what was called the
+Council of Troubles--a name that was quickly changed by the people
+themselves to the Council of Blood, for it never acquitted, never
+showed mercy. Prisoners were led before it and condemned in batches of
+a hundred or more at a time, and sometimes prisoners were delivered to
+the executioners without even the poor formality of a trial that this
+council afforded.
+
+Nor was this all--for to fill his coffers the Duke of Alva established
+a system of taxation that if carried out would reduce to beggary every
+man, woman and child in the Low Countries.
+
+William the Silent was not idle in Germany, where he had fled on the
+coming of this Spanish tyrant; he was engaged in raising money and
+enlisting the sympathy of German princes in the cause of his oppressed
+people. Aided by his brother Louis, who was a fine soldier, he worked
+day and night to raise an army to march against the Spaniards, and at
+last was able to send his forces into the Netherlands, while he himself
+remained with a small reserve ready to support them when necessary.
+
+But although William's brother and the other leaders of his new army
+were fine soldiers, they failed against the brilliant military genius
+of the Duke of Alva. At first they seemed partly successful and won a
+minor victory at a place called Heiliger Lee,--but then the Duke of
+Alva himself marched against them at the head of a splendid army, and
+wiped out the forces of his adversary at Jemmingen, killing the wounded
+and taking no prisoners, but exterminating his foes wherever he met
+them. And among the dead was William's youngest brother, Adolphus, who
+had distinguished himself for his bravery.
+
+Then William had to raise another force to supplant the one that had
+just been destroyed. The German princes were discouraged by his failure
+and were reluctant about giving their aid; and in his distress he
+turned to Queen Elizabeth of England, who sympathized with his cause,
+but could not do anything for him at that time.
+
+At last, however, William succeeded in gathering another army that was
+even larger than the first one, and placing himself at its head he
+entered the Netherlands. He was, however, in great straits, for his
+soldiers were only German mercenaries and William lacked money to pay
+them. The Duke of Alva knew this and refused to fight, but constantly
+retreated, knowing well that mutiny would soon break out in William's
+forces and weaken him far more than any battle. And this proved to be
+the case. Serious trouble broke out among the German soldiers, and
+William at last had to disband the army and take refuge in France
+without money, credit or prestige. He had sold all his personal
+possessions to support the army and all was lost.
+
+Where he had once been one of the richest noblemen in Europe, he was
+now so poor that he hardly knew where the next day's dinner was to come
+from. Alva had confiscated all his Netherland estates, and William had
+gone heavily into debt to raise his armies. Failure and poverty stared
+him in the face, and other misfortunes followed him. His first wife had
+died several years before, and his second wife, a German princess, now
+went insane.
+
+Crushed on land, there was yet the possibility for William to do
+something for his oppressed country by attacking his enemies on the
+sea. It was not long before privateers in his name were harrying the
+Spanish vessels and swooping down upon the ports held by the Spaniards.
+These daring seamen took their name from the society that had been
+formed years before called the "Beggars." And William's sailors now
+called themselves "The Beggars of the Sea."
+
+They found help and protection in the English ports, for Queen
+Elizabeth hated the Duke of Alva, and while not willing just then to go
+to war openly with Spain, she did all in her power to give assistance
+to Spain's enemies. She allowed the Beggars to obtain men and supplies
+from England, and did not hesitate to give them ammunition when they
+required it.
+
+Then a first success came to William's cause like a faint ray of
+sunlight through heavy clouds, for the Beggars of the Sea captured the
+fortified town of Brill. And almost immediately after, encouraged by
+this initial success, the whole of the Netherlands which had been
+groaning under the Spanish rule rose in rebellion and claimed as their
+rightful ruler the Prince of Orange. Almost in a night the cities rose
+and cast off their Spanish yoke, and all through the Low Countries the
+flag of the Prince of Orange was uplifted.
+
+Alva sent his troops to lay siege to the towns and recapture them, and
+there followed one of the most terrible periods of warfare that the
+world has ever known--certainly the most terrible that ever engulfed
+Belgium until the World War of our own day.
+
+And now for the first time since his former defeat, the Prince of
+Orange was able to raise troops to fight once more against the
+Spaniards. He sent repeated appeals to the cities of the Low Countries,
+and prepared an army of some twenty thousand German mercenaries that
+was to be further strengthened by a French force under the French
+Admiral Coligny. William counted on Coligny's aid to defeat Alva, for
+Coligny was an ardent Protestant and had many men at his command.
+
+But there befell another check to William's fortunes, and one that was
+almost fatal to his plans, for under the wicked Catherine de Medici the
+French Catholics in two days massacred almost every Protestant in
+France in a slaughter that was called the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.
+Admiral Coligny was among the victims, and all hope of support from
+that quarter was at an end.
+
+Louis, the brother of William, was being besieged by the Duke of Alva
+in the city of Mons, and William marched to the relief of the town. He
+did not strike promptly enough, however, and was routed by a strategem
+on the part of the Spaniards. In the night a considerable force of the
+Spanish soldiers stole up to William's camp and fell upon his army,
+taking it completely by surprise. William himself barely escaped with
+his life, being awakened by a pet dog in the nick of time, and when the
+Spaniards were almost in his tent. Leaping to his horse, he galloped
+madly from the burning camp and escaped, but his army was cut to
+pieces. Then Alva continued the siege of Mons until Louis had to
+surrender. The Spaniards, however, for some strange reason allowed
+Louis to evacuate the town without interference and Louis fled to
+Dillenburg in Germany, the home of the Nassau family. But in spite of
+this new defeat and disappointment, the Lowland cities continued their
+resistance, and nowhere was this stronger than in the province of
+Holland.
+
+The sieges that followed were among the most terrible in history for
+the beleaguered towns knew well they could expect no mercy if they were
+conquered, and held out to the last breath. Their inhabitants ate
+horses, dogs, old shoes--anything to fill their stomachs and stay the
+inroads of starvation. Plague broke out among them and in the Spanish
+forces as well. When the Spaniards captured a town they left not one
+stone upon another, and the burghers who had opposed them were
+massacred to a man.
+
+But the Duke of Alva was growing old and suffering from ill health. The
+universal hatred in which he was held weighed on his spirit. He had
+written several times asking his recall from the Netherlands, and at
+last King Philip consented to his request and sent out a Governor named
+Requesens to take his place. All the Netherlands went wild with joy
+when the news spread that Alva was leaving and bells were rung and
+bonfires lit as for some national holiday.
+
+In the meantime William had made his headquarters in the province of
+Holland and was conducting the war against the Spaniards from that
+point. The Spaniards were besieging the city of Leyden, which it was
+necessary for them to capture, but the Netherlanders cut the dykes that
+restrained the ocean and let the sea sweep over the land, for Leyden
+was reduced to starvation, and every day people were dying by hundreds
+within its walls. The rescuers sailed up to the town in ships as the
+Spaniards fled, bringing bread to the famished people.
+
+William was now the ruler of Holland and had triumphed over the
+Spaniards. The war dragged after these terrible sieges and both sides
+would gladly have seen it ended; but the Lowlanders were in no temper
+to accept half measures. And in the Union of Utrecht, in which a number
+of the Lowland provinces united against Philip, an important step was
+taken toward throwing off the Spanish yoke.
+
+William's life was in great danger, for King Philip had offered a
+reward of twenty-five thousand crowns in gold to any assassin who
+should strike him down. And although he was under fifty, he appeared
+like an old man, so great were the troubles with which he had been
+beset in the course of his life. He was the constant target for the
+bullet or the dagger of the assassin, and many dogged his tracks as a
+result of the Spanish proclamation against him.
+
+The end that might have been expected came in the spring of 1584.
+Already William had once been severely wounded by a would-be murderer,
+and he was now to receive his death blow. A young man, who claimed to
+be a Protestant orphaned in the religious persecutions, sought aid from
+William's secretary, and William himself ordered that twelve crowns be
+given him. With this money the perfidious assassin bought firearms and
+ammunition, and gaining entrance to William's home fired three shots
+into his body. A few minutes later the "father of his country" lay
+dead.
+
+The work that William had done was far reaching and had a permanent
+effect on the fortunes of his country. And to-day a song that was sung
+at the time in his honor is still the national anthem of the Kingdom of
+Holland. He was a man of a great heart and a great character; and his
+fame has lived and grown more lustrous up to the present day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND
+
+
+We will now tell the story of a young girl who became the most famous
+Queen that the world has ever known and laid the real foundations for
+the modern greatness of the English nation. The name of this girl was
+Elizabeth, and the time in which she lived has since been called the
+Elizabethan Era. For England at that time was rich in the bravest
+soldiers, the most daring sailors and the greatest men of genius, and
+Elizabeth knew well how to surround herself with these men and use
+their great talents to benefit her country.
+
+Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry the Eighth, and his wife, Anne
+Boleyn. Her childhood was far from being a happy one, for Henry was a
+cruel tyrant and showed harshness to the princess in many ways. When
+Elizabeth was only three years old her mother was imprisoned in the
+Tower of London and then beheaded at King Henry's order, and her own
+right to succeed him on the throne of England was taken away from her.
+Then she was sent into the country to be brought up by servants and
+attendants, and seldom was allowed at the Royal Court.
+
+King Henry married a lady named Catherine Parr and Elizabeth became a
+favorite with her step-mother. For the first time in her life she
+received a little affection and kindness. Catherine saw that she had
+the attention she needed and brought her back to Court, but although
+she was still only a child something she said or did once more awakened
+her father's anger, and Elizabeth was sent away in disgrace and not
+permitted to return until after his death.
+
+A son had been born to Henry the Eighth by another wife named Jane
+Seymour; and this boy, who was christened Edward, succeeded his father
+on the throne of England. Elizabeth, who was noted for her demure
+bearing, was then thirteen years old and became a great favorite with
+her brother, the boy king, who called her "sweet sister Temperance,"
+and gave many signs of his regard for her. But Edward the Sixth did not
+live very long. He had a serious disease that wasted him away, and
+Elizabeth's half sister named Mary, became Queen.
+
+Now Mary was an ardent Catholic, and desired that all England should
+come under the power of the Catholic Church. To bring this about she
+persecuted the Protestants in her kingdom mercilessly until anybody who
+professed to the Protestant faith was in danger of being burned at the
+stake. Mary, moreover, had married the dismal Spanish King, Philip the
+Second, who tried to have her treat her subjects as he had done with
+the people of the Low Countries, until through the efforts of William
+the Silent, they won their freedom. And Mary was surrounded with
+advisors who were even more fanatical and cruel than the Queen herself.
+
+One of Mary's first acts when she became Queen was to send for her
+sister Elizabeth and command her to become a Catholic. Elizabeth had
+been brought up as a Protestant and believed in the Protestant
+religion, but to save her life she decided to pretend to obey her
+sister's order and to adopt the outward forms of the Catholic faith.
+And then more trouble befell Elizabeth, for due to her sister's harsh
+rule which had won her the name of "Bloody Mary," a revolt broke out
+among a number of the English people to place Elizabeth upon the
+throne. For the Protestants had not been deceived by Elizabeth's
+pretended conversion. They knew that she was Protestant at heart, and
+that if she were only Queen the cruel persecutions would straightway be
+ended. And a young man named Wyatt began a rebellion in Elizabeth's
+name that was only put down after severe rioting.
+
+Wyatt was captured and stated that the Princess Elizabeth had known of
+the plot; and Elizabeth was summoned to Mary to explain the accusations
+against her and prove if possible that she had no share in the
+undertaking. Elizabeth was very much frightened, and in fact she had
+every reason to be. She dressed herself all in white as a symbol of her
+innocence and went through the streets of London on her way to the
+Queen; and the people gazed at her sadly and shook their heads, for
+they were afraid that she was going to her death. Mary, who was
+influenced by her advisers, refused to see her sister and would not
+listen to her assurances of innocence, and finally an armed guard came
+before Elizabeth and told her that she must go at once to the Tower of
+London, where she was to be held a prisoner.
+
+The Tower of London, which is standing to-day, is a gloomy fortress
+that was built in the time of William the Conqueror, and since that
+time had been the scene of many tragedies and executions, for the most
+dangerous political prisoners were confined there. Elizabeth's own
+mother had been put to death within its solid walls, and Elizabeth had
+every reason to fear that a similar fate was intended for her by her
+sister Mary. Guarded by soldiers, the Princess was taken on a boat down
+the Thames River; but instead of stopping at the usual entrance to the
+Tower, the boat drew towards a portal known as "Traitor's Gate," where
+many of the worst prisoners entered, only to meet the axe of the
+executioner.
+
+"I am no traitor," Elizabeth cried out angrily when she saw where she
+was, "I will not pass in by way of the gate of Traitors."
+
+And when she was sternly told that she must obey, she added:
+
+"Here lands as true an English subject as ever set foot on these
+stairs!"
+
+That she was near death she knew very well; and whenever she heard any
+unusual bustle or stir in the prison courtyard, she tried anxiously to
+see what was going on there, for she feared that they might be building
+a scaffold for her execution. And her fears were only too well founded,
+for the Queen's advisors hated Elizabeth and did not think that
+Catholic rule in England was safe as long as the Princess was alive.
+This, rather than the charge of treason that had been trumped up
+against her, was the real reason for her imprisonment.
+
+On one occasion, we are told, Mary fell ill; and her counselors took
+the opportunity to have Elizabeth put to death. A warrant for her
+execution was prepared, and an order was sent to the keeper of the
+Tower to carry out the punishment at once.
+
+"Where is the Queen's signature?" demanded that official.
+
+"The Queen is too ill to sign it, but it is sent in her name," was the
+reply.
+
+"Then I will wait until she is well enough to send her order in
+person," said the keeper,--and Elizabeth's life was saved. For Mary was
+furious when she learned how her counselors had tried to take the law
+into their own hands, and in spite of their remonstrances Elizabeth was
+soon afterward taken from the Tower and set at liberty.
+
+Queen Mary died in 1558, when Elizabeth was twenty-five years old, and
+as it was known that Elizabeth would now come to the throne, there was
+great rejoicing throughout England. Bonfires blazed and bells were
+rung; and in joy at the accession of Elizabeth the people forgot to
+mourn for the dead Queen, whose gloomy reign and religious cruelties
+had caused her to be feared and hated everywhere.
+
+From the first day of her reign Queen Elizabeth showed that she was a
+Protestant at heart and she put an immediate end to religious
+persecution. But Elizabeth was too shrewd to take any steps that would
+cause the Catholics to hate her. She wanted the love and respect of her
+entire people, and always shaped her course in such a way that she
+could gain the good will of the greatest number of her subjects.
+
+Elizabeth hated war and carried on her rule in such a way that she
+could avoid it as far as possible. She encouraged trade and commerce
+and learning and the sciences, and had in her possession long lists of
+her subjects who had shown great ability, either as soldiers or
+sailors, or in the fields of art and scholarship. As she rewarded such
+men richly, the ambition of all Englishmen was to make themselves
+worthy of being placed on one of these lists.
+
+As a result of this policy, which was almost unparalleled in the
+history of the world, England began steadily to forge ahead in the
+occupations of peace, and a number of great and illustrious men sprang
+into fame. The poet Shakespeare commenced to write his immortal plays,
+and Spenser and Bacon both made deathless contributions to English
+literature. The great explorers, Martin Frobisher and Sir Francis
+Drake, brought back from their voyages priceless knowledge of
+geography, and many treasures and discoveries to enrich England. The
+English statesmen Cecil and Walsingham followed a shrewd and
+far-sighted policy, allowing England to grow strong through the wars of
+other nations without engaging in them herself, and put a stop to the
+former extravagant proceedings in which the public money had been
+wasted.
+
+But in spite of her desire to keep out of war, many troubles beset
+Elizabeth. In Scotland there was a young queen called Mary Queen of
+Scots, Elizabeth's cousin, who claimed the throne of England in
+addition to her own. Mary had always been the center of trouble and
+turmoil and had frequently been embroiled with England; and being a
+Catholic there were many among Elizabeth's subjects who would have been
+rejoiced to see her on the throne in place of Elizabeth. On one
+occasion, however, when Mary had been engaged in civil war in Scotland,
+she was compelled to fly across the Scottish border and throw herself
+on the protection of the English Queen.
+
+Elizabeth did not dare leave Mary at liberty in England, for she feared
+the plots that might arise as a result, so Mary was promptly put in
+prison and kept there for eighteen years, with considerable pomp and
+state as befitted her high birth, but a captive for all that and one
+that was closely watched.
+
+Holding Mary a prisoner was, however, a very foolish thing for
+Elizabeth to do, for at once the Scottish Queen became the subject of
+conspiracies among the English Catholics. Many of these were detected,
+and Elizabeth's statesmen urged the Queen to sign Mary's death warrant
+and put an end once and for all to the cause for internal trouble in
+England that would continue as long as Mary lived. But Elizabeth was
+most unwilling to take the life of her own cousin, who had come to
+England of her own accord for safety, and she continued to keep Mary
+under lock and key.
+
+At last, however, a plot was discovered in which Mary was not only to
+be rescued, but placed on the throne of England; and the plot went so
+far as to plan the murder of Queen Elizabeth. And there was evidence
+that Mary had actually shared in this conspiracy and to some extent had
+directed it from her prison. The Scottish Queen was taken to
+Fotheringay Castle, where she was tried for high treason and sentenced
+to death, and Elizabeth very reluctantly signed the warrant. So Mary
+was beheaded, going to her death with a dignity and firmness that have
+added to her fame throughout the centuries.
+
+These internal troubles were not the only ones that Elizabeth had to
+contend with. Philip of Spain had tried to marry her after the death of
+her sister, because he wanted to continue to influence English
+politics. Elizabeth had refused him and the King of Spain had long been
+her enemy, and was seeking to bring England back under the Catholic
+rule. Although outwardly professing friendship, Philip was preparing
+for war with England. And his ships captured English vessels on the
+high seas and their crews were sent to torture or death because they
+were Protestants. England did not sit meekly by and watch these
+depredations on her seamen. English sailors were as good as any, and
+often captured Spanish ships in their turn; and Spanish gold frequently
+found its way to the English treasury, instead of into the coffers of
+Philip.
+
+England was poor, and had not then come to her full power as a great
+nation, and Elizabeth did not feel able openly to go to war with Spain,
+much as she desired to do so. But while she would not give orders for
+her sailors to attack Spanish ships, she was not a little pleased to
+have her share of the Spanish gold. Chief among her sailors who brought
+home treasure in this way were Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake.
+The last of these was a great friend of Elizabeth's on account of his
+bold deeds and his great discoveries, and much more is told of him in
+another chapter of this book. For he not only took many rich ships from
+Spain, but sailed around the world, bringing back with him great
+knowledge and gold and gems of priceless value. And although Elizabeth
+had warned Drake to "see that he did no harm to her good friend, Philip
+of Spain," she rewarded him richly for his deeds.
+
+The death of Mary Queen of Scots had greatly angered Philip, and the
+deeds of the English buccaneers filled him with rage. He labored for
+years collecting a great fleet to invade England, and crowded the decks
+of his vessels with soldiers. This fleet was called _The Invincible
+Armada_ and set sail for England in 1588.
+
+Elizabeth rallied her countrymen, and with the utmost coolness and
+bravery made her preparations for defense. Every Englishman who could
+wield a sword was called to the defense of his country. Boys of
+eighteen were enlisted and men of sixty once more became men at arms.
+For Elizabeth knew that if Philip ever gained a foothold in England,
+the same terrible scenes would be enacted there that had taken place in
+the Low Countries.
+
+But the Spanish army never landed in England. When its sails appeared,
+and it seemed as though it must overwhelm the small English fleet that
+was opposed to it, Queen Elizabeth on horseback rode among her
+soldiers, encouraging and cheering them, and urging them to fight to
+their last drop of blood in defense of their country. But the English
+fleet, under Sir Francis Drake, put the Spanish ships to flight and
+sunk a great number of them. And a gale of wind did the rest, wrecking
+the unwieldy Spanish boats and drowning thousands of Spanish soldiers
+and sailors.
+
+Elizabeth's courage and the loyalty with which she had been served by
+her brave subjects had saved England, and never since that time, with
+the exception of a raid by the American sailor, Paul Jones, have
+British shores been reached by a foreign foeman. The English nation was
+changing in Elizabeth's reign more than in any former period, and many
+blessings were being given to the Queen's subjects that they had never
+hitherto known. Her reign saw the last vestige of bondage and servitude
+die out; and men were now allowed to practise the Protestant religion
+without the constant fear of death. They became, moreover, used to a
+better manner of living and enjoyed luxuries that their fathers had
+never known. Of course, from our standards their lives would have
+seemed poor and rough, but none the less they were a distinct advance
+over all that had gone before.
+
+The brilliant court kept by Elizabeth was surpassed by no other in all
+Europe, and the magnificence of her dress had never been equaled. In
+this respect the Queen resembled her father, Henry the Eighth, who
+always had loved display. She had a thousand gowns of silk and rich
+materials, all richly decorated with gold and precious stones. Her hair
+was bright with gold and gems and in her Palace gold and rare jewels
+were seen on every side.
+
+The Queen was very fond of traveling in state through England, and on
+her way would arrange to visit different noblemen in their castles,
+where they had to provide for her entertainment. These trips were
+called her "Progresses." And the noblemen selected to entertain her
+considered themselves unlucky enough, for they had to go to enormous
+expense to satisfy her whims, and were never sure of her
+gratitude,--while on the other hand, they were always certain to hear
+from her if anything displeased her. The most costly banquets, the
+richest wines, the most brilliant pageants, the most extravagant
+novelties and flatteries were expected, if not demanded, by the Queen
+in the course of these entertainments.
+
+Among her courtiers Queen Elizabeth had many favorites and perhaps the
+worthiest of them was Sir Walter Raleigh. This gentleman was famous for
+his courtly speech and gentle manners--things that delighted the
+Queen--as well as for the richness of his apparel. On one occasion in
+the course of a trip the Queen had to cross a muddy place in the road
+and hesitated before soiling her delicate slippers, but Sir Walter
+Raleigh slipped off the rich blue velvet cloak that he wore and cast it
+in the mud in front of the Queen for her to walk upon. He well knew
+that she would return the value of the cloak twenty times over in the
+benefits she would confer on him, and this proved to be the case.
+
+Sir Walter Raleigh was an explorer as well as a courtier, and had been
+interested in the establishing of a colony in the New World, calling
+the lands there "Virginia" in honor of the virgin Queen--a name that
+has lasted to the present day. And from Virginia the potato and tobacco
+were first brought into England--and Sir Walter Raleigh used to smoke
+tobacco in a silver pipe, sometimes in the Queen's presence.
+
+The Queen had other favorites beside Sir Walter Raleigh, and chief of
+these was the Earl of Leicester. It was believed for a time that she
+would marry him--but this did not come to pass. Another of her
+favorites was the Earl of Essex, a self-willed and spoiled young man,
+who frequently had difficulties with the Queen. On one occasion he
+rudely turned his back on her, and Elizabeth retorted by boxing his
+ears. Almost always after these affairs Essex left or was sent from
+Court, but ultimately was pardoned and returned. The Earl of Essex was
+put in command of troops in Ireland, and word of his mismanagement was
+soon brought to Elizabeth. When he was recalled and punished he
+believed that a great wrong had been put upon him and engaged in a
+conspiracy against the Queen. For this he was imprisoned in the Tower
+and beheaded.
+
+Elizabeth reigned over England until she was seventy years old. As she
+grew older she was troubled with ill-health, but her indomitable spirit
+never failed her. She continued to ride until she had to be lifted to
+her horse, and she ruled with a firm hand long after her health had
+failed and she had grown ill and feeble.
+
+But the end of her life was not happy. The throngs of courtiers who had
+offered her the flattery and homage that were so dear to her, found
+some excuse or other to go elsewhere and to bow themselves before the
+feet of James of Scotland, the son of the unfortunate Mary Queen of
+Scots, for James was now the recognized heir to the English throne. One
+after one Elizabeth's followers deserted her and at times she was found
+alone and in tears by the few faithful attendants that remained. She
+could, of course, command attendance, but not the love that she had
+formerly known--for there was now little to be gained from serving her,
+and she had, moreover, been made unpopular by the execution of the Earl
+of Essex, who was loved by the common people.
+
+Elizabeth died in her sleep in 1603, passing away without pain. And we
+are told that when her coffin was borne to Westminster Abbey, where she
+was buried, that all the former love of her subjects returned and she
+was mourned as no sovereign has been mourned before or since her time.
+And this was only fitting, for in spite of her many faults, her like
+has seldom been seen upon a throne or in the course of history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SIR FRANCIS DRAKE
+
+
+Probably the greatest hero in all Great Britain's naval history is Sir
+Francis Drake, who carried England's flag to the uttermost corners of
+the earth and made it glorious when Queen Elizabeth was on the English
+throne.
+
+Drake was the oldest of a family of twelve sons and was born in
+Devonshire in 1539. He was an active and adventurous boy, fond of all
+athletic games and early showing a taste for the sea that seemed to run
+in his family, for his father had served in the navy in the time of
+Henry the Eighth, and his cousin, Sir John Hawkins, was sailing to the
+coast of Guinea to bring back slaves.
+
+The talent that Drake had for the sea was soon observed by the
+keen-eyed Hawkins, and before long Drake became his apprentice, and
+quickly learned the ins and outs of seamanship. He rapidly made a name
+for himself as a brave and skilful sailor, and before long accompanied
+Hawkins on his trips to Guinea after negro slaves--trips in which Drake
+was always in the fore when any adventure of a particularly dangerous
+nature was undertaken. The slave trade was a perfectly honorable
+calling in those days, and Drake succeeded in it beyond his hopes,
+amassing much money with which he helped his younger brothers and did
+many kindnesses for his family.
+
+But the slave trade itself soon grew too small to satisfy Hawkins, who
+sought a field for broader adventures. All the western ocean lay open
+to him, and mustering a squadron he offered Drake the command of one of
+the vessels, which were to go to the West Indies and engage in trading
+or fighting with the Spaniards, who had at that time almost a monopoly
+of the waters where Columbus had sailed some seventy years before.
+Spain and England were not openly at war when Hawkins was planning this
+voyage, but in unknown waters all law stopped; and it was not
+infrequent for Spanish and English vessels to fall afoul of each other
+with little or nothing said about it afterward in the Courts or
+Embassies. Queen Elizabeth hated the Spaniards and was glad to do them
+all the mischief she could, but she did not dare to go to war with them
+at that time or to give too open encouragement to her sea captains.
+They knew, none the less, that the sight of Spanish gold under English
+hatches was pleasant to good Queen Bess, and likely to result in honor,
+wealth and preferment for themselves.
+
+It was on Drake's first expedition to the West Indies that he conceived
+a hatred for the Spaniards that was to last all his life as the result
+of the black treachery they played on Hawkins. After cruising along the
+western coast of what is now Florida, and being unable to find a proper
+harbor there, Hawkins set sail for Mexico and dropped anchor at a
+Spanish port in that country. While he was riding at anchor a large
+fleet of Spanish vessels arrived, and finding the English in possession
+and holding a strong position, agreed to let them sail away unmolested.
+Later, however, when the English had consented to these terms and after
+the Spanish Admiral had entertained the English officers in his own
+cabin, the Spaniards treacherously attacked the English, killing a
+number that had gone ashore before they could regain their boats and
+engaging in a sea fight with Hawkins' squadron, in which the English
+lost all but two of their ships, the _Judith_, Drake's vessel, and the
+_Minion_, on which Hawkins happened to be when the fight commenced.
+These two ships escaped and made their way back to England separately,
+Drake vowing vengeance against the Spaniards. And indeed they had made
+a dangerous enemy in this bold sailor, who very shortly paid them in
+full for the base treatment they had given him.
+
+As soon as he was in England Drake commenced fitting out two vessels as
+raiders for the purpose of harrying Spanish ships in the waters of the
+West Indies, and if possible to capture the Spanish holdings on land
+and place them beneath the English flag. Particularly did he desire to
+get his fingers into the rich heaps of gold that were conveyed by great
+Spanish ships or galleons back from the New World to the treasury of
+King Philip.
+
+With these ends in view, Drake landed his men secretly on the coast of
+Central America near the present location of the Panama Canal; and by a
+bold surprise attack captured the Spanish town named Nombre de Dios. He
+was finally compelled to abandon the town, because he was greatly
+outnumbered by the Spaniards, who, through a mishap in his plans, were
+enabled to collect their forces and advance against him, but Drake made
+good this check by another daring plan that was skilfully executed, and
+that caused great discomfiture to the Spanish officials.
+
+This was nothing less than to ambush and attack the Spanish treasure
+trains that carried gold and jewels across the Isthmus of
+Panama,--riches wrung from the natives by Spanish greed. Leaving a
+small number of men in charge of his ships, Drake advanced into the
+wild and tropical country of Central America along the route that the
+treasure trains traveled. When the tinkling of the bells on the
+harnesses of the pack animals warned him of the approach of the
+Spaniards who guarded the treasure, Drake concealed his men at the side
+of the road, and rushing forward with a shout, attacked and captured
+the train almost before the astonished Spaniards knew that there was an
+enemy in the vicinity. Rich stores of gold and jewels were found in the
+mule packs,--more, in fact, than the English men could carry back with
+them, and with cheers and rejoicing, the little band of adventurers
+made their way back to the harbor where they had left their ships.
+
+When they reached it, however, no ships were to be seen. They feared
+that the Spaniards had captured or destroyed their vessels and that
+they were marooned in a hostile and dangerous country. But Drake, with
+his characteristic boldness, formed a plan that delivered them from
+their difficulty. From the logs on the shore he ordered his men to
+build a raft, and with their hatchets they hewed out oars. A sail was
+contrived from a large biscuit sack, and with a few of his best men
+Drake put to sea on this strange craft, searching for his ships. The
+raft had been built so hurriedly that at times he was up to his waist
+in water, but he was rewarded at last by finding his two vessels safe
+and sound in a little cove where they had been taken to avoid some
+Spanish warships that were in the neighborhood.
+
+Returning to his men at the helm of his own vessel, the treasure was
+soon aboard, and with a large cargo of gold, silver and sparkling
+jewels Drake headed for England, where a rousing welcome was given him.
+Elizabeth, however, did not dare openly to approve of an act that
+secretly brought her the utmost satisfaction. For the time at any rate
+Drake got little thanks for his exploits--and there was even talk of
+returning the captured treasure to the Spaniards.
+
+Drake then engaged in a war in Ireland, where he proved himself almost
+as good a soldier as he was a sailor; but even while enjoying his
+congenial occupation of fighting he longed to set forth on another
+great adventure, the idea of which had come to him while in the Central
+American jungle from which he had first set eyes on the far-off waters
+of the Pacific Ocean.
+
+This idea was to carry the English flag through the Strait of Magellan
+and bear the colors of Queen Bess to waters where they had never been
+seen before. Up to that time only the Spanish had rounded South America
+and brought their civilization to its northwestern shores, and the new
+venture, if successful, would mean much to England. But Drake feared
+that the Queen would not approve of the idea, and for a time cherished
+it only in his own mind, waiting a more favorable opportunity to lay it
+before the Queen.
+
+In the meantime he fell in with an English army officer named Thomas
+Doughty, who became his close friend. Doughty was greatly interested in
+Drake's idea of sailing the Pacific, and promised to get Sir
+Christopher Hatton, one of Elizabeth's most influential advisors, to
+intercede for Drake with the Queen. Hatton talked with Drake and
+cordially approved the plan; and in a short time, in command of a
+squadron of five tight little vessels Drake sailed westward, while the
+trumpets blared and the cannon boomed in his honor.
+
+Drake himself was in command of a little ship which he called the
+_Golden Hind_, and Doughty was his second in command over the entire
+squadron. The ships were admirably fitted out for those times, with
+every necessity and every comfort and luxury. Drake and his officers
+dined from silver dishes on the choicest food and wines. His stores
+included materials for trading with the natives, as well as all the
+scientific instruments then applied to the art of navigation.
+
+After sinking some unimportant Spanish ships, the English squadron
+captured a large Portuguese galleon, from which they took a valuable
+treasure. The Portuguese had been unfriendly to the English on more
+than one occasion, and this was Drake's way of informing them that such
+had been the case. And after a long voyage he came to the mouth of the
+River de la Plata in South America, dropping anchor at the entrance to
+that great stream. Fires blazed on the shore and weird figures were
+seen dancing around the flames. They were the savage natives, praying
+to their heathen gods for the shipwreck of Drake's party, for they
+believed that by their prayers and fires a host of devils would alight
+upon the English vessels and destroy them. Drake himself was too eager
+to continue his voyage to think of landing, and pointed his prows
+southward, bound for the Strait of Magellan.
+
+After a battle with the gigantic and savage Patagonians, in which Drake
+saved his men from massacre by his usual quick decision and energy, he
+continued his voyage until trouble that had developed in his crew
+compelled him to take action against his friend and lieutenant,
+Doughty. It seems that even before they sailed from England, Doughty
+had become jealous of Drake and had commenced to work for his undoing.
+And now proofs were only too evident that he had tried to provoke a
+mutiny in the crew.
+
+He was called before a court consisting of Drake's officers and was
+found guilty. And then Drake, in spite of his grief that he had been
+deceived by his most trusted friend, decided that stern measures were
+necessary to preserve his authority over the men. He told Doughty that
+he had but one course to take and that was to punish him for his crime.
+But he gave him the choice of three fates,--to be executed then and
+there, or put ashore to fend for himself among the savages, or to be
+cast in chains into the hold of the ship and tried by his peers on the
+return to England.
+
+The unhappy Doughty asked time to think over what he should choose, and
+this was granted. On the following morning he was taken before Drake
+and with courageous mien declared that he preferred to be executed
+rather than be left among the savages or taken home as a prisoner. And
+in a few hours and before the entire company Doughty met his fate, but
+he did not place his head upon the block until he had sat at dinner
+with Drake himself and shared communion with him. And after this Drake
+continued his voyage, until he found himself at the southernmost part
+of South America.
+
+Beating his way through the dangerous Strait of Magellan, Drake tried
+to sail northward, but was driven back by severe gales and contrary
+winds until it seemed as though the spirit of the new ocean had arisen
+in wrath, forbidding his further progress. He was even driven south of
+the strait to Cape Horn, where he landed and looked from the
+southernmost pinnacle of the cape to the mysterious southern sea,
+declaring triumphantly that he had been farther south than any man in
+the world and had placed his foot on the extreme of the new continent.
+Then all at once the weather changed and Drake sailed rapidly up the
+coast.
+
+By this time only one ship remained to him, for storms had scattered
+his squadron and he had destroyed one of his own ships, thinking he had
+too many to hold together. Another basely deserted him in the Strait
+and sailed back to England. In the _Golden Hind_, however, he himself
+met all obstacles and continued his voyage where no English keel had
+ever cut water before.
+
+Coming to the northern part of South America, Drake was given word by
+the natives that a Spanish galleon with a cargo of treasure lay near at
+hand, and swooping down on the great vessel before the Spaniards were
+aware of his presence he captured it and transferred the treasure to
+the _Golden Hind_. He then got news of a second galleon which he
+pursued, and when he boarded her discovered that she too bore rich bars
+of gold and silver destined for the treasure house of the King of
+Spain. He had now accomplished his purpose and sailed in the Pacific.
+He had beneath his hatches a treasure that would have gladdened the
+heart of Midas--a harvest of the yellowest gold and whitest silver--of
+sparkling gems, rich silks and spices, and many costly curios that he
+had gathered in his voyage. He believed, however, that the Spaniards
+would be watching the Strait and Cape Horn to intercept him, and
+planned to try to find a passage around the northern part of the
+continent. In sailing north he dropped anchor at a harbor not far from
+the Golden Gate, and here he had his first experience with North
+American Indians.
+
+He found these savages very different from the treacherous natives of
+South America. They greeted him with the utmost ceremony, treating him
+as a god and bringing him a profusion of gifts of various kinds. With
+Indian guides, the English hunted and slew the deer with which the
+region abounded and shared the wigwams of the redskins in ceremonial
+gatherings. When they finally took their departure the savages made
+bitter lamentation and stood on the hilltops waving their farewells
+until the sails of Drake's little ship had sunk beneath the horizon.
+
+Drake had now altered his plan of sailing north and had conceived the
+bolder project of sailing directly across the Pacific Ocean to the Far
+East, from which he could proceed to the Cape of Good Hope and skirt
+the Coast of Africa. So he resolutely turned his prow into an unknown
+sea, and after sixty-eight days sighted land.
+
+Again the savages crowded around his ship in their canoes, but they
+were far different from the Indians of California. These men were naked
+with blackened teeth and sullen looks. Finding the ship not to their
+liking, they loosed a shower of stones, to which Drake responded by
+firing one of his cannon, which frightened them until they fell out of
+their canoes into the water, and remained there until the _Golden Hind_
+had sailed away.
+
+Drake stopped at many islands and traded with the natives he met there.
+He visited the Philippines and an island called Terenate, where he
+received a native king who called on him with the utmost pomp and
+ceremony. This potentate was surrounded with grave old men with white
+beards, who believed in the Mohammedan religion, and they welcomed
+Drake as though he himself were a mighty king.
+
+At the court of the King of Terenate Drake discovered a Chinaman, who
+professed to be of royal blood, and gave him a courteous invitation to
+visit the Emperor of China. But Drake was eager to get home and
+continued his voyage as quickly as possible. He stopped at Java, and
+then made for the Cape of Good Hope--which his followers declared was
+the fairest and most goodly cape in all the world, and the most welcome
+to set eyes on. Rounding the Cape, he directed his course for Sierra
+Leone and the Coast of Guinea, and, coming into waters that he knew, he
+continued northward until the shores of England were sighted from his
+masthead. And at last he dropped anchor triumphantly in Plymouth harbor
+after a voyage that had lasted three years.
+
+He had suffered from tempest, battle and shipwreck, and on one occasion
+had run his vessel on the rocks while in Asiatic waters. He had taken a
+princely fortune from the Spaniards and engaged in fierce combats with
+them. He had accomplished more as a geographer and navigator than any
+Englishman up to his time, and had taken the English flag where it had
+never been seen before. And as a result of these exploits all England
+rang with his fame, songs were composed in his honor and he was
+considered to be more than human by many people who held that only by
+magic could he have accomplished a voyage so miraculous.
+
+Elizabeth did not receive him with open favor at first; but her heart
+was high within her at Drake's success. At last she informed him that
+it was her pleasure to dine with him on the _Golden Hind_, which you
+may be sure was scoured and garnished for the occasion as never before.
+In the ship's cabin Elizabeth and her courtiers feasted with Drake and
+his officers, and at the end of the dinner she asked the Captain for
+his sword--a sword that she herself had presented to him before his
+departure for the west, and tapping him with it on the shoulder as he
+knelt before her, she knighted him, and left his ship, while Drake
+himself remained on board to rejoice at the honor that had been
+bestowed on him.
+
+The dauntless skipper had returned in the nick of time to be of further
+service to his country, for England at last went openly to war with
+Spain, and Drake was put in command of a fleet to harry Spanish
+commerce. There were rumors of a great fleet that was being gathered by
+King Philip to invade England, but Drake met them more than half way
+and sailing into Spanish harbors inflicted such a blow on King Philip's
+navy that it took more than a year for him to get his ships again in
+such a condition that he could sail against English shores. As we have
+already told you in the last chapter, the King of Spain did at last
+send a mighty fleet of more than one hundred and fifty great galleons
+to invade England and conquer the country. It was the proudest array of
+ships that the world had ever seen up to that time, with Spain's
+greatest sailors and generals in command and a force of veteran
+soldiers aboard that was thought to be irresistible.
+
+Drake was at a game of bowls with Sir Walter Raleigh and Martin
+Frobisher when word was brought to him that the Spanish fleet had been
+sighted. The others quickly left their sport and were hurrying toward
+the harbor when Drake called after them and brought them back.
+
+"There's plenty of time to finish the game and beat the Spaniards
+afterward," he said, laughing.
+
+He was as good as his word, and as one of the chief commanders of the
+English navy, he did more than any other man to humble Spain's great
+fleet and weaken her power on the sea. While the great Spanish galleons
+were huddled in confusion the swift English vessels bore down on them
+and raked them from stem to stern with musketry and cannon fire,
+sinking a great many vessels and throwing the entire fleet into
+hopeless disorder. The English also deftly maneuvered so that the
+Spaniards would be driven upon dangerous reefs, and shipwreck complete
+the havoc in the ranks of the hostile _Armada_. Drake's fire ships,
+like roaring furnaces, bore down on the Spaniards under full sail, and
+the light of the flames was reflected against the clouds as the
+galleons blew up and burned.
+
+A terrible gale completed what the English began and the Spanish ships
+drove on the rocks by scores, where their crews were dashed to pieces
+or were killed or captured after making their way to shore. Spain's
+dream of conquering England was at an end and Spain's supremacy upon
+the seas was ended also in favor of her younger rival.
+
+This was the crowning point of Drake's career and greatness. He was,
+most naturally, a national figure, the darling of the people and the
+court. Later he engaged in further voyages, but did not meet with his
+earlier success, and in 1596 he died at sea not very far from the scene
+of his first victories and the location of the modern Panama Canal. He
+was buried with high honors, and his coffin was lowered into the sea
+draped in the English flag, while English guns thundered a salute in
+honor of the great naval hero.
+
+All England mourned when they heard of his fate, and the _Golden Hind_
+was ordered by the Queen to be preserved with scrupulous care in memory
+of the marvelous journey it had made. When it, too, grew old and had to
+be broken up, a chair was made from its planks and sent to Oxford
+University, where it can be seen to the present day as a memorial of
+Drake's mighty achievements,--feats that stand in a class by
+themselves, and that will be hard to duplicate to the end of time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+HENRY HUDSON
+
+
+When James the First was King of England, and four years after the
+death of the great Queen Elizabeth, there existed an English and
+Russian trading company of wealthy merchants which was known as the
+Muscovy Company--an association of great influence that desired to
+extend its commerce to far-off China, whose wealth in those days was
+considered to be fabulous. All the maritime nations of Europe desired
+to gain the China trade and to bring to their own ports the rich silks
+and spices of the Orient. All of them were seeking for some quick and
+easy route for sailing vessels from Europe to China, and fortunate
+indeed would be that nation whose sailors first discovered such a
+passage! Therefore, in the year 1607, the Muscovy Company tried to find
+some sea captain who would undertake a voyage of discovery to find a
+quicker way to the Far East than around the Cape of Good Hope in
+southern Africa.
+
+Now at that very time there chanced to be living a mariner named Henry
+Hudson, who commanded a small coasting vessel which was anchored near
+the mouth of the River Thames. He heard of the offer made by the
+Muscovy Company and offered his services. And partly because the
+merchants believed him to be a capable seaman and partly because no
+other sailor volunteered for this dangerous mission, Henry Hudson was
+given command of the little ship called the _Hopewell_, and with a
+small crew set out to find the way to China by the northeast, hoping to
+skirt the northern shore of Russia and then sail south into Oriental
+seas along the Asiatic coast.
+
+Nobody knows to-day who Hudson was or what his life had been up to the
+time when he entered the service of the Muscovy Company. Over three
+hundred years ago he suddenly appeared as a brave and capable sailor
+and explorer, only to disappear in the great bay in northern Canada
+that now bears his name, when he was deserted and left to certain death
+by a mutinous and cowardly crew. We do not know what he looked like,
+for no portrait of him has been preserved; we do not know who were the
+members of his family, for no records of them have been kept. All we
+know is that this master mariner sailed farther north than any sailor
+of his day--farther north, indeed, than any sailor who succeeded him
+for nearly three hundred years--and what is still more important, that
+he explored the great river now called the Hudson, on whose shore
+stands one of the mightiest cities of the world.
+
+The _Hopewell_ was a little ship, about the size of the smallest
+fishing vessels of to-day; and had been used many years before by
+another great explorer and a friend of Sir Francis Drake's named Martin
+Frobisher. That Hudson was able in this tiny craft to penetrate farther
+into the arctic wilderness than the great square-rigged ships and the
+strongly built steamers of the nineteenth century, is almost beyond
+belief. But the fact that he did so is not to be doubted, and the
+results of his voyages into those icy and deserted seas bore almost as
+great fruit as though he had discovered the passage to China that he
+hoped for.
+
+First Hudson sailed north and then east, to the coast of what is now
+called Spitzbergen, after which he sailed along the shore of Greenland
+to the north. He tried to round the northern end of Greenland, but the
+great ice floes blocked his progress. Everywhere were icebergs and
+cliffs of solid ice, grinding against each other with a wicked roar on
+the great seas, and always was there fog born of the ice, or heavy
+gales that tossed the little _Hopewell_ like a feather. After trying
+for many days to sail where no ship has ever sailed, Hudson finally
+gave up the attempt, and, bitterly disappointed, turned his prow toward
+England, where he reported to the Muscovy Company that great numbers of
+whales sported in the icy waters near Spitzbergen--a report that
+afterward resulted in the great whale fisheries of that locality and
+untold wealth for the ships and companies that pursued them. But Hudson
+had done more than he realized. Not only had he reached a latitude of
+eighty-one degrees, fifty minutes, north, but he brought back important
+information that there was no hope of reaching Asia in the direction he
+had followed.
+
+The merchants of the Muscovy Company were disappointed, but they still
+believed that the passage to China could be found, and in 1608 Hudson
+set sail again, determined this time to find the great waterway that
+would make his name and fortune. But again he was doomed to failure and
+returned with even less to show than on the previous voyage. He did,
+however, bring back a curious tale that added to the superstitious sea
+lore of those times, for two of his sailors one morning when looking
+over the side of the vessel beheld what they declared was a
+mermaid--with a white skin and a tail like a mackerel, long, black
+hair, and a back and breast like a woman's. For a long time, these
+mendacious mariners insisted, the mermaid (who is believed to have been
+a seal) swam beside the vessel looking earnestly into their eyes, but
+at last a sea overturned her and she dove deep and disappeared from
+view.
+
+When Hudson returned again with nothing to show for his bravery and
+daring, the Muscovy Company was not willing to fit him out for a third
+voyage. The fame of his exploits, however, had traveled throughout
+Europe, and he was summoned to Holland by a group of wealthy merchants
+who asked him to try once more in any direction he saw fit, and in the
+interests of the Dutch East India Company.
+
+This time Hudson was to succeed, although in a way that he little
+dreamed of--and certainly a way that was far removed from the discovery
+of a sea route to China. In a little vessel called the _Half Moon_, and
+with a crew of about a score of Englishmen and Hollanders, he set sail
+on April 5, 1609, with high hopes that at last he would find the
+passage he had so long and patiently sought for.
+
+At first it looked as though he was doomed once more to failure. After
+cruising for a month he found himself in the icy reaches of Barents
+Sea, and then the _Half Moon_ was caught in the ice and only saved from
+being crushed to splinters by a favorable breeze that sprang up just as
+the jaws of the ice floes were closing on the little vessel. So far
+Hudson had accomplished nothing, and his crew was dissatisfied and
+rebellious. They were unwilling to continue the voyage in the north and
+desired a quick return to Holland. But Hudson knew that if he put back
+with another failure to his credit, his reputation would be lost
+forever and he would never get another opportunity to engage in
+exploration; so, to pacify the crew, and at the same time to accomplish
+something that might meet with favor in the eyes of his patrons, he
+suggested that they sail for North America and try to discover the
+passage through a waterway that lay to the north of the British
+possessions in Virginia.
+
+When the _Half Moon_ was being buffeted by a gale off the coast of
+Newfoundland the foremast was carried away, and Hudson sailed southwest
+along the coast of Nova Scotia, anchoring at last in what is now known
+as the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine.
+
+Here his men landed and sought a mast for the ship in the virgin forest
+that ran down to the edge of the salt water. Here too they met their
+first Indians, and treated them with suspicion and distrust. Hudson
+himself met the natives kindly and always established good relations
+with them, but his ignorant crew, particularly his mate, whose name was
+Juet, believed that the natives were only waiting to do them some
+violence and treachery, and with this in mind the sailors drove the
+Indians into the forest and plundered their wigwams, taking whatever
+was valuable back to the _Half Moon_. Hudson could do little or nothing
+to prevent them, for at this time the ill feeling of his men had grown
+to such an extent that he was only nominally in command and had little
+or no control over his lawless followers.
+
+With a new mast in place the _Half Moon_ set sail from the Penobscot
+and bore away to the south, passing Cape Cod which had been discovered
+a short time before by Bartholomew Gosnold, and continuing on a
+southern course until it reached a point beyond Chesapeake Bay. Then
+Hudson turned his prow north once more and entered the bay itself,
+thinking that it might possibly be the entrance to the passage that he
+sought; but finding it too shallow for convenient navigation he turned
+north again and sailed up the Jersey coast, coming at last to the mouth
+of a great harbor, which he thought, for a brief time only, might be on
+the way to China and the east.
+
+He found himself, however, in one of the most wonderful waterways of
+the entire world. There were many tribes of Indians around the shores
+and these paddled out in their canoes with offerings of wampum and
+green tobacco in return for which they received bits of glass and iron
+hoes and hatchets. They were filled with amazement at the appearance
+and clothes of the white men and it was only after overcoming great
+fear that they dared to approach the _Half Moon_ at all.
+
+But the suspicion and doubt of Hudson's crew, particularly of the surly
+Juet, again made itself manifest, and after many of the party had
+landed some outrage must have been committed, for the Indians made an
+attack on the _Half Moon_ with bows and arrows, killing one of the
+crew. The sailors built a barricade above the bulwarks to protect the
+men from further encounters, and Hudson proceeded up the harbor. He
+landed at the lower point of Manhattan Island and made a ceremonial
+visit to the Indians, who were doubtless of a different tribe from
+those that attacked him, for in that day there were many nations in the
+vicinity of Manhattan, some fierce and warlike and others peace-loving
+and friendly.
+
+After exchanging gifts with the Indians and plying them with drink
+whose unaccustomed sensations filled them with fear, amazement and joy,
+Hudson continued his voyage up the noble river, anchoring at frequent
+intervals. More trouble soon occurred between his crew and the savages,
+for Juet the mate shot and killed an Indian who was attempting to steal
+some trifle from the cabin of the _Half Moon_. There followed a fight
+in which no less than twelve Indians were killed by Hudson's men; the
+redskins were getting their first taste of white man's rule, and coming
+with gifts they were met with gunfire. What was more natural than for
+one of the ignorant savages to steal some of the amazing trifles that
+were displayed in the _Half Moon's_ cabin? Death was certainly an
+unjust penalty.
+
+Up the river for one hundred and fifty miles Hudson steered his course,
+trading with the natives as soon as he was removed from the scenes of
+the recent outrage. His writings show no surprise or delight at the
+wonderful scenery and the virgin forests and the giant river that he
+beheld, but is a record of soundings with an occasional remark that the
+trees would make good timbers for vessels and casks. Rich furs, green
+tobacco and long strings of gay and polished shells called wampum were
+gladly exchanged by the Indians for bits of colored glass, beads,
+hatchets and knives, commencing a trade that was later extensively
+carried on in the north by the Hudson Bay Trading Company, and at the
+mouth of the river by the Dutch settlers.
+
+At last the water became too shoal for further exploration and Hudson
+returned downstream. It was time to conclude his voyage and he
+consulted his men. They were greatly averse to returning to Holland,
+fearing without doubt that he would report their open mutiny and
+rebellious conduct as soon as they arrived. Hudson feared for his life,
+and indeed his fears were well founded; but with considerable
+astuteness he proposed that they return not to Holland but Ireland--a
+suggestion that was eagerly hailed by the crew. They set sail from
+Manhattan in October, and on November 7 arrived at Dartmouth, England,
+where Hudson had taken his vessel either through accident or design.
+
+He sent word of his arrival to the Dutch East India Company and
+received an order to proceed to Holland without delay--but when he was
+about to set sail the English forbade him to do so and he was ordered
+henceforth to serve his own country and not to give help to a foreign
+power.
+
+Already, though he had little idea of it, he had accomplished more than
+enough to rank him as the foremost explorer of his time, and his name
+was assured of immortality. He had opened up to the advances of the
+Dutch settlers a country enormously rich in natural resources and laid
+the primary foundation of perhaps the world's most wonderful city. He
+had established a "farthest north" that has only been equaled by modern
+explorers, and his voyages near Spitzbergen had resulted in profitable
+fisheries.
+
+But Hudson was not yet satisfied, and indeed his recent voyage had
+impelled the English to equip him again for further explorations. They
+gave him a little vessel of some fifty-five tons named the _Discovery_
+and a mixed crew of Englishmen and Dutchmen, with whom he put forth
+once more in 1610 to see if an opening into southern seas could be
+found by means of the waterways discovered by the explorer, Davis.
+
+Among these sailors, to Hudson's cost, was his former surly mate, Juet,
+and a young ne'er-do-well named Henry Greene, who had been cast off by
+his family for his evil ways and his dissolute living. Hudson had
+befriended this young man and had offered him a refuge in his own
+house--and now, to keep him out of mischief, took him along as a member
+of his crew. With the explorer also was a boy, John Hudson, who was
+undoubtedly his son and who had served under him as cabin boy on
+previous voyages.
+
+That Hudson, for all his great qualities, was not a leader of men like
+the American Paul Jones, who could make convicts and prisoners of war
+serve him in battle against his enemies; and that he had always
+controlled his crew with a loose hand seems amply borne out by the
+events that took place on this voyage, which was destined to prove his
+last. Almost before he had quitted the river Thames he commenced to
+have trouble with his crew, sending one unruly member ashore before he
+was out of sight of land.
+
+He turned his prow toward Iceland where he caught a great many fish and
+wild fowl and where he and his followers saw Mount Hecla, the volcano,
+pouring flame upon the snows. He then set sail for Greenland, rounded
+Cape Desolation and after a long and wearisome voyage found himself at
+last in the great body of water in northern Canada that is now called
+Hudson Bay. This he thought might be at last the long sought passage,
+for the great waterway ran toward the south. And Hudson, sailing
+onward, found himself at last in its southernmost part--a pocket now
+called James Bay. Storms were frequent and heavy fogs rolled upon him
+incessantly. On one occasion he anchored in a gale and lay buffeting
+enormous seas for eight long days. When he tried to hoist anchor
+against the wishes of the crew a great wave broke directly over the
+bow, breaking upon the deck with such force that all the men were swept
+from their feet and several were injured. The anchor was lost and only
+the quickness of the carpenter saved the cable, which he cut with an ax
+as it was running over the side. Staggering in the heavy sea the
+_Discovery_ sailed northward, for Hudson had at last become convinced
+that no passage led to the orient through Hudson Bay.
+
+Ice retarded them and they were compelled to seek winter quarters.
+Their provisions were nearly gone and all that saved their lives was
+skill in hunting whereby they secured several hundred white partridges,
+or ptarmigan. Discontent and mutiny were breaking out among the members
+of the crew, and the ringleader against Hudson was young Henry Greene
+whom he had befriended and fed at his own table. A house was built for
+winter quarters, but it was badly constructed and the biting Arctic
+blast swept through it, chilling to the bone the bodies that were
+weakened with hunger. In the spring, when the mariners were able once
+again to resume the voyage, they were at death's door from starvation.
+
+What little food was left was distributed by Hudson, and, we are told,
+he wept as he doled it out. Disappointed in his hopes of a successful
+voyage, weakened with hunger and with a crew in almost open mutiny, it
+is not to be wondered at if he spoke harshly at times to his men and
+added to the grudge they harbored against him. The most assiduous of
+all in their efforts to do him injury was Henry Greene, his former
+beneficiary.
+
+A plot was conceived to put Hudson and all the sick members of the crew
+in the shallop or small boat that the _Discoverer_ carried and turn
+them adrift, and all the details of this were worked out by Greene and
+some other leading spirits among the mutineers. Hudson was seized and
+bound; the sick were told to get up from their bunks and take their
+places in the shallop. Even the boy, John Hudson, was placed there
+also,--and the carpenter, who preferred to face death with his master
+rather than remain with the mutineers, was put aboard as well. Then the
+painter was cut, and without food, clothing or provisions, Hudson and
+his companions floated away amid the ice fields. They were never seen
+again.
+
+The mutineers sailed homeward and secured some provisions at islands on
+the way where they found fish and wild fowl. It is a satisfaction to
+know that they were attacked by the natives and that Greene and several
+others were killed. The survivors, after a terrible voyage, reached
+Ireland and then made their way to England. Although they were
+questioned closely regarding Hudson's fate, little or no punishment was
+visited on them and some of them even took part in later expeditions.
+And so perished by base treachery one of the bravest and most brilliant
+sailors that the world has ever seen, for Hudson died either in the
+melancholy reaches of Hudson Bay or on some bleak shore where he was
+cast away. But though he died miserably he still lives, for his
+achievements are immortal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+PETER THE GREAT
+
+
+At a time when the famous House of Romanoff had only recently come into
+power in Russia, a prince was born in the Kremlin Palace at Moscow who
+was destined to become the greatest ruler that the Russian people have
+ever known. The name of this prince was Peter and he was the son of the
+Czar Alexis.
+
+Alexis was a kind-hearted man, but preferred to leave the arduous
+duties of governing the Russian State to his advisors. As he was easily
+influenced by any favorite who happened to gain his ear the Government
+was badly run and the condition of the people was deplorable indeed.
+When the Empress, or Czarina, had borne her husband two sons and a
+daughter she died, and Alexis married a second wife named Natalia
+Naryshkin, who became the mother of the infant Peter in 1672.
+
+We are told that there were great festivities at Peter's christening.
+Most of the great nobles of Russia were present and there was feasting
+and merrymaking. The guests wondered at the great confections of candy
+and spice that had been made for the celebration--life-size swans all
+of sugar that looked so natural it seemed as though they could swim in
+the sea of wine that flowed there, and fortresses of sweetmeats made to
+resemble the buildings of Moscow.
+
+There are many stories, too, of the pomp and luxury in which the future
+Czar was brought up. Peter had his own apartments and his own train of
+attendants, and he was waited on by a band of dwarfs who were selected
+for this purpose. When he was three years old the Czar gave him a royal
+carriage of tiny size drawn by four ponies, and sitting therein, driven
+and accompanied by his dwarfs, the little Prince would appear in the
+public streets whenever a royal ceremony took place.
+
+His father died when Peter was four years old and was succeeded on the
+throne by Feodor, who was Peter's half brother. This prince was not
+fitted to rule. He was sickly in body and weak in intellect, as indeed
+were both of the Czar's sons by his first marriage. And the new Czar
+spent a large part of his time in bed while his sister Sophia, who was
+shrewder than himself, was the actual ruler of Russia.
+
+Sophia had planned to make herself Empress by the cleverest plotting
+and intrigue. She nursed Feodor in his illnesses and so endeared
+herself to him that he allowed her to do whatever she desired. Among
+the nobility she gained a number of friends by gifts, smiles and
+flattery, and she paid particular attention to winning over a body of
+soldiers that formed the Imperial Guard, and were called the Streltsi,
+trying to enlist them in her cause by every means in her power.
+
+Sophia, it may be said, was base-hearted and treacherous. She did not
+wish her father to marry again for she feared there would be more
+children, and she desired to come to power after his death by managing
+the affairs of her two weak brothers. Feodor, as we have seen, was a
+hopeless invalid; and the other son, Ivan, was weak-minded, almost an
+idiot, manifestly incapable of ever coming to the throne.
+
+But Peter, the son of the second marriage, was a strong and promising
+child, handsome in body and powerful in mind. He was the hope of the
+Russian State, and gave every indication that he would some day become
+a ruler worthy of his people. And while he was still a young boy the
+sickly Feodor died and Peter became the Czar much sooner than was
+expected.
+
+Sophia was most unwilling to have Peter reign. She knew that under such
+a ruler as he promised to become there would be small chance of her
+keeping her power. So, when Feodor died, she planned a revolt by
+spreading falsehoods among the nobles and the Imperial Guard to the
+effect that Peter's mother had planned to place her son on the throne
+by any means whatever and had murdered the idiot Prince Ivan so that
+Peter might rule unquestioned.
+
+At this a mob made its way to the Kremlin, determined to take and slay
+both Peter and his mother, and foremost among the infuriated people
+were the soldiers of the Imperial Guard who were influenced by Sophia.
+The former Czarina with Peter in her arms was compelled to flee for
+refuge to a monastery where the soldiers followed her as far as the
+altar itself, but feared to use their swords in the house of God.
+
+So many of the nobles, however, supported Peter and his mother, that
+Sophia could not work her wicked will upon them, and at last it was
+agreed that both Peter and Ivan should reign jointly as Czars, while
+Sophia herself was to be Regent, with all the power in her hands until
+they should come of age.
+
+Sophia then worked out another plot by which she hoped that Peter would
+never really rule. She planned to weaken him in body and will until he
+should be unfit for his high duties. She took away his instructors and
+surrounded him with a group of boys to whom she gave every luxury and
+every opportunity for vice and idleness. They did as they liked from
+morning to night and no restraint of any kind or description was placed
+upon them. Sophia hoped that they would all become worthless and
+vicious and that Peter would do the same. Perhaps, she thought, he
+might even weaken himself by drinking bouts and riotous orgies so that
+he would not even live to claim the actual power of the throne.
+
+It was in the company of these boys, however, that Peter gave the first
+signs that he was not only bright and capable but possessed the
+qualities of real greatness. Instead of doing nothing, as Sophia had
+wickedly hoped, he soon became a natural leader among his companions.
+Although he had no instructors he kept up his studies and made his
+fellows do likewise, and he organized the group of boys into a military
+company which he drilled with the greatest care, teaching them tactics
+and the theories of soldiering, which he obtained from the officers of
+the army, and organizing a military school of such excellence that it
+continued on a practical basis long after he became Czar.
+
+The constant efforts of the young Prince to improve himself, his zeal,
+energy and ability soon attracted the attention of the Russian
+noblemen, who said to themselves that here was a ruler worth having.
+Many of them had been Sophia's friends, but now they began to turn
+toward Peter, and Sophia soon saw that the design she had entertained
+was a two-edged one, and that she had only injured herself.
+
+Peter now was a youth of eighteen, and had a strong party of noblemen
+ready to support him in his claims to power. His friends and counselors
+desired that he marry, and soon the Princess Eudoxia Lopukhin became
+his bride. Sophia, of course, had been unwilling that the marriage take
+place, but she couldn't prevent it; and from that time onward her power
+grew less each day.
+
+The young Prince continued to show every indication of his energy and
+ability. He worked in the shipyards to learn ship building, and he
+studied military tactics at every opportunity. He had a company of
+soldiers formed, who dressed in European uniform instead of in the
+Asiatic garb of Russia. He himself had drilled as a private in this
+company. He was fond of taking long trips for military purposes as well
+as for shipbuilding, and continued to do so after his marriage.
+
+At about this time Russia engaged in an unsuccessful war in the Crimea.
+The Russian General, Golitzyn, claimed that he had accomplished wonders
+and ought to be decorated, but Peter's knowledge of military matters
+had made him thoroughly disgusted with the campaign. He refused to sign
+the order for the General's medals, and showed that he knew the war had
+been a failure and had failed through faulty strategy and bad
+leadership.
+
+Then there took place another plot to assassinate Peter, and once again
+Sophia's friends, the Imperial Guard, were in the foreground. Some of
+the soldiers, however, were faithful to the young Czar and warned him
+in time to fly for his life, and once again he and his mother took
+refuge in the monastery that had sheltered him when he was an infant.
+
+Noblemen hastened to the place to assure Peter that they were loyal to
+him and devoted to his interests. And while still in the monastery
+Peter accused Sophia of having planned the deed. The Imperial Guard at
+last went over to him and the ringleaders of the plot were disclosed
+and executed. General Golitzyn, who had already been in disfavor on
+account of his operations in the Crimea, was banished to the desolate
+reaches of Siberia, and the evil-hearted Sophia was placed in a convent
+for the good of her soul, where she remained until her dying day.
+
+After this Peter took on himself the full power of the Czar and began
+the great reforms that have made his name famous and were still working
+in Russia when the World War commenced in 1914. He ordered that
+mechanics and craftsmen from all parts of Europe be brought into Russia
+to show the Russian people improved methods of trade, building and
+manufacture. He made it easy to buy the merchandise of other countries,
+so the Russians might learn how to make such things themselves, and he
+traveled widely in his great Empire supervising industry and
+introducing new methods. He turned his attention to the Army and had it
+well and efficiently drilled and dressed in the style of the armies of
+England and France and other great western nations. He took long
+voyages on the sea to learn the craft of sailoring, and made plans for
+various ports and shipping centers in his country. And for his own
+amusement the Czar was passionately fond of working with his own hands
+and making various things that can be seen to the present day.
+
+When Peter was twenty-two his mother died, and soon after this time he
+ceased to live with his wife, who entered a convent. He had never cared
+for her, although she had loved him passionately; and his treatment of
+her was harsh to say the least. In one way Peter's early training had
+done its work and Sophia had molded his character for the worse. He was
+reckless and dissolute, a heavy drinker and fond of wild orgies that
+lasted long after daybreak. Unusually strong himself these excesses did
+not injure his health to any great extent, but it was hard for those
+who had to drink with him, for the Czar expected them to go about their
+affairs the next day as though they had spent the night in restful
+sleep instead of some wild revel, and it is said that he had no use for
+a man who would not join in the revels or who allowed himself to be
+affected by them on the following day.
+
+When still a young man there was another attempt to murder him, and to
+place Sophia on the throne, but the plot was discovered and all the
+conspirators were put to death, some of them with barbarous cruelties.
+
+In 1695 the Russians went to war against the Turks and the wild
+Tartars. The war is not an important one in its bearing on history, but
+Peter won fame through all civilized Europe for the skill with which he
+handled his army and the way in which he conducted the siege of a town
+called Azov.
+
+He then made up his mind to go to western Europe and visit the great
+nations he had always admired. He went in great state and pretended
+that he was bound on a diplomatic mission, but it is thought that the
+real reason for the trip was his desire to see new forms and methods in
+the mechanical arts. He visited what is now modern Germany and went to
+Holland, where for a time he worked in one of the shipyards as a common
+carpenter, dressed in a workman's clothes. He was keenly interested in
+everything, and one of his biographers tells us that he even learned
+dentistry and practiced his skill on the servants that accompanied him.
+
+Peter went to England and was surprised and delighted to see the fine
+metal coins that were used in that nation, as the Russian money was
+printed on small bits of leather, and on his return he introduced metal
+money into Russia. He also visited Vienna and Paris, and traveled in
+disguise as much as possible.
+
+While away on this trip another revolt broke out against him, and Peter
+was obliged to hurry home on account of it. The conspirators were
+treated with the utmost severity and were tortured and killed. There
+are many ugly stories about the way that Peter behaved in regard to his
+enemies, although it is true that they had given him ample provocation,
+and it is said that when he was under the influence of drink he put to
+death a number of conspirators with his own hand.
+
+Peter, with his great love of shipbuilding, was always planning to
+establish a Russian navy and build new seaports. To assure himself
+control of the Russian seacoast of the Baltic sea he went to war with
+Charles the Tenth of Sweden, and finally built the city of Saint
+Petersburg that was named in his honor--a name that was changed to
+Petrograd at the beginning of the World War. The war went against Peter
+at first, but he trained his soldiers until they could achieve future
+victory, and when the Swedes invaded Russia they found Peter more than
+ready for them. With the efficient army that he had built up the Swedes
+were badly beaten at the battle of Pultowa and were compelled to
+withdraw from Russia, after sustaining terrible losses.
+
+It is not on account of his wars, however, but his reforms, that the
+name of Peter the Great is so well known to-day. He was constantly
+changing and improving the order of things in his country. He went so
+far as to require that the Russian civilians abandon the Asiatic dress
+of their forefathers and cut their beards, and he, more than any other
+man, transformed Russia from an eastern into a western nation.
+
+Peter had divorced his wife after the revolt which took place when he
+was visiting other nations, as he believed, or wished to believe, that
+she had a share in the plot, and he now married a beautiful woman of
+low degree named Catherine who was called Catherine the First. He had
+one son by his first wife, who was named Alexis, but the Prince had
+always given him serious trouble and finally tried to hatch a revolt
+against his own father. For this Alexis was tried and condemned to
+death, but he fell ill and died before the sentence could be
+pronounced, asking and receiving forgiveness from Peter on his
+deathbed.
+
+Peter himself died in 1725 after a sudden illness. His funeral was so
+elaborate that it was six weeks before the ceremonies were concluded,
+for he had won a place in the hearts of the Russians that he never
+lost. He was beyond any doubt the greatest and most famous of the
+Russian Czars, and he left Russia in a far better position than when he
+came to the throne. In addition to introducing all kinds of mechanical
+reform he won a seaboard on the Baltic and Black seas which Russia had
+never before possessed; he built great cities and established many
+political reforms which were the beginning of the modern Russian
+nation. He had trained an efficient army and was the father of the
+Russian navy. While possessed of many faults and of a savage, ruthless
+nature, the elements of greatness and of heroism were strong within
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+GEORGE WASHINGTON
+
+
+Ever since the Declaration of Independence George Washington has been
+the greatest figure in the history of the United States of America, and
+it is certain that he will continue to be so for hundreds of years to
+come. In all history there is no parallel to the dignity, the majesty,
+the mightiness of his achievement, and no other man who has built a
+monument of greatness so enduring as his.
+
+He was born in Virginia in 1732, on the 22d of February. His father was
+Augustine Washington and his mother was a second wife named Mary Ball.
+The Washingtons were prominent and influential people in Virginia and
+had lived there for many years.
+
+In spite of this not a great deal is known about Augustine Washington,
+although it is certain that he was an upright and honorable gentleman,
+but George's mother was famous for her good sense as well as her
+beauty. Her family was a large one; there had been children by the
+first wife also, and as Augustine Washington died when George was a
+little boy, she was forced to rear this family without a husband's
+help.
+
+Perhaps the responsibility that fell on George after his father's death
+may have helped to develop his character. At all events there are many
+stories about his boyhood in which he seems far older than his years.
+Letters and history both tell us of his thoughtfulness, his methodical
+habits and his great physical strength. Before he was in his teens he
+had become the acknowledged leader of the boys in his neighborhood, and
+he was fond of engaging with them in various athletic games. He also
+formed a military company of the little negroes on the family estate,
+and drilled them keenly, actually making something like a military show
+with the barefooted, ragged pickaninnies, with their rolling eyes and
+woolly heads. Like all other young Virginians he was accustomed to
+riding from his infancy, and before he was ten years old there were few
+horses that he could not bridle and master.
+
+But we cannot go into stories of George's boyhood, of the time when he
+cut down the cherry tree and faced his father's wrath rather than tell
+a lie, or the time when he accidentally killed a high spirited horse
+when breaking it to the bridle. He finished his schooling when he was
+sixteen years old, and would have gone into the British navy if his
+mother had consented. She did not, however, so George studied
+surveying; and was soon earning considerable sums from this occupation.
+
+He made an excellent surveyor, and his skilful work and unusual
+character soon attracted general attention. He was well versed in
+military tactics also, and was made a Major in the Virginia militia
+before he was twenty. This gave added zest for his military studies and
+he set to work to learn strategy under a fierce old Dutch army officer
+named Jacob Van Braam. Together they studied maps and fought out
+battles with pins and bits of wood until far into the night. George was
+also busied with the care of the Washington estate at Mount Vernon,
+which was left to him on the death of his half brother, Lawrence
+Washington in 1752. Mount Vernon carried with it about five hundred
+slaves and dependents, and the young man had his time fully occupied in
+riding over its broad acres and managing its affairs.
+
+When George was twenty-one years old a difficult task was assigned to
+him that not only proved that he had really entered the estate of
+manhood, but also that he was trusted beyond his years. Governor
+Dinwiddie of Virginia sent him on a dangerous trip into the wilderness
+to warn off the French from English ground and to gain the friendship
+of the wild Indians that lived there. The race for land between the
+French and English settlers was growing keener and more bitter every
+day, and both countries claimed the land that lay between the Allegheny
+and the Mississippi rivers. Finally the Governor of Virginia picked
+young Washington to go to Venango and warn the French that they were
+trespassing,--and also to make ceremonial visits to the Indians to
+ensure their friendship to the English in case of war with the French.
+
+To succeed would require shrewdness, good sense, courage and physical
+strength--for a long journey through virgin forests would have to be
+made and many dangers encountered. Washington took with him a guide and
+pioneer named Christopher Gist, and Jacob Van Braam went also to act as
+interpreter.
+
+The journey over six hundred miles of desolate wilderness, across
+swollen streams, through forest, swamp and over rugged mountain, was
+performed so speedily that it would be hard for strong men to duplicate
+it to-day, traveling over good roads. Washington sat beside the council
+fires of the Indians, and delivered the Governor's message to the
+French. He also noted the best points for fortifications against the
+encroaching French, and reported them on his return. The journey had
+been a complete success and since others had tried it and failed,
+Washington's fame was established throughout Virginia.
+
+The French had received him with sly courtesy and sought to ply his
+company with wine and brandy rather than to come to any agreement with
+him. It was plain that they meant mischief, and Governor Dinwiddie
+decided to send a force of soldiers to build a fort at the juncture
+between the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers, one of the places
+that Washington had noted down for its good strategic qualities.
+Colonel Joshua Fry was placed in command of about three hundred troops,
+and Washington was sent with him as his lieutenant.
+
+On the march Colonel Fry died, and Washington was left in sole command
+of the troops. Spies and Indian scouts in the employ of the French had
+reported the expedition and the French had promptly marched against the
+Virginian soldiers with greatly superior numbers. Washington got news
+of this act on their part, and hastily threw up fortifications on a
+plain called Great Meadows. He called this stronghold Fort Necessity.
+The French soon came up and surrounded the fort, and the bark of the
+rifles reechoed through the woods and from the hills.
+
+Washington and his men fought with the utmost bravery, but when he saw
+that the struggle was hopeless and that they would all be killed or
+captured if the fight continued, he made terms with the French,
+allowing his men to retire with all their arms and equipment, on
+condition that they did not make any further attempt to occupy the
+country for a stipulated time. The French success was not the fault of
+Washington who displayed great coolness and secured the maximum
+advantage for himself and his men. He was warmly commended by the
+Governor for his action in this fight and had a higher reputation than
+ever among all who knew the circumstances.
+
+Soon after this Washington engaged in another expedition that was far
+more disastrous. The English Government put Major General Edward
+Braddock in command of a force of English regular soldiers to gain
+control of the disputed Ohio Valley, and Washington was appointed as
+aide on General Braddock's staff.
+
+Braddock in his way was a good soldier, a hard bitten, dyed in the
+wool, regular army officer with a great contempt for the Virginia
+militia, and an over confident belief that the British soldier was
+invincible. He believed absolutely that the methods of war that were
+used on European battlefields would overwhelm anything in America, and
+he liked to see his redcoats with their boots polished and their
+buttons furbished, marching in solid platoon formation, turning and
+wheeling with the mathematical regularity of a machine. His men were
+drilled and disciplined until they were automatons, for Braddock was a
+martinet. Their ranks ran true, their equipment was in the pink of
+soldierly condition; the sunlight glittered from their bayonets, you
+could see your face in their leather accouterments, and Braddock
+proudly marched them into the American woods as though they were
+parading on the Strand in London. When Washington warned him of the
+dangers of ambush, urging that an advance guard and scouts be thrown
+out, Braddock turned scornfully away, believing that a volley or two
+from his brave regulars would soon drive off any foes that might fall
+upon him, and he said bluntly that when he desired advice from his
+subordinates he would ask for it.
+
+As his men were marching in close formation, their red coats blazing
+against the dark green of the forest, shifting figures were seen in the
+trees ahead, a French officer suddenly appeared cheering them on to the
+attack, and with shouts and yells an unseen enemy shot down the
+Britishers from the protection of fallen trees, from behind rocks and
+stumps, and from the concealment of forest branches.
+
+The redcoats fell by scores and were thrown into hopeless confusion.
+They were not used to fighting a hidden foe, and were appalled by the
+death in their midst as well as by the wild cries and war whoops that
+echoed from the forest. Braddock, waving his sword, ordered his
+platoons to wheel and advance in solid formation into the woods--and
+the platoons were wiped out like sheep in a slaughter pit as they tried
+to obey the hopeless order. But the despised Virginia militia,
+experienced in Indian fighting, spread out in open order at the head of
+the column and kept the enemy in check, while Braddock with hopeless
+bravery attempted to rally his men. It was in vain. The dismal cries
+and yells continued. The bullets sang overhead like a swarm of wasps,
+British officers dropped at the shots of invisible sharpshooters, who
+picked them off easily on account of their conspicuous uniforms.
+Braddock himself, as brave a man as ever lived, had four horses killed
+under him and then received a mortal wound. Washington, whose advice
+had been laughed at, took command of the Virginians and covered the
+headlong rout of the British regulars, who threw away their rifles and
+ran blindly into the woods. How Washington escaped alive is nothing
+less than a miracle. Like Braddock, he had several horses killed under
+him, and four bullets pierced his uniform. He seemed everywhere at once
+and showed the most conspicuous bravery, but all he could do was to
+save the lives of the flying Britishers. With whoops of victory the
+Indians scalped the wounded, dressed themselves in the red coats of the
+slain and showed their hideous painted faces beneath the cocked hats of
+British officers. And the French, who held the fort that Braddock had
+intended to capture, fired their cannon in rejoicing at a victory that
+forever killed the prestige of British arms in the New World. For
+hitherto the British soldier had been thought invincible, and this
+exhibition of crass stupidity and bungling gave the colonials a
+different opinion of British arms. The British were brave it is true,
+but they could not adjust themselves to meet the enemy on their own
+ground,--and in all history the Briton has shown himself clumsy in the
+guerilla warfare of the type that won the Revolution for the Americans.
+
+A few years after this tragic affair Washington married Martha Parke
+Custis, a young widow with two children. Washington's love affair with
+Martha Custis was not the first in his life. He had paid attention to
+other young beauties and had shown himself a true Virginian in his
+hearty appreciation of the ladies.
+
+With his marriage there commenced the home life at Mount Vernon that
+has become so famous in history, and the hospitality for which George
+and Martha Washington have ever been famous. Washington was fond of the
+good things of life, and his great house at Mount Vernon was filled
+with visitors, with whom he hunted and passed his leisure hours in many
+delightful ways. But his eye for business was no less keen on account
+of his pleasures, and eventually he came to be looked on as the leading
+man in the affairs of the colony. His commanding appearance, his
+wonderful self-control and his military prestige, coupled with the
+dignity and gravity of his manner, made him as prominent among men as
+he had been among boys.
+
+The attitude toward "provincials" that brought about Braddock's fatal
+error because he could not listen to advice, was destined now to bring
+to England the loss of her valuable colonies in America. The English
+looked down on the Americans and patronized them because they did not
+understand them. They regarded the American Colonies too much in the
+light of a supply house to enrich the Crown and the Mother Country, and
+too little as the home of a brave and self-reliant people who came of
+the most sterling English stock themselves. The colonists bitterly
+resented the unjust laws that compelled them to ship their produce to
+British ports and to engage in no form of industry that might cripple
+British enterprise. And when the British Government imposed taxes on
+the colonists that were not imposed on British subjects in England,
+indignation rose to white heat, and riots and hot speeches broke out
+everywhere, particularly in New England.
+
+The "stamp act," which compelled the colonists to transact all their
+legal business on paper bearing the stamp of the British Government,
+and sold only by British agents, awoke the wrath of Virginia as well as
+of New England. The cry of "no taxation without representation" rang
+from Georgia to Massachusetts. The oratory of Patrick Henry added fuel
+to the righteous indignation in every American's breast, and when the
+British in response to public feeling removed all unwarranted taxes
+except one--the tax on tea, a party of young men dressed as Indians
+sacked the cargo of a British vessel in Boston, and poured the chests
+of tea into the harbor.
+
+Parliament retaliated. Penalties were imposed on Massachusetts. The
+Virginian House of Burgesses was forbidden to meet by the King's order,
+and meeting in spite of this order it called for a General Congress of
+all the Colonies to decide what measures were to be taken to defend the
+rights of the American provinces.
+
+Washington, as one of Virginia's leading men, naturally was among those
+who represented the colony at this congress, which met in Carpenter's
+Hall in Philadelphia. He was listened to with respect and attention,
+and was considered to have the sanest viewpoint and the widest fund of
+information of any delegate there. The question of armed revolt against
+England was still in the background, but Washington was in favor of a
+resort to arms only after all other measures had failed and as a last
+resort. He was ready and willing to fight if fighting must come,
+however, and we have his statement when he heard of how the people of
+Boston were laboring under unjust British measures, "I will raise a
+thousand men," said Washington, "subsist them at my own expense and
+march with them, at their head, for the relief of Boston."
+
+At last it was seen that no other way to escape slavery existed than to
+fight. And Washington was one of the first to devote his life and
+fortune to the Revolutionary cause.
+
+When the American Congress met on June 15, 1775, Washington was chosen
+as Commander in Chief of the new continental army. The flame of
+revolution had run through the colonies. The British had killed and
+been killed by militiamen at Lexington, and had fallen back before the
+hail of lead from the squirrel rifles of angry farmers at the bridge at
+Concord. From stonewalls, fences, trees and haylofts, the Americans had
+picked off the British redcoats as they retreated back to Boston, and
+had proved themselves to be foemen that could not be despised. The
+battles of Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights followed. Bloody war was
+begun.
+
+No better man for command of the American army could possibly have been
+chosen than Washington, and very probably no other could have brought
+the revolution to a successful end. His firm and great nature were
+known to all, and with this he possessed great military skill and a
+thorough knowledge of the country where he would have to fight.
+
+But his heart may well have sunk when he took command, for no worse
+scene of confusion and inefficiency can be imagined than that of the
+American army when it was first mustered together. Washington, on July
+3rd, 1775, took command at Cambridge, Massachusetts, of about sixteen
+thousand raw recruits, badly fed, badly quartered, with no uniforms to
+speak of, little equipment and a rebellious disregard of all discipline
+that was increased by the fact that they were fighting against the
+unjust discipline of the British Government. The American forces had no
+organization, and the work fell upon Washington, as Commander in Chief,
+not only of fighting an enemy far superior in numbers and composed of
+well-disciplined and well-equipped veterans, but of organizing his own
+army almost in the course of battle, and manufacturing the material for
+victory after the gage had been cast and the conflict entered.
+
+But the resolute will and the firm hand brought order out of chaos, and
+the British were astonished to see the effectiveness of the rough and
+ready troops that opposed them. The city of Boston was besieged so
+firmly that the British at last decided to evacuate the town, sailing
+away in their warships, headed for New York. Washington by forced
+marches attempted to reach that city first and foil their attempt to
+land there, but the American army was not large enough for this design,
+and American and British forces faced each other on Long Island where a
+battle was fought near the present site of Brooklyn on August 27th,
+1776. The country was now prepared for a grim struggle and the temper
+of the revolutionists was shown by the glorious Declaration of
+Independence which was made on July 4th of that year.
+
+But spirit and determination are not proof against cold steel and solid
+ranks of veteran soldiers, and Washington's little army was beaten by
+the British in the Battle of Long Island, sustaining heavy losses in
+dead and wounded. The Americans retreated and then halted and when
+night fell only a short distance separated the two armies. The
+situation of the Americans was critical in the extreme, and it was
+absolutely necessary to cross the East River before the sadly harried
+and beaten ranks of the patriot army were attacked again by the
+victorious Britishers. Almost within the sound of the voices of the
+enemy Washington succeeded in drawing away his army and carrying them
+in boats to New York City, without a single foe suspecting his design.
+
+The British followed and there was fighting on Manhattan Island. Slowly
+the little force of patriots was driven back, now sadly decreased in
+numbers, for the ending of enlistments as well as defeat were playing
+havoc with Washington's forces. In November he was obliged to cross the
+Hudson River and retreat into New Jersey with only six thousand men
+left to him, and still later with a force still smaller and the British
+close on his heels, he crossed the Delaware River and sought refuge in
+Pennsylvania. By this time the British had gained such successes and
+the Americans had undergone so many reverses and privations that it
+seemed as if no power on earth could bring victory to the American
+arms.
+
+The British found they could not cross into Pennsylvania, for
+Washington had taken care to remove all the boats to the other side of
+the Delaware River. They temporarily gave over the pursuit of the
+Americans, whom they thought were hopelessly beaten, and went into
+winter quarters, where they enjoyed themselves immensely and kept an
+easy and a comfortable camp.
+
+But Washington was already planning a raid against the German
+mercenaries called Hessians who were stationed in the town of Trenton.
+He planned to return across the Delaware and fall upon the Hessians by
+night in a surprise attack. He tried to secure the cooperation of
+General Gates, one of his subordinates, but Gates feigned sickness and
+went to Philadelphia to attempt Washington's overthrow on the day
+before Washington's attack was to be launched. Disaffection among his
+generals was now added to Washington's other troubles, and Gates, in
+jealousy, was planning to go before Congress and secure an independent
+command for himself.
+
+On Christmas night, 1776, the little American army embarked on its
+perilous venture, and prepared to cross the Delaware River which was
+now so full of floating ice as to make the passage of boats dangerous
+in the extreme. It was black as pitch and a high wind blew, as the
+American soldiers with aching backs toiled at the oars and the poles
+and so cold that men froze to death. Hours were consumed in the
+passage, and by the time the Americans were in position to attack, day
+was breaking.
+
+Nevertheless the project seemed likely to succeed. The Hessians were
+off their guard and were sleeping soundly. Scattered shots rang out and
+were succeeded by the rattle of musketry as the Americans, yelling like
+Indians charged upon the silent town. The Hessian bugles blew "to arms"
+and the dazed soldiers rushed out of their billets, but instead of
+rallying and fighting Washington they fled toward Princeton, leaving
+more than a thousand prisoners in Washington's hands, as well as large
+numbers of killed and wounded.
+
+Lord Cornwallis was hurriedly sent to oppose Washington, and went to
+bed at Trenton within sight of the American camp fires. The British
+general was confident of success and boasted that he would certainly
+"bag the fox in the morning." That night, however, Washington silently
+withdrew his army as he had done on Long Island and in a series of
+brilliant maneuvers defeated the British again not far from Princeton.
+His skill and generalship were so great that with a half starved and
+discouraged remnant of a defeated army he twice defeated the flower of
+the British force, and brought new hope and strength to the struggling
+colonies. He had done more than this, for his military success was now
+closely watched in Europe. And Cornwallis was soon so hard pressed that
+he withdrew his troops to New York and in the end the Americans once
+more had complete control of the state of New Jersey.
+
+In the year 1778, and largely due to the great qualities of Benjamin
+Franklin, who was one of America's commissioners in France, a treaty
+was signed with the French providing that if France went to war with
+England, there should be an alliance between the French and American
+Governments, and neither should cease fighting without the permission
+of the other--moreover that both were to continue the struggle until
+the independence of the United States of America was gained.
+
+This treaty was not only due to Washington's successes but to a victory
+won by General Gates against General Burgoyne, who, after the battle of
+Saratoga, was forced to withdraw his army from the conflict and place
+himself and his officers on parole to bear arms no more against
+America. But there followed a renewal of the bitterness of defeat, for
+the Americans were beaten at Brandywine, the British took Philadelphia,
+and another reverse befell the American arms at Germantown. It seemed
+that in spite of the former American successes and the French treaty,
+the British would be victorious after all, for the winter had been a
+terrible one, and the worn American army was almost destitute of food
+and clothing.
+
+Washington had camped at a place called Valley Forge which has since
+become symbolic of hardship and suffering. It is said that detachments
+of American soldiers could be traced by the blood in the snow from
+their wounded and bare feet, for there were no shoes to clothe them
+with and there was very little food or fuel. And in addition to the
+physical hardship and the gloom of failure, Washington had to contend
+with a conspiracy that was directed against him by some of his most
+trusted officers, who desired to place General Gates in supreme command
+of the American Army. This conspiracy was called the Conway Cabal,
+because the chief plotter was an Irishman named General Thomas Conway.
+But the result of this base attempt was added power and glory for
+Washington, for Congress was fortunately unaffected by the
+representations that were made.
+
+In the following year, 1778, in spite of that terrible winter, the
+fighting opened with the Americans in better condition than previously
+and with their numbers strengthened with new recruits that Congress had
+secured for them. The American cause had also been strengthened by the
+voluntary services of a number of foreign officers, who energetically
+drilled the American recruits and taught the revolutionary army the
+science of war as it was fought by the greatest military countries.
+Among these men was the Marquis de Lafayette, a gallant young French
+nobleman, and also Baron de Kalb and Von Steuben.
+
+Washington gradually drew nearer to New York, from which he had been
+driven so soon after the Battle of Long Island, and that winter he
+camped in the highlands of the Hudson and established his troops so as
+to defend New England from any offensive campaign the British might
+make, and for a year he contented himself with playing a waiting game,
+keeping a firm grip on the Hudson Highlands and strengthening his army
+as greatly as possible.
+
+Victory now was near, for the French came actively into the war to the
+succor of the Americans. The French King, Louis the Sixteenth, sent
+Count Rochambeau to command an expedition in America, and the year 1781
+saw the trained and seasoned soldiers of France fighting side by side
+with the American troops. In this year too a great advantage was given
+to Washington's troops by the fact that a large French fleet under the
+Count de Grasse compelled the British vessels to keep to the ports,
+while Washington with the French laid siege to Yorktown, which was held
+by Lord Cornwallis. Washington himself fired the first cannon as the
+siege began, and a whirlwind of iron and red hot shot was poured upon
+the British works and shipping from French and American guns. The
+British resisted stubbornly, but they were cut off and their position
+was hopeless. And on October Nineteenth, with the American and French
+troops drawn up to receive them, the British marched out and
+surrendered.
+
+This was really the end of the war. The news that Cornwallis and at
+least sixteen thousand men had been captured was received with wild
+rejoicing all through the former colonies, and with amazement and gloom
+in England, where it was plainly seen that the valuable colonies were
+lost forever. In the month of November, 1783, the British left New York
+never to return, after the signing of the peace treaty at Paris in
+January of the same year. The war was over, the patriots had conquered,
+and a new and mighty nation was in its infancy.
+
+At this time it would without doubt have been easy for Washington to
+make himself the head of the new country, and even to have become its
+King and permanent ruler. The army worshipped the ground he walked on,
+and he actually received a letter from one of his officers in which it
+was suggested that he be named as King of the new state. But Washington
+with his characteristic greatness refused to advance his own fortunes
+at the expense of the liberty of his countrymen, and he wrote an angry
+letter indignantly rejecting any such title or position, declaring that
+nothing in his long and trying service had justified his fellows in
+regarding him as an ambitious self-seeker.
+
+His work was done, or so he considered it, and he proposed to return to
+private life. And in Fraunces' Tavern in New York the great commander
+bade farewell to the officers who had so gallantly served him and had
+been his brothers in arms on so many hard fought fields.
+
+It is said that on this occasion Washington's customary self-control
+almost deserted him, as he spoke his words of parting to his fellow
+officers. "With a heart full of love and gratitude," said he, "I now
+take leave of you, most devoutly wishing that your latter days may be
+as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and
+honorable. I cannot come to each of you to take my leave," he
+continued, "but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me
+by the hand."
+
+But Washington's work was not over. He had counseled all the Governors
+of the separate States to form a Federal Government as quickly as
+possible, and while he had resigned as head of the army, he continued,
+as a private citizen, to watch public matters with the utmost care and
+attention. In 1787 Washington presided over the famous convention which
+met in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the United States, and
+largely in accordance with his ideas, which strongly influenced the
+minds of all those present, the Government of the United States was
+formed. The perfection of the form of government, as entered into by so
+many separate and widely different States, seemed to Washington, as he
+afterward said in a letter to Lafayette, "little short of a miracle."
+
+It remained for the new country to choose its first President.
+Washington was elected without a dissenting voice, and took the reins
+of government into his hands on April 30, 1789. He did not desire the
+Presidency, and would have greatly preferred to remain quietly at Mount
+Vernon, "an honest man on his own farm," engaged in his private
+affairs. But he felt that it was his duty to answer so spontaneous and
+general a call from his fellow citizens, and in the office of chief
+executive he showed the same firm and wise spirit that had
+distinguished him as commander of the army. His Cabinet contained the
+most famous and brilliant men of the day, and the people throughout the
+country felt themselves safe with such a president at the helm.
+
+When his administration ended he was called upon to take a second term,
+and in this he had great difficulty in keeping the new republic out of
+the turmoil of European politics. France had by this time thrown off
+her rulers, organized a revolution and gone to war with England; and
+Washington was called on from every part of the country to go to the
+aid of his former ally against the former foe. He saw, however, that
+war at that time would be fatal for America, and might well result in
+the loss of all that had been gained in the bitter years of the
+Revolution. He firmly refused to enter the war although his decision
+cost him much of his popularity. A commercial treaty was then entered
+upon with England.
+
+While Washington was President, the states of Kentucky and Tennessee
+were added to the original thirteen that formed the Union, and many
+important financial and legal matters were concluded. With a sure hand
+the great patriot guided the new country through the dangers that beset
+it and at times threatened to swallow it whole, and in the year 1797 he
+turned over to John Adams who was to succeed him in the presidential
+chair a welded nation, destined for a mighty future.
+
+For the next three years Washington's life at Mount Vernon was quiet
+and happy, and he busied himself in the affairs of his estate and in
+the dignified hospitality for which he and Martha Washington were so
+justly renowned. On December 12, 1799, after a horseback ride through
+the snow, he became ill with laryngitis and two days later he breathed
+his last.
+
+Throughout the United States he was mourned as a father,--indeed he had
+already gained the title of "the father of his country." And it was by
+the father of a famous general who was destined to lead the southern
+cause in the Civil War some sixty years later that Washington was said
+to be "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his
+countrymen," a phrase that has since become familiar to hundreds of
+millions of people throughout the world, and has so aptly described
+America's mightiest son.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+JOHN PAUL JONES
+
+
+For those of you who have had opportunity to see the mighty fleet of
+steel battleships and destroyers that compose the navy of the United
+States, it is hard to remember that this fleet was born in the shape of
+a few wooden sailing ships. And it is almost equally hard to believe
+that Paul Jones, who commanded one of the first American war vessels,
+and became the greatest naval hero that this country has ever known,
+was the son of a poor, Scotch gardener, who worked for a country squire
+in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.
+
+In 1747 Paul Jones was born, but his name was then John Paul. His
+uncle, like his father, was a gardener, and worked on the estate of the
+Earl of Selkirk on St. Mary's Isle, where John Paul used to visit him
+and go fishing in small boats that he obtained from a little seaport
+near at hand. Many sailors came to this port, and they made friends
+with the alert boy who was always asking them questions about ships and
+seamanship; and the result of their friendship was that at a very early
+age John Paul was a handy sailor and determined to follow a seafaring
+life.
+
+Whether or no he ran away from school is not known. At any rate, when
+he was only twelve years old, he became the apprentice of a merchant
+who did a considerable trade with Virginia, and he actually sailed for
+that colony, where his brother had preceded him and was living the life
+of a Southern planter. John Paul stayed with his brother at
+Fredericksburg for a time, but when he was nineteen years old he sailed
+for Jamaica as first mate of a vessel engaged in the slave trade, which
+was then very active,--for a great deal of money was to be gained from
+selling the African negroes to Southern planters, and slaves were
+constantly being taken from their native country and carried to America
+to work beneath the lash.
+
+But this clean-cut young sailor did not like the slave trade, and after
+two years, disgusted with the sordid traffic, he left his vessel in
+Jamaica and became a passenger on a brigantine that was sailing for
+Scotland, in fact, for his home town. On his way home, by a strange
+chance, both the captain and mate died, and as an expert navigator was
+needed, John Paul guided the ship into port. When this fact was made
+known to her owners they paid their debt by taking him into their
+employ, and on the next voyage to Jamaica the ship sailed under John
+Paul's command.
+
+Then there occurred to the young Scotch sailing master a series of
+misfortunes that changed the course of his career and was indirectly
+responsible for his casting his lot with the future republic of the
+United States. To maintain discipline aboard his vessel it became
+necessary for him to have the ship's carpenter flogged. Many weeks
+later this man died, and his friends unjustly attributed his death to
+the flogging he had received, and laid it to the captain's door. John
+Paul was able to prove that he was not to blame in the affair, but in
+the meantime he had quitted his vessel and found it hard to get another
+one. As soon as he finally obtained a new vessel, a mutiny took place
+when his ship was in the West Indies, and John Paul, in his efforts to
+quell the mutineers, was assaulted and obliged to kill one of them with
+his sword in defending himself. Fearing, perhaps, that this second
+mishap on the heels of the first might make things go hard with him
+when he was brought to trial, he fled from the West Indies and for a
+time disappeared completely.
+
+He was next heard from in the American Colonies, bearing the name of
+John Paul Jones. When the American Revolution took place, he hastened
+to offer his services to the Government of the United States, and the
+Naval Committee of Congress called on him for information and advice.
+When a few vessels were gathered together and a list of naval officers
+prepared, Paul Jones obtained his commission as Senior Lieutenant on
+the flagship of the tiny fleet, which was named _Alfred_. And when the
+commander in chief came over the side, Paul Jones with his own hands
+hoisted the American flag for the first time over an American man of
+war. The flag was very different from the modern stars and stripes; it
+was of yellow silk, in the center of which was a pine tree with a
+rattlesnake coiled at its roots, and the motto: "_don't tread on me_."
+
+After the Americans made an attack on New Providence where several
+boats were captured, Paul Jones was promoted to the rank of Captain as
+a reward for his excellent services and given command of the
+_Providence_, on whose quarter deck he sailed for the West Indies to
+prey upon British shipping. His knowledge of the waters was so thorough
+and his skill as a naval officer of such high quality that in
+forty-seven days he captured no less than sixteen vessels.
+
+Congress was delighted at his exploits. In reward he was given the
+command of his old ship, the _Alfred_, and in her he sailed northward
+along the coast of Nova Scotia until he entered the Gut of Canso. In
+the neighborhood of this deep strait that runs between Nova Scotia
+proper and the Island of Cape Breton, Paul Jones captured twelve
+fishing vessels. Having placed prize crews on his new ships he
+triumphantly returned to the United States.
+
+His fame now was widely established among the revolting colonies. By
+order of Congress he was transferred to the sloop, _Ranger_, with
+orders to cruise about the coast of England and destroy shipping. Paul
+Jones planned to do more than this; he intended actually to attack
+English seaports and burn the shipping in the harbors, feeling
+convinced that he could inflict greater losses on the enemy in this
+manner. And as he had enjoyed the honor of raising the American flag
+for the first time over an American war vessel, he now had the added
+honor of being the first naval officer to sail under the stars and
+stripes, which flew for the first time in naval history above the
+_Ranger_.
+
+After visiting France, where he delivered messages from the American
+Government to the American Commissioners in Paris, one of whom was
+Benjamin Franklin, Paul Jones decided to attack the town of Whitehaven,
+which had been well known to him as a boy. In the depth of night the
+_Ranger_ stole into the entrance of the harbor and dropped anchor. Then
+two boats put off from her with muffled oars, Paul Jones in command of
+one and his lieutenant, whose name was Wallingford, in charge of the
+other.
+
+Jones ordered Wallingford to set fire to the shipping on the north side
+of the town, while he himself with his men should advance upon the
+nearby fort and spike the guns. As the fort was an old one and had a
+small garrison, the intrepid commander had but little trouble in
+capturing it, particularly as none of the British dreamed of a raid and
+small wonder, for their shores had been safe from the invader since the
+time of William the Conqueror.
+
+The garrison was completely surprised and gave in without a struggle.
+Jones and his followers quickly spiked the guns of the fort and taking
+their prisoners with them hastened back to the boats. When they arrived
+a great disappointment confronted them, for Lieutenant Wallingford had
+failed to fire the shipping as ordered. He gave the excuse that the
+lanterns that had been brought with them for the purpose had been blown
+out by the wind, but he had made no attempt to secure firebrands from
+any other quarter. So Jones himself with some of his followers took
+live coals from a nearby house and with the aid of a tar barrel
+succeeded in setting fire to one of the ships that was tied to the
+wharf.
+
+By this time it was early morning. Ordering his little band back into
+their boats, Jones himself with drawn pistol stood off the curious and
+frightened throng of people that had gathered around him. When the
+flames arose to such an extent that it had become impossible to save
+the ill-fated ship, and not till then, did the plucky commander seek
+refuge. As he rowed away with his men the British rushed to the forts
+to seek vengeance, where they found that the guns were spiked, and by
+the time they had unearthed one or two old cannon the Americans were
+well out of harm's way.
+
+All England rang with the story, and the rage and consternation of the
+British people is hard to describe. After having held themselves safe
+from invasion for hundreds of years and boasting proudly that they
+governed every sea, they liked it but ill that their peace should be
+disturbed by a nation which was considered by them to be no more than
+an insignificant group of revolting farmers. And the moral effect of
+the bold raid by Jones exceeded by far any material advantage that he
+gained.
+
+While England was still buzzing like a hornet's nest as a result of
+this exploit, Jones performed another deed that was even bolder than
+the attack on Whitehaven. This was no less than a raid on the estate of
+the Earl of Selkirk, where his uncle had worked as a gardener, and
+where Jones himself had spent a part of his boyhood. His purpose was to
+carry off the Earl as a prisoner of war, and, holding him as a hostage,
+to effect the exchange of certain American prisoners who were being
+cruelly treated in British prisons. But ill luck still pursued him.
+Upon arriving at the Earl's estate he found that Selkirk himself was
+away from home and that his mission was fruitless. On the insistence of
+his men he took the silver plate that belonged to the Earl, but touched
+nothing else on the estate. When the plate came up for sale and the
+sailors were to receive their share of the prize money Jones bought the
+plate himself and returned it to the Earl with a courteous letter,
+explaining that only the exigencies of war and similar conduct of the
+British on American territory had compelled him to take such a course.
+
+With the captured plate safe in his vessel, Paul Jones then attacked
+the twenty-gun British sloop of war, _Drake_, and after a severe combat
+succeeded in making her his prize. With the British cruisers in search
+of him everywhere he took the captured vessel into the French harbor of
+Brest, where he underwent heartbreaking delays in obtaining money to
+pay his men. Then the _Ranger_ was taken from him, as the French
+Government and the American Commissioners in Paris desired him to be
+placed in command of a French vessel.
+
+At last Paul Jones was given charge of an old merchantman named _Duras_
+whose name he was allowed to change to suit his own pleasure. In
+deference to Benjamin Franklin who had always been his close friend
+Jones called his new craft the _Bonhomme Richard_, in honor of Benjamin
+Franklin's famous nickname of "Poor Richard." The _Bonhomme Richard_
+was refitted and made to approach a ship of war as closely as possible,
+and in August, 1779, Jones sailed in her on what was destined to be his
+most famous cruise.
+
+The French had placed some other ships at his disposal to the extent
+that they were to accompany the _Bonhomme Richard_, but were
+independent of her command, being under French naval officers. This
+peculiar state of affairs greatly reduced the efficiency of the little
+squadron, whose vessels were the _Pallas_, the _Vengeance_, the _Cerf_
+and the _Alliance_.
+
+The crew of the _Bonhomme Richard_, which was the only American vessel
+of the little fleet,--and the only one that accomplished any signal
+success--was composed of such a motley assortment of the offscourings
+of the dockyards that even Jones' stout heart sank when he saw his men
+assembled together. Among the men that were supposed to be sailors were
+many French peasants who had never even seen a vessel and English
+prisoners that he had to keep in order by the armed force of his more
+loyal men. The fact that he was able to mold this variegated mass of
+undisciplined humanity into a staunch crew capable of winning one of
+the most famous naval battles of history is a proof of his genius for
+leadership.
+
+The lack of unity in command soon began to show the inevitable ill
+results. The _Cerf_ became separated from the squadron and returned to
+France. The _Alliance_, under the infamous Captain Landais, who had
+been dishonorably discharged from the French navy, refused to cooperate
+with Jones and soon disappeared on some unknown errand.
+
+As the remaining three vessels were cruising near Flamborough Head,
+they sighted a large convoy of British merchant vessels which were
+guarded by two warships--the _Serapis_, a frigate with nearly twice the
+number of guns as the _Bonhomme Richard_, and the _Countess of
+Scarborough_ which was also a large war vessel. They sighted the convoy
+well on in the afternoon and closed with it at about sunset. People on
+shore who had recognized the fact that Jones' ships were a hostile
+squadron crowded the heights to see the sea fight which they knew was
+not far off.
+
+As the sun was going down the _Serapis_ approached the _Bonhomme
+Richard_ and hailed her with the cry, "What ship is that?"
+
+"I don't hear you," answered Jones, who was maneuvering his vessel so
+as to rake the decks of his opponent with his opening broadside, and
+when the _Serapis_ hailed again the _Bonhomme Richard_ opened fire with
+all the guns she could bring to bear upon her.
+
+It was a severe blow, but the _Serapis_ was not slow in responding. And
+almost at the first broadside from the English the American ship was
+severely crippled. Two of the old cannon of the _Bonhomme Richard_ had
+exploded at the first shot, killing and wounding many and tearing a
+large hole in the hull of the ship. But although he was in a serious
+predicament Jones continued to fight with vigor. Broadside after
+broadside was poured in and both vessels sailed slowly abreast of each
+other enveloped in a cloud of dense white smoke that hid the scene from
+the wondering folk on shore.
+
+The best chance for the weaker vessel was to close with its opponent
+and Jones maneuvered until he had an opportunity to make the _Bonhomme
+Richard_ fast to the _Serapis_. The jibboom of the Britisher had swung
+over the deck of the _Richard_ and Jones with his own hands made it
+fast to the mizzenmast of his ship. The two ships were now locked in a
+death grip, and so close that when the guns were loaded the cannoneers
+had to lean into the ports of the enemy vessel to drive the ramrods
+home.
+
+The big British frigate had the advantage. With heavier batteries than
+the American ship she was able to silence Jones' guns one after one.
+Several attempts were made by Jones to board his enemy but without
+success. He was a beaten man. As his batteries were put out of
+commission, the men came to the main deck and manned the remaining
+guns, or formed boarding parties there. From the tops of the _Bonhomme
+Richard_ a continuous and accurate fire was poured on the decks of the
+_Serapis_ and many a British sailor lost his life as a result of the
+accuracy of the French sharpshooters who were engaged there.
+
+By this time the desperate conditions below decks on the _Bonhomme
+Richard_ were almost indescribable. Water was pouring into the hold.
+Great breaches were made in the hull and the ship was several times set
+on fire. But Jones fought on. One of his petty officers, thinking him
+dead, raised a cry for quarter, which was heard on the British ship.
+
+"Have you surrendered?" called Captain Pearson, the British commander.
+
+Jones had knocked down the quartermaster with the butt of his pistol
+and climbed into the rigging of his ship so the British and his own men
+could hear his answer more clearly:
+
+"I have not yet begun to fight," he shouted, and a cheer broke out on
+the deck of the American.
+
+[Illustration: "I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT," SHOUTED PAUL JONES]
+
+Just then the _Alliance_ under Captain Landais came up, and Jones
+believed that the battle was won. But the _Alliance_ instead of firing
+on the _Serapis_ discharged a broadside at the _Bonhomme Richard_. In
+spite of shouts and warnings, Landais continued his dastardly work and
+many Americans and Frenchmen were killed or wounded by his fire. Then
+his craft sailed away and was seen no more until after the battle.
+
+It was now known aboard the _Serapis_ what a desperate state of affairs
+existed on Jones' ship, and the English believed that a few more
+broadsides would bring them victory. But their hopes were suddenly
+dashed. An American sailor had crawled along the yardarm of the
+_Richard_ to the mast of the _Serapis_ and had dropped a hand grenade.
+The grenade plunged through a hatchway and fell upon some loose powder
+and a row of charges for the cannon that had been placed on deck. The
+roar of a terrific explosion followed, and Englishmen, screaming for
+quarter, could be seen running through the smoke and flame of their own
+vessel with every vestige of clothing burned from their bodies. The
+battle was won by the Americans.
+
+Captain Pearson walked aft and struck his colors. American officers
+boarded the _Serapis_, and Pearson and his lieutenants were ordered to
+report to Jones on the _Bonhomme Richard_. There Captain Pearson
+surrendered his sword and was placed in confinement by Jones.
+
+The _Bonhomme Richard_ had been so severely damaged in the fight that
+she was in a sinking condition and it was plain to see that she would
+not remain above the waves much longer. So, transferring every man to
+the _Serapis_, Jones sailed for a Dutch port, accompanied by his other
+vessels. The _Countess of Scarborough_ had been captured after about an
+hour's fight, and Jones had more than five hundred British prisoners in
+his charge, including two captains and a number of lesser officers.
+
+Although many difficulties and dangers still beset him, Jones' fame was
+now assured. England and France rang with his victory, and while the
+English drew cartoons of him as a bloody pirate, strutting on a quarter
+deck that was lined with the bodies of his victims, the French king,
+Louis the Sixteenth, presented him with a gold mounted sword and the
+cross of the Order of Military Merit. Congress passed a resolution
+commending him for his gallantry and he received a complimentary letter
+from General Washington.
+
+When the war with England ended and the United States had secured their
+independence, Paul Jones entered the service of the Russian Empire
+under Catherine the Great with the rank of Rear Admiral. He gave the
+new country of his adoption the greatest service in their war with the
+Turks, many of whose vessels Jones sunk or destroyed. But he was
+disgusted with Russian intrigue, resigned his commission and returned
+to Paris.
+
+All this time he had remained an American citizen. He considered this
+the greatest honor of any that had come to him--that he could call
+himself a citizen of the Republic for which he had fought so often and
+so well against such great odds. But his health had been failing him
+and he died in Paris on July 18, 1792. He was given a public funeral by
+the French National Assembly.
+
+For a long time his body remained in France. At length, however, its
+resting place was discovered by General Horace Porter, U.S.A., and all
+that remained of Paul Jones was brought back in state to America on a
+great steel ship the like of which he had never seen. He was given a
+national funeral at Annapolis and his body was entombed in the
+beautiful Chapel of the Naval Academy, which institution Jones himself
+had urged Congress to found. It is a fitting resting place for
+America's greatest naval hero,--for while we have many distinguished
+and noble sailors, there is no name that has the ring of Paul Jones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+MOLLY PITCHER
+
+
+In the days of the American Revolution a young woman lived as a servant
+in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with the family of General Irving, a retired
+British officer, who had fought in the French and Indian War and had
+seen a great deal of service. This young woman was named Molly Ludwig
+Hays, and was the wife of a barber who had been well known in the
+village. He had won her hand with difficulty for Molly was a belle
+throughout the countryside. She was not only handsome, but as strong as
+a man, able to carry a heavy meal-sack on her shoulder; and one of the
+hardest workers that the town knew. She washed and scrubbed and scoured
+and baked from morning till night, and seemed to revel in the hard work
+that gave the needed exercise to her strong muscles.
+
+Throughout her life Molly Hays had admired soldiers, and more than once
+she expressed herself in no undecided terms to the effect that she
+wished she were a man so that she could bear arms and wear a uniform,
+and be a soldier herself.
+
+When she was still a very young woman the American Revolution for
+freedom from Great Britain broke out. All the country was aflame, and
+rang with the stories of what happened at Lexington and Bunker Hill.
+Man after man from the village took his powder horn and musket and went
+off to enlist for the war, and Molly grew more and more restless as she
+saw them go.
+
+At last her husband came to her, somewhat sheepishly, for he disliked
+to tell her the intention he had in his heart; but at length he made
+her understand that just because he was married was no reason why he
+should remain at home with the women; and he, too, intended to enlist
+that very day.
+
+Molly consented with the utmost enthusiasm. She told him that she would
+be proud to be the wife of a soldier, since she could not be one
+herself, and bade him farewell with the admonishment to do his part
+bravely and to bear himself like the man she knew him to be. And she
+stood at the door of their home waving good-by to him with a cheerful
+face that gave no hint of her aching heart.
+
+When her husband had departed Molly returned to the Irving household
+where she worked as well as she had before her marriage, trying to find
+relief in the heavy labor from the pain of having lost her husband and
+the aching desire to go and do her part beside him even though she were
+a woman. Fate, thought Molly, had made a sad mistake, in making her a
+woman, for she knew that in spite of her petticoats she could soldier
+as well as the men,--and if she had only been a man she believed she
+could have risen to an important position in the army.
+
+The tide of the struggle wavered and battles with the red coats were
+fought and won. It was hard to get the newspapers in those times and
+news of the armies and their doings was often weeks behind the actual
+events. Molly hoped and waited, but for weeks at a time she went
+without word from her husband and did not know whether he were alive or
+dead.
+
+One day a messenger called for her at the Irving household. He had a
+letter from John Hays for Molly, and it not only told her that he was
+alive and well, but was in camp not far off from her former home in
+Trenton, New Jersey, where her aged parents were still living. The
+letter ended by telling her to come to Trenton and live with her
+parents, for he would be able without doubt to get leave from his
+command and see her often.
+
+Soon the war itself was being fought in the neighborhood of her home.
+The Americans attacked the British near Princeton killing and capturing
+a large number. Then Washington with his small force withdrew from that
+region before reenforcements could be brought against him.
+
+And now Molly found that there was something that she could do--namely,
+go and care for the wounded who were still lying where they had fallen
+on the field of battle. The British General Cornwallis and his men were
+approaching, but that did not worry her a whit, and she went to and fro
+upon the battlefield carrying water for parched throats and binding
+wounds until the British soldiers were actually upon her.
+
+Then Molly saw a cannon pointed in the direction of the British, and to
+her surprise it was loaded and there was a fuse still smoldering and
+lying near at hand. She studied the cannon carefully and it seemed to
+be aimed right at a group of the enemy that was approaching. The brave
+girl dropped the pail of water that she had been carrying, picked up
+the fuse and applied it to the touch hole. With a loud roar the charge
+was fired and the cannon leaped backward on its wheels.
+
+At this the British halted in amazement. They had believed that the
+Americans were far away, and here this gun gave warning that they were
+still near at hand, or at any rate had left a strong rear guard with
+artillery to delay them in their pursuit. Hastily they crossed over the
+field and surrounded the gun which was deserted. Molly had left and had
+taken with her a wounded American soldier whom she carried on her
+shoulder.
+
+[Illustration: THE CANNON BALLS FIRED BY MOLLY PITCHER FELL SQUARELY IN
+THE BRITISH LINES]
+
+The British had seen her go, but it had not occurred to them that a
+woman had fired the shot that caused so much disturbance among them and
+aided the retreating Americans so greatly by delaying their pursuers.
+If they had realized that Molly herself was the cannoneer, she would
+have had but little chance of mercy at their hands, and would at once
+have faced a firing squad or been hung to the nearest tree. As it was
+they thought she was only some country girl who had perhaps lost some
+relative in the recent battle and was carrying his dead body back to
+her home. And so they paid no attention to her.
+
+Molly, however, by firing this shot had materially aided General
+Washington, for any delay of the British, even a slight one, gave a
+great advantage to the Americans who were hurrying from superior
+numbers to put themselves in a good tactical position as soon as they
+could.
+
+On a hot day of July in the following summer it chanced that
+Washington's forces were again not far away from Molly's home, and she
+took a difficult journey on the chance of seeing her husband. Her first
+step in soldiering had been taken when she fired the cannon at the
+British in the preceding year. A far greater adventure lay before her,
+for she fell in with the American soldiers just as they commenced the
+severe battle of Monmouth.
+
+This battle had considerable importance, as a comparatively large
+number of troops were engaged in it. General Washington was in command
+of the Americans and the English were led by Sir Henry Clinton. The
+English had been retreating from Philadelphia, across New Jersey,
+followed by Washington, and the American general had decided to launch
+an attack on the left wing of the retreating forces and General Lee was
+ordered by Washington to attack the English on the flank and hold them
+in battle until he himself could come up with the bulk of the American
+Army.
+
+General Lee, however, proved to be a poor man for this task and his
+indecision and semi-cowardice left Washington exposed to the brunt of
+the enemy's attack before he was prepared to meet it and against the
+intentions of the American commander. The situation was saved by
+General Greene, who saw what had happened, changed his own plans and
+diverted the attack of the British to his own position from which he
+poured in a heavy artillery fire that caused them terrible losses.
+
+John Hays was one of the cannoneers of Greene's artillery and he worked
+all day loading and firing his piece. It was a terribly hot day and
+many men in both the British and the American armies fell exhausted and
+even died from the heat of the sun.
+
+All this time Molly Hays had been caring for the wounded and carrying
+water to the thirsty gunners, using for the purpose the bucket that was
+attached to her husband's cannon for cleaning purposes. Tirelessly she
+continued her efforts to care for the wounded and comfort the fighting
+soldiers, heedless of the bullets that came her way or of the general
+turmoil of battle. As the day wore on the men would greet her coming
+with: "Here comes Molly with her pitcher!" And gradually this was
+changed to "Here comes Molly Pitcher." And this was the name that
+history has adopted in regard to the brave woman for whom it was so
+used.
+
+At last John Hays succumbed to the heat and fell unconscious beside his
+gun. The sun had proved too much for him.
+
+Molly stopped carrying water to care for her husband. She bathed his
+head and moved him into the shade, returning to her duties just in time
+to hear General Knox give orders that the cannon be removed, because he
+had no other gunner cool enough and skilful enough to work it in its
+present exposed position. At this Molly sprang forward crying out:
+
+"Leave the gun where it is. I can fire it. I am a gunner's wife and
+know how to load and fire a cannon. I'll take the place that my brave
+husband has left!" And running to the gun Molly commenced to load and
+fire so determinedly and skilfully that a gasp of amazement ran through
+the men that saw her.
+
+For many weary hours she toiled at the gun, until the British were
+driven back and the battle was claimed as an American victory. And then
+the young woman found herself the darling of all the soldiers in the
+army, for word of her actions ran like wildfire through the ranks and
+cheers reechoed wherever she went. Before she left her cannon General
+Greene himself came over to where she stood and grasping her hand
+thanked her in the name of the American Army.
+
+This was not all the triumph she received, however, for word was soon
+brought to her that General Washington himself wished to see her. She
+was in her ragged grimy clothes in which she had fought and succored
+the wounded through the whole of that hot day, and she now put on a
+soldier's coat in which to meet the General.
+
+Washington praised her highly and before a large number of his officers
+and men, and more cheering reechoed through the ranks when he gave her
+the brevet rank of Captain in the American Army.
+
+And not only the Americans did her honor, but the French as well, for
+the Marquis de Lafayette with his own hand presented her with a purse
+of golden crowns.
+
+In this strange way Molly Hays' desire to be a soldier came true, and
+the name of Molly Pitcher, as she was ever after called, became one of
+the great names of American History.
+
+After the war was ended she lived with her husband until he died, and
+later she married again. But in her whole life the battle of Monmouth
+stood out as the great day on which she realized her ambition and
+helped the American forces in battle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
+
+
+There are only two names in history that are as great as conquerors and
+statesmen as that of Julius Caesar of whom you have read in the present
+book. One of these two men was Alexander the Great, who lived hundreds
+of years before the birth of Christ; the other was Napoleon Buonaparte,
+later called Bonaparte and then Napoleon, who lived and died a hundred
+years ago.
+
+Greater than Caesar, greater than Alexander is the name of Napoleon.
+While Caesar was of noble birth and had all the advantages of position
+and authority in his favor, and while Alexander was a king and born to
+rule, Napoleon Buonaparte sprang from the humblest beginnings and had
+nothing to help him make his way except his own genius. While Alexander
+was little but a wonderful soldier, Napoleon Buonaparte was both a
+mighty soldier and a great statesman, and not only did he place himself
+upon a throne, but he made all the members of his family kings and
+princes.
+
+He was born on the island of Corsica in 1769, and was the fourth child
+and the youngest son of Charles Buonaparte who lived in the town of
+Ajaccio and was as poor as his neighbors, which, as he lived in
+Corsica, means that he was very poor indeed. Charles Buonaparte was an
+ardent Corsican patriot and often plotted how Corsica could win her
+freedom from France, but nevertheless he held a French office and was
+willing to send his sons to French schools.
+
+It was not long before Napoleon showed his family that he had the
+stubborn nature and iron will that would make him a great soldier.
+Before he was ten years old he dominated his brothers and sisters and
+made them do as he said. He was afraid of nothing, and showed himself a
+natural leader among the children with whom he lived. As soon as he was
+old enough to talk he desired to be a soldier, and when he was ten
+years old he was taken by his father to a military school in France.
+
+For five years Napoleon remained at this school at Brienne mastering
+the military art. As he was gloomy and silent and did not make friends
+easily, he was the butt of ridicule and bore ill natured jokes from the
+other young students there, but in spite of this, all were a little
+afraid of him and did not dare to provoke him too far.
+
+When Napoleon was sixteen years old, his military education was
+considered to be finished and he was given the commission of a second
+lieutenant in an artillery regiment. In all these years he had only
+seen his father once. But Charles Buonaparte either had realized the
+greatness of his own son, or had one of those flashes of prophesy that
+sometimes come to dying men, for on his deathbed he cried out, asking
+for the son, Napoleon, whose sword, he said, was to shake the earth and
+who was to make himself the master of all Europe.
+
+It was not many years after the young officer had joined his regiment
+that he had a chance to distinguish himself. This was at the siege of a
+town called Toulon. All France was in upheaval at that time, for the
+people had revolted against their rulers and had overthrown their king
+and their nobility. Their king, Louis the Sixteenth perished on the
+public scaffold under the knife of the guillotine, and the French
+revolutionists had carried on such a reign of terror that all Europe
+was in turmoil and the hand of almost every other nation in the world
+was against the French. Even a number of the French themselves were
+opposed to their own government and had placed the town of Toulon at
+the disposal of the English and their allies.
+
+It was this town that the French army was endeavoring to take, and a
+long and unsuccessful siege had been carried on, for Toulon was
+strongly defended. Until Napoleon Buonaparte came, the French
+accomplished little. But Napoleon soon changed the look of the siege.
+Young as he was he had command of all the artillery that was being used
+against the town, and his military genius soon made itself felt, for he
+gave his orders with lightning rapidity and saw that they were carried
+out with a skill that amazed the other officers. Due to his efforts and
+the skilful arrangement of the cannon at his disposal, the most
+important strong points of the town fell into French hands, the British
+fleet, which was cooperating with the besieged, was driven off, and
+Toulon was captured.
+
+But this piece of work did not bring Napoleon any immediate or great
+reward; in fact it was not long before he was out of favor with the
+Revolutionary Government and his commission as an officer taken from
+him. He had formed a friendship with the brother of Robespierre, a
+revolutionary leader who came under the displeasure of the Republic.
+And when Napoleon was offered a command of infantry, he refused to
+accept it, and thus found himself outside the profession that he had
+chosen.
+
+However, his skill at Toulon was soon to give him the opportunity he
+sought, for one of the members of the Revolutionary Government had
+noticed his ability and resolved to call upon him in a time of need.
+This time soon came, for rioting and bloodshed broke out in Paris, and
+the people sought to overthrow the Government. Then Napoleon was called
+on to protect the Palace of the Tuileries where the offices of the
+French Government were located.
+
+Here Napoleon showed the stuff he was made of. Although he was given
+the appointment late in the day, the next morning saw cannon trained on
+all the avenues approaching the Tuileries, and the cannoneers standing
+like statues with lighted matches ready to fire upon the slightest
+provocation. When the Parisian mob armed with clubs, pistols and old
+muskets advanced to storm the palace Napoleon waited until some shots
+had been fired and then gave a sharp command. With a roar of cannon a
+storm of death swept down the avenues, and the people scattered like
+chaff, leaving many dead and wounded behind them.
+
+The Government had been saved due to the prompt action of the young
+artillery officer and was properly grateful. Napoleon was given an
+important command. He received a general's rank and was put in charge
+of the Army of the Interior. It was at this time that he met a
+beautiful widow named Josephine de Beauharnais with whom he promptly
+fell in love. Through Barras, the official who had brought him into
+prominence, the match was arranged and Napoleon was married to
+Josephine.
+
+But the young officer had already started upon his career of greatness,
+and did not have much time to celebrate his nuptials. While on leave
+and even when engaged in other duties he had found opportunity to study
+the situation in Italy, where many forces hostile to the French
+Republic were gathered. He had even formed a plan by which the French
+could invade Italy, and it was now suggested to the Directors of the
+French Government that he himself be allowed to put this plan into
+execution. They consented, and hurrying to the south of France only two
+days after his wedding, Napoleon took charge of a French army of about
+fifty thousand ragged and ill-fed soldiers. His men had not been paid
+for months and there was practically no discipline among them. They
+were sick and discouraged, worn out with fighting the battles of the
+Revolutionary party without reward. But when Napoleon appeared among
+them, their spirits rose as though by magic, for the young commander
+knew how to appeal to their imagination and to awaken their fighting
+instinct.
+
+"Soldiers," he said to them, "you are half starved and half naked: the
+government owes you much, but can do nothing for you. I am about to
+lead you into the most fertile valleys of the world; there you will
+find flourishing cities and teeming provinces; there you will reap
+honor, glory and riches. Soldiers of the Army of Italy, will you lack
+courage?"
+
+In Italy were the Austrians and the Sardinians against whom Napoleon
+was to fight. He did not attempt to cross the Alps, as the great
+general Hannibal had done in ancient times; instead of this he skirted
+the Alps and fell upon the enemy so rapidly that they were not prepared
+to meet him. With a series of brilliant marches and maneuvers he
+divided the forces of his enemy and compelled the Sardinians to sign an
+armistice, although the French Government had given him no authority to
+take so much power into his own hands. He then drove back the Austrians
+and defeated them in the battle of Lodi, where he carried a standard
+with his own hands and rallied his troops in the face of a withering
+fire.
+
+The Austrians were completely defeated and numbered their dead by
+thousands. And so delighted were the French soldiers by their success
+that they gave to the name of their young commander the title of "the
+little corporal."
+
+Napoleon, however, did not let the grass grow under his heels, for in
+war he believed that victory almost always came to the commander who
+struck first. Time was everything, he declared, and advancing swiftly
+he laid siege to the town of Mantua, defeated several armies that were
+sent to relieve it and brought all Italy under his control.
+
+And now the Directors of the French Government learned that the young
+general they had placed in command of the Army of Italy was made of
+very different material from the average general who obeyed their
+orders. Napoleon treated them haughtily, and made demands rather than
+requests from them. He had already exceeded his powers many times and
+had treated with the rulers and the commanders of the enemies he had
+beaten as though he himself were the ruler of France. Indeed his
+soldiers talked frequently of making him such and declared that they
+would rather have a general like Napoleon as their king and be his
+subjects, than to be governed by a group of civilian clerks who knew
+nothing of war and had to rely on others to carry out their wishes. It
+may be sure that Napoleon did not discourage this feeling among his
+soldiers, for he designed to make himself the ruler of France. The time
+had not yet come, however, for him to reveal his intentions openly,
+although it is true they were but thinly disguised.
+
+After he had negotiated with Austria for peace and arranged the
+armistice with Sardinia, Napoleon returned to Paris, carrying with him
+many priceless paintings and works of art taken from the states that he
+had conquered. These were placed in the galleries of the Louvre in
+Paris, which at once became the most wonderful picture galleries in the
+world.
+
+But the Directors of the French Government were afraid of the young
+conqueror who was acclaimed by the people wherever he went, and
+desiring to get rid of him they readily gave their consent to a plan
+that Napoleon himself suggested. This was that since France was still
+at war with England and not strong enough to invade that country,
+Napoleon should strike at her by taking an army to conquer Egypt, and
+thus do injury to England's trade with her eastern possessions in
+India, by opening a road to invade that far country which was the
+source of England's power.
+
+Preparations for the expedition were conducted with great secrecy in
+Toulon, the same town that he had captured a few years before, and in
+May, 1798, Napoleon set sail with a large fleet that contained about
+thirty-five thousand of his best soldiers and his most clever and
+trustworthy officers.
+
+On landing in Egypt he lost no time, but quickly captured Alexandria
+and marched into the desert.
+
+The Mamelukes who fought against Napoleon, although undisciplined and
+savage, were nevertheless brave fighters. Their cavalry was far famed
+for its bravery and skill at horsemanship, as well as for rich
+trappings and costly equipment.
+
+Bravely the Mamelukes charged against the French, and time after time
+they recoiled from the squares of glittering bayonets on which riders
+and horses were impaled. But at last they weakened, and the French
+charged in their turn and from an unexpected quarter. The battle was
+over. Napoleon's keen eye had seen that the artillery of the Mamelukes
+had no wheels and was moved with difficulty and he arranged his men
+accordingly.
+
+But while Napoleon succeeded on land he had been cut off from returning
+to France, for the English admiral, Lord Nelson, had defeated the
+French fleet. Napoleon fought and won battles against the Turks, but
+his force was too small and the odds against him were too great for him
+to succeed in an Eastern campaign, cut off as he was by the English.
+And while he was in this difficult situation word was brought to him
+that war had broken out again in Italy and all his work there had been
+undone. It was imperative, if he wished to hold his power in France,
+that he should make his way to Paris without delay.
+
+So Napoleon left his men in the charge of one of his generals, and with
+only a few followers embarked at Alexandria. His ship eluded the
+English fleet which was cruising the Mediterranean Sea, and he made his
+way to Paris with all speed.
+
+France at this time was governed by a Directory and a Council of Five
+Hundred. This was one of the forms of revolutionary government that had
+been adopted after the French had dethroned and slain their king.
+
+Napoleon believed that the time had come for him to seize the chief
+position in the French Government, but he did not dare as yet openly to
+have himself proclaimed as King. With his brother Lucien, and his
+advisor Talleyrand--although Napoleon did not accept advice as a rule,
+but was guided by his own bold, brilliant ideas,--he overthrew the
+Council of Five Hundred and abolished the Directory. Then he
+established what was called the Provisional Government which was headed
+by a group of three men who were called Consuls. Naturally Napoleon was
+the first and most important of these, and took care to see that the
+bulk of the power wielded by the consuls should remain in his hands.
+Clever, bold and brilliant, stopping at nothing, with the solid backing
+of the army and a brain greater than any that has been known on this
+earth in hundreds of years, it seemed as though this superman could
+accomplish anything he desired.
+
+After he had attained his ends in Paris he went again into the field to
+meet his enemies. There was no immediate fear that France would be
+invaded, for while the Austrians had won victories in Italy and freed
+that country from French control, for which they substituted their own,
+a French general named Massena had won a victory in Switzerland that
+had shaken the grip of his enemies. It was necessary, however, that
+Italy be invaded a second time. And this time Napoleon made his plans
+to cross the Alps as Hannibal had done two thousand years before.
+
+With his supplies on pack mules, with cannon wheels carried by his
+soldiers and the men themselves drawing the cannon on rude sleds
+improvised from tree trunks, the indomitable commander crossed the
+mighty mountain range that stood in his way, and suddenly appeared on
+the Italian plains in a part of the country where the Austrians had not
+dreamed that he would arrive. Before they were able to collect and
+rearrange their forces, Napoleon struck and defeated them in the battle
+of Marengo, where his men fought against odds of three to one. Other
+battles followed, and French generals invaded Austria. There remained
+nothing for the Austrians to do but sue for peace. England soon
+followed her example and France was at peace with the world.
+
+Then Napoleon busied himself with internal matters and set about
+reorganizing the French Government and framing a code of laws that
+might be used thereafter by the country that he had made his own. This
+was called the "Code Napoleon" and it is largely used to-day in France,
+for Napoleon's genius as a lawmaker and a ruler was almost as great as
+his power of generalship. He did not know such a word as failure but
+succeeded in everything he put his hand to. While whole libraries have
+been written about him there seem to be three main reasons for his
+gigantic successes. The first is that he was a natural genius, with far
+superior mental power to any other man of his time; the second is that
+he had wonderful ability to work hard, and the third is that he knew
+how to draw to himself the loyalty and affection of the ablest men of
+his day and make their achievements further stepping stones to his own
+successes. He had studied his trade of soldiering since he was old
+enough to talk. He had worked at it constantly and toiled so
+incessantly that he seldom slept more than three or four hours a night.
+Moreover, in the troubled times in which Napoleon appeared on the
+international stage, France was ripe for just such leadership and
+indomitable will power as he was able to supply. Fortune favored his
+efforts as much as he favored himself.
+
+The peace that had come to Europe did not last long. In the treaties
+that had been framed Napoleon had taken care to include affairs that
+would furnish him with new excuses to make war whenever he desired. And
+now he went to war again with England and made plans for invading that
+country, which he hated above all others.
+
+He had become so powerful by this time that he desired to wear the
+crown of France. Accordingly he made arrangements for a brilliant
+coronation and invited Pope Pius the Eighth to place the crown upon his
+head. As there was still much hatred in France of the word King,
+Napoleon decided to assume the title of Emperor.
+
+On December 2, 1804, before a most brilliant assembly of people,
+Napoleon and Josephine were crowned. When the Pope approached to place
+the crown on Napoleon's head he rose quickly, took the crown from the
+Pope's hand and placed it on his head himself, while a gasp of
+astonishment ran through the audience. He then removed it and placed it
+on the head of Josephine who sat on the throne beside him.
+
+As the crown touched Napoleon's brow Paris reechoed to the thunder of
+guns and to deafening cheers and cries of "Long live the Emperor!" Grim
+old soldiers, who had followed him in many bitter campaigns, embraced
+each other and got drunk in the wineshops. There was a wild time of
+revel and celebration. The French people forgot the Revolution in which
+thousands had died just to prevent the rule of kings. They thought of
+nothing but their new ruler who had made France the mistress of the
+world and was to lead his armies to even greater victories. And it
+seemed that Napoleon would need more victories to keep his power.
+Through the tireless efforts of the English statesman, Pitt, Russia and
+Austria had joined England against him. Other countries were secretly
+in league with these allies, and war was again to shake the entire
+world.
+
+As we have said Napoleon had planned to invade England and so certain
+was he of success that he had a monument erected celebrating the future
+invasion. But to secure the results and to transport his army safely
+into England it was necessary for Napoleon to have mastery of the
+English Channel, which was controlled by British warships under Lord
+Nelson, who, as you remember, had cut off and defeated Napoleon at sea
+when he was engaged in the invasion of Egypt. And while arrangements
+were completed for carrying a large French army from Boulogne to the
+English shores, a mishap befell Napoleon that forever prevented him
+from realizing his dream of British invasion. The French fleet under
+Admiral Villeneuve met Lord Nelson off Trafalgar and was utterly
+defeated. Napoleon's chance to invade England was gone forever.
+
+With his genius, however, for changing failure into success Napoleon
+had already turned his designs elsewhere. With the splendid army with
+which he contemplated the humiliation of England, he now marched
+against Austria.
+
+After defeating the Austrians in several engagements Napoleon met the
+combined Russian and Austrian forces at Austerlitz on the anniversary
+of the day on which he had been crowned as Emperor. And Fortune, which
+had crowned him then in Paris, now crowned his genius on the
+battlefield by the greatest of all his victories. After prodigious
+slaughter the Russians and Austrians were completely routed, losing
+thousands of prisoners. The treaty of Pressburg followed, in which the
+Austrian Emperor, Francis the First, was compelled to give up large
+slices of territory to France, and the Russians as quickly as possible
+withdrew into their own country.
+
+But this was only the beginning of the wars that Napoleon
+thence-forward was engaged in. The kingdom of Prussia declared war
+against France, and Napoleon marched against the Prussians and defeated
+them at the battle of Jena.
+
+Russia, however, was ready to make peace with France, for after Jena
+Napoleon turned his attention to the Russians and defeated them at
+Friedland. Then the Czar of Russia and Napoleon met on a raft which was
+anchored in the middle of the river Niemen and swore eternal
+friendship.
+
+This was called the Treaty of Tilsit. As England was now the only great
+nation that continued to be the enemy of France, Napoleon had made
+arrangements in this treaty that were designed to cripple England's
+trade and do as much damage to her as was possible. Moreover, the
+conqueror had decided that henceforth there were to be no neutral
+nations. Either the other countries must aid him in his trade war
+against England and in other ways should he desire, or take the
+consequences of braving his anger. With this policy in his mind
+Portugal was invaded and the royal family was driven from the country
+to South America where they sought refuge in the country of Brazil.
+Spain had sided with France against Portugal, but Napoleon then
+humiliated and dominated Spain. He used a far greater number of men
+than was necessary for his Portuguese invasion, and turned them against
+the Spaniards, many of whose most important forts had been taken by the
+French soldiers through treachery as well as by stratagem. When the
+conquest of Spain was ended Napoleon placed his brother, Joseph, on the
+Spanish throne.
+
+Austria, however, was preparing for another struggle against Napoleon.
+Though continually defeated by the French, the Austrians lost no chance
+of turning on them or taking any opportunity that might bring success
+against the victorious soldiers of Napoleon. But this only brought upon
+the Austrians the further defeat of Wagram and the loss of additional
+territory to Napoleon.
+
+But now fortune began to go against the brilliant soldier who had
+seldom lost a battle and practically never had been defeated. The
+Russians did not like the alliance with France that had been imposed
+upon them at Tilsit and in spite of the Czar's vows of friendship were
+ready to turn against Napoleon on the first opportunity. In fact the
+Czar had become directly angered at Napoleon for the following reason.
+
+Although Napoleon had made himself Emperor there was no heir to the
+French throne. As it seemed that Josephine would remain childless,
+Napoleon conceived the plan of divorcing her and marrying some high
+born lady whose alliance with him would strengthen the bonds between
+her country and that of the French. He had negotiated with the Russian
+Czar for the hand of a Russian princess, but before the arrangements
+had been completed he married an Austrian duchess named Marie Louise.
+
+This turned Russia into the scale against Napoleon, who had already
+dealt with the Russians in a high handed manner. So the Czar entered
+into a close alliance with England against the conqueror.
+
+Then Napoleon made the greatest mistake of all his brilliant career.
+With all Europe in unrest against him, he nevertheless conceived the
+plan of invading Russia and raised a great army for this purpose.
+Russia was and is one of the most difficult countries in all Europe in
+which to carry on a military invasion. The country is so cold and
+barren and the distances are so great that any invading army has great
+difficulty in transporting its supplies and marching the required
+distances. Napoleon had almost always relied for his supplies on the
+countries he had conquered and believed that it was always possible for
+large armies to subsist on forage and the supplies of the conquered
+inhabitants. To a large extent he used this policy in his invasion of
+Russia and it brought about his downfall. With an army of four hundred
+thousand men he entered Russia and advanced into the interior. The
+Russians constantly retreated before him and laid waste everything in
+his path. Towns were burned, crops were destroyed and cattle were
+driven away, as Napoleon led his forces toward the ancient and historic
+city of Moscow.
+
+When the French had advanced a long distance into Russia, the Russian
+general named Kutusoff offered them battle in a place called Borodino.
+It was a stubborn and bloody conflict, and more lives were lost both by
+the Russians and by the French than in any previous battle Napoleon had
+engaged in. The Russians then continued to retreat and Napoleon entered
+Moscow on the Fourteenth of September, 1812.
+
+Here the French believed that they would find respite from the
+hardships that they had encountered, and sufficient food and grain to
+feed their army. But their hopes were short lived, and in Moscow a
+great disaster befell them. Flames broke out in the city on the first
+night of their occupation, and were extinguished with difficulty. On
+the next night fires were kindled by hidden Russians in a hundred
+different places, and at last the city was a sea of flames in which no
+man could live. Napoleon had gained nothing by his invasion except to
+conquer a devastated country, and now, with winter coming on, he was
+compelled to retreat again toward the Russian frontier.
+
+The plight of the French army had become fearful. Without food and with
+insufficient clothing they were compelled to face the rigors of a
+Russian winter. As they retreated the Russians followed them and bands
+of wild Cossacks harassed their rear and their flanks, cutting off and
+killing any stragglers. Even the Russian peasants took part in the
+pursuit, and slew the exhausted French with their flails and cudgels.
+Thousands of soldiers froze to death. In crossing the Beresina River
+thousands more drowned. When they approached the frontier Napoleon left
+the pitiful remnant of his shattered army to Marshal Ney, one of the
+bravest of his generals, while he himself in a swift sleigh hastened to
+Paris to raise another army before all Europe knew of what had
+happened--for as soon as they did know they would take up arms against
+him, thinking that in his weakened condition they could overthrow his
+power. Of the four hundred thousand that entered Russia only twenty
+thousand returned. More than a third of a million brave men had left
+their bones on the chill snows and iron earth of the land they sought
+to humble.
+
+Uprisings, alliances and campaigns by the hitherto beaten nations
+followed. Napoleon won the battle of Lutzen, but the English Duke of
+Wellington defeated the French at Vittoria. At last in the great battle
+of Leipzig in October, 1813, the French were routed.
+
+In the following year the Allies made ready to crush Napoleon. He was
+now on the defensive with enemies hemming him in on every side, and
+although he fought a brilliant campaign it was hopeless. On April 11,
+1814, Napoleon was compelled to resign the crown, and obliged to go
+into exile; and the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea was chosen
+as the place for him to end his days.
+
+For the last time before his exile, Napoleon addressed his soldiers in
+farewell, and the tears ran down the rough cheeks of the veterans as
+they bade good-by to the man who had so often led them to victory. And
+then Napoleon passed through southern France on his way to Elba amid
+the hisses and execrations of his people, who had already forgotten the
+victories he had won for France and thought now only of their misery
+and the dear ones they had lost on the barren snow fields of Russia.
+
+Instead of Napoleon the brother of the former king, Louis the
+Sixteenth, was placed on the throne of France--an old, fat, wheezy man
+of no particular ability. It seemed as if the great conqueror were
+downed at last.
+
+But Napoleon intended differently. As he stayed at Elba surrounded by a
+little court and with the title of Emperor which the Allies had allowed
+him to keep, he kept looking toward the coast of France and plotting
+how to return. It is more than probable that his life was in danger at
+Elba. At all events he found the life intolerable, and desired once
+again to play the leading part in European affairs.
+
+In the meantime the French people grew weary of fat old Louis the
+Eighteenth, whose name of "Louis Dix Huit" was changed by the French as
+a joke into "Louis Des Huitres," or Louis of the Oysters, so fond was
+the old gourmand of his shellfish. They began to sigh for Napoleon and
+look forward to the spring when they hoped he might be able to escape
+from his island of confinement and rejoin his soldiers in Paris. And
+this very thing soon happened.
+
+Napoleon made a successful plan to escape from Elba and was concealed
+on a ship bound for France. And on the short trip back to the French
+coast he gave a striking example of his remarkable coolness and the
+certainty in which he held his future fortune. A passing vessel hailed
+his ship, asking, among other things, what was the latest news of the
+Emperor. Napoleon, who was too far off to be recognized, laughingly
+took the speaking trumpet from the captain's hand and shouted back:
+"The Emperor is very well." And both vessels passed on their way.
+
+Landing with a few followers near Cannes in southern France, Napoleon
+hastened northward with the small army that he had been allowed to keep
+at Elba. An army had been sent against him by the French, but Napoleon
+had no intention of fighting it. Instead he advanced alone upon his
+former soldiers, many of whom recognized him and rejoiced at a sight of
+their former leader. When he drew near Napoleon threw back his coat and
+shouted that if any man desired to kill his Emperor now was his
+opportunity. Instead of killing him the soldiers crowded around him
+with cries of joy. The whole army went over to his cause, and Marshal
+Ney, who had been sent against him and who had sworn that he would
+bring Napoleon back in an iron cage, could not withstand the sight of
+his old general and threw his lot once more with the Imperial eagles.
+With a force that increased at every mile Napoleon marched toward
+Paris, while Louis the Eighteenth hastily gathered up his luggage and
+fled into Belgium.
+
+As soon as the Allies learned of Napoleon's escape they hastened to
+make war against him. But Napoleon did not wait for them. With a
+splendid army at his heels he marched to the north to meet his foes.
+
+Fate was too strong for him, however. On June 16th, 1815, he fought the
+battle of Ligny in which he defeated the Prussians, but two days later
+he engaged in one of the most famous struggles of all history--the
+battle of Waterloo.
+
+Here Napoleon was pitted against the English under Lord Wellington and
+the Prussians under Blucher. All day the struggle went on with success
+in the balance and time after time it seemed as if nothing could save
+the English army from the furious charges of Napoleon's cuirassiers and
+heavy dragoons. Blucher had been separated from Wellington before the
+battle opened, and due to muddy roads he was late in arriving with the
+reenforcements that were necessary for an English victory. When he did
+appear, however, the battle was won for the Allies. The French broke
+and scattered in headlong rout and were followed throughout the night
+by the ruthless Prussians, who cut them down without mercy. The
+splendid army that Napoleon had gathered was no more.
+
+Napoleon fled to Paris and from there to Rochefort in southern France,
+where he was ordered to leave the country without delay. Now that he
+was defeated the French were unwilling to harbor him, for they knew
+that his presence meant continued war with the victorious Allies. At
+last Napoleon surrendered himself to the commander of the British
+warship _Bellerophon_, and was taken to England as a prisoner. The
+English did not even allow him to land. He was transferred to another
+vessel and carried to a lonely and rocky island in the south Atlantic
+called St. Helena. Here, with a few of his followers who remained
+faithful to him in his misfortune, the great Emperor fretted away the
+remainder of his life. On May 5, 1821, just as the sunset gun was
+fired, he breathed his last.
+
+He was buried in St. Helena, but his body was later claimed by the
+French Government and now rests in state in Paris in a wonderful
+sarcophagus of red marble beneath the dome of the Hotel Des Invalides.
+In recesses of this building are also the tombs of Marshal Ney and the
+other great generals who had best served their Emperor in his lifetime.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
+
+
+If George Washington was the father of his country, certainly Giuseppe
+Garibaldi could be called the father of Italian liberty, for this one
+patriot, almost single handed, fomented and carried on the revolution
+that resulted in the birth of the Italian nation as it stands to-day.
+
+Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in the year 1807, in the town of Nice, and
+was the son of a sailor and sea captain named Domenico Garibaldi. It is
+probable that almost before he could walk Giuseppe was familiar with
+the deck of his father's vessel, and it is certain that when a very
+young boy he showed an aptitude and desire for a seafaring life.
+
+His father, however, did not wish his son to be a sea captain like
+himself, but desired him to lead some life ashore, where, he thought,
+the boy's chances of advancement would be better. This plan, however,
+did not appeal to Giuseppe. The call of the sea was in him and he
+determined to be a sailor like his father. When still a young boy, with
+one or two companions, he stole a fishing boat and put to sea in the
+Mediterranean, sailing to the Eastward. His father soon gave chase,
+however, with a faster boat, and caught the would be mariner off the
+coast of Monaco, returning with him to Nice. The boy's cruise itself
+was ended, but this incident convinced the father that his son was
+intended for the sea, and in a few months Giuseppe shipped as a cabin
+boy and before long was making long voyages.
+
+He quickly showed that seafaring was his natural calling, for before he
+was twenty-four years old he had become the master of a vessel, showing
+at an early age a capacity for responsibility and an ability to command
+other men that marked him head and shoulders above his companions.
+
+But while engaged upon his voyages Garibaldi was thinking a great deal
+about the unfortunate condition of Italy and the unhappiness of his
+countrymen, for at that time the Italians did not form one nation as
+they do to-day, but were grouped in a number of petty states that
+frequently warred against each other and were themselves surrounded by
+more powerful enemies. The idea of making Italy one nation had not then
+occurred to the bulk of the people, but there was a band of secret
+revolutionists who were working for "Young Italy" and Garibaldi, who
+was known to be in favor of a united Italy, soon met some of the
+members of this organization.
+
+The young skipper promptly became fired with the desire to aid the work
+of the revolutionists and went to Marseilles where he talked with the
+famous patriot, Mazzini, also a young man, who had been active in
+revolutionary circles and was the chief organizer of the league called
+Young Italy. Mazzini's aim was to put an end to all the existing
+Italian governments and form an Italian republic that should extend
+from Sicily to the Alps. For his revolutionary activities he had been
+banished from his native country, and was carrying on his work to the
+best of his ability in Marseilles.
+
+Mazzini gave Garibaldi a cordial greeting, and enlisted his aid in the
+work of the revolutionists. They were planning a war against the King
+of Sardinia whose name was Charles Albert, and while the patriots
+invaded Savoy Garibaldi's mission was to go to Genoa and hatch a
+revolution in the fleet, where, it was thought, there were many sailors
+who would gladly fall in with the aims of Young Italy and lend their
+aid in overthrowing the existing governments.
+
+The plot failed and Garibaldi was left stranded at Genoa, hunted by the
+soldiers and certain to meet death in case he was captured. He
+disguised himself in the dress of a peasant and escaped to France,
+where a newspaper informed him that he had been named as an outcast
+from his native country, and had been sentenced to death. There was
+nothing further for him to do at that time except to carry on his
+calling of sea captain under an assumed name, and it was not long
+before he had shipped as a common seaman on a vessel sailing for South
+America, where for two years, nothing further was heard of him. But his
+ardent nature found play in the new country to which he had come, and
+when the Province of Rio Grande rose in revolution against the rule of
+the Brazilians, Garibaldi joined the rebels and made preparations to
+fight in the revolutionary cause.
+
+He secured a little fishing vessel, and with a few companions began to
+cruise as a privateer in the insurgent cause, going through many sea
+fights and many hardships and adventures in the behalf of the
+revolutionists. Finally he was shipwrecked and only saved his life by
+his great skill at swimming, most of his companions drowning in the
+surf where he was powerless to help them. The revolutionists gave him
+another ship and he soon sailed away for further encounters with the
+enemy.
+
+While in the port of Laguna a new adventure befell him, for there he
+beheld the woman who was to become his wife. Her name was Anita
+Riberas, and according to the South American custom her father had
+arranged a marriage for her with a man she did not love. When she met
+Garibaldi she was struck with his fine and commanding appearance, and
+he on his part instantly fell in love with her, for she was a woman of
+great beauty and a keen and spirited mind. The result of this meeting
+was that Anita eloped with Garibaldi, sailing away with him on his
+vessel and marrying him a few days later when another port was reached.
+
+Anita not only was on board Garibaldi's vessel in a number of sea
+fights but actually took part in them. On one occasion, we are told,
+she was knocked down by a gust of wind made by a cannon ball as it
+whizzed across the deck, but picking herself up continued to fight by
+the side of the men.
+
+Garibaldi then organized a band of guerilla cavalry and his bride,
+dressed in man's clothes, rode by his side. It was while her husband
+was a captain of guerillas that she bore him a son, and on many weary
+journeys the baby was carried in a sort of net cradle slung from her
+saddle. Garibaldi was now fighting for the freedom of Uruguay.
+
+It was at this time that Garibaldi formed the band of revolutionaries
+called the Italian Legion. They chose for their colors a flag on which
+a volcano was painted with fire spouting from the crater against a
+background of black. And Garibaldi at the head of his Italians was a
+skilful and famous soldier, known everywhere in Uruguay and even in
+foreign countries.
+
+In the year 1848 the whole of Northern Italy rose in arms against the
+Austrians, and the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, was now fighting
+in a cause that seemed just to Garibaldi, who desired of all things to
+see the foreign control of great nations taken away from his country.
+At once he decided to enter the war and sailed for Italy with the
+members of his legion. He chose for an emblem this time the colors that
+have since become the flag of Italy, a flag of red, white and green
+arranged like the French tricolor.
+
+He received a cold welcome from the King of Sardinia, for Charles
+Albert could not forgive his former revolutionary activities. But the
+King soon had reason to hate him even more than hitherto, for when,
+with the Pope, he made peace with Austria after his forces had been
+defeated, Garibaldi refused to recognize the compact and with a small
+band of insurgents continued the fight, until he fell ill with fever
+and was compelled to give up the struggle and allow his soldiers to
+return to their homes.
+
+He was determined, however, that Italy should never again recognize
+Austrian rule, and as soon as he had recovered from the fever, he began
+what was called the "People's War." Numbers of Italians flocked to his
+standard, and his cause was soon strengthened by an uprising in Rome,
+in which the Pope himself was driven from office, and a minister named
+Rossi was murdered.
+
+Garibaldi had hastened to Rome to be present at the declaration of the
+Roman Republic, of which Mazzini was to be President. As the Austrian
+and French forces were pursuing him he organized a stubborn resistance,
+and furious fighting took place in the outskirts of the city and in the
+streets themselves. Soon it was evident that the revolutionists must
+give in and the city be taken. The only hope for the Republicans lay in
+their escaping to the mountains. The city surrendered finally without
+Garibaldi's consent, and with his band of red shirted followers he fled
+into the country just as the French soldiers were pouring through the
+gates. His wife, dressed as a man, accompanied him.
+
+Then commenced a campaign filled with most bitter hardships and
+difficulties. At the beginning of his flight he had only five thousand
+men and these were quickly decreased in numbers by the hardships they
+were compelled to undergo, and by many desertions that took place as a
+result. But Garibaldi persevered, until he saw that it was useless to
+think of any further resistance at that time, and he then planned a
+flight to the coast. Fully fifty thousand well armed and organized men
+were in pursuit of him, and their ranks were added to daily by
+deserters from his own small force. At last all but two hundred
+surrendered, and these, with Garibaldi at their head seized a number of
+fishing vessels and put to sea, hoping to reach the friendly city of
+Venice.
+
+But the enemy's vessels were watching the coast, and soon a large fleet
+was in hot pursuit. Some of Garibaldi's vessels were captured and sunk
+and the rest were compelled to land to escape the pursuing ships.
+
+All this time his faithful wife, Anita, had accompanied him--but the
+hardships they had undergone had proved too much for her; she had
+fallen ill and now it was seen that she had only a few hours to live.
+With soldiers of the enemy following him, and with his dying wife in
+his arms, Garibaldi hid among the sand dunes of the coast and at last
+carried his wife into a deserted cottage where she promptly breathed
+her last.
+
+With the soldiers at his heels Garibaldi could not even wait to see her
+buried. He took to the hills once more, and after a terrible journey of
+forty days, in which he was obliged to travel in disguise, he escaped
+on a fishing boat, and after being turned away from several ports where
+his presence was unwelcome, made his way to America. This time he went
+to New York, and for a time earned his daily bread as a ship chandler
+on Staten Island.
+
+Then he returned to his old trade of sea captain and sailed for China
+in command of a vessel called the _Carmen_. He then returned to Europe,
+and as the hatreds of the revolution had now largely blown over he was
+able to go to Nice and see his children. The search for him had waned.
+Italy seemed hopelessly under the yoke of her enemies, and Garibaldi
+settled down to private life on the Island of Caprera, where he lived
+simply as a farmer.
+
+He was only too ready, however, to respond if another demand should
+come for him to carry arms in behalf of United Italy, and through the
+skill of the statesman, Cavour, such a demand did come in the year
+1859. Cavour, by clever diplomacy, had brought on a war between the
+Austrians and the French and with the aid of the powerful nation of
+France the Italians were victorious at the battles of Magenta and
+Solferino.
+
+But while France was willing to fight the Austrians, the French were
+unwilling to have Italy at their doors as a united nation, and a peace
+was agreed upon between the two great powers in which Italian liberty
+was ignored. All the work of Garibaldi seemed to have been useless. All
+of his great sacrifices were apparently thrown away by the statesmen
+and diplomats who were forced to accede to the French and Austrian
+terms.
+
+But the peace of Villafranca, as this agreement was called, was only
+the beginning of Garibaldi's greatness. He hastened to Genoa, where,
+with one thousand and seventy followers, he seized two steamers and
+embarked for Sicily. Sicily had revolted on hearing of the peace terms
+and Garibaldi had been invited to go there and aid the revolution.
+
+After a voyage of six days he landed at Marsala where a tremendous
+welcome was given to him. The Neapolitan fleet was not far off, but
+they did not dare to open fire on the little band of revolutionists on
+account of British warships nearby, as Great Britain was known to favor
+the revolutionary cause.
+
+With Garibaldi at the head of an indomitable little army, the
+Neapolitan soldiers were put to flight at the battle of Calatafimi and
+Garibaldi advanced upon the city of Palermo. After heavy fighting the
+city was taken, and afterward at the head of about two thousand men,
+Garibaldi routed an army more than three times the size of his own. All
+Sicily was soon in Garibaldi's possession, and now, with a considerable
+army at his back, he crossed over to the Italian mainland and advanced
+northward, with his enemies fleeing before him. Finally he captured the
+city of Naples and his work was completed.
+
+Without any hesitation Garibaldi turned over his conquests to King
+Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia, who, after Garibaldi's successes, had
+marched against Naples and was now in control of a large part of the
+Italian peninsula. After refusing many rewards Garibaldi retired again
+to the island of Caprera, but in 1862 he raised a volunteer army and
+marched against Rome in an attempt to overthrow the power of the Pope
+which he believed must be destroyed before Italy could ever become a
+united nation.
+
+King Victor Emmanuel did not feel that he could allow this expedition
+of Garibaldi's, and sent his own army against him. Garibaldi was
+defeated and he himself was taken prisoner, but after a short
+confinement he was pardoned and set at liberty.
+
+In 1866 he started another revolution but was again defeated and again
+captured. Once more, however, he was pardoned and allowed to go back to
+Caprera, where he was guarded by a warship to prevent any further
+activity on his part. Three years later he offered his services to the
+French Republic and was made a deputy of that famous body, the French
+Versailles Assembly. He then entered the Italian Parliament, and for
+his great patriotic services was given a pension for life. In later
+life he married again but the marriage was not a happy one and was
+annulled after a number of years, when Garibaldi again took a wife, a
+peasant woman named Francesca.
+
+He died in 1882, at Caprera, one of the most famous of all Italians,
+and the one to whom modern Italy owes more than to any other man. Had
+it not been for Garibaldi's great endurance under the most terrible
+hardships and privations, and his resolute determination to free his
+country, there might well be no modern Italy as these pages are
+written.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+
+The story of Abraham Lincoln should bring more inspiration to you than
+that of any other man or woman who is mentioned in this book. For
+Lincoln not only had a great mind, a great and forceful personality,
+but a great and kindly heart, filled with charity for all. He was,
+moreover, a man of the people. Whatever he gained in life, he gained by
+his own efforts. Washington created the United States, but Lincoln
+carried them through the most difficult crisis of their history--and it
+is more than probable that without him there would be no United States
+to-day.
+
+He was born in 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky, on the Twelfth of
+February, and was the son of Thomas Lincoln, a carpenter. Thomas
+Lincoln was a good natured but shiftless man who never did any more
+work than was absolutely necessary to keep his family from starving. He
+had pioneer blood in his veins, as, indeed, all Lincoln's ancestors
+had, from the time when they first came to America in 1637; and this
+fact kept them pushing continually to the westward and taking up new
+lands in unbroken country as opportunity offered. Thomas Lincoln's
+wife, Nancy, was made of better stuff than her easy going husband, and
+it is probably from her that the boy Abraham inherited the character
+that was to make his name the greatest in his country, if not in the
+entire world.
+
+As a boy Abraham had little or no chance to go to school, but he was so
+industrious and eager to learn that he borrowed every book that he
+could lay his hand on, and in this way he obtained a thorough knowledge
+of the bible and of Shakespeare as well as of a few other classics,
+which included AEsop's fables, Robinson Crusoe, a history of Washington
+and the Pilgrim's Progress.
+
+When Abraham was eight years old, his father moved to Indiana, and
+there the first great sorrow of his life befell the little boy. His
+mother died of a fever that appeared among the settlers, leaving
+Abraham and his sister Sarah, a little girl of eleven, to do the
+housework and the heavy chores of a backwoods farm. The following year
+Thomas Lincoln went away to Kentucky to marry again, and he brought
+back with him a big hearted woman named Sally Johnson, who had three
+children by a former marriage.
+
+This marriage by Thomas Lincoln was the best thing that could have
+happened for his two motherless children. Sally Johnson was able to
+give them better care and more comforts than they had ever known. She
+inspired their father also to work more regularly and to put a door on
+the cabin in which they lived. Abraham helped his father in clearing
+the land and hewing the trees. He was big and strong for his age, and
+was constantly swinging an ax or guiding a plow.
+
+All the time when not engaged in these active forms of labor, Abraham
+was reading and studying, by candle light or by firelight, chalking up
+sums of arithmetic on a board or the back of a shovel when he lacked
+paper to write them on, and striving in every way to gain for himself
+an education. Owing to the remote region where he lived and the
+constant moves that were made by his family, he had less than a year's
+schooling in the entire course of his life,--but his eagerness to learn
+counterbalanced this disadvantage and when he reached young manhood he
+knew as much as many who had been to the finest schools in the country
+from their earliest years and without interruption.
+
+When he was twenty-one years old his father moved again. This time
+Thomas Lincoln settled in Illinois, and Abraham worked without pay for
+a year, helping him to clear his property and settle his land. Then, as
+was the custom in those days, he left home to seek his fortune
+elsewhere.
+
+By this time he had grown into a tall and powerful man who was able
+with great ease to outstrip all others in running or jumping, swinging
+an ax or carrying heavy weights. His strength, in fact, was as famous
+throughout the country side as was his good nature and kindness, for he
+was always ready to give his neighbors a hand when they needed help and
+to do them a good turn when the chance came his way. Everybody liked
+him and he was welcome wherever he went.
+
+With two relatives Lincoln built a flatboat and started down the river
+for New Orleans on a trading venture. He had been south once before,
+when he traveled more than a thousand miles on a flatboat selling
+groceries to the plantations of Mississippi, and these two trips
+enabled him to see what slavery was like. He saw negroes being placed
+on the auction block and knocked down to the highest bidder, separated
+forever from their wives and families. He saw them toiling in the
+fields and triced up under the lash. It was then, without doubt, that
+he formed the opinions that directed his policy from the White House in
+later years when he was President.
+
+On returning to his home Lincoln had his first taste of military
+service. A war had broken out with the Black Hawk Indians, and
+volunteers were called for to drive them out of the country. Lincoln
+was one of the first to offer his services, and although still very
+young, every man in the neighborhood urged that he be made the captain
+of the military company in which they were to serve. It was a sign of
+the esteem in which the ungainly young man was held that those older
+than himself should unanimously propose him for their leader.
+
+Before this time Lincoln, young as he was, had announced his candidacy
+for the Legislature of Illinois. The County of Sangamon, where he
+lived, was entitled to four representatives. He had informed the
+residents that he was a candidate by a characteristic letter which was
+printed in the county newspapers and has been quoted in Lincoln's
+biographies.
+
+"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition," he wrote. "Whether
+it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as
+being truly esteemed by my fellow men by rendering myself worthy of
+their esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is
+yet to be developed. I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born,
+and have ever remained, in the most humble walks of life. I have no
+wealthy or popular relations or friends to recommend me. My case is
+thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the county; and if
+elected they will have conferred a favor upon me for which I shall be
+unremitting in my labors to compensate. But if the good people in their
+wisdom see fit to keep me in the background I have been too familiar
+with disappointments to be very much chagrined."
+
+But when the Indian war broke out Lincoln sacrificed his chances of
+being elected, preferring to fight for his country in such fighting as
+came his way, and the victory was won by his opponents.
+
+On his return after a bloodless campaign, he started a grocery store in
+the town of New Salem, Illinois, but the venture was destined to be an
+unlucky one. The town dwindled in size; the store finally failed; his
+partner ran away and then died, leaving Lincoln to shoulder all the
+burden of the debt. Although he had no money and could earn but little,
+he paid this debt to the last penny and with proper interest, but the
+burden saddened his young manhood and put him in poverty and
+difficulties from which he did not free himself for a number of years.
+
+In the year 1834, Lincoln ran once more for the State Legislature, and
+this time, as no obstacles beyond the ordinary came his way, he was
+elected. This marked the turning point in his career, for he had now
+embarked on the course that was to end with his election to the
+Presidency. He was sent back to the Legislature in 1836 and again in
+1838 and 1840; and his policy was marked by broad views and great
+liberality. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first champions of
+woman's suffrage, for in preparing his platform he said that he was for
+allowing all whites to vote who bore the burdens of the Government,
+including the women.
+
+While in the Legislature Lincoln had the courage to voice a protest
+against slavery, and at that time the feeling ran so strongly against
+"abolitionists," as the would-be liberators of slaves were called, that
+he could only get one man beside himself to sign this protest. In it he
+stated that slavery in itself was evil and unjust, but that the efforts
+of the abolitionists only served to add to its horrors. By this
+statement Lincoln ran grave danger of being ruined in his political
+career, and only his high moral courage impelled him to make it.
+
+In 1839 the State Capitol of Illinois was moved to Springfield and
+Lincoln decided to live in the same town. While he had been serving his
+country in the Legislature he had also been studying law--a pursuit
+that he commenced when he owned the unlucky general grocery store at
+New Salem. Now he hung up his shingle as a lawyer, going into
+partnership with John T. Stuart who was prominent in Lincoln's own
+political party, whose members were called Whigs. Before very long he
+had a good practice.
+
+Here Lincoln engaged to fight a duel, showing at once his courage and
+the keen sense of humor that he possessed. Some women friends of his
+had sent to the newspapers a series of humorous letters criticizing one
+James Shields, an Irishman, who was engaged in tax collecting. These
+letters were signed by the name of "Aunt Rebecca," and to help the
+ladies Lincoln had written the first letter as a model. When Shields
+started inquiries, Lincoln took the entire responsibility. Shields
+belonged to the opposite political party and challenged Lincoln to a
+duel. As the challenged, Lincoln was allowed to chose the weapons. He
+decided on broadswords of the largest possible size. A plank was to be
+placed between the duelists, and neither allowed to cross it. On either
+side of the plank lines were drawn at the length of the broadsword and
+three feet extra,--and if the duelist stepped back across this line he
+lost the fight.
+
+These terms had a large element of the ridiculous about them. The
+meeting came to pass but the duel never was fought, for Lincoln and his
+adversary were reconciled before the swords were drawn. Soon after this
+Lincoln married Mary Todd, a Kentucky girl who had been one of the
+originators of the letters that brought about this duel.
+
+A few years later, in 1846, Lincoln was elected to Congress. In his
+first term in the House of Representatives he did nothing to
+distinguish himself, but kept his eyes and ears open and used the term
+more as an instructive course in some university of politics than
+anything else, although he took care not to neglect the work of his
+constituents. In fact there is, or was at that time a general idea that
+it was impossible to distinguish oneself in a first term to Congress.
+There was too much to learn, too many duties to perform, too slight an
+acquaintance with fellow members.
+
+Lincoln, however, quickly became known in Washington and was liked
+wherever he went. He had a gift for story telling that he frequently
+made use of, either to amuse his hearers or to take the bitterness out
+of some political argument.
+
+While in Washington as a congressman, he made his first actual effort
+toward the abolition of slavery by drawing up a bill for the freeing of
+slaves in the District of Columbia and paying their owners a good price
+from the coffers of the Government. This bill had many supporters, but
+it was obstructed and never came to a vote. It showed, however, as his
+earlier and courageous protest showed, the thoughts that were in
+Lincoln's heart about this great national evil, and that he could be
+relied on to do all that lay in his power to end it.
+
+After Lincoln's term in Congress was over he returned to Springfield,
+where, for a number of years, he quietly practised law without thinking
+of returning to office. He did desire to be Governor of the Territory
+of Oregon and was offered this position, but gave it up because his
+wife refused to live so far away. It is just as well that he did so,
+for who knows if his great powers would ever have been recognized if he
+had taken this appointment and lived in even more of a wilderness than
+where his forefathers had cleared the land and made their homes?
+
+The war against slavery was gaining headway, and every year the feeling
+became more intense over the fact that certain States were allowed to
+hold men in bondage and buy and sell them like animals. Whenever a new
+territory was acquired by the Union a dispute arose as to whether it
+was to be a slave or a free territory, and this discussion was opened
+up with bitterness in 1854 when Lincoln's great rival, Senator Douglas,
+offered a bill to bring about territorial government in Nebraska.
+
+On account of this struggle Lincoln came once more into the public eye.
+Douglas had believed that by working to repeal a measure known as the
+Missouri Compromise, thereby throwing open to slavery a large amount of
+territory that had been closed against it, he would stand an excellent
+chance of being elected President of the United States. The struggle
+between the slave and the free factions of the country had now taken on
+national importance of the first order, and caused the readjustment of
+the political parties. The Democratic party now became the champion of
+slavery, while the Whig party, and those Democrats who desired slaves
+to be free, were merged in the Republican party to which Lincoln
+belonged.
+
+In the State Convention in Illinois, where the Republican party was
+formed, Lincoln made a wonderful speech, of which only the memory
+remains. The stenographers and reporters who were supposed to take it
+down became so enthralled by the words of the great leader that they
+forgot to make note of those words, and Lincoln, who spoke with few
+notes, could not remember afterward what he had said. How marvelous the
+speech must have been is to be seen from the fact that even without
+written reports its fame traveled through the United States, and those
+that heard it never forgot the majesty and power of Lincoln's oratory.
+
+Lincoln was not yet well enough known, to be considered as a candidate
+for the Presidency, but he did receive some support from his party as
+Republican nominee for Vice President. In the meantime, and even before
+this speech had been made, Douglas had realized the strength of his new
+opponent, and sought to silence Lincoln until after the election.
+Lincoln and Douglas met in joint debate, and the result of the contest
+made history. Hoping to entrap Lincoln, Douglas asked him a number of
+questions, thinking that Lincoln might answer in such a way that his
+reply would be unpopular to the people of the South. In return Lincoln
+asked Douglas such a carefully thought out question that in answering
+it Douglas was compelled either to deny his former words or make
+himself unpopular with the Democratic party. And as a result of this
+Douglas was greatly weakened for the presidency in the campaign of
+1860.
+
+Lincoln's brilliant speeches and his former political record, his
+reputation for honesty and kindness, and his known firmness against the
+issue of slavery were doing their work, although he himself did not
+dream that he might gain the presidency that Douglas had aspired to. He
+continued to make speeches in 1859 and followed Douglas about, speaking
+against his policy. In May, 1860, the Republicans of the State of
+Illinois declared Lincoln to be their choice for President without a
+dissenting vote.
+
+The Republican National Convention for that year, held in Chicago, was
+a memorable meeting. The two names that stood out above all others were
+those of William H. Seward and Abraham Lincoln. Several ballots were
+taken amid scenes of great excitement, and at last the name of Lincoln
+was given to the country as the Republican candidate for President.
+
+And the campaign itself was the most memorable presidential campaign in
+the history of this country. In all there were four candidates. The
+Democratic party was split into two wings, one of which, with Douglas
+for its choice, claimed that it did not pretend to decide whether
+slavery was right or wrong; the other with Breckenridge was directly in
+favor of slavery and sought to extend it and to add new States to the
+slave list. There was also the Constitutionalist Union party in which
+slavery was not an issue at all or anything else, for that
+matter--while the Republican party, with Lincoln at its head, was
+directly opposed to slavery and had come out as its open and declared
+enemy.
+
+On the night of the election, which fell on the Sixth of November,
+Lincoln heard news by electric telegram of his overwhelming victory.
+His speeches and his strong personality had won the day. He was chosen
+as President at a time when the most difficult and arduous duties since
+the time of Washington awaited the head of the nation.
+
+Throughout the South, bitterness had been growing more and more marked
+each day. The South had declared that it would never bear the rule of a
+Republican President and an opponent of slavery. And after the Southern
+States knew that Lincoln was to be their leader, one after another
+withdrew its congressmen and senators from Washington, and passed what
+they called "ordinances of secession," which meant that they no longer
+considered themselves a part of the United States. More than this took
+place, for one after one the army officers in charge of the Southern
+forts and arsenals went over to the side of the South, allowing the
+most important military strongholds and vast amounts of military stores
+to fall into their hands, and President Buchanan, who was Lincoln's
+predecessor, and in sympathy with the South himself, did nothing to
+prevent these outrages against the Government he had sworn to uphold.
+
+In the meantime Lincoln had performed his first official act which
+would have indicated, if other things had not amply done so, his coming
+greatness. This was his choice of a Cabinet. Believing that he must not
+only surround himself with the strongest men he could find, but the
+ones that the people placed most reliance in, he appointed to the
+Cabinet all the other Republicans whose names had been mentioned for
+President at the Republican convention in June. William H. Seward was
+his Secretary of State and the other cabinet officials included Salmon
+P. Chase of Ohio, who was Secretary of the Treasury, Simon Cameron of
+Pennsylvania, and later Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War.
+
+The difficulties and dangers of his position now beset him. On his way
+to his inauguration he was warned that in Baltimore there had been
+discovered a plot against his life, and so serious did this plot appear
+that he had to go through secretly on another train than the one on
+which he was expected. In his inaugural address, assuming the duties of
+President, Lincoln denied the right of any State to secede from the
+Union, and this was taken by those States that already had seceded and
+in fact by the entire South as little less than a declaration of war
+against them.
+
+All through the South preparations for war were carried on as quickly
+as possible. And in less than six weeks after Lincoln had taken over
+the duties of his office, the Civil War was opened by the Confederates,
+who turned their guns against Fort Sumter, which was held by the Union
+commander, Major Anderson.
+
+From that time on the story of Lincoln's life is almost the same as
+that of the great Civil War, in which as President he decided most of
+the momentous questions that came before the nation, and bore upon his
+shoulders a weight even greater than what had been carried by
+Washington when the United States was born.
+
+In the first part of the war the South won many victories. They
+defeated the Union forces at Bull Run and Fredericksburg, and with
+smaller forces and these divided were able to fight what amounted to a
+drawn battle at Antietam. They defeated General Hooker at
+Chancellorsville, and it began to look as if the South, under the
+brilliant General, Robert E. Lee, had more than a chance of gaining
+what they desired, and winning independence from the Federal
+Government. General after general was placed in command of the Union
+forces and proved inadequate to the gigantic task that had to be
+fulfilled. And Lincoln, in addition to his other duties, had to study
+and master the art of war, so that he could intelligently understand
+the military situations that came to him for final decision. No greater
+tribute can be made to the power of his brain than to say that after he
+had followed his military studies this lawyer and backwoodsman was
+considered among the best strategists in the country.
+
+It was shortly after the battle of Antietam that President Lincoln
+decided to issue his famous proclamation giving freedom to all the
+slaves in the United States. He decided to do this because it was a war
+measure and the South had been able to obtain much military aid from
+the slaves who were in their possession. Also it won the North to a
+more whole-hearted prosecution of the war, since by far the greater
+part of the North desired the immediate freedom of the slaves. This
+proclamation was called the "Proclamation of Emancipation," and under
+it all men in the United States really became free and equal, for the
+first time in American History.
+
+At last Lincoln had realized his lifelong desire to right the wrong of
+slavery, and throughout the world this act added greatly to his fame.
+By the black race he was looked upon as a second Savior and whenever he
+was seen by a group of negroes they raised the echoes with their shouts
+of enthusiasm and jubilee.
+
+Another great deed was done by Lincoln and one that was to have an
+immediate effect upon the course of the war. This was the appointment
+of General Ulysses S. Grant to the position of Commander in Chief of
+the Union forces. General Grant, like Lincoln, came from obscure
+beginnings. He had volunteered his services at the beginning of the
+war, and had won his way upward through sheer merit. On the Fourth of
+July, 1863, he had captured the Southern city of Vicksburg, while
+General Meade in the same year beat the Confederates decisively on the
+field of Gettysburg which was the greatest battle of the war and marked
+its turning point.
+
+It was after Gettysburg that President Lincoln made the memorable
+address upon the field of victory that has gone down into history as
+one of the finest speeches ever made and has been placed above the
+portals of one of England's greatest colleges as an example of the
+purest example of English speech that has ever been uttered.
+
+"Fourscore and seven years ago," said Lincoln, "our fathers brought
+forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and
+dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
+
+"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation
+or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are
+met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a
+portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave
+their lives that the nation might live. It is altogether fitting and
+proper that we should do this.
+
+"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate--we cannot consecrate--we
+cannot hallow--this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
+struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or
+detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here,
+but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living,
+rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who
+fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be
+here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these
+honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they
+gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve
+that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under
+God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the
+people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
+earth."
+
+The turning point of the war had been reached; the victory of the
+Northern forces was now assured. On the Ninth of April, 1865, General
+Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House and the war was
+brought to an end.
+
+In the meantime Lincoln had been reelected President by an overwhelming
+majority. He now had before him the difficult task of reconstruction,
+and of bringing together the warring factions that so nearly had torn
+our nation in two halves forever.
+
+His kindliness, his personal bravery which made him regardless of all
+risks and repeated threats of assassination, his infinite tact,
+resourcefulness and good humor, coupled with the weightier abilities as
+a ruler and a statesman, have made his name most justly the most famous
+in our history with the possible exception of George Washington's.
+There is an infinite fund of anecdotes concerning him and what he did
+in the dark days through which he piloted the country. Lincoln was
+always gentle when there was the least excuse for gentleness, and he
+pardoned so many military offenders who had been under sentence of
+death that the Union Generals complained that he was weakening their
+discipline. Yet this gentleness on his part was never confounded with
+weakness. No more terrible contestant could have appeared against the
+rebellious South than the quiet, gaunt backwoodsman who had placed
+himself in the President's chair by reason of his character alone.
+
+On April 14, 1865, when attending a performance at Ford's Theater in
+Washington, President Lincoln was murdered. His assassin was John
+Wilkes Booth, brother of the famous actor, Edwin Booth, who was in no
+way implicated with the terrible deed perpetrated by one that bore his
+name. Wilkes Booth was a rabid Southerner and believed that since the
+North had conquered, vengeance was necessary. He did not see, as many
+of the defeated Southerners saw clearly, that with the war once ended
+Lincoln, with his infinite tolerance and patience, was the best friend
+that the South could possibly have.
+
+Booth forced an entrance into the box where the President was seated
+and walking up to him shot him in the head with a pistol. He then
+vaulted over the rail and with the shout of "sic semper tyrannis" ran
+from the stage in spite of the fact that he had broken his leg in his
+fall from the box, and succeeded in escaping from the theater. The
+unconscious President was tenderly lifted and carried across the street
+to a house that was opposite the theater. Here at seven o'clock on the
+following morning he passed away.
+
+That Lincoln was one of the greatest men of all time and belongs to
+eternity, was realized then, but is still more deeply realized now. His
+wonderful name has become a household word, not only in the United
+States but everywhere. And as the mist of the confusing events that
+surrounded him is clearing away in the light of history, his form is
+becoming mightier and more venerable every day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+GRACE DARLING
+
+
+The coast of Northumberland in England is rocky and severe with lofty
+flint-ledged cliffs where great waves thunder, hurling the white foam
+high into the air. It is a coast that is feared by vessels and many
+wrecks have taken place there. As is usual in such a locality it is the
+home of brave fishermen and daring boatmen who have many thrilling
+rescues to remember and many stormy encounters with the utmost fury of
+the sea. But of all the tales of daring that are talked of by the
+fisher folk, the bravest of all was performed by a girl whose name was
+Grace Darling,--a name that now is known not only in the places where
+she lived but all over the world.
+
+Grace Horsley Darling was the daughter of a lighthouse keeper named
+William Darling, who tended a light on one of the Farne Islands as his
+father had done before him. Grace, who was the seventh of nine
+children, was born in 1815, in Bamborough, and when she was a little
+girl of eleven years her father was given charge of the new light on
+Longstone Rock, which was one of a series of dangerous reefs where no
+vessel ever built could live when a gale was blowing.
+
+The highest part of Longstone Rock was only four feet above the surface
+of the sea, and near at hand were twenty-three other reefs or islands,
+between which the ocean tides ran in curious currents and eddys, and
+where the great rollers came racing in with a tremendous roaring to
+burst upon the base of the lighthouse and throw the spray high above
+the light itself. It was a wild spot, even in calm weather, but when a
+storm blew it became terrible. Then all communication with the mainland
+was cut off, and for days at a time the only news that the outside
+world had from the lonely lighthouse keeper was the yellow beam of the
+lantern that shone from the top of the tower across the desolate
+expanse of ugly rocks and roaring waters, where any ship that chanced
+to be entrapped was caught in the grip of strange currents and pounded
+into matchwood by the breakers.
+
+Grace did not find the life at the lighthouse unpleasant. Her father
+was an intelligent and kind-hearted man who gave an eye to her
+education himself, and taught her how to read and write. He was also
+considered the best boatman on the whole Northumberland coast--the
+bravest and most skilful, and it was partly due to his reputation in
+these respects that he was made the keeper of the new light on the
+Longstone with a large increase in pay and a comfortable home for his
+family--for the interior of the lighthouse held several large and
+pleasant rooms where the Darlings lived. All of his elder children had
+gone off to make their living, and William Darling lived with his wife
+and his daughter Grace, who spent her time in reading, helping her
+mother with the housework, and, when it was calm, wandering over the
+rocks observing the gulls, the sea weeds and the strange sea creatures
+that the ocean brought to the surface or that crawled and swam among
+the more sheltered rock pools.
+
+But the confinement of the life in the lighthouse was not good for the
+growing girl, and Grace never was strong and robust as would be
+expected from the daughter of fishermen. Nor was she handsome. But she
+possessed a kindly and winning nature, and, as will be seen, the
+ability to rise to heights of greatness when necessity called on her to
+do so.
+
+When Grace was a young woman of twenty-three a terrible storm burst
+suddenly upon the coast and in the twinkling of an eye the reefs about
+the lighthouse were a sea of churning foam, while the great waves
+racing in from the ocean thundered so mightily at its base that it
+seemed as though they must tear it from its foundations and sweep it
+away.
+
+A short time before this gale broke, the steamer _Forfarshire_ had
+sailed from Hull for Dundee in Scotland. She was commanded by a captain
+named John Humble and had aboard all told about sixty-three persons,
+including the passengers and crew. She was a fine new steamer, well and
+strongly built, but she had put to sea with her boilers in poor
+condition, and it had been intended to give them a thorough overhauling
+in Dundee.
+
+When the steamer was off Flamborough Head the boilers commenced to
+leak, and the ship's fires were extinguished. They were rekindled and
+the leak repaired, but just as the _Forfarshire_ was off the Farne
+Islands the gale broke with great fury. While pitching in the heavy
+seas the boilers leaked terribly, the fires were again put out and the
+ship became unmanageable. Sails were hoisted, but were torn to ribbons
+by the wind. With no propelling power the _Forfarshire_ rolled helpless
+in the trough of the sea, and was swiftly borne toward the rocks. Fog
+and rain made it impossible for the sailors to see until they were in
+the teeth of the breakers, and then the beam of the lighthouse showed
+them the wild rocks only a short distance away.
+
+Nothing could save them from destruction. With a crash the steamer
+drove on the Harcars rocks and remained there, the seas breaking
+completely over it. Some of the crew launched a boat and escaped,
+deserting their captain, the passengers and the ship. The rest clung to
+what supports they could find and held on expecting instant death.
+
+A wave, larger than the rest, picked up the _Forfarshire_ bodily and
+drove it down again upon the rocks, breaking it in two. The after half
+of the vessel was swept away by the seas with many passengers and the
+captain and his wife. All were lost. On the forward part of the ship
+about twelve wretched persons remained in most desperate plight, the
+seas breaking over them and threatening to engulf the remaining portion
+of the vessel.
+
+When day broke the wreck could be seen from the mainland, but the
+misery of the unfortunate persons who survived was even more plain to
+William Darling and his family. Grace begged her father to launch a
+boat and go to their assistance, but Darling, brave sailor as he was,
+knew that there was little or no chance of his ever reaching the doomed
+ship, and shook his head. Then Grace began to plead with her father,
+telling him it would be better for him to lose his life than to pass by
+people in such distress, and that she herself would go with him and
+bear a hand at the oars. Darling was no coward, and the prayers and
+entreaties of his daughter won the day. He decided to risk launching a
+boat from the lighthouse.
+
+With Mrs. Darling to help them in launching their boat, Grace and her
+father put forth from the lighthouse, running their boat into the sea
+in the lee of the rocks, and pulling strongly for the wreck. Father and
+daughter both labored at the oars, unable to speak on account of the
+roar of the sea and wind, and blinded by the spray that whirled over
+them. Their boat was tossed like a shuttlecock in the great waves, and
+they knew that unless the shipwrecked persons could aid them it would
+be impossible to return to the lighthouse. They must succeed or die,
+and their chance of success was small.
+
+Little by little they drew near the wreck. By this time the tide had
+ebbed sufficiently for the survivors to leave the ship and stand on the
+slippery rocks, but already some of them had succumbed and the rest
+would certainly be washed away and drowned at returning high water. As
+the rescuers drew near the reef, Darling leaped ashore, and Grace kept
+the frail rowboat from dashing itself to pieces against the rocks.
+
+Then followed the difficult task of getting the survivors into the
+boat. One after one waded out as far as he dared and was pulled over
+the gunwale. When the last person was aboard Darling clambered back,
+and with new hands at the oars the boat was rowed back to the
+lighthouse--a trip that required great strength and much time for the
+current was against them. And when the light was reached, the
+shipwrecked people were soon made comfortable and cared for by Grace
+and Mrs. Darling, and nine lives were thus saved by the determination
+of a single girl.
+
+In the meantime, and after the gale had abated considerably, a boat
+full of fishermen put out from the shore at a place called North
+Sunderland and after nearly being swamped in the high seas succeeded in
+drawing near the wreck. They saw there was no living thing left aboard,
+and not daring to return to the mainland in the sea then running
+succeeded in reaching the lighthouse. Among them was Grace's brother,
+Brooks Darling, and the heroism of his achievement and that of the
+other fishermen was only exceeded by the marvelous feat of the girl
+herself and of her father. In the course of a few days the fishermen
+succeeded in returning to the shore, taking with them the news.
+
+All England rang with the fame of Grace's exploit, and letters and
+gifts poured in from every side. Scores of people visited the
+lighthouse. Grace was feted and admired, and a public subscription in
+her benefit resulted in a gift of seven hundred pounds, or about
+thirty-five hundred dollars of our money. She also received four
+medals, and a large sum of money in private gifts.
+
+Grace and her family took their new prominence with great good sense
+and modesty, and disliked the publicity which came to them. They were
+astonished at the commotion their exploit had caused, for to them it
+appeared little more than a part of the day's work that duty required
+them to perform.
+
+But Grace did not live long after her exploit. Her confined life at the
+lighthouse and the exposure she underwent there resulted in the disease
+of consumption from which she rapidly wasted away. In spite of the best
+medical aid she steadily drooped, and two years after she had done her
+brave deed she died in the town of Bamborough where she had been born.
+
+Again a subscription was collected and a monument was erected in her
+honor. Her father and mother lived to a ripe old age, reaping benefits
+from the money that Grace had left them. Perhaps some of their
+descendants are still tending the light at the present day, but at all
+events the name of the Darlings has been made immortal by the bravery
+of this girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
+
+
+The Red Cross Nurse has become a heroic figure in the world to-day and
+has saved lives by hundreds of thousands in every quarter of the globe;
+she has labored under fire on the battlefield and in the reek of
+pestilence in the rear; her form is as familiar in war as that of the
+soldier, and her name betokens every charity and kindness--but of all
+the heroic women who ever bore their healing art into the dark places
+and black hours of history, no name stands out with the luster of
+Florence Nightingale.
+
+She was born in 1822 in the city of Florence in Italy, and was named
+after the place where she first drew breath. Her father was William
+Nightingale, an English gentleman, and her elder sister, Parthenope,
+also took her name from the place where she was born, for Parthenope is
+the ancient term for Naples.
+
+The Nightingale family did not remain long in Italy, and soon after the
+birth of his youngest child William Nightingale, with his wife and two
+little daughters, returned to England where the two girls spent their
+childhood in a rambling old house in Derbyshire with many traditions
+and stories attached to it. Here Florence conceived a love for nursing
+and used to tend sick animals in the neighborhood and when she grew
+older, to sit up with and cheer the sick among the cottagers. There
+were not many people, even among those who were far older than herself,
+who could minister to the sick with her kindness and skill, and her
+fame soon was general through the neighborhood. Poor men used to come
+hat in hand to the old house requesting that Miss Florence spend a few
+hours with a sick wife or a young mother, and the Nightingales were
+kind enough and sensible enough to allow their daughter to do the work
+for which she had so evident an inclination.
+
+There were no trained nurses in those days, and the general business of
+nursing as a profession was considered almost disreputable. Sick people
+were expected to be cared for by their relatives; hospitals were
+inefficient and badly run, and the comforts of the modern sickroom were
+unknown. As Florence grew older she thought a great deal about these
+things, and finally decided that she would do something which at that
+time was regarded almost as strange as if she had declared her
+intention of visiting the North Pole--she said she was going to become
+a professional trained nurse, and went abroad to study nursing on the
+Continent which was far ahead of England in such matters.
+
+In a European hospital that was more in accord with the standards we
+know to-day and where comfort, skill and cleanliness went hand in hand,
+Florence Nightingale nursed the sick and acquired a mastery of the
+profession as it was then understood. It was so unusual for a woman of
+refinement to enter such a calling that she had become known in many
+places simply because she had decided to become a nurse; and after she
+returned to England she was at once offered the position of
+Superintendent at a Home for Sick Governesses in London.
+
+This home, like many another benevolent institution in those times, was
+badly administered. As it constantly showed a deficit, its friends had
+become discouraged in supporting it, and the subscriptions on which it
+lived had been falling off. The ladies who were compelled to remain
+there did not receive the care that they should have had, and were
+unhappy and dispirited. This was the state of affairs when Florence
+Nightingale became the Superintendent of the Home.
+
+In a very short time the Home was completely changed. Miss Nightingale
+had personally visited the former subscribers, and secured once more
+their help and patronage. She had changed the system on which the Home
+had been run to such an extent that it served as a model for
+institutions of its kind, and where the unfortunate women that lived
+there had been on the verge of actual physical suffering, they were now
+well cared for and contented.
+
+Then war broke out between England, France and Turkey on the one side
+and Russia on the other,--a war that was brought about among other
+reasons by the desire of the Russian Czar to seize and hold the port of
+Constantinople. Great Britain and France supported the Turks and active
+fighting commenced. The theater of war soon shifted to the Crimean
+Peninsula where the British and French laid siege to the town of
+Sebastopol which was Russia's most important fortress and chief base of
+supplies. Before the walls of Sebastopol there took place severe
+fighting, which continued until bitter winter rendered further
+campaigning impossible.
+
+While the war was going on thousands of sick and wounded British
+soldiers were pouring into the base hospitals at Scutari, where no
+provision for their care had been made. With the constant flood of
+wounded men, and men who were dying of dysentery and cholera, with no
+medical supplies and little food, with no nurses and only a few
+doctors, the condition of the British wounded soon became terrible
+beyond description. As there were no field dressing stations they had
+to be carried for days with their wounds undressed before they reached
+the hospital, and when they arrived it was often some time before the
+harassed doctors could care for them. They were brought in with their
+uniforms covered with filth and blood, and were laid in long rows on
+the floors of the hospital where few cots were to be found. Vermin
+crawled over the floors, over the walls and over the bodies of the
+helpless men. Rats gnawed the fingers of the wounded who were too weak
+to drive them away. There were no conveniences of any kind and many men
+died of exhaustion because no food adequate for the sick could be
+prepared. All the food, we are told, consisted of beef and vegetables
+boiled together in one huge caldron, into which new supplies were
+thrown indiscriminately as fast as they were delivered. The bread was
+moldy and the beef too tough even for well men to eat.
+
+Owing to the efforts of a war correspondent of the London _Times_, the
+people at home were soon informed of the state of affairs in the
+Crimea, and gifts and supplies poured in profusely. But owing to the
+inefficiency and red tape of the War Department, the supplies were not
+delivered, but lay rotting in warehouses and in the holds of vessels
+while men died for the want of them. On one occasion, we are told, a
+consignment of shoes for the soldiers turned out to be in women's
+sizes. Improper inspections resulted in high profits, for the army
+contractors made uniforms out of shoddy and leather accouterments from
+paper, filled the cores of hay bales with kale stocks and cheated the
+Government right and left without forbearance or conscience.
+
+Then the newspapers began calling for English women to go to the Crimea
+and care for the sick, and Florence Nightingale heard the call. She
+wrote a letter to Sydney Herbert who was Minister of War, volunteering
+to organize a body of nurses and go out to the Crimea to care for the
+wounded.
+
+Right then a curious thing happened. The War Department had already
+decided that Miss Nightingale was the one person who could take charge
+of the reorganization of the hospitals in the Crimea, and had written a
+letter requesting her services. Offer and request crossed each other in
+the mails. On the following day her appointment was officially
+announced, and she was overwhelmed with proffers of assistance from all
+sides.
+
+A large number of patriotic women volunteered to aid her, but only a
+very few possessed the necessary qualifications for such a task. Of all
+that offered to go Miss Nightingale was only able to accept thirty that
+she considered would be capable of performing the severe tasks that lay
+ahead, for she knew only too well the grim welcome she would receive at
+the Crimea.
+
+Without farewells, quietly and at night, seen off only by a few
+intimate relatives, the little group of nurses started on their
+mission--the first one where women were to care for the soldiers who
+had fallen in war.
+
+They crossed the English Channel and arrived at Boulogne in France on
+the following morning, where they were given a rousing greeting by the
+voluble French fish-wives, who had heard of their mission and who
+crowded around them to get a sight of the angels of mercy. From there
+they made their way to the seat of the war, and Miss Nightingale looked
+for the first time on the hospital where she was so soon to acquire
+immortal fame.
+
+It may well be thought that her heart sank when she saw the enormity of
+the task that lay before her, for she had been sent to bring order from
+chaos, plenty from want, comfort from torture and cleanliness from
+wholesale filth. She had to contend not only with these awful
+conditions, but with the dislike and distrust of the medical officers
+with whom she was to work, who resented the fact that a woman had been
+sent out to reorganize what they considered a part of their department,
+and who doubted, because she was a woman, that she would be capable of
+doing so efficiently.
+
+And when she arrived there was no time to spend in preliminary
+planning, for active fighting had been going on at the front and the
+wounded from recent battles were pouring in, adding to the confusion
+that already existed. They were laid groaning in hallways and on the
+bare ground until such time as the doctors could look after them.
+
+Then Florence Nightingale, hardly taking breath, plunged into the task
+that awaited her and sent her nurses to the quarters where they were
+most needed. With their own hands these brave Englishwomen scrubbed the
+reeking floors and supervised the work of the orderlies. They visited
+the quartermasters and obtained the supplies that had been tied up
+through faulty administration and through army red tape, and in a short
+time they had established a diet kitchen where several hundred sick and
+wounded men could have the food they required, food that would save
+their lives.
+
+The death rate, we are told, before this woman nurse and her little
+company arrived at the hospital was sixty percent of all the cases that
+were treated there--and after she had effected the changes that she saw
+were necessary, the death rate was only one percent--a fact in itself
+that speaks more loudly than any words for her efficiency and her
+bravery.
+
+At times this indomitable woman was on her feet for twenty hours out of
+the twenty-four, supervising, directing, taking the last message of
+some dying soldier for his family, feeding another who was too weak to
+feed himself. The doctors who had been her opponents soon looked up to
+her and became her devoted friends, and the men who had been through
+such terrible sufferings thought she was indeed an angel from heaven,
+and, as she passed down the long wards would furtively kiss her shadow
+as it fell across their blankets. Many a time she took charge of cases
+that had been given up by the doctors, who turned their attention
+always to those whom they believed had a fighting chance for life, and
+she nursed them back to life with a patience and a tenderness that the
+doctors could not spare.
+
+From the ships and warehouses there commenced to appear the comforts
+that sick men demanded--sheets and nightgowns, socks and pillows; in
+the place of the nauseous beef stew, the wounded began to get broths
+and jellies. Should they die they were sure of a woman's hand and a
+kindly ministration at the last, for Florence Nightingale had resolved
+that no man should die unattended in her hospital. And the wonders she
+performed were heard of back in England, where her name became
+national.
+
+She had gone to Scutari in 1854. In May, 1855, she visited other
+hospitals that were nearer the seat of war and went into the trenches
+themselves before Sebastopol. One of her biographers tells us that when
+she entered the trenches she was warned by a sentinel to go no further,
+because the enemy had the place under close watch and would certainly
+open fire when they beheld a group of people at that particular point.
+
+"My good young man," replied Miss Nightingale, "more dead and wounded
+have passed through my hands than I hope you will ever see on the
+battlefield during the whole of your military career; believe me, I
+have no fear of death."
+
+Then she fell ill with Crimean fever, and through the army the news was
+received with more consternation than a severe defeat. Men broke down
+and cried like children when they heard that Miss Nightingale lay at
+the point of death, and the Commander in Chief, Lord Raglan, rode
+through sleet and mud for hours to visit her personally. She did not
+die, however, but recovered to take up again her duties as chief nurse
+and organizer.
+
+When the war was ended Miss Nightingale remained at the Crimea until
+the last soldiers were sent home, and then, and not till then, she
+followed them. After most of the men had left and only a few remained
+she still worked faithfully to serve them, establishing "reading huts"
+and places of recreation such as the Red Cross and the Y.M.C.A.
+established in France and Belgium in the course of the World War some
+sixty years later.
+
+As a matter of fact the work performed by Miss Nightingale was
+indirectly responsible for the birth of the Red Cross which was
+organized in Switzerland some four years after she had finished her
+work at the Crimea, and certainly no name in the Red Cross, in spite of
+the host of noble men and women who have served there, has ever equaled
+the glory of her own.
+
+She returned to England quietly as she had left, although a British
+Government placed a battleship at her service--and she lived in England
+engaged in useful and philanthropic work for a great many years. With a
+fund of about $250,000 she founded the Nightingale Home for the proper
+training of nurses, a fund that she could have doubled or trebled had
+she so desired, or if the needs of the home had required it. In the
+following years she was frequently consulted on hospital organization
+in the armies not only of Great Britain but of Continental nations as
+well. She died in 1910, one of the great figures among the heroines of
+history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+FATHER DAMIEN
+
+
+Many are the stories of brave doctors and ministers who have sacrificed
+themselves in times of pestilence and plague, caring for the sick,
+allowing experiments to be performed on their own bodies, and giving
+their lives without fear in the hope of saving invalids and sufferers;
+but no story is more thrilling than that of the Belgian priest named
+Father Damien.
+
+Father Damien's real name was Joseph de Veuster, and he was born in the
+year 1840, in the little village of Tremeloo in Belgium, not far from
+the city of Louvain that became famous in the World War when the
+Germans sacked it, burned its university and murdered its inhabitants.
+
+A strong religious impulse ruled the de Veuster family, and out of
+three children two were destined for a religious life. As a matter of
+fact all three finally entered the service of the Church--a girl named
+Pauline who entered a convent and two brothers, Auguste and Joseph, who
+became respectively Father Pamphile and Father Damien.
+
+Originally the parents of these three children had decided that Auguste
+was to become a priest and Joseph was to enter business and be a
+merchant, but it could easily be seen the priesthood was also the life
+for Joseph, who had a serious and contemplative nature even when very
+young, and spent much of his time in prayer and meditation. On one
+occasion, when only four years old, Joseph had been found on his knees
+before the altar of the church when it was supposed that he had
+wandered away from home and been lost in the woods or the fields about
+the town, and when still a young boy he was fond of taking long walks
+by himself in the fields and of herding sheep until he became known as
+"the little shepherd."
+
+When Joseph was eighteen his sister Pauline left home to enter the
+convent, and even before that time his brother had gone to Paris to
+study at the home of the Picpus Fathers. Joseph himself, in accordance
+with his parents' design that he was to become a business man, went to
+a town in France called Braine le Comte to learn the rudiments of a
+commercial career and to study the French language. But while he had
+gone there willingly, he felt the desire for a religious life more and
+more strongly, until he finally told his parents that he desired to be
+a priest. It was not difficult for him to obtain their consent and
+Joseph went to Paris to study at the same school that his brother had
+attended.
+
+In Paris Joseph served as a novice and when this term was ended he went
+to Louvain where his brother was already a priest in holy orders,
+having adopted the name of Father Pamphile. Joseph himself planned to
+take the name of Father Damien.
+
+For some time Joseph lived with his brother in Louvain where he
+continued his studies, but he was not yet ordained as a priest when an
+event took place that changed the whole course of his life and was
+destined in the end to make his name famous throughout the civilized
+world.
+
+The Picpus Fathers, like many other Catholic brothers, were great
+missionaries, carrying on this service in what were then called the
+Sandwich Islands, now better known as the Hawaiian Islands, under the
+Government of the United States. At that time, however, the islands
+formed an independent state under a native king and there was a great
+deal to be done by the missionaries that went there.
+
+Father Pamphile received orders to go to the Sandwich Islands and
+engage in missionary work. He was delighted, for this work appealed to
+him and he felt that he could serve his Church better in that far
+country than by remaining in Louvain where he had his parish. After his
+passage had been engaged, however, Father Pamphile was smitten with an
+attack of typhus fever, and found himself unable to answer the call to
+foreign service when the time came.
+
+Now Joseph was even more ardent than his brother, and he burned to
+answer this call himself, although he was not yet a priest. He asked
+Father Pamphile, however, if it would be his pleasure for him to take
+his place and engage in the missionary work that had been intended for
+the elder brother; and Father Pamphile was only too glad to have Joseph
+perform the task that his illness had rendered him unable to perform
+himself. So Joseph wrote to his superiors, volunteering to go to the
+Sandwich Islands in place of Father Pamphile, and soon a letter was
+received consenting to the new arrangement. Wild with delight he told
+his brother of what had taken place and at once commenced making his
+preparations for the voyage.
+
+The islands to which Father Damien was bound are of the greatest
+tropical beauty, and the natives have become known all over the world
+for their strange customs, their unusual music and their skill in
+swimming the deep blue waters that surround the land where they live.
+At that time, however, they were suffering from the ravages of the most
+terrible disease, perhaps, in the entire world,--certainly the one most
+feared from the times of the Bible down to the present day. This was
+the disease of leprosy.
+
+Leprosy was not a native disease in the Hawaiian Islands originally,
+but had been carried there by merchants or voyagers from the Far East
+where was its home, but it spread so rapidly among the natives that
+before long it seemed as if the Hawaiian Islands themselves had been
+the cradle of this terrible scourge. This was due, we are told, to the
+hospitable habits of the islanders, who lived closely together, and to
+their kindness in persisting in keeping with them those members of
+their families who had already fallen its victims. At about the time
+that Father Damien reached the islands, however, the Government had
+taken the matter in hand, and all the lepers that could be found were
+torn from their families and carried to a lonely island named Molokai.
+Here they were outcasts, deserted by their friends and relatives,
+living in wretchedness and desolation and, in that time, provided only
+with the barest necessities of life.
+
+After a voyage of five months, in which his ship contended with many
+gales and much rough weather, Father Damien arrived in the Sandwich
+Islands and was at once made a full priest and given a parish in a wild
+part of the country--a parish so large that it took him days to go from
+one end of it to the other. He worked hard and soon became well known
+among the natives under his care, and to his fellow churchmen as a man
+of great earnestness and much physical strength.
+
+One day Father Damien happened to be at a meeting of churchmen which
+was being addressed by the Bishop who said that he deeply regretted
+that he could spare no priest to send to the Island of Molokai to the
+unfortunate lepers, who seemed to be cast off there forsaken of God and
+man alike and whose condition was wretched beyond belief. But Father
+Damien at once arose and pointed out to the Bishop that a priest
+_could_ be spared for such service, for one of the newcomers to the
+islands could take charge of his own parish, while he himself, he said,
+would go to Molokai and spend his life in caring for the lepers, whose
+condition made his heart bleed whenever he thought of them.
+
+It can be imagined that a gasp of astonishment and admiration went
+through the assemblage that heard this courageous offer, for the man
+who volunteered for such service was going to living death--to a place
+of horror and human suffering where life appeared in its most hideous
+form, and where disease wrote its imprint on the human body with such a
+terrible flourish that the very sight of Father Damien's future
+companions was enough to strike fear to the heart's core. But Father
+Damien thought little of all this; he knew that he could do much good
+among the lepers, and he made the offer in simple sincerity without a
+thought of himself or of the dangers that he would encounter.
+
+It is needless to say that it was accepted. On the spot Bishop Maigret
+assigned to Father Damien the island of Molokai for a parish, and the
+brave priest left on the next boat, not even having time to take with
+him a change of linen or the simplest necessities of life.
+
+It may be thought that Father Damien's heart sank when he reached the
+island. A high and gloomy cliff of rock towered above the settlement of
+the lepers, and he found them living in the rudest of huts, dying from
+vice as well as from disease. Water was difficult to obtain and there
+were none of the conveniences and few of the necessities of life.
+Moreover, in that settlement, which was one that had lost all hope, the
+only law that was known was the law of despair, and those that lived
+there tried to forget their unhappy lot in wild orgies and revels,
+drinking a fiery spirit they distilled themselves called "Ki" which was
+made from the root of a plant that grew in profusion on the island,
+fighting and gambling as they chose, and dying like dogs with none to
+care for them, and with little hope for even a decent burial.
+
+Here in this hell hole Father Damien was left to his own devices and
+surrounded by the misshapen and hideous creatures for whose lives he
+had sacrificed his own. Bishop Maigret accompanied him to Molokai, and
+told the lepers he had brought them a new Father, who loved them so
+much that he was willing to live with them and become one of them. Then
+the good bishop went back to Honolulu, and Father Damien set himself
+about the task that he had made his entire life work.
+
+As he could not sleep in the huts of the lepers, the brave priest made
+his lodging on the ground beneath a pandanus tree, and calling his new
+parishioners together he preached to them with brave and comforting
+words, telling them that they must not despair, but make the most of
+their lives as they were, and that he would help them to build better
+houses and bring to them the comforts that they needed. And at once he
+busied himself getting building materials from the Government, with
+which trim cottages were built, and water pipes, through which he had
+fresh water piped down to the settlement from a cold spring above the
+cliff. He built a chapel and a dispensary, and not content with this he
+bandaged the sores of the lepers with his own hands, and washed their
+wounds. Through his efforts a hospital was finally provided and a
+doctor came to Molokai, and following his example sisters of mercy and
+brave missionaries came there to work, but for a long time Father
+Damien was alone with his charges, performing rough tasks with none to
+aid him, except the aid that he obtained from the lepers themselves.
+
+It cannot be thought that a man who performed such services could
+forever escape contracting the disease, and after Father Damien had
+been ten years on Molokai he found himself a victim of the scourge
+against which he had so bravely and successfully contended. A visit to
+the resident doctor confirmed the worst of his fears, and after that
+when speaking to his congregation he used the words "we lepers,"
+telling them that he himself had received the cross from which they
+suffered, and henceforth was one of them in something more than name.
+
+Although he was now an invalid, he did not fail to perform his priestly
+duties until the end, but he never told his family in Belgium of the
+misfortune that had befallen him. They learned it eventually from
+others, and the shock of the discovery hastened his mother's death.
+
+After fifteen years' service among the lepers Father Damien died of the
+disease, leaving behind him a name for pure self-sacrifice that has not
+been surpassed since the beginning of the Christian era. He had lived
+to see the leper colony grow from a ribald, obscene settlement to an
+orderly hospital where as much as was possible was done for the
+sufferers that were compelled to remain there. And he had the
+satisfaction of knowing that others would carry on efficiently the work
+that he had begun.
+
+But in spite of all his bravery and his self-sacrifice this heroic
+priest was not without his traducers. A short time after his death a
+certain missionary named Dr. Hyde made scurrilous charges against him
+which were answered by that great writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, in a
+letter that has become one of the classics of English literature, and
+in which it was predicted that Father Damien would be made a saint by
+the Church of Rome, as he is indeed a saint in the bravery and purity
+of his life and his deeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+CATHERINE BRESHKOVSKY
+
+
+In the year 1844 in Russia was born one of the most remarkable women of
+modern times. Her full name is Ekaterina Constantinovna
+Breshko-Breshkovskaya, but in America she is called Catherine
+Breshkovsky, and as such she will be known in these pages. Both her
+father and her mother were of noble birth, and when she was a little
+girl her father had a large estate on which hundreds of serfs were held
+in bondage.
+
+While the negroes in the United States were kept in slavery, the
+peasants in Russia were in almost as bad a plight. They lived on the
+estates of the great nobles and formed a part of the nobles' property.
+Toiling from dawn until far into the night with frequent floggings and
+browbeatings from their masters they bore the burdens of the Russian
+government that gave them nothing in return. While the noblemen feasted
+on the fruits of the peasants' toil, the peasants themselves starved to
+death. When war came it was the peasants who furnished the armies while
+the nobles themselves seldom went to the front but remained behind the
+lines in safety.
+
+When Catherine was a little girl she saw many instances of injustice
+and oppression, although the serfs on her father's estate were treated
+far better than many others. She did not know why she herself had fine
+clothes and delicate food, when the children of her father's servants
+were ragged and dirty, and often had just enough to eat to keep them
+from starving. She used to ask her parents what was the reason that
+they had no work to perform, while others had to get up when the stars
+were still shining and labor until long after the sun had set at night.
+And why the ones who did not work were so much better off than the
+others who did. And before she was eight years old, she had formed the
+habit of giving away her own possessions to the children of the serfs,
+who never had the pretty things with which she was surfeited.
+
+Before she was nine, Catherine, we are told, had read a long history of
+Russia in nine large volumes, and when she was a girl of sixteen she
+had made an especial study of the French Revolution and the causes that
+led up to it.
+
+The Crimean war came, and soldiers went to the front in large numbers.
+They were all taken from the families of the serfs, and while a certain
+number of the noblemen went to the war as officers of the Russian army,
+many others stayed at home safely, not being compelled to fight for
+their country as the peasants were. And the injustice of the system was
+very evident to the young girl, who even then was forming the idea of
+devoting her life to aiding the suffering and oppressed people who
+surrounded her.
+
+About the time that the Civil War began in the United States a great
+change came over the peasantry in Russia, but it was a change that
+seemed to do them little good. The Russian Czar issued a proclamation
+in 1861 in which he declared that all serfs in his dominions were at
+liberty, and if they chose could leave the estates of their former
+masters and seek work where they wished.
+
+But the serfs were worse off than ever before, because in the
+proclamation nothing was said about the land on which they had been
+living and which belonged to the nobles. They knew no trade except that
+of tilling the soil, and now that they were no longer the property of
+the nobles, their land was taken away from them and they had no means
+by which they could earn a living. Then terrible scenes commenced to be
+enacted. The serfs were ruthlessly driven from their homes and when
+they sought to remain were beaten in great numbers, being flogged so
+severely with the knout that many of them died as a result. Most of
+them were densely ignorant, and reading and writing were far beyond
+their knowledge. They could not understand why the land on which they
+had always lived and worked was taken from them, and why they were now
+denied even the bitter bread that they had formerly been able to earn.
+
+Among the Russian nobility, however, were many high minded young men
+and women, who like Catherine felt the injustice of the serfs' hard lot
+and desired to help them. These young people formed into philanthropic
+bands, and went into the villages to teach the serfs, help them with
+their labor, minister to them in sickness and to make their condition
+better in every way possible. Thousands of boys and girls of gentle
+birth flocked to the Russian Universities and from there went to
+befriend the serfs. Throughout the younger generation a different
+feeling existed toward the common people than ever before in Russian
+history.
+
+Catherine's father himself was liberal in his views and had already
+done what he could to alleviate the sufferings of his former bondsmen.
+When Catherine came to him and told him that she did not think that she
+could endure living in idleness any longer, but desired to support
+herself, he consented, and the girl who all her life had been used to
+the greatest luxuries went away to become a governess in the house of a
+nobleman, where she could live honestly by the fruits of her own labor.
+
+Her father did not long consent to this, however, and helped her to
+open a boarding house for girls, where she taught school until she was
+twenty-five years old when she was married. Her husband was a young
+nobleman who sympathized with her liberal ideas, and himself had done a
+great deal to better the condition of the Russian people. He helped his
+wife work for the peasants and began a cooperative banking scheme by
+which they might benefit.
+
+But Catherine grew more and more discontented with the terrible
+conditions that surrounded her on every side. She happened to go to the
+city of Kiev to visit her sister and she took her meals at a student's
+boarding house. She heard a great deal of discussion of the condition
+of Russia there and saw a great many young students who were interested
+in public affairs. And one day she held a secret meeting of students in
+her room to talk over what more could be done to make Russia a better
+place to live in.
+
+While the younger generation had been striving in every way possible to
+help the serfs, the Russian Government did all in its power to hinder
+them. This government was then an absolute autocracy, which means that
+it was under the complete control of one ruler and a few advisors. The
+Czar of Russia knew that when his people grew better educated and more
+enlightened his own power would grow less, so he did all that he could
+to keep them in the state of darkness and ignorance in which they had
+languished for centuries. When young noblemen and girls sought to teach
+or help the peasants, they met with obstacles on every side, and many
+of them were treated with great severity by the officers of the Czar.
+This naturally angered them, and they began to form plans to overthrow
+the Czar's power, since they saw that any real progress would be
+impossible so long as the regime that then existed remained in force.
+In short they became revolutionists; and Catherine herself was well on
+the road to becoming one.
+
+When Catherine came home from Kiev she and her husband conducted a
+series of meetings in which they made speeches to the peasants and
+labored harder than ever to improve their condition, but this soon
+brought them under the eye of the Czar's spies, and they were warned
+that they had better discontinue their efforts and let the peasants
+take care of themselves. And this was the final event that determined
+Catherine to become a revolutionist and bend all her energies to
+overthrowing the Czar's government.
+
+She talked it over with her husband and asked him if he were ready to
+throw in his lot with those who sought to change the government, saying
+that she herself had resolved to do so. It meant suffering, poverty,
+hardships and very probably prison or death. Her husband was unwilling
+to take the risk and they parted forever. Soon after this Catherine had
+a son, and on account of the life that she had chosen was obliged to
+leave him with friends. It was a bitter moment for her when she gave
+him up, but it only strengthened her in her purpose.
+
+Many revolutionists were at work in Russia at that time, and were
+scattered all through the country in various disguises. They were sent
+from various revolutionary centers to preach revolution to the peasants
+and to kindle the flames of revolt against the Czar. Others did social
+work, and sought to educate the peasants to the point where they would
+have sufficient knowledge to understand the revolutionary doctrines
+when they heard them--and it was in this form of work that Catherine
+first engaged.
+
+At last, however, she entered into the more active work of the
+revolutionists, and in person commenced to spread revolutionary ideas
+among the common people. With two companions disguised as peasants, and
+in peasant garb herself, carrying a pack crammed with revolutionary
+pamphlets and literature, Catherine made her way to a little village,
+where she took a small hut and pretended to be a woman who dyed
+clothes. As soon as she grew to know the peasants she commenced to
+preach to them and to incite them to revolution. She told them that the
+Czar was an evil ruler, and that he and his nobles had always fattened
+themselves at the peasants' expense; that the Russian people would
+always be poor and miserable so long as the Czar remained in power;
+that they had a right to the land that was taken from them, and were no
+better than slaves who dared not call their souls their own--and
+furthermore that their only salvation lay in rising throughout Russia,
+overthrowing the Czar and establishing a government where all men
+should be free and equal, and where every man would have a right to
+earn his daily bread.
+
+When the peasants in one village failed to respond Catherine and her
+comrades moved on to another town, and little by little they brought
+the doctrines of revolution to the mass of ignorant people, who were
+looking for some means to better themselves and realize a little of the
+happiness of life.
+
+The life of a traveling preacher of this sort was filled with hardship.
+Catherine, who had been used to every luxury, was forced to eat the
+coarsest food and often to go hungry. She had to sleep in houses that
+were filled with dirt and vermin. Her audiences were stupid in the
+extreme, and were often as afraid of the revolutionists as they were of
+the Cossacks and the Czar's officials. Moreover there was always the
+danger of arrest and imprisonment, followed by exile to Siberia, or
+death on the gallows.
+
+One day in the town of Zlatopol, where Catherine was carrying on her
+revolutionary work, a police officer stopped her and demanded her
+passport. This passport was forged and when she showed it he suspected
+her. Then, when he commenced to treat her with the indignities to which
+the peasants were accustomed she resented it, disclosing the fact that
+she was from the upper classes. Her pack was torn open and the
+revolutionary pamphlets were found. The case against her was complete.
+
+She was hurried to prison and thrown into a foul dungeon, where the
+filth and suffering forced on her were indescribable. And here she was
+kept for long, weary months until her case should come to trial.
+
+It was in this prison that she first learned the secret code that
+prisoners in Russia used to communicate with one another. One day, as
+she lay on the bundle of rags that formed her couch, she heard a faint
+tapping on an iron pipe that ran through her cell. She responded, and
+on the pipe tapped out the alphabet, one tap standing for "a", two for
+"b" and so on. From this laborous method she learned another code which
+was the one generally in use among the imprisoned revolutionists; and
+she spent long hours communicating with friends in different parts of
+the prison who were in solitary confinement like herself, and whom she
+had never seen.
+
+At last Catherine was brought up for trial and was sentenced to exile
+in Siberia. Because she told her judges that she refused to acknowledge
+the authority of the Czar she was given an extra sentence of five years
+at hard labor in the mines. She had already been in prison several
+years awaiting trial--and out of three hundred who had been imprisoned
+in the same jail more than one hundred had died or become insane.
+
+Catherine then commenced a weary two months journey into Siberia, where
+she was first to go to prison and later remain as an exile. The
+prisoners traveled in covered wagons, that jolted and bumped endlessly
+over the rough roads, and at night they were thrown into roadside
+jails, filthy beyond description. For eight long weeks this journey
+continued until Catherine reached the prison at Kara.
+
+Here she was not compelled to work after all, but was forced to eat the
+vilest food and wear out her soul in idleness, with no occupation
+except to witness the sufferings of her companions. When her prison
+term was ended she was taken to a little town called Barguzon near the
+Arctic Circle, where the thermometer often dropped to fifty below zero,
+and here she was kept under close guard for many years.
+
+Words cannot describe the misery of the Siberian exiles as Catherine
+saw them--men, women and children, sick and forlorn, compelled to march
+for miles over the bleak countryside, surrounded by brutal guards who
+prodded them on with their bayonets. After she had been for some time
+at Barguzon she tried to escape with three men who were also political
+exiles, and sought to gain the Pacific coast a thousand miles away,
+where she hoped she might take ship for America. She was pursued and
+recaptured, and given another term in the prison at Kara on account of
+her attempt to escape.
+
+Catherine was a young woman when she went into exile; she remained
+until she was old and her hairs were gray before her term of punishment
+ended. She had been in exile more than twenty years and in all that
+time she had not seen one of her relatives or heard the voice of a
+friend. At last she was set free.
+
+When she arrived at her former home she spent several months in making
+visits to relatives, and once again entered the work of the
+revolutionists. She was now famous in their circles and known to great
+numbers of peasants who loved her dearly and called her "Grandmother."
+She had many narrow escapes from the police, but her friends always
+succeeded in concealing her.
+
+On one occasion she was hiding in a house, while the police officers
+searched for her. It was the cook's day off, and Catherine, in the
+cook's dress, was stirring the soup at the stove while the police
+officers ranged the house to discover her.
+
+In 1904 she came to the United States to do what she could to spread
+the work of the revolution by gaining money from Russians in America.
+She received a cordial reception and made many friends among the
+Americans, some of them being the most prominent men and women in the
+country. The Russians themselves received her most enthusiastically
+wherever she went, and she returned with $10,000 for the Cause.
+
+Through the double dealing of one of her supposed friends, Catherine
+was arrested again in 1908 and sent once more to Siberia. She remained
+there until after the outbreak of the World War, while the Germans
+overran Belgium and Russia in turn. She remained, in fact, until the
+revolution for which she had labored for so many years at last took
+place, and the Czar was overthrown. Then she was invited to return by
+the Government of Kerensky, who came into power when the Czar fell.
+
+Her return from Siberia with the other political exiles was like a
+triumphal ovation. At every stop the train made crowds thronged about
+her carriage, cheering and shouting for "the little grandmother of the
+Russian Revolution," as she was called on account of her many years of
+labor for the cause. On her arrival in Moscow she was placed in the
+Czar's former coach of state, and was driven in triumph through the
+city to the assembly of the people called the Douma, which was then
+sitting. At Petrograd she was given a sumptuous apartment in the Czar's
+former palace. Everywhere her name was on the lips of thousands, and
+everywhere she received cheers, kisses and handclasps. It may almost
+have been worth the suffering she went through to receive a triumph so
+generous as that afforded her by the Russian people, who realized that
+she had been one of the chief leaders of the revolutionary movement and
+that her heart was bound up in its ultimate triumph.
+
+But the revolution did not succeed, and it was not long before Russia
+was once more in the grip of a force even more deadly than that of the
+former Czar. The Bolshevists soon organized and drove Kerensky from
+power, and anarchy ruled throughout Russia. Catherine Breshkovsky was
+declared a public enemy by the Government of Lenine and Trotsky. She
+was in danger of her life if captured, as the Bolshevists were talking
+of putting her to death. After an unsuccessful attempt to organize
+resistance to the new government, Catherine was hidden by friends while
+the Bolshevists sought her, and after traveling for six hundred miles
+on horseback reached Vladivostok, where she found a steamer ready to
+take her to America. Here she was again welcomed cordially and made
+much of on every side, and here too she made many speeches against the
+Bolshevist government. Although she is over seventy-five years old she
+declares that she will still aid Russia to gain the freedom and peace
+it craves and if given an opportunity she will no doubt take part in
+the future development of her country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THEODORE ROOSEVELT
+
+
+Among the great men who have been President of the United States,
+Theodore Roosevelt holds a unique position. Although he had no great
+trial to undergo in the term of his office--no trial similar to what
+Washington and Lincoln were forced to endure,--he endeared himself to
+his fellow countrymen almost equally with these two for his splendid
+Americanism, his vitality, his kindness and the force of his
+personality. After his term of office ended and when he was a simple
+citizen once more, the bare word of Roosevelt's opinion had more
+influence on the country than the utterance of any public man who still
+held office. For the power of Roosevelt as a man and an American was
+greater than any other in the nation.
+
+Roosevelt was born in New York City, as his fathers had been before him
+for six generations. He was the son of Theodore Roosevelt, a glass
+manufacturer, and of a southern girl named Martha Bulloch, who came
+from Georgia. Both his father and mother were unusual people, and of a
+quality to have a son whose greatness might be of the first
+magnitude--but until Roosevelt had graduated from college, he showed no
+signs that he was different from other boys.
+
+He did not even seem to have been given the same chance for success
+that is granted to other boys, for from his infancy his health was
+feeble, he was undersized, and nervous, and suffered so greatly from
+asthma and other troubles that he was not able to attend school
+regularly.
+
+When he was still a small boy, however, he made a resolution to gain
+the bodily strength that he needed and set about conquering the
+weaknesses that handicapped him. He secured a set of boxing gloves from
+his father, and with great determination went to work to learn how to
+defend himself from the other boys in his neighborhood, who were prone
+to annoy him because he was an easy victim. He became fond of athletics
+of all kinds and was intensely interested in naturalism intending at
+one time to make science his life work; and he drilled himself in doing
+the things that were difficult for him to do, until, though naturally
+somewhat timid or shy, he did not know the meaning of the word fear,
+and has been looked on as a prodigy of courage, both physical and
+moral.
+
+Roosevelt was popular in Harvard University, and gained a number of
+steadfast friends who stood by him throughout his life. He received his
+degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1880, and soon after married a girl named
+Alice Lee. After a brief trip to Europe, where he climbed the
+Matterhorn in Switzerland, he settled down to the study of law in
+Columbia University, and at the same time learned its more practical
+side in the downtown law offices of a relative.
+
+But Roosevelt had not yet found himself. He had no love for the law,
+and cast about for some career in which his natural energy could show
+itself to better advantage. He no longer desired to be a naturalist,
+for the scientific side of that profession was too sedentary for him.
+He had wished to be an author, and for some time had been working on "A
+History of the War of 1812," which was published soon after he left
+Harvard. But in politics he found the career he was seeking, and soon
+became influential in the Republican Club of the assembly district to
+which he belonged, where, in spite of the fact that he was considered a
+"silk stocking" because he was a gentleman, he gained the liking of the
+political bosses and was elected to the State Assembly.
+
+The slightly-built young man wearing glasses and with the reputation of
+a college dude was not taken seriously in the Assembly at first, but it
+was not long before he had become one of its leaders and a man of
+national reputation.
+
+He won fame in his first term by rising one day and demanding that a
+certain judge be impeached. He was received with ridicule and laughter,
+and was warned not to injure the party, or to make "loose charges" that
+might cause trouble. He stood alone, a young and inexperienced man,
+against the combined weight of machine politics in the state, and it
+was practically certain that his own political future was dead as a
+result of his act. But in spite of this Roosevelt demanded once more
+that the judge be impeached and kept up his demand until he was
+supported by certain newspapers. At last his action resulted in a
+statewide cry for the impeachment of the judge, and the Assembly, which
+could not afford to ignore the letters and newspaper articles which
+came pouring in, was compelled to give in and do as Roosevelt had
+demanded.
+
+At another time he was attacked by a bully and ex-prize fighter who was
+hired by some of his enemies to teach him the rewards to be won from
+"meddling." The result was unexpected. The bully went sprawling,
+knocked down by a well directed blow from the undersized, bespectacled
+young assemblyman--and some of the gang that attempted to bring aid to
+the fallen also found themselves upon the floor. Roosevelt, flashing
+his teeth in characteristic manner, told the little knot of his enemies
+who had gathered to witness the affair that he was much obliged to
+them,--that he hadn't enjoyed himself so much since he had been in the
+Assembly!
+
+A terrible and bitter sorrow ended Roosevelt's political career for the
+time being. His mother, to whom he was devotedly attached, died in
+1884, and only twelve hours after this his wife, who had just borne him
+a daughter, died also. Roosevelt's father had already passed away, and
+this double tragedy was too much for him. He quitted politics and
+bought a ranch in Dakota, where he hoped to find forgetfulness from
+sorrow, and in a short time he was leading the wild life of a cowboy,
+roping steers and riding horseback from the first break of dawn until
+far after dark.
+
+For two years Roosevelt remained in his ranch on the Little Missouri
+River, hunting, cow punching and engaging, heart and soul, in the free
+and strenuous life of the West. He did some writing, but believed that
+his political career was ended for good and all, and he believed too
+that he had become a Westerner and should remain one. But he had not
+been forgotten in the East, and before he was thirty years old he
+returned to New York by invitation to run on the Republican ticket for
+Mayor.
+
+He was badly beaten and for a time retired again from politics,
+traveling in Europe. In London he married again, this time a girl whom
+he had known from his early boyhood, named Edith Kermit Carow.
+
+Roosevelt was not long out of public life. Two years after he had been
+beaten as Mayor he was appointed on the Civil Service Commission and
+worked hard and with great ability for six years. Then he was made
+President of the Police Board of New York City, where he found a fight
+to his liking. The New York police were notoriously corrupt, and
+Roosevelt entered with all his might into the task of reorganizing and
+cleaning up his department. He was thoroughly successful and not only
+left a more efficient and cleaner police, but added to the national
+reputation that he had already acquired.
+
+Before his term as President of the Police Board had ended, he was
+offered the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President
+McKinley, and accepted with alacrity. Roosevelt had always been a
+staunch advocate of national preparedness for war, and was delighted to
+have the opportunity of aiding this cause himself. He did what he could
+for the navy and it was due to him, more than to any other man, that
+Admiral Dewey was so well supplied with fuel and munitions when war
+broke out with Spain that he was able to attack the Spanish fleet in
+Manilla Bay without delay.
+
+But Roosevelt was not content with working at a desk when his country
+was at war. He recruited a regiment of cavalry called the "Rough
+Riders" and made up largely from the cowboys and westerners he had
+known in Dakota, although it included men from all parts of the United
+States. This regiment was placed under the command of Roosevelt's
+friend, Colonel Leonard Wood, and Roosevelt himself received the
+appointment of Lieutenant Colonel. He could have had the command of the
+regiment but did not think that he knew enough about army
+administration, and it was due to Roosevelt that Leonard Wood received
+the Colonelcy.
+
+The Rough Riders were sent promptly to Cuba, and when Col. Wood was
+promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, Roosevelt took charge of the
+regiment and personally led it into action at San Juan Hill, where he
+fought with the utmost gallantry. As his men charged up the hill,
+Roosevelt's horse was killed under him, and with drawn sword he led his
+men on foot, the most conspicuous target to be seen, far ahead of his
+men, yelling and cheering them on until they swarmed over the hilltop
+and the Spaniards were driven from the field.
+
+When the war ended Roosevelt returned to New York in a blaze of glory.
+The Republicans took advantage of his popularity and nominated him for
+Governor of New York. He was elected by a large majority, and began at
+Albany once more the work of reform that he had carried on so
+courageously as a Member of the Assembly and on the Civil Service and
+Police Commissions.
+
+It was necessary for Roosevelt to gain the good will of the party
+leaders, for without the support of the Republican machine he could
+accomplish little at Albany. His administration was fearless and at the
+same time tactful, and he soon had a reputation for being the leading
+figure in progressive American politics. But he was feared and
+distrusted by many of the machine politicians, who were compelled to
+recognize his ability and look on him in the light of a possible
+President of the United States, so when Roosevelt's second term as
+Governor ended, strong efforts were made to force on him the office of
+Vice President, by which his enemies hoped he would be safely put out
+of the way for four years at least, and that his political career might
+be ended for good and all.
+
+In addition to the efforts of his enemies to gain this position for
+him, Roosevelt's admirers throughout the country joined the demand,
+thinking that the position was both an honor and a step forward. And
+the demand was so strong that Roosevelt could not refuse, but accepted
+the nomination to the huge delight of those who were afraid of him.
+
+Roosevelt and McKinley were elected to office in 1900. Roosevelt had
+thrown himself into the campaign with characteristic energy, and had
+traveled north and south and east and west almost as many miles as
+would girdle the globe, while his eyeglasses and teeth were seen and
+his fiery speeches heard by millions of Americans. It is said that on
+this trip Roosevelt made nearly seven hundred speeches. The result was
+plain. The election was a Republican landslide, and in March, 1901,
+Roosevelt entered his new duties.
+
+Fate was against the men who had wanted him shelved, for in September
+of the year when he entered office, the martyr, McKinley, was laid low
+by the bullet of a red anarchist, and Roosevelt was called upon to take
+up the reins of government. He was in the Adirondack Mountains at the
+time of the assassination, and he made his way to Buffalo as speedily
+as possible, taking a dangerous drive in the dark over a mountain road
+at a full gallop.
+
+The eyes of the nation were now centered on this comparatively young
+man, who was called to the post of Chief Executive in so trying a
+manner. And Roosevelt's first public act was such as to inspire the
+utmost confidence in him, for he declared that he would follow out the
+McKinley policies and retain the McKinley Cabinet. Throughout his term
+he strove conscientiously to keep the letter of his promise, although
+it was inevitable that with his own powerful character the trend of the
+administration must be changed.
+
+"His conduct of domestic as well as foreign affairs," says Herman
+Hagedorn, "was fearless and vigorous. He saw clearly that the question
+of most vital importance before the country was the control and strict
+regulation of the great corporations. In the famous Northern Securities
+merger he presented a test case to the Supreme Court which ultimately
+opened the way for the prosecution of the other great corporations
+which had violated the Sherman Anti-trust Law. His fight against the
+conservative forces of both parties on this question, and kindred
+matters of railroad regulation, was intensely bitter and extended
+throughout his period of office.
+
+"His dealings with labor were equally far sighted and firm. He favored
+combinations of labor as he favored combinations of capital, but stood
+as firmly against lawlessness on the part of laboring men as he stood
+against it on the part of capitalists.
+
+"'At last,' said one of the 'labor men' at a luncheon one day, 'there
+is a hearing for us fellows.'
+
+"'Yes,' cried the President emphatically. 'The White House door, while
+I am here, shall swing open as easily for the labor man as for the
+capitalist _and no easier_.'"
+
+One of Roosevelt's greatest pieces of diplomacy that was kept secret at
+the time, and is such a striking example of his complete and utter
+fearlessness is his dealing with the German Kaiser in 1901, when
+Germany broke off diplomatic relations with Venezuela, and prepared to
+occupy Venezuelan territory by force of arms. Roosevelt called the
+German Ambassador to the White House; he told him that unless the
+Kaiser arbitrated the matter with Venezuela, the American fleet under
+Admiral Dewey would be sent to Venezuelan waters to prevent any
+hostilities that the Germans might undertake; he stated this as a fact,
+he said, not as a threat, and he gave the German Government a week to
+accede to his request.
+
+As the week passed without word from Germany, Roosevelt told the
+Ambassador that in view of the Kaiser's silence, the American fleet
+would sail a day earlier than had been planned, and as promptly as
+cables could do the work, Germany gave in and consented to arbitration.
+Roosevelt's prompt action in this matter and the courageous stand he
+took with the Berlin government undoubtedly prevented war, which might,
+when started, very easily have embroiled the world.
+
+The power of America, Roosevelt believed, was the strongest influence
+against war. When he was conscious of a "veiled truculence" in the
+Japanese diplomatic communications, the American battle fleet was
+ordered to make a cruise around the world, ostensibly for training, but
+really to show the world, and particularly the Asiatics, that the
+United States had ample means to enforce its rights in all waters and
+on every sea.
+
+"Every particle of trouble with the Japanese Government and the
+Japanese press," says Roosevelt in a letter, "stopped like magic as
+soon as they found that our fleet had actually sailed and was obviously
+in good trim. As I told Von Tirpitz (the German admiral), I thought it
+a good thing that the Japanese should know there were fleets of the
+white races which were totally different from the fleet of poor
+Rojestvensky."
+
+But Roosevelt was not a lover of war in spite of the warlike stand he
+took on several occasions. And his efforts in bringing about peace
+between Japan and Russia resulted in the award to him of the Nobel
+Peace Prize of $40,000.
+
+The constructive work he accomplished while in office is too great to
+be even sketched in these brief pages. It was in Roosevelt's term,
+however, that the famous Panama Canal was begun and pushed toward
+completion.
+
+When his administration had ended and he was a private citizen once
+more, Roosevelt started on his famous hunting trip to the jungles of
+Africa, where he indulged to the full his love of excitement and his
+interest in natural history. He killed lion, hippopotamus and elephant,
+tracking his game on foot and having several narrow escapes from death
+by infuriated and wounded wild beasts. He then toured Europe on a trip
+the like of which has not fallen to the lot of any other living man,
+for he was feted and cheered like a monarch wherever he went, and
+received honors that never before in the history of the world had been
+accorded to a man in private life.
+
+Roosevelt returned to America more honored and loved than any other man
+in its wide boundaries, and with his usual energy he plunged once more
+into the political fight. He had everything to lose and nothing to
+gain, but entered the struggle with a spirit of heroism and patriotic
+duty that all men must respect, whatever they think of his political
+ideas. When the time came again for the Presidential struggle,
+Roosevelt, who disliked the way things had been going since his term of
+office, once more became a candidate, and as he was repudiated by the
+Republicans he formed a party of his own which he called the
+Progressive Party and ran for President against Taft and Woodrow
+Wilson.
+
+Wilson had the solid Democratic vote behind him, and while the total of
+the votes he received made him a minority president, he was able
+nevertheless to win on account of the friction between Roosevelt and
+Taft. And Roosevelt now retired to his home on Sagamore Hill, Long
+Island, where although he was a private citizen again, his voice was
+constantly heard throughout the country, with more influence on public
+affairs than any other force outside the Administration.
+
+When time for the next election came, the Republicans nominated Hughes
+and Roosevelt retired from the race to aid the fight against Wilson,
+who was nevertheless reelected. In spite of his political defeat these
+years may well be considered as among the greatest in Roosevelt's life.
+More than any other man he stood for true Americanism, and showed a
+bewildered country the straight path toward the light of patriotism. He
+was among the first to condemn the German outrages, to silence the
+voices of supine pacifists and plead for action on the part of the
+American Government. He was the staunchest advocate of national
+preparedness, and we may say that the military training camps that gave
+America officers for the war were fathered by Roosevelt as well as by
+his friend and comrade in arms, General Wood, who was sponsor of "The
+Plattsburg Idea."
+
+Before this, however, Roosevelt's restless spirit took him again into
+the wilderness, and with a body of chosen companions he had explored
+the Brazilian jungles and penetrated wilds where no white man had ever
+set foot before. In this journey, however, Roosevelt fell ill to a
+severe attack of tropical fever that even his robust frame and vigorous
+constitution could not shake off. He was now a sick man and growing
+old, but his bodily weakness did not hinder his strong voice that was
+so bravely uplifted in behalf of the best ideals of his country.
+
+When the war broke out with Germany Roosevelt wished to go. He offered
+to raise and train a force for service on European battlefields, just
+as he had done in the Spanish war, nineteen years before. His offer was
+refused, and, bitterly disappointed, Roosevelt was compelled to stay at
+home and watch other men fight--a fact that is thought to have hastened
+his death. He had hoped that his might be the lot of dying on the field
+of battle. But as he could not do this, he did the next best thing--he
+sent his four sons to represent him.
+
+As all four were among the first to volunteer it can hardly be said,
+however, that Roosevelt sent them. None the less the training they had
+received at his hands is doubtless partly responsible for their
+splendid service and the fact that all strove for and obtained
+positions with combat troops.
+
+On January 6, 1919, Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep, a prey to the
+fever that he had contracted in South America and to inflammatory
+rheumatism with other complications. His death caused mourning all over
+the United States and brought a personal sense of loss to the heart of
+every true American. Like Lincoln, Roosevelt is a man of the ages, and
+his name has been made immortal. And his last message, which he read
+only the night before he died, to the members of the American Defense
+Society, is symbolic and typical of Roosevelt the man.
+
+"We have room but for one flag," he said, "the American flag--we have
+room but for one loyalty and that is loyalty to the American people."
+
+So spoke Theodore Roosevelt a few hours before he died, and his words
+sum up the work of his great life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+EDITH CAVELL
+
+
+As the name of Florence Nightingale became world famous at the close of
+the Crimean War more than sixty years ago, the name of another English
+nurse who suffered martyrdom in the World War will go down into history
+with the lustre of glory and self-sacrifice surrounding it. That name
+is Edith Cavell.
+
+Edith Cavell was born at Swardeston in Norwich, England, in 1873. Her
+father was an English minister of the old school who was rector of a
+single parish in Norwich for more than half a century. Edith and her
+sister were brought up in strict conformance with church ideas and were
+taught the value of leading useful lives and the glory of
+self-sacrifice. As was customary at the time when she was a young girl
+she received her education on the continent, attending school in the
+city of Brussels in Belgium. She then returned to her home and remained
+there until, when twenty-one years old and resolved to give her life to
+some useful and benevolent occupation, she decided to become a trained
+nurse and went to London to study that calling.
+
+She studied at the London Hospital--a place, we are told, where the
+hardest and most difficult conditions prevailed, and where the nurses
+were worked to the limit of their strength. She also held the position
+of a nurse in two other hospitals--the Shoreditch Infirmary in Hoxton,
+and the St. Pancras Infirmary; and she gained a reputation both for
+hard work and efficiency, while her patients often spoke of her
+gentleness and her kindness. Not content with forgetting a patient when
+discharged from the hospital, Edith Cavell often followed him to his
+home and continued there the lighter nursing that would assure his
+convalescence. Her regular duties were severe enough but she used a
+large part of her scanty leisure for such purposes as these.
+
+In 1906 Edith Cavell left the English hospitals, where she had made a
+reputation for herself, and went back to Brussels, where she took a
+position as matron in a Medical and Surgical Home. Nursing in Brussels
+had been conducted hitherto by Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy, and at
+first they were inclined to look upon Miss Cavell as an untrained
+outsider, but her tact, efficiency and skill soon won the hearts of
+these good women, who afforded her every courtesy and entered into
+cordial cooperation with her.
+
+Her home succeeded so well that three years after its commencement,
+Miss Cavell started also a training school for nurses. She was popular
+everywhere in the Belgian capital, and although Protestant, she gained
+the praise of the Roman Catholic priests for the generous and unselfish
+work that she performed.
+
+When the war broke out Miss Cavell was on a vacation with her mother.
+Every year she returned twice to England to visit her family. Her
+father had died by this time, but her mother was close to her heart and
+she saw her as often as she could.
+
+"I may be looked on as an old maid," she is reported as saying, "but
+with my work and my mother I am a very happy one, and desire nothing
+more as long as I have these two."
+
+When war was declared Miss Cavell lost no time in hurrying back to
+Brussels, believing that her duty called her there. She wrote a letter
+commenting on the German army when it swept through Belgium--and in it
+she voiced her pity for the tired, footsore German soldiers,--who were
+later to slay her. Brussels became a part of the German Empire and a
+tyrannical governor came there to establish his headquarters, issuing
+proclamations threatening the Belgians with death for minor offenses,
+and filling Brussels with spies and intrigue. Miss Cavell desired to
+continue her hospital work and went to the Governor, Von Bissing, to
+get permission to do so. He granted it, for the quiet English nurse
+made an impression upon him. We are told that the arrogant German
+formed a high opinion of her--so much so that he secretly determined to
+keep her under the strictest supervision!
+
+From that time on spies dogged her tracks. She cared for the wounded
+German soldiers and nursed a number of German officers, as well as the
+Belgians who were in her care, but this made no difference to the
+authorities. They were determined to detect her in some crime and
+punish her. It was not fitting, they thought, that an enemy should be
+engaged in works of mercy, even though they themselves might benefit
+thereby. And soon spies began to come to the Governor with tales and
+fabrications of the crimes that she had been committing in their eyes.
+They bore witness that she had given an overcoat to a Frenchman who was
+cold and hungry--and the Frenchman later escaped over the Dutch
+frontier. Once she gave a glass of water to a Belgian soldier. She had
+given money to poor people, perhaps to soldiers. But the main reason
+that the Germans hated her was because she was held in great affection
+by the people of Brussels.
+
+On the night of August fifth, 1915, we are told, Miss Cavell was tying
+up the wounds of a wounded German soldier, when a group of armed men
+entered the room and their leader told her roughly that she was under
+arrest. A blow was the only response when she tried to expostulate. She
+was taken to prison and placed in solitary confinement. Her arrest was
+shrouded with the most careful secrecy, for the Germans did not want to
+have the representatives of neutral governments, such as the United
+States, know of the affair or of what they proposed to do.
+
+But word of her plight did reach England through a traveler, and at
+once the British Government requested the American Ambassador, Dr.
+Page, to get what information he could from Brand Whitlock, the
+American Minister in Belgium. He went at once to the German
+authorities, but they evaded his questions and waited ten days before
+giving him a reply. Then the Germans sent him a statement declaring
+that Edith Cavell herself had admitted giving money to English and
+Belgian soldiers and furnishing them with guides to help them to the
+Dutch frontier, whence they might escape into Holland and return to
+England.
+
+This was the German statement. If what they said were true, there was
+still no cause for killing the unfortunate woman in their power, for
+she was not accused at any time of having been a spy. But they had
+planned to try her for her life, and Mr. Whitlock soon guessed this, in
+spite of the fact that the Germans kept their preparations from him so
+far as possible.
+
+An American lawyer, Mr. de Leval, was requested by Mr. Whitlock to take
+Miss Cavell's case and do whatever was possible in her behalf. He was
+not allowed to see the prisoner--and was not even allowed to look at
+the documents in the case until the trial began. Another lawyer, who
+was a Belgian, suddenly appeared and told the Americans that there was
+not the least cause for them to worry as Miss Cavell was sure to
+receive only just treatment. He also promised to let them know when the
+trial was to take place, and that he would keep them informed of all
+the developments in the case. All these promises were broken. It is
+true that he sent a note a few days before the trial telling Mr.
+Whitlock that the case was about to come to court, but that is all that
+he told them. He never informed them that the death sentence had been
+imposed. He never came to see them afterward. And when they sought him
+for an explanation and for assistance, he had disappeared.
+
+Miss Cavell was kept in solitary confinement for two months and then
+was tried with a number of other persons who were accused of crimes
+against the German Government. It was only from a private source that
+Mr. de Leval learned that the trial was under way, and that the death
+sentence had been given. Miss Cavell herself, we are told, was calm,
+dignified and brave at the trial and faced her accusers heroically. She
+was dressed in her nurse's uniform and wore the badge of the Red Cross.
+
+When Mr. Whitlock learned that she had been tried and sentenced to
+death he did everything possible to secure her pardon, or at least a
+moderation of the punishment. He wrote to Baron Von der Lancken,
+pointing out in a clear and decisive manner that Miss Cavell had served
+the Germans by caring for their wounded, and that the death sentence
+had never before been inflicted for the crime of which she was accused.
+He also wrote a note to the Baron which is as follows:
+
+    "My dear Baron:
+
+    "I am too ill to present my request to you in person, but I appeal
+    to your generosity of heart to support it and save this unfortunate
+    woman from death. Have pity on her.
+
+    "BRAND WHITLOCK."
+
+All through the day the American Legation sent message after message to
+the German authorities asking for information. They received none. At
+6:20 in the evening they were told by a subordinate that the sentence
+had not been given--only to learn later that it had indeed been
+declared, and that Miss Cavell would face a firing squad at two o'clock
+the following morning. Mr. Whitlock then urged Baron Von der Lancken to
+appeal to Gen. Von Bissing to mitigate the sentence, and at eleven in
+the evening he was told that Von Bissing refused to do anything to save
+Miss Cavell's life.
+
+At the same time that the Governor denied this appeal, Edith Cavell was
+allowed to see a British chaplain. She told him that she was not in the
+least afraid of death and willingly gave her life for her country. Her
+words resembled those of Florence Nightingale that have been quoted
+elsewhere in this book. Death, she said, was well known to her, and she
+had seen it so often that it was not strange or fearful to her.
+
+Early in the morning with her eyes bandaged Miss Cavell was led out to
+face the rifles of the Huns. She wore an English flag over her bosom.
+Only Germans were witnesses of the execution, but the German chaplain
+who attended said that she died like a heroine.
+
+When her death became known, the entire civilized world was shocked and
+horrified. In England this murder did more to stimulate recruiting than
+anything else up to that time. All day long lines of men waited to sign
+the papers of enlistment, and in Miss Cavell's home town every eligible
+man was sworn into the army.
+
+A bitter denunciation of the German act was made by Sir Edward Grey.
+The Germans themselves had only a poor excuse for what they had done.
+In brief the case against the German authorities is as follows: they
+had not previously inflicted the death penalty for the offense of which
+Miss Cavell was accused; they had kept her in solitary confinement and
+prevented her from consulting an advocate up to the time of her trial;
+she was tried with great haste and with great secrecy, and after the
+trial the sentence was carried out far more speedily than usual.
+Moreover they had deceived Mr. Whitlock and the other members of the
+American Legation, and had done so deliberately. After the execution
+they refused to return the body.
+
+But the name of Edith Cavell has become one of the world's great names
+and her fame grows brighter as time passes. In the hospital where she
+was in training for her high calling a fitting memorial to her is being
+prepared--it is the Edith Cavell Home to be a permanent part of the
+London Hospital where she served her difficult apprenticeship. But her
+chief memorial is in the hearts and minds of the British nation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+KING ALBERT OF BELGIUM
+
+
+The greatness of kings is not always proportionate to the size of the
+kingdoms they rule, and their fame does not run in accord with the
+breadth of their dominions, or the number of subjects who serve them.
+This has been proved many times in history,--but never more
+conclusively than in the little kingdom of Belgium, whose present
+ruler, Albert the First, has already won glory equal to that of any
+hero-king of any age.
+
+Until he was a young man it was never expected that Albert would ever
+be King, for he was the younger son of the younger brother of King
+Leopold the Second. Much would have to take place before he could win
+the throne, and Albert, in consequence, was not trained for the severe
+duties of a ruler. But in the end this worked good rather than harm,
+for Albert received so thorough a military education that by practical
+advice and prompt action he was able to save his country in the
+terrible ordeal through which it passed. And as he had expected to be
+no more than one of the King's subjects, he had learned the ways of the
+people more intimately than he could have done if he had always been
+hemmed in with the restrictions of royalty.
+
+When Albert was seventeen years old, his brother Baldwin died, and it
+was then seen that he might indeed become King, for Leopold had no
+direct male heirs. But this was not yet sure, for under certain
+conditions the King had the right to appoint his successor, and he did
+not decide to make Albert the heir to the throne until the Prince
+married and had two sons who would ensure the permanence of the royal
+Belgian family.
+
+Albert was born in 1875 on the Eighth of April. His father was Count
+Philippe of Flanders who was Leopold's youngest brother. As a boy the
+young prince received an education such as would be given to any
+cultivated well bred gentleman, but as it was customary for younger
+sons of princes to enter the army particular attention was paid, as we
+have said, to his military training.
+
+The young prince attended military school, was drilled as a common
+soldier and gradually worked his way up through the different grades to
+the rank of Major. He was intensely interested in the profession of
+arms and gave more than the required zeal and attention to its pursuit,
+following his training in a regiment of Grenadiers, and instructed by
+the most experienced officers.
+
+Albert was not only studious, but fond of all sorts of athletic sports
+and exercises. He frequently visited the Tyrol for mountain climbing,
+and later tried his skill on the most rugged Alps. He was fond of
+shooting and shot well; he was an excellent horseman and his tall
+figure was frequently to be seen astride his hunter, which he managed
+with great skill.
+
+The possibility that he might become King had effected a change in the
+young man's character, who became more reserved and serious, ardently
+devoted to his studies and eager to find out as much as possible about
+the lives of the people that one day he was to rule. He often lectured
+on military topics. He visited the mines and viewed the working
+conditions of the men that toiled incessantly underground. He watched
+the fishermen at work and even accompanied them on their trips; he
+worked in machine-shops and ran locomotives himself. To learn the
+secrets of modern shipping he visited foreign countries and traveled in
+disguise as a reporter of a newspaper, paying calls on various
+shipyards and taking notes on what he saw there.
+
+In the year of the war between America and Spain, 1898, Albert came to
+the United States and saw President McKinley, and in his travels
+through our great country he paid a visit to the great financier James
+J. Hill with whom he talked about the problems that confronted Belgium
+and from whom he doubtless received valuable advice. He was much
+impressed by his visit to America, and often talked about it afterward,
+and thought out means by which the modern improvements he saw in
+America might be applied to the people of Belgium.
+
+All this time, however, the Prince remained unmarried, and King
+Leopold, who was growing old, was worried about the succession to the
+throne. Finally he decided that as long as Albert was without issue he
+must choose a different heir which was a royal privilege in such a
+contingency, and his choice fell upon the Duc de Vendome, who had
+married Albert's sister.
+
+But Albert, who had given no signs of attraction toward any one of the
+various beautiful ladies he might have married, was soon to fall in
+love and make a marriage that would gladden the heart of old King
+Leopold, and please the Belgian people.
+
+Among other things that he had studied in his young manhood was the
+science of medicine, and a year after he came to America he went to
+Germany to see the clinic of a Bavarian duke named Charles Theodore,
+whose skill as an occulist had made him famous throughout Europe.
+Albert visited this Duke and was presented to his daughters, with one
+of whom, the Duchess Elizabeth, he promptly fell in love. The passion
+was mutual, and as the match was a good one from all points of view the
+young couple were married in Munich on October 2, 1900, where a
+celebration was held in honor of the event. When the newly wedded
+couple returned to Belgium no one less than King Leopold was waiting at
+the railroad station to receive them and offer his congratulations.
+Leopold was now more predisposed in favor of Albert, and when a son was
+born he was delighted. On the birth of a second son, the King made a
+speech in which he publicly confirmed Albert's claim to the throne, and
+public attention was now focussed on the Prince who was to be King.
+
+Albert had no intention of meddling with political affairs until he
+actually should become the ruler of Belgium, and he gave scant
+encouragement to those who sought to sound him and find out what his
+future policies would be. While he surveyed all public affairs with a
+keen eye and attentive mind, he kept the public from knowing what he
+thought of them, and his mind seemed now as much of a mystery as his
+personality had seemed obscure before it had been known that he was to
+come to the throne.
+
+Albert was greatly interested in the Belgian colony in Africa and asked
+permission from King Leopold to visit it and make a tour of inspection.
+The King was unwilling to have the heir to the throne take so long and
+presumably so dangerous a journey, but at last he consented and Albert
+departed for Africa and the Congo, where he spent three arduous months
+in which time, it is said, he walked more than fifteen hundred miles.
+The colonists took a great liking to the tall, reserved young man who
+studied all their interests and doings with such careful attention, and
+the impression that Albert made upon this part of his future kingdom
+was more than favorable.
+
+He had not been at home long before King Leopold died, and on the 23rd
+of December, 1909, Albert came into his capital as King of the
+Belgians. After taking the oath to guard the constitution and preserve
+the territory of the Belgian nation, he made a carefully prepared and
+well thought out speech, in which he declared that the Belgian monarch
+must always obey the laws of the country and preserve the law with the
+utmost respect and care. And the first public appearance of Albert as
+King added to the good impression with which he was regarded
+everywhere.
+
+His liberty and privacy were now over, and he was absorbed with the
+affairs of his country. He had become so interested in the Congo colony
+that he gave a great deal of his own money to better conditions there
+and to further medical research. The Queen was busy also. With her
+medical skill she visited the various hospitals and engaged in many
+charitable enterprises that endeared her to the hearts of the common
+people. It seemed that she could not do enough to relieve the
+sufferings of others, and the humblest of her subjects came to look on
+her as a member of their family, and almost literally worshipped the
+ground she walked on.
+
+The threat of war was still far off, but Albert, who was greatly
+concerned over the state of the Belgian army, did all he could to
+increase its efficiency. He was not only concerned with the military
+preparedness of Belgium, but observed that the Germans seemed to be
+taking a firmer and firmer grip on his country. German merchants and
+business men swarmed in Brussels, and it was not hard to see too that
+German military experts were studying the topography of Belgium and
+sending reports back to the Fatherland.
+
+The position of Belgium was peculiar in many ways. Not only did it lie
+as a little and weak nation between the great armed powers of France
+and Germany, exposed to the advance of an invading army in case of war,
+since it was the most convenient way from one country to the other, but
+its position on the coast made it a favorable vantage ground from which
+Germany might launch an attack on England. This geographical situation
+of Belgium has caused it throughout history to be the scene of some of
+the greatest battles that have ever been fought, and has gained for it
+the name of "the cockpit of Europe."
+
+Even for its size, Belgium was in a woeful state of military
+unpreparedness for war, because it was supposed to be exempt from
+conflict through an agreement of the great powers. All the great
+nations of Europe had decided that it was safer and better to make
+Belgium neutral ground, and one and all they had promised to protect
+the neutrality of this little state with force of arms if necessary.
+This, as we have said, had given the Belgians a feeling of security.
+They believed that even if war broke out, Belgium would not be forced
+into the conflict, but sinister signs of danger, like the distant
+warnings of a hurricane, gradually obtruded themselves before King
+Albert's clear sighted vision. He received letters, not from one but
+from many sources, warning him that the Germans had decided in secret
+council to send their invading armies across Belgium in case of war
+with France, and he had seen only too clearly that German spies and
+military experts were mapping out the country for their own secret
+ends. So Albert struggled to increase the army and secured the passage
+of a favorable bill in October, 1913.
+
+But the iron forces of Germany were forged and ready; the uniforms and
+equipment of her invading hordes were packed away in her storehouses
+and arsenals. Only the stroke of a pen was needed to loose the blind
+forces and mighty armaments of a war greater than any that history has
+known. King Albert's efforts in behalf of the Belgian army were too
+late, although he did not know it at the time.
+
+In the summer of 1914, Albert went to Switzerland on a vacation, but
+his fear that Germany was preparing for speedy war forced him to return
+to Belgium in the middle of his holiday. And events soon proved that he
+was justified. War leaped up over night like a devouring flame, and
+immediately the German Government sent to Belgium a threat which
+declared that it was the purpose of the German High Command to move
+German troops across Belgium, and that the Belgians would resist at
+their own peril.
+
+Many a ruler would have acceded to the terms that Germany gave. If a
+small boy is confronted by a trained pugilist of great weight and
+gigantic stature, surely none can blame the boy for consenting to the
+pugilist's demands. None could have blamed King Albert if he had
+yielded to such force and accepted the tyrant's terms. But the King
+determined to defend his country to the last drop of Belgian blood, not
+sparing his own, and the Belgians sent the following reply back to the
+German war lords:
+
+"The German ultimatum has caused the Belgian Government deep and
+painful astonishment, and Belgium refuses to believe that her
+independence could only be preserved at the cost of violating her
+neutrality."
+
+And Albert grimly added to some of his followers, "Germany appears to
+believe that Belgium is a road, not a country."
+
+The German armies entered Belgium, and soon the roar of the guns was
+heard almost from one end of the little nation to the other. King
+Albert at once put on his uniform and took to the field with the
+Belgian army. The Germans laid siege to the Belgian fortress of Liege,
+expecting to overpower it easily. They advanced against it in mass
+formation, only to be met with such a hail of machine gun fire that
+they numbered their dead by thousands. The little Kingdom of Belgium
+had thrust a stick between the cogs of the great German war machine,
+and by doing so saved the world from a German victory. By delaying the
+Germans at Liege they allowed the French the vital time to organize
+their army and mobilize on the frontier, and by the splendid and
+stubborn resistance that the Germans encountered in Belgium the English
+too were given a breathing space. On the breast of this weak nation
+fell the whole weight of the mailed fist, and while the result was
+inevitable the burden was bravely supported.
+
+Liege fell at last, and the Germans moved onward, in spite of attacks
+by the Belgians that temporarily halted them. With their great 42
+centimeter howitzers the Germans pulverized the forts that held out
+against them and soon compelled King Albert to shift the seat of
+Belgian Government to Antwerp. Albert himself, however, stayed in the
+field with his army and when it fell back he was among the brave men
+that covered the retreat. He seemed to be everywhere that he was
+needed, and often in the front line the Belgian soldiers would be
+cheered by the sight of their King loading and firing a rifle by their
+side, in the place of some wounded comrade.
+
+The King combined shrewdness with bravery. He ordered Brussels not to
+resist the German horde, but he fought to the knife wherever resistance
+would be effective. While the British were yet far away and the French
+were unable to help, Belgium alone held the enemy in check, and Belgium
+was animated more by the spirit of their King than by any other cause.
+It has been said in turn that each one of the Allied Nations won the
+war. And this is true of them all. Without the aid of the British navy,
+the bravery of the French army, the fresh strength that America lent to
+the fight, the Germans must have conquered. But it is practically
+certain that they would have won if Belgium had not withstood them.
+With their forces once in Paris and the French and British forces
+separated no human power could have triumphed against the Kaiser--and
+it remained for little Belgium to delay him to such an extent that
+Joffre was able at last to beat the Germans at the Marne and save the
+world.
+
+Then the Germans turned their guns against the city of Antwerp and soon
+the giant shells from the monster howitzers were picking up whole
+buildings in the force of their blast and scattering bricks and timbers
+broadcast in crashing explosions. Queen Elizabeth had remained with the
+King, serving as a nurse in the hospitals and doing what she could to
+relieve the suffering of her people, but when it was seen that Antwerp
+must fall she decided to take her children to a place of safety. King
+Albert's eldest son served as a private with a Belgian regiment, but
+his brother and little sister were too young for any service and were
+taken to England by the Queen. She refused to remain, however, but
+returned to the stricken country to take her place with the remainder
+of her subjects who had not yet received the yoke of German slavery.
+
+Albert refused to allow his army to be driven from Belgian territory.
+"It would be better to die here," he declared, "than in a foreign
+land." And always he was with the army, directing its strategy or
+wielding a weapon himself. "My place is with my brave soldiers," he
+declared.
+
+All through the sinister days of the war the King's spirit did not
+weaken. When the Germans were pushing on again toward Paris in the
+spring of 1918, he kept his head cool and his heart composed. Then the
+gray lines broke, and the tide turned. The Allied Armies swept onward
+and the Germans retreated pell mell to save themselves from utter ruin.
+Back from the ruined villages and the oppressed and tortured
+countryside the German hordes retreated, and King Albert and Queen
+Elizabeth triumphantly took possession once more. Their children had
+returned and the royal family had passed the last year of the war
+within sound of the guns on the Nieuport front. Their hour of triumph
+was now come and they entered Brussels after four years of exile.
+
+Their entry was planned to be as glorious and beautiful as possible and
+it is needless to say with what rejoicing they were received. Allied
+troops marched past in review, and the King and Queen were accompanied
+by the most famous generals of the Allied armies. The soldiers of the
+Belgian army were crowned with flowers when reviewed by the King that
+so bravely led them.
+
+Peace terms were drawn up and the Germans compelled to repay the
+Belgians to the last penny for the havoc and vandalism they had
+wrought. And it is a kind of poetic justice that Albert was reigning,
+while the Kaiser fled from his own country to cling to the skirts of
+another weak little power that he would surely have violated as
+remorselessly as he violated Belgium if it had chanced to stand in his
+way.
+
+In 1919, twenty-one years after his first trip to this country, King
+Albert with Queen Elizabeth came to the United States again. They
+received a warm welcome from one end of the country to the other and
+the good wishes of all Americans have gone back with them to the
+wrecked and devastated land that they are striving to restore. Whether
+King Albert will perform as great work in reconstruction as he has
+already performed as a soldier and a King the future will decide, but
+he has already gained an immortal place in the history of the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+MARIA BOTCHKAREVA
+
+
+Not since the time of Molly Pitcher has there been a woman soldier so
+famous in her own country as a Russian girl named Maria Botchkareva,
+who fought beside the men in the Russian army in the World War and
+afterward became the commander of a battalion of women soldiers, who
+called themselves the "Battalion of Death." It is only because the
+World War was so huge that the name of this girl is not known
+everywhere. Not only did she make as good a soldier as a man, but she
+was decorated for bravery. She carried to safety out of No Man's Land
+on her own back nearly a hundred wounded Russians, while the shells
+burst and the bullets flew around her, and in the course of the war she
+was wounded four times.
+
+Maria Botchkareva, who is still living, was born in 1889, the daughter
+of a Russian fisherman, who was originally a serf. He was too poor to
+buy a wagon to market his fish, and was compelled to sell them at less
+than the market price to traveling pedlers. Her mother did manual labor
+for twelve hours a day to earn five cents. Starvation was constantly at
+the door, and the father was of a surly and cruel disposition, and
+frequently beat his wife and his little children.
+
+When quite a young girl Maria became a servant in the family of a
+Russian army officer, and when still young she married a soldier named
+Afanasi Botchkarev, who gave her her present name. He beat her so often
+and treated her so brutally when he was drunk that she tried to drown
+herself, but was saved because some workmen had seen her plight.
+Shortly afterward she ran away from Botchkarev and worked her way to
+the town of Irkutsk in Siberia.
+
+There she underwent many adventures. Her great strength enabled her to
+work as a man in a gang of laborers who were paving the courtyard of
+Irkutsk prison with asphalt, and she continued this work for a year,
+until she became ill and forced to go to a hospital.
+
+War broke out between Russian and Germany. It was the beginning of the
+great war that was to shake the entire world, and echoes and rumors of
+terrible events were not long in reaching even so remote a town as
+Irkutsk. Soldiers commenced to go away to the front and stories of
+defeats and victories were in the air. And although Maria, unlike
+Jeanne d'Arc, never heard the voices of the Saints, still a voice
+within her called on her to go to war to save her country.
+
+But how was a woman to go to war? If it had been difficult in the
+remote past when Jeanne d'Arc was alive, how much more was success
+beyond her grasp in a country controlled by modern law and the
+regulations of a well organized national army. But Maria dressed
+herself in man's clothes and made her way back to her home, beating her
+way with difficulty on trains that were crowded with soldiers, and
+taking over two months to accomplish the difficult journey from
+Siberia.
+
+When she arrived at her native village she found that her worthless
+husband had been drafted into the army, taken to the front and was
+listed as "missing." Nobody knew if he were alive or dead.
+
+Her father and mother were glad to see Maria, but exclaimed in horror
+and surprise when she told them that she intended to be a soldier.
+
+"You are crazy," they shouted at her. "Women do not go to war! Stay at
+home with us, for we are old and need your help." But in spite of their
+entreaties she was obdurate, and going to a clerk in the 25th Reserve
+Battalion which was quartered there, she declared to him her purpose of
+enlisting and of fighting in the trenches.
+
+Laughter greeted her on every side. A grinning adjutant took her to the
+Colonel, who received her kindly, his astonishment only equalled by his
+admiration for her patriotism.
+
+"But women do not go to war, my dear," he ejaculated when Maria told
+him her decision.
+
+"Nevertheless I intend to go and I desire you to enlist me," the brave
+girl answered.
+
+The Colonel could not disobey regulations and enlist a woman in the
+army, but a telegram was sent to the Czar himself, and in a short time
+an answer was received from the Czar's official headquarters,
+announcing that Maria Botchkareva was entitled to become a soldier in
+the Russian army.
+
+So Maria put on her uniform and was nicknamed "Yashka," a name that
+soon was known throughout her regiment. Dressed in a man's clothes and
+bearing arms like a man, she went through the regular drill and fatigue
+and in a very short time became proficient in handling a rifle which
+increased the respect in which her comrades held her. They had
+ridiculed her at first, and made life a burden to her with insults and
+practical jokes, but she bore these things stolidly and at last won
+their respect and affection.
+
+The regiment entrained for the front and Yashka went with it. A Russian
+general heard of the presence of a girl soldier in its ranks and
+angrily ordered that she be taken from the line and sent to the
+rear--but Yashka was clever enough to point out that her enlistment had
+been received by the Czar himself and so superseded the order of the
+General, who wished to send her home from whence she had come.
+
+The regiment went into the trenches, and Maria, for the first time,
+heard the roar of the cannon and the whistling of the shells. Her
+comrades had jokingly told her that she would run when the first shot
+was fired, but she minded the bombardment no more than any one else.
+The Germans threw over large quantities of their favorite weapon, gas,
+and the trenches and the hollows in the ground were filled with the
+noxious vapors that it was death to breathe, but the Russians put on
+their gas masks and still went forward.
+
+Then, after serving in the line for some time, the girl soldier had her
+first experience in more active warfare, for her company was ordered
+over the top to capture the German sector opposite them, and with fixed
+bayonets the men moved forward under a heavy fire from the batteries of
+their own artillery. It was a severe attack, bravely delivered, but
+doomed to failure because the barbed wire entanglements of the enemy
+had not been destroyed by the Russian shells. Men dropped by the score,
+and when the company was finally compelled to retreat there were only
+seventy left out of two hundred and fifty that had begun the advance.
+Maria was one of the survivors, her woman's heart torn with pity at the
+cries of the wounded who had been left dying in No Man's Land. Crawling
+back from the shelter of the Russian trenches, she dragged a wounded
+soldier to safety and returned for another. All night she toiled
+bringing them in until more than fifty owed their lives to her. For
+this she was recommended for a decoration for bravery, but never
+received it. Later, however, she won her badge of courage for more work
+of the same sort performed under heavy fire and in the face of the
+greatest obstacles.
+
+Then her own turn came. She was wounded and sent to the rear as a
+casualty. When her wound was healed she returned to the front, only to
+sustain further wounds and win another decoration. On one occasion she
+was captured by the Germans, but an attack freed her from their hands
+after she had been a prisoner for a little over eight hours.
+
+In all the fighting that she had experienced this girl personally did
+her share, handling a rifle with skill and on several occasions using
+the bayonet with as much strength as a man. Her fame by this time had
+penetrated beyond her own regiment. The name of Yashka was known
+throughout the Russian army, and numbers of curious soldiers crowded
+around her when she happened to go to some part of the field where she
+had not previously been seen.
+
+Then began the terrible Russian revolution--a revolution more dreadful
+than the French Terror in 1793. The Czar was deposed, and word of this
+was not long in reaching the front line, where groups of rejoicing
+soldiers hastened to form councils and committees regardless of the
+discipline that alone could hold them together to an extent to present
+a solid front to the enemy.
+
+The Germans ceased firing when they learned the cause of the Russians'
+celebrations, and at once commenced to fraternize with the men they had
+so recently been fighting, telling the Russians that they desired peace
+and that the war now would soon be over. Vodka and beer were passed
+from side to side, and German and Russian soldiers strolled about in No
+Man's Land without a shot being fired. Nor was this all. A pilgrimage
+of inflammatory speakers and demagogues commenced to visit the ranks of
+the Russians, inciting them to revolt against all authority and to
+drive away their officers. The heads of the soldiers were turned, and
+good and bad, brave men and cowards, joined in the confusion that was
+increasing day by day, and the ruin that was sweeping over Russia's
+fortunes.
+
+The simple heart and mind of Yashka, however, proved to be more astute
+and better versed in the conduct of war than most of the Russians. She
+saw what disorder was doing to the army, and worn out in spirit as well
+as in body, sought leave to return from a war where there was no
+fighting to her own home.
+
+But finally the idea came to her to form a battalion of women soldiers
+and shame the men into returning to the front, from which they had been
+deserting in large numbers. She thought that if the soldiers saw
+Russian women in the ranks, doing battle with the enemy and proving
+themselves braver than the men themselves, perhaps they would be shamed
+into renewing the combat; that if women advanced in the front rank, the
+men would follow and the war would be resumed. Yashka knew too well
+that there could be no real peace so long as the Germans remained on
+Russian soil; and that further war was the only way to drive them out
+of Russia.
+
+Fired with her idea she went to the leading powers of the Russian
+Government and asked permission to form a battalion of women soldiers,
+who were to make every sacrifice, visit the most dangerous parts of the
+battle front, and unhesitatingly be killed in order that the men might
+follow them into battle. The Government leaders, including Kerensky,
+approved of the idea; and Maria commenced to make speeches, calling on
+the women to enlist beneath her standard in the "Battalion of Death,"
+as her new organization was to be named.
+
+The response was instantaneous. So many women offered to enlist that
+she had difficulty in accepting all of them, and she resolutely weeded
+out those that seemed unfit, enacting a strict and severe discipline,
+more rigorous, in fact, than any that had been undergone by the male
+soldiers. With rifles supplied by the Government, and with men acting
+as drill sergeants, she trained her girls until they were well versed
+in the elements of soldiering, and after they had become proficient in
+the use of the rifle she prepared to entrain for the front, this time
+an officer with a thousand or more soldiers under her command.
+
+But her system of training and the severe penalties she exacted from
+her soldiers brought her into opposition to the Russian Government,
+which, fatuously believing that rule by the people could be carried
+into war, insisted on her forming committees in her command and
+allowing her soldiers a share in the administration of the battalion.
+This she refused to do, declaring that she would resign her commission
+first and disband her battalion. If men were difficult to control at
+the front under the committee system, how much more would this be the
+case with girls, unused to discipline and more prone by nature than the
+men to give way to the difficulties and the temptations of war!
+
+After several stormy interviews with the army chiefs and with Kerensky
+himself, Yashka was allowed to have her own way, and in direct command
+of her own battalion she set out for the front line. Already the
+Battalion of Death had had a beneficial effect upon the soldiers at the
+front, and she believed that when once her women went into action the
+men would follow without question.
+
+When the Battalion of Death was actually in the front line Yashka saw
+very quickly, however, that things were far worse than she had
+imagined, for in the time that she had been recruiting and training her
+new force, the army had undergone complete demoralization. There was
+now open friendship between the Russians and the Germans in many
+quarters of the front, and fighting was unheard of, the soldiers'
+committees refusing to give their consent to any proposal of that sort.
+It was in the midst of such a situation that Yashka and her women
+reached the line.
+
+The Bolsheviki, as the revolutionists were called, had gained almost
+complete control over the soldiers, and under their influence the army
+had become a savage mob. Only a few loyal men remained. Soon after
+Yashka's arrival the officers attempted to put her plan into operation
+and launch an attack against the Germans, but the soldiers refused to
+obey and the battalion of women moved out almost unsupported against
+the enemy, who promptly opened a heavy fire. Their example was tardily
+followed by the men and a general attack was delivered on a wide
+portion of the line. After a severe fight, the women soldiers captured
+the German trenches that lay in front of them, but only to be
+confronted with a new and terrible difficulty,--for the supports that
+they had relied upon refused to march any further, declaring that they
+would defend what they had already gained from the enemy but that under
+no circumstance would they attack again. This made it necessary for the
+Battalion of Death to make a headlong retreat, for while they waited
+for support they had nearly been surrounded by the Germans.
+
+Then the army, incited by the Bolshevist agitators, became completely
+unmanageable. When Yashka herself opened fire on some Germans who were
+walking openly through No Man's Land, the Russians on her flanks turned
+their machine guns against the women and prepared to mow them down. The
+usefulness of the Battalion was at an end and the lives of the girls
+were in danger from the Russian soldiers. It became necessary to take
+them to the rear. Even there, however, when quartered in reserve
+barracks, they were not safe from interference. With vile threats and
+taunts deserters and Bolshevists crowded about their quarters and were
+finally driven away by a volley fired by the girls from the windows of
+their barracks.
+
+Knowing that this action would result in an attack by the Russians,
+Yashka hastily assembled her Battalion and marched them away with all
+their equipment, taking concealment in a nearby wood from which the
+girls were hurried to the rear and discharged in a score of stations,
+making their way to their homes as best they might. Revolution now had
+the upper hand, the army was completely destroyed by the revolutionary
+doctrine and there was no longer any use in continuing the Battalion,
+which had become a center for the attacks of friends and foes alike.
+
+Yashka herself returned to Petrograd where she was arrested by the
+Bolsheviki, but, after a searching examination, she was allowed to
+proceed to her home. She determined, however, to use all her remaining
+energy in helping the few loyal Russians who were grouped under a
+general named Kornilov and were now at open war with the Bolsheviki,
+so, after procuring a disguise, she made her way through the Bolshevik
+lines to the loyal forces. Kornilov desired her to return with word
+from him for the loyalists who were hiding in many places in Russia,
+but in trying to cross the lines again Yashka found herself entrapped
+by her enemies. Throwing off her disguise she boldly disclosed herself
+to them, saying she was on her way to undergo treatment at a hospital
+for a severe wound she had received while in the Russian army.
+
+And then this courageous girl underwent dangers far more deadly than
+any she had suffered at the front. She was tried by the Bolsheviki and
+sentenced to be shot, although she had destroyed all the evidence of
+her relations with Kornilov, and her foes knew nothing more about her
+than that she had been commander of the woman's battalion. This alone,
+however, was crime enough in their eyes to warrant her instant
+execution, and with part of her clothing taken from her she stood in
+line with twenty Russian officers to receive her death blow. It
+happened, however, that on the Bolshevik committee that was present to
+witness the execution was one of the men who had served beside her in
+the trenches, and he recognized his old comrade.
+
+"Are you Yashka?" he asked. When she replied in the affirmative he
+pulled her from the line and took her place in the squad of the
+condemned, saying that they would have to shoot him before they could
+shoot Yashka whom he knew and loved. After a stormy argument a reprieve
+was shown to the executioners and Yashka was allowed to be taken from
+the field of death and returned to prison.
+
+Through the intercession of friends she was sent to Moscow, and there,
+after further imprisonment, was set at liberty. She had witnessed
+enough of the Bolshevist horrors to be even a more bitter enemy of
+their regime than she had been before. She determined to fly from
+Russia and gain aid from the Allies to carry on a war against them and
+the Germans alike, and with this end in view was secretly carried
+aboard the American steamer _Sheridan_ and brought to the United
+States. Here, for the time being, her career ends. It will remain for
+the future to show if she takes further part in the affairs of her
+country for which she so bravely fought, bled and suffered,--but
+whether circumstances allow her to do so or not, she has carved her
+name in lasting letters on the tablets of modern history.
+
+
+
+
+HEROES OF FICTION
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+WILLIAM TELL
+
+
+Many hundreds of years ago, at the end of the Thirteenth Century to be
+exact, in the country that is now Switzerland, there lived a Swiss
+hunter and herdsman named William Tell. He lived in the little town of
+Burglen among the mountains, and with him lived his wife and his two
+sons, who, when this story opens, were about ten and twelve years old.
+William Tell was so strong that his name was known far and wide; he was
+so skilful a hunter that nothing seemed ever to escape his keen arrow
+when once it was on the wing; he was so venturesome a mountain climber
+that the steepest precipice was not too dangerous for him; and with all
+these great abilities he had a kindly disposition and was liked as well
+as admired by his neighbors.
+
+William Tell had won more than one prize at the fairs and competitions
+that were sometimes held near his town; on one occasion he had shot a
+small bird on the wing with his sure arrow, for the bullseye of the
+target had seemed too large for him. And so it came to pass that when
+his neighbors revolted from the foreign yoke that Austria had thrown
+over Switzerland Tell was one of the first to be called on by the
+patriots who desired to free their country.
+
+Switzerland was not a single country in those days, but was divided
+into the three cantons or districts of Schwyz (from which it takes its
+present name) Uri and Unterwalden. The Austrians had nominally governed
+the country for a long time without any dissent on the part of the
+Swiss people, for the Austrian ruler, named Adolph, had treated them
+extremely well and allowed them to keep their ancestral rights and
+customs.
+
+Then, however, the Hapsburg Emperor, Albrecht, came to the throne; and
+discontent and misery were soon apparent in the Swiss cantons. For the
+new monarch did not follow the policy of the former king, but sent
+cruel governors to rule over the honest Swiss, with secret orders to
+oppress them in many ways until their love of liberty, for which they
+had always been famous, might be destroyed.
+
+All the time that these changes were taking place, William Tell went
+quietly about his affairs. He looked after his herds and hunted in the
+mountains, while his wife, Hedwig, saw to his house and brought up his
+two boys, William and Walter. He had everything to make him happy--a
+clean and well ordered home on the side of the mountain, a devoted
+wife, two manly boys, and a herd of cattle that included the most
+beautiful cow for miles around. This cow was named Hifeli, and wore a
+sweet toned bell about her neck.
+
+Driving a cow over the mountain paths was a difficult and dangerous
+undertaking, and one that Tell had never entrusted to either of his
+children, but as his son William seemed to be able and venturesome he
+was allowed one day as a great pleasure to drive Hifeli and her calf up
+to the mountain pasture. The way led along the side of a cliff, and in
+one place it was so narrow that only a few inches separated those on
+the path from a terrific gulf so deep that the clouds sometimes hid the
+trees below it.
+
+While the boy was driving Hifeli over this place, with a sudden rush a
+fierce eagle swooped down to attack the calf, beating the air with its
+wings to drive the calf to the edge of the precipice,--and although the
+lad struck at the bird of prey with his mountain staff until the air
+was filled with feathers it was to no avail. The calf plunged over the
+ledge and was dashed to death on the rocks beneath, where the eagle
+descended and promptly reappeared flying heavily away, bearing the dead
+body of the calf in its claws. But this was not all the trouble that
+young Tell was to undergo, for the cow lurched toward the edge of the
+precipice and sought some way to descend to the spot where she believed
+the body of her calf had fallen, and try as he would young Tell could
+not get her away from the spot or drive her back to her stall.
+
+So he tied Hifeli to a tree and went in search of his father to whom he
+told the misfortune that had befallen him. Whereupon father and son
+went in search of the eagle and the elder Tell slew it with an arrow
+from his crossbow. And on this trip he taught his son to show no fear
+of the high precipices they had to skirt or of the gulfs that had to be
+crossed by fallen trees. And from that time on he instructed his son to
+avoid the least sign of fear which later saved both their lives in a
+curious manner.
+
+There was nothing that Tell hated more than the Austrian rule under the
+tyrannical governors who were sent to oppress the Swiss, and he engaged
+in opposing them first of all.
+
+One of the Swiss named Wolfshot had treacherously deserted his
+countrymen and joined the Austrian cause, for which he was rewarded by
+the Emperor and given a position under the Austrian Governor. In this
+position he did all that he could to annoy his neighbors and frequently
+insulted the Swiss women.
+
+On one occasion Wolfshot tried to make love to the wife of a Swiss
+peasant named Baumgarten who was an honest as well as a brave man. She
+ran to her husband for protection and Baumgarten in great anger went to
+the room where Wolfshot was staying and slew him with an ax. Then,
+taking horse, he fled for his life pursued by the Austrian guards.
+
+Baumgarten came to the shores of Lake Zurich and would have crossed the
+lake to safety, but a terrible wind called the Fohn was blowing and the
+waves of the lake rolled so high that escape by water seemed
+impossible. The horsemen were close at Baumgarten's heels, and he
+begged the ferryman to take him across the water in spite of the
+danger, but to no avail. The ferryman replied that he would not venture
+out on the lake in that storm to save the life of any one, for it was
+impossible for any boat to live in the sea that was raging there. But
+William Tell was present, and seeing that Baumgarten would soon be
+captured by the Austrians he ran with him to the ferryboat and pushed
+off just as the Austrians rode up to the shore. The boat was tossed
+about like a cork, but still it lived under the powerful strokes of
+Tell, who was skilful above all others with the oar; and the Austrians
+were forced to go back to their castle without their prisoner, bitterly
+angry at Tell for having helped the fugitive to escape them.
+
+This was soon brought to the ears of the new Governor named Gessler who
+determined that he would entrap Tell into committing some other act by
+which he could be imprisoned and put to death. To accomplish this
+purpose Gessler conceived the design of placing a cap with the royal
+arms of Austria upon it in the midst of the public square of the town
+of Altdorf, where Tell frequently came, and of ordering all people to
+bow before it as if this cap were the Emperor of Austria himself.
+
+Great was the anger felt by the Swiss when they heard of this infamous
+design on Gessler's part--but how much more when the cap was actually
+taken to the public square by a force of heavily armed soldiers and a
+proclamation was read ordering all who saw it to salute it on pain of
+whatever penalty the Governor saw fit to impose!
+
+Now Tell happened to be in Altdorf at this very time with his little
+son William; and in order to avoid saluting this hated emblem, he left
+town earlier than he had planned and by a street where he thought he
+would not see the cap or encounter any of the Austrians who had come to
+Altdorf to see that the Governor's order was enforced. As luck would
+have it, however, Tell walked right into the square where the cap had
+been placed and came right upon it before he noticed it. And several
+Austrian men at arms stood near it.
+
+Without a word, leading his little son by the hand, Tell strode past
+the cap without bowing his head--and was at once stopped by the
+soldiers who told him he was under arrest for defying the Governor's
+order and made ready to take him before Gessler for trial. But Gessler
+himself had seen all this and was so eager to punish Tell that he did
+not wait for the soldiers to come to him, but with his servants and
+retainers hastened out into the square.
+
+Gessler knew Tell by sight and spoke to him by name.
+
+"What does this mean, Tell?" he demanded. "Have you not heard that this
+cap represents the Emperor and is to be saluted by all that pass it?"
+
+"Aye, your Lordship," answered Tell.
+
+"And so you propose to add defiance of my person to your other crime?"
+said the Governor. "I have you in my power now and you shall pay a dear
+penalty. All the more dearly shall you pay because you go about the
+streets armed with your crossbow at your side."
+
+"My bow is used for hunting, your Lordship," said Tell proudly, "a
+right that all free men possess and have possessed from the very
+earliest times."
+
+"I'll curb your right and your talk of freedom," said Gessler fiercely.
+"Yonder is your son. Now harken to your punishment. Take your bow and
+shoot an apple from the child's head."
+
+Now the Governor never thought that Tell could hit so difficult a mark,
+and Tell himself, good shot as he was, quailed at shooting at so small
+a target, when the slightest slip would cause him to kill his beloved
+son. And he begged the Governor to take his property if he would or to
+do what he chose to his person, but to spare an innocent boy who had
+done no harm or wrong of any kind.
+
+Gessler, however, was inexorable, and he mocked Tell with the utmost
+cruelty, telling him that such a mark should be easy for one whose fame
+as a bowman had traveled through all Switzerland, as Tell's had done.
+
+"And mark well my words," said Gessler. "See that you hit the apple,
+for if you miss it, even by a hair's breadth, then you shall die and
+the boy with you."
+
+A groan went through the crowd that had assembled as Gessler spoke
+these words. But young William himself was not afraid and went bravely
+to the tree where he was to stand and with his own hand put the apple
+on his head.
+
+"Shoot, father, why do you hesitate?" he cried. "Well do I know that
+you will hit the apple."
+
+With a shudder Tell took his crossbow and drew two arrows from his
+quiver. Then holding his breath he aimed at the living mark.
+
+The bowstring twanged. The arrow, like a flash of lightning, split the
+apple in two halves and imbedded itself in the tree trunk. Tell had
+triumphed and the deed was accomplished. Turning to Gessler and taking
+his boy by the hand Tell asked leave to go his way, now that his order
+had been obeyed.
+
+But Gessler was determined to slay Tell and was only seeking some
+pretext for getting him into his power.
+
+"Not so fast," said the crafty governor, while he eyed the bow with
+which Tell had so bravely performed the cruel operation. "Tell me, my
+shrewd archer, who does not hesitate to aim at his own flesh and blood,
+why did you draw two arrows from your quiver instead of one?"
+
+Tell drew himself to his full height and, captive as he was, the
+Governor quailed beneath his glance.
+
+"The second arrow was for _you_ in case I had struck my son!" said Tell
+fiercely. "If so much as a drop of his blood had been drawn, my second
+bolt would have been lodged in your false heart."
+
+"Bind him!" shouted Gessler, overjoyed that Tell had delivered himself
+into his hands. "In my own castle it shall be decided what sort of
+death and torture he shall suffer." And with Tell led between two
+horsemen the Governor's retinue went to the shore of the lake to cross
+to the castle where he made his home.
+
+When the boat was well out in the lake, however, the same terrible wind
+that so often blew upon its waters arose with the swiftness of a
+thunderclap and threatened to overwhelm them all. Tell lay bound in the
+boat, calmly watching what he could see of the storm, when one of the
+Governor's servants told him that Tell himself was the most skilful
+boatman in that part of the country and the only one who could save
+them from the waves that threatened each minute to swamp them.
+
+At this Tell's bonds were cut and he was ordered by the Governor to
+take his place at the helm and guide the boat to shore, and Gessler
+added that if he brought it safely in it would serve to lessen the
+punishment that he planned to inflict upon him.
+
+Tell did as he was ordered and took the tiller. And by his skilful
+guidance the craft gradually drew near to shore.
+
+But Tell had planned shrewdly as he guided the boat and he gradually
+drew it toward a ledge of rock that was greatly feared by all the
+boatmen of the lake. When the boat was directly beneath the rock Tell
+waited until a wave flung the boat on high and seizing his crossbow and
+arrows he sprang from the gunwale, landed on the rock and disappeared
+into the forest.
+
+Gessler was enraged at Tell's escape, but he and his party had all they
+could do to save their lives from the fury of the lake. At last, more
+by luck than skill, they drew the craft into smoother waters and he and
+his retinue were saved.
+
+Tell, however, had formed a stern purpose while fleeing through the
+forest. He knew that his own life and that of his son and perhaps of
+his entire family would be lost if Gessler lived, for the Governor
+would certainly send soldiers to take and slay him. So Tell resolved to
+slay the governor with the same crossbow with which he had shot the
+apple from his son's head.
+
+He waited in the woods on the edge of a ravine through which Gessler
+must pass on the way to his castle at Kussnacht, for no other way led
+there; and when the Governor's escort finally appeared, Tell aimed his
+bow, the arrow hissed from the string and imbedded itself squarely in
+Gessler's heart. The deed was accomplished surely and with skill, and
+the Swiss would suffer no more from the heavy hand of the tyrant
+Gessler.
+
+This act rang through Switzerland, and everywhere people were soon in
+revolt against the power of Austria. And the ultimate result of the
+action of William Tell was in the end the freedom of the Swiss people
+from the oppression of Austria. And throughout Switzerland the name of
+William Tell is revered to this day and there are statues in his honor,
+while many a legend has been born in his name and many a great writer
+has celebrated his deeds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+DON QUIXOTE
+
+
+In the year 1605 a Spanish author named Cervantes wrote the story of a
+lean and elderly gentleman named Don Quixote who had the strangest
+attack of madness in the world. For this Don Quixote, who lived in La
+Mancha in Spain, lost his mind through reading books of chivalry, and
+he so stuffed his poor weak brain with preposterous tales of knights
+and giants that at last he thought he must take horse and armor and
+ride through Spain righting wrongs and doing battle with all that
+opposed him.
+
+Now this fancy of Don Quixote's was just as ridiculous as it would be
+to-day to go in search of Indians upon the streets of New York or other
+American cities,--for at the time when he lived there were no knights,
+nor had there been any for a great many years. The people were honest
+peasants and burghers who made their living much in the fashion that we
+do to-day, and had forgotten all about the idle tales of dragons and of
+knights that rode armed through the forests. But none the less Don
+Quixote had so addled his mind with stories of bygone times that he
+must needs become a knight without any delay.
+
+In the attic of his house he found an old suit of rusty armor that had
+belonged to his grandfather, and he scoured this until it shone like
+silver. He found a helmet too, and as only part of it remained he
+repaired it with strips of pasteboard. Then he took an old and worn out
+horse whose ribs stuck out from his hide and who was more used to
+hauling vegetables than to warlike adventures, and he called the horse
+by the high sounding name of "Rocinante," and really believed that the
+senile old animal was a greater charger than Bucephalus, the famous
+horse that bore the conqueror, Alexander.
+
+With his armor, a sword, a lance and a horse, all that remained for Don
+Quixote was to have a fair lady to do bold deeds for, whose colors he
+could wear on his lance when going into battle. A peasant girl lived
+near his house whose name was Aldonca Lorenso, a fat girl of squat
+figure and broad shoulders who smelled of onions, strong enough to
+carry a sack of potatoes on her head. And Don Quixote decided that she
+must be his lady fair, and he called her by the high sounding name of
+Dulcinea del Toboso, ready to uphold the marvelous beauty that he alone
+believed that she possessed, by doing battle with any man in Spain who
+should deny it.
+
+Early one morning in the hottest part of the summer Don Quixote arose,
+put on his armor, took his shield and lance and saddled Rocinante.
+Then, climbing into the saddle as nimbly as his old and rheumatic
+joints would allow, he rode forth in quest of adventures. After riding
+all day, he approached an inn that his disordered brain transformed
+before his eyes into a castle of goodly size, and riding up to the inn
+door he spoke to two peasant girls who were sitting there, calling them
+great ladies and saying that he would do all that they should ask of
+him and protect them with his weapons.
+
+The girls could not understand his talk, and viewing his strange
+appearance had all that they could do to withhold their laughter, but
+seeing that he looked tired and worn they asked if he would like
+something to eat, and on his assenting they took him into the inn and
+spread supper before him. Don Quixote took off his armor, but he could
+not get off his helmet which he had tied firmly on his neck with green
+ribbons, and sooner than cut these he left his helmet on, so that it
+was necessary for one of the girls to feed him with a spoon, and to
+give him wine by pouring it into his mouth through a hollow cane that
+the innkeeper prepared for this strange purpose.
+
+After supper Don Quixote decided that he must mount guard over his suit
+of armor, spending the small hours in prayer and vigilance, in order to
+become a knight, and putting it by the well in the courtyard of the
+inn, he stood beside it, leaning on his sword. This caused great
+inconvenience to all the guests and servants at the inn, for so
+fiercely did he guard it that he allowed nobody to draw water from the
+well and knocked down a peasant who approached with pails, threatening
+to slay him. Whereupon the peasant's comrades, standing at a safe
+distance, pelted Don Quixote with stones.
+
+[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE SUFFERED NOBODY TO DRAW WATER FROM THE WELL]
+
+All this did not please the innkeeper, and he thought of some way to
+quiet the madman. At last he came up to Don Quixote and told him that
+he would now make him a knight--a ceremony that the poor crazy
+gentleman believed he must go through before he had any right to wander
+about the country righting the wrongs of the people. And as Don Quixote
+took the innkeeper for a great nobleman, he only felt pleased and
+flattered at the offer and prepared to accept it without delay.
+
+Then the innkeeper took Don Quixote into the barn, a small boy brought
+a candle and the two girls who had fed Don Quixote came in giggling to
+see the ceremony. And the innkeeper pretended to read something from
+his day book, in which he kept accounts of hay and grain; and bidding
+Don Quixote to kneel struck him a resounding smack with the flat of the
+sword between the shoulder blades. Then one of the girls, still
+giggling, tied the sword about Don Quixote's middle, and said to him:
+"Good sir, may you be a fortunate knight and meet success in all your
+adventures." And in this way the ceremony of knighting the poor man was
+concluded.
+
+Nearly bursting with joy Don Quixote rode away from the inn--where he
+had neglected to pay for his board and lodging. And on his way an
+actual adventure did befall him for he came upon a sturdy peasant
+beating a boy who was tied to a tree.
+
+With a loud voice Don Quixote bade him desist at once and on seeing the
+strange armed figure with sword and lance that threatened him, the man
+stood gaping with amazement. He explained that he was beating his boy
+for laziness, but the boy complained that his master had not paid him
+the wages due him.
+
+"Pay them at once," thundered Don Quixote. "Woe betide the man who does
+not give heed to my orders." Without further parley he rode off,
+whereupon the man tied the boy again to the tree and gave him so severe
+a beating that he left him for dead. And in this way Don Quixote
+righted the first wrong that he encountered.
+
+Having no money or clean clothes he returned home to get these things,
+and when he sallied forth a second time he took with him a simple
+country fellow named Sancho Panza, who was so very stupid that he did
+not understand his master's madness at all but really believed a number
+of the wild tales that Don Quixote told him, notably one about an
+island of which Don Quixote planned to make him governor. And with
+Sancho following at his heels on a donkey Don Quixote commenced riding
+up and down the countryside looking for adventures.
+
+In the course of their travels many adventures befell them, for the
+disordered brain of the old knight errant transformed the happenings of
+every day life into the scenes that he had read of in his wild romances
+of chivalry. One day, as he and Sancho Panza were riding along the
+road, talking of the island that Sancho was to govern when Don Quixote
+should have won it by the power of his sword, they came upon thirty or
+forty old-fashioned windmills that were flourishing their sail-clad
+wooden arms with every breeze that blew.
+
+"By my faith!" exclaimed Don Quixote, "here are a group of giants that
+I mean to destroy, and with the money we gain from them we will start
+on our great fortunes, for I certainly shall kill them all and give you
+some of the gold in payment for your services."
+
+"Where are the giants?" asked the puzzled Sancho Panza in amazement.
+
+"There, straight ahead of us, brandishing their arms in anger," shouted
+Don Quixote. "Let us attack them instantly."
+
+"But, Master," cried Sancho Panza, "those are not giants but windmills
+that turn their arms with the breeze. Have a care how you approach them
+or they will unhorse you."
+
+"They are giants," insisted Don Quixote. "If you are afraid, go home
+and I will battle with them alone."
+
+And driving home his spurs into the bony flanks of Rocinante he charged
+the windmills so furiously that his lance was shivered in the arms of
+the first of them and he and his horse after being hurled in the air
+were thrown stunned and bruised upon the ground.
+
+Sancho Panza hurried to help the poor mad knight who could not move, so
+great had been the force with which he had fallen, and coming to
+himself Don Quixote sat up and seeing the windmills declared that an
+enchanter had put a spell on the giants and changed them into that
+form,--but nevertheless, he continued, the enchanter's wiles would
+prove to be weak against his own stout will and strong right arm and he
+would triumph over his enemies.
+
+Soon after that they came upon a company consisting of two friars of
+the order of St. Benedict and a coach and retinue that was taking a
+lady to the City of Seville, and seeing them Don Quixote declared that
+the friars were enchanters who were carrying the lady off against her
+will. Setting his lance in rest he galloped against them with such
+force that if the one that met his charge had not thrown himself to the
+ground he would certainly have been killed, while the other, seeing how
+his companion had fared, took to his heels as fast as possible.
+
+Sancho Panza, when he saw the friar lying on the road, ran up to him
+and soon would have stripped him of his clothes but some of the
+servants hastened up and demanded what he was doing.
+
+"These clothes belong to me by right of conquest," said Sancho. "My
+master has overthrown in fair combat him that owned them."
+
+The servants, knowing nothing of the laws of chivalry, fell on Sancho
+with their cudgels, belabored him lustily and plucked his beard out in
+handfuls, leaving the unfortunate fellow lying on the ground in far
+worse plight than the friar.
+
+In the meantime Don Quixote was talking to the lady in the coach to
+whom he swore eternal devotion. He told her that since he had rescued
+her from the enchanters she must return to the town of Toboso and tell
+the lady Dulcinea what he had done and the glorious feat of arms he had
+performed in Dulcinea's name. But at this a Biscayan Squire rode up and
+told Don Quixote to leave at once or he would soon be unable to perform
+any more glorious feats because he would promptly be slain.
+
+And a combat began between Don Quixote and the Biscayan that nearly
+ended in the death of the latter, for in spite of the carriage cushion
+that the squire used as a shield, Don Quixote struck him such a
+tremendous blow that he fell from his horse and lay as dead on the
+ground. But the crazy knight had not come unharmed from the fight, for
+part of his ear was cut away by the sword of the Biscayan. And telling
+the astonished lady to take the Biscayan with her to Toboso, Don
+Quixote remounted and rode away with Sancho Panza.
+
+For the cure of his ear Don Quixote had in mind a wonderful balsam made
+of wine, oil, rosemary and salt, and he talked much with Sancho about
+the marvelous properties of this nauseous compound. On the way to an
+inn, however, he had another fight, this time with some carriers he
+passed in the course of his journey, and both he and Sancho were well
+beaten again.
+
+As the poor knight could not move after his last battle Sancho threw
+him across the back of Rocinante and led the horse until they came to
+an inn, where the innkeeper's wife, being kind hearted, dressed Don
+Quixote's wounds and put him to bed. And here Don Quixote tried his
+wonderful balsam and Sancho also, and both of them were made ill by the
+horrible dose that rudely greeted their stomachs.
+
+When they came to leave the inn they had no money to pay the reckoning.
+Don Quixote mounted Rocinante and rode away, but Sancho was held by the
+innkeeper for payment. And calling a number of rude fellows the
+innkeeper took his revenge upon the crazy knight by the mistreatment of
+Sancho Panza who was tossed in a blanket until the company could toss
+him no more for weariness and the laughter that his absurd plight awoke
+in them.
+
+After this Don Quixote had many ridiculous adventures. Among them was
+an attack he made upon an inoffensive barber who happened to be
+carrying a brass basin for his trade that Don Quixote believed to be an
+enchanted helmet. After capturing the basin Don Quixote proceeded to
+wear it in place of his steel casque. He called it Mambrino's Helmet,
+and his appearance in ancient armor with a basin on his head made him
+appear madder than ever.
+
+One day he chanced to meet a group of Spanish convicts who had been
+convicted for their crimes and were being taken to the galleys as a
+punishment. After questioning them and learning that they were being
+led away against their will Don Quixote fell on the guards who were
+escorting them and attacked them so fiercely that he put them to flight
+and set free the convicts. These, however, returned his kindness by a
+shower of stones. They then fell upon him and stripped him of much of
+his clothing, leaving, however, the armor which was of no use to them,
+and so they left him.
+
+Now the curate and the barber of the town where Don Quixote lived were
+much concerned on account of the madness of their old friend, for they
+loved Don Quixote for his high spirit and his gentle ways when the most
+violent fits of madness were not upon him. And so they set forth to try
+and entice him to return to his home again where they hoped that
+doctors could cure him of his delusions.
+
+To accomplish their ends they engaged the services of a young lady of
+great beauty who represented to Don Quixote that she was a princess
+despoiled of her kingdom, and that he must rescue her lands from the
+power of a great and sour-faced giant that held them.
+
+The curate and the barber had disguised themselves before they met Don
+Quixote so that he might not recognize them and guess their design.
+They found him half stripped of his clothing and doing penance for the
+beautiful Dulcinea in his shirt and drawers. He was engaged in a
+useless fast in the wilderness where he cut many ridiculous capers and
+was almost starved into the bargain. Sancho, he had sent away with a
+letter to Dulcinea, but Sancho returned with the curate and the barber
+and the young lady and together they tricked the mad knight into
+returning in the direction of his native village.
+
+On their way, however, they stopped at an inn where yet another
+adventure was to befall Don Quixote, for dreaming of the giant from
+whom he was to rescue the lady's kingdom he attacked with his sword two
+wine skins that were in his room and flooded his apartment with red
+wine.
+
+Before he could be taken home, however, his madness broke out on him so
+violently that still another scheme had to be employed. His friends,
+disguised, crept into his chamber and tied him hand and foot. Then the
+poor knight was placed in a wooden cage and borne home behind two oxen.
+
+Of the many adventures that Don Quixote encountered, how he broke away
+from home once more and how his Squire Sancho actually did become the
+ruler of an island for a brief period, it is impossible to write here.
+But the name of Don Quixote, through the marvelous writer who created
+this character, has become known throughout the world, and stands
+to-day as the symbol for high ideals and self-sacrifice that are
+carried to the point of madness and utter folly.
+
+Cervantes had still another design in creating Don Quixote than to make
+an amusing story, for he intended to bring into ridicule and disrepute
+the old-fashioned stories of chivalry with which Spain was filled at
+the time he lived. And he succeeded so well that since his day not
+another one has been written.
+
+
+
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