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diff --git a/28455-8.txt b/28455-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e16d0a --- /dev/null +++ b/28455-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11138 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5 of 8, by Various + +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: Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5 of 8 + A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more + than 200 of the most prominent personages in History + +Author: Various + +Editor: Charles F. Horne + +Release Date: March 30, 2009 [EBook #28455] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN. *** + + + + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Christine P. Travers and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: ^ is used to mark superscript.] + + + +[Illustration: Columbus before Isabella.] + + + + +GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN + + +_A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of_ + +THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 200 OF THE MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGES IN HISTORY + + +VOL. V. + + + + +Copyright, 1894, BY SELMAR HESS + +edited by Charles F. Horne + +[Illustration: Publisher's arm.] + +New-York: Selmar Hess Publisher + + +Copyright, 1894, by SELMAR HESS. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME V. + + + SUBJECT AUTHOR PAGE + + ÆNEAS, _Charlotte M. Yonge_, 12 + ETHAN ALLEN, _Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham_, 200 + KING ARTHUR, _Rev. S. Baring-Gould_, 36 + THE CHEVALIER BAYARD, _Herbert Greenhough Smith_, 145 + ST. BERNARD, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 60 + ROBERT BRUCE, _Sir J. Bernard Burke, LL.D._, 105 + WILLIAM CAXTON, 129 + THE CID, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 56 + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, _A. R. Spofford, LL.D._, 131 + CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, _Oliver Optic_, 188 + ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, _George Parsons Lathrop, LL.D._, 78 + FREDERICK BARBAROSSA, _Lady Lamb_, 65 + VASCO DA GAMA, _Judge Albion W. Tourgée_, 139 + THE GRACCHI, _James Anthony Froude, LL.D._, 20 + GUSTAVUS VASA, _Charles F. Horne_, 153 + HANS GUTENBERG, _Alphonse de Lamartine_, 121 + HAROLD, KING OF ENGLAND, 54 + WILLIAM HARVEY, 172 + HERCULES, _Charlotte M. Yonge_, 1 + JOHN HOWARD, _Harriet G. Walker_, 194 + JOAN OF ARC, _Ella Wheeler Wilcox_, 113 + LEIF ERICSON, _Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen_, 49 + ST. LOUIS, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 86 + MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, _Samuel L. Knapp_, 159 + MARCO POLO, _Noah Brooks_, 92 + RICHARD COEUR DE LION, 71 + ROLAND, 39 + ROLLO THE GANGER, _Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen_, 44 + SIEGFRIED, _Karl Blind_, 31 + CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, _Marion Harland_, 166 + PRINCE CHARLES STUART, _Andrew Lang, LL.D._, 177 + THESEUS, 5 + ULYSSES, _Charles F. Horne_, 7 + SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, 100 + ARNOLD VON WINKELRIED, 111 + XENOPHON, _Professor J. Pentland Mahaffy_, 15 + ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF PALMYRA, _Anna Jameson_, 26 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +VOLUME V. + + +PHOTOGRAVURES + + ILLUSTRATION ARTIST TO FACE PAGE + + COLUMBUS BEFORE ISABELLA, _Vacslav Brozik_ _Frontispiece_ + ULYSSES DEFYING THE CYCLOPS, _Louis-Frederic + Schutzenberger_ 10 + THE MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI, _Gustave Boulanger_ 20 + LEIF ERICSON OFF THE COAST OF + VINELAND, _O. A. Wergeland_ 52 + THE VISION OF ST. BERNARD, _Wilhelm Bernatzik_ 62 + THE DEATH OF BARBAROSSA, _Wilhelm Beckmann_ 70 + LOUIS IX. OPENS THE JAILS OF FRANCE, _Luc Olivier Merson_ 90 + ARNOLD WINKELRIED AT SEMPACH, _Konrad Grob_ 112 + JOAN OF ARC, _Mme. Zoe-Laure de + Chatillon_ 118 + MARY STUART AND RIZZIO, _Georg Conrader_ 162 + + + + +WOOD-ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES + + + HERCULES AT THE FEET OF OMPHALE, _J. E. Dantan_ 4 + TRIBUTE TO THE MINOTAUR, _A. Gendron_ 6 + ZENOBIA CAPTIVE, _H. Schmalz_ 26 + SIEGFRIED SLAYING THE DRAGON, _K. Dielitz_ 32 + THE RUINS OF KING ARTHUR'S CASTLE, _Percy Dixon_ 38 + ROLAND AT RONCESVALLES, _Alphonse de Neuville_ 42 + ROLLO THE RANGER ATTACKS PARIS, _Alphonse de Neuville_ 46 + EDITH SEARCHING FOR THE BODY OF + HAROLD, _Alphonse de Neuville_ 56 + THE CID ORDERING THE EXECUTION OF + AHMED, _Alphonse de Neuville_ 58 + RICHARD COEUR DE LION ON THE FIELD + OF ARSUR, _Gustave Doré_ 74 + THE VISION OF ST. FRANCIS, _Chartran_ 84 + THE EDUCATION OF LOUIS IX., _Chartran_ 86 + GUTENBERG'S INVENTION, _E. Hillemacher_ 126 + THE FIRST SHEET FROM CAXTON'S PRESS, _E. H. Wehnert_ 130 + COLUMBUS RIDICULED AT THE COUNCIL OF + SALAMANCA, _Nicolo Barabino_ 134 + BAYARD TAKING LEAVE OF THE LADIES OF + BRESCIA, _Alphonse de Neuville_ 150 + ABDICATION OF GUSTAVUS VASA, _Hersent_ 156 + CAPTAIN SMITH SAVED BY POCAHONTAS, _Grosch_ 168 + HARVEY DEMONSTRATING THE CIRCULATION + OF THE BLOOD, _Robert Hannah_ 176 + THE FIRST MEETING OF PRINCE CHARLES + WITH FLORA MACDONALD, _Alex. Johnstone_ 184 + DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK, _J. Webber_ 192 + HOWARD RELIEVING A PRISONER, _F. Wheatley_ 198 + ETHAN ALLEN AT TICONDEROGA, _Alonzo Chappel_ 204 + + + + +WORKMEN AND HEROES + + The heights by great men reached and kept + Were not attained by sudden flight, + But they, while their companions slept, + Were toiling upward in the night. + + --LONGFELLOW. + + + + +HERCULES + +By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE + +[Illustration: Hercules.] + + +One morning Jupiter boasted among the gods in Olympus that a son would +that day be born, in the line of Perseus, who would rule over all the +Argives. Juno was angry and jealous at this, and, as she was the goddess +who presided over the births of children, she contrived to hinder the +birth of the child he intended till that day was over, and to hasten +that of another grandson of the great Perseus. This child was named +Eurystheus, and, as he had been born on the right day, Jupiter was +forced to let him be King of Argos, Sparta, and Mycenæ, and all the +Dorian race; while the boy whom he had meant to be the chief was kept in +subjection, in spite of having wonderful gifts of courage and strength, +and a kind, generous nature, that always was ready to help the weak and +sorrowful. + +His name was Alcides, or Hercules, and he was so strong at ten months +old that, with his own hands, he strangled two serpents whom Juno sent +to devour him in his cradle. He was bred up by Chiron, the chief of the +Centaurs, a wondrous race of beings, who had horses' bodies as far as +the forelegs, but where the neck of the horse would begin had human +breasts and shoulders, with arms and heads. Most of them were fierce and +savage; but Chiron was very wise and good, and, as Jupiter made him +immortal, he was the teacher of many of the great Greek heroes. When +Hercules was about eighteen, two maidens appeared to him--one in a +simple white dress, grave, modest, and seemly; the other scarcely +clothed but tricked out in ornaments, with a flushed face, and bold, +roving eyes. The first told him that she was Virtue, and that, if he +would follow her, she would lead him through many hard trials, but that +he would be glorious at last, and be blest among the gods. The other was +Vice, and she tried to wile him by a smooth life among wine-cups and +dances and flowers and sports, all to be enjoyed at once. But the choice +of Hercules was Virtue, and it was well for him, for Jupiter, to make up +for Juno's cheat, had sworn that, if he fulfilled twelve tasks which +Eurystheus should put upon him, he should be declared worthy of being +raised to the gods at his death. + +Eurystheus did not know that in giving these tasks he was making his +cousin fulfil his course; but he was afraid of such a mighty man, and +hoped that one of these would be the means of getting rid of him. So +when he saw Hercules at Argos, with a club made of a forest-tree in his +hand, and clad in the skin of a lion which he had slain, Eurystheus bade +him go and kill a far more terrible lion, of giant brood, and with a +skin that could not be pierced, which dwelt in the valley of Nemea. The +fight was a terrible one; the lion could not be wounded, and Hercules +was forced to grapple with it and strangle it in his arms. He lost a +finger in the struggle, but at last the beast died in his grasp, and he +carried it on his back to Argos, where Eurystheus was so much frightened +at the grim sight that he fled away to hide himself, and commanded +Hercules not to bring his monsters within the gates of the city. + +There was a second labor ready for Hercules--namely, the destroying a +serpent with nine heads, called Hydra, whose lair was the marsh of +Lerna. Hercules went to the battle, and managed to crush one head with +his club, but that moment two sprang up in its place; moreover, a huge +crab came out of the swamp and began to pinch his heels. Still he did +not lose heart, but, calling his friend Iolaus, he bade him take a +firebrand and burn the necks as fast as he cut off the heads; and thus +at last they killed the creature, and Hercules dipped his arrows in its +poisonous blood, so that their least wound became fatal. Eurystheus said +that it had not been a fair victory, since Hercules had been helped, and +Juno put the crab into the skies as the constellation Cancer; while a +labor to patience was next devised for Hercules--namely, the chasing of +the Arcadian stag, which was sacred to Diana, and had golden horns and +brazen hoofs. Hercules hunted it up hill and down dale for a whole year, +and when at last he caught it, he got into trouble with Apollo and Diana +about it, and had hard work to appease them; but he did so at last; and +for his fourth labor was sent to catch alive a horrid wild boar on Mount +Erymanthus. He followed the beast through a deep swamp, caught it in a +net, and brought it to Mycenæ. + +The fifth task was a curious one. Augeas, King of Elis, had immense +herds, and kept his stables and cowhouses in a frightful state of filth, +and Eurystheus, hoping either to disgust Hercules or kill him by the +unwholesomeness of the work, sent him to clean them. Hercules, without +telling Augeas it was his appointed task, offered to do it if he were +repaid the tenth of the herds, and received the promise on oath. Then he +dug a canal, and turned the water of two rivers into the stables, so as +effectually to cleanse them; but when Augeas heard it was his task, he +tried to cheat him of the payment, and on the other hand Eurystheus +said, as he had been rewarded, it could not count as one of his labors, +and ordered him off to clear the woods near Lake Stymphalis of some +horrible birds, with brazen beaks and claws, and ready-made arrows for +feathers, which ate human flesh. To get them to rise out of the forest +was his first difficulty, but Pallas lent him a brazen clapper, which +made them take to their wings; then he shot them with his poisoned +arrows, killed many, and drove the rest away. + +King Minos, of Crete, had once vowed to sacrifice to the gods whatever +should appear from the sea. A beautiful white bull came, so fine that it +tempted him not to keep his word, and he was punished by the bull going +mad, and doing all sorts of damage in Crete; so that Eurystheus thought +it would serve as a labor for Hercules to bring the animal to Mycenæ. In +due time back came the hero, with the bull, quite subdued, upon his +shoulders; and, having shown it, he let it loose again to run about +Greece. + +He had a harder task in getting the mares of the Thracian king, +Diomedes, which were fed on man's flesh. He overcame their grooms, and +drove the beasts away; but he was overtaken by Diomedes, and, while +fighting with him and his people, put the mares under the charge of a +friend; but when the battle was over, and Diomedes killed, he found that +they had eaten up their keeper. However, when he had fed them on the +dead body of their late master they grew mild and manageable, and he +brought them home. + +The next expedition was against the Amazons, a nation of women warriors, +who lived somewhere on the banks of the Euxine, or Black Sea, kept their +husbands in subjection, and seldom brought up a son. The bravest of all +the Amazons was the queen, Hippolyta, to whom Mars had given a belt as a +reward for her valor. Eurystheus's daughter wanted this belt, and +Hercules was sent to fetch it. He was so hearty, honest, and +good-natured, that he talked over Hippolyta, and she promised him her +girdle; but Juno, to make mischief, took the form of an Amazon, and +persuaded the ladies that their queen was being deluded and stolen away +by a strange man, so they mounted their horses and came down to rescue +her. He thought she had been treacherous, and there was a great fight, +in which he killed her, and carried off her girdle. + +Far out in the west, near the ocean flowing found the world, were herds +of purple oxen, guarded by a two-headed dog, and belonging to a giant +with three bodies called Geryon, who lived in the isle of Erythria, in +the outmost ocean. Passing Lybia, Hercules came to the end of the +Mediterranean Sea, Neptune's domain, and there set up two +pillars--namely, Mounts Calpe and Abyla--on each side of the Straits of +Gibraltar. The rays of the sun scorched him, and in wrath he shot at it +with his arrows, when Helios, instead of being angry, admired his +boldness, and gave him his golden cup, wherewith to cross the outer +ocean, which he did safely, although old Oceanus, who was king there, +put up his hoary head, and tried to frighten him by shaking the bowl. It +was large enough to hold all the herd of oxen, when Hercules had killed +dog, herdsman, and giant, and he returned it safely to Helios when he +had crossed the ocean. + +Again Eurystheus sent Hercules to the utmost parts of the earth. This +time it was to bring home the golden apples which grew in the gardens of +the Hesperides, the daughters of old Atlas, who dwelt in the land of +Hesperus, the Evening Star, and, together with a dragon, guarded the +golden tree in a beautiful garden. Hercules made a long journey, +apparently round by the north, and on his way had to wrestle with a +dreadful giant named Antæus. Though thrown down over and over again, +Antæus rose up twice as strong every time, till Hercules found out that +he grew in force whenever he touched his mother earth, and therefore, +lifting him up in those mightiest of arms, the hero squeezed the breath +out of him. By and by he came to Mount Caucasus, where he found the +chained Prometheus, and, aiming an arrow at the eagle, killed the +tormentor, and set the Titan free. Atlas undertook to go to his +daughters, and get the apples, if Hercules would hold up the skies for +him in the meantime. Hercules agreed, and Atlas shifted the heavens to +his shoulders, went, and presently returned with three apples of gold, +but said he would take them to Eurystheus, and Hercules must continue to +bear the load of the skies. Prometheus bade Hercules say he could not +hold them without a pad for them to rest on upon his head. Atlas took +them again to hold while the pad was put on; and thereupon Hercules +picked up the apples, and left the old giant to his load. + +One more labor remained--namely, to bring up the three-headed watch-dog, +Cerberus, from the doors of Tartarus. Mercury and Pallas both came to +attend him, and led him alive among the shades, who all fled from him, +except Medusa and one brave youth. He gave them the blood of an ox to +drink, and made his way to Pluto's throne, where he asked leave to take +Cerberus to the upper world with him. Pluto said he might, if he could +overcome Cerberus without weapons; and this he did, struggling with the +dog, with no protection but the lion's skin, and dragging him up to the +light, where the foam that fell from the jaws of one of the three mouths +produced the plant called aconite, or hellebore, which is dark and +poisonous. After showing the beast to Eurystheus, Hercules safely +returned him to the under world, and thus completed his twelve great +labors. + +Hercules was subject to fits of madness, in one of which he slew a +friend, and as a penalty he allowed himself to be sold as a slave. He +was purchased by the Queen of Lydia, Omphale, and remained in her +service three years. She used to make him do a woman's work, and even +dressed him at times in female garments, while she herself wore his +famous lion skin and laughed at him. + +[Illustration: Hercules at the Feet of Omphale.] + +But strong as he was, Hercules had in time to meet death himself. He had +married a nymph named Deianira, and was taking her home, when he came to +a river where a Centaur named Nessus lived, and gained his bread by +carrying travellers over on his back. Hercules paid him the price for +carrying Deianira over, while he himself crossed on foot; but as soon as +the river was between them, the faithless Centaur began to gallop away +with the lady. Hercules sent an arrow after him, which brought him to +the ground, and as he was dying he prepared his revenge by telling +Deianira that his blood was enchanted with love for her, and that if +ever she found her husband's affection failing her, she had only to make +him put on a garment anointed with it, and his heart would return to +her; he knew full well that his blood was full of the poison of the +Hydra, but poor Deianira believed him, and had saved some of the blood +before Hercules came up. + +Several years after, Hercules made prisoner a maiden named Iole, in +Lydia, after gaining a great victory. Landing in the island of Euboea, +he was going to make a great sacrifice to Jupiter, and sent home to +Deianira for a festal garment to wear at it. She was afraid he was +falling in love with Iole, and steeped the garment in the preparation +she had made from Nessus's blood. No sooner did Hercules put it on, than +his veins were filled with agony, which nothing could assuage. He tried +to tear off the robe, but the skin and flesh came with it, and his blood +was poisoned beyond relief. Unable to bear the pain any longer, and +knowing that by his twelve tasks he had earned the prize of endless +life, he went to Mount Oeta, crying aloud with the pain, so that the +rocks rang again with the sound. He gave his quiver of arrows to his +friend Philoctetes, charging him to collect his ashes and bury them, but +never to make known the spot; and then he tore up, with his mighty +strength, trees by the roots, enough to form a funeral pile, lay down on +it, and called on his friend to set fire to it; but no one could bear to +do so, till a shepherd consented to thrust in a torch. Then thunder was +heard, a cloud came down, and he was borne away to Olympus, while +Philoctetes collected and buried the ashes. + + + + +THESEUS + +[Illustration: Theseus.] + + +Theseus, the great national hero of Athens, is said to have been born at +Troezen, where his father, Ægeus, King of Athens, slept one night with +Æthra, the daughter of Pittheus, king of the place. Ægeus, on his +departure, hid his sword and his shoes under a large stone, and charged +Æthra, if she brought forth a son, to send him to Athens with these +tokens, as soon as he was able to roll away the stone. She brought forth +a son, to whom she gave the name of Theseus, and when he was grown up +informed him of his origin, and told him to take up the tokens and sail +to Athens, for the roads were infested by robbers and monsters. But +Theseus, who was desirous of emulating the glory of Hercules, refused to +go by sea, and after destroying various monsters who had been the terror +of the country, arrived in safety at Athens. Here he was joyfully +recognized by Ægeus, but with difficulty escaped destruction from Media +and the Pallantids, the sons and grandsons of Pallas, the brother of +Ægeus. These dangers, however, he finally surmounted, and slew the +Pallantids in battle. + +His next exploit was the destruction of the great Marathonian bull, +which ravaged the neighboring country; and shortly after he resolved to +deliver the Athenians from the tribute that they were obliged to pay to +Minos, King of Crete. Every ninth year the Athenians had to send seven +young men and as many virgins to Crete, to be devoured by the Minotaur +in the Labyrinth. Theseus volunteered to go as one of the victims, and +through the assistance of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, who became +enamoured of him, he slew the Minotaur and escaped from the Labyrinth. +He then sailed away with Ariadne, whom he deserted in the island of Dia +or Naxos, an event which frequently forms the subject of ancient works +of art. The sails of the ship Theseus left Athens in were black, but he +promised his father, if he returned in safety, to hoist white sails. +This, however, he neglected to do, and Ægeus, seeing the ship draw near +with black sails, supposed that his son had perished, and threw himself +from a rock. + +Theseus now ascended the throne of Athens. But his adventures were by no +means concluded. He marched into the country of the Amazons, who dwelt +on the Thermodon, according to some accounts, in the company of +Hercules, and carried away their queen, Antiope. The Amazons in revenge +invaded Attica, and were with difficulty defeated by the Athenians. This +battle was one of the favorite subjects of the ancient artists, and is +commemorated in several works of art that are still extant. Theseus also +took part in the Argonautic expedition and the Calydonian hunt. He +assisted his friend Pirithous and the Lapithæ in their contest with the +Centaurs, and also accompanied the former in his descent to the lower +world to carry off Proserpine, the wife of Pluto. When Theseus was fifty +years old, according to tradition, he carried off Helen, the daughter of +Leda, who was then only nine years of age. But his territory was invaded +in consequence by Castor and Pollux, the brothers of Leda; his own +people rose against him, and at last, finding his affairs desperate, he +withdrew to the island of Scyros, and there perished, either by a fall +from the cliffs or through the treachery of Lycomedes, the king of the +island. For a long time his memory was forgotten by the Athenians, but +he was subsequently honored by them as the greatest of their heroes. At +the battle of Marathon they thought they saw him armed and bearing down +upon the barbarians, and after the conclusion of the Persian war his +bones were discovered at Scyros by Cimon, who conveyed them to Athens +where they were received with great pomp and deposited in a temple built +to his honor. A festival also was instituted, which was celebrated on +the eighth day of every month, but more especially on the eighth of +Pyanipsion. + +The above is a brief account of the legends prevailing respecting +Theseus. But he is, moreover, represented by ancient writers as the +founder of the Attic commonwealth, and even of its democratic +institutions. It would be waste of time to inquire whether there was an +historical personage of this name who actually introduced the political +changes ascribed to him; it will be convenient to adhere to the ancient +account in describing them as the work of Theseus. + +[Illustration: Tribute to the Minotaur.] + +Before this time Attica contained many independent townships, which were +only nominally united. Theseus incorporated the people into one state, +removed the principal courts for the administration of justice to +Athens, and greatly enlarged the city, which had hitherto covered little +more than the rock which afterward formed the citadel. To cement their +union he instituted several festivals, and especially changed the +Athenæa into the Panathenæa, or the festivals of all the Atticans. He +encouraged the nobles to reside at Athens, and surrendered a part of his +kingly prerogatives to them; for which reason he is perhaps represented +as the founder of the Athenian democracy, although the government which +he established was, and continued to be long after him, strictly +aristocratic. + + + + +ULYSSES[1] + + [Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CHARLES F. HORNE + +[Illustration: Ulysses.] + + +While courage and strength seemed to the ancient Greeks the noblest of +virtues, they ranked wisdom and ready wit almost as high. Achilles was +the strongest of the Grecian warriors at the siege of Troy, but there +was another almost as strong, equally brave, and far shrewder of wit. +This was Ulysses. It was he who ultimately brought about the capture of +the city. Homer speaks often of him in his "Iliad;" and the bard's +second great work, the "Odyssey," is devoted entirely to the wanderings +of Odysseus, or, as we have learned from the Romans to call him, +Ulysses. Whether he was a real person or only a creation of the poet's +fancy, it is impossible to say. But as it is now generally agreed that +there was a siege of Troy, it follows that there was probably a Ulysses, +and his adventures, while in the main mythical, are of value as having +perhaps some foundation in truth, and giving, at all events, a picture +of what the old Greeks thought a hero should be and do. + +Ulysses was King of Ithaca when he was summoned to join the rest of the +Grecian princes for the war with Troy. He had no wish to go, for he had +lately married a beautiful girl, Penelope, and was happy as a man might +be. So when the heralds came he pretended to be insane, and hitching a +yoke of oxen to a plough he drove them along the sands of the sea-shore. +He sang and shouted, and ploughed up the sand, and scattered salt as if +he were sowing it, and cried out that he would soon have a beautiful +crop of salt waves. The heralds watched him for a moment, and then +returning to the princes told them that there was no use delivering the +summons to Ulysses, for he had lost his wits. Then Palamedes, who, after +Ulysses, was accounted shrewdest of the Greeks, went, and standing there +on the beach, watched the plough. And he took Ulysses's baby son and +threw him in front of the team to see if the father was indeed mad. +Ulysses turned the plough aside to avoid the child; and then the princes +knew it was all a pretence, and he had to go with them. But he never +forgave Palamedes, and long after brought about his death. + +He was in many ways the ablest of the Greeks. Next to Achilles, Ajax was +accounted the strongest; but Ulysses threw him in wrestling. Oilemenus +was regarded as the swiftest of men, but Ulysses in a race outran him. +When Achilles was slain Ulysses alone held back all the Trojans, while +his comrades bore the body to their ships. Many other great exploits he +performed, and his counsels were of much value to the Greeks through all +the long siege. A great pile of spoils was heaped up to be given to the +man who had been of most use to the assailants, and the Trojan prisoners +themselves being called on to decide, gave it to Ulysses. At the last, +when Achilles was dead, and the Greeks were all worn out and despairing, +it was his fertile brain which originated the snare into which the +Trojans fell. + +Now, with the other Greeks, Ulysses set out to return to his home. Yet +first he stopped with his Ithacans to attack the Trojan city of Ciconia. +The assault was unexpected and successful. Great treasure fell into the +hands of the conquerors; but, in spite of their leader's entreaties, +they persisted in stopping in the captured city for a night's carouse. +The dispersed Ciconians rallied, gathered together their allies, and +attacking the revellers, defeated them with great slaughter, so that +less than half of them escaped in their ships. Yet this was only the +first of the many mishaps which befell the ill-starred Ulysses. So +persistently did misfortune pursue him that the superstitious Greeks +declared that he must have incurred the hatred of the sea-god, Neptune, +who would not let him cross his domains. + +No sooner had his flying ships escaped from Ciconia than they were +struck by a terrific tempest which drove them far out of their course. +For three days the storm continued; then, as it abated, they saw before +them an unknown shore on which they landed to rest and recover their +strength. It was the land of the lotos-eaters, and when Ulysses sent +messengers to find out where he was, they, too, ate of the lotos fruit. +It caused them to forget everything; their struggles and exhaustion, +their homes, their leader, the great battles they had fought, all were +obliterated. They only cared to lie there as the other lotos-eaters did, +doing no work, but just dreaming all their lives, nibbling at the fruit, +which was both food and drink, until they grew old and died. + +Ulysses knew that any life, no matter how wretched, was far better than +this death in life. He forbade any other of his men to touch the fruit, +and binding those who had already eaten it, he bore them, despite their +pleading and weeping, back to his ships, which he at once led away from +that clime of subtle danger. They next sighted a fertile island, where +leaving most of his comrades for the rest they needed, Ulysses sailed +in his own ship, exploring. He soon found himself in a beautiful +country, where were seen vast herds of sheep and goats, but no people. +Landing with his men, they explored it and found great caves full of +milk and cheese, but still no people, only a huge giant in the distance. +So sitting down in one of the caves they feasted merrily and awaited the +return of the inhabitants. + +Now these inhabitants were giants, such as the one they had seen. They +were called Cyclops, and had only one great eye in the middle of the +forehead. The Cyclops who owned the cave in which the adventurers were +was a particularly large and savage one named Polyphemus. When he +returned at night and saw the men within, he immediately seized two of +them, cracked their heads together, and ate them for supper. Then he +went to bed. Ulysses and his terrified men would have slain the huge +creature as he slept; but he had rolled a great stone in front of the +door, and they could not possibly move it to escape. In the morning the +monster ate two more of the unfortunates and then went off with his +flocks, fastening the door as before. In the evening he ate two more. + +By this time the crafty Ulysses, as Homer delights to call him, had +perfected his plans. He offered Polyphemus some wine, which so delighted +him that he asked the giver his name, and said he had it in mind to do +him a kindness. The crafty one told him his name was No-man. Then said +the ogre, "This shall be your reward, I will eat No-man the last of you +all." Then, heavy with the wine, he fell into a deep sleep. The tiny +weapons of the wanderers would have been of little effect against this +man-mountain, so taking a great pole, they heated it red-hot in the +fire, and all together plunged it into his one great eye, blinding him. +Up he jumped, roaring and howling horribly, and groping in the dark to +find his prisoners; but they easily avoided him. Then came other Cyclops +running at the noise from their distant caves, and called to him, "Who +has hurt thee, Polyphemus?" + +He answered them, "No-man has hurt me, No-man has blinded me." + +Then they said, "If no man has hurt thee, thy trouble is from the gods, +and we may not interfere. Bear it patiently, and pray to them." + +In the morning Polyphemus opened the door, and sitting in it, let his +sheep pass out, feeling each one, so that the Greeks might not escape. +But the crafty one fastened himself and his remaining comrades under the +breasts of the largest sheep, and so, hidden by the wool, escaped +unnoticed. They hurried to their ship and put out to sea. And now +feeling safe, Ulysses shouted to the blind monster and taunted him, +whereon, rushing to the shore, Polyphemus lifted up a vast rock and +hurled it toward the sound he heard. It almost struck the vessel, and +its waves swept the little craft back to the land. In great haste they +shoved off again, and when they felt safe, shouted at him once more. He +followed them, hurling rocks, but now they were beyond his reach and +returned safely to their companions. + +Next the wanderers reached the island of Æolus, who controls the winds. +He received them with royal hospitality, pointed out to them their +proper course to Ithaca, and when they left him, gave to Ulysses a bag +in which he had tied up all the contrary winds, that they might have a +fair one to waft them home. For nine days they sailed, and at last were +actually in sight of their destination; but the seamen fancying there +was treasure in Æolus's bag opened it while their leader slept. At once +leaped out all the wild winds, and there was a terrible tempest which +swept the vessels back to their starting-point. Æolus, however, refused +to help them again, for he said they were plainly accursed of the gods. + +So they journeyed on as best they might, and came to the land of the +Læstrygonians. These people were of enormous strength and were +cannibals; but Ulysses and his men knowing nothing of this, sailed into +the narrow harbor. As they landed the cannibals rushed upon them and +slew them, and hurling rocks from the top of the narrow entrance, sank +those ships which would have escaped. Ulysses in his own ship managed to +force his way out, but all the other ships were taken and their crews +slain. + +Then, in deep mourning, Ulysses sailed on till he came to the home of +Circe, a beautiful but wicked enchantress. Here he divided his crew into +two parties, and while one half rested, the others went to find what +place this was. Circe welcomed them in her palace, feasted them, and +gave them a magic drink. When they had drunk this, she touched them with +her wand, and they were turned into swine, all except one, who had +feared to enter the palace, and now returning, told Ulysses that the +others had disappeared. Then the hero arose and went alone to the +palace; but on the way he sought out a little herb which might render +the drink harmless. This he ate, and when Circe having given him the +deadly cup, would have turned him also into a brute, he drew his sword +as if to slay her. Terribly frightened, she besought mercy, and at his +request restored his men to their own forms. + +Directed by her, Ulysses is said to have entered the abode of the dead, +and conversed with the ghosts of all the great warriors who had been +slain in the Trojan war, or who had died since. At last, when Circe had +no more wonders to show him, the wanderer left her, once more directed +on the road to Ithaca, and to some extent warned of the dangers which +beset the path. + +First he had to pass the Sirens, beautiful but baleful maidens, who sat +on a rocky shore and sang a magic song so alluring, that men hearing it +let their ships drift on the rocks while listening, or threw themselves +into the sea to swim to the maidens, and were drowned. No man had ever +heard them and lived. Here the crafty one filled his companions' ears +with wax, so they could not hear the Sirens' song, and he bade them bind +him to the mast, so that he might hear it but could not go to them. This +was done, and they passed in safety. Ulysses heard the sweet song, and +raved and struggled to break his bonds, but they held fast. So he was +the first to hear the Sirens' song and live. And some say he was the +last as well, for in despair, thinking their music had lost its power, +the maidens threw themselves into the sea. + +[Illustration: Ulysses defying the Cyclops.] + +Next the wanderers came to a narrow strait, on one side of which was +Charybdis, a dread whirlpool from which no ship could escape, and on the +other was the cave of Scylla, a monster having six snake-like heads, +with each of which she seized a man from every passing ship. Choosing +the lesser evil, the bold Ulysses sailed through the strait close to +Scylla; and six poor wretches were snatched by the monster from the deck +and devoured, but the rest escaped. + +[Illustration: Menelaus. Paris. Diomedes. Ulysses. Nestor. Achilles. +Agamemnon.] + +Then they came to an uninhabited island, filled with herds of cattle. +These were held sacred to the sun, and no man might slay or eat them +without being punished by the gods. This Ulysses knew well, and warned +his men against touching them; but great tempests now swelled up, and +for a whole month the sailors could not leave the island. Their +provisions gave out and they were starving. Then their leader wandered +away looking for help, and while he was gone they slew some of the oxen +and ate their fill. The storm died, and, Ulysses returning, they again +set sail; but at once came a terrific hurricane, upset the ship, and +drowned all of the guilty ones. Ulysses had not eaten the flesh of the +oxen; and he alone was saved, clinging to a spar, and was tossed on the +island of the nymph Calypso. After a long sojourn he escaped from here +on a raft. But his old enemy Neptune again raised a storm, which broke +his raft; and, naked and almost dead, he was thrown upon another shore, +from which at last the pitying people sent him home. He had been away +twenty years. + +His fair wife Penelope had been for four years past pestered with +suitors, who declared that Ulysses must be dead. She put them all off, +by saying that first she must finish a wonderful cloth she was weaving; +and on this she undid each night what she had done in the day. Meanwhile +they stayed in the palace, haughty and insolent, terrifying everybody, +in defiance of the protests of Ulysses' infant son, now grown to be +almost a man. + +The wanderer, coming alone and finding how things were, feared they +would slay him; so, disguised as an old beggar man, he went to the +palace. The suitors mocked him, and then in sport it was proposed to see +who could bend the great Ulysses's bow. It was brought out, but none +could bend it. The beggar asked leave to try, and they hesitated, but +gave him leave. Right easily he bent it, and sent then a broad arrow +through the leader of the suitors. Ulysses's son ranged himself by his +side. Some old servants, recognizing him, did the same; and soon all +those parasites were slain. Then was there a royal welcome from wife and +son, and afterward from kinsmen and friends and servants, for the royal +wanderer, whom the gods had spared, and who at last was returned home. + + + + +ÆNEAS + +By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE + +[Illustration: Æneas.] + + +Among the Trojans at the fall of Troy there was a prince called Æneas, +whose father was Anchises, a cousin of Priam, and whose mother was said +to be the goddess Venus. When he saw that the city was lost he rushed +back to his house and took his old father Anchises on his back, giving +him his penates, or little images of household gods, to take care of, +and led by the hand his little son Iulus, or Ascanius, while his wife +Creusa followed close behind, and all the Trojans who could get their +arms together joined him, so that they escaped in a body to Mount Ida; +but just as they were outside the city he missed poor Creusa, and though +he rushed back and searched for her everywhere, he never could find her. +Because of his care for his gods, and for his old father, he is always +known as the pious Æneas. + +In the forests of Mount Ida he built ships enough to set forth with all +his followers in quest of the new home which his mother, the goddess +Venus, gave him hopes of. He had adventures rather like those of Ulysses +as he sailed about the Mediterranean. Once in the Strophades, some +clusters belonging to the Ionian Islands, where he and his troops had +landed to get food, and were eating the flesh of the numerous goats +which they found climbing about the rocks, down on them came the +harpies, horrible birds with women's faces and hooked hands, with which +they snatched away the food and spoiled what they could not eat. The +Trojans shot at them, but the arrows glanced off their feathers and did +not hurt them. However, they all flew off except one, who sat on a high +rock, and croaked out that the Trojans would be punished for thus +molesting the harpies, by being tossed about till they should reach +Italy, but there they should not build their city till they should have +been so hungry as to eat their very trenchers. + +They sailed away from this dismal prophetess, and touched on the coast +of Epirus, where Æneas found his cousin Helenus, son to old Priam, +reigning over a little new Troy, and married to Andromache, Hector's +wife, whom he had gained after Pyrrhus had been killed. Helenus was a +prophet, and he gave Æneas much advice. In especial he said that when +the Trojans should come to Italy they would find, under the holly-trees +by the river-side, a large, white, old sow lying on the ground, with a +litter of thirty little pigs round her, and this should be a sign to +them where they were to build their city. + +By his advice the Trojans coasted round the south of Sicily, instead of +trying to pass the strait between the dreadful Scylla and Charybdis, and +just below Mount Etna an unfortunate man came running down to the beach +begging to be taken in. He was a Greek, who had been left behind when +Ulysses escaped from Polyphemus's cave, and had made his way to the +forests, where he had lived ever since. They had just taken him in when +they saw the Cyclop coming down, with a pine-tree for a staff, to wash +the burning hollow of his lost eye in the sea, and they rowed off in +great terror. + +Poor old Anchises died shortly after, and while his son was still +sorrowing for him, Juno, who hated every Trojan, stirred up a terrible +tempest, which drove the ships to the south, until, just as the sea +began to calm down, they came into a beautiful bay, enclosed by tall +cliffs with woods overhanging them. Here the tired wanderers landed, +and, lighting a fire, Æneas went in quest of food. Coming out of the +forest they looked down from a hill, and beheld a multitude of people +building a city, raising walls, houses, towers, and temples. Into one of +these temples Æneas entered, and to his amazement he found the walls +sculptured with all the story of the siege of Troy, and all his friends +so perfectly represented, that he burst into tears at the sight. + +Just then a beautiful queen, attended by a whole troop of nymphs, came +into the temple. This lady was Dido; her husband, Sichæus, had been King +of Tyre, till he was murdered by his brother, Pygmalion, who meant to +have married her; but she fled from him with a band of faithful Tyrians +and all her husband's treasure, and had landed on the north coast of +Africa. There she begged of the chief of the country as much land as +could be enclosed by a bullock's hide. He granted this readily; and +Dido, cutting the hide into the finest possible strips, managed to +measure off ground enough to build the splendid city which she had named +Carthage. She received Æneas most kindly, and took all his men into her +city, hoping to keep them there forever, and make him her husband. Æneas +himself was so happy there that he forgot all his plans and the +prophecies he had heard, until Jupiter sent Mercury to rouse him to +fulfil his destiny. He obeyed the call; and Dido was so wretched at his +departure that she caused a great funeral pile to be built, laid herself +on the top, and stabbed herself with Æneas's sword; the pile was burnt, +and the Trojans saw the flame from their ships without knowing the +cause. + +By and by Æneas landed at a place in Italy named Cumæ. There dwelt one +of the Sibyls. These were wondrous virgins whom Apollo had endowed with +deep wisdom; and when Æneas went to consult the Cumæan Sibyl, she told +him that he must visit the under-world of Pluto to learn his fate. +First, however, he had to go into a forest, and find there and gather a +golden bough, which he was to bear in his hand to keep him safe. Long he +sought it, until two doves, his mother's birds, came flying before him +to show him the tree where gold gleamed through the boughs, and he found +the branch growing on the tree as mistletoe grows on the thorn. + +Guarded with this, and guided by the Sibyl, after a great sacrifice, +Æneas passed into a gloomy cave, where he came to the river Styx, round +which flitted all the shades who had never received funeral rites, and +whom the ferryman, Charon, would not carry over. The Sibyl, however, +made him take Æneas across, his boat groaning under the weight of a +human body. On the other side stood Cerberus, but the Sibyl threw him a +cake of honey and of some opiate, and he lay asleep, while Æneas passed +on and found in myrtle groves all who had died for love--among them, to +his surprise, poor forsaken Dido. A little farther on he found the home +of the warriors, and held converse with his old Trojan friends. He +passed by the place of doom for the wicked, Tartarus; and in the Elysian +Fields, full of laurel groves and meads of asphodel, he found the spirit +of his father Anchises, and with him was allowed to see the souls of all +their descendants, as yet unborn, who should raise the glory of their +name. They are described on to the very time when the poet wrote to whom +we owe all the tale of the wanderings of Æneas, namely, Virgil, who +wrote the "Æneid," whence all these stories are taken. He further tells +us that Æneas landed in Italy, just as his old nurse Caiëta died, at the +place which still is called Gaëta. After they had buried her they found +a grove, where they sat down on the grass to eat, using large round +cakes or biscuits to put their meat on. Presently they came to eating up +the cakes. Little Ascanius cried out, "We are eating our very tables," +and Æneas, remembering the harpy's words, knew that his wanderings were +over. + +Virgil goes on to tell at much length how the king of the country, +Latinus, at first made friends with Æneas, and promised him his daughter +Lavinia in marriage; but Turnus, an Italian chief who had before been a +suitor to Lavinia, stirred up a great war, and was only conquered and +killed after much hard fighting. However, the white sow was found in the +right place with all her little pigs, and on the spot was founded the +city of Alba Longa, where Æneas and Lavinia reigned until he died, and +his descendants, through his two sons, Ascanius or Iulus, and Æneas +Silvius, reigned after him for fifteen generations. + + + + +XENOPHON[2] + + [Footnote 2: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By PROFESSOR J. PENTLAND MAHAFFY + +(445-354 B.C.) + +[Illustration: Xenophon.] + + +There is no figure in Greek history more familiar to us than this famous +Athenian. There are passages in his life known to every schoolboy; we +possess all the books he ever wrote; we know therefore his opinions upon +all the important questions of life, religion, ethics, politics, +manners, education, as well as upon finance and military tactics, not to +speak of social intercourse and sport. And yet his early youth and late +age are hidden from us. Like the models of Greek eloquence, which begin +with tame obviousness, rise into dignity, fire, pathos, and then close +softly, without sounding peroration, so Xenophon comes upon us, an +educated young man, looking out for something to do; we lose him in the +autumn of his life, when he was driven from the fair retreat which the +old man had hoped would be his final resting-place. During seven years +of his early manhood we find him in the middle of all the most stirring +events in the Greek world. For thirty years later (394-62 B.C.), we hear +him from his retired country-seat recording contemporary history, +telling the adventures of his youth, from the fascinations of the ragged +Socrates to the fascinations of the magnificent Cyrus, preaching the +lessons of his varied life. Then came the bitter loss of his brave son, +killed in the van at Mantinea. According to good authority he only +survived this blow a couple of years. But even then he appears to have +found distraction from his grief by a dry tract upon the Attic revenue. +Such is the general outline which we shall fill up and color from +allusions throughout his varied and manifold writings. + +He was a pure Athenian, evidently of aristocratic birth, and attracted, +probably by his personal beauty, the attention of Socrates, who is said +to have stopped him in the way, and asked him did he know where men of +honor were to be found; upon his replying _no_, the sage said, follow me +and learn. This apocryphal anecdote, at all events, records the fact +that Xenophon attached himself to Socrates's teaching, and so afforded +us perhaps the most remarkable instance of the great and various +influence of that great teacher. We do not wonder at disciples like +Plato; but here is a young man of fashion, of a practical turn, and +loving adventure, who records in after years the teaching after his own +fashion, and in a perfectly independent way, as the noblest of +training. His youth, however, was spent in the distressful later years +of the Peloponnesian War, which ended in fearful gloom and disaster for +his native city. Intimate, apparently, with the great historian +Thucydides, whose unfinished work he seems to have edited, and +subsequently to have continued in his own "Hellenica," he must have long +foreseen the collapse of the Athenian empire, and then he and many other +adventurous spirits found themselves in a society faded in prosperity, +with no scope for energy or enterprise. Such was the somewhat tame and +vulgar Athens which succeeded to that of Pericles and Aristophanes, and +which could not tolerate the spiritual boldness of Socrates. He tells us +himself, in the third book of his "Anabasis," how he was tempted to +leave Athens for the East by his friend Proxenus, who had made the +acquaintance of the chivalrous and ambitious Cyrus, brother of the +Persian king, and governor of southern Asia Minor. This prince was +preparing secretly to invade Persia and dethrone his brother, and for +that purpose was gathering troops and courting the favor of the Greeks. +His splendid gifts were on a scale sufficient to dazzle men of small +means and smaller prospects, like the youth of conquered Athens. +Xenophon thought it right to consult his spiritual guide, Socrates, on +the propriety of abandoning his country for hireling service. The +philosopher advised him to consult the oracle at Delphi, but the young +man only asked what gods he might best conciliate before his departure, +and Socrates, though noting the evasion of his advice, acquiesced. + +When Xenophon arrived at Sardis, Proxenus presented him to Cyrus, who +invited him to accompany him on his pretended campaign to Pisidia, and +then coaxed him on with the rest into his enterprise against the king +Artaxerxes. On this expedition or _anabasis_ up the country, Xenophon +was only a volunteer, with no command, and under no man's orders, but +accompanying the army on horseback, and enjoying the trip as a bright +young man, well appointed by the prince, and full of intelligent +curiosity, was sure to enjoy it. But then came the decisive day of +Cunaxa, where Xenophon offered his services as an extra aide-de-camp to +Cyrus, and where he witnessed the victory of his countrymen and the +defeat of their cause by the rashness and death of Cyrus. In the crisis +which followed he took no leading part, till the generals of the 10,000 +Greeks were entrapped and murdered by Tissaphernes. Then, in the midst +of the panic and despair which supervened, he tells us in graphic words +how he came to be a leader of men. He, too, with the rest, was in sore +distress, and could not sleep; but anon getting a snatch of rest he had +a dream. It seemed to him that there was a storm, and a thunderbolt fell +on his father's house and set it all in a blaze. He sprang up in terror, +and, pondering the matter, decided that in part the dream was good, in +that when in great danger he had seen a light from Zeus; but partly, +too, he feared it, for it came from the king of heaven. But as soon as +he was fully awake the first clear thought that came into his head was: +"Why am I lying here? The night advances, and with the coming day the +enemy will be upon us. If we fall into the king's hands we must face +torture, slavery, and death, and yet here we lie, as if it were a time +for rest! What am I waiting for? Is it a general to lead me? and where +is he? or till I am myself of riper age to command? Older I shall never +be, if to-day I surrender to mine enemies." And so he rouses the +officers of his murdered friend, Proxenos, and appeals to them all to be +up and stirring, to organize their defence and appoint new leaders to +direct them. Before dawn he has some kind of confidence restored, and +the new organization in progress. Presently the Persians send to demand +the surrender of the army whose generals they had seized, and find to +their astonishment that their task of subduing the Greeks must begin +afresh. Meanwhile the policy of the Greek army becomes defined. They +threaten to settle in Mesopotamia and build a fortified city which shall +be a great danger and a torment to the king. They really desire to +escape to the coast, if they can but find the way. + +It was the king's policy to let them depart, but so harass them by the +way as to produce disorder and rout, which meant absolute destruction. +It was in conducting this retreat, as a joint general with the Spartan +Cheirisophos, that Xenophon showed all his resource. There were no great +pitched battles; no room for strategy or large combinations; but ample +scope for resource in the details of tactics for meeting new and sudden +difficulties, for maintaining order among an army of men that only +acknowledged leaders for their ability. At first, in the plains, as they +journeyed northward, the danger was from the Persian cavalry, for their +own contingent had deserted to the enemy. This difficulty, which +well-nigh ruined the 10,000, as it ruined Crassus in his retreat at +Carrhæ, he met by organizing a corps of Rhodian slingers and archers, +whose range was longer than that of the Persians, and who thus kept the +cavalry in check. When the plains were passed, and the mountains +reached, there arose the new difficulties of forcing passes, of +repelling wild mountaineers from positions commanding the road, of +providing food, and avoiding false routes. The narrative of the +surmounting of all these obstacles with tact and temper is the main +subject of the famous "Anabasis." Still graver dangers awaited Xenophon +when the retreating army had at last hailed the welcome sea--the Black +Sea--and with returning safety returned jealousies, insubordinations, +and the great problem what to do with this great army when it arrived at +Greek cities. Xenophon had always dreamt of forming on the border of +Hellenedom a new city state, which should honor him as its founder. The +wilder spirits thought it simpler to loot some rich city like Byzantium, +which was saved with difficulty from their lawlessness. The Spartan +governors, who now ruled throughout the Greek world, saw the danger, and +were determined to delay and worry the dangerous horde until it +dissipated; and they succeeded so well that presently the 6,000 that +remained were glad to be led by Xenophon to take service under the +Spartan commander Thibron in Asia Minor (399 B.C.). But Xenophon was not +given any independent command. He appears to have acted on the staff of +the successive Spartan commanders till with King Agesilaus he attained +personal influence, and probably planned the new expedition of that king +to conquer Persia, which was only balked by a diversion wrought by +Persian gold in Greece. With Agesilaus Xenophon returned therefore to +Greece, and was present at the great shock of the rival infantries, the +Theban and the Spartan, at Coronea (394 B.C.). But either his presence +in the Spartan army, or his former action against the King of Persia, +whom shifting politics were now bringing over to the Athenian side, +caused him to be sentenced to banishment at Athens, and so made his +return to his native city impossible. He went, therefore, with his royal +patron to Sparta, and sojourned there for some time, even sending for +his sons, now growing boys, from Miletus, and submitting them, at +Agesilaus's advice, to the famous Spartan education. They grew up fine +and warlike young men, so that the death of one of them, Gryllus, in a +cavalry skirmish just before the great battle of Mantinea (362 B.C.) +caused universal regret. But long before this catastrophe the Spartans +gave Xenophon possession of an estate at Skillus, near the famous +Olympia, which combined the pleasures of seclusion and of field sports +with those of varied society when the stream of visitors assembled for +the Olympic games (every four years). He himself tells us that he and +his family, in company with their neighbors, had excellent sport of all +kinds. He was not only a careful farmer, but so keen at hunting hares +that he declares a man at this delightful pursuit "will forget that he +ever cared for anything else." He had also built a shrine to his +patroness, the goddess Artemis, and the solemn sacrifices at her shrine +were the occasion of feasts, whose solemnity only enhanced their +enjoyments. As Mr. Dakyns writes: "The lovely scenery of the place, to +this day lovely; the delicious atmosphere; the rare combination of +mountain, wood, and stream; the opportunity for sport; the horses and +the dogs; the household, the farmstead, and their varying occupations; +the neighboring country gentlemen, and the local politics; the recurring +festival at Olympia with its stream of visitors; the pleasures of +hospitable entertainment; the constant sacrifices before the cedar image +of Artemis in her temple--these things, and above all the serene +satisfaction of successful literary labors, combined to form an enviable +sum total of sober happiness during many years." There can be no doubt +that this was the first great period of his literary activity, though he +may have edited, in early youth, his predecessor Thucydides, and +composed the first two books of his historical continuation entitled +"Hellenica." In his retreat at Skillus he composed a series of +"Dialogues," in what is termed the Socratic vein; "Memorials" of his +great master, a tract on household "Economy," another on a "Symposium," +or feast, one called "Hiero," or on the Greek tyrant, and an account of +the "Laconian Polity," which he had so long admired and known. The tract +on "Hunting" also speaks the experience at Skillus. The tract "On the +Athenian State," preserved among his writings, is not from his hand, but +the work of an earlier writer. + +With the sudden rise of the Theban power, and consequent depression of +Sparta, he and other settlers around Skillus were driven out by the +Eleans, and he lost his country-seat, with all its agreeable diversions. +But probably the ageing man did not feel the transference of his home to +Corinth so keenly as an English gentleman would. He was a thorough +Greek, and therefore intensely attached to city life, Elis, his adopted +country, being the only state which consisted of a country gentry. + +In the next place, a daily thoroughfare such as the Isthmus, must have +been far more suitable for the collecting of historical evidence than +Skillus, where the crowd came by only once in four years. And then his +grown-up sons could find something more serious to do than hunting deer, +boars, and hares in the glades of Elis. He may have known, too, that his +chances of restoration to Athens were improving, and that he would do +well to be within easy reach of friends in that city. Indeed we find +that the rescinding of exile soon followed, and so he was able to send +his two sons to do cavalry duty for Athens (and Sparta) against the +Thebans. It is, indeed, likely that the young men were enrolled as +Spartan volunteers. He himself must have kept very close to his literary +work; for in these closing years of his life he brought out or re-edited +the "Anabasis;" he discussed "Cavalry Tactics," he kept writing up +contemporary history to the year 362 B.C., when the star of Thebes set +with the death of Epaminondas; he completed his long and perhaps tedious +historical novel, the "Education of Cyrus" (the elder), and lastly +composed a curious and fanciful tract on the "Revenues of Athens." There +is no evidence that he ever changed his residence back to his native +city, but that he often went there when no obstacle remained, from the +neighboring Corinth, is most probable. An open sailing boat could carry +him, with a fair wind, in a few hours. Though a very old man, he was, +however, still active with his pen when we lose him. His promising +remaining son disappears with him from the scene; we hear of no +descendants. The only offspring he has left us are his immortal works. +The names of these have already been given, with the exception of the +speech put into Socrates's mouth as his Defence, the tract on "The +Horse," appendant to his "Cavalry Tactics," and his "Panegyric on +Agesilaus." It remains to estimate their general features. Without +controversy, he excelled all his great contemporaries in breadth of +culture and experience, and in the variety of his interests. Philosophy, +politics, war, husbandry, sport, travel, are all represented in his +works. And upon all he has written with a clearness and a grace which +earned for him the title of the "Attic Bee." But this breadth implies +(as usual) a certain lack of depth, as is particularly obvious in his +case, owing to the almost necessary comparison with his two mighty +rivals--Thucydides, in history, Plato, in philosophy. It may, indeed, be +considered hard luck for him that he stood between two such men, for +they have necessarily damaged his reputation by comparison. Xenophon's +portrait of Socrates is quite independent, and probably historically +truer than that of Plato; but the sage lives for us in Plato, not in +Xenophon. The Retreat of the Ten Thousand, and the wars of Epaminondas +were far more brilliant than the operations of the Peloponnesian War. +Yet, to the scholar, a raid in Thucydides is more than a campaign in +Xenophon. For neither is his style so pure as that of either of his +rivals, nor is his enthusiasm the same. We feel him always a polished +man of the world--never the rugged patriot, never the rapt seer. He +seems, too, to lack impartiality. He lavishes praise upon Agesilaus, a +second-rate man, while he is curt and ill-tempered concerning +Epaminondas, the real genius of the age. It is more than likely that he +has colored his own part in the famous "Retreat," in glowing colors. +His hereditary instincts lead him to approve of autocrats as against +republics, Spartan discipline as against Attic freedom. Yet in himself +he has shown a striking example how the latter could appreciate and +embrace the former. As the simplest specimen of pure Attic prose he will +ever be paramount in schools, neglected in universities--the recreation +rather than the occupation of mature scholars. He is a great worthy, a +man of renown; "nevertheless, he did not attain unto the first +three"--the two masters of his own day, and the colossal Demosthenes. + +[Signature: J. Pentland Mahaffy.] + + + + +THE GRACCHI + +Extracts from "Cæsar, a Sketch," by JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, LL.D. +(164-133, 153-121 B.C.) + +[Illustration: The Gracchi.] + + +Tiberius Gracchus was born about the year 164 B.C. He was one of twelve +children, nine of whom died in infancy, himself, his brother Caius, and +his sister Cornelia being the only survivors. His family was plebeian, +but of high antiquity, his ancestors for several generations having held +the highest offices in the Republic. On the mother's side he was the +grandson of Scipio Africanus. His father, after a distinguished career +as a soldier in Spain and Sardinia, had attempted reforms at Rome. He +had been censor, and in this capacity he had ejected disreputable +senators from the Curia; he had degraded offending Equites; he had +rearranged and tried to purify the Comitia. But his connections were +aristocratic. His wife was the daughter of the most famous of them, +Scipio Africanus the Younger. He had been himself in antagonism with the +tribunes, and had taken no part, at any time, in popular agitations. + +[Illustration: The Mother of the Gracchi.] + +The father died when Tiberius was still a boy, and the two brothers grew +up under the care of their mother, a noble and gifted lady. They early +displayed remarkable talents. Tiberius, when old enough, went into the +army, and served under his brother-in-law in the last Carthaginian +campaign. He was first on the walls of the city in the final storm. Ten +years later he went to Spain as quæstor, when he carried on his father's +popularity, and by taking the people's side in some questions, fell into +disagreement with his brother-in-law. His political views had perhaps +already inclined to change. He was still of an age when indignation +at oppression calls out a practical desire to resist it. On his journey +home from Spain he witnessed scenes which confirmed his conviction and +determined him to throw all his energies into the popular cause. His +road lay through Tuscany, where he saw the large estate system in full +operation--the fields cultivated by the slave gangs, the free citizens +of the Republic thrust away into the towns, aliens and outcasts in their +own country, without a foot of soil which they could call their own. In +Tuscany, too, the vast domains of the landlords had not even been fairly +purchased. They were parcels of the _ager publicus_, land belonging to +the state, which, in spite of a law forbidding it, the great lords and +commoners had appropriated and divided among themselves. Five hundred +acres of state land was the most which by statute any one lessee might +be allowed to occupy. But the law was obsolete or sleeping, and avarice +and vanity were awake and active. Young Gracchus, in indignant pity, +resolved to rescue the people's patrimony. He was chosen tribune in the +year 133. His brave mother and a few patricians of the old type +encouraged him, and the battle of the revolution began. The Senate, as +has been said, though without direct legislative authority, had been +allowed the right of reviewing any new schemes which were to be +submitted to the Assembly. The constitutional means of preventing +tribunes from carrying unwise or unwelcome measures lay in a consul's +veto, or in the help of the College of Augurs, who could declare the +auspices unfavorable and so close all public business. These resources +were so awkward that it had been found convenient to secure beforehand +the Senate's approbation, and the encroachment, being long submitted to, +was passing by custom into a rule. But the Senate, eager as it was, had +not yet succeeded in engrafting the practice into the constitution. On +the land question the leaders of the aristocracy were the principal +offenders. + +Disregarding usage, and conscious that the best men of all ranks were +with him, Tiberius Gracchus appealed directly to the people to revive +the Agrarian law. His proposals were not extravagant. That they should +have been deemed extravagant was a proof of how much some measure of the +kind was needed. Where lands had been enclosed and money laid out on +them, he was willing that the occupants should have compensation. But +they had no right to the lands themselves. Gracchus persisted that the +_ager publicus_ belonged to the people, and that the race of yeomen, for +whose protection the law had been originally passed, must be +re-established on their farms. No form of property gives to its owners +so much consequence as land, and there is no point on which in every +country an aristocracy is more sensitive. The large owners protested +that they had purchased their interests on the faith that the law was +obsolete. They had planted and built and watered with the sanction of +the government, and to call their titles in question was to shake the +foundations of society. The popular party pointed to the statute. The +monopolists were entitled in justice to less than was offered them. They +had no right to a compensation at all. Political passion awoke again +after the sleep of a century. The oligarchy had doubtless connived at +the accumulations. The suppression of the small holdings favored their +supremacy, and placed the elections more completely in their control. +Their military successes had given them so long a tenure of power that +they had believed it to be theirs in perpetuity; and the new sedition, +as they called it, threatened at once their privileges and their +fortunes. The quarrel assumed the familiar form of a struggle between +the rich and the poor, and at such times the mob of voters becomes less +easy to corrupt. They go with their order, as the prospect of larger +gain makes them indifferent to immediate bribes. It became clear that +the majority of the citizens would support Tiberius Gracchus, but the +constitutional forms of opposition might still be resorted to. Octavius +Cæcina, another of the tribunes, had himself large interests in the land +question. He was the people's magistrate, one of the body appointed +especially to defend their rights, but he went over to the Senate, and, +using a power which undoubtedly belonged to him, he forbade the vote to +be taken. + +There was no precedent for the removal of either consul, prætor, or +tribune, except under circumstances very different from any which could +as yet be said to have arisen. The magistrates held office for a year +only, and the power of veto had been allowed them expressly to secure +time for deliberation and to prevent passionate legislation. But +Gracchus was young and enthusiastic. Precedent or no precedent, the +citizens were omnipotent, he invited them to declare his colleague +deposed. They had warmed to the fight, and complied. A more experienced +statesman would have known that established constitutional bulwarks +cannot be swept away by a momentary vote. He obtained his Agrarian law. +Three commissioners were appointed, himself, his younger brother, and +his father-in-law, Appius Claudius, to carry it into effect; but the +very names showed that he had alienated his few supporters in the higher +circles, and that a single family was now contending against the united +wealth and distinction of Rome. The issue was only too certain. Popular +enthusiasm is but a fire of straw. In a year Tiberius Gracchus would be +out of office. Other tribunes would be chosen more amenable to +influence, and his work could then be undone. He evidently knew that +those who would succeed him could not be relied on to carry on his +policy. He had taken one revolutionary step already; he was driven on to +another, and he offered himself illegally to the Comitia for +re-election. It was to invite them to abolish the constitution, and to +make him virtual sovereign; and that a young man of thirty should have +contemplated such a position for himself as possible, is of itself a +proof of his unfitness for it. The election day came. The noble lords +and gentlemen appeared in the Campus Martius with their retinues of +armed servants and clients; hot-blooded aristocrats, full of disdain for +demagogues, and meaning to read a lesson to sedition which it would not +easily forget. Votes were given for Gracchus. Had the hustings been left +to decide the matter, he would have been chosen; but as it began to +appear how the polling would go, sticks were used and swords; a riot +rose, the unarmed citizens were driven off, Tiberius Gracchus himself +and three hundred of his friends were killed, and their bodies were +flung into the Tiber. + +Thus the first sparks of the coming revolution were trampled out. But +though quenched and to be again quenched with fiercer struggles, it was +to smoulder and smoke and burst out time after time, till its work was +done. Revolution could not restore the ancient character of the Roman +nation, but it could check the progress of decay by burning away the +more corrupted parts of it. It could destroy the aristocracy and the +constitution which they had depraved, and under other forms preserve for +a few more centuries the Roman dominion. Scipio Africanus, when he heard +in Spain of the end of his brother-in-law, exclaimed "May all who act as +he did perish like him!" There were to be victims enough and to spare +before the bloody drama was played out. Quiet lasted for ten years, and +then, precisely when he had reached his brother's age, Caius Gracchus +came forward to avenge him, and carry the movement through another +stage. Young Caius had been left one of the commissioners of the land +law; and it is particularly noticeable that, though the author of it had +been killed, the law had survived him, being too clearly right and +politic in itself to be openly set aside. For two years the +commissioners had continued to work, and in that time forty thousand +families were settled on various parts of the _ager publicus_, which the +patricians had been compelled to resign. This was all which they could +do. The displacement of one set of inhabitants and the introduction of +another could not be accomplished without quarrels, complaints, and +perhaps some injustice. Those who entered on possession were not always +satisfied. The commissioners became unpopular. When the cries against +them became loud enough, they were suspended, and the law was then +quietly repealed. The Senate had regained its hold over the Assembly, +and had a further opportunity of showing its recovered ascendency when, +two years after the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, one of his friends +introduced a bill to make the tribunes legally re-eligible. Caius +Gracchus actively supported the change, but it had no success; and, +waiting till times had altered, and till he had arrived at an age when +he could carry weight, the young brother retired from politics, and +spent the next few years with the army in Africa and Sardinia, he served +with distinction; he made a name for himself, both as a soldier and an +administrator. Had the Senate left him alone, he might have been +satisfied with a regular career, and have risen by the ordinary steps to +the consulship. But the Senate saw in him the possibilities of a second +Tiberius; the higher his reputation, the more formidable he became to +them. They vexed him with petty prosecutions, charged him with crimes +which had no existence, and at length, by suspicion and injustice, drove +him into open war with them. Caius Gracchus had a broader intellect than +his brother, and a character considerably less noble. The land question +he perceived was but one of many questions. The true source of the +disorders of the commonwealth was the Senate itself. The administration +of the empire was in the hands of men totally unfit to be trusted with +it, and there he thought the reform must commence. He threw himself on +the people, he was chosen tribune in 123, ten years exactly after +Tiberius. He had studied the disposition of parties. He had seen his +brother fall because the Equites and the senators, the great commoners +and the nobles, were combined against him. He revived the Agrarian law +as a matter of course, but he disarmed the opposition to it by throwing +an apple of discord between the two superior orders. The high judicial +functions in the commonwealth had been hitherto a senatorial monopoly. +All cases of importance, civil or criminal, came before courts of sixty +or seventy jurymen, who, as the law stood, must be necessarily senators. +The privilege had been extremely lucrative. The corruption of justice +was already notorious, though it had not yet reached the level of infamy +which it attained in another generation. It was no secret that in +ordinary causes jurymen had sold their verdicts, and, far short of +taking bribes in the direct sense of the word, there were many ways in +which they could let themselves be approached, and their favor +purchased. A monopoly of privileges is always invidious. A monopoly in +the sale of justice is alike hateful to those who abhor iniquity on +principle, and to those who would like to share the profits of it. But +this was not the worst. The governors of the provinces, being chosen +from those who had been consuls or prætors, were necessarily members of +the Senate. Peculation and extortion in these high functions were +offences, in theory, of the gravest kind; but the offender could only be +tried before a limited number of his peers, and a governor who had +plundered a subject state, sold justice, pillaged temples, and stolen +all that he could lay hands on, was safe from punishment if he returned +to Rome a millionnaire and would admit others to a share in his spoils. +The provincials might send deputations to complain, but these complaints +came before men who had themselves governed provinces, or else aspired +to govern them. It had been proved in too many instances that the law +which professed to protect them was a mere mockery. + +Caius Gracchus secured the affections of the knights to himself, and +some slightly increased chance of an improvement in the provincial +administration, by carrying a law in the Assembly disabling the senators +from sitting on juries of any kind from that day forward, and +transferring the judicial functions to the Equites. How bitterly must +such a measure have been resented by the Senate, which at once robbed +them of their protective and profitable privileges, handed them over to +be tried by their rivals for their pleasant irregularities, and stamped +them at the same time with the brand of dishonesty! How certainly must +such a measure have been deserved when neither consul nor tribune could +be found to interpose his vote! Supported by the grateful knights, Caius +Gracchus was for the moment all-powerful. It was not enough to restore +the Agrarian law. He passed another aimed at his brother's murderers, +which was to bear fruit in later years, that no Roman citizen might be +put to death by any person, however high in authority, without legal +trial, and without appeal, if he chose to make it, to the sovereign +people. A blow was thus struck against another right claimed by the +Senate, of declaring the Republic in danger, and the temporary +suspension of the constitution. These measures might be excused, and +perhaps commended; but the younger Gracchus connected his name with +another change less commendable, which was destined also to survive and +bear fruit. He brought forward and carried through, with enthusiastic +clapping of every pair of hands in Rome that were hardened with labor, a +proposal that there should be public granaries in the city, maintained +and filled at the cost of the state, and that corn should be sold at a +rate artificially cheap to the poor free citizens. Such a law was purely +socialistic. The privilege was confined to Rome, because in Rome the +elections were held, and the Roman constituency was the one depositary +of power. The effect was to gather into the city a mob of needy +unemployed voters, living on the charity of the state, to crowd the +circus and to clamor at the elections, available no doubt immediately to +strengthen the hands of the popular tribune, but certain in the long run +to sell themselves to those who could bid highest for their voices. +Excuses could be found, no doubt, for this miserable expedient, in the +state of parties, in the unscrupulous violence of the aristocracy, in +the general impoverishment of the peasantry through the land monopoly, +and in the intrusion upon Italy of a gigantic system of slave labor. But +none the less it was the deadliest blow which had yet been dealt to the +constitution. Party government turns on the majorities at the polling +places, and it was difficult afterward to recall a privilege which, once +conceded, appeared to be a right. The utmost that could be ventured in +later times, with any prospect of success, was to limit an intolerable +evil, and if one side was ever strong enough to make the attempt, their +rivals had a bribe ready in their hands to buy back the popular support. +Caius Gracchus, however, had his way, and carried all before him. He +escaped the rock on which his brother had been wrecked. He was elected +tribune a second time. He might have had a third term if he had been +contented to be a mere demagogue. But he, too, like Tiberius, had +honorable aims. The powers which he had played into the hands of the mob +to obtain, he desired to use for high purposes of statesmanship, and his +instrument broke in his hands. He was too wise to suppose that a Roman +mob, fed by bounties from the treasury, could permanently govern the +world. He had schemes for scattering Roman colonies, with the Roman +franchise, at various points of the empire. + +Carthage was to be one of them. He thought of abolishing the distinction +between Romans and Italians, and enfranchising the entire peninsula. +These measures were good in themselves--essential, indeed, if the Roman +conquests were to form a compact and permanent dominion. But the object +was not attainable on the road on which Gracchus had entered. The +vagabond part of the constituency was well contented with what it had +obtained, a life in the city, supported at the public expense, with +politics and games for its amusements. It had not the least inclination +to be drafted off into settlements in Spain or Africa, where there would +be work instead of pleasant idleness. Carthage was still a name of +terror. To restore Carthage was no better than treason. Still less had +the Roman citizens an inclination to share their privileges with +Samnites and Etruscans, and see the value of their votes watered down. +Political storms are always cyclones. The gale from the east to-day is a +gale from the west to-morrow. Who and what were the Gracchi, then?--the +sweet voices began to ask--ambitious intriguers, aiming at dictatorship, +or perhaps the crown. The aristocracy were right, after all; a few +things had gone wrong, but these had been amended. The Scipios and +Metelli had conquered the world: the Scipios and Metelli were alone fit +to govern it. Thus, when the election time came round, the party of +reform was reduced to a minority of irreconcilable radicals, who were +easily disposed of. Again, as ten years before, the noble lords armed +their followers. Riots broke out and extended day after day. Caius +Gracchus was at last killed, as his brother had been, and under cover of +the disturbance three thousand of his friends were killed along with +him. The power being again securely in their hands, the Senate proceeded +at their leisure, and the surviving patriots who were in any way +notorious or dangerous were hunted down in legal manner, and put to +death or banished. + + + + +ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF PALMYRA + +By ANNA JAMESON + +(REIGNED 267-273 A.D.) + +[Illustration: Zenobia.] + + +Of the government and manners of the Arabians before the time of +Mahomet, we have few and imperfect accounts; but from the remotest ages +they led the same unsettled and predatory life which they do at this +day, dispersed in hordes, and dwelling under tents. It was not to those +wild and wandering tribes that the superb Palmyra owed its rise and +grandeur, though situated in the midst of their deserts, where it is now +beheld in its melancholy beauty and ruined splendor, like an enchanted +island in the midst of an ocean of sands. The merchants who trafficked +between India and Europe, by the only route then known, first colonized +this singular spot, which afforded them a convenient resting-place; and +even in the days of Solomon it was the emporium for the gems and gold, +the ivory, gums, spices, and silks of the far Eastern countries, which +thus found their way to the remotest parts of Europe. The Palmyrenes +were, therefore, a mixed race--their origin, and many of their customs, +were Egyptian; their love of luxury and their manners were derived from +Persia; their language, literature, and architecture were Greek. + +Thus, like Venice and Genoa, in more modern times, Palmyra owed its +splendor to the opulence and public spirit of its merchants; but its +chief fame and historical interest it owes to the genius and heroism of +a woman. + +[Illustration: Zenobia Captive.] + +Septimia Zenobia, for such is her classical appellation, was the +daughter of an Arab chief, Amrou, the son of Dharb, the son of Hassan. +Of her first husband we have no account; she was left a widow at a +very early age, and married, secondly, Odenathus, chief of several +tribes of the desert, near Palmyra, and a prince of extraordinary valor +and boundless ambition. Odenathus was the ally of the Romans in their +wars against Sapor (or, more properly, Shah Poor), king of Persia; he +gained several splendid victories over that powerful monarch, and twice +pursued his armies even to the gates of Ctesiphon (or Ispahan), his +capital. Odenathus was as fond of the chase as of war, and in all his +military and hunting expeditions he was accompanied by his wife +Zenobia--a circumstance which the Roman historians record with +astonishment and admiration, as contrary to their manners, but which was +the general custom of the Arab women of that time. Zenobia not only +excelled her countrywomen in the qualities for which they were all +remarkable--in courage, prudence, and fortitude, in patience of fatigue, +and activity of mind and body--she also possessed a more enlarged +understanding; her views were more enlightened, her habits more +intellectual. The successes of Odenathus were partly attributed to her, +and they were always considered as reigning jointly. She was also +eminently beautiful--with the oriental eyes and complexion, teeth like +pearls, and a voice of uncommon power and sweetness. + +Odenathus obtained from the Romans the title of Augustus, and General of +the East; he revenged the fate of Valerian, who had been taken captive +and put to death by Shah Poor: the eastern king, with a luxurious +barbarity truly oriental, is said to have used the unfortunate emperor +as his footstool to mount his horse. But in the midst of his victories +and conquests Odenathus became the victim of a domestic conspiracy, at +the head of which was his nephew Mæonius. He was assassinated at Emessa +during a hunting expedition, and with him his son by his first marriage. +Zenobia avenged the death of her husband on his murderers, and as her +sons were yet in their infancy, she first exercised the supreme power in +their name; but afterward, apparently with the consent of the people, +assumed the diadem with the titles of Augusta and Queen of the East. + +The Romans, and their effeminate emperor Gallienus, refused to +acknowledge Zenobia's claim to the sovereignty of her husband's +dominions, and Heraclianus was sent with a large army to reduce her to +obedience; but Zenobia took the field against him, engaged and totally +defeated him in a pitched battle. Not satisfied with this triumph over +the haughty masters of the world, she sent her general Zabdas to attack +them in Egypt, which she subdued and added to her territories, together +with a part of Armenia and Asia Minor. Thus her dominions extended from +the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and over all those vast and fertile +countries formerly governed by Ptolemy and Seleucus. Jerusalem, Antioch, +Damascus, and other cities famed in history, were included in her +empire, but she fixed her residence at Palmyra, and in an interval of +peace she turned her attention to the further adornment of her +magnificent capital. It is related by historians, that many of those +stupendous fabrics of which the mighty ruins are still existing, were +either erected, or at least restored and embellished, by this +extraordinary woman. But that which we have most difficulty in +reconciling with the manners of her age and country, was Zenobia's +passion for study, and her taste for the Greek and Latin literature. +She is said to have drawn up an epitome of history for her own use; the +Greek historians, poets, and philosophers were familiar to her; she +invited Longinus, one of the most elegant writers of antiquity, to her +splendid court, and appointed him her secretary and minister. For her he +composed his famous "Treatise on the Sublime," a work which is not only +admirable for its intrinsic excellence, but most valuable as having +preserved to our times many beautiful fragments of ancient poets whose +works are now lost, particularly those of Sappho. + +The classical studies of Zenobia seem to have inspired her with some +contempt for her Arab ancestry. She was fond of deriving her origin from +the Macedonian kings of Egypt, and of reckoning Cleopatra among her +progenitors. In imitation of the famous Egyptian queen, she affected +great splendor in her style of living and in her attire; and drank her +wine out of cups of gold richly carved and adorned with gems. It is, +however, admitted that in female dignity and discretion, as well as in +beauty, she far surpassed Cleopatra. She administered the government of +her empire with such admirable prudence and policy, and in particular +with such strict justice toward all classes of her subjects, that she +was beloved by her own people, and respected and feared by the +neighboring nations. She paid great attention to the education of her +three sons, habited them in the Roman purple, and brought them up in the +Roman fashion. But this predilection for the Greek and Roman manners +appears to have displeased and alienated the Arab tribes; for it is +remarked that after this time their fleet cavalry, inured to the deserts +and unequalled as horsemen, no longer formed the strength of her army. + +While Gallienus and Claudius governed the Roman empire, Zenobia was +allowed to pursue her conquests, rule her dominions, and enjoy her +triumphs almost without opposition; but at length the fierce and active +Aurelian was raised to the purple, and he was indignant that a woman +should thus brave with impunity the offended majesty of Rome. Having +subdued all his competitors in the West, he turned his arms against the +Queen of the East. Zenobia, undismayed by the terrors of the Roman name, +levied troops, placed herself at their head, and gave the second command +to Zabdas, a brave, and hitherto successful, general. The first great +battle took place near Antioch; Zenobia was totally defeated after an +obstinate conflict; but, not disheartened by this reverse, she retired +upon Emessa, rallied her armies, and once more defied the Roman emperor. +Being again defeated with great loss, and her army nearly dispersed, the +high-spirited queen withdrew to Palmyra, collected her friends around +her, strengthened her fortifications, and declared her resolution to +defend her capital and her freedom to the last moment of her existence. + +Zenobia was conscious of the great difficulties which would attend the +siege of a great city, well stored with provisions and naturally +defended by surrounding deserts; these deserts were infested by clouds +of Arabs, who, appearing and disappearing with the swiftness and +suddenness of a whirlwind, continually harassed her enemies. Thus +defended without, and supported by a strong garrison within, Zenobia +braved her antagonist from the towers of Palmyra as boldly as she had +defied him in the field of battle. The expectation of succors from the +East added to her courage, and determined her to persevere to the last. +"Those," said Aurelian in one of his letters, "who speak with contempt +of the war I am waging against a woman, are ignorant both of the +character and power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her +warlike preparations of stones, of arrows, and of every species of +missile weapons and military engines." + +Aurelian, in fact, became doubtful of the event of the siege, and he +offered the queen the most honorable terms of capitulation if she would +surrender to his arms; but Zenobia, who was aware that famine raged in +the Roman camp, and daily looked for the expected relief, rejected his +proposals in a famous Greek epistle, written with equal arrogance and +eloquence; she defied the utmost of his power; and, alluding to the fate +of Cleopatra, expressed her resolution to die like her rather than yield +to the Roman arms. Aurelian was incensed by this haughty letter, even +more than by dangers and delays attending the siege; he redoubled his +efforts, he cut off the succors she expected; he found means to subsist +his troops even in the midst of the desert; every day added to the +number and strength of his army, every day increased the difficulties of +Zenobia, and the despair of the Palmyrenes. The city could not hold out +much longer, and the queen resolved to fly, not to insure her own +safety, but to bring relief to her capital--such at least is the excuse +made for a part of her conduct which certainly requires apology. Mounted +on a fleet dromedary, she contrived to elude the vigilance of the +besiegers, and took the road to the Euphrates; but she was pursued by a +party of the Roman light cavalry, overtaken, and brought as a captive +into the presence of Aurelian. He sternly demanded how she had dared to +oppose the power of Rome? to which she replied, with a mixture of +firmness and gentleness, "Because I disdained to acknowledge as my +masters such men as Aureolus and Gallienus. To Aurelian I submit as my +conqueror and my sovereign." Aurelian was not displeased at the artful +compliment implied in this answer, but he had not forgotten the +insulting arrogance of her former reply. While this conference was going +forward in the tent of the Roman emperor, the troops, who were enraged +by her long and obstinate resistance, and all they had suffered during +the siege, assembled in tumultuous bands calling out for vengeance, and +with loud and fierce cries demanding her instant death. The unhappy +queen, surrounded by the ferocious and insolent soldiery, forgot all her +former vaunts and intrepidity; her feminine terrors had perhaps been +excusable if they had not rendered her base; but in her first panic she +threw herself on the mercy of the emperor, accused her ministers as the +cause of her determined resistance, and confessed that Longinus had +written in her name that eloquent letter of defiance which had so +incensed the emperor. + +Longinus, with the rest of her immediate friends and counsellors, were +instantly sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers, and the philosopher +met death with all the fortitude which became a wise and great man, +employing his last moments in endeavoring to console Zenobia and +reconcile her to her fate. + +Palmyra surrendered to the conqueror, who seized upon the treasures of +the city, but spared the buildings and the lives of the inhabitants. +Leaving in the place a garrison of Romans, he returned to Europe, +carrying with him Zenobia and her family, who were destined to grace his +triumph. + +But scarcely had Aurelian reached the Hellespont, when tidings were +brought to him that the inhabitants of Palmyra had again revolted, and +had put the Roman governor and garrison to the sword. Without a moment's +deliberation the emperor turned back, reached Palmyra by rapid marches, +and took a terrible vengeance on that miserable and devoted city; he +commanded the indiscriminate massacre of all the inhabitants--men, +women, and children; fired its magnificent edifices, and levelled its +walls to the ground. He afterward repented of his fury, and devoted a +part of the captured treasures to reinstate some of the glories he had +destroyed; but it was too late; he could not reanimate the dead, nor +raise from its ruins the stupendous Temple of the Sun. Palmyra became +desolate; its very existence was forgotten, until about a century ago, +when some English travellers discovered it by accident. Thus the blind +fury of one man extinguished life, happiness, industry, art, and +intelligence through a vast extent of country, and severed a link which +had long connected the eastern and western continents of the old world. + +When Aurelian returned to Rome after the termination of this war, he +celebrated his triumph with extraordinary pomp. A vast number of +elephants and tigers, and strange beasts from the conquered countries; +sixteen hundred gladiators, an innumerable train of captives, and a +gorgeous display of treasures--gold, silver, gems, plate, glittering +raiment, and Oriental luxuries and rarities, the rich plunder of +Palmyra, were exhibited to the populace. But every eye was fixed on the +beautiful and majestic figure of the Syrian queen, who walked in the +procession before her own sumptuous chariot, attired in her diadem and +royal robes, blazing with jewels, her eyes fixed on the ground, and her +delicate form drooping under the weight of her golden fetters, which +were so heavy that two slaves were obliged to assist in supporting them +on either side; while the Roman populace, at that time the most brutal +and degraded in the whole world, gaped and stared upon her misery, and +shouted in exultation over her fall. Perhaps Zenobia may in that moment +have thought upon Cleopatra, whose example she had once proposed to +follow; and, according to the pagan ideas of greatness and fortitude, +envied her destiny, and felt her own ignominy with all the bitterness of +a vain repentance. + +The captivity of Zenobia took place in the year 273, and in the fifth +year of her reign. There are two accounts of her subsequent fate, +differing widely from each other. One author asserts that she starved +herself to death, refusing to survive her own disgrace and the ruin of +her country; but others inform us that the Emperor Aurelian bestowed on +her a superb villa at Tivoli, where she resided in great honor; and that +she was afterward united to a Roman senator, with whom she lived many +years, and died at a good old age. Her daughters married into Roman +families, and it is said that some of her descendants remained so late +as the fifth century. + + + + +SIEGFRIED[3] + + [Footnote 3: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By KARL BLIND + +(ABOUT 450) + +[Illustration: Siegfried.] + + +Siegfried is the name of the mythic national hero of the Germans, whose +tragic fate is most powerfully described in the "Nibelungen Lied," and +in a series of lays of the Icelandic Edda. A matchless warrior, a +Dragon-killer and overthrower of Giants, who possesses a magic sword, he +conquers the northern Nibelungs and acquires their famed gold hoard. In +the great German epic he is the son of Siegmund and Siegelinde, who rule +in the Netherlands. Going Rhine-upward to Worms, to Gunther, the King of +the Burgundians, he woos and wins Kriemhild, the beautiful sister of +that king, after having first helped Gunther to gain the hand of +Brünhild, a queen beyond sea, in Iceland. No one could obtain that +valiant virgin's consent to wedlock unless he proved a victor over her +in athletic feats, and in trials of battle. By means of his own colossal +strength and his hiding hood, Siegfried, standing invisibly at the side +of Gunther, overcomes Brünhild. Even after the marriage has been +celebrated at Worms, Siegfried has once more to help the Burgundian king +in the same hidden way, in order to vanquish Brünhild's resistance to +the accomplishment of the marriage. When, in later times, Kriemhild and +Brünhild fall out in a quarrel about their husbands' respective worth, +the secret of such stealthy aid having been given, is let out by the +former in a manner affecting the honor of the Burgundian queen as a +wife. Thereupon Hagen promises her to effect a revenge. Having deftly +ascertained from Kriemhild the single vulnerable part of the hero, whose +skin had otherwise been made impenetrable by being dipped into the +Dragon's blood, Hagen treacherously murders Siegfried at a chase. The +gold hoard is then sunk in the Rhine by Hagen, lest Kriemhild should use +it as a means of bribing men for wreaking her own revenge. She afterward +becomes the consort of Etzel, the heathen king of the Hiunes (Hunns) in +Hungary, who resides at Vienna. Thither she allures the Burgundians, +Hagen alone mistrusting the invitation. In Etzel's eastern land all the +Burgundian knights, upon whom the Nibelung name had been conferred, +suffer a terrible death through Kriemhild's wrath. Hagen, who refuses to +the end to reveal to her the whereabouts of the sunken gold hoard, has +his head cut off with Siegfried's sword by the infuriated queen herself. +At last, she, too, is hewn down by the indignant, doughty warrior, +Hildebrand; and so the lofty Hall, into which fire had been thrown, is +all strewn over with the dead. "Here," says the poem, "has the tale an +end. These were the sorrows of the Nibelungs." + +In this "Iliad of the Germans," which dates from the end of the twelfth +century, the Siegfried story is given as a finished epic. But its +originally heathen Teutonic character is overlaid there with admixtures +of Christian chivalry. In the Edda and other Scandinavian sources, the +tale appears in fragmentary and lyrical shape, but in a purer version, +without additions from the new faith or from mediæval chivalry. It is in +the Sigurd-, Fafnir-, Brynhild-, Gudrun-, Oddrun-, Atli-, and Hamdir +Lays of the Norse Scripture that the original nature of the older German +songs, which must have preceded the epic, can best be guessed. Rhapsodic +lays, referring to Siegfried, were, in all probability, part of the +collection which Karl the Great, the Frankish Kaiser, ordered to be +made. Monkish fanaticism afterward destroyed the valuable relics. +Fortunately, Northmen travelling in Germany had gathered some of those +tale-treasures, which then were treated by Scandinavian and Icelandic +bards in the form of heroic lyrics. Hence the Eddic lays in question +form now a link between our lost Siegfried "Lieder" and our national +epic. + +Even as in the "Nibelungen Lied" so also in the "Edda," Sigurd +(abbreviation for Siegfried) is not a Scandinavian, but a Southern, a +Rhenish, a German hero. The whole scene of the tragic events is laid in +the Rhinelands, where the killing of the Worm also takes place. On a +hill in Frank-land Sigurd frees Brynhild from the magic slumber into +which Odin had thrown her on a rock of punishment, because she, as a +Valkyr, or shield-maiden of his, had brought about the death of a Gothic +king to whom the god of battle had promised victory. In the south, on +the Rhine, Sigurd is murdered. In the Rhine, Högni (Hagen) hides the +Nibelung treasure. Many German tribes--Franks, Saxons, Burgundians, +Goths, even a Svava-land, or Suabian land, are mentioned in the "Edda." +The "Drama of Revenge," after Sigurd's death, though motives of the act +somewhat different from those stated in the "Nibelungen Lied" are +assigned, is also localized on the Lower Rhine, in the Hall of Atli, the +King of the Hunes. In the "Nibelungen Lied," that name appears as Etzel +(Attila), King of the Hunns. + +In the "Edda" and in the "Vilkina Saga," Germans are referred to as +sources for some details of the Sigurd story. So strong was, in +Scandinavia, the tradition of the Teutonic origin of the tale, down to +the twelfth century, that, in a geographical work written in Norse by +the Abbot Nicolaus, the Gnita Heath, where Sigurd was said to have +killed the Dragon, was still placed half-way between Paderborn and +Mainz. Thus it was from Germany that this grand saga spread all over the +North, including the Faröer. In the "Hvenic Chronicle," in Danish songs, +we even find Siegfried as "Sigfred;" Kriemhild as "Gremild;" and she is +married to him at Worms, as in the "Nibelungen Lied," while in the +"Edda" Sigurd's wife is called Gudrun, and the remembrance of Worms is +lost. The scene of the Norse poems is wholly on Rhenish ground. + +[Illustration: Siegfried slaying the Dragon.] + +Now, in that neighborhood, in the northwest of Germany, a Teutonic tribe +once dwelt, called Hunes, which is also traceable in Scandinavia. Sigurd +himself is, in the "Edda," described as a Hunic king. His kith and +kin dwell in Huna-land. "Hune" probably meant a bold and powerful +warrior. The word still lingers in Germany in various ways; gigantic +grave-monuments of prehistoric times are called Hunic Graves or +"Hünen-Betten," and a tall, strong man a "Hüne." In his "Church History" +the Anglo-Saxon monk Baeda, or Bede, when speaking of the various German +tribes which had made Britain into an Angle-land, or England, mentions +the Hunes. In the Anglo-Saxon "Wanderer's Tale" they also turn up, +apparently in connection with a chieftain Aetla; that is, Atli. In +Friesland, the Hunsing tribe long preserved the Hunic name. The word +occurs in many personal and place names both in Germany and in England; +for instance: Hunolt (a Rhenish hero), Hunferd, Hunlaf, Hunbrecht +(champions among Frisians and Rhinelanders in the "Beowulf" epic); +Huneboldt (bold like a Hune); Ethelhun (noble Hune); then there are, in +German geography, the Hunsrück Mountain; Hunoldstein, Hunenborn, +Hunnesrück, near Hildesheim, etc. Again, in England: Hundon, Hunworth, +Hunstanton, Huncote, Hunslet, Hunswick, and many other places from Kent +and Suffolk up to Lancashire and Shetland, where certainly no Mongolic +Hunns ever penetrated. The Hunic Atli name is also to be found on +English soil, in Attlebridge and Attleborough. + +After the Great Migrations the various tribes and races became much +intermixed. It was by a misunderstanding which arose then between the +German Hunes and the Hunns under Attila's leadership, that Kriemhild's +revenge after the murder of Siegfried was poetically transferred from +the Rhine to the Danube. The name of the Rhenish Atli, which is +preserved in the "Edda," and which also occurs as a German chieftain's +name on the soil of conquered Britain, easily served to facilitate the +confusion. Even the composition of Attila's army lent itself to this +transplantation of the second part of the Siegfried story to Danubian +lands. For, though Attila was overthrown on the Catalaunian fields, +mainly by Germanic hosts, to which Roman and Gallic troops were added, +he had a great many Teutonic warriors in his own army. From this +military intermingling of races so utterly dissimilar in blood and +speech as the Hunns and the Germans, one of whose tribes were called +Hunes, it is not difficult to conceive the shifting of the tragic issue +of the Nibelung story to the East. Attila, the Hunn, slid into the +previous Teutonic hero-figure of Atli, the Hune. This change will the +more easily be understood when the deep impression is remembered which +the terrible Mongolic war-leader had made on the popular mind in +southern Germany, where the Nibelungen epic was cast into its present +shape. + +The hold which the Siegfried story has had on the German people, through +ages, can be gathered from the fact of its having kept its place, down +to our days, in the workman's house and the peasant's hut, first by oral +tradition, and then by rudely printed and illustrated chap-books ("Die +Geschichte vom hürnenen Siegfried"). In this "Volksbuch" there are +remarkable details concerning the hero's early life in a smithy and the +prophecy of his assassination, which are lost in the "Nibelungen Lied," +but preserved in the "Edda." This circumstance--overlooked even by +Simrock, who, like Jacob Grimm, has done much to show the German origin +of the Norse Sigurd saga--is another curious bit of evidence of the +undeniable Teutonic source of the corresponding Scandinavian and +Icelandic stories and poems. + +Many attempts have been made to get at the historical kernel of the +tale. Some would see in it traces of the songs which, according to +Tacitus, were sung, of old, in honor of Armin (usually, though +mistakenly, called Hermann), the deliverer of Germany from the Roman +yoke. It has been assumed that the contents of these songs were combined +with traditions of the deeds of Civilis, the leader of the Batavian +Germans against Roman dominion, as well as of the conquest of Britain by +Hengest. Recently, the Norse scholar, Gudbrand Vigfússon, has once more +started this "Armin" interpretation of the tale, under the impression +that he was the first to do so; whereas, in Germany, Mone and +Giesebrecht had worked out that idea already some sixty years ago. In +order to support his theory, Vigfússon boldly proposed to change the +Hunic name of Sigurd, in the Eddic text, into "Cheruskian." He imagined +the former name to be absurd, because Siegfried was not a Hunn; but +Vigfússon was unacquainted with the wide historical distribution of the +Hunic name in Germany and England. + +Others saw in the Siegfried story an echo of the overthrow of the +Burgundian king Gundahari (Gunther), by Attila, on the Rhine. Gundahari, +who first threw himself with an army of 20,000 men against the Hunnic +leader, gloriously fell with all his men. In the same way, in the +"Nibelungen Lied," the Burgundian king, Gunther, is killed, with all his +men, in the land of Etzel, the ruler of the Hiunes. Again, others have +pointed to the feats of Theodorick, the king of the Eastern Goths; or to +the fate of Siegbert, the king of the Austrasian Franks, who was +murdered at the instigation of Fredegunda; or to the powerful Frankish +family of the Pipins, from whom Karl the Great hailed, by way of trying +to explain some parts of the Siegfried story. With the Pipins of +"Nivella," we come upon a word in consonance with "Nibelung." + +Then the wars which the Frankish Kaiser Karl waged against the Saxons of +Witukind, have been held to be indicated in the war which the Frankish +Siegfried, in the "Nibelungen Lied," wages against the Saxons. To all +appearance, however, the tale is a mixture of mythological and +historical traditions. In the Middle Ages, and still much later, +Siegfried was looked upon as an undoubtedly historical figure. His +praise was sung through all Germany. His very tomb, one of his weapons, +as well as his carved image, were shown under the name of Siegfried's +grave, Siegfried's spear, and Siegfried's statue. So persistent was this +belief that when, in the fifteenth century, Kaiser Frederick III. came +to Worms, he had the alleged grave of "that second Hector and powerful +giant" opened, to see whether his bones could be found. Only a head and +a few bones were dug up, "larger than men's heads and bones usually +are." At Worms, the Siegfried story was pictured, in ancient times, in +the Town Hall and on the Mint. All round Worms, place-names connected +with the Nibelung tale occur with remarkable frequency. If the lost +rhapsodic songs could be recovered, both mythological and historical +allusions would, in all likelihood, be found in them. + +An eminently Frankish tale, the Nibelungen cycle, has arisen in that +martial German tribe which once held sway in the greater part of Europe. +In its origin, the tale is considered by many careful investigators--so +also by Richard Wagner, who founded his famous music-drama on it--to +have been a Nature myth, upon which real events became engrafted. From +this point of view, the earliest meaning of Siegfried's victory over the +Dragon would signify the triumph of the God of Light over the monster of +the chaotic aboriginal Night. It would be, on German ground, the +overthrow of Python by Apollon. In this connection it is to be pointed +out that Sigurd appears in the "Edda" as the hero "with the shining +eyes," and that, in one of the German Rose Garden tales, twelve swords +are attributed to him--a description which might be referred to the +zodiac and to sunshine; so that he would be a solar hero. And even as +Day is, in its turn, vanquished by Night; as Summer must yield to +Winter; so also Siegfried falls in the end. The god which he originally +was thus becomes human; the sad fate of so noble a champion gives rise +to feelings of revenge for what is held to be an evil and criminal deed; +and a tragedy is constructed, in which generations appear as actors and +victims. + +A special feature of the Frankish myth is the hoard, the fatal treasure +which works never-ending mischief. It is said to represent the metal +veins of the subterranean Region of Gloom. There, as is stated in an +Eddic record, Dark Elves (Nibelungs, or nebulous Sons of the Night) are +digging and working, melting and forging the ore in their smithies, +producing charmful rings that remind us of the diadems which bind the +brows of rulers; golden ornaments and sharp weapons; all of which confer +great power upon their owner. When Siegfried slays the Dragon, when +Light overcomes Darkness, this hoard is his booty, and he becomes master +of the Nibelungs. But the Dragon's dark heir ever seeks to regain it +from the victor; so Night malignantly murders the Day; Hagen kills +Siegfried. The treasure on which Siegfried's power is founded becomes +the cause of his death; and through Death he himself, albeit originally +a refulgent God of Light, is turned into a figure of gloom; that is, a +Nibelung. + +There is much in the Norse Skalds which seems to support this +mythological aspect of the tale. The name of Siegfried's murderer, +Hagen--who is one-eyed, even as Hödur, the God of Night, who kills +Baldur, the God of Light, is blind--has also been adduced for this +interpretation. Hagen is explained as the Thorn of Death, the hawthorn +(German Hagedorn), with which men are stung into eternal sleep, or +rather into a death-like trance. Odin stings Brynhild into her trance +with a sleeping-thorn. Hagen, in the sense of death, still lingers in +the German expression, "Friend Hain," as a euphemism for the figure +which announces that one's hour has come. The hawthorn was the special +wood used for fire-burial in Germany; hence the figurative poetical +expression which would make Hagen a synonym for death. + +In the German and Norse poems, as we possess them now, myth and +apparently historical facts are inextricably welded together. A +powerful representation of the Siegfried tale is given in the series of +large pictures, at Munich, by the distinguished painter Schnorr von +Karolsfeld. + +[Signature: Karl Blind.] + + + + +KING ARTHUR + +By Rev. S. BARING-GOULD + +(About 520) + +[Illustration: King Arthur.] + + +Arthur, king of the Siluri, or Dumnonii--British races driven back into +the west of England by the Saxons--is represented as having united the +British tribes in resisting the pagan invaders, and as having been the +champion not only of his people but also of Christianity. He is said to +have lived in the sixth century, and to have maintained a stubborn +contest against the Saxon Cerdic, but the "Saxon Chronicle" is +suspiciously silent as to his warfare and as to his existence. Indeed, +the Welsh bards of the earliest period do not assert that he was a +contemporary, and it is more than doubtful whether he is an historic +personage. It is worthy of remark that the fame of Arthur is widely +spread; he is claimed alike as a prince in Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, +Cumberland, and the lowlands of Scotland; that is to say, his fame is +conterminous with the Brithonic race, and does not extend to the Goidels +or Gaels. As is now well known, Great Britain was twice invaded by races +of Celtic blood and tongue; the first wave was that of the Goidels, and +after a lapse of some considerable time a second Celtic wave, that of +the Brithons, or Britons, from the east, overran Britain, and drove the +Gaels to west and north. Finn and Ossian belong to the mythic heroic +cycle of the Gaels, and Arthur and Merlin to that of the Britons. These +several shadowy forms are probably deities shorn of their divinity and +given historic attributes and position, much as, among the Norsemen, +Odin, when he ceased to be regarded as the All-father, or God, came to +be reckoned as an ancestor of the kings. + +In the lays of the Welsh bards, supposed to be as early as the sixth and +seventh centuries (although no MS. is extant of older date than the +twelfth century), Arthur and his brave companions are celebrated, but +modestly and without marvels. It is possible that there may have existed +in the sixth century a prince bearing the already well-known heroic +name; and if so, about him the myths belonging to the remote ancestor or +god have crystallized. The legendary additions begin to gather in the +history of the Britons by Nennius, a writer supposed to have lived at +the beginning of the seventh century; but Mr. Thomas Wright has shown +("Biographia Literaria," Saxon period) that his history is a forgery of +a much later date, probably of the tenth century. Mr. Skene, however +("The Four Ancient Books of Wales"), makes fight to give Arthur an +historic place, and we do not deny that there may have been a prince of +that name. Next in order come the so-called Armoric collections of +Walter, Archdeacon of Oxford (latter part of eleventh century), from +which Geoffrey of Monmouth professes to translate, and in which the +marvellous and supernatural elements largely prevail. Here for the first +time the magician Merlin comes into association with Arthur. According +to Geoffrey, Arthur's father, Uther, conceiving a passion for Igerna, +wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, is changed by Merlin into the +likeness of Gorlois, and Arthur is the result. After his father's death +Arthur becomes paramount leader of the British, and makes victorious +expeditions to Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and also to France, +where he defeats a great Roman army. During his absence his nephew, +Modred, revolts, and seduces Prince Arthur's wife, Gweniver +(Gwenhwywar). Arthur returning, falls in a battle with his nephew, and +is carried to the Isle of Avalon to be cured of his wounds. Geoffrey's +work apparently gave birth to a multitude of fictions, which came to be +considered as quasi-historical traditions. From these, exaggerated by +each succeeding age, and recast by each narrator, sprung the famous +metrical romances of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, first in +French and afterward in English, from which modern notions of Arthur are +derived. In these his habitual residence is at Caerlon, on the Usk, in +Wales, where, with his beautiful wife, Guinevere, he lives in splendid +state, surrounded by hundreds of knights and beautiful ladies, who serve +as patterns of valor, breeding, and grace to all the world. Twelve +knights, the bravest of the throng, form the centre of this retinue, and +sit with the king at a round table, the "Knights of the Round Table." +From the court of King Arthur knights go forth to all countries in +search of adventure--to protect women, chastise oppressors, liberate the +enchanted, enchain giants and malicious dwarfs, is their knightly +mission. + +The earliest legends of Arthur's exploits are to be found in the bardic +lays attributed to the sixth and seventh centuries ("Myoyrian Archæology +of Wales," 1801). A Welsh collection of stories called the "Mabinogion," +of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and translated into English +by Lady Charlotte Guest in 1849, gives further Arthurian legends. Some +of the stories "have the character of chivalric romances," and are +therefore probably of French origin; while others "bear the impress of a +far higher antiquity, both as regards the manners they depict and the +style of language in which they are composed." These latter rarely +mention Arthur, but the former belong, as Mr. Skene puts it, to the +"full-blown Arthurian romance." Chrétien de Troies, the most famous of +the old French trouvères in the latter part of the twelfth century, made +the Arthur legend the subject for his "Romans" and "Contes," as well as +for two epics on Tristan; the Holy Grail, Peredur, etc., belonging to +the same cycle. Early in the same century the Arthurian metrical romance +became known in Germany, and there assumed a more animated and artistic +form in the "Parzival" of Wolfram of Eschenbach, "Tristan und Isolt" of +Gottfried of Strasburg, "Erec and Iwein" of Hartmann, and "Wigalois" of +Wirnt. The most renowned of the heroes of the Arthurian school are +Peredur (Parzival or Perceval), Tristan or Tristram, Iwein, Erec, +Gawein, Wigalois, Wigamur, Gauriel, and Lancelot. From France the +Arthurian romance spread also to Spain, Provence, Italy, and the +Netherlands, even into Iceland, and was again transplanted into England. +One of the publications that issued from the press of Caxton (1485) was +a collection of stories by Sir Thomas Malory, either compiled by him in +English, from various of the later French prose romances, or translated +directly from an already existing French compendium. Copland reprinted +the work in 1557, and in 1634 the last of the black-letter editions +appeared. A reprint of Caxton's "Kynge Arthur," with an introduction and +notes by Robert Southey, was issued in 1817--"The Byrth, Lyfe, and Actes +of Kyng Arthur." The most complete edition is that by Thomas Wright, +from the text of 1634. + +The name of King Arthur was given during the Middle Ages to many places +and monuments supposed to have been in some way associated with his +exploits, such as "Arthur's Seat," near Edinburgh, "Arthur's Oven," on +the Carron, near Falkirk, etc. What was called the sepulchre of his +queen was shown at Meigle, in Strathmore, in the sixteenth century. Near +Boscastle, in Cornwall, is Pentargain, a headland called after him +"Arthur's Head." Other localities take his name in Brittany. In the +Middle Ages, in Germany, Arthur's Courts were buildings in which the +patricians assembled. One such still remains at Danzig. There was one +anciently at Thorn, about which a ballad and legend exist. Milton was +meditating an Arthurian epic in 1639; and in our own day the interest of +the legends about King Arthur and his knights has been revived by +Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" and some of Wagner's operas. We must not +omit to note the magnificent life-sized ideal bronze figure of Arthur, +cast for the monument of Maximilian I., now in the Franciscan church at +Innsbruck, and regarded as the finest among the series of heroes there +represented. + +[Illustration: The Ruins of King Arthur's Castle.] + + + + +ROLAND + +(740-778) + + "O, for a blast of that dread horn, + On Fontarabian echoes borne + That to King Charles did come, + When Rowland brave, and Olivier, + And every paladin and peer + On Roncesvalles died!"--_Marmion._ + + "When Charlemain with all his peerage fell, + By Fontarabbia."--_Paradise Lost._ + +[Illustration: Roland.] + + +"A Roland for an Oliver!" Saving the passing reference by Scott and +Milton, quoted above, Roland and Olivier are almost unknown to English +readers, and yet their once familiar names, knit together for centuries, +have passed into a proverb, to be remembered as we remember the +friendship of David and Jonathan, or to be classed by the scholar with +Pylades, and Orestes of classic story, or with Amys and Amylion of +romance. + +The "Song of Roland" might be called the national epic of France. It +corresponds to the "Mort d'Arthur" of England, the "Cid Chronicles" of +Spain, the "Nibelungen Lied" of Germany, and the Longobardian legends of +North Italy. Italian mediæval literature is rich in the Roland romances, +founded on the fabulous "Chronicle of John Turpin" and the "Chansons de +Gestes," of which the "Song of Roland" is one. Of the Italian romances +the "Morgante Maggiore" of Pulci was published as early as 1488, +Boyardo's "Orlando Innamorata" in 1496, and Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso" +in 1515. English versions of Boyardo and Ariosto have since been +translated into the rhyming couplets of Hoole, and as late as 1831 into +the _ottava rima_ stanzas of W. S. Rose. It was not, however, till +April, 1880, that a full English translation of the original "Song of +Roland," from MSS. written in the old _langue d'oil_ of Northern France, +was published by Kegan, Paul & Co., from the pen of Mr. O'Hagan, Q.C., +of Dublin. Most probably it was a curtailed version of this romance that +is referred to by Wace in his "Roman le Rou," when he records how, as +the Normans marched to Senlac Hill, in 1066, the minstrel Taillefer +sang, + + "Of Roland and the heroes all + Who fell at fatal Roncesvall." + +Turning to the historical data on which the romance is based, it will be +found that in the year 778 A.D. Charlemagne, accompanied by his nephew, +Count Roland of Bretagne, and the flower of Frankish chivalry, made a +raid across the Spanish border. Abdalrahman, the first of the great +Spanish caliphs of Cordova, was engaged in putting down the rebellious +chiefs who had refused to own their allegiance to the new caliphate. The +frontier was therefore comparatively unprotected. The Spanish +Christians, who maintained a precarious independence among the Asturias +and Pyrenees, and who found it the wisest policy to be at peace with the +Mohammedan rulers, were not strong enough to resist Charlemagne. +Accordingly the Franks advanced nearly to Saragossa. On returning to +France laden with spoil through the winding defile of Roncesvalles (the +valley of thorns or briers), their rear-guard was cut off by a band of +Basques or Gascons and Spanish-Arabians, and their leader, Roland, +slain. To the presence of these Spanish Christians in the Moorish army +must be attributed the origin of the many Spanish ballads on the +victory, in which all the glory is due to the prowess of the national +hero, Bernardo Del Carpio, "the doughtiest lance in Spain." It is +curious also to note, on the other hand, that the Arabians themselves in +their chronicles, translated by the Spanish historian Condé, make little +of this victory, merely mentioning the fact. The Saracen King Marsil, or +Marsilius, of Saragossa, so often referred to in this and other +Carlovingian romances, is identified by Condé with the Mohammedan Wali, +or Governor of Saragossa, Abdelmelic, the son of Omar, called by the +Christians Omarus Filius, hence the corruption Marsilius. + +With these brief outlines of the history of Roncesvalles before us it is +interesting to observe the grandiloquent strain of the old Norman +_rymours_, the fearless exaggerations, and the total ignorance of the +actual state of affairs in Spain under the enlightened and accomplished +Arabians. + + _"Carles li reis nostre emperere magnes, + Set anz tut pleins ad estet en Espaigne."_ + +Our great emperor Charles the King had been for seven full years in +Spain, so runs the chronicle; castle and keeper alike had gone down +except Saragossa, the mountain town, where King Marsil held his court, +surrounded by 20,000 Mohammedan nobles. At their council it was agreed +to accept Spain as a fief from the emperor, and ten knights set out with +golden bridles and silver saddles, + + "And they ride with olive boughs in hand, + To seek the lord of the Frankish land." + +Near the pass of Roncesvalles, one of the Pyrenean "gates" of Spain, +sits the emperor upon a throne of beaten gold. His form is tall and +majestic, and his long white beard flows over his coat of mail. 'Tis +whispered, too, that he is already two hundred years old, and yet, there +he is in all his pride. Beside him stand his nephew Roland, the Lord +Marquis of the marches of Bretagne; Sir Olivier; Geoffrey of Anjou, the +progenitor of the Plantagenets; "and more than a thousand Franks of +France." The Moslem knights are introduced to this council of war, King +Marsil's offer is accepted, and Sir Ganelon is sent to Saragossa to +represent the emperor. Jealous of Roland's military glory, and envious +of the stores of pagan gold, the false Ganelon conspires with King +Marsil to put the all-powerful Roland to death. King Marsil is assured +that on receipt of the golden tribute, Charlemagne will be persuaded to +leave Spain, while by the traitor's advice Roland will be appointed to +remain behind and guard the rear of the retiring hosts. The scheme +succeeded. Ganelon returned to the Frankish camp with the tribute-money +for the emperor, and the traitor's gold for himself. The Franks begin +their homeward march. They are now descending the mountains into their +own fertile Gascon plains, and their hearts beat lightly, for + + "They think of their homes and their manors there, + Their gentle spouses and damsels fair." + +But their great chief is silent and gloomy. Roland, the bravest of the +brave, has been left behind with all the paladins, save Ganelon, beyond +the gates of Spain. Last night the emperor dreamed he seemed to stand by +Cizra's pass in Roncesvalles, when Ganelon appeared before him, wrenched +the emperor's spear from out his hand, waved it on high, then dashed it +in pieces. What did it mean? He remembered the ominous words of his +peers, "Evil will come of this quest, we fear," and Ganelon's strange +reply, "Ye shall hear." + +Meanwhile Sir Roland was far behind in Roncesvalles. He rode his gallant +steed Veillantif; his white pennon, fringed with gold and set with +diamonds, sparkled in the sunshine; and by his side he wore his famous +sword Durindana, with its hilt of gold shaped like a cross, on which was +graven the name of "Jesus." What a glorious picture of the Christian +hero of mediæval times! With him were Olivier, the good Archbishop +Turpin, and the remaining knights who made up the Order of the Paladins +of Charlemagne, together with an army of 20,000 men. + +The drums beat to arms in Saragossa's town, the tambours roll, the +tabors sound, and 400,000 men attend the call of King Marsil. From a +neighboring height Sir Olivier observes this countless host approaching. +He calls to Roland to blow his ivory horn and bring back the emperor. +Roland refuses, and the Franks prepare to fight; not, however, before on +bended knee they receive the archbishop's benediction and a promise of +paradise to all who die in this holy war against the pagan foe. With the +old French battle-cry, "Mont-joie! Mont-joie!" the Christians dash the +rowels into their steeds and close with the enemy. Homer does not relate +a bloodier fight than that which follows, and which takes eighty-six +stanzas, or fifty of Mr. O'Hagan's pages, to describe. Again and again +the Christians charge the Saracens. What deeds the great sword Durindana +did that day! The slain lie in thousands; the Saracens flee; and in the +pursuit all are killed save _one_, who reaches Saragossa. The triumph, +however, is short-lived; Ganelon had decreed that Roland must die, and +so a mightier army than before marches forth to exterminate Roland's +handful, now reduced to 300. + +During this battle a terrible storm passes over France,--thunder and +whirlwinds, rain and hail, there came. + +The people thought that the end of the world had come, but this was only +a foreshadowing of Roland's death. At last all the nobles are killed +except Roland, Olivier, the archbishop, and sixty men. Then only will +Roland deign to blow his horn. Charlemagne hears it thirty leagues away, +and orders his army to return to Roncesvalles. Ganelon alone seeks to +dissuade him, and is put in chains by the desire of the nobles, who +suspect him. The army of Charles hurries back, but all too late. They +will not arrive in time. Away in the Pass of Cizra, Roland looks around +on his dead comrades and weeps. He returns to Olivier's side, who is +engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter with King Marsil's uncle, the Moslem +prince, Algalif, from whom he receives his death-wound. Olivier reels in +his saddle, his eyes are dimmed with blood, and as he strikes madly +about with his spear, he smashes Roland's helmet. The friend of Olivier +is astonished, but soft and low he speaks to him thus: + + "'Hast thou done it, my comrade, wittingly? + Roland who loves thee so dear am I. + Thou hast no quarrel with me to seek?' + Olivier answered, 'I hear thee speak, + But I see thee not; God seeth thee. + Have I struck thee, brother, forgive it me?' + 'I am not hurt, O Olivier; + And in sight of God, I forgive thee here.' + Then to each other his head hath laid, + And in love like this was their parting made." + +With hands clasped Sir Olivier cries to God for admittance into +Paradise, and for a blessing on "King Karl and France the fair," and +above all on his brother Roland. Then his hands fall, his head sinks on +his breast, and he passes away. Filled with grief, Roland murmurs: + + "So many days and years gone by + We lived together. + And thou hast never done me wrong. + Since thou art dead, to live is pain." + +Once more Roland turns to where Count Walter of Hum and the archbishop +alone stand at bay: + + "And the heathen cries, 'What a felon three! + Look to it, lords, that they shall not flee.'" + +[Illustration: Roland at Roncesvalles.] + +Count Walter falls at last, just as they hear the welcome sound of +Charlemagne's trumpets, at which the Saracens flee, leaving Roland and +the archbishop unconquered. But their end is near. Roland swoons, and +the good archbishop, in attempting to bring water in the famous horn +for the dying Paladin, falls from loss of blood. Roland recovers only in +time to see him die; then, as he feels that death is near him also, he +looks once more on his goodly sword Durindana, and as he looks he cries: + + "Oh fair and holy, my peerless sword, + What relics lie in thy pommel stored-- + Tooth of St. Peter, Saint Basil's blood, + Hair of St. Denis beside them strewed, + Fragment of Holy Mary's vest-- + 'Twere shame that thou with the heathen rest, + Thee should the hand of a Christian serve, + One who should never in battle swerve." + +In despair lest it fall into pagan hands he tries to break it in pieces, +and the mighty slashes he made in the rocks are still pointed out as the +"Brèche de Roland." You remember Wordsworth's lines: + + "the Pyrenean breach, + Which Roland clove with huge two-handed sway, + And to the enormous labor left his name, + Where unremitting frost the rocky crescents bleach." + +Surely Roland might now rest from his labors, amid the "flowerets of +Paradise." But no; he had yet to smash the head of a prowling Saracen +who thought him an easy prey. In doing so he spoiled forever the ivory +horn, his only weapon. Not till then could he clasp his hands as he went +to rest, and not till then did + + "God from on high send down to him + One of His angel cherubim." + +St. Michael it was, who with St. Gabriel bore his soul to Paradise. + +It would be too long a story to tell of the vengeance of the Emperor +Charles, how _the sun stood still_ till the Franks had killed every one +of the Saracens; how Ganelon was accused of treachery, tried by combat, +and sentenced to be torn to pieces by wild horses. The story is a true +tragedy, terrible as the tragedy of Oedipus. From another source we +gather the mournful sequel. + +Long before the battle of Roncesvalles Roland and Olivier had met in +single combat on a quiet island in the Rhone. Toward even a fleecy cloud +hovered over them, and from its midst an angel "wrapped in rosy light" +separated the combatants, bidding them be friends, and telling them to +turn their swords against the enemies of the Faith. The heroes shook +hands, the angel vanished, and from that day there were no truer friends +than Roland and Olivier. Their union was further cemented by the +betrothal of Roland to the Lady Alda, Sir Olivier's sister, a maiden who +had already, in Roland's presence, proved herself as bold in war as she +was loving in peace. + + + + +ROLLO THE GANGER[4] + + [Footnote 4: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN + +(860-932) + +[Illustration: Rollo the Ganger.] + + +When King Harold the Fair-haired, in 872 A.D., had united all the +scattered earldoms of Norway under his own sway, he issued a stringent +order forbidding pillaging within his kingdom under penalty of outlawry. +The custom of sailing out into the world as a viking and plundering +foreign lands, was held to be a most honorable one in those days; and +every chieftain who wished to give his sons the advantages of "a liberal +education" and foreign travel, strained his resources in order to equip +them for such an expedition. But the Norwegians of the ninth century had +as yet no national feeling; and they regarded King Harold's prohibition +against plundering their own shores as absurd and arbitrary. Rollo or +Rolf, the son of the king's best friend, Ragnvald, Earl of Möre, +undertook to disregard the order. Coming home from a cruise in the +Baltic and being short of provisions, he landed in the south of Norway +and made havoc among the coast dwellers. The king, determined to make an +end of the nefarious practice, kept his word and outlawed him. + +Rollo, being unequal to a struggle with the king, betook himself to the +Hebrides, where a number of other Norse chieftains had sought a refuge +from similar persecutions. His great strength and sagacity, no less than +his distinguished birth, secured him a favorable reception and much +influence. He was so tall that no Norwegian horse could carry him, for +which reason he was compelled always to walk, and was surnamed Rollo the +Ganger, or Walker. Though not formally recognized as chieftain, he seems +gradually, by dint of his eminence, to have assumed command over the +Norse exiles; and it was probably at his advice that they resolved to +abandon the bleak and barren Hebrides, and seek a more congenial home in +a sunnier clime. At all events a large expedition was fitted out and set +sail for the south, early in the tenth century. It landed first in +Holland, but finding that all-too-accessible country already devastated +by other vikings, they proceeded to the coast of France and entered the +mouth of the river Seine. Charles the Simple, a feeble, foolish, and +good-natured man, was then king of France, but utterly unequal to the +task of defending his territory against foreign invaders or domestic +pretenders. The empire of Charlemagne had been broken up and divided +among his grandsons; and the fraction which was to be France, was then +confined between the Loire and the Meuse. + +Here was a golden opportunity for Rollo the Ganger and his vikings. +Meeting with no formidable opposition, they sailed up the Seine and cast +anchor at the town of Jumièges, five leagues from Rouen. This ancient +city, which had suffered much from recent sieges and invasions, was in +no condition to defend itself. It was of slight avail that the priests +chanted in the churches, with the fervor of despair: "Deliver us, oh +God, from the fury of Norsemen!" The vikings continued to pillage the +surrounding territory, and were daily expected to sack the city. In this +dire dilemma the Archbishop of Rouen offered himself as an ambassador to +the pagans, in the hope that perhaps he might become an instrument in +the hand of God to avert the impending doom. But if, as seemed more +probable, martyrdom was in store for him, he was ready to face death +without flinching. Rollo, however, who could honor courage even in an +enemy, received him courteously, and after a brief negotiation pledged +himself, in case the city surrendered, to take peaceful possession of it +and to molest no one. This pledge he kept to the letter. His ships +sailed up the river, and the tall chieftain, at the head of his band of +yellow-haired warriors, made his entry into Rouen, without a sword being +drawn or a torch lighted. He inspected the fortifications, the water +supply, and all points of strategic interest, and finding everything +tolerably satisfactory, resolved to remain. Making Rouen his +headquarters and base of supplies, the Norsemen made expeditions up the +Seine and established a great fortified camp near the confluence of the +Seine and the Eure. Hither a French army, under the command of Regnault, +Duke of France, was sent to drive them out of the country. But before +risking a battle Regnault chose to negotiate. He sent a certain Hasting, +Count of Chartres, to Rollo in order to find out what was the aim and +object of his invasion. This Hasting was himself a Norseman, and had, +twenty years before, proved himself so formidable a foe, that the King +of France had been compelled to buy his friendship by a concession of +land and a noble title, in return for which favors Hasting had become a +Christian and a vassal to the king. It was doubtful, perhaps, if this +man, even though he may have acted in good faith, was the best +ambassador to his countrymen. For he was himself a living example of +what might be gained by audacity and a shrewd use of one's advantages. + +The following conversation is reported to have taken place between the +Count of Chartres and the Norwegian vikings: + +"Gallant soldiers!" shouted Hasting, from afar, "what is your +chieftain's name?" + +"We have no lord over us," they replied; "we are all equal." + +"For what purpose have you come to France?" + +"To drive out the people who are here, or make them our subjects, and +win for ourselves a new country. But who are you? How is it that you +speak our tongue?" + +"You know the story of Hasting," the count made answer; "Hasting, the +great viking, who scoured the seas with his multitude of ships, and did +so much damage in this kingdom?" + +"Ay, we have heard of that; but Hasting has made a bad end to so good a +beginning." + +"Will you submit to King Charles?" was the ambassador's next query. +"Will you give your faith and service, and receive from him gifts and +honor?" + +"No, no," they cried back; "we will not submit to King Charles. Go back +and tell him so, you messenger, and say that we claim the rule and +dominion of whatever we win by our own strength and our swords." + +Hasting lost no time in communicating this message to the French and in +urging a compromise. But Regnault called him a traitor, and would have +none of his advice. He promptly attacked Rollo and his Norsemen, but +suffered an overwhelming defeat. His army was cut to pieces, and he +himself slain by a fisherman of Rouen who had attached himself to the +invading force. Rollo followed up his victory by sailing up the river +and laying siege to Paris; but the capital of France proved too strong +for him and he had to retire to Rouen, whence he continued to havoc the +surrounding country. He conquered the city of Bayeux and slew its ruler, +Count Berenger, whose beautiful daughter, Popa, he married. Instead of +organizing mere plundering expeditions, Rollo gradually changed his +tactics and took permanent possession of the towns that fell into his +hands. The peasants, too, who lived in the open country, found that it +was their best policy to seek his friendship and pay him tribute, rather +than rely upon the uncertain protection of the King of France. They had +discovered before this that Rollo was a man whose word could be +trusted--a lord of mighty will, who had a ruthless way of enforcing +obedience, but was open-handed and generous withal to those who would +serve his purposes. + +It could no longer be said with truth, as the vikings had said to +Hasting, that they had no lord over them. Rollo, whose chieftainship had +hitherto been based upon his genius for ruling, was now formally chosen +king--a title which he later exchanged for that of Duke of Normandy. In +Norway, previous to the conquests of Harold the Fair-haired, each +province had had its king, who was not always hereditary, but was often +chosen by the peasants themselves, because he possessed the qualities +required of a leader. It was in accordance with the same custom that +they now conferred kingship upon Rollo, whose valor, sagacity, and +firmness of purpose had been amply proven. It was the power of the +man--the weight and force of his personality--which they respected, no +less than his clear-sightedness, his readiness of resource, and his +skill in the rude statecraft of his age. + +[Illustration: Rollo the Ganger attacks Paris.] + +Encouraged by his previous successes, Rollo now made larger plans, and +with the view to carrying them out, formed an alliance with some Danish +vikings who had managed to effect a lodgement and maintain themselves +for some years at the mouth of the Loire. Together they started upon an +extensive campaign, the objective point of which was again Paris. But +the powerful fortifications baffled the Norsemen, who possessed no +machinery of destruction fit to cope with such defences. The siege had +therefore to be abandoned. Dijon and Chartres also made a successful +resistance. But a long chain of smaller cities surrendered, and the +country was ravaged far and wide. The peasants took to the woods and +refused to sow their fields, knowing that there was small chance of +their reaping them. So desperate became the situation that nobles and +peasants alike entreated the king to make peace with the Norsemen on +whatever terms he could procure. The king was not unwilling to listen to +such prayers. It occurred to him that in making a treaty with Rollo he +would be killing two birds with one stone. He would not only be ridding +France of a dangerous foe, but he might secure for himself a powerful +friend who might help him keep the unruly nobles in order, and secure +him in the possession of his shorn and reduced kingdom. With this end in +view he invested Rollo with the sovereignty of his northern province, +named after the Norsemen, Normandy, and conferred upon him the title of +duke (912 A.D.). Rollo was to recognize Charles as his overlord, and +defend him against external and internal foes; and he was to become a +Christian and marry the king's daughter, Gisla. It is told, however, +that when Rollo was required to kneel down and kiss the royal foot in +token of fealty, he stoutly refused. + +"I will never bend my knee before any man," he said, "nor will I kiss +anyone's foot." + +After much persuasion however, he permitted one of his men to perform +the act of homage in his stead. His proxy stalked sullenly forward, and +pausing before the king, who was on horseback, seized his foot and +raised it to his lips. By this manoeuvre, the king came to make a +somersault, at which there followed a great and disrespectful burst of +laughter from the Norsemen. + +Shortly after the conclusion of this treaty Rollo was baptized, and his +marriage to the Princess Gisla was celebrated with great pomp in the +city of Rouen. His previous marriage to Popa does not seem to have +caused him any scruple, though, as a matter of fact, he continued to +regard the latter as his wife, and when Gisla died he resumed his +marital relations with her, if indeed they had ever been interrupted. +The princess had been to him nothing but a hostage from the king and a +pledge of his good faith. But Popa, who was the mother of his son +William, surnamed Longsword, he loved, and we do not hear that the fact +that he had killed her father caused any serious trouble between them. + +As Duke of Normandy, Rollo exhibited a political insight and a genius +for administration which in those turbulent days was certainly +remarkable. He had the true welfare of his people at heart, and with a +firm hand he maintained justice, protecting the weak, and restraining +the strong. The laws which he made he enforced with stern impartiality, +and no man could plead birth or privilege before him, if he wantonly +offended. The farmers were Rollo's special care; for warrior though he +was, he well knew that war is destructive, and that the prosperity of a +land must be founded upon productive labor. The peasantry of Normandy +were not slow to discover that they were better off under their new +ruler than they ever had been under the old; and they rewarded Rollo +with a sincere loyalty and devotion. Their confidence in his power to +right wrong, became in the course of time half superstitious; and if any +of them was in peril or suffered at the hands of his enemy, it became +the fashion to shout: "Ha, Rou!"--Rou being a corruption of Raoul, the +French form of Rolf or Rollo. Then it was the duty of everyone who heard +this cry, to hasten to the aid of the sufferer or to pursue his +assailant. It has been asserted that our "hurrah" is derived from this +Norman shout, but I hold this to be more than doubtful. + +That Normandy was prosperous under the reign of Rollo, and that its +people were contented, seems, however, to be well established. According +to the legend, so great was the public security that property left on +the highway could be found untouched after days and weeks; the farmer +left his implements in the field without fear of losing them; and theft +and robbery became comparatively rare. In a great measure this was, no +doubt, due to the strict organization which Rollo introduced, and his +insistence upon the personal accountability of each one of his subjects +to himself. For he had learned one most important lesson from his enemy, +Harold the Fair-haired. This king was the first to establish in Europe +what is called the feudal system of land-tenure. He declared all land to +be the property of the crown, and merely held in fief by the nominal +owners. In recognition of the king's proprietorship, the latter, +therefore, pledged themselves to pay a certain tribute, and to support +the king in case of war, with a given number of armed men, in accordance +with the size and value of their holdings. This same system Rollo is +said to have introduced into Normandy, whence it spread over all Europe. +Though we have now no more use for it, it proved a great and important +element in the progress of civilization. + +Rollo the Ganger must have been nearly eighty years old when he died in +927. His son, William Longsword, who succeeded him as Duke of Normandy, +was a man of gentler disposition and in vigor and sagacity inferior to +his father. Rollo's descendant in the fifth generation was William the +Conqueror, who inherited in a larger measure the qualities of his great +ancestor. + +[Signature: Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen.] + + + + +LEIF ERICSON[5] + + [Footnote 5: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By HJALMAR HJORTH BOYESEN + +(About 1000) + +[Illustration: Leif Ericson.] + + +The story of the Finding of Wineland the Good is contained, in somewhat +differing versions, in two parchment books, the one belonging to the +first, and the other to the last, quarter of the fourteenth century. +Both agree in attributing the discovery to Leif the Lucky, the son of +Eric the Red; though the Flatey Book says that he was induced to +undertake this voyage by a certain Bjarne Herjulfson, who, having been +driven out of his course by storms, had seen strange lands, but had not +explored them. + +Leif's father, Eric the Red, was, like most Norsemen of his day, an +unruly and turbulent man, whose sword sat loosely in its sheath. He was +born about the middle of the tenth century at Jaederen, in Norway, but +was outlawed on account of a manslaughter, and set sail for Iceland, +where he married a certain Thorhild, the daughter of Jorund and +Thorbjorg the Ship-chested. But the same high temper and quarrelsome +spirit which had compelled him to leave Norway got him into trouble also +in his new home. He was forced by blood-feuds and legal acts of +banishment to change his abode repeatedly, and finally he was declared +an outlaw. Knowing that his life was forfeited, Eric, as a last +desperate chance, equipped a ship, and sailed "in search of that land +which Gunbjörn, the son of Ulf the Crow, had seen when he was driven +westward across the main;" and promised, in case he found it, to return +and apprise his friends of the discovery. Fortune favored him, and he +found a great, inhospitable continent, which (in order to allure +colonists) he called Greenland; "for," he said, "men would be more +easily persuaded thither, if the country had a good name." He landed in +three or four places, but, being dissatisfied, broke up and started in +search of more favorable localities. At the end of three years he +returned to Iceland fought his foes and was defeated, but finally +succeeded, by the backing of friends, in effecting a reconciliation with +them. He spent the winter in Iceland, and sailed the following spring +for Greenland, where he settled at a place called Brattahlid (Steep Lea) +in Ericsfirth. Thirty-five ship-loads of people followed him, but only +fourteen arrived safely. The remainder were shipwrecked, or driven back +to Iceland. + +The interest now shifts from Eric to his son, Leif the Lucky, who +becomes the hero of the Saga. Sixteen years after his father's +settlement in Greenland, Leif, as behooved the son of a chieftain, +equipped a ship and set out to see the world, and gather fortune and +experience. He must then have been between twenty and twenty-five years +old. He arrived in Drontheim, Norway, in the autumn, and met there King +Olaf Tryggveson. The king, who had been baptized in England, was full of +zeal for the Christian faith, and was employing every means in his power +to christianize the country. But the peasantry, who were worshippers of +Odin and Thor, refused to listen to him, and even compelled him to eat +horse-flesh and participate in pagan rites. Under these circumstances it +is not to be wondered at that he took kindly to the handsome young +Icelander who displayed such an interest in the new religion, and +listened attentively while the king expounded the faith to him. For Leif +was a courteous and intelligent man, of fine presence, good address, and +indomitable spirit. The king, says the Saga, "thought him a man of great +accomplishments." It was not long before he concluded to accept +Christianity, whereupon he was baptized, with all his shipmates. King +Olaf then charged him to return to Iceland and induce the people to +abandon idolatry and accept the true faith. Leif, knowing how deeply +attached the Icelanders were to their old gods, was very reluctant to +undertake this mission, but finally yielded to the king's persuasions, +"provided the king would grant him the grace of his protection." + +He accordingly put to sea; but encountered heavy weather and was driven +out of his course. For a long while he was tossed about by the tempest, +until he came upon "lands of which he had previously no knowledge. There +were self-sown wheat-fields and vines growing there. There were also +those trees which are called _masur_ (maples?). And of all these things +they took samples." + +The other version to which I have alluded is much more explicit, and +recounts how Leif went to Greenland to visit his father, Eric the Red, +and how there he heard the account of Bjarne Herjulfson's voyage, and of +the unknown lands to the westward which he professed to have seen. The +people, we read, blamed Bjarne for his lack of enterprise in failing to +explore the territories of which he had caught glimpses, "so as to be +able to bring some report of them." Leif, being of an adventurous +spirit, was fired by this talk, and resolved to accomplish what the +incurious Bjarne had left undone. He gathered together a crew of +thirty-five men, and invited his father to command the expedition. Eric +at first declined, saying that he was well stricken in years, and unable +to endure the exposure of such a voyage. Leif insisted, however, that +"he would be most apt to bring good luck," and the old man, yielding to +his son's solicitation, mounted his horse and rode forth at the head of +the ship-crew. But when he was nearing the beach, the horse stumbled and +Eric was thrown and wounded his foot. This was held to be a bad omen, +and as he was trying to rise, he exclaimed: + +"It is not destined that I shall discover any more lands than the one in +which we are now living; nor can we now continue longer together." + +Leif, knowing persuasion to be vain, pursued his way alone, and embarked +with his thirty-five shipmates. + +"When they were ready, they sailed out to sea and found first that land +which Bjarne and his shipmates found last." + +It is not stated how long they had been at sea when this land was found. +The account goes on as follows: + +"They sailed up to the land and cast anchor, and launched a boat and +went ashore, and saw no grass there. Great ice mountains lay inland, +back from the sea, and it was as a [table land of] flat rocks all the +way from the sea to the ice mountains; and the country seemed to them to +be entirely devoid of good qualities. Then said Leif: 'It has not come +to pass with us in regard to this land as with Bjarne, that we have not +gone upon it. To this country I will now give a name and call it +Helluland' (_i.e._, The Land of Flat Rocks). + +"They returned to the ship and put out to sea, and found a second land. +They sailed again to the land, came to anchor, launched a boat, and went +ashore. This was a level wooded land, and there were broad stretches of +white sand, where they went, and the land was level by the sea. Then +said Leif: 'This land shall have a name according to its nature, and we +will call it Markland' (_i.e._, Wood Land). They returned to the ship +forthwith and sailed away upon the main, with northeast winds, and were +out two 'doegr' before they sighted land. They sailed toward this land +and came to an island which lay to the northward off the land. There +they went ashore and looked about them, the weather being fine, and they +observed that there was dew upon the grass; and it so happened that they +touched the dew with their hands, and touched their hands to their +mouths; and it seemed to them that they had never tasted anything so +sweet as this. They went aboard their ship again, and sailed into a +certain sound, which lay between the island and a cape which jutted out +from the land on the north, and they stood in westering past the cape. +At ebb-tide there were broad stretches of shallow water there, and they +ran their ship aground; and it was a long distance from the ship to the +ocean. Yet were they so anxious to go ashore that they could not wait +until the tide should rise under their ship, but hastened to the land, +where a certain river flows out from a lake. As soon as the tide rose +beneath their ship, however, they took the boat and rowed to the ship, +which they towed up the river, and then into the lake, where they cast +anchor and carried their hammocks ashore, and built themselves booths +there. They afterward determined to establish themselves there for the +winter, and they accordingly built a large house. There was no lack of +salmon either in the river or in the lake, and larger salmon than they +had ever seen before. The country thereabouts seemed to be possessed of +such good qualities that cattle would need no fodder there during the +winter. There was no frost there during the winter, and the grass +withered but little. The days and the nights were of more nearly equal +length than in Greenland or Iceland." + +Now follows an account of the exploring parties which Leif sent out, +some of which he joined, while at other times he remained behind to +guard the house. Here occurs, with curious abruptness, this graphic bit +of characterization: "Leif was a large and powerful man, and of most +imposing bearing, a man of sagacity, and a very just man in all things." + +A very pretty incident is now related of the German Tyrker, who had been +one of the thralls of Eric the Red, and of whom Leif was very fond. It +was the custom in the households of Norse chiefs to give children into +the special charge of a trusted thrall, who was then styled the child's +foster-father. Sometimes the thrall was presented to the child as a +"tooth-gift," _i.e._, in commemoration of its cutting its first tooth. + +"It was discovered one evening that one of their company was missing; +and this proved to be Tyrker, the German. Leif was sorely troubled by +this; for Tyrker had lived with Leif and his father for a long time, and +had been very devoted to Leif when he was a child. Leif severely +reprimanded his companions and prepared to go in search of him. They had +proceeded but a short distance from the house when they were met by +Tyrker, whom they received most cordially. Leif observed at once that +his foster-father was in lively spirits.... Leif addressed him and +asked: 'Wherefore art thou so belated, foster-father mine, and astray +from the others?' + +"In the beginning Tyrker spoke for some time in German, rolling his +eyes, and grinning, and they could not understand him. But after a time +he addressed them in the Norse tongue. + +"'I did not go much farther [than you]; yet I have something novel to +relate. I have found grapes and vines.' + +"'Is this indeed true, foster-father?' asked Leif. + +"'Of a certainty it is true' replied he; 'for I was born where there is +no lack of either grapes or vines.' + +"They slept the night through, and on the morrow Leif said to his +shipmates: + +"'We will now divide our labors; and each day will either gather grapes, +or cut vines, or fell trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for my +ship.' + +"They acted upon this advice, and it is said that their after-boat was +filled with grapes. A cargo sufficient for the ship was cut, and when +the spring came they made their ship ready and sailed away. And from its +products Leif gave the land a name and called it Wineland. + +"They sailed out to sea and had fair winds until they sighted Greenland, +and the fells below the glacier; then one of the men spoke up and said: +'Why do you steer the ship so close to the wind?' Leif answered: 'I have +my mind upon my steering and upon other matters as well. Do you not see +anything out of the common?' They replied that they saw nothing unusual. +'I do not know,' says Leif, 'whether it is a ship or a skerry that I +see.' Now they saw it, and said that it must be a skerry. But he was so +much more sharp-sighted than they, that he was able to discern men upon +the skerry. 'I think it best to tack,' says Leif, 'so that we may draw +near to them and be able to render them assistance, if they stand in +need of it. And if they should not be peaceably disposed, we shall have +better command of the situation than they.' + +[Illustration: Leif Ericson off the Coast of Vineland.] + +"They approached the skerry, and lowering their sail, cast anchor and +launched a second small boat, which they had brought with them. +Tyrker inquired who was the leader of the party. He replied that his +name was Thare, and that he was a Norwegian. 'But what is thy name?' +Leif gave his name. 'Art thou a son of Eric the Red, of Brattahlid?' +says he. Leif replied that he was. 'It is now my wish,' Leif continued, +'to take you all into my ship, and likewise as much of your possessions +as the ship will hold.' + +"This offer was accepted, and [with their ship] thus laden, they held +their course toward Ericsfirth, and sailed until they arrived at +Brattahlid. Having discharged his cargo, Leif invited Thare, with his +wife, Gudrid, and three others to make their home with him, and procured +quarters for the other members of the crew, both for his own and Thare's +men. Leif rescued fifteen men from the skerry. He was from that time +forth called Leif the Lucky." + +The time of Leif's voyage to Wineland has been fixed at 1000 A.D. For we +learn that it took place while Olaf Tryggveson (995-1000 A.D.) was king +in Norway; and scarcely less than four or five years could have elapsed +since Leif's first meeting with the king in Drontheim, shortly after the +death of his predecessor, Earl Hakon. + +The remainder of the Saga of Eric the Red is occupied with an account of +the successive Wineland voyages of Thorwald Ericson, the brother of +Leif, Thorfinn Karlsefne, and of Leif's sister, Freydis, who was as +quarrelsome, proud, and pugnacious as her father. The Indians (called by +the Norsemen Skrellings), who had failed to disturb Leif, made +demonstrations of hostility against Thorfinn Karlsefne, and after the +loss of several of his men, compelled him to abandon the attempt at a +permanent settlement. + +The tradition of these Wineland voyages continued, however, to be +transmitted from generation to generation in Iceland, and in the early +part of the fourteenth century was committed to writing. + +It will be seen that the saga to which I have referred was not written +primarily with a view to establish Leif's claim to be the discoverer of +Wineland. In the first place the story, in the shape in which we have +it, is more than a century and a half older than the Columbian +discovery, and there could, accordingly, be no great glory in having +found a country which had since been lost. Secondly, the saga is (like +most Icelandic sagas) a family chronicle, purporting to relate all +matters of interest pertaining to the race of Eric the Red. The Wineland +voyages are treated as remarkable incidents in this chronicle, but they +hardly occupy any more space than properly belongs to them in a family +history which is concerned with a great many other things besides. The +importance of this as corroborating the authenticity of the narrative, +can scarcely be over-estimated. + +[Signature: Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen.] + + + + +HAROLD, KING OF ENGLAND + +(1022-1066) + +[Illustration: Harold, King of England.] + + +Harold II., the last of the native English kings, was the second son of +Earl Godwin by his Danish wife Gytha, the sister of Earl Ulf, and was +born about 1022. At an early age he was made Earl of the East Angles and +he shared his father's outlawry in 1051, finding a refuge in Ireland. +Next year, together with his brother Leofwin, he crossed the Channel +with nine ships, defeated the men of Somerset and Devon at Porlock, and +ravaged the country, next joined his father at Portland, and shared the +triumph of his return. Harold was at once restored to his earldom, and +next year (1053) succeeded to his father's earldom of the West Saxons. +Henceforward he was the right hand of King Edward, and still more after +the deaths of the old Earls Leofric and Siward, he directed the whole +affairs of the kingdom, with an unusual union of gentleness and vigor. +His brother Tostig succeeded Siward as Earl of the Northumbrians in +1055, and two years later two other brothers were raised to earldoms: +Gurth to that of the East Anglians, Leofwin to one formed out of Essex, +Kent, and the other shires round about London. Meantime Harold drove +back the Welsh marauders of King Griffith out of Herefordshire, and +added that post of danger to his earldom. The death in 1057 of the +Ætheling Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside, who had been brought back +from Hungary as heir to the throne, opened up the path for Harold's +ambition, and from this time men's eyes rested on him as their future +king. And nature had equalled fortune in her kindness, for his handsome +and stalwart figure and his gentle and conciliatory temper were kingly +qualities that sat well upon his sagacity, his military skill, and his +personal courage. Harold's policy throughout was thoroughly English, +contrary to the predominant French influences that had governed the +early part of Edward's reign. He was English in everything, even to his +preference for secular priests to monks. He made his pilgrimage to Rome +in 1058, and after his return completed his church at Waltham, known +later as Waltham Abbey. In 1063, provoked by the fresh incursions of +Griffith, he marched against him, and by making his men put off their +heavy armor and weapons, and adopt the Welshmen's own tactics, he was +able to traverse the whole country, and beat the enemy at every point. +Griffith was killed by his own people, whereupon Harold gave the +government to the dead king's brothers, Bleddyn and Rhiwallon, who swore +oaths of fealty both to King Edward and to himself. + +It is impossible to say exactly at what date occurred that famous visit +of Harold to the court of Duke William, in Normandy, of the results of +which the Norman writers make so much, although with many +contradictions, while the English writers, with the most marked and +careful unanimity, say nothing at all. It seems most likely that Harold +did make some kind of oath to William, most probably under compulsion, +when he had fallen into his hands after being shipwrecked on the coast +of Ponthieu, and imprisoned by its Count Guy. Mr. Freeman thinks the +most probable date to be 1064. It is at least certain that Harold helped +William in a war with the Bretons, and in the Bayeux tapestry we see his +stalwart form lifting up two Normans at once when they were in danger of +being swept away by the river Coesnon, which divides Normandy from +Brittany. The Norman writers make Harold formally swear fealty to +William, promising to marry one of his daughters, and we are told that +additional sanctity was given to this oath by its being made upon a +chest full of the most sacred relics. + +In 1065, the Northumbrians rebelled against the rule of Tostig, and +Harold found himself compelled, between policy and a sense of justice, +to side with them, and to acquiesce in their choice of Morcar and the +banishment of Tostig. At the beginning of 1066 King Edward died, his +last breath being to recommend that Harold should be chosen king. He was +crowned on January 6th, and at once set himself with steadfast energy to +consolidate his kingdom. At York he won over the reluctant men of +Northumbria, and he next married Ealdgyth, Griffith's widow, in order to +secure the alliance of her brothers, Morcar and Edwin. His short reign +of forty weeks and one day was occupied with incessant vigilance against +the attacks of two formidable enemies at once. Duke William lost no time +in beginning his preparations for the invasion of England, and Tostig, +after trying the Normans and the Scots, and filibustering along the +coasts on his own account, succeeded in drawing to his side the famous +Harold Hardrada, king of Norway. In the month of September the two +reached the Humber, and Harold marched to meet them, resting neither day +nor night. The Icelandic historian, Snorro, in his dramatic narrative of +the fight, tells how Harold rode out accompanied with twenty of his +housecarls to have speech with Earl Tostig, and offer him peace; and +when asked what amends King Hardrada should have for his trouble in +coming, replied, "Seven feet of the ground of England, or more +perchance, seeing he is taller than other men." At Stamford Bridge +Harold overtook his enemy, and after a bloody struggle won a complete +victory (September 25, 1066), both Tostig and Harold Hardrada being +among the slain. But four days later Duke William landed at Pevensey. +Harold marched southward with the utmost haste, bringing with him the +men of Wessex and East Anglia, and the earldoms of his brothers; but the +two earls, Edwin and Morcar, held aloof and kept back the men of the +north, although some of the men of Mercia, in the earldom of Edwin, +followed their king to the fatal struggle which was fought out from +nine in the morning till past nightfall, on October 14, 1066. The +English fought with the most stubborn courage, and the battle was only +lost by their allowing the pretended flight of the Normans to draw them +from their impregnable position on the crest of the hill, ringed with an +unbroken shield wall. On its slope, right in front of the Norman army, +waved the golden dragon of Wessex, as well as the king's own standard, a +fighting man wrought upon it in gold. Here Harold stood with his mighty +two-handed axe, and hewed down the Normans as they came. Before +nightfall he fell, pierced through the eye with an arrow. His housecarls +fought where they stood till they fell one by one; his brothers, Gurth +and Leofwin, died beside him. The king's body was found upon the field, +recognized only by a former mistress, the fair Eadgyth Swanneshals +("Edith of the swan's neck"). + +At first, William ordered it to be buried on the rocks at Hastings, but +seems after to have permitted it to be removed to Harold's own church at +Waltham. Than Harold, no braver or more heroic figure ever filled a +throne; no king ever fought more heroically for his crown. If he failed, +it was because he had to bow his head to fate, and in his death he saved +all the honor of his family and his race. His tragic story has given a +subject for a romance to Lytton, and for a stately drama to Tennyson. + +[Illustration: Edith searching for the Body of Harold.] + + + + +THE CID + +By HENRY G. HEWLETT + +(1026-1099) + +[Illustration: The Cid.] + + +The narratives concerning the life and exploits of the Cid are, to a +great extent, merely poetic. Yet it has been wisely said, that much +which must be rejected as not fact may still be accepted as truth; that +is, there is often to be found under the husks of legend and myth, a +sound kernel of historical reality. This may be the case with respect to +the Cid, who probably was a warrior so remarkable for genius or bravery +above his fellows that he gathered up in a single fame the reputation of +many others, with whose deeds he was credited, and whom, as a class, he +accordingly represents in history. + +Spain, long one of the most flourishing provinces of the Roman Empire, +was among the first to fall under the sway of the Visigoths, a warlike +but enlightened race, which soon embraced Christianity. For three +centuries the country remained under Gothic rule, but fell, in 712, +by the invasion of the Arabian conquerors of Africa--a remnant of +Christians only preserving an independent monarchy in the mountains of +Asturia. This little seed of freedom grew and bore fruit. France proved +a formidable barrier against further invasion; and in Spain itself +internal jealousies among the Arab families weakened the Moslem and +strengthened the Christian power. In the eleventh century there were +several states in Spain wholly unfettered by a foreign yoke. The enmity +between the two races and creeds was bitter, and war raged perpetually. +Yet it often happened that, at the prompting of private revenge or +family quarrels, alliances were made between kingdoms thus naturally +opposed to each other. A recollection of this fact is essential to a +clear understanding of Spanish history at this period. + +At the commencement of the eleventh century the chief Christian states +of Spain became, through divers marriages, united under one king, +Sancho, who died in 1034 dividing his territories among his three sons: +of whom Garcia took Navarre, Ferdinand, Castile, and Ramirez, Aragon. +Leon, the remaining Christian monarchy, was ruled by Bermudez III., +whose sister Ferdinand of Castile had married. Just as this apparent +junction of interest occurred among the warriors of the Cross, the +greatest confusion prevailed among those of the Crescent. The mighty +house of the Ommiades--perhaps the most illustrious of the factions into +which the successors of the Prophet were divided--no longer commanded +the allegiance of the Arabs of Spain. Its last prince fled, and the +chief cities fell into the hands of independent lords, who constituted +themselves petty Emirs in their own dominions. Instead, however, of +taking full advantage of this state of anarchy to extend their united +power, the Christian kings weakened each other by unnatural and deadly +quarrels. Ferdinand, King of Castile, seems to have been the principal +aggressor. His great captain in his wars, both with Moslem and Christian +states, was Rodrigo Laynez, who was called also by the Spaniards Ruy +Diaz de Rivar, from the name of his birthplace, and by the Arabs _El +Sayd_ (Lord), which has been altered into Cid. He was probably born +about the year 1026, or rather later, at the Castle of Rivar, near +Burgos, in Old Castile, of a noble but not wealthy family. He joined the +army of Ferdinand, and rose by his talents, strength, and courage to the +highest place in that king's service. Among the romantic stories told of +his early career is one concerning his marriage, which forms the subject +of a popular ballad. The father of Rodrigo, having been injured by a +Count Gomez, the young knight defied the latter to a duel and slew him. +The count's daughter, Ximena, in a storm of grief and rage, flew to the +king, and cried for vengeance on Rodrigo, who met her face to face, and +awaited the result of her entreaties. + +No one, however, was hardy enough to offer himself as the damsel's +champion against so doughty a warrior, and Rodrigo calmly retired. His +manly bearing and fame won him a place in the very heart which he had so +deeply offended; and, with truly Spanish impetuosity, Ximena gave him, +not only pardon, but love. She again repaired to the king and asked +leave to bestow her hand upon the knight, urging the curious plea that +she foresaw he would one day be the most powerful subject in the realm. +Informed of this request, of which the king approved, Rodrigo consented +to the marriage, as an act of obedience to his sovereign and of justice +to the lady. The meeting of this strangely matched pair is thus +described in the ballad (Lockhart's translation): + + "But when the fair Ximena came forth to plight her hand, + Rodrigo, gazing on her, his face could not command: + He stood, and blushed before her: thus at the last said he, + 'I slew thy sire, Ximena, but not in villany: + In no disguise I slew him; man against man I stood; + There was some wrong between us, and I did shed his blood: + I slew a man; I owe a man; fair lady, by God's grace, + An honored husband shalt thou have in thy dead father's place.'" + +It is unfortunate that this charming story is supposed to have but +little foundation in fact. Many of Rodrigo's legendary exploits are +still less authentic; but history and fable unite in declaring him a +warrior of no common stamp. His master, King Ferdinand, as we have said, +invaded the territories of his brothers and friends, besides those of +his enemies. Garcia, Ramirez, and Bermudez successively fell before his +attacks, which Rodrigo, in the true spirit of knightly obedience to his +lord, did not hesitate to lead. Sancho, the king's eldest son, was +Rodrigo's most intimate friend; and on the accession of the prince to +his father's throne on the death of Ferdinand, in 1065, Rodrigo became +Campeador (or, as the Arabs call him, _El Cambitur_); that is, head of +the army. The new king followed in his father's courses of injustice, +and drove his brother, Alfonso, King of Leon, into exile. + +[Illustration: The Cid ordering the Execution of Ahmed.] + +In 1072 Sancho besieged Zamora, which one of his sisters, whom he had +likewise despoiled, held out against him. The king was killed during the +siege, and, as it was suspected, by the agency of his exiled brother, +Alfonso, who succeeded to the throne. Rodrigo felt his friend's death +deeply, and did not scruple to avow his suspicions of Alfonso. Before +promising allegiance, the Campeador insisted that the king should +cleanse himself by an oath of the accusation which popular rumor had +brought against him. To this Alfonso, whether innocent or guilty, not +unnaturally demurred; but the powerful warrior was firm, and the king at +last yielded. When the appointed day arrived, Alfonso made his +appearance, surrounded by his courtiers, all obsequiously vying in +praise of his glory and virtue, and contemptuous denunciations of his +daring accuser. Rodrigo stood alone and gazed on the king sternly. Some +of the nobles endeavored to dissuade him from holding this attitude of +opposition, and to induce him to forego the demand which he had made; +but he put them aside and repeated his challenge. Alfonso dared not +refuse to accept, and accordingly recited aloud the form of oath +prescribed on such occasions, affirming, in the presence of his maker +and the saints of heaven, that he was guiltless of the death of his +brother. He had no sooner concluded than all eyes were turned upon the +Cid, who, in deep, solemn tones, and with the most impressive +earnestness of manner, imprecated on the head of his king every curse +that heaven or hell could inflict, if, in taking that oath, he had +committed perjury. The awed assembly then broke up. Rodrigo, from that +hour, was hated by the king and shunned by the court. + +Yet, aware of the Cid's value, Alfonso seems to have concealed his +resentment for some time, and even endeavored to win the affection of +his great subject by allying him in marriage with one of the royal +family. Rodrigo's wife was now dead, and he consented to marry the +princess proposed to him, whose name was also Ximena. The marriage took +place in 1074. It had not the effect, however, of uniting the king and +the Cid. After having achieved a brilliant success over the Arabs of +Granada, who were at war with two other Moslem states in alliance with +Castile, and having signalized his humanity by releasing all his +prisoners, the great Campeador was disgraced and banished by his +ungrateful master. At the court of the Emir of Saragossa the exile found +a ready welcome, and was appointed to a high post in the government of +the kingdom. He did not bear arms against his own sovereign, but headed +the Arabs in several battles with the Christians of Aragon and other +states. The invasion of a Moorish host in Spain, under the eminent +Caliph Jusef Ben Taxfin, chief of the Almoravides and conqueror of +Morocco; the rapid subjugation of the independent Emirs, and the defeat +of Alfonso's army at the battle of Zalaka, in 1087, recalled the +Castilians to a sense of Rodrigo's worth. He was invited to return by +Alfonso, and with great generosity consented, bringing with him a large +body of men raised by his own exertion and cost. For two years he made +his name terrible to the Moors, as the great Christian champion. + +But even this fame was not sufficient to secure his influence at court, +and about the year 1090 he was once more banished, and his estates were +seized. He appears from this time to have commenced a life of +adventurous and independent warfare with the Moors. He besieged Alcocer, +a strong Moorish fortress on the borders of Aragon, and finally took it. +With a band of determined warriors of his own stamp he ravaged, +consumed, and spoiled all the Moslem territories which he invaded, +making a castle on a rock in Ternel his chief stronghold, and thence +sallying out in forays. The place has been ever since called the Rock of +the Cid. + +The last and greatest achievement of this hero was the taking of +Valencia. This city was in the hands of a Moslem prince, Alcadir by +name, who had refused to acknowledge the authority of Jusef and the +Almoravides over Spain, which they were attempting to subdue. The Cid, +either as an ally of Alcadir, or from motives of policy, assisted him in +the defence of the city; but it was taken through the treachery of its +Cadi, Ahmed. For this service, the traitor was made governor in the room +of Alcadir, who fell fighting bravely. A kinsman of the betrayed king +determined to avenge his death, and asked the Cid's aid, which was +promptly given. The Arabian historians relate that Ahmed yielded after a +brief siege, on conditions of safety for himself and family. It is +further related that this promise was faithlessly broken, and the guilty +Ahmed sentenced by Rodrigo to be burned alive for his crimes. The +Christian historians happily acquit the Cid's memory of this barbarity; +but all unite in recording the successful siege of the city, which he +took in 1094. While he lived, the Moors vainly tried to retake it; but +on his death, which is supposed to have occurred in 1099, Valencia again +fell. Romance has colored with glowing tints this scanty historic +outline of the Cid's life. Spanish literature, for two or three hundred +years after his death, is almost confined to epic or ballad poetry, of +which he is the hero. To acquire such a fame demanded a force of +character, which, if not accurately painted by these loving and fanciful +narrators, cannot have fallen far short of the glory with which the +world will forever associate the name of the Cid Campeador. + + + + +ST. BERNARD + +By HENRY G. HEWLETT + +(1091-1153) + +[Illustration: St. Bernard.] + + +In 1091, when the career of the Cid was drawing to a close in Spain, a +yet greater Christian champion was born in France; greater, if only in +this, that the weapons of his warfare were not carnal. That the work was +good in itself, we think will be clear from a perusal of the life of the +warrior-monk, St. Bernard. + +His birthplace was Fontaines, near Dijon, in Burgundy; his father, +Tecelin, a knight of honorable reputation, and so absorbed in his +profession that he was compelled to leave the care of his seven sons, of +whom Bernard was the third, to his wife Aleth. She was a pious and +gentle woman, strictly attached to the duties of religion, and anxious +for the spiritual rather than the temporal welfare of her children, whom +she therefore devoted to the cloister. A dream, it is said, had +indicated to her the future fame of her third son, before his birth. He +rapidly displayed signs of possessing no ordinary character. His +education was undertaken by the then celebrated school of Chantillon and +the University of Paris, where he remained some years, actively pursuing +his studies. His mother died soon after his return home, and he then +proceeded to fulfil her wish, which accorded with his own, of becoming a +monk. His father and friends endeavored to dissuade him from this step, +but instead, he persuaded five of his brothers and twenty-five other +friends to join him in the career which he had chosen. His father and +remaining brothers subsequently followed him, and the whole family took +monastic vows. Bernard did not select for his abode one of those +monasteries whose wealth and splendor had corrupted the intention of +their founders, and softened the severity of the original discipline. +His motive was truly religious, and took the superstitious form then +almost inseparable from earnest piety. He and his comrades entered the +poor convent of Citeaux, near Dijon, where the rules of life enjoined by +St. Benedict in the sixth century were observed with great rigor. +Frequent watchings, fasts, bleedings, and scourgings, for the purpose of +mortifying the body; abstinence from conversation or laughter; habits of +perpetual devotion, laborious exertion, and humble obedience to the +abbot, were the main features of the system. Bernard undertook the +duties of his office with such incessant zeal, and displayed such +amazing control over his appetites, that he seriously weakened his +health, but at the same time enlarged his reputation to such an extent +that the convent became overcrowded with the number of those whom he had +attracted thither. He was therefore appointed, after three years' +residence at Citeaux, to head a colony of monks which was to be fixed in +the valley of Clairvaux--a desolate though beautiful spot in the +bishopric of Langres. The tears of their brethren accompanied the +departure of Bernard and the twelve others who composed the band. It was +in the year 1115, and at the age of twenty-six, that he was made Abbot +of Clairvaux. His appearance at the consecration is described as that of +a corpse rather than a man, so emaciated with the rigors of devotion had +he become. He had frequent visions, perhaps from his weakness, in one of +which he imagined that the Virgin Mary herself appeared to him. The +privations of the members of his little colony were most severe. The +season for sowing had been spent in building the convent, and when the +winter came they were reduced to little better than starvation. Coarse +bread and beech-leaves steeped in salt were their only food. This scanty +sustenance, together with the strict adherence to the Benedictine rule, +in which Bernard still persisted, so shattered his health, that the +bishop of the diocese, who was his personal friend, at last interfered, +and released him from the active duties of abbot. But as soon as a brief +respite had restored his strength, Bernard renewed his self-mortifying +practices. A fresh attack of illness followed, and he was obliged +permanently to relax his habits. In after-years he lamented the error +into which his early enthusiasm and mistaken zeal had led him, the +effects of which greatly marred his future influence for good. + +Though debarred from laboring in his own sphere, Bernard's energetic +mind would not let him rest, and he began from this time to exercise +the power which his reputation for sanctity had brought him, in +political life. He well knew the nature of the position which he was +thus enabled to take, and did not shrink from its perils. "Bernard! +wherefore art thou here on earth?" is said to have been his +constant self-appeal. Poor and unarmed, a priest or monk in those +days had nothing wherewith to oppose the tyranny of the powerful +nobility, save the weapons of religion and intellect. How +righteously they could be used we shall see in the case of Bernard. +In repeated instances he interposed the weight of his authority +between the anger of a king or noble and the weakness of a subject +or tenant, and scarcely ever failed in his object. One of the most +remarkable examples of this kind was his conduct toward the Count of +Aquitaine. This nobleman, a man of immense strength of will no less +than body, and violent and despotic beyond his fellows, having +espoused the cause of one rival Pope against another, dismissed from +their sees several excellent bishops in his territory who were +adverse to his views, and supplied their places without regard to +fitness of character. Bernard, having twice remonstrated in vain, +after the last interview held a solemn mass in the church near the +count's castle, at which that nobleman, as excommunicated, could not +be present, but stood outside. The consecration of the wafer was +duly performed, and the blessing bestowed upon the people, when +Bernard suddenly made his way through the crowd, bearing in his hand +the Host on its paten (or plate), and confronted the astonished +count as he stood at the church door amid his soldiery. With pale, +stern face, and flashing eyes, the daring monk thus addressed the +haughty chief: "Twice have the Lord's servants entreated you, and +you have despised them. Lo! now the blessed Son of the Virgin--the +Head and Lord of that Church which you persecute--appears to you! +Behold your Judge, to whom your soul must be rendered! Will you +reject Him like His servants?" A hush of awe and expectation among +the bystanders followed these words, broken by a groan from the +conscience-stricken count, whose imagination was filled with such +lively terror of Divine wrath that he fell fainting to the ground. +Though raised up by his men, he again fell speechless. Bernard, +seizing the opportunity, called to his side one of the deposed +bishops, and on the count's recovery ordered that the kiss of +reconciliation should be bestowed, and the exile restored. The +effect of this scene was not transient, for the proud spirit had +been subdued in the count's heart, and he performed penance for his +offences by going on pilgrimage. + +[Illustration: The Vision of St. Bernard.] + +Various other instances of Bernard's boldness in rebuking kings, nobles, +and even Popes, might be adduced. His most remarkable appearance as a +political peace-maker was in the dispute which took place after the +death of Pope Honorius II., as to the succession to the popedom. Two +rival factions at Rome contended for the claims of separate candidates: +one a wealthy and worldly, the other a learned and pious, cardinal. +Bernard, as we may suppose, supported the cause of the latter, who took +the name of Innocent II. At the council of Etampes, where Louis VI. of +France and his nobles were assembled, the monk's eloquence prevailed +over all the arguments of diplomacy, and the influence of France was +pledged to the side of Innocent. Bernard next engaged aid from Henry I., +of England, and Lothaire, the Emperor of Germany. He then proceeded to +Milan, where the party of the rival Pope, Anaclete, and his supporter, +Conrad, Duke of Suabia, Lothaire's antagonist, was strongest. Bernard's +fame was so great, and the imaginations of those who beheld him so +fascinated by his force of will, that on his way the sick were carried +forth to meet him, and numerous miracles were said to be wrought by the +touch of his garments. In Milan, through his eloquence, Anaclete's party +was completely vanquished, and the Milanese so impressed that they +offered to displace their archbishop in Bernard's favor. But on this and +other occasions he steadily refused any such rank, content to live and +die in a sphere where he could be more useful, if less exalted. He +returned to France, after a lengthened absence, in 1135, meeting on his +way with a royal reception. + +He was once more absorbed in the duties of his office, as Abbot of +Clairvaux, when again summoned to Italy by Innocent II., to oppose the +power of Roger, the Norman King of Sicily, whose aid Anaclete had +obtained. Bernard first passed into Germany, and successfully mediated +between the emperor and the Suabian princes, inducing the latter to +relinquish their rebellion. Lothaire was then prevailed upon to aid +Innocent by force of arms, while Bernard proceeded to employ force of +intellect in the same service. He first won over by his arguments many +of Anaclete's chief supporters, and then accepted a challenge which King +Roger threw out, to dispute publicly in the Court of Salerno as to the +claims of the rival Popes, with Anaclete's champion, Cardinal Pietro di +Pisa. At this public contest Bernard not only confuted, but converted, +the cardinal, and reconciled him to Innocent. With Roger, Bernard was +not so successful, and a battle ensued between the armies of the +contending Popes. Innocent was captured, but contrived to make favorable +terms with Roger; and a peace was agreed to, which was finally ratified +by the death of Anaclete, in 1138. Another anti-pope having been set up, +Bernard used his personal influence with the pretender, and induced him +to yield. Thus the schism in the Church was healed, and the good abbot +returned to Clairvaux. + +In 1146 he was mainly instrumental in promoting the second crusade. News +reached Europe that, two years before, the Christian state of Edessa +(which, as we have already seen, was founded by Baldwin, brother of +Godfrey de Bouillon) had, through the weakness of its government, fallen +into the hands of the Sultan of Bagdad, and Jerusalem was again in +peril. Inflamed with enthusiasm, Bernard stirred up the hearts of his +countrymen to zeal in the cause of the Cross. Louis VII., of France, was +readily persuaded to undertake the crusade as a penance for his crimes; +but the Emperor Conrad, of Germany, was indisposed to exertion; and to +him, therefore, Bernard hastened, rousing the people of France and +Germany as he travelled through. The frozen reluctance of the monarch +could not withstand the fiery earnestness of the monk. Conrad is said to +have dissolved into tears at the discourse, and eagerly accepted the +cross which was offered. While in Germany Bernard showed his liberality +of thought--rare in those days--by sternly rebuking the ignorance of a +monk who was denouncing the Jews as the cause of the recent calamities. +At the council of Vezelay (in Burgundy), held in 1146, Bernard's +eloquence was as exciting in its influence on his hearers as that of +Pope Urban had been on a previous occasion. As the speaker, at the end +of his oration, held up the cross which was to be the badge of the +enterprise, Louis VII. threw himself at the feet of his subject, and the +whole assembly thronged round him, shouting the old war-cry, "It is +God's will!" Bernard distributed to thousands of eager hands all the +crosses which he had brought with him; and finding these insufficient +for the demand, took off the Benedictine robe which he wore, and tore it +into cross-shaped pieces. So impressed were the chiefs of the crusading +army with his power over the people, that at a subsequent assembly they +even offered the command of the expedition to him--an unwarlike monk. + +He declined the post on the ground of unfitness, but had he accepted it, +the issue of the crusades might have been different from what it was. +His authority would at least have kept in check the discords, perfidies, +and excesses to which he, probably with justice, afterward attributed +the failure of the enterprise. From these causes, together with a fatal +incapacity on the part of the French and German generals, the second +crusade resulted in nothing but the wholesale massacre of the Christian +armies by the Turks. Bernard, who had predicted the success of the +expedition, was deeply distressed at the unfortunate result; the more +as, with great injustice, the weight of popular indignation fell upon +him and seriously damaged his influence. This disappointment, however, +did not discourage him, and only served to concentrate his attention for +the rest of his life on the more immediate duties of his calling. + +These he had never neglected, even while immersed in religious politics. +By advice and example he greatly reformed the discipline of monastic +life. He continually preached in his own convent; and, either personally +or through agents, is said to have founded upward of sixty monasteries +in alliance with Clairvaux. Among them the Hospice of Mount St. Bernard, +in Switzerland, has distinguished itself by loving deeds worthy of its +founder. Bernard was an eminent theologian, both in theory and practice, +and many of his works are extant. They disclose very forcibly his strong +intellect and warm heart. Many of his opinions were most liberal for his +age, and he rejected several tenets, on which the Roman Catholic Church +has since insisted, with a decision which would have ranked him among +heretics had he lived a few centuries later. He manifested, +nevertheless, a want of freedom in his conduct toward the great Abelard, +who in that age represented the true Protestant spirit of inquiry into +the received doctrines of the Church. Against this daring thinker +Bernard unjustifiably employed the weight of authority which he +possessed, to silence what he deemed a dangerous boldness of opinion. +Toward Abelard personally, however, he displayed nothing but generous +and respectful courtesy, even in the heat of controversy; and it is +satisfactory to know that a cordial interchange of kindly feeling passed +between these two eminent men long before their deaths. + +Many of Bernard's wise and good deeds are recorded, which cannot be +noticed here. We may refer to but one, which greatly influenced the +world for centuries after his death; namely, the sanction and aid which +he gave to the establishment of the Knight-Templars, a body of +soldier-priests, who devoted their lives to the preservation of the +Holy Places and the protection of pilgrims. Had they faithfully adhered +to the statutes which he drew up for their conduct, the exhibition of +zeal which they were designed to make might have been as blessed to +Christendom as their arrogance was cursed. + +A few years before his death, Bernard had the gratification of seeing +one of his own disciples raised to the papal chair, as Pope Eugenius +III. The new pontiff recognized his master's authority no less than +before his accession, and Bernard's counsel and influence were +repeatedly used in his behalf. But the over-activity of the good abbot +too soon decayed the slender strength which his firm will had wrested, +as it were, from death in a hand-to-hand struggle that lasted for more +than forty years. Always sickly, frequently reduced to the brink of the +grave, yet perpetually at work, his constitution gave way in 1155, at +the age of sixty-three. His last act was worthy of his life. He was on a +dying-bed when a discord broke out between the nobles and the burghers +of the town of Mentz. Bernard rose, and once more entered the arena of +strife with the olive-branch of peace in his hand. The proud barons and +the angry citizens listened humbly to his gentle words, and shrank from +the mild glances of those eyes which his biographers scarcely ever +mention without calling _dove-like_. The turbulence of passion was +hushed, and Bernard returned to die. The filial tears of his disciples +at Clairvaux, and the regrets of all the nation, followed him to the +grave. About twenty years after his death a decree of canonization +awarded him the title of Saint, which, considering how it has been +disgraced by unholy bearers, will not seem so fitly to recognize his +merit as that name which the reverence of the Church has further +bestowed on him--the _last_ of the Fathers. + + + + +FREDERICK BARBAROSSA + +By Lady LAMB + +(1121-1190) + + +It seems almost incredible that no history should exist of the childhood +and early life of an emperor of such note as "Barbarossa;" yet, in spite +of most diligent search, we have been compelled almost to renounce one +of the most pleasing tasks of a biographer, which consists in making +acquaintance with a hero in his infancy, and through childhood and youth +following his career to fame and glory. So far as we have been able to +discover, no trace, except a few dry data, exists of "Frederick of the +Red Beard," until we find him setting out with his uncle, Conrad III., +in the spring of 1147, to join the second crusade against the Saracens. +The date of his birth is given as 1121, his father being Duke Frederick +of Hohenstauffen (surnamed "le Borgne") and his mother Judith, daughter +of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria; opinions are divided on the +subject of his birthplace, some writers mentioning the castle of +Veitsberg, near Ravensburg, others the town of Weiblingen, in Nuremburg; +but since the main interest of his history does not begin until his +succession to the paternal duchy of Swabia, and his departure for the +Holy Land in 1147; his marriage with Adelaide, daughter of Theobald, +Margrave of Vohburg, in 1149; and finally his accession to the imperial +throne in 1152, we must resign ourselves to silence on the subject of +his earlier years, and take up his history from the death of Conrad +III., and that monarch's choice of him as a successor, to the exclusion +of his own son. + +[Illustration: Frederick Barbarossa.] + +From every possible point of view, Frederick of Hohenstauffen justified +his uncle's choice: endowed with the most brilliant qualities of heart +and mind, he had already earned the suffrages of a great portion of his +new subjects by the manner in which he had distinguished himself during +the above-mentioned campaign in the Holy Land; moreover, as the son of +Frederick of Hohenstauffen and Judith, daughter of Henry the Black, Duke +of Bavaria, Ghibelline by his father and Guelph on his mother's side, +there seemed good ground for the hope that in him might terminate the +differences of the two contending factions. The election diet was +accordingly assembled at Frankfort, and it being there decided to +confirm Conrad's choice and to invest Frederick with the imperial +insignia, he was proclaimed King of the Romans and of Germany, and +anointed at Aix-la-Chapelle on March 5, 1152, the ceremony being +performed by Arnoul de Gueldre, Archbishop of Cologne. Not lightly or +eagerly did the new emperor accept these dignities, but after mature and +careful consideration of his capacity to undertake the responsibility of +guiding Germany through shoals and quicksands which had little by +little enveloped the fair countries won three hundred years before by +the valiant Charlemagne. + +Tidings of ever-recurring disturbances determined Frederick to make an +expedition into Italy, as soon as affairs in Germany would admit of his +absence; but there was much to be done first--many princes to be dealt +with, who, from different motives viewing his election with +dissatisfaction, would take immediate advantage of his departure to +bring all the horrors of civil war into his dominions. Bavaria, for +example, had been wrested from Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, during +his minority, by Conrad III., and now he conjured Frederick, with tears +and threats, to restore it to him. This, by dint of much diplomacy, +Frederick effected, and the result was that for some years he gained a +stanch ally, instead of a designing enemy. + +Having decided this quarrel and several others, into which we need not +enter, Frederick prepared for that first expedition into Italy which, as +we have seen, he had resolved on from the commencement of his reign. + +At the head of a numerous army he passed into Switzerland, and encamped +near the lake of Constance; when, under the banner of Count von +Lenzburg, the inhabitants of the three "cents" or cantons of Schwyz, +Uri, and Unterwalden came to do homage and offer their feudal service in +the field. At the same time, and while still engaged in assembling the +forces with which to march into Italy, deputies from the city of Lodi +arrived, and throwing themselves at his feet, besought his interference +against the oppressions of the Milanese, who had declared for Adrian +IV., and whose town was indeed the very hot-bed of the papal faction. +The emperor instantly sent letters commanding the Milanese to make full +reparation to their unfortunate neighbors; but on perusal of his behests +they tore the missives in a thousand pieces, and flung them in the faces +of the messengers, sending back by them as their sole answer an open +defiance of his authority. Enraged at this insolence, Frederick crossed +the Alps, but, too prudent to risk an immediate attack on Milan, +strongly fortified and well garrisoned as it was, he sought rather to +weaken it through the other towns with which it was in league, and +accordingly besieged in turn Rosate, Cairo, and Asti, which all fell +into his hands, and ended with the total demolition of the city of +Tortona, which he reduced to ashes, afterward even levelling the ground +upon which it had stood. This last victory proved the accuracy of +Barbarossa's judgment, as regarded the remainder of the fifteen towns of +the so-called "Lombard League," most of which, intimidated by his +energetic measures, sent ambassadors to do homage on their account. He +now seized the iron crown of Lombardy; was crowned at Pavia and again at +Monza, after which he entered into negotiations with Adrian IV. for the +performance of the coronation ceremony at Rome. + +We now come to the second marriage of our hero, when Beatrix, the only +child and heiress of Reinold of Burgundy, became his bride; and an echo +of the old romantic halo which surrounds that incident in Barbarossa's +life reaches us, even in this prosaic age, as we picture to ourselves +the gallant, handsome Frederick riding off with his trusty knights to +deliver the fair heiress of Count Reinold from the gloomy prison in +which her uncle, Count William, had confined her in order to appropriate +the rich domains of "Franche-Comté." Over hill and dale sped the +chivalrous band till the grim castle was reached; a halt was ordered, +and an envoy sent to summon Count William to yield both his fortress and +the fair prisoner. At first the count meditated resistance, but on +looking out and investigating the number of Frederick's followers, he +decided to submit, and congratulated himself on his determination when +Frederick's messenger said, on behalf of his master, that if the castle +were not given freely it would be taken by force, the fair Beatrix +released, and her gloomy prison walls be prevented from hiding any other +like iniquity by being razed to the ground. Prudence, we hear, is the +better part of valor, and evidently Count William shared in the opinion, +for we learn that he promptly let down the drawbridge, over which +Frederick and his followers passed, and whence they presently issued, +bearing in their midst the quondam prisoner, the lovely Beatrix, whose +eyes, moist with tears of gratitude, looked trustingly in the handsome +face of her deliverer. So now, away, away to the old church at +Wurtzburg! deck the streets, ring the bells, bid priests don their +vestments and burghers their best, and fall in merrily with the gay +procession that comes to do honor to Barbarossa and his fair bride! + +Thus far the little romance of our emperor and Beatrix; now to return to +the sober and solemn statement of facts. During 1157 and the next year, +Frederick busied himself with a campaign against Poland, and compelled +Boleslaw, the king, to acknowledge the supremacy of the head of the +German Empire, and to take the oath of fealty, barefoot and with his +naked sword hung round his neck; after which he bestowed the kingdom +upon Wladislaw of Bohemia, whom he had appointed regent of the German +states during his absence, and whom he now took this opportunity to +reward. New disputes began to arise between Pope Adrian and Frederick; +and when at Besançon some indiscreet remarks of His Holiness as to +having "conferred the imperial crown" on, and "accorded it by favor" to +Frederick, were mentioned, that monarch waited no longer, but collected +a fresh army, and marched into Italy to chastise the pontiff, who, on +hearing of his approach, and scared at the prospect of such a calamity, +hastened to explain away his words as best he might. The emperor +accepted his excuses, but as he was so far on the road, determined to +attack Milan, whose inhabitants had increased the anger he already felt +for them by rebuilding Tortona (which, as we know, he had totally +destroyed), and expelling the inhabitants of Lodi from their dwellings +for having called him to mediate on the subject of their wrongs. With +100,000 men (for almost all of the Lombard cities had, either willingly +or by force, contributed their militia) and 15,000 cavalry, he advanced +toward Milan and laid siege to it. The inhabitants made a most obstinate +resistance, and were at length only vanquished by the impossibility of +finding food for the vast population within the walls. A capitulation +was effected, by which the emperor contented himself with very moderate +conditions, the most severe being that which condemned the city to the +loss of her privileges; but when the chief nobles came to deliver the +keys, barefooted and with every token of humility, he forgot their +former insolence, and only required, in return for his clemency, a +renewal of the oath of fealty and their promise to rebuild the town of +Lodi. + +To put an end to these ever-recurring disputes Frederick called together +a diet at Roncaglia, to which each of the Italian towns was commanded to +send its representative; the four most learned jurists from the +university of Bologna being also requested to attend, for the purpose of +drawing up a document which should conclusively define the relations +between himself, as head of the empire, and the vassals and imperial +cities of Italy. But when the learned quartet had heard all the points +of dispute, and were in possession of the facts, their decision gave +such almost limitless power to Frederick that several of the towns, and +more especially Milan, refused to abide by it and prepared for further +resistance. + +Frederick had not been idle all the time these schisms were raging; on +the contrary, he had made a third expedition to Italy, from which he had +been compelled to return, leaving the flower of his army lying dead, +stricken down with pestilence. The next six years were spent in settling +various disputes and complications which had arisen in Germany during +his absence; in causing his son Henry, a child of only five years of +age, to be crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle; and in keeping some sort of check +on his vassal, Henry the Lion, who, now that he had increased his power +by a marriage with Matilda, daughter of Henry II. of England, was no +unimportant person in the empire, and moreover one extremely liable to +become sulky and unmanageable if he had a chance, or the smallest +grievance to complain of. + +The news now spread through Europe of the reconquest of Jerusalem by +Saladin. These tidings effaced every other thought; the new Pope, Urban, +forgot the thunders of the Church which he had been keeping, like a +second sword of Damocles, suspended over Frederick's head; the emperor +buried his resentment; a general peace was concluded, and Barbarossa, +then in his seventieth year, gave the regency of his dominions to his +son Henry, and joyfully taking up the cross--accompanied by his son +Frederick, the flower of German chivalry, and an army of 100,000 +men--marched by way of Vienna to Presburg, and thence through Hungary, +Servia, and Roumelia. + +Isaac Angelus, the Greek emperor, who had promised to furnish the German +troops with provisions and assist Frederick in all ways, with the +proverbial duplicity of his nation, broke his word, harassed him on his +march, and threw Count von Diez, his ambassador, into prison; which +treachery greatly incensed the emperor, and caused him to give +permission to his soldiers to plunder; the results being that the +country soon bore sad traces of their passage, and that the two +important towns of Manioava and Philippopolis were completely destroyed. +This reduced Isaac, professedly, to a state of contrition; and when +Barbarossa advanced toward Constantinople, the Greek emperor, anxious to +conciliate him, placed his entire fleet at his disposal for the +transport of the German army. Scarcely had they entered Asia Minor +before Isaac's good resolutions abandoned him, and leaguing himself with +another faithless ally of Frederick, the Sultan of Iconium, they beset +the German troops, and did everything they possibly could to make the +march more difficult; however, though they tried both fair means and +foul, their evil practices resulted in their own defeat, and the +Oriental Christians soon found they had every reason to congratulate +themselves upon the arrival of such a champion. + +The fanaticism of a Turkish prisoner, who, acting as guide, wilfully +sacrificed his life in order to mislead Frederick's army, involved the +Germans in almost endless troubles by taking them amidst pathless +mountains, where the horrors of starvation and the entire lack of water +added yet more miseries to their condition. Brave where all were +despairing, encouraging his men with cheering words and hopeful looks, +their gallant old leader rode on, and footsore, half-starved, thirsty, +and wretched as they were, the men tried, though tears of agony filled +their eyes, to raise the notes of their Swabian war-song to please him. +Frederick, Duke of Swabia, hastened forward with half the remaining +army, and gaining a victory over a body of Turks, pushed on till he came +to the town of Iconium; when, scattering the enemy before him, he put +the inhabitants to the sword, gained a great booty, and, more than all, +food, drink, and rest for his weary men. + +A body of Turks had meanwhile crept round the town, and surrounded the +columns which were advancing under Barbarossa; worn out with sorrow, +hunger, and thirst, even his courage gave way for one moment, as he +thought that this band of Turks had only, in all probability, reached +him by passing over the dead bodies of his brave son and the gallant +Swabians; the aged monarch bowed his head, and the scorching tears of +rage ran down his cheeks; then dashing his hand across his eyes, he +cried: "Christ still lives! Christ conquers!" and shouting to his +followers, they fell on the Turks like lions; Barbarossa with his own +hand sending many a one to his last sleep. Then they marched forward to +Iconium, where rest and plenty awaited them, and where the old emperor +doubtless found much cause for thankfulness when he threw himself into +the arms of his brave son. + +At Iconium the army stayed for some time, the soldiers being in sad need +of repose; and then starting afresh, continued as far as the little +river Saleph; when, the road being encumbered with cattle, and the +emperor impatient of delay, he commanded his men to cross the stream and +plunged into the water. Here this hero of many combats, this brave and +wise king, was destined to end his long life in an obscure river, of +which he had probably never heard; the current was too strong for his +horse, and, nobly as the animal battled against it, both rider and steed +were drowned. + +The Germans, almost frantic with grief and dismay, made frenzied efforts +to regain the body of their leader; and, when at last they succeeded, +they conveyed it with much loving care to Antioch, where it was buried +in St. Peter's Church. + +With the history of the crusade after the death of our hero, we have +nothing to do further than to say that his son, Frederick, took the +chief command and led the brave followers of his gallant father until a +pestilence occasioned his death at Acre, in the following year, when the +remnant of the once formidable army returned to Germany. + +[Illustration: The Death of Barbarossa.] + +How Barbarossa still lingers in the hearts of his people even now, when +all these hundreds of years divide his time from theirs, is shown by +a dozen legends. Most of these profess an utter disbelief in the death +of their loved emperor; one of them tells how, in a rocky cleft of the +Klyfhaüser Mountains, Barbarossa still sleeps calmly and peacefully; he +sits before a marble table into which and through which his red beard +has grown; his head is bowed on his folded hands, and though he from +time to time lifts it and opens his eyes, it is but to shut them again +quickly, for the right time of his awakening is not come; he has seen +the ravens flying round the mountain, and his long sleep will only end +when their black forms are no longer visible, when he will step forth +and avenge the wrongs of the oppressed. + +Another story says that he is lying in the Untersberg near Salzburg, and +that when the dead pear-tree which, thrice cut down, plants itself +afresh, shall bud forth and blossom, the gallant "Rothbart" will come +out into the bright daylight, hang his shield on the pink-flowered +bough, throw down his gauntlet as a gage to all evil-doers, and, aided +by the good and chivalrous few who will still be inhabitants of this bad +world, will vanquish cruelty and wickedness, and realize the dream of a +golden age they have for so long anticipated. + + + + +RICHARD COEUR DE LION + +(1157-1199) + +[Illustration: Richard Coeur de Lion.] + + +Richard I., King of England, surnamed Coeur de Lion, was the third son +of Henry II. and his queen, Eleanor, and was born at Oxford, in the +king's manor house there, afterward the monastery of the White Friars, +in September, 1157. By the treaty of Montmirail, concluded on January 6, +1169, between Henry and Louis VII. of France, it was stipulated that the +duchy of Aquitaine should be made over to Richard, who should do homage +and fealty for it to Louis, and should espouse Adelais, or Alice, that +king's youngest daughter; and in 1170 King Henry, being taken ill at +Domfront, in Maine, made a will, by which he confirmed this arrangement. +In 1173 Richard, with his younger brother, Geoffrey, and their mother, +joined their eldest brother, Henry, in his first rebellion against their +father. On the submission of the rebels, in September, 1174, Richard +received two castles in Poitou, with half the revenue of that earldom, +and, along with Geoffrey, did homage and swore fealty to their father. +Nevertheless Richard continued from this time to hold the government of +the whole of Aquitaine, and to be usually styled, as before, Duke of +Aquitaine, or Duke of Poitou (which were considered as the same title), +although it appears that King Henry now looked upon the arrangements +made at the treaty of Montmirail as annulled, and that dukedom to have +actually reverted to himself. In 1183 Richard refused, when commanded by +his father, to do homage for Aquitaine to his elder brother, Henry; on +which his brothers Henry and Geoffrey invaded the duchy, and a new war +ensued between them and their father, who was assisted by Richard, +which, however, was terminated by the death of the eldest of the three +brothers in June of that same year, when Richard became his father's +heir-apparent. But at an interview between King Henry and Philip +Augustus, now King of France, in November, 1188, Richard, apparently +impelled by a suspicion that his father intended to leave his crown to +his younger brother, John, and also professing to resent his father's +conduct in withholding from him his affianced bride, the French king's +sister, suddenly declared himself the liegeman of Philip for all his +father's dominions in France; whence arose a new war, in which Philip +and Richard speedily compelled King Henry to yield to all their demands, +and a treaty to that effect was about to be signed when King Henry died, +on July 6, 1189. Richard was present at the burial of his father in the +choir of the convent of Fontevrault. + +Notwithstanding his apprehensions, real or affected, of his brother +John, Richard made no particular haste to come over to England, but, +contenting himself with ordering his mother, Queen Eleanor, to be +liberated from confinement, and to be invested with the regency of that +kingdom, he first proceeded to Rouen, where he was formally acknowledged +as Duke of Normandy on July 20th, and it was August 13th before he +arrived at Portsmouth (or, as others say, at Southampton). His +coronation, from which the commencement of his reign is dated, took +place in Westminster Abbey on September 3d. It was on occasion of that +ceremony that a furious riot broke out among the Jews in London, which +was in the course of the next six months renewed in most of the great +towns throughout the kingdom. At York, in March, 1190, a body of 500 +Jews, with their wives and children, having taken refuge in the castle, +found no other way of saving themselves from their assailants than by +first cutting the throats of the women and children and then stabbing +one another. + +A short time before his father's death Richard, and his then friend, +Philip Augustus, had, as it was expressed, taken the cross, that is to +say, had publicly vowed to proceed to the Holy Land, to assist in +recovering from the infidels the city and kingdom of Jerusalem, which +had recently (1187) fallen into the hands of the great Saladin. The +mighty expedition, in which all the principal nations of Western +Christendom now joined, for the accomplishment of this object is known +by the name of the Third Crusade. Leaving the government of his kingdom +during his absence in the hands of William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely and +chancellor, and Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham and justiciary, Richard +took his departure from England on December 11th of this same year, +1189, and proceeding to Normandy, united his forces with those of +Philip Augustus in the plain of Vezelay on July 1, 1190. The two friends +proceeded together at the head of an army of more than 100,000 men as +far as Lyons, where they separated on the 31st; Philip taking the road +to Genoa, Richard that to Marseilles, where he was to meet his fleet. +The fleet, however, not arriving so soon as was expected, Richard in his +impatience hired thirty small vessels for the conveyance of himself and +his suite, and, sailing for Naples, arrived there on August 28th. On +September 8th he proceeded by sea to Salerno, where he remained till the +23d, and then sailed for Messina, which port his fleet had reached about +a week before, with the army, which it had taken on board at Marseilles. +The French king had also arrived at Messina a few days before his +brother of England. + +The two kings remained together at Messina till the end of March, 1191. +During their stay Richard compelled Tancred, who had usurped the crown +of Sicily, to relinquish the dower of his sister Joan, the widow of +William, the late sovereign, and to pay him besides forty thousand +ounces of gold. In return he betrothed his nephew, Arthur, the son of +his next brother, Geoffrey, to Tancred's infant daughter, and formed a +league offensive and defensive with the Sicilian king--a connection +which afterward cost him dear, for it was the source of the enmity of +the Emperor Henry VI., who had married Constantia, the aunt of William, +and claimed the throne of Sicily in right of his wife. After the dispute +with Tancred had been settled, the latent rivalry of Richard and Philip +broke out in a quarrel about the Princess Adelais, whom her brother +Philip insisted that Richard should espouse, in conformity with their +betrothment, now that his father no longer lived to oppose their union. +But if Richard had ever cared anything for the French princess, that +attachment had now been obliterated by another, which he had some years +before formed for Berengaria, the beautiful daughter of Sancho VI. +(styled the Wise), King of Navarre; in fact he had by this time sent his +mother Eleanor to her father's court to solicit that lady in marriage, +and, his proposals having been accepted, the two were now actually on +their way to join him. In these circumstances Philip found himself +obliged to recede from his demand; and the matter was arranged by an +agreement that Richard should pay a sum of ten thousand marks, in five +yearly instalments, and restore Adelais, who had previously been +conducted into England, and the places of strength that had been given +along with her as her marriage portion, when he should have returned +from Palestine. + +Richard, having sent his mother home to England, sailed from Messina on +April 7th, at the head of a fleet of about two hundred ships, of which +fifty-three were large vessels of the sort styled galleys; his sister, +the queen dowager of Sicily, and the Princess Berengaria accompanying +him. The King of France had set sail about a week before. Several +months, however, elapsed before Richard reached the Holy Land, having +been detained by an attack which he made upon the island of Cyprus; +Isaac, the king, or emperor, of which had ill used the crews of some of +the English ships that had been driven upon his coasts in a storm. +Richard took Limasol, the capital, by assault; and that blow was soon +followed by the complete submission of Isaac and the surrender of the +whole island. Isaac was put into confinement, and remained a captive +till his death in 1195. Meanwhile the island of Cyprus was made over by +Richard, in 1192, to Guy of Lusignan, upon his resignation of the now +merely titular royalty of Jerusalem to his rival Henry of Champagne and +Guy's posterity reigned in that island till the year 1458. + +Having married Berengaria at Limasol, Richard set sail from Cyprus, on +June 4th (1191), with a fleet now described as consisting of thirteen +large ships called busses, fifty galleys, and a hundred transports; and +on the 10th he reached the camp of the crusaders assembled before the +fortress of Acre, the siege of which had already occupied them not much +less than two years, and had cost the lives, it is said of nearly two +hundred thousand of the assailants. But the presence of the English +king, although he was suffering from severe illness, and had to be +carried to the trenches on a litter, immediately inspired so much new +vigor into the operations of the Christian army that, on July 12th, the +place surrendered, and Saladin, who had been harassing the besiegers +from the neighboring mountains, withdrew, in conformity with the terms +of capitulation. This great event, however, was immediately followed by +an open rupture between Richard and King Philip, whose rivalry had +already exhibited itself in a variety of ways, and more particularly in +the support given by Richard to the claim of Guy of Lusignan, and by +Philip to that of Conrad of Montferrat to the vacant crown of Jerusalem. +Philip, in fact, took his departure from Palestine on the last day of +July, leaving only ten thousand men, under the command of the Duke of +Burgundy. + +[Illustration: Richard at the Battle of Arsur.] + +Richard performed prodigies of valor in the Holy Land, but, although a +signal defeat of Saladin on September 7th at Arsur was followed by the +capture of Jaffa and some other places of less importance, Jerusalem, +which was the main object of the crusade, so far from being taken was +not even attacked. Jaffa, however, after it had again fallen into the +hands of Saladin, was recovered by the impetuous valor of the English +king. At last, on October 9, 1192, Richard set sail from Acre in a +single vessel, his fleet, having on board his wife, his sister, and the +daughter of the captive King of Cyprus, having put to sea a few days +before. The three ladies got safe to Sicily; but the first land the king +made was the island of Corfu, which he took about a month to reach. He +left Corfu about the middle of November with three coasting-vessels +which he hired there; but after being a few days at sea he was compelled +by a storm to land on the coast of Istria, at a spot between the towns +of Aquileia and Venice. After narrowly escaping first from falling at +Goritz into the hands of Maynard, a nephew of Conrad of Montferrat (to +whose murder in Palestine Richard, upon very insufficient evidence, was +suspected to be an accessory), and then at Friesach from Maynard's +brother, Frederick of Batesow, he was taken on December 21st, at Erperg, +near Vienna, by Leopold, Duke of Austria (a brother-in-law of Isaac of +Cyprus), and was by him consigned to close confinement in the castle of +Tyernsteign, under the care of his vassal, Baron Haldmar. In the course +of a few days, however, by an arrangement between Leopold and the +Emperor Henry VI., the captive king was transferred to the custody of +the latter, who shut him up in a castle in the Tyrol, where he was bound +with chains, and guarded by a band of men who surrounded him day and +night with drawn swords. In this state he remained about three months. +Meanwhile, intelligence of his having fallen into the hands of the +emperor had reached England, and excited the strongest sensation among +all ranks of the people. It is sufficient to mention that during his +absence a struggle for supremacy had for some time been carried on with +varying success between the king's brother, John, and Longchamp, the +chancellor, who had acquired the entire regency, and had also been +appointed papal legate for England and Scotland; and that this had +resulted, in October, 1191, in the deposition of Longchamp, by a council +of the nobility held in St Paul's Churchyard, London; after which he +left the country, and although he soon ventured to return, ultimately +deemed it most prudent to retire to Normandy. The supreme authority was +thus left for a time in the hands of John, who, as soon as he learned +the news of his brother's captivity, openly repaired to Paris, and did +homage to the French king for the English dominions on the Continent. + +[Illustration: Richard Coeur de Lion.] + +On returning to England, John raised an army to support his pretensions, +while his confederate, Philip, took up arms in his behalf in France, +and, entering Normandy, overran a great part of that duchy, although +Rouen, the capital, was preserved principally by the exertions of the +Earl of Essex, lately one of Richard's companions in the Holy Land. In +England, also, John met with a general opposition to his usurpation of +the regal authority, which soon compelled him to conclude an armistice +with a council of regency that had been appointed by the prelates and +barons. This was the position of affairs when Longchamp, having +discovered Richard's place of confinement, after much solicitation +prevailed upon the emperor to allow the royal prisoner to be brought +before the diet at Hagenau, where, accordingly, he made his appearance +on April 13, 1193, and defended himself with so much eloquence against +the several charges made against him in regard to Tancred and the +kingdom of Sicily, to his conquest of Cyprus, and to the murder of +Conrad of Montferrat, that Henry found himself compelled by the general +sentiment of the diet to order his chains to be immediately struck off, +and to agree to enter upon negotiations for his ransom. Longchamp was +immediately despatched to England with a letter to the council of +regency, and the result was, that, notwithstanding the insidious efforts +both of John and his friend, Philip of France, to prevent the +conclusion of the treaty, Richard was at last liberated, on February 4, +1194, after seventy thousand marks had been actually paid to the +emperor, and hostages given for the payment of thirty thousand more. The +English king had also engaged to release both Isaac of Cyprus and his +daughter, and he had besides, at the persuasion, it is said, of his +mother, Eleanor, the more effectually to conciliate Henry, formally +resigned his crown into the hand of the emperor, who immediately +restored it to him to be held as a fief of the empire, and burdened with +a yearly feudal payment to his superior lord of five thousand pounds. +This strange transaction rests on the authority of the contemporary +annalist Hoveden. Richard, descending the Rhine as far as Cologne, +proceeded thence across the country to Antwerp, and, embarking there on +board his own fleet, landed at Sandwich on March 13th. + +Most of John's strongholds had been wrested from his hands before his +brother's return, and now the rest immediately surrendered and he +himself fled the country, and with his principal adviser, Hugh, Bishop +of Coventry, having been charged with high treason, and not appearing to +plead after forty days, was outlawed and divested of all his +possessions. + +Meanwhile it was thought necessary that Richard should be crowned again, +and that ceremony was accordingly performed at Winchester by Hubert, +Archbishop of Canterbury, on April 17th. Then, leaving Hubert guardian +of England and grand justiciary, on May 2d, following, having, with his +characteristic activity employed almost every moment since his arrival +in raising an army and procuring funds for its maintenance by all sorts +of exactions and the most unscrupulous use of every means in his power, +he again set sail from Portsmouth, his whole soul bent on chastising the +King of France. Owing to adverse winds he was a fortnight in reaching +Barfleur, in Normandy, where, as soon as he landed, he was met by his +brother John, who professed contrition and implored his pardon, which, +on the intercession of his mother, Eleanor, was granted. Richard now +marched against Philip, and several engagements took place between them, +in most of which the English king was successful. But the war, though it +lasted for some years, was distinguished by few remarkable events. A +truce for one year was agreed to on July 23d, and although hostilities +were resumed some time before the expiration of that term, a peace was +again concluded in the end of the following year, which lasted till the +beginning of 1197. + +All this time Hubert, assisted by Longchamp, who had been restored to +his office of chancellor, is said to have presided over the government +at home with great ability. Hubert had been educated under the famous +Glanvil, and he seems, in the spirit of his master, to have exerted +himself in re-establishing and maintaining the authority of the law, by +which alone, even if he did no more, he must have materially contributed +to the revival of industry. The large sums, however, which he was +obliged to raise by taxation to meet the expenses of the war, in the +exhausted state to which the country had been reduced provoked much +popular dissatisfaction; and the third year of the king's absence in +particular was distinguished by the remarkable commotion excited by +William Fitz-Osbert, styled Longbeard, a citizen of London, who is +admitted to have possessed both eloquence and learning, and whose whole +character and proceedings might not improbably, if he had had his own +historian, have assumed a very different complexion from what has been +given to him. Longbeard, who acquired the names of the Advocate and King +of the Poor, is affirmed to have had above fifty thousand of the lower +orders associated with him by oaths which bound them to follow +whithersoever he led. When an attempt was made to apprehend him by two +of the wealthier citizens, he drew his knife and stabbed one of them, +named Geoffrey, to the heart, and then took refuge in the church of St +Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, the tower of which he and his followers +fortified, and held for three days, when they were at last (April 7, +1196), dislodged by fire being set to the building. Fitz-Osbert was +first dragged at a horse's tail to the Tower, and then to the Elms in +West Smithfield, where he was hanged, with nine of his followers. The +people, however, long continued to regard him as a martyr. + +The war between Richard and Philip broke out again in 1197, and in the +course of this campaign Richard had the gratification of capturing the +Bishop of Beauvais, a personage whom he had reason to regard as a main +instigator of the severities and indignities which he had sustained at +the hands of the emperor. The bishop was taken armed cap-à-pie and +fighting, and when Pope Celestine recommended him to the clemency of +Richard as his son, the English king sent his holiness the bishop's coat +of mail, with the following verse of Scripture attached to it: "This +have we found; know now whether it be thy son's coat, or no." This same +year, too, finished the career of the Emperor Henry, who, in his last +moments, is said to have expressed the extremest remorse for the manner +in which he had treated the great champion of the Cross. Richard's other +enemy, Leopold, Duke of Austria, had been killed by a fall from his +horse two years before. + +A truce, as usual, at the end of the year, again suspended hostilities +for a space. The war was renewed on its termination, and in this +campaign (of the year 1198) Richard gained one of his greatest victories +near Gisors, when Philip in his flight fell into the river Epte, and was +nearly drowned. After this, by the intercession of the Pope's legate, a +truce was concluded between the two kings for five years, and they never +met again in fight; although they probably would, notwithstanding the +truce, if both had lived. But on March 26th in the following year, 1199, +as Richard was engaged in reducing the castle of Chaluz, the stronghold +of one of his Aquitanian vassals, Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, who it +seems had refused to surrender a treasure found on his estate, to which +the king laid claim in right of his feudal superiority, Coeur de Lion +was struck in the left shoulder by an arrow, aimed from the rampart of +the castle by a youth named Bertrand de Gurdun. The wound would not have +been dangerous but for the mismanagement of the surgeon in his attempts +to extract the arrow-head, which had broken off in the flesh. As it was, +Richard lived only till Tuesday, April 16th. The shot was a fatal one in +every way; in the fury into which the wound of the king threw the +besieging army the castle was taken by storm, and all the persons found +in it were immediately hanged, as some authorities say, by the king's +orders, with the exception only of Gurdun. He was brought into the +presence of his dying victim, when Richard, under the impulse of +generosity or compunction, gave him his liberty, with a hundred +shillings to take him home; but after the king's death he was flayed +alive, and then hanged, by order of Marchadee, the leader of the +Brabantine mercenaries serving in Richard's army. + +The character of Richard is, of course, not to be judged without +reference to the general manners of the age in which he lived. It is +probable enough that there was hardly an excess, either of violence or +licentiousness, into which his impetuous temperament did not +occasionally precipitate him; but he seems to have had nothing base or +malignant in his composition; and that he was as capable of acts of +extraordinary generosity and disinterestedness as of excesses of brutal +fury or profligacy. Of the courage and strength of will proper to his +race, he had his full share, with more than his share of their strength +of thew and sinew; and his intellectual powers, both natural and +acquired, were also of a high order. He was renowned in his own day not +only as beyond all dispute the stoutest and most gallant of living +heroes, but as likewise occupying a place in the foremost rank of those +who excelled in wit, in eloquence, and in song. + + + + +ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI[6] + + [Footnote 6: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP, LL.D. + +(1182-1226) + +[Illustration: St. Francis of Assisi.] + + +One reason why those beings who are known to us as saints are so little +understood is, that their lives are usually written in one of two ways, +both equally unsuited to popular appreciation. Either they are presented +in a dry, bare, matter-of-fact manner, which requires all the knowledge +and sympathy of the initiated to give it vital meaning; or else they are +surrounded with an appanage of portents, visions, miracles, +legends--spread before the reader without discrimination or +explanation--which confuse the mind and soul, and absolutely repel all +who do not share the faith of the subject and the biographer. + +As a matter of fact, no Catholic is obliged to accept these legends and +traditions literally, except in those cases where the authorities of +the Church, after a scrutiny, which is always deliberate and searching, +declare that a miracle was wrought. But every Catholic, by the very +nature of his belief in the actual presence of the Divinity among men, +must acknowledge and maintain that miracles have been wrought by that +supernatural power constantly, ever since apostolic times; that they may +and do occur, through the same power, at any moment to-day; and always +will occur. In the ordinary gossip of the world, men hold to the maxim +that if reports are current, all pointing to one particular fact, there +must be truth in them. "Where there is so much smoke there is sure to be +some fire." We should at least accord the same, if not a greater, degree +of probability and of credence to stories of the saints which have been +carefully, competently examined. "The love of the marvellous," says +Chavin de Malin, in his book on St. Francis, "is but a remnant of our +original greatness. Man was created to contemplate the wonders of the +Divinity; and, until he clearly beholds them, he is borne onward by an +interior desire to love and admire everything which bears the slightest +resemblance to them.... _A person utterly ignorant of the practices of a +spiritual life can no more do justice to the life of a saint, than a +blind man could adjudicate on the merits or demerits of a painting._" He +adds that, with regard to the religious occupations of the Middle Ages, +"the positive bounds of history could not be kept, digressions were made +on all sides, and thus around the true history of saints, like a poetic +wreath, wonder and amazement were both entwined. Christianity has had +its denominated legendary tales, which invariably are based on truth, +and should not be rejected by the historian without serious reflection +and profound study." + +There is still another way of regarding the saints; the purely material +view, which denies the immediate action of supernatural power upon the +details of natural daily life, mental or physical. This view--or rather, +this abstention from seeing--is futile; because, without a particle of +actual proof to sustain its negative, it refuses to admit possibilities +of truth to which the really comprehensive and perceptive mind must +always hold itself open. + +Saint Francis was born at Assisi, in Umbria, in 1182; near the close of +the twelfth century, which has been called a "century of mud and blood, +when darkness prevailed over light, evil over good, the flesh over the +spirit." Umbria was then, as it is now, a beautiful and fertile valley, +rich in citron, almond, aloe, with forest trees of oak and pine and fir, +to which long cultivation has added grapevines, engarlanding the elms, +and orchards of the pale-leaved olive-tree, that give the landscape a +somewhat transparent, aërial effect. The province is encircled on one +hand by the yellow Tiber; on the other, by the bluish foot-hills of the +Apennines; and it is full of ancient little towns, nestled in the vales, +or perched upon the airy hill-crests, with crenelated towers and +terraces which command far-reaching and inspiring views. Old Perugia +guards the northern entrance to this exquisite region; and five leagues +to the northeast of that town is the saint's birthplace, Assisi. + +His father was Peter Bernard of Moriconi, better known as "Bernardone," +a rich merchant who carried on extensive business with France. In those +days Italian merchants maintained a lavish mode of life, resembling that +of the nobles; and as the disorders of the period and the perils +attending travel compelled them to send armed escorts with their convoys +of merchandise, there was something of military daring and display +mingled with their business and their surroundings. The wife of +Bernardone, however, whose name was Pica (of the noble Bourlemont family +of Provence), was remarkable for her piety; the son--in this, as in so +many historic instances of genius or distinction--inheriting his rare +quality from the mother's side. She had but one other child, a younger +son, Angelo, who, notwithstanding his heavenly name, seems to have been +a boy after Bernardone's own pattern; since he, later on, reviled +Francis and called him a fool for his piety and self-renunciation. +Angelo's descendants were still living in Assisi in the latter half of +the sixteenth century. Whether they shared their ancestor's contemptuous +opinion of the Saint has not been recorded; but it seems probable that +the homage of the world, rendered to the poor ascetic for several +centuries, may have made some impression on their minds, if not their +souls. + +Just before the birth of Francis, his mother suffered greatly. A +pilgrim, coming to the house for alms, told the servants: "The mother +will be delivered only in a stable, and the child see the light upon +straw." This appeared strange and unreasonable enough. Nevertheless his +advice was followed. Pica was carried to the stable, and there she gave +birth to her first son, whom she caused to be baptized John, after the +beloved apostle of Jesus. Her husband, Bernardone, was absent at the +time on a business tour in France. Upon his return, he was delighted at +finding that he had a boy; and he insisted on giving him the surname +Francis, in commemoration of that country with which he drove such a +flourishing trade. Possibly he was also moved by the thought--albeit the +chroniclers do not say so--that his wife's family came from Southern +France. At all events, Francis was the name by which the son came to be +known throughout his life and in history. + +Under priestly teachers he received an education which, for that time, +was a fairly good one, in Latin, French, and literature. At the age of +fourteen his father took him into partnership; and for ten years the +young man bought and sold with him, or travelled for him. But while +Bernardone was a hard, avaricious man, the son differed from him greatly +in disposition; being fond of dress, of song, and feasting, gayety, and +gaming. He was generous even to prodigality, full of wit and +imagination, very sympathetic withal, and compassionate. Thomas of +Celano thus describes him: "His figure was above the middle height and +well set. He was thin, and of a very delicate constitution. He had an +oval face, broad brow, white, close-set teeth, dark complexion, black +hair, regular features, expressive countenance, rosy lips, and a +charming smile." With all his roystering, dissipation, and extravagance, +however, he was a foe to immorality, always rebuked impurity in severe +terms, and kept his own purity intact. This lavish and somewhat reckless +pursuit of other pleasures gave his parents much anxiety; although his +mother, Pica, said in his defence, "I see in him, even in his +amusements, a nobility of character which gives me the highest hopes of +his future." But up to his twenty-fourth year nothing seemed more +unlikely than that he should have any vocation to a holy life. He was +called the "flower of the youth" of Assisi, rejoiced in his gay +leadership of the rich young men of the place, and dreamed of winning +military glory. + +In this capacity of taking the lead, and in the confident belief he +often expressed that he would one day receive honor from the world, we +see one natural germ of his later spiritual eminence. Another and more +potent germ was the love of the poor, and his pity for them, which he +manifested from childhood. In 1201, taking part as a soldier in a brief +war between Assisi and Perugia, he was captured, with several of his +companions, and imprisoned for a year. This experience, his first touch +of adversity, sobered him a little; opening his eyes to the contrast +between prosperity, with idle amusement and flattery, on the one hand, +and on the other, suffering. Soon after his return home, also, he was +stricken down by a long and painful illness. When he rose from it and, +as a convalescent, took his first walk into the country, he was +astonished to find that the beautiful Umbrian landscape which he had +always so enjoyed, seemed to him cold, discolored, and sombre. A natural +effect of illness, one may say. Yet it more often happens that when a +convalescent returns to fresh air and the beauty of the earth, his +pleasure in them is heightened. At all events Francis was vividly +impressed with the nothingness of nature, as compared with the eternal +splendor of God. But presently the passion for warlike renown took +possession of him again. In 1206 he volunteered to join the Count of +Brienne, a Guelph champion of Italian national independence, who was +defending the Two Sicilies against the attacks of the German emperor, +Frederick II. Announcing to his friends that he was about to become a +great captain, Francis set out for the field of war, richly apparelled +and with a brilliant retinue. + +In truth he was shortly to become a great captain, though not as he +expected, in war, but in peace. On the way to Spoleto, southward, a +voice that seemed to come from heaven sounded in his ears; just as Saul +was appealed to while on his way to Damascus and was converted by it +into _St. Paul_. To the young Umbrian, half asleep, the voice said: +"Francis, which can do thee most good; the master or the servant, the +rich one or the pauper?" He replied: "The master and the rich one." And +the voice resumed: "Why, then, leavest thou God, who is both rich and +the Master, to run after man, who is only the servant and the pauper?" +Then Francis cried: "Ah, Lord; what willest Thou I should do?" "Go," +said the voice, "return to thy native city, for the vision thou hast had +has a spiritual meaning. It is from God, not men, thou shalt receive its +accomplishment." + +Heedless of whatever taunts might be flung at him, he turned back. But +the youth of Assisi, though surprised, were rejoiced to see him, and +begged him to preside once more at their revels. He gave them a final +magnificent banquet, at which they noticed that he was silent and +preoccupied. Immediately afterward he retired to a grotto, where he +passed his days alone, entreating God to pardon the misspent years of +youth and to direct him in the right way. Here he had a vision of Jesus +Christ nailed to the cross. It is probably impossible to prove a vision; +but that this one was real to Francis, at least, we may judge by its +effects. Thenceforth he devoted himself to a pious life of marvellous +self-abnegation. Seeing the change that had come upon him, his former +friends fell away; but he, undisturbed, went on performing works of +charity; making gifts of money, food, and even his own clothes to the +poor. Again a voice spoke to him, from the crucifix of the dilapidated +old church of St. Damien: "Francis, go and repair my house, which you +see falling into ruins!" The young ascetic obeyed literally, and, +passing through the streets, begged from all whom he met a stone or two +to help rebuild the old church. Bernardone had been absent several +months on one of his business trips; but his home-coming, this time, was +not so pleasing to him as when his boy had been born. For, seeing the +young man's complete transformation, all his selfish love of him turned +into rage. He imprisoned him for a while in his own house; but Pica, +recognizing that it was useless to oppose her son's religious vocation, +finally set him free, and Francis took refuge in St. Damien's church. +His father pursued him there, and brought before the Bishop of Assisi a +complaint against him, demanding that he should give up all the money in +his hands. Francis not only surrendered his money, but stripped off his +clothing and gave it to his father, saying: "Until now I have called +Peter Bernardone my father. Henceforth I can boldly say, 'Our Father, +who art in heaven,' in whom I have placed all my treasures and my +hopes." + +The bishop covered him with his mantle and held him clasped in his arms, +until the by-standers brought Francis the cloak of a poor peasant. "Oh, +what a grand bankrupt this merchant becomes to-day!" Bossuet wrote of +him, long afterward. "Oh man worthy of being written in the book of the +evangelical poor, and henceforward living on the capital of Providence!" +From that time Francis wore mendicant's garb and begged his food in the +streets. + +What did he accomplish by all this? To begin with, he succeeded in +rebuilding three churches. But his influence was destined to be much +more far-reaching than that, and of a very different nature. One day, +while he was supplicating in church, his brother Angelo passed near him, +and said to a friend, scoffingly: "Go, ask him to sell you some drops of +his sweat." "No," said Francis; "I shall not sell my sweat to men. I +shall sell it at a higher price, to God." He gave his sweat, his toil, +his sufferings, and his renunciation to God, in exchange for the +regeneration of men in a corrupt age. + +All Europe, at that time the whole civilized world, was suffering. The +mass of the people were the poor, who were in deep distress, ground down +by the pride and oppressions of the barons and the rich. The country was +devastated by wars, large and small. The emperors of Germany were trying +to establish their dominion over Italy and to control the Pope. The +Church itself, after emerging from an heroic struggle with centuries of +barbarism, had been obliged to accept and use the feudal system as a +means of self-defence; and now the wrongs, the injustices, the +selfishness of feudal society were beginning to exercise a corrupting +influence on the exterior of the Church itself. Unselfish and holy men +in ecclesiastical places, both high and humble, preserved the spirit and +sanctity of Christian faith, but were not able wholly to counteract the +evils of pride, wealth, and luxury that invaded the Church from the +worldly side, and infected its unworthy servants. Francis perceived that +the only hope or relief possible to that age lay in a decisive spiritual +revolution, to be effected without violence, which would recall people +to the primitive simplicity, unselfishness, and absolute devotion of the +time of Christ and the apostolic period. This revolution could be +accomplished, he saw, only by a personal example so strong, so +undeviating, so entirely free from self-seeking, that all men would be +compelled to pause and consider it, and then to act upon it. He +therefore sacrificed his whole life for the good of the race. In the end +he achieved his aim, single-handed, single-souled. No one who believes +in God and in Christianity throughout, can maintain that Francis of +Assisi brought about these results by mere unaided human power. The +human element relies upon will, coercion, manoeuvre, and even intrigue. +Francis gave up all these means. He first served the lepers for a month, +living with them and taking care of them. This should especially +interest us to-day; since Father Damien's self-immolating life among the +lepers of the Hawaiian Islands in recent years is so well known to us, +and since the first refuge of Saint Francis from the world was St. +Damien's church, in Assisi. Portiuncula, "The Little Portion," was one +of the churches which he had rebuilt, and was his favorite. While he was +listening to the Gospel there, one day in February, 1209, these words +were read from the altar: "Do not possess gold nor silver, nor money in +your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a +staff." + +That precept decided him. He saw his vocation as a devotee of holy +poverty. Straightway he began preaching everywhere the duty of poverty +and love of the poor; and gradually he drew to himself disciples, until +they numbered twelve; sometimes accosting his old friends, sometimes +strangers, who immediately joined him and consented to give up all +worldly things, for the love of God. Most of them were men of rank and +wealth, who had never known privation; yet they gave up social positions +where they had been accustomed to command, accepted dire penury with him +in a hut at Rivotorto, and submitted themselves to him in entire +obedience. "Bread begged from door to door is the bread of angels," said +Francis. They went barefoot, wore a coarse gray tunic with a cincture of +cord, prayed much, helped the sick and needy, discoursed to and exhorted +the people, and lived on bread and water chiefly. Amid all these +austerities they thanked God that they had been chosen to give an +example of perfect happiness! Their leader insisted upon incessant +industry and unfailing cheerfulness. "Think of your errors in your +cells," he commanded. "Weep, kneeling before God. But before others be +gay, and maintain an air of ease." At first they called themselves +simply "penitents from Assisi," and for a time they were treated with +ridicule, scorn, and even violence. But their mission was to suffer +everything, to rejoice at insults and injuries and, by patience, compel +recognition of the dignity of every human creature under whatsoever +guise he might present himself. In this they succeeded. + +To a novice he said one day, "Brother, let us go out and preach." Taking +him along, he went up into Assisi and they walked through the streets +without saying a word; then returned to the convent. "And our preaching, +father?" asked the novice. "It is done," replied the Saint; implying +that a modest, thoughtful exterior and the force of example are often +the most eloquent kind of preaching. But in 1209 it became clear to him +by an inward vision in which the Christ came to him as a shepherd, that +great numbers would flock to follow him; and, though he had not thought +of founding an Order, he now saw that it would be necessary. He +therefore drew up a simple Rule in twenty-three chapters; the gist of +which was that they were to possess no money, no property whatever; that +they were neither to blame nor to judge any one; were to hold themselves +profoundly respectful toward all members of the clergy; to say not a +word against the rich or against luxury; to preach, everywhere, concord +and the love of God and one's neighbor; to bind themselves to obedience +and chastity, as well as poverty; to do penance and persist in the +perfect faith of Christ. Not until sixteen years later did the Lateran +Council ordain that all religious orders must receive the approval of +the Holy Father. But Francis did not wait for decrees. His humility, +obedience, and loyalty to the Vicar of Christ led him to repair to Rome +with his companions and there ask the permission of Pope Innocent III., +which he quickly obtained. The Rule was rewritten in 1619. Some of the +brethren suggested that he take the advice of a cardinal in formulating +his rules; but the Saint declared that God had willed that he should +"appear as a new sort of madman in the world," arresting the attention +of the people and bringing them to reflect, without qualification, upon +"the folly of the cross," and that he alone must direct the manner in +which this was to be done. + +[Illustration: The Vision of St Francis.] + +His order multiplied rapidly, and convents were established in all parts +of Europe; although he was inclined to object to costly buildings, and +was prevailed upon to let them stand on the plea that they were needed +to shelter travellers and pilgrims. He established also the order of +Poor Clares, so called from a noble maiden, Clare, who became its first +superior. This was, for women, what his order of the Friars Minor was +for men; though the Clares remained strictly enclosed, while the Friars +went abroad preaching, and established missions in various quarters of +the globe. Finally, he formed his Third Order, which included laymen and +laywomen living in the world, who bound themselves by simple vows of +virtue and charity, while continuing in their accustomed phase of life. +Thousands joined the Friars; and probably millions were enrolled in the +Third Order. It has been said that Francis first made known to the +Middle Ages the power of association among the weak and humble, and that +from the pages on which he inscribed his institutes sprang modern +democracy in Italy. Certain it is that the Emperor Frederick II. +received a letter from some of his Italian feudal supporters, saying: +"The Friars Minor ... have raised themselves against us. They have +publicly condemned both our mode of life and our principles, they have +shattered our rights, and have brought us to nothingness." Yet the +Franciscan Friars and the Third Order had done this only by the contrast +of example, of poverty, fasting, prayer, self-denial, and charity of the +heart as well as of the hands. + +The work of Saint Francis did much to undermine feudalism; and it almost +regenerated the spirit of Christianity in the thirteenth century. "Man +of the people," writes R. F. O'Connor, "he did more for the people than +ever yet had been done by any one; whose vocation was to revive in the +midst of a corrupting opulence the esteem and practice of poverty, which +he ennobled, ... and, without setting class against class, _or violating +the least point of the divine or human law_, levelled every social +barrier and united princes and peasants in a bond of union which neither +time nor eternity was to sever." + +This phase of his influence should interest us of to-day, when the same +problems of wealth and poverty and of superficiality in religion +confront our arrogant modern "civilization." That St. Francis was not a +madman is evident from the orderliness of his work, his clear +legislative and administrative capacity, his calm, powerful, amiable +sway over all sorts of people. Yet he was possessed by an absolute +passion and ecstasy of charity and universal love, which raised him +above the apprehension of the gross, material mind. It was this +supremacy of the spiritual in him which enabled him to accomplish +marvels of practical result. Toward the end of his life, this exaltation +of the spirit produced upon his body a singular phenomenon. His hands +and feet appeared to be transpierced by large nails, and a wound opened +in his side, from which blood frequently flowed. In a word, he bore the +wounds, or "stigmata" of Christ, on his own body. The nails were +distinct from the wound, but were apparently blackened flesh; being +inseparable from the hands and feet. This phenomenon was well attested +at the time. Within the present century several similar cases have +occurred, under the observation of modern and approved sceptical men of +science, who find that they occur when there has been much fasting, loss +of sleep, and constant meditation upon the Passion of Christ. Their +testimony states the conditions and verifies the fact, but does not +explain it. + +He died at his convent of St. Mary of the Angels (Portiuncula), October +4, 1226, in perfect lucidity of mind, with patience and simple +resignation, while giving good counsel to his brethren. Of death he +spoke gently as "our sister death;" and when, during his illness, his +physician was obliged to cauterize him with a red-hot iron, he blessed +the iron, speaking of it as "our brother fire," and submitted to the +cauterization, or moxa, without a murmur or sign of pain. One remarkable +thing about him was his extraordinary recognition of all the powers and +elements of nature as related to man in one family under God. This was +the origin of his famous short "sermon to the birds," which has been +preserved. He talked to them and to all other animals as though he +firmly believed that they could understand him, and could adore their +Creator as well as he; though it is not probable that he supposed they +would understand him precisely as men would, or adore in the same way. +It is clear that St. Francis had a great influence over animals, even +over wolves. + +Nowadays we have many lion-tamers and tiger-tamers, who rely simply upon +human will and craft. Therefore it is not astonishing that St. Francis, +who relied upon Divine power, should have been able to tame beasts. What +is surprising is, that he should have been able to control men, who are +so much harder to tame. + +The poems of St. Francis--his "Canticle of the Sun," "Canticle of Love," +and "Canticle of Charity"--exemplify the immense and tender scope of his +exquisite love and good-will. His Order continues, and has given rise to +subsidiary organizations such as the Recollects and the Capuchins. +Thousands of people in common life belong to his Third Order, now, and +continue his work unostentatiously. His spirit is alive and operative in +the world to-day, nearly six hundred and seventy years since he left +this earth. + +[Signature: George Parsons Lathrop.] + + + + +ST. LOUIS + +By HENRY G. HEWLETT + +(1215-1270) + +[Illustration: St. Louis.] + + +The most striking features of the political history of France during the +tenth and eleventh centuries are the conflict of the feudal aristocracy +on the one hand, with monarchical and democratical power on the other, +and the influence exerted by the Crusades on both. + +[Illustration: The Education of Louis IX.] + +The Crusades aided much in the accomplishment of the final result, the +destruction of the power of the nobility. In the first place, they +glorified the character of feudalism by enforcing the principles of +chivalry. To be a "true knight," a man must be devout, just, merciful, +and pure. Many Crusaders, indeed, fell far short of this high ideal; but +there can be no doubt that, on the whole, it elevated the standard of +morality, and checked the rampant tyranny which had previously +prevailed. Founded on a principle of sincere though mistaken piety, the +Crusaders recognized all who took the cross as brethren; hence the +meanest serf became, in some measure, free; and the same benign +sentiment extended its effect to all classes. The attraction of a common +cause in foreign lands further contributed to wean the Crusaders from +the class quarrels and domestic feuds which occupied them at home. +During their absence the crown was enabled to acquire a strength which +had previously been spent in the repression of constant rebellions. And +the need of money for the expedition obliged many feudal lords to +contract with the communes for the sale of lands or liberties. + +Such was the condition of France at the commencement of the thirteenth +century. The balance of power, however, was only sustained by the +activity of all the parties concerned. The slightest wavering on the +part of the crown would be fatal, the least opportunity seized. A wise, +sincere, and humane ruler was needed to confirm and enlarge the vantage +ground which law and order had already obtained; and such a ruler rose +in the person of Louis IX., who ascended the throne in 1226. + +His father, Louis VIII., was a man of weak character, whose reign was +chiefly signalized by the horrible persecution of the Protestant +Albigenses of Provence, which, under the sanction of Innocent III., and +later Popes, had been carried on by Simon de Montfort and other +fanatics, since 1209. Louis himself had died of fever when about to +commence the siege of Toulouse. + +The Queen Dowager, Blanche, of Castile, was a woman of great energy, and +during the minority of her son she bravely contested her claims to the +regency of the kingdom against those of Philip, her husband's brother, +whom Henry III., of England, supported. She appealed, not in vain, to +the gratitude of the metropolis, which the Capetian kings had +befriended; and at her call a large force of citizens joined her. With +their aid she defeated Philip and other nobles, who opposed her son's +coronation, and by two treaties, in 1229 and 1231, she both extended the +limits of her kingdom and put an end to civil war. Over Louis, who was +but eleven years old when his father died, she exercised a somewhat +rigorous, but a holy and prudent discipline, to which he was much +indebted for strengthening his moral and mental constitution. He was +educated at the Abbey of Royaumont by Vincent de Beauvais, and though +not remarkable for talents, possessed considerable decision of +character, and a large share of personal courage. It is, however, by the +piety, purity, and benevolence of his soul that he stands forth so +prominently in the history of Europe. The year of his coronation all the +jails of the kingdom were thrown open by the royal command. A nature +more truly loving and lovable has rarely been bestowed on any member of +the human family. Yet, with all these paramount excellences, his life +presents a tragedy--the fatal consequences of unreasoning faith. All his +errors--we cannot justly call them faults--proceeded from this prolific +source. Before recording these, it will be gratifying to point out the +happier results of those noble and wise qualities which have consecrated +his name. + +After the treaty of 1231, France remained at peace for some years, +during which time Louis married Margaret of Provence, a princess only +inferior in worth to himself. Soon after attaining his majority he was +called upon to contend with the Count of Brittany and other nobles who +resisted his authority. At the head of his vassals Louis marched against +the rebels, and was so prompt and energetic in his measures that the +count was forced to yield and sue for pardon in the attitude of a +criminal, with a rope round his neck. Henry III. crossed the channel +with an army to support the rebellion, and recover, if possible, the +possessions which King John had surrendered to King Philip. The armies +met at Saintes, in 1242, where the French were victorious, the rebels +subsequently submitting, and Henry returning home. + +In 1244 Louis had a severe illness, which was attended with danger to +his life. During the progress of it, he vowed to undertake a new crusade +should he recover. The fulfilment of this vow was opposed by Blanche of +Castile (who still had great influence over her son) and many of his +best counsellors; but Louis was inflexible where religion and honor +demanded a sacrifice. + +In 1248 he collected a large army, and prepared to start by way of +Sicily, the nearest route to Palestine, when he remembered that the +island belonged to Frederick II., of Germany, who was under +excommunication by the Pope. All attempts to shake the decision of +Innocent IV. failed; and yielding to the pious weakness of fearing to +rest in an excommunicant's territory, Louis changed his plans, and +determined to pass by way of Cyprus and Egypt--a route which proved the +ruin of the expedition. He committed the regency of France to his +mother, assumed the staff of pilgrimage, and accompanied by his wife and +brothers, left Paris on June 12, 1248. He stayed for several months in +Cyprus, until his armament amounted to 50,000 men, and then sailed for +Egypt. + +Arrived at the port of Damietta, he caused the oriflamme (the national +standard of France) to be waved above his head; and, arrayed in complete +armor, he unsheathed his sword, and leaped into the sea, followed by the +knights. The inhabitants fled, and the French took possession of the +city. The inundation of the Nile prevented their further movements for +several months. Licentiousness and disease were fostered by this delay, +in spite of the king's remonstrances; and their unopposed success made +the Crusaders careless as to the tactics of the enemy. + +On the subsidence of the Nile, Louis fortified Damietta, and left his +queen and her ladies there, while he, with the main army, advanced on +Cairo, the metropolis of Egypt, where the sultan resided. Near +Mansourah, the Crusaders became perplexed by the intricacy of the +canals, and a hasty dash across one of these, made by the king's +brother, the Count of Artois, with 2,000 men, led to a calamitous +result. Mansourah was apparently deserted, and the count's troops, who +preceded their comrades at some distance, commenced pillaging the +houses. The inhabitants, who were only concealed, showered down stones +from the roofs; and at the same moment, a large body of the sultan's +army made an attack in front. Louis reached Mansourah in time to save a +few of his men, but found his brother and several others slain. The +Moslem camp was captured, but proved a doubtful prize. The plains were +barren and scorching, and the harassing assaults of the Egyptians, who +poured "Greek fire" (missiles filled with combustible materials) on +their foes, rendered the situation more intolerable still. Pestilence +broke out, and the king himself fell dangerously ill. He then ordered a +retreat to Damietta, whither the sick were to be conveyed in galleys. +These were intercepted, and the sick murdered by the Egyptians; while, +at the same time an attack was made on the Christian camp. + +[Illustration: St. Louis.] + +Louis was so weak that he could scarcely ride, but nevertheless would +not desert his post. He rode between the ranks, encouraging his men, +till he fainted and was obliged to withdraw from the field. His quaint +and affectionate biographer, the Lord of Joinville, who was with him in +this expedition, thus describes the scenes which ensued: "Of all his +men-at-arms there was only one with him, the good knight, Sir Geoffrey +de Sargines; and who, I heard say, did defend him like as a faithful +servant doth guard his master's cup from flies--for every time that the +Saracens did approach the king he defended him with vigorous strokes of +the blade and point of his sword, and his strength seemed doubled. At +last he brought the king to a house where there was a woman from Paris; +and laying him on the ground, placed his head on the woman's lap, +expecting every moment that he would breathe his last." In this +half-dying condition a body of Egyptians found him, and bore him to the +tent of the sultan. The defeat of the Christians, who were weakened by +the climate, disease, and want of food, was general; many fell by the +sword, and the rest were taken prisoners with their king. + +In captivity Louis showed a noble resignation and courage amid the +apostasy of many. He won the respect of the sultan, who treated him with +generosity, and listened to the terms of ransom which he proposed. The +queen remained at Damietta, which was strongly garrisoned. Fearful, +nevertheless, of falling into the hands of the Moslems, who would have +carried her into the sultan's harem, she prayed an old knight in her +suite to slay her with his sword, should there be any danger of that +event. "I had determined on so doing, madam," was the answer. Margaret's +heroism was not put to this severe test, for the surrender of Damietta +was one of the conditions of her husband's release; and after paying in +addition a sum of 400,000 livres, Louis was on the point of being set +free. An insurrection, however, suddenly arose among the Mamelukes, or +Tartarian troops, in whose hands the real power of the state was placed, +and the sultan was murdered. A party of the assassins, it is said, +entered the chamber of Louis with their scimitars drawn, but his calm +dignity saved him, and the treaty was carried out by the new sultan. + +Many of the French nobles returned home, but the king, faithful to his +vow, proceeded to Syria, and spent four years in strengthening the +fortresses of Tyre and other Christian towns, redeeming many Crusaders +from slavery, and reducing to order the disturbed condition of the +country. + +The death of the Queen Dowager Blanche, who had governed France wisely +during her regency, recalled him in 1254, after an absence of six years. +He still wore the cross upon his shoulder, as a token that his oath as a +Crusader was not yet fulfilled; but he never once neglected the more +pressing and necessary duties which devolved on him as a monarch. His +immediate work was to supersede the arbitrary legislation which the +nobles exercised in their manorial courts over their tenants. He +accordingly introduced into general use the famous code of Roman laws +known as the Pandects of Justinian, and constituted the chief civil +lawyers, who had studied its contents and were best acquainted with its +principles, into a Parliament, or Court of Justice. The nobles and the +clergy were duly represented in this assembly; but its clerks, or +lawyers, were especially favored by the king, who seconded their own +efforts to absorb the business of the court as much as possible. Louis +further mediated between the tyranny of the nobles and the weakness of +their tenants, by encouraging the practice of appealing to the crown in +case of injustice. This he even extended to ecclesiastical matters; a +bold step for one so devoted to the Church. The prohibition of the +barbarous custom of duelling to decide personal quarrels was another of +his humane laws. These, and divers other ordinances, founded in a like +spirit of equity, are known in a collected shape as the _Institutes of +St. Louis_. His enactment touching appeals from the Church to the Crown, +and the prohibition which he likewise issued against the levying of +money in France for the use of the Pope without the king's license, are +known as a _Pragmatic Sanction_--a term applied to any especially +important national decree. Louis set the example of enforcing the laws +personally, and none was fitter to administer them than he. Under an oak +in the forest of Vincennes, near Paris, often sat the good king to hear +appeals and petitions from his poor subjects. His social and foreign +relations were as fully attended to as his political reforms. He first +placed the French navy on a substantial footing. To him Paris owed a +public library, a hospital for the blind, and the establishment of a +body of police. Under his sanction, also, his confessor, Robert de +Sorbon, founded the famous theological college called by his name. So +scrupulously just and honorable was Louis, that he appointed a +commission to ascertain what restitution of territory should be made to +nations which had been mulcted by the conquests of his predecessors, and +he thus more than once sacrificed extensive possessions for the sake of +a principle. By a treaty in 1255, made with Henry III., Louis restored +to the English crown the provinces of which Philip Augustus had deprived +it, and obtained in return the surrender of Henry's rights in Normandy +and other fiefs. The reputation which Louis thus acquired among his +fellow-monarchs led to his being asked to act as mediator in several +quarrels, and gave him many opportunities of exhibiting his peaceful and +loving policy. + +[Illustration: Louis IX. opens the Jails of France.] + +The mental blindness of which we have spoken led him to commit errors, +which, if his misled conscience had not sanctioned them, would deserve +the name of crimes. Toward Jews and heretics he showed no mercy, +issuing severe and unjust laws against them "for the good of his soul." +The duty of the historian is to record these failings of a noble nature +as impartially as its beauties; but the evil must, in all fairness, be +credited to the Church and system which taught, and not to the believer +who practised. + +In 1270 the affairs of the East again attracted the attention of Europe, +and recalled Louis to the fulfilment of his vow, which he had only +postponed. The Greeks had retaken the city of Constantinople from the +French and Venetian Crusaders some years previously, yet the +reconstitution of the Christian Empire of the East had not availed to +check the aggressions of the Moslem in Palestine. Benocdar, the Sultan +of Egypt, had already taken Cæsarea and Jaffa; and news now came that +Antioch had fallen, 100,000 Christians having been massacred in the +siege. The seventh and last Crusade was at once set on foot by outraged +Europe, and Louis led the expedition, in which France was, as usual, +foremost. He raised an army of 6,000 horse and 30,000 foot, and was +accompanied by his three sons, the King of Navarre, and several nobles +of high rank. His brother, Charles of Anjou (the new King of Naples), +and Edward I., of England, (then prince), were to join the French in the +course of the year. Some romantic intelligence that the Moslem King of +Tunis was desirous of being baptized, induced the pious Louis again to +try the African, instead of the Asiatic, route to Palestine. He narrowly +escaped with his life, in a tempest which overtook the fleet in the +Mediterranean, but landed in Sardinia, and after recruiting here again +set sail, and anchored off Carthage. He met with opposition, instead of +welcome, from the inhabitants of the coast, and was obliged to besiege +Tunis. The excessive heat of the climate and the unhealthiness of the +soil proved a second time fatal to the army. Plague at last broke out, +and Louis was himself seized. Finding himself dying, he sent for Philip, +his eldest son and successor. Placing in his hand a written paper, the +good king prayed his son to follow the directions which it +contained--directions for the conduct of his life, as king and +individual; enforcing those principles of love to God and man which had +guided his own career. Then, requesting to be lifted from his bed, Louis +instructed his attendants to strew the floor of his tent with ashes and +place him thereon, that he might die as he had lived, in an attitude of +humiliation and penitence toward his creator. This was done, and shortly +afterward, as though in vision fulfilling the vow which he was not +permitted to realize, he uttered, "I will enter thy house--I will +worship in thy sanctuary!" and expired. His age was but fifty-four. + +A few hours elapsed, and the sound of a trumpet echoed through the +plague-stricken and half-deserted camp. It was the note of Charles of +Naples, whose fleet had just arrived off the coast. Meeting with no +response, he rode rapidly toward the tent of the king, and on entering +saw his body lying still warm upon the ashes. The rites of burial were +not performed with the usual formalities, his remains being distributed +among his relatives. The flesh was kept by Charles, who buried it, on +his return to Sicily, in the great Abbey of Monreale, at Palermo. The +bones and other parts were conveyed back to France. Those who have +visited Paris will not forget the exquisite Gothic structure known as +the "Sainte Chapelle," which is attached to the Palais de Justice, +containing the courts of law. It was erected by Louis as a receptacle +for certain supposed relics of Christ. The windows of the chapel are +entirely composed of stained glass, and as the sunbeams strike upon +them, their tints of crimson, blue, and orange blend into a rainbow-like +harmony of glowing and lustrous color, which recalls the heart of Louis +IX., enshrined within those walls, as its fitting human antitype. He was +canonized about thirty years afterward, under the title of St. Louis. + + + + +MARCO POLO[7] + + [Footnote 7: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By NOAH BROOKS + +(1256-1324) + +[Illustration: Marco Polo.] + + +In the month of November, in the year 1295, there appeared in the +beautiful city of Venice three strangers, who were clothed in an +outlandish and shabby garb of a Tartar cut. They claimed to be of +Venice, but, according to one of their biographers, one Ramusio, +"through the many worries and anxieties they had undergone, they were +quite changed in aspect, and had got a certain indescribable smack of +the Tartar both in air and accent, having, indeed, all but forgotten +their Venetian tongue." They went to the house of the Polo family, +demanding entrance and claiming to be Nicolo Polo, Maffeo, his brother, +and Marco, son of the elder of the two brothers, Nicolo. They were +laughed to scorn as pretenders and impostors; for the three missing +members of the Polo family had been gone away from Venice some +twenty-odd years; it was in 1271 that the Polos were last heard from, +then at Acre, journeying into the Far East. + +But the three somehow gained access to their own house, then in the +possession of one of their relations. And the news of their home-coming +was presently noised abroad throughout the city of Venice; so much so +that the people for days talked of little else save the reappearance in +the land of the living of the long-lost travellers. Many, however, +doubted if these really were the brothers Polo and young Marco; this +last was a mere lad of seventeen when he went away, and now was grown to +be a portly man of forty-odd years. So incredulous were the townsfolk +that the brothers hit upon a scheme to convince the doubting ones. They +made a grand feast to which all the gentry were invited, for the Polo +family were of noble birth and had held station in the state. The +entertainment was served in great splendor with gold and silver dishes, +and the three travellers, when they sat down, were dressed in robes of +the richest crimson satin flowing down to the ground. After some of the +courses had been eaten, they retired to their chamber and came forth +again dressed in other robes of crimson silk damask, very rich, and the +satin garments were cut up and divided among the servants. Again, later +on in the repast, they retired, and when they came again to the table +they wore other robes, of the richest crimson velvet, and the second +garments were cut up and divided as the others had been. When the dinner +was over they took off the velvet robes, and these were disposed of in +like manner. "These proceedings," says the honest Ramusio, "caused much +wonder and amazement among the guests," which we can well imagine. + +Next, dismissing all the servants, the younger one of the three, Marco +Polo, went to an inner chamber and brought forth to the table the coarse +and shabby dresses in which the three had arrived in Venice. Then, +taking sharp knives, the travellers ripped open the seams and welts of +the garments, and shook from them a vast profusion of diamonds, rubies, +sapphires, carbuncles, emeralds, and other precious stones. The guests +were dumfounded and amazed. "And now," says Ramusio, "they recognized +that in spite of all former doubts, these were in truth those honored +and worthy gentlemen of the Casa Polo that they claimed to be; and so +all paid them the greatest honor and reverence." Furthermore, we are +told that when the story got wind in Venice, straightway the whole city, +gentle and simple, flocked to the house to embrace the three travellers, +and to make much of them with every conceivable demonstration of +affection and respect. + +This was the wonderful home-coming of the three Polos, who for +twenty-four years had been wandering in the East, and who, when they set +out on their homeward journey, a journey beset with untold difficulties +and dangers, took the precaution to conceal in their garments, as above +told, the wealth which they had accumulated while they were at the court +of the Great Khan of Tartary. It reads like a romance, a story out of +"The Arabian Nights' Entertainments." But it is all true, and the +archives of Venice corroborate pretty nearly all the details herein set +forth. Indeed, as a prophet is not without honor save in his own country +and among his own kindred, it must be said that the later generation of +Venetians found less difficulty in believing the tales of the three +travellers than did those who first heard them. In telling these tales, +they had frequent occasion to use the word "millions," a word not then +common among the Venetians, as to say that the Great Khan had revenues +amounting to ten or fifteen _millions_ of gold, and so on. And the +people gave Marco, who seems to have been the story-teller of the party, +the nickname of Messer Marco Millioni. Curiously enough, this name +appears in the public records of old Venice. + +Of the final exit of the elders of the Polo family, Nicolo and Maffeo, +we have no trustworthy account. As they were well stricken in years when +they returned from their long sojourn in Cathay, we may suppose that +they did not live long after their return to Venice. But the younger +Marco had a busy and stirring life. At that time the republics of Venice +and Genoa were rivals for the ruling of the seas and the monopoly of +maritime trade everywhere. A Venetian galley could not meet one from +Genoa without a fight, and the fleets of the two states were continually +at war. + +Marco, being one of the representatives of the noble Venetian families +who were required to come to the support of the state with at least one +galley, entered the naval service of Venice in command of a war galley, +and was engaged in the great battle between Venice and Genoa near +Curzola, off the Dalmatian coast, in 1298, three years after his return +from Cathay. The Venetians were beaten ignominiously, and 7,000 of them +were taken prisoners and carried to Genoa. It was a lucky thing for the +world that Marco Polo was thus put into enforced idleness, and that he +had for a companion in confinement an educated gentleman, one +Rusticiano, of Pisa. Otherwise, most likely we never would have heard of +the travels of Marco Polo, whom some of the later chroniclers have +likened to Columbus, the discoverer of America. + +To beguile the tedium of their imprisonment, Marco was wont to tell his +traveller's tales to his companion, Rusticiano, and this worthy +gentleman conceived the notion of writing out the marvellous adventures +and observations of his fellow-prisoner. We must bear in mind that the +Italian gentry of that time did not hold in high esteem the art of +writing, and although Marco was not inferior to any man in daring or +adventurousness, he was willing to leave to the scriveners the task of +writing about such matters. But, in the end, the advice of Rusticiano +prevailed, and the Pisan gentleman set down from the dictation of Marco +"The Book of Ser Marco Polo Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the +East." This was, up to that time, the most important book of travels and +voyages ever written. Indeed, it was the most important book of any kind +written during the Middle Ages. + +The book contributed more new facts toward a knowledge of the earth's +surface, says one skilled authority, than any book that had been written +before. The writer was the first to describe China, or Cathay, in its +vastness of territory, its wonderfully rich and populous cities, and the +first to tell of Tartary, Thibet, Burmah, Siam, Cochin-China, the Indian +Archipelago, the Andaman Islands, of Java and Sumatra, of the fabled +island of Cipangu, or Japan, of Hindustan, and that marvellous region +which the world learned to know as Farther India. From far-voyaging +sailors he brought home accounts of Zanzibar and Madagascar, and the +semi-Christian country of Abyssinia, where some accounts located that +mysterious potentate called Prester John. He had traversed Persia and +had picked up a vast amount of information concerning the country of +Siberia, with its polar snows and bears, its dog-sledges, and its almost +everlasting winter. He traversed the entire length of Asia. + +Surely, Europe might well be dazed when this account of regions, until +then unknown, was unrolled before the scholars and explorers who could +read the few precious books then in circulation. For it should be +remembered that the art of printing was then unknown, and only in +manuscript did any book make its appearance. Rusticiano wrote in a very +poor sort of French; for then, as now, that language was commonest in +all the cities of Europe. How much of the language of the book of Marco +Polo's travels was Marco's, and how much was the worthy Rusticiano's, we +are unable to decide. The facts in that famous book were duly vouched +for by Marco. The opening chapter, or prologue, inflated and wordy, +after the fashion of the times, was undoubtedly Rusticiano's. He began +thus: "Great Princes, Emperors, and Kings, Dukes and Marquises, Counts, +Knights, and Burgesses! and People of all degree who desire to get +knowledge of the various races of mankind and of the diversities of the +sundry regions of the World, take this Book and cause it to be read to +you. For ye shall find therein all kinds of wonderful things, and the +divers histories of the Great Hermenia, and of Persia, and of the Land +of the Tartars, and of India, and of many another country of which our +Book doth speak, particularly and in regular succession, according to +the description of Messer Marco Polo, a wise and noble citizen of +Venice, as he saw them with his own eyes." + +This portentous prologue ends with these great swelling words: "And I +may tell you that in acquiring this knowledge he spent in those various +parts of the World good six-and-twenty years. Now, being thereafter an +inmate of the Prison at Genoa, he caused Messer Rusticiano, of Pisa, who +was in the same Prison likewise, to reduce the whole to writing; and +this befell in the year 1298 from the birth of Jesus." + +One year later, in the summer of 1299, Marco Polo was set at liberty and +returned to Venice, where he died peacefully in 1324. His last will and +testament, dated January 9, 1323, is preserved among the archives of +Venice, and a marble statue in his honor was set up by the Venetians, in +the seventeenth century, and may be seen unto this day in the Palazzo +Morosini-Gattemburg, in the Campo S. Stefano of that city. + +How came Marco Polo to be drawn so far into the vague and shadowy East? +Somewhere about the middle of the thirteenth century, certain members of +the Polo family had established a trading-house in Constantinople, then +pretty near the end of the world from Europe. These adventurous +Venetians, in 1260, sent the two brothers, Nicolo and Maffeo, still +further to the eastward on a trading journey to the Crimea. Led on by +one adventure and another, and lured by the hope of new and greater +gains, they ascended the Volga northward and eastward, crossed Bokhara, +and finally broke into one of the northwestern provinces of China, or +Cathay, then faintly known in Europe by various names, the most classic +of which was Seres. + +Here they made their way to the capital city of the Great Mongol Empire, +the seat of government where ruled the Great Khan, a very mighty +potentate, Kublai Khan, grandson of the famous conqueror, Ghenghis Khan. +Kublai Khan resided at the wonderful city of Cambuluc, which we now know +as Pekin. North of the Great Wall, and some one hundred and eighty miles +from Cambuluc, was the Great Khan's summer palace, one of the wonders of +the world, reading of which in Purchas' account of Marco Polo's +travels, it is said that Coleridge fell asleep and dreamed the famous +poem beginning: + + "In Xanadu did Kublai Khan + A stately pleasure dome decree, + Where Alph, the sacred river, ran, + Through caverns measureless to man, + Down to a sunless sea." + +These Polo brothers were the first Europeans that the Great Khan had +ever seen; but before this time, Friar Plano Carpini, in 1246, and Friar +William Rubruquis, in 1253, had penetrated into Mongolia on some errand +not now distinctly understood, but far enough to learn that a great and +civilized country existed somewhere in the eastern extremity of Asia. +They also learned that beyond this extremity of the continent there was +a sea; people had until then believed that the eastern end of Asia +disappeared in a vast and reedy bog, beyond which was deep and +impenetrable darkness. More exact knowledge of that far eastern sea was +subsequently acquired by the Venetian travellers. From these wandering +friars the Great Khan had heard, at second-hand, doubtless, of European +princes, potentates, and powers, and of the Pope of Rome. + +He was mightily taken with the noble Venetians, and we are told that he +treated them with every courtesy and consideration. He was anxious to +secure through them the aid of the Sovereign Pontiff, of whose functions +he entertained high respect, in the civilizing of the hordes that had +lately been added to the Mongol Empire by wars of conquest. And he +entreated the good offices of the polished and cultivated Venetians in +securing for him the good offices of the Pope for that end. Accordingly, +the two brothers, after satisfying to some degree their curiosity, set +out for home, full of tales of their strange adventure, we doubt not; +and they reached Venice in 1269, only to find that the Pope Clement IV. +was dead, and that no successor had been chosen in his place. + +There was a long interregnum, and the brothers, taking with them the son +of Nicolo, the young Marco, then a stout lad, began to retrace their +steps to Cathay, despairing of being able to enlist the one hundred +priests which the Great Khan had asked them to borrow for missionary +purposes from the Pope. + +At Acre, then held by European powers that had been engaged in the +crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, they took counsel with +one Tebaldo Visconti, an eminent prelate, who was Archdeacon of Liége +and a person of great consequence in the Eastern church. At their +request, he wrote letters to the Great Khan, authenticating the causes +of their failure to fulfil the wishes of the Khan in the matter of +obtaining the missionaries whom he desired. Then they pushed on toward +the farther East, and while waiting for a vessel to sail from the port +of Ayas, on the Gulf of Scanderoon, then the starting-point for the +Asiatic trade, they were overtaken by the news that their friend the +Archdeacon Tebaldo had been chosen Pope, under the title of Gregory X. +They at once returned to Acre, and were able to present to the newly +elected pontiff the request of the Great Khan and get a reply. But +instead of one hundred teachers and preachers, they were furnished with +only two Dominican friars; and these lost heart and drew back before the +journey was fairly begun. It may be said here that the Great Khan, being +disappointed by the Roman Church, subsequently applied to the Grand +Llama of Thibet, and from that source secured the teachers whom he so +greatly desired. The Great Khan appears to have been an enlightened and +liberal sovereign, and, according to his lights, was willing to furnish +to his people the best form of religion that was to be had. He preferred +the religion of the elegant and polished Italians, but, failing to get +this, he naturally turned his eyes in the direction of Thibet, then an +unknown land to all Europeans, but regarded in Mongolia as a region of +some considerable civilization. + +The three members of the Polo family finally set out on their return to +Cathay, leaving Acre in November, 1271. They proceeded by the way of +Ayas and Sivas to Mardin, Mosul, and Bagdad to Hormuz, at the mouth of +the Persian Gulf. Here they met with some obstacle and turned from +Hormuz, and traversed successively Kerman and Khorassan, Balkh, and +Badakhshan, by the way of the upper Oxus, to the plateau of Pamir; +thence crossing the steppes of Pamir, the three travellers descended +upon Kashgar, whence they proceeded by Yarkand and Khotan to the +vicinity of Lake Lob; and, crossing the desert of Gobi, they reached the +province of Tangut in the extreme northwestern corner of China, or +Cathay. Skirting the northern frontier, they finally reached the actual +presence of the Great Khan, who was then at his summer palace of +Kaipingfu, before spoken of, situated at the base of the Khingan +Mountains, fifty miles north of the Great Wall. One may form some idea +of the difficulties of Asiatic travel in those days, as well as the +leisurely habits of the time, by considering that this journey occupied +the three Venetians three years and a half. They arrived at the palace +of the Khan about May, 1275. + +The Polos were very cordially and gladly received by the potentate, then +ruling over a territory so vast that it has been well said that, "In +Asia and Eastern Europe scarcely a dog might bark without Mongol leave, +from the borders of Poland and the coast of Cilicia to the Amoor and the +Yellow Sea." Kublai Khan regarded the young Marco with especial favor, +and soon began to employ him in errands and commissions of importance. +"The Young Bachelor," as he is called in his book, took pains to acquire +at once an acquaintance with the Chinese alphabet, and to learn the +languages and dialects of the countries in which he found profitable and +interesting employment. + +It appears that the Khan had been greatly annoyed by the stupidity of +his own officials and agents. They attended only to the errands on which +they were sent, and brought back absolutely no knowledge of the distant +countries that they visited, except that which they were specially +directed to fetch. Very different was the conduct of the young Venetian. +He was shrewdly observant, of a lively disposition, and given to +inquiring into the strange and wonderful things which he beheld in those +remote parts of the world, hitherto secluded from the observation of +Europeans. He made copious and minute notes of all that he saw and +heard, for the benefit of his imperial master. These notes afterward +served him a good purpose, as we shall see; for they were the basis of +the book that has made the name of Marco Polo famous throughout the +world. When he returned to the imperial court, we can imagine the +satisfaction with which the picturesque and intelligent narrations of +what he had seen and heard were received by the Great Khan. + +In the records of the Mongol dynasty has been found a minute setting +forth the fact that a certain Polo, undoubtedly young Marco, was +nominated a second-class commissioner attached to the privy council of +the Empire, in the year 1277. His first mission appears to have taken +him on public business to the provinces of Shansi, Shensi, Sechuen and +Yunnan, in the southern and southwestern part of China, and east of +Thibet. Even now, those regions are comparatively unknown to the rest of +the world; and one must needs admire the intrepidity of the young +Venetian who penetrated their wild mountain fastnesses, traced their +mighty rivers, and carried away for the delight of the Great Khan, much +novel information concerning the peoples that so numerously flourished +in that cradle of the human race. + +In his book Marco Polo does not greatly magnify himself and his office, +and it is only incidentally, as it were, that we know that he was for +three years governor of the great city of Yangchau. Following the +details laid down in his book, the accuracy of which we have no reason +to doubt, we find him visiting the old capital of the Khans, in +Mongolia, employed in Southern Cochin-China, and on a mission to the +Indian Seas, when he visited some of the states of India, of which +Europeans at that time had only dimly heard the most fabulous and vague +accounts. That the Polos were all favorites of the Great Khan is +sufficiently evident; but it does not appear that any but Marco was in +the employment of the Khan. All three of them doubtless made hay while +the sun shone, and gathered wealth as they could, trading with the +people and making use of their Venetian shrewdness in dealing with the +natives, who were no match for the cunning traders from the Rialto. + +Naturally, they longed to carry their wealth and their aged heads--for +the two elders were now well stricken in years--safely back to their +beloved Venice on the Adriatic, so far away. But Kublai Khan would not +listen to any of their suggestions, and turned a deaf ear to their +hints. A happy chance intervened to bring them out of the wild, +mysterious realm of the Great Khan. Arghun, Khan of Persia, a +great-nephew of Kublai, had lost by death his favorite wife, who was of +one of the Mongol tribes, and who, dying in 1286, laid a parting +injunction on the Khan that he should wed none but a Mongol princess. +Sorely mourning her, the Persian Khan sent an embassy to the court of +Kublai Khan to solicit a suitable bride for him. The Lady Kuchachin, a +damsel of seventeen, beautiful and virtuous, was selected by the Court +and was made ready to be sent to Tabriz, then the capital of the Persian +Empire. The overland journey was highly dangerous, as it lay through +regions tenanted by hostile and warlike tribes, besides being +portentously long to be undertaken by a delicate young princess. The +Persian envoys, accordingly, entreated the Great Khan to send with them +by sea the three foreigners, of whose seamanship they undoubtedly held +high opinion, especially as the young Marco had just returned from his +distant and venturous voyage to the Indian Seas. With much reluctance +the Khan consented, and the argosy set forth. + +Having given leave for the three Venetians to sail, the Great Khan +fitted them out nobly and endowed them with handsome presents at +parting. They sailed, so far as we can now make out, from the port of +Zayton, better known as Chinchau, in Fokien, at the beginning of the +year 1292, two hundred years before Columbus set forth upon his voyage +across the Ocean Sea. + +It was an ill-starred and unfortunate voyage for the three Polos and +their precious charge, although all escaped with their lives and +treasure. They were detained five months on the coast of Sumatra, and +there were even longer detentions off the southern coast of India, so +that more than two years had passed since their departure from Fokien, +when they arrived at the camp of the then reigning prince of Persia. The +Khan of Persia, they found, had died before they set sail from China, +and his son, Ghazan Khan, reigned in his stead. + +After the custom of the times and the people, however, the princess was +married without ado to the successor of the royal person to whom she had +been betrothed before leaving far-off Cathay. It is related that she +took her leave of the three noble Venetians, to whom she had become like +a daughter and sister, with many tears and protestations of affection; +for they had been very choice in their care of her, and she lamented +their departure with sincere sorrow and many tears. + +Leaving the princess at the camp of the Khan (for he was now at war), +the Venetians pushed on to Tabriz, where they made a long halt, resting +and refreshing themselves after their long and wearisome journey. Then +they again took up their line of march westward, and reached Venice, as +we have seen, in November, 1295, only to find their identity denied and +their stories disbelieved, until, by an artifice, they made themselves +truly known to their fellow-townsmen, who had long since given them up +for dead. + +Marco Polo's book, dictated by him in prison, is remarkable for its +reserve and its scantiness of all semblance of ornament in its literary +style. Messer Marco evidently did not greatly affect the arts and graces +of fine writing. Like most of the Italian gentlefolk of his day and +generation, he held the business of writing in low esteem. Some of his +chapters are very brief indeed, the text being no greater in bulk than +the headings which his amanuensis put over them of his own motion. Of +the original manuscript, written in French, copies were made for the use +of the learned, the art of printing being as yet not invented. There are +now in existence no less than eighty of these manuscripts, in various +languages, more or less differing from each other in unimportant +details; but all substantially verifying the facts of the wonderful +history of Messer Marco Polo as here set forth. The most precious of +these is known as the Geographical text, and is preserved in the great +Paris Library; from it was printed, in 1824, one of the most valued of +the texts now in existence. But the most useful and satisfactory of all +the printed editions is that edited and annotated by Colonel Henry Yule, +and printed in London in 1871. The first printed edition of Marco Polo's +book was in the German text, and was published in 1477. + +Many writers have dwelt long on the question, Did Columbus gather any +information from the book of Marco Polo that aided him in forming his +theory, that one could reach India and Cathay by sailing westward from +Spain out into the Sea of Darkness? We cannot satisfactorily answer that +question. But we do know that all Europe, at the time of Marco Polo's +adventurous journey eastward, resolutely turned its back upon the +Atlantic, and looked toward Cathay and the Far Orient for a road to the +fabulous diamond mines and spice islands that were believed to exist +somewhere in the vague and mysterious East. Many philosophers, among +whom was Columbus himself, thought the globe much smaller than it really +is; but it was Columbus who was apparently charged with a divine mission +to teach the world that sailing due westward from the Pillars of +Hercules would bring the voyager to the dominions of Prester John, the +Indies, and Cipangu. + +When Columbus set sail for his hazardous venture into the Sea of +Darkness, he was armed with letters to Prester John, the traditional +Christian prince of the Far East; and his first landfall, as we know +now, was by him supposed to be an outlying portion of that vast region +vaguely known to the explorers who followed Marco Polo, as Farther +India. But centuries rolled away before the world saw the facts of +geography as we know them, or learned to accept as true the marvellous +stories of Marco Polo, whose priceless legacy was first dimly known to +the few, and was dubbed the Romance of the Great Khan. + +[Signature: Noah Brooks.] + + + + +SIR WILLIAM WALLACE + +(1270-1305) + + +The life and exploits of this most popular national hero of the Scots +have been principally preserved in a legendary form by poetry and +tradition, and are only to a very small extent matter of contemporary +record, or illustrated by authentic documents. There is no extant +Scottish chronicler of the age of Wallace. Fordun, the earliest of his +countrymen from whom we have any account of him, is his junior by nearly +a century. Wyntoun, the next authority, is still half a century later. +His chief celebrator is the metrical writer Blind Harry, or Harry the +Minstrel, whose work confesses itself by its very form to be quite as +much of a fiction as a history, and whose era, at any rate, is supposed +to be nearly two centuries subsequent to that of his hero. Some few +facts, however, may be got out of the English annalists Trivet and +Hemingford, who were the contemporaries of Wallace. + +[Illustration: Sir William Wallace.] + +There are contradictory statements of the year of his birth, but it is +probable he was born about 1270. His family was one of some distinction, +and he is said to have been the younger of the two sons of Sir Malcolm +Wallace, of Elderslie and Auchinbothie, in the neighborhood of Paisley. +His mother, who according to one account was Sir Malcolm's second wife, +is stated by the genealogists to have been Margaret, daughter of Sir +Raynald or Reginald (other authorities say Sir Hugh) Crawford, who held +the office of Sheriff of Ayr. + +The history of Wallace down to the year 1297 is entirely legendary, and +only to be found in the rhymes of Harry the Minstrel; though many of the +facts which Harry relates still live as popular traditions in the +localities where the scenes of them are laid, whether handed down in +that way from the time when they happened, or only derived from his +poem, which long continued to be the literary favorite of the Scottish +peasantry. Harry, who, it may be observed, professes to translate from a +Latin account written by Wallace's intimate friend and chaplain, John +Blair, makes him to have been carefully educated by his uncle, a wealthy +churchman who resided at Dunipace, in Stirlingshire, and to have been +afterward sent to the grammar-school of Dundee. Here his first memorable +act is said to have been performed; his slaughter of the son of Selby, +the English governor of the castle of Dundee, in chastisement of an +insult offered him by the unwary young man; Wallace with his dagger +struck him dead on the spot. This must have happened, if at all, in the +year 1291, after Edward I. of England had obtained possession of all the +places of strength throughout Scotland on his recognition as Lord +Paramount by the various competitors for the crown, which had become +vacant by the death of the infant Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, in +September, 1290. + +This bold deed committed by Wallace, who in making his escape is +asserted to have laid several of young Selby's attendants as low as +their master, was immediately followed by his outlawry. He now took to +the woods, and gifted as he was with eloquence, sagacity, and other high +mental powers and accomplishments (to this the testimony of Fordun is as +express and explicit as that of his poetical biographer), not less than +with strength and height of frame and all other personal advantages, he +soon found himself at the head of a band of attached as well as +determined followers, who under his guidance often harassed the English +soldiery, both on their marches and at their stations, plundering and +slaying, as it might chance, with equally little remorse. Particular +spots in nearly every part of Scotland are still famous for some deed of +Wallace and his fellow-outlaws, performed at this period of his life; +but for these we must refer to the Blind Minstrel. The woods in the +neighborhood of Ayr would seem to have been his chief haunt; and some of +his most remarkable feats of valor were exhibited in that town, in the +face and in defiance of the foreign garrison by which it was occupied. +Both his father and his elder brother are said to have fallen in +_rencontres_ with the English during this interval. It was now also that +he fell in love with the orphan daughter of Sir Hew de Bradfute, the +heiress of Lamington, having, it is said, first seen her at a church in +the neighborhood of Lanark. The Scotch writers affirm that this lady, +whom he appears to have married, and who at any rate bore him a +daughter, a year or two after forming her connection with Wallace fell +into the hands of his enemies, and was barbarously executed by order of +Hazelrig, the English Sheriff or Governor of Lanark, while her husband, +or lover, was doomed to witness the spectacle from a place where he lay +in concealment. Such private injuries were well fitted to raise his +hatred to an unextinguishable flame. + +How far the guerilla warfare maintained by Wallace and his associates +contributed to excite and spread the spirit of resistance to the English +government, we have scarcely the means of judging; but it seems probable +that it aided materially in producing the general insurrection which +broke out in the spring of 1297. The accounts we have of the +commencement of that movement represent Wallace at its head, in command +of a considerable force, and in association with some of the most +distinguished persons in the kingdom, such as the Steward of Scotland +and his brother, Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, Sir William Douglas, etc. +Soon after this he was joined by the younger Robert Bruce (afterward +King Robert I.) who had hitherto, as well as his father, who was still +alive (the son of the original competitor for the crown), professed to +adhere to the English king. + +This, however, appears to have been but an ill-cemented confederacy. +When the force despatched by Edward to quell the revolt presented itself +before the Scottish army posted near Irvine, in Ayrshire, the leaders of +the latter, throwing off the authority of their nominal chief, could no +more agree what to do than whom to obey: and the result was that Bruce, +the Steward, Douglas, and others of them, availing themselves of the +diplomatic talents of the Bishop of Glasgow, concluded a treaty on July +9th, by which they agreed to acknowledge Edward as their sovereign lord. +All the rest ultimately acceded to this arrangement, except only Wallace +and his friend, Sir Andrew Moray, of Bothwell. The treaty of Irvine, +which is printed by Rymer, is, we believe, the first of the few public +documents in which mention is made of Wallace; to the instrument (which +is in French) are subjoined the words, "Escrit à Sir Willaume," the +meaning of which Lord Hailes conceives to be, "that the barons had +notified Wallace that they had made terms of accommodation for +themselves and their party." The words, moreover, on the supposition +that they refer to Wallace, of which there seems to be little doubt, +show that he had before this date obtained the honor of knighthood. It +had probably been bestowed upon him (as was then customary) by some +other knight, one of his companions in arms, since his elevation from +being the captain of a band of outlaws to be the commander-in-chief of +the national forces. + +Wallace now retired to the north, carrying with him, however, a +considerable body of adherents, to whom additional numbers rapidly +gathered, so that he soon found himself in a condition to recommence +aggressive operations. Directing his force to the northeastern coast, he +surprised the castle of Dunottar, cleared Aberdeen, Forfar, Brechin, and +other towns of their English garrisons, and then laid siege to the +castle of Dundee. While he was engaged in this last attempt, news was +brought that the English army was approaching Stirling; upon which, +leaving the siege to be carried on by the citizens of Dundee, he +hastened to meet the enemy in the field. The result was the complete +defeat and rout of the English, at the battle of Stirling Bridge, fought +on September 11, 1297--a battle which once more, for the moment, +liberated Scotland. The English were immediately driven or fled from +every place of strength in the country, including Berwick itself. + +Availing himself of this panic and of the exhilaration of his +countrymen, Wallace pursued the fugitives across the border; and putting +himself at the head of a numerous force, he entered England on October +18th, and, remaining till November 11th, wasted the country with fire +and sword from sea to sea, and as far south as to the walls of +Newcastle. It was during this visitation that the prior and convent of +Hexham obtained from him the protection preserved by Hemingford. It is +dated at Hexildesham (Hexham), November 7th, and runs in the names of +"Andreas de Moravia, et Wilhelmus Wallensis, duces exercitus Scotiæ, +nomine præclari principis Joannis, Dei gratia, Regis Scotia illustris, +de consensu communitatis regni ejusdem," that is, "Andrew Moray and +William Wallace, commanders-in-chief of the army of Scotland, in the +name of King John, and by consent of the community of the said kingdom." +The John here acknowledged as King of Scotland was Baliol, now in the +hands of Edward, and living in a sort of free custody in the Tower of +London. Wallace's associate in the command was the young Sir Andrew +Moray, son of his faithful friend of that name, who had retired with him +from the capitulation of Irvine, and who had fallen at the battle of +Stirling Bridge. + +One of the most curious of the few public papers in which the name of +Wallace occurs was a few years since discovered by Dr. Lappenburg, of +Hamburg, in the archives of the ancient Hanseatic city of Lübeck. It is +a letter, in Latin, addressed to the authorities of Lübeck and Hamburg, +informing them that their merchants should now have free access to all +ports of the kingdom of Scotland, seeing that the said kingdom, by the +favor of God, had been recovered by war from the power of the English. +The letter is dated "apud Badsing tonam" (the true word, it has been +suggested, is probably Haddingtonam), October 11, 1297, that is, a few +days before the invasion of Cumberland and Northumberland. It is in the +name of "Andreas de Moravia et Willelmus Wallensis, duces exercitis +regni Scotiæ, et communitas, eiusdem regni"--like the Hexham +protection--but without any mention of King John. + +After his triumphal return from his incursion into England, Wallace +assumed the title of Guardian of the Kingdom in the name of King John, +whether formally invested with that dignity or only hailed as such by +the gratitude of his countrymen. In a charter, printed in Anderson's +"Diplomata," conferring the constabulary of Dundee on Alexander +Skirmischur (Scrimgeour) and his heirs, and dated at Torphichen (in the +county of Linlithgow) March 29, 1298, he styles himself, "Willelmus +Walays miles, Custos Regni Scotiæ, et ductor exercituum ejusdem, nomine +præclari principis Domini Johannis, Dei gratia Regis Scotiæ illustris, +de consensu communitatis ejusdem." The grant is stated to have been made +with the consent and approbation of the nobility ("per consensum et +assensum magnatum dicti regni.") + +But this supreme elevation did not last long. Supported only by his own +merits and the admiration and attachment of his humbler +fellow-countrymen, Wallace, a new man, and without family connection, +would probably have found it difficult or impossible to retain his high +place, even if he had had nothing more to contend with than domestic +jealousy and dissatisfaction. Fordun relates that many of the nobility +were in the habit of saying, "We will not have this man to rule over +us." Meanwhile the energetic English king, who had been abroad when the +defeat of Stirling Bridge lost him Scotland, had now returned home, and +was already on his march toward the borders at the head of a powerful +army. A body of English, which had landed in the north of Fife, led by +Aymer de Vallois, Earl of Pembroke, is said by the Scottish authorities +to have been attacked and routed by Wallace on June 12, 1298, in the +forest of Blackironside, in that county; but when the two main armies +met on July 22d, in the neighborhood of Falkirk--the Scots commanded by +Wallace, the English by their king in person--the former, after a +gallant and obstinate resistance, were at last forced to give way, and +the battle ended in a universal rout accompanied with immense slaughter. + +This defeat did not put an end to the war; but it was taken advantage of +by the Scottish nobility to deprive Wallace of his office of guardian or +chief governor of the kingdom. The Scottish accounts say that he +voluntarily resigned the supreme power; it is certain, at any rate, that +Bruce, his rival Comyn, and Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrew's, were now +appointed joint guardians of Scotland, still in the name of Baliol. For +some years after this our accounts of Wallace are slight and obscure; +but he appears to have returned with a chosen band of followers to the +practice of the desultory warfare in which he had originally +distinguished himself. The legendary histories continue to detail his +deeds of prowess performed in harassing the enemy both on their marches +and in their camps and strongholds. And to fill up the story, they also +make him to have paid two visits to France--the first in 1300, the +second in 1302. The next well-ascertained fact regarding him is that +when the Scottish leaders were at last obliged to submit to Edward at +Strathorde, on February 9, 1304, Wallace was not included in the +capitulation, one of the clauses of which (printed in the original +French in Ryley's "Placeta Parliamentaria") is to the effect that as for +Wallace (Monsieur Guillaume de Galeys), he might, if he pleased, give +himself up to the king's mercy ("quil se mette en la voluntè et en la +grace nostre seigneur le Roy, si lui semble, que bon soit"). He was soon +after summoned to appear before a parliament or convention of Scotch and +English nobility, held at St. Andrew's; and upon their not presenting +themselves, he and Sir Simon Frisel, or Fraser, were pronounced outlaws. +For some time his retreat remained undiscovered, although his active +hostility still continued occasionally to make itself felt. A principal +person employed in the attempts to capture him appears to have been +Ralph de Haliburton; but how he was actually taken is not known. Sir +John Menteith (a son of Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith), to whose +treachery his delivery to the English king is attributed by Blind Harry +and popular tradition, appears to have really done nothing more than +forward him to England after he was brought a prisoner to Dumbarton +Castle, of which Menteith was governor under a commission from Edward. + +On being brought to London, Wallace was lodged in the house of William +Delect, a citizen, in Fenchurch Street; and on the next day, being the +eve of St. Bartholomew, he was brought on horseback to Westminster, and +in the hall there, "being placed on the south bench," says Stow, +"crowned with laurel for that he had said in times past that he ought to +bear a crown in that all," he was arraigned as a traitor, and on that +charge found guilty, and condemned to death. After being dragged to the +usual place of execution--the Elms, in West Smithfield--at the tails of +his horses, he was there hanged on a high gallows, on August 23, 1305, +after which he was "drawn and quartered." His right arm was set up at +Newcastle, his left at Berwick; his right leg at Perth, his left at +Aberdeen; his head on London Bridge. Wallace's daughter, by the heiress +of Lamington, married Sir William Bailie, of Hoprig, whose descendants +through her inherited the estate of Lamington. + + + + +ROBERT BRUCE + +By Sir J. BERNARD BURKE, LL.D. + +(1274-1329) + + +Robert Bruce was born in the year 1274, on the Feast of the translation +of St. Benedict, being March 21st, and was undoubtedly of Norman origin. +In an annual roll containing the names of those knights and barons who +came over with William the Conqueror, we find that of Brueys; and from +the Domesday Book it appears that a family of the same name were +possessed of lands in Yorkshire. Coming down to a later period, 1138, +when David I. of Scotland made his fatal attack upon England--fatal, +that is, to himself and his people--the English barons, previous to the +battle of Cutton Moor, near Northallerton, sent a message to the +Scottish king, by Robert Bruce, of Cleveland, a Norman knight, who +possessed estates in either country. Upon his death, this knight +bequeathed his English lands to his eldest son, and those in Annandale +to his younger, who received a confirmation of his title by a charter of +William the Lion. From this root sprung Robert Bruce, the competitor for +the crown with Baliol, whose grandson was the more celebrated Robert +Bruce, the younger, Earl of Carrick in virtue of his mother's title, and +afterward King of Scotland. He was the eldest of three brothers and +seven sisters, whose marriages with some of the leading families of +Scotland proved an important element of success to the future hero. His +earliest years were passed at the castle of Turnberry, where his mother +resided; but as he grew older, his father, who considered himself an +English baron, thought proper that he should be removed to the English +court. The friendship subsisting between Edward the First and the Earl +of Carrick induced the former to adopt the earl's son; so that the +confiding monarch trained up his mortal enemy in the use of those arts +and weapons which were one day to be turned against himself. + +[Illustration: Robert Bruce.] + +The family of Bruce, as we have already noticed, were competitors for +the Scottish throne with Baliol, in whose favor an award was pronounced +by Edward, when called upon to arbitrate between them. At this time the +elder Bruce was far advanced in years; his son, the Earl of Carrick, was +still in the prime of life, and his grandson, Robert Bruce was eighteen +years of age. Upon the old man being required to do homage for his lands +in Scotland to the new monarch of that country, he indignantly refused, +exclaiming, "I am Baliol's sovereign, not Baliol mine; and rather than +consent to such a homage, I resign my lands in Annandale to my son, the +Earl of Carrick." But Carrick was not less proud, or averse to anything +that might call in question his claim to the crown of Scotland, and in +like manner refused to hold any lands of Baliol. As, however, according +to the feudal law, he must either divest himself of his estate, or do +homage for it, he adopted the former alternative, and resigned the lands +of Annandale in favor of his son, Robert. The young baron, less +scrupulous than his relatives, did not hesitate to accept his father's +gift, which, upon feudal principles, carried with it the title of Earl +of Carrick, and did homage for the same to Baliol. By his father's +death, in 1304, he became possessed of the family estates in England. + +From this time Bruce played his part with skill, though in justice it +must be allowed that his patriotism was not altogether without the alloy +of a selfish ambition; and perhaps it would be expecting too much from +human nature, even in its best and highest forms, to look for anything +else. Neither can we free him from the charge of dissimulation in that +he swore a fealty to Baliol, which it is plain he never intended to +observe, and affected gratitude and attachment for the English monarch, +while in secret he was preparing to undermine him. An excuse for this +has been sought by his more partial admirers in the necessity of the +case, arising from the well-known sagacity of Edward, who would +otherwise have penetrated his purposes and crushed them in the bud +without scruple. Nor was this the only obstacle in his path to empire. +Upon the failure of Baliol and his only son, Edward, the ancient and +powerful family of the Comyns were ready to dispute his title to the +crown, which they claimed for themselves. John, commonly called the Red +Comyn, who had been the determined opponent of Wallace, possessed, in +the event of the monarch dying without issue, the same right to the +throne which was vested in Bruce himself. He, too, had connected himself +by marriage with the royal family of England, and was at this time one +of the most powerful subjects in Scotland. When Baliol leagued with +Comyn to throw off the supremacy of Edward, whose hand, whether justly +or not, had raised him to the Scottish throne, the Bruces and their +party, tempted by the promise of a crown, lent their best aid to the +English monarch. Upon the termination of the campaign the elder Bruce +demanded the fulfilment of Edward's promise, to which the latter +indignantly replied that he had not come into Scotland to conquer a +kingdom for him; so that Bruce reaped nothing else at the time from his +service, than the satisfaction of seeing his rival, Baliol, dethroned, +and the influence of the Comyns effectually diminished. + +In 1296 Edward held a parliament at Berwick, compelling the Scotch +barons to do him homage, and the young lord of Carrick concurred in the +national submission. But notwithstanding this outward show of fealty, he +became, in the time of Wallace's success, suspected of entertaining +designs upon the crown. At first, indeed, he had joined against Wallace, +and wasted the lands of his adherent, Douglas, with fire and sword; yet, +soon after his return home, he summoned the Annandale men, who were the +vassals of his father, then in the service of Edward, and thus addressed +them: "You have already heard, without doubt, of that solemn oath, which +I lately took at Carlisle, and I cannot deny the fact; but the oath was +a foolish one, and exacted by fear; it was my body that took the oath, +and not my mind; but its having been taken at all is now to me the cause +of much remorse and sorrow; yet erelong I hope to be absolved from it by +our Holy Father. In the meanwhile, I am resolved to go and join my +fellow-countrymen, and assist them in their efforts to restore to its +liberty the land of my nativity, for none, as you know, is an enemy of +his own flesh, and as for me, I love my people. Let me beseech you, +then, to adopt the same resolution, and you shall ever be esteemed my +most dear friends and approved counsellors." + +To this request the men of Annandale deferred giving any answer till the +morning, and took advantage of the night to retire, so that Bruce could +only join the insurgents with his own vassals of Carrick. + +The first disappointment might have taught Bruce to desist from his +design, for which the time was not yet ripe; but blinded by ambition, he +entered into a strict alliance with Wishart, the Bishop of Glasgow, and +the Steward of Scotland, the principal leaders of the insurrection. Upon +joining his new associates, he found their purposes utterly incompatible +with his views upon the crown. Wallace, the soul of the party, had ever +supported the claims of Baliol, and his great supporter, Sir Andrew +Moray, a near connection of the Comyns, had the same object. During the +campaign, therefore, of 1298, which concluded with the battle of +Falkirk, Bruce shut himself up in his castle of Ayr, maintaining a +cautious neutrality, while his father continued to reside in England and +to serve Edward in his wars. The king, however, did not admire this cold +system of neutrality. He in consequence determined to attack the castle +of Ayr, and Bruce, dreading the consequences, razed it to the ground, +and sought an asylum in the mountain fastnesses of Carrick. + +In the following year, when Wallace had resigned the regency, John +Comyn, of Badenoch, and Sir John de Soulis, were chosen governors of the +kingdom, and the party of Bruce availed themselves of the opportunity to +advance his influence by opposition to those in power, and by defeating +every measure taken for the public benefit. An attempt was made by those +who really wished well to the national cause, or who dreaded that their +disunion might be fatal to all alike, to reconcile the contending +factions; with this view they elected Bruce, and Lamberton, Bishop of +Glasgow, joint regents in the name of Baliol; but this ill-assorted +coalition soon fell to pieces, as might have been expected, where the +views which one party entertained in secret were so utterly opposed to +the avowed purposes of all. + +The policy which actuated Bruce on this occasion may be easily +explained. It was clear that Edward would never consent to the +restoration of Baliol, then in exile, and the Comyns had taken so +decided a part against him, that it seemed most improbable he would ever +consent to raise one of that family to the throne. Continuing, +therefore, the same line of duplicity with which he had commenced, and +which he had only abandoned for a single instant in the vain hope of +persuading the party of Wallace to openly adopt his claims, he now +endeavored by submission and affected attachment to win the favor of the +English monarch. Edward, he well knew, had the power, could he be +brought to entertain the inclination, to place him on the Scottish +throne, and if this point were once attained, Bruce trusted that means +would afterward occur of shaking off all dependence upon his benefactor. +In these designs he to a certain extent succeeded, but not in his main +object. If he was crafty, Edward was yet craftier. He had fallen into +the same error that his father had, in 1296, and was outwitted by the +superior political ability of him whom he had intended to deceive, and +who, it must be confessed, was equally insincere. Edward cheated both +father and son, by holding out to them the hope of a crown he never +meant them to attain, his object being to unite the two countries; an +excellent purpose in itself, if we could only bring ourselves to +overlook the fraud and violence by which it was to be accomplished. +When, therefore, the Comyns submitted, in 1304, and he proceeded to the +settlement of his new dominions, the Earl of Carrick found that his only +gain was the being employed among the commissioners in organizing a +system of government. He had, however, reaped no little advantage from +his dissimulation. While Baliol was an exile and Comyn in disgrace, he +had preserved his estates, and won the king's confidence without losing, +but rather augmenting, his influence with the Scotch. At the same time +he saw that Comyn was still powerful; his claims to the throne were more +generally admitted by the people, and without his concurrence nothing +could be effected. Thus situated, Bruce submitted to his rival this +alternative: "Give me your land, and I shall bind myself to support your +title to the kingdom, and, when we have expelled our enemies, to place +the crown upon your head; or, if thou dost not choose to assume the +state of the kingdom, here am I ready to resign to you my estates, on +condition that you second me in my efforts to regain the throne of my +fathers." Comyn accepted the latter alternative, but immediately +betrayed the design to Edward, and sent him the letter, or indenture, by +which Bruce had bound himself. But the latter, when suddenly charged +with it, denied his hand and seal with a coolness that could only belong +to one long practised in the arts of dissimulation, and demanded time to +prove his innocence. Arch-deceiver as the English king himself was, he +yet allowed himself to be duped by this specious effrontery, and Bruce +escaping into Scotland, murdered Comyn in the church of the Grey Friars, +at Dumfries. Soon afterward he was crowned at Scone, and the revolution +spread far and wide; upon hearing which, Edward sent an invading army +into Scotland. Superiority of force and military skill soon compelled +Bruce to retreat to the mountain fastnesses, that offered a better place +of security than the strongest castle, for castles might be stormed; but +here, if danger threatened him at one point, he had only to retreat to +one more remote and more rugged, and thus at any time was enabled to +baffle his pursuers when he found them too powerful to be resisted. A +series of fights--battles they could hardly be called--and adventures +now ensued which have all the coloring of romance, but which entailed so +much of hardness and privation upon his followers, that after a while it +became evident he would not be able much longer to keep them from +abandoning a cause so desperate. Then, again, a spark of hope was +kindled by the disaffection growing out of the severity which Edward +exercised upon all who had been in arms to resist him. Numbers in +consequence flocked to Bruce, and fresh adventures succeeded of a yet +more romantic nature than those already mentioned; the fortunes of the +wanderer seeming now to be at the lowest ebb, and then again rising into +a prosperous flood, which as rapidly subsided, making it a matter of +some difficulty for him to escape being stranded by the falling waters. +It was during this season that Douglas disgraced himself and the +Scottish name by barbarities that have never been surpassed, and rarely +even equalled. + +The death of the great Edward--for great he was, in spite of all his +faults--and the accession of his son, the feeble Edward II., left an +open field to Bruce, who was as much superior to those that now opposed +him, as he had been overcrowned by the genius of his late adversary. He +marched from victory to victory, and would, no doubt, have brought the +contest to a happy termination, had he not been seized by an alarming +sickness. At first, it threatened to be fatal; things were again +beginning to look gloomy for Scotland; but in the moment of extreme +peril, he shook off his disease by a strong effort, and once more led +his followers through a series of triumphs, which were crowned by the +great battle of Bannockburn. Though we cannot allow the ambition which +seeks a crown to pass for patriotism, it is impossible to deny the +highest praise to the courage, firmness, and ability displayed by Bruce +through the whole of this trying period. None may deny that he deserved +a crown, and when once obtained, it acquired a lustre from the talents +of him who wore it. + +Bruce soon found himself in a condition to assist his brother Edward in +the attempt to drive the English out of Ireland. But here the usual good +fortune of the Scotch abandoned them. After a hard-fought campaign, +attended by many vicissitudes, his sagacity saw that the attempt was +hopeless, and he returned to Scotland. Shortly afterward, the turbulent +and aspiring Edward Bruce was slain in battle. + +His wonted success attended Bruce in the field, in the midst of which, +however, a plot was formed against his life and government. Fortunately +it was revealed in time by the Countess of Strathearn, to whom the +conspirators had the weakness to confide their intentions; and soon +afterward, to crown his prosperity, Edward II. was compelled by a series +of defeats to conclude a peace. But Bruce's health began to be impaired, +and when war again broke out between the countries, upon the deposition +of Edward II. and the succession of his son, Edward III., he was unable +to lead his projected expedition against England. It ended in failure, +if not in defeat. + +A short interval of health and hope gleamed upon him after this attack, +and peace was concluded between the two countries, greatly to the +dissatisfaction of the English, who, justly enough, considered +themselves sacrificed to the ambition of the queen-mother, Isabella, and +of her favorite, Mortimer. But this momentary promise of health and +vigor soon passed away, and it became plain to all that the life of this +brave and sagacious monarch was drawing rapidly to a close. In +expectation of the final event he had given orders to have a magnificent +tomb made at Paris; which was brought to Bruges, thence through England +into Scotland, and on its arrival erected in the church of the +Benedictines at Dunfermline. + +Bruce died in his fifty-fifth year, and was buried in the abbey-church +of Dunfermline, as he had desired. + +In the prime of his life Bruce was upward of six feet high; his +shoulders were broad, his chest full and open; the cheek-bones strong +and prominent, and the muscles of the back and neck of great size and +thickness; his hair curled short over a broad forehead, and the general +expression of his face was calm and cheerful; yet, when he pleased, he +could assume a character of stern command. Such, at least, Bruce has +been described by the old historian, and we may easily believe it, since +the outward semblance agrees so well with what is recorded of his life +and actions. + + + + +ARNOLD VON WINKELRIED + +(DIED, 1386) + +[Illustration: Arnold von Winkelried.] + + +The incident with which this name is connected is, after the purely +legendary feat of Tell, the best known and most popular in the early +history of the Swiss Confederation. We are told how, at a critical +moment in the great battle of Sempach, when the Swiss had failed to +break the serried ranks of the Austrian knights, a man of Unterwalden, +Arnold von Winkelried by name, came to the rescue. Commending his wife +and children to the care of his comrades, he rushed toward the +Austrians, gathered a number of their spears together against his +breast, and fell pierced through, having opened a way into the hostile +ranks for his fellow-countrymen, though at the price of his own life. +But the Tell and Winkelried stories stand in a very different position +when looked at in the dry light of history; for, while in the former +imaginary and impossible men (bearing now and then a real historical +name) do imaginary and impossible deeds at a very uncertain period, in +the latter we have some solid ground to rest on, and Winkelried's act +might very well have been performed, though, as yet, the amount of +genuine and early evidence in support of it is very far from being +sufficient. + +The Winkelrieds of Stanz were a knightly family when we first hear of +them, though toward the end of the fourteenth century they seem to have +been but simple men without the honors of knighthood, and not always +using their prefix "von." Among its members we find an Erni Winkelried +acting as a witness to a contract of sale on May 1, 1367; while the same +man, or perhaps another member of the family, Erni von Winkelried, is +plaintiff in a suit at Stanz, on September 29, 1389, and in 1417 is the +landamman (or head-man) of Unterwalden, being then called Arnold +Winkelriet. We have, therefore, a real man named Arnold Winkelried +living at Stanz, about the time of the battle of Sempach. The question +is thus narrowed to the points, was he present at the battle, and did he +then perform the deed commonly attributed to him? The determination of +this question requires a minute investigation of the history of that +battle, to ascertain if there are any authentic traces of this +incident, or any opportunity for it to have taken place. + +1. EVIDENCE OF CHRONICLES.--The earliest known mention of the incident +is found in a Zurich chronicle (discovered in 1862 by Herr G. von Wyss), +which is a copy, made in 1476, of a chronicle written in, or at any rate +not earlier than, 1438, though it is wanting in the sixteenth century +transcript of another chronicle written in 1466, which up to 1389 +closely agrees with the former. It appears in the well-known form, but +the hero is stated to be "ein getrüwer man under den Eidgenozen," no +name being given, and it seems clear that his death did not take place +at that time. No other mention has been found in any of the numerous +Swiss or Austrian chronicles, till we come to the book "De Helvetiæ +Origine," written in 1538 by Rudolph Gwalther (Zwingli's son-in-law), +when the hero is still nameless, being compared to Decius or Codrus, but +is said to have been killed by his brave act. Finally we read the full +story in the original draft of Giles Tschudi's chronicle, where the hero +is described "as a man of Unterwalden, of the Winkelried family," this +being expanded in the first rescension of the chronicle (1564) into "a +man of Unterwalden, Arnold von Winkelried by name, a brave knight;" +while he is entered (in the same book, on the authority of the +"Anniversary Book" of Stanz, now lost) on the list of those who fell at +Sempach, at the head of the Nidwald (or Stanz) men, as "Herr Arnold von +Winkelried, ritter," this being in the first draft "Arnold Winckelriet." + +2. BALLADS.--There are several war songs on the battle of Sempach +which have come down to us, but in one only is there mention of +Winkelried and his deed. This is a long ballad of sixty-seven +four-line stanzas, part of which (including the Winkelried section) +is found in the additions made between 1531 and 1545 to Etterlin's +chronicle by H. Berlinger of Basel, and the whole in Werner +Steiner's chronicle (written 1532). It is agreed on all sides that +the last stanza, attributing the authorship to Halbsuter, of +Lucerne, "as he came back from the battle," is a very late addition. +Many authorities regard it as made up of three distinct songs (one +of which refers to the battle and Winkelried), possibly put together +by the younger Halbsuter (citizen of Lucerne in 1435, died between +1470 and 1480); though others contend that the Sempach-Winkelried +section bears clear traces of having been composed after the +Reformation began, that is, about 1520 or 1530. Some recent +discoveries have proved that certain statements in the song, usually +regarded as anachronisms, are quite accurate; but no nearer approach +has been made toward fixing its exact date, or that of any of the +three bits into which it has been cut up. In this song the story +appears in its full-blown shape, the name of Winckelriet being +given. + +[Illustration: Arnold Winkelried At Sempach.] + + + + +JOAN OF ARC[8] + + [Footnote 8: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX + +(1412-1431) + +[Illustration: Joan of Arc.] + + +In the history of the world since the dawn of time, there is no other +character so remarkable to me as that of Joan of Arc. + +You have but to think of any young girl of your acquaintance, seventeen +years old, and try to imagine her leading an army to battle, storming a +fort, or planning a campaign, in order to realize in a measure the +astounding qualities possessed by this wonderful being. + +Not only did she do all this as wisely as the most astute general who +ever lived, but she succeeded in liberating France from the hands of the +English, where we have very good reason to think it might have otherwise +remained to this day; for the English were gaining ground steadily, and +the French dauphin was utterly discouraged, and had ceased to make an +effort to maintain his rights, when Joan of Arc came to his rescue. + +The English king, Henry V., had died in the midst of his triumphs. Two +months later, imbecile Charles VI., of France, passed away also, and +Henry VI., of England, was proclaimed king of both nations; while at the +same time the dauphin was hailed King of France by his few followers. +But his fortunes were at the lowest ebb, his small army, stationed at +Orleans, was in need of food. Four thousand of his men went out to +search for provisions, and encountered half that number of English +soldiers. A battle ensued, and five hundred of the bravest French +soldiers were left dead on the field of strife. Despite their bravery, +hunger and fatigue had unfitted them to combat with their well-fed +adversaries. + +The dauphin had shut himself in the castle of Chinon, with fair women +and gay comrades, while the siege was raging before the walls of +Orleans. He was at that time a weak and vacillant youth, given over to +the same pleasures and vices which drove his father mad and caused his +brother's death. He had no pride in rescuing his crown from the English, +and it must be confessed that the treatment he had received from his own +mother and his own countrymen, who sold him to the enemy, was sufficient +to dishearten a stronger nature than his. Added to this, he was doubtful +of his legitimate right to the throne, owing to his mother's depraved +career. But when, in the midst of his orgies, the news was brought to +him, in the castle of Chinon, that his army was defeated before the +walls of Orleans, what little hope or courage he had left seemed to +desert him and he sank into a state of despair. + +And far away on the frontier, in the little village of Domremy, a young +girl watched her flocks, and wept over the fate of her beloved country; +and weeping, prayed that God would save France from the oppressor. How +earnestly she prayed, and how well God listened, history has recorded in +a tale more wonderful than any story ever conceived by the imagination +of man, and sadder than any other save the story of the Nazarene upon +the Cross of Calvary. + +The end of France as a nation seemed at hand. The nobility had been led +into captivity and sold to an invading enemy; the clergy had seen its +altars defamed by arrogant strangers. Industry had been ruined by civil +wars during the long imbecility of Charles VI., and the succeeding +ravages made by the English. Villages were depopulated, homes desolated, +and look where they might, the people of France saw no hope of aid, save +from on high. + +Of this epoch Henry Martin says, "The people expected nothing from human +sources; but a sentiment of indestructible nationality stirred in their +hearts and told them that France could not die. Hoping nothing from +earth, they lifted their souls to heaven; an ardent religious fervor +seized upon them, which had no part with clergy or creed. It rose from +the extremity of their need, and fixed its root in an old oracle of the +Middle Ages, which had predicted that France should be 'lost through a +woman and saved by a virgin.'" + +France had certainly been lost through its wicked queen; that part of +the old prophecy had been fearfully fulfilled; the remaining clause was +yet to be verified. The people, excited to a religious frenzy by their +desperate straits and their faith in the old superstition, prayed more +fervently with each day; and their prayers rose like great white eagles +and settled upon the heart of that strange divine child, who was weeping +over the fate of France while she watched her sheep on the plains of +Domremy. + +A humbly born girl was Joan of Arc, unable to read or write; women who +could do more than that were rare in those days, so she was not despised +on account of her ignorance, but highly respected for her industry and +piety. An enthusiastic Catholic, she added to her church duties by +active benevolence and kindness to the sick and poor in her native town. +Often she was seen to kneel in the fields and pray; and there was a +chapel some miles from Domremy to which she used to make a pilgrimage +every Sunday and offer prayers to the Virgin. There was, too, in the +forest of Bois Chemin a famous beech-tree under which a stream of clear +water flowed; and a superstition prevailed among the people of Domremy +that fairies had blessed this tree and bestowed healing properties upon +the waters of the stream. The priest and the villagers marched about the +sacred tree once each year singing solemn chants, and the young people +hung its boughs with garlands, and danced under its shading branches. +Joan dearly loved this spot, and it became her favorite haunt. The +echoes of war reverberated even to this quiet frontier hamlet, and in +her hours of reverie she dwelt sadly upon the stories of bloodshed and +suffering which she heard her elders repeat. + +She was twelve years old when the dauphin was proclaimed king by his few +followers; and in all his flight from province to province, fleeing +before the usurpers of his throne, no heart in all France suffered more +keenly than the heart beating in the breast of this humble shepherd +girl. The misfortunes of the dauphin, the woes of her country, took +complete possession of her expanding mind. Her pure young soul yearned +toward the Infinite in one ceaseless prayer; and when any soul is so +lifted up above all thought of self, praying for the good of others, a +response never fails to come. It is only selfish prayers which remain +unanswered. Joan's beautiful nature was like the sensitive plate +prepared to receive the impression; and while she prayed the angels to +save France, the angels prepared her to become the saviour. + +One summer day, when she was in her fourteenth year, she was running in +the fields with her companions, when, as she afterward declared, "she +felt herself lifted as by an invisible force and carried along as if she +possessed wings." Her companions gazed upon her with astonishment, +seeing her fly beyond their reach. Then she heard a voice, which +proceeded from a great light above her; and the voice said, "Joan, put +your trust in God, and go and save France." + +This strange experience filled her with terror; but ere many days she +heard the voice again, and this time she saw the figure of a winged +angel. "I am the Archangel Michael," the voice said, "and the messenger +of God, who bids you to go to the aid of the dauphin and restore him to +his throne." + +Overcome with fear, she fell on her knees in tears; but the angel +continued to appear to her, accompanied with two female forms, and +always urging her to go to the aid of her country. Fear gave place to +ecstacy, and in the heart of this divine child awoke the audacious idea +whose climax astounded the whole world. + +At first she reasoned with the voices, telling them "she was but a poor +girl, who knew nothing of men or war." But the voices replied, "Go and +save France; God will be with you, and you have nothing to fear." + +During three years she listened to these voices, which made themselves +heard by her two or three times each week. She seemed consumed by an +inward fever, and strange words escaped her. One day she said to a +laborer, that "midway between Coussi and Vaucouleurs there lived a maid +who should bring the dauphin to his throne." + +These words were repeated to her father and they alarmed him; and we +cannot wonder that they did. How could he think otherwise than that his +little girl was losing her senses? How could he dream of the divine and +superhuman powers that had descended upon her from a higher world? He +told her brother that if Joan should attempt to follow the army, as he +feared she might, "he would rather drown her with his own hands." Her +parents set a watch upon her movements, and decided to marry her to a +young man who was secretly enamored of her. They connived with this +admirer to swear before an officer of the law that Joan had promised him +her heart; but she so strenuously denied the assertion before the judge +that she gained her case. + +Just at this epoch the people of Domremy were obliged to fly before an +invading troop of soldiers. When they returned to their village they +found their church burned and their homes pillaged. Joan regarded this +as a direct punishment for her hesitation in heeding the "voices." She +would hesitate no longer, and after repeated delays and disheartening +rebuffs, she succeeded in winning her way, with a few believers in her +mission, to the king's castle. + +When Charles finally consented to an interview, he disguised one of his +courtiers as king, and he was disguised as a courtier; but Joan was not +deceived by clothing; she fell at his feet, clasped his knees, and +exclaimed, "Gentle king, God has taken pity on you and your people; the +angels are on their knees praying for you and them." + +The king was impressed with her lofty enthusiasm, and plied her with +questions. Her responses astonished him. One reliable authority tells us +that she revealed to him something known only to himself--and answered a +question which he had that day demanded of God in the privacy of +prayer--the question of his legitimate right to the throne. Joan told +him that he had asked this question of God, and that she was able to +reply to it in the affirmative. + +The king was so astonished and overjoyed at this proof of the maiden's +powers, that he expressed belief in her divine mission; but he quickly +relapsed into doubt again, and Joan was obliged to endure a very +critical examination before a parliament, where she confused and +confounded the learned doctors by her simple words: "I know not A or B, +but I am commanded by my voices to raise the siege of Orleans and crown +the dauphin at Rheims." When one aggressive doctor, with a bad accent, +asked sarcastically; "what language her voices spoke," she replied, +"Better than yours, sir," which brought the laughter of the whole +parliament upon him. A messenger sent to Domremy, to ascertain the early +conduct of the maid, returned with accounts of her piety and +benevolence. All this worked in her favor, together with the strong +faith which the masses reposed in her; for the people remembered the old +prophecy and believed that the maiden had come to deliver France. + +Even the doctors of theology were affected by this prophecy, and the +result was the final equipment of Joan for battle. When arrayed in a +knight's armor she refused to accept a sword. "The voices told me," she +said, "that in the church vault at Fierbois there lies a sword marked +with five crosses which I must carry, and no other." + +A messenger was sent, who found the sword exactly as she had described +it. This naturally swelled the faith of the people in her divine +mission. She ordered a white banner made, covered with the lilies of +France, and with the inscription, "Jesus Maria," emblazoned upon it. At +the end of two months she entered the town of Blois, where the army was +stationed, seated upon a fine horse, her head bare, her dark curls +streaming in the wind, an air of triumph and joy on her face. Six +thousand soldiers were drawn up to receive her. But the pleasure-loving +young dauphin, be it said to his shame, was enjoying himself in his +castle and was not there to meet her. Nothing had yet been decided about +the position Joan was to occupy, but the wild enthusiasm of the army at +once made her its leader. + +The very first act of this pure being was an attempt to uplift the moral +status of the army. Women of evil repute were sent away with good +advice, and the men were called to battle by prayer and confession. +Coarse soldiers followed her to mass, fascinated by her peculiar spell, +and rough language was silenced in her presence. Remarkable as has +seemed Joan's career up to this point, it was simple compared to the +miracles which ensued. Modest as the simplest maiden in private life, +gentle as a child in all matters pertaining to herself, utterly devoid +of self-seeking interests, she was yet enabled to plan campaigns, direct +attacks and lead armies with all the skill of any world-renowned +general. In the dead of night, with a band of 200 men, she entered the +beleaguered city of Orleans in the face of the English enemy. The +inhabitants crowded about her, regarding her rightly with wonder and +awe. Her first act was to hasten to a cathedral where the Te Deum was +being chanted by torch-light. She then selected her home with a lady of +spotless reputation, in order that all her hours of repose might be +guarded from suspicions of evil. The following day she directed a letter +of warning to be sent to the English, urging them to retreat before +compelled to do so by the "fire of Heaven." She then reconnoitred the +city, determining in her mind where to begin the attack; and as she saw +no signs that the English had taken heed of her letter, she finally +mounted the walls of the town, and in a loud voice warned the English to +depart before overtaken with the shame and disaster in store for them. +To this the English responded with insults and ribald words, and told +her to "Go home and keep her cows." Joan wept at their insults to her +modesty, and would have at once opened an attack, had she not been +dissuaded by her generals, who begged her to await the arrival of her +army. + +Despite their bold words, the English were so influenced by Joan's +peculiar power, that they allowed her army to enter Orleans with a +convoy of provisions, and made no resistance. They seemed to be +paralyzed with fear, and many of them expressed a belief that she was +aided by the devil. Although the maid was immensely popular with the +army, a lurking secret jealousy of her was already at work in the +breasts of some of her officers; and these men chose an hour when she +was taking a brief repose, to open an attack upon the English, hoping to +take the glory of a conquest to themselves. But Joan's Voices awoke her, +and told her the blood of France was being spilled; and seizing her +white banner, she mounted her horse, and rushed into the strife, turning +the tide of battle at once in favor of the French army, which had +already suffered loss. Wherever the white flag was seen, a superhuman +strength seemed to take possession of the men; and after a fierce battle +of three hours, the bastile of St. Loup was won by the French. + +The bastile des Augustins fell next, and here Joan was slightly wounded +in the foot; but she resolved to attack the only remaining hold of the +English the following day. Her officers counselled together and reported +themselves unfavorable to this project, as the bastile des Tournelles +was very strong, and filled with the bravest of the English army. But +Joan replied, "I, too, have been at council with God, and we shall fight +to-morrow." + +They did fight, the English with fury, the French "as if they believed +themselves immortal." After three hours of warfare Joan saw her men +hesitate under the fierce attack of the enemy. She seized a ladder, +planted it against a wall, and began to ascend it. At that moment an +English arrow struck her between the neck and shoulder, and she fell to +the ground. The disheartened soldiers bore her from the field, and +dressed her wound, from which she extracted the arrow with her own hand, +shedding womanly tears meanwhile. After the wound was dressed, a vision +came to her, and with sudden strength she remounted her horse and rode +back to battle. + +The English, believing her nearly dead from her wound, were terrified to +see her return, and lost courage from that moment; while the French, +electrified by her unexpected presence, fought with such zeal that +before nightfall the maid led her army into Orleans crowned with +triumph. It was only seven days since she had entered the city, and Joan +had already verified her assertion that she could and would "raise the +siege of Orleans." + +The indolent and unworthy dauphin, however, refused to go to Rheims and +be crowned and so fulfil the second part of Joan's mission. He said +there were ports along the Loire which needed to be taken first so the +girl general laid out her campaign and added Beaugency and Jargeau to +her other conquests. The English had become filled with superstitious +fear of her power, attributing it to the devil. But the Dauphin of +France still dallied with light women in his castle, and treated Joan +with coldness and suspicion. The army now became so unanimous in the +desire that the king should go to Rheims, that he finally, with +reluctance, consented. On July 16th, after having taken Troyes and +Chalons on the way, the French army entered Rheims; and there, on the +following day, the dauphin was anointed with holy oil and received the +crown of France. + +Happy, but modest and humble in her happiness, rejoicing only in the +prosperity of the king and the country, the sublime saviour of her land +knelt before her sovereign after the ceremonies were concluded and said, +"Gentle king, I wish now that I might return toward my father and my +mother, to keep my flocks and my herds as heretofore." Alas for the +happiness of the poor girl and the honor of two countries, that her +request was not granted! + +Joan's father was present on this occasion, and the inn where he lodged +at the king's expense, and the cathedral where the dauphin was crowned, +still exist in Rheims. + +[Illustration: Joan of Arc.] + +During all Joan's life as a soldier and general, she exhibited a most +touching humanity toward the conquered enemy. She would spring from her +horse to sooth the wounds of a suffering English soldier, and it is +recorded of her that she carried a dying enemy in her arms to a +confessor, and remained with him till his soul took flight. The people +adored her, the soldiers of her army idolized her, and the king realized +that she was of too great value to him to permit her to go in peace to +her old humble home. So Joan remained, asking that the king would +remove all impost from the village of Domremy, in place of bestowing a +title upon her family as he offered to do. For three hundred years her +request was obeyed. From this time to the tragic end, the story of +Joan's life is a hard one to relate. Although we are nearing the fifth +centennial of her birth, the recital of her sufferings and death must +still wring tears from every heart which is not made of stone. The +feeling of jealousy which great success, of even the most worthy and +noble souls, arouses in meaner natures, had already sprung up against +Joan. This feeling increased as the days passed by and she added more +and more to her glory by the conquest of Laon, Soissons, Compiègne, and +Beauvais. Paris was next besieged, and here Joan was seriously wounded, +an event which depressed the king and the army. + +Her wound disabled her from action, and she was left lying on the field +until evening, neglected, and seemingly forgotten. Already conscious of +the growing sentiment of jealousy among her officers, this final proof +of their indifference to her fate must have been more painful to her +pure and lofty mind than the physical agony she was enduring. But even +lying there, wounded, she cheered on the men as they passed her in the +combat, and revived their failing courage. + +She was enabled to resume action the next day; her plans were all +perfected, and judging from her past triumphs we can but suppose victory +would have attended her, had not that most remarkable mandate arrived +from the king, commanding the French army to retreat to Saint-Denis. + +To the undying shame of his memory be it said that Charles VII. entered +into a plot, with jealous enemies of Joan, to force failure upon her. +The people and the soldiers had grown to believe her infallible; the +king and his favorites determined that she should be proven fallible. +They deemed the country sufficiently safe, the army sufficiently strong, +to enable them to go on now and claim victories of their own, without +having their divine deliverer share the glory. + +Next to the crime of Isabel, who sold her son and her country to the +enemy, this base act of Charles VII. stands unparalleled in infamy. So +discouraged and heart-broken was Joan over the conduct of the king, +although she did not understand the deep-laid plot against her, that she +resolved to abandon the life of a soldier and enter the church of +Saint-Denis. She hung up her armor and her sword, but when the king +heard of this he sent for her to return to the army. He was not yet sure +of himself, and he wanted her where he could call upon her if need be. + +Joan returned with reluctance; "her Voices" counselled her to keep to +her resolution; but she was so accustomed to obey the king, that for the +first time she allowed an earthly voice to overrule the counsels of her +heavenly guides. And from this hour her star set; from this hour her +path led into darkness. Soon after her return to the army she broke the +magic sword with which she had achieved so many conquests; the Voices, +too, were silent, and all this troubled her. The king kept her away from +all active warfare, and she grew restive and impatient with her life of +inaction. The army, which under her influence had been reformed of half +its vices, now separated from her by the king's orders and fell into +the most wild excesses. Joan prayed and pleaded to be allowed to go +again into combat, and finally the king allowed her to do so; but such +success attended her, and such enthusiasm seized upon her soldiers, that +the jealous favorites of the king were alarmed. They resolved to prevent +any further triumphs for her, but to pretend great friendship and +admiration meanwhile. + +The king was influenced to bestow honors and titles upon her family, and +to present her two brothers, who had fought in the army, with swords of +silver; all of which Joan received coldly and with indifference, for +meantime she was suffering such agony as only so brave and valiant a +soul could suffer in being kept from her duty. + +After four months of this galling life, Joan could not fail to see that +she was the victim of a jealous plot. What suffering to a nature so +honest and self-sacrificing as hers, to discover that the king for whom +she had achieved such miracles, was a coward and a hypocrite, unworthy +of her respect and faith. + +But it was surely this knowledge which actuated Joan to take a few brave +men, and without orders from the king, to go in aid of William de Flavy, +commander of the fortress of Compiègne, who was in distress. She set +out, and on the evening of May 24th, headed an attack upon the English. +She fought nobly and well, but before the close of the combat, she was +obliged to sound a retreat, and as she was attempting to escape through +the half-closed city gate, an English archer came up behind and pulled +her to the ground. + +Joan of Arc was a prisoner. The joy of the English was overwhelming--the +despair of the French correspondingly great; and that despair gave place +to anger when it was learned that William de Flavy, the man whom she had +tried to defend, had betrayed her into the hands of the English because +he was jealous of her. This man's wife slew him when she learned of his +base act, and was pardoned for the crime when she told its cause. In all +the cities which Joan had delivered from English control, public prayers +and processions were ordered; people walked barefooted and bareheaded, +chanting the _Miserere_, in the streets of Tours. She was imprisoned +first at Beaurevoir, then in the prison of Arras, and from there she was +taken to Le Crotoy. + +It was customary in those days to exchange prisoners taken in arms, or +to ransom them; but the English had suffered such loss and defeat +through Joan that they determined she should die. + +Their only way to do this without publicly dishonoring themselves, was +to accuse her of being a witch, and to compel the "religious" tribunal +of her own land to become her murderer. + +During the first six months of her captivity Joan was treated humanely; +but the defeat of the English at Compiègne awoke anew the superstitions +of the English, who believed that, though a prisoner, she exercised her +spell upon the army; and she was taken to Le Crotoy, and cast into an +iron cage with chains upon her wrists and ankles. After being starved, +insulted, and treated with the most hellish brutality in prison for +nearly ten months, the saviour of France was brought before a tribunal +of men, all of them her enemies. There were three days of this shameful +pretence of a trial, and the holy maid, deserted by those whom she had +crowned with glory and benefits, was trapped into signing a paper which +she supposed only a form of abjuration, but which proved to be a +confession of all the crimes with which she was charged; and after she +was returned to her dungeon this was exhibited to the people to convince +them of her guilt and turn the tide of public sympathy. The Bishop of +Beauvais then sentenced her to prison for the rest of her life, on +condition that she resume woman's apparel; yet one morning she woke to +find no dress in her prison but the clothes she had worn in battle. No +sooner had she donned these than the bishop appeared, and accused her of +disobedience to the orders of the Church, and he fixed her execution for +the next day. + +When the horrible fact was made known to her that she was to be burned +at the stake in the market-place of Rouen, before a multitude of people, +she burst into piercing cries of agony. Her physical strength, courage, +and brain-power were all impaired by the months of abuse she had +endured, and her very soul was torn by the neglect and indifference +which the base king manifested toward her. Up to the very last hour she +had believed deliverance would come, but it came only through death. +Never since that spectacle of the bleeding Nazarene upon the Cross of +Calvary, has the world beheld so terrible a picture of crucified +innocence and purity as that of Joan of Arc, the saviour of France, +burning in the market-place of Rouen. With her dying breath she cried +out that the Voices were real, and that she had obeyed God in listening +to their counsels. + +Her last word was the name of--Jesus. + +[Signature: Ella Wheeler Wilcox.] + + + + +HANS GUTENBERG + +By ALPHONSE DE LAMARTINE + +(1400-1468) + + +Hans Gensfleisch Gutenberg von Sorgeloch was a young patrician--born at +Mainz, a free and wealthy city on the banks of the Rhine, in the year +1400. His father, Friel Gensfleisch, married Else von Gutenberg, who +gave her name to her second son John. + +It is probable that if Mainz, his country, had not been a free city, +this young gentleman would have been unable to conceive or to carry into +execution his invention. Despotism and superstition equally insist upon +silence; they would have stifled the universal and resistless echo which +genius was about to create for written words. Printing and liberty were +both to spring from the same soil and the same climate. + +[Illustration: Hans Gutenberg.] + +Mainz, Strasburg, Worms, and other municipal towns on the Rhine, then +governed themselves, under the suzerainty of the empire, as small +federal republics, like Florence, Genoa, Venice, and the other states of +Italy. The nobility warlike, the burgesses increasing in importance, and +the laboring population vacillating between these two classes, who +alternately oppressed and courted it, from time to time, here as +everywhere, fought for supremacy. Outbursts of civil war, excited by +vanity or interest, and in which the victory remained sometimes with the +patricians, sometimes with the burgesses, and at others with the +artisans, made them alternately victors, conquered, and proscribed. This +is the history of all cities, of all republics, and of all empires. +Mainz, was a miniature of Rome or Athens, only the proscribed party had +not the sea to cross to escape from their country; they went outside the +walls, and crossed the Rhine; those of Strasburg going to Mainz, and +those of Mainz to Strasburg, to wait until their party recovered power, +or until they were recalled by their fellow-citizens. + +In these intestine struggles of Mainz, the young Gutenberg, himself a +gentleman, and naturally fighting for the cause most holy in a son's +eyes--that of his father--was defeated by the burgesses, and banished, +with all the knights of his family, from the territory of Mainz. His +mother and sisters alone remained there in possession of their property, +as innocent victims on whom the faults of the nobility should not be +visited. His first banishment was short, and peace was ratified by the +return of the refugees. A vain quarrel about precedence in the public +ceremonies on the occasion of the solemn entry of the Emperor Robert, +accompanied by the Archbishop Conrad, into Mainz, refreshed the +animosity of the two classes in 1420, and young Gutenberg, at the age of +nineteen, under went his second exile. + +The free city of Frankfort now offered itself as a mediator between the +nobles and plebeians of Mainz, and procured their recall on condition of +the governing magistracy being equally shared between the high classes +and the burgesses. But Gutenberg, whether his valor in the civil war had +rendered him more obnoxious and more hostile to the burgesses; whether +his pride, fostered by the traditions of his race, could not submit +patiently to an equality with plebeians; or whether, more probably, ten +years of exile and study at Strasburg had already turned the bent of his +thoughts to a nobler subject than the vain honors of a free city, +refused to return to his country. His mother, who watched over her +son's interest at Mainz, petitioned the republic to allow him to receive +as a pension a small portion of the revenues of his confiscated +possessions. The republic replied that the young patrician's refusal to +return to his country was a declaration of war, and that the republic +did not pay its enemies. Gutenberg, persisting in his voluntary exile +and in his disdain, lived on the secret remittances of his mother. + +But at Strasburg he already enjoyed so great a popularity for his +disposition and his acquirements, that one day, when the chief +magistrate of Mainz was passing the territory of Strasburg, he was +arrested by the friends of Gutenberg, shut up in a castle, and did not +recover his liberty until the city of Mainz had signed a treaty which +restored the exile his patrimony. Thus this youth, the great tribune of +the human mind, whose invention was destined to destroy forever the +prejudices of race, and to restore, in after-times, liberty and civil +equality to all the plebeians of the world, began his life, as yet +unrecognized, at the head of the patrician party of his country, in +these struggles between the privileged castes and the people. Fortune +seemed to delight in the contrast. But Gutenberg's wisdom, increasing +with his age, was afterward destined to reunite the people and nobility, +who looked on each other as enemies. + +The restoration of his goods allowed young Gutenberg to satisfy his +literary, religious, and artistic tastes, by travelling from town to +town to study monuments, and visit men of all conditions celebrated for +their science, their art, or even their trade. The artisans of Germany +then held nearly the same rank as the artists. It was at the time when +the trades, scarcely known, were confused with the arts, and when the +most humble professions produced their earliest masterpieces, which, on +account of their novelty, were looked upon as prodigies. Gutenberg +travelled alone, on foot, carrying a knapsack containing books and +clothes, like a mere student visiting the schools, or a journeyman +looking for a master. He thus went through the Rhenish provinces, Italy, +Switzerland, Germany, and lastly, Holland, not without an object, like a +man who lets his imagination wander at the caprice of his footsteps, but +carrying everywhere with him a fixed idea, an unchanging will led by a +presentiment. This guiding star was the thought of spreading the word of +God and the Bible among a vaster number of souls. + +Thus it was religion which, in this young wandering apostle, was seeking +the soil wherein to sow a single seed, of which the fruit hereafter was +to be a thousand various grains. It is the glory of printing that it was +given to the world by religion, not by industry. Religious enthusiasm +was alone worthy to give birth to the instrument of truth. + +What mechanical processes Gutenberg may until then have revolved in his +mind, remains unknown. Whatever they were, chance effaced them all, and +brought him at once upon his great discovery. One day, at Haarlem, in +Holland, the verger of the cathedral, named Lawrence Koster, with whom +he had established friendly relations, showed him in the sacristy a +Latin grammar, curiously wrought in engraved letters on a wooden board, +for the instruction of the seminarists. Chance, that gratuitous teacher, +had produced this approach to printing. + +The poor and youthful sacristan of Haarlem was in love. He used to walk +on holydays to the spring outside the town, and sit under the willows by +the canals, to indulge in his day-dreams. His heart full of the image of +his bride, he used to amuse himself, in true lover's fashion, by +engraving with his knife the initials of his mistress and himself, +interlaced, as an emblem of the union of their hearts and of their +interwoven destinies. But, instead of cutting these ciphers on the bark, +and leaving them to grow with the tree, like the mysterious ciphers so +often seen on the trees in the forests and by the brooks, he engraved +them on little blocks of willow stripped of their bark, and still +reeking with the moisture of their sap; and he used to carry them, as a +remembrance of his dreams and a pledge of affection, to his lady-love. + +One day, having thus cut some letters on the green wood, probably with +more care and perfection than usual, he wrapped up his little work in a +piece of parchment, and brought it with him to Haarlem. On opening it +next day to look at his letters, he was astonished to see the cipher +perfectly reproduced in brown on the parchment by the relieved portion +of the letters, the sap having oozed out during the night and imprinted +its image on the envelope. This was a discovery. He engraved other +letters on a large platter, replaced the sap by a black liquid, and thus +obtained the first proof ever printed. But it would only print a single +page. The movable variety and endless combinations of characters +infinitely multiplied, to meet the vast requirements of literature, were +wanting. The invention of the poor sacristan would have covered the +surface of the earth with plates engraved or sculptured in relief, but +would not have been a substitute for a single case of movable type. +Nevertheless, the principle of the art was developed in the sacristy of +Haarlem, and we might hesitate whether to attribute the honor of it to +Koster or Gutenberg, if its invention had not been with one the mere +accidental discovery of love and chance, and, in the other, the +well-earned victory of patience and genius. + +At the sight of this coarse plank, the lightning from heaven flashed +before the eyes of Gutenberg. He looked at the plank, and, in his +imagination, analyzed it, decomposed it, put it together again, changed +it, divided it, readjusted it, reversed it, smeared it with ink, placed +the parchment on it, and pressed it with a screw. The sacristan, +wondering at his long silence, was unwittingly present at this +development of an idea over which his visitor had brooded in vain for +the last ten years. When Gutenberg retired, he carried a new art with +him. + +On the morrow, like a man who possesses a treasure, and knows neither +rest nor sleep until he has hidden it safely, Gutenberg left Haarlem, +hastened up the Rhine until he reached Strasburg, shut himself up in his +work-room, fashioned his own tools, tried, broke, planned, rejected, +returned to his plans, and again rejected them, only to return to them +again; and ended by secretly executing a fortunate proof upon parchment +with movable wooden types, bored through the side with a small hole, +strung together and kept close by a thread, like square beads on a +chaplet, each with a letter of the alphabet cut in relief on one +side--the first printer's alphabet, coarse, but wonderful--the first +company of twenty-four letters, which multiplied like the herds of the +patriarchs, until at last they covered the whole earth with written +characters, in which a new and immaterial element--human thought--became +incarnate. + +Gutenberg, perceiving at the first glance the immense social and +industrial bearing of his invention, felt that his weak hand, short +life, and moderate property would be spent in vain on such a work. He +experienced two opposite wants--the necessity of associating with +himself persons to assist in meeting the expenses and in executing the +mechanical labor, and the necessity of concealing from his assistants +the secret and real object of their labors, for fear lest his invention +might be divulged and pirated, and the glory and merit of his discovery +taken from him. He cast his eyes on the nobility and rich gentry of his +acquaintance at Strasburg and Mainz. He probably met with rebuffs from +all quarters, on account of the prejudice then prevailing that +handicrafts were derogatory to a gentleman. He was, therefore, obliged +to sink his rank, become a workman, associate with artisans, and mix +with the people, in order to raise the people to the high level of +morality and intelligence. + +Under the pretence of working together at _a new and marvellous craft_, +such as jewelry, clock-making, and grinding and setting precious stones, +he entered into a deed of partnership with two wealthy inhabitants of +Strasburg, Andrew Dritzchen and Hans Riffe, bailiff of Lichtenau; and +afterward with Faust, a goldsmith and banker of Mainz, whose name, +confounded with that of Faustus, the wondrous sorcerer of German fable, +the master of mystery, and the friend of the Evil One, caused the +invention of printing to be attributed to magic; and, lastly, with +Hulmann, whose brother had just established the first paper-mill at +Strasburg. + +In order the more effectually to conceal from his partners the real +object of his pursuit, Gutenberg joined them in several artistic and +secondary enterprises. Continuing in secret his mechanical researches on +printing, he employed himself publicly in these other occupations. He +taught Dritzchen the art of cutting precious stones. He himself polished +Venetian glass for mirrors, or cut pieces of it into facets, setting +them in copper frames ornamented with wooden figurines representing +personages from history or fable, from the Bible or the Testament. These +articles, which found sale at the fair of Aix-la-Chapelle, kept up the +funds of the association, and assisted Gutenberg in the secret expenses +reserved for accomplishing and perfecting his design. + +To conceal it the better also from the restless curiosity of the public, +who began to circulate a suspicion of witchcraft against him, Gutenberg +left the town, and established his workshop in the ruins of an old +deserted monastery, called the Convent of St. Arbogast. The solitude of +the place, only inhabited by the houseless poor of the suburbs, covered +his first attempts. + +In a corner of one of the vast cloisters of the monastery, occupied by +his partners for their less secret labors, Gutenberg had reserved for +himself a cell, always closed with lock and bolt, and to which none but +himself ever had access. He was supposed to go there to draw the +designs, arabesques, and figurines for his jewelry and the frames of his +glasses; but he passed his days and sleepless nights there, wearing +himself out in the pursuit of his invention. There it was that he +engraved his movable types in wood, and projected casting them in metal, +and studied hard to find the means of inclosing them in _forms_, whether +of wood or of iron, to make the types into words, phrases, and lines, +and to leave spaces on the paper. There it was that he invented colored +mediums, oleaginous and yet drying, to reproduce these characters, +brushes and dabbers to spread the ink on the letters, boards to hold +them, and screws and weights to compress them. Months and years were +spent, as well as his own fortune and the funds of the firm, in these +persevering experiments, with alternate success and disappointment. + +At length, having made a model of a press, which seemed to him to +combine all the requirements of printing, according to his ideas at that +time, he concealed it under his cloak, and walking to the town, went to +a skilful turner in wood and metal, named Conrad Saspach, who lived in +the Mercer's Lane, asking him to make the machine of full size. He +requested the workman to keep it secret, merely telling him that it was +a machine by the help of which he proposed to produce some masterpieces +of art and mechanism, of which the marvels should be known in due time. + +The turner, taking the model in his hands, and turning it backward and +forward with the smile of contempt that a skilful artist usually puts on +when looking at a rough specimen, said, somewhat scornfully, "But it is +just simply a press that you are asking me for, Master Hans!" + +"Yes," replied Gutenberg, with a grave and enthusiastic tone, "it is a +press, certainly, but a press from which shall soon flow in +inexhaustible streams the most abundant and most marvellous liquor that +has ever flowed to relieve the thirst of man! Through it God will spread +his Word. A spring of pure truth shall flow from it; like a new star, it +shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore +unknown to shine among men." He retired. The turner, who understood not +these words, made the machine, and delivered it at the monastery of +Arbogast. + +This was the first printing-press. + +As soon as he was in possession of his press, Gutenberg began printing. +Little is known of the first works which he sent out; but the strongly +religious disposition of the inventor leaves no doubt concerning the +nature of the labors to which he devoted the first-fruits of his art. +They were, to a certainty, religious books. The art invented for the +sake of God, and by his inspiration, began with his worship. His later +publications at Mainz are a proof of it; the divine songs of the +Psalmist, and the celebrated Latin Bible, were the first works issued at +Mainz from the machine invented by Gutenberg, and applied to the use of +the most sacred powers of man, lyrical praise of his Maker, and +lamentation for the woes of earth. Under the hands of this pious and +unfortunate man, praise and prayer were the first voices of the press. +The press ought ever to be proud of it. + +[Illustration: Gutenberg's Invention.] + +But great tribulation awaited him after his triumph. We have seen that +the necessity of procuring funds obliged him to take partners. The +necessity that subsequently arose of getting assistance for the +multifarious labor of a great printing establishment obliged him to +confide his occupation, and even the secret of his process, to his +partners and to a number of workmen. His partners, tired of supplying +funds to an enterprise which, for want of perfection, was not then +remunerative, refused to persevere in the ungrateful occupation. +Gutenberg begged them not to abandon him at the very moment that fortune +and glory were within his grasp. They consented to make fresh advances, +but only on condition of sharing completely his secret, his profits, his +property, and his fame. + +He sold his fame to procure success to his work. The name of Gutenberg +disappeared. The firm absorbed the inventor, who soon became a mere +workman in his own workshop. It was a parallel to the case of +Christopher Columbus brought back in irons on board his own vessel, by a +crew to whom he had opened a new world. + +This was not all. The heirs of one of the partners brought an action +against him to contest his invention, his property, and his right of +carrying on the work. They compelled him to appear before the judges at +Strasburg, to make him submit to some more complete and more legal +spoliation than the voluntary abandonment he had himself acknowledged. +His perplexity before the court was extreme. To justify himself, it was +necessary to enter into all the technical details of his art, which he +did not as yet wish to make completely public, reserving to himself, at +least, the secret of his hopes. The judges, being inquisitive, pressed +him with insidious questions, the answers to which would have exposed +the secret of all his processes. He evaded them, preferring an adverse +decision to the publication of his art. To succeed in penetrating the +secret of the discovery which filled people's imaginations, the judges +summoned his most confidential workmen, and required them to give +evidence of what they knew. These men, simple-minded, yet faithful and +strongly attached to Gutenberg, refused to reveal anything. Their +master's secret was safer in their hearts than in the breasts of his +more grasping associates. None of the great mysteries of the art +transpired. Gutenberg, ruined, condemned, perhaps banished, retired +alone and in poverty to Mainz, his native place, to recommence his +labors and begin his life and fame anew. + +He was still young, and the report of his lawsuit at Strasburg had made +his fame known all over Germany, but he returned a workman to a city +which he had quitted as a knight. Humiliation, poverty, and glory +contended with each other in his fate and in the behavior of his +fellow-citizens. Love alone recognized him for what he had been, and for +what he was one day to become. + +On his return to Mainz, having been relieved from degradation and ruin +by the woman he loved, as Mohammed was by his first wife, Gutenberg gave +himself entirely up to his art, entered into partnership with Faust and +Schoeffer, Faust's son-in-law; established offices at Mainz, and +published, still under the name of the firm, Bibles and Psalters, of +remarkable perfection of type. + +Schoeffer had for a long time carried on the business of a scrivener, +and a trade in manuscripts in Paris. His travels, and his intimacy with +the artists of that town, had made him acquainted with mechanical +processes for working in metals, which he adapted, on his return to +Mainz, to the art of printing. These new means enabled him to cast +movable leaden types in a copper matrix, with greater precision than +before, and thus to give great neatness to the letters. It was by this +new process that the Psalter, the first book bearing a date, was printed +in 1457. Soon afterward the Mainz Bible, recognized as a masterpiece of +art, was produced under the direction of Gutenberg, from types founded +by Peter Schoeffer's process. + +The tendency of the new art, which began by cheapening sacred books +under the auspices of the Church alone, escaped, during the first years +of its existence, the notice of the Roman court, which saw an auxiliary +in what it afterward considered as an opponent. + +"Among the number of blessings which we ought to praise God for having +vouchsafed during your pontificate," says a dedication in the time of +Paul II., "is this invention, which enables the poorest to procure +libraries at a low price. Is it not a great glory to your Holiness, that +volumes which used to cost _one hundred pieces of gold_ are now to be +bought for four, or even less, and that the fruits of genius, heretofore +the prey of the worms and buried in dust, begin under your reign to +arise from the dead, and to multiply profusely over all the earth?" + +Meanwhile, Faust the banker, and Schoeffer the workman, Gutenberg's new +partners, were not long in giving way, like his former partner, one +Mentel or Metelin at Strasburg, to the temptation of absorbing by +degrees Gutenberg's glory, the most tempting of all possessions, because +of its immortality. Like many others, they hoped to deceive posterity, +if not their own contemporaries. After recognizing, in the Epistle +Dedicatory prefixed to the German translation of Livy, printed by Hans +Schoeffer, and addressed to the Emperor Maximilian, "that the art of +printing was invented at Mainz by that sublime mechanician Hans von +Gutenberg," they forgot this confession, and seven years later assumed +to themselves all the merit and honor of the discovery. + +A short time afterward, the Emperor Maximilian, erecting the printers +and compositors into a species of intellectual priesthood, relieved them +by the nobility of their occupation from all degradation of rank. He +ennobled the art and the artists together; he authorized them to wear +robes embroidered with gold and silver, which nobles only had a right to +wear, and gave them for armorial bearings an eagle with his wings spread +over a globe, a symbol of the flight of written thoughts, and of its +conquest of the world. + +But Gutenberg was no longer upon earth to enjoy the possession of that +intellectual world, religious and political, of which he had only had a +glimpse, like Moses, in the vision of his dream in the monastery of St. +Arbogast. Despoiled by his partners of his property and of his fame; +expelled again, and for the last time, from his country by poverty, his +only consolation being that he was followed by his wife, who remained +faithful through all his troubles; deprived by death of all his +children; advanced in years, without bread, and soon afterward, by his +wife's decease, a widower, he was received by the Elector of Nassau, +the generous Adolphus. The elector created him his counsellor of state +and chamberlain, in order to enjoy in an honorable familiarity the +conversation of this surpassing genius, who was afterward to hold +converse with all times and all places. This shelter afforded to +Gutenberg sheds everlasting lustre on Nassau and its prince. We meet in +history with instances where a generous hospitality has given happiness +and immortal fame to the most insignificant potentates and to the +smallest of states. + +Gutenberg continued printing with his own hands, at Nassau, under the +eyes of his Mæcenas, the elector, during several years of peace and +quiet. He died at the age of sixty-eight, leaving his sister no +inheritance, but bequeathing to the world the empire of the human mind, +discovered and achieved by a workman. + +"I bequeath," he says in his will, "to my sister all the books which I +printed at the monastery of St. Arbogast." The poor inventor's only +legacy to his surviving relative was the common property of almost all +inventors like himself--wasted youth, a persecuted life, a name +aspersed, toil, watchings, and the oblivion of his contemporaries. + + + + +WILLIAM CAXTON + +(1412-1491) + +[Illustration: William Caxton.] + + +William Caxton, to whom England owes the introduction of printing, was +born, according to his own statement, in the Weald of Kent. Of the date +of his birth nothing is known with certainty, though Oldys places it in +1412. Lewis and Oldys suppose that between his fifteenth and eighteenth +years he was put apprentice to one Robert Large, a mercer or merchant of +considerable eminence, who was afterward, successively, sheriff and lord +mayor of London, and who upon his death, in 1441, remembered Caxton in +his will by a legacy of 20 marks. Caxton at this time had become a +freeman of the Company of Mercers. His knowledge of business, however, +induced him, either upon his own account or as agent of some merchant, +to travel to the Low Countries for a short time. In 1464 we find him +joined in a commission with one Robert Whitehill, to continue and +confirm a treaty of trade and commerce between Edward IV. and Philip, +Duke of Burgundy; or if they find it necessary, to make a new one. They +are styled in it ambassadors and special deputies. This commission at +least affords a proof that Caxton had acquired a reputation for +knowledge of business. Seven years afterward Caxton describes himself as +leading a life of ease, when, "having no great charge or occupation," he +set about finishing the translation of Raoul le Fevre's "Recueil des +Histoires de Troye," which he had commenced two years before, in 1469. +The original was the first book he printed, and this translation the +third. Of Caxton's pursuits and travels abroad, we know little more than +that in his peregrinations he confined himself, for the most part, to +the countries of Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zealand, and finally +entered into the service, or at least the household, of Margaret, +Duchess of Burgundy, who encouraged him to finish his translation of Le +Fevre's "History of Troy," assisted him with her criticisms upon his +English, and amply rewarded him upon the completion of his labor. From +the prologues and epilogues of this work we discover that he was now +somewhat advanced in years, and that he had learnt to exercise the art +of printing, but by what step he had acquired this knowledge cannot be +discovered; his types only show that he acquired it in the Low +Countries. He does not appear to have seen any of the beautiful +productions of the Roman, Venetian, and Parisian presses before he had +caused his own font of letters to be cut. + +The original of Raoul's "History," the "Oration of John Russell on +Charles, Duke of Burgundy, being created a Knight of the Garter," and +the "Translation" of Raoul, were, as far as we know, Caxton's first +three works; the last finished in 1471. A "Stanza," by Wynkyn de Worde, +notices an edition of "Bartholomoeus, de Proprietatibus Rerum," as +printed by Caxton at Cologne (about 1470), but the actual existence of +this edition is unknown. Nor has more certain information yet been +obtained of the exact period of Caxton's return to his native country. +The usual supposition has been that he brought the art of printing into +England in 1474, and this date is indicated by the figures which are +united in the centre of his device as a printer. In 1477, however, he +had undoubtedly quitted the Low Countries and taken up his residence in +the vicinity of Westminster Abbey, where and in which year he printed +his "Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers." Stowe says he first +exercised his business in an old chapel near the entrance of the abbey; +but a very curious placard, a copy of which, in Caxton's largest type, +is now at Oxford in the late Mr. Douce's library, shows that he printed +in the Almonry. It is as follows: "If it plese any man spirituel or +temporel to bye ony Pyes of two and thre comemoracions of Salisburi vse +emprynted, after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and +truly correct, late hym come to Westmonester in to the Almonesrye at the +reed pole and he shal have them good chepe. Supplico stet cedula." +According to Bagford, Caxton's office was afterward removed to King +Street. + +[Illustration: The First Sheet from Caxton's Press.] + +From the evidence of Wynkyn de Worde, in the colophon of his edition of +"Vitæ Patrum," 1495, it appears that these "Lives of the Fathers" were +"translated out of French into English by William Caxton, of +Westminster, lately dead," and that he finished the work "at the last +day of his life." His death, however, seems fixed, by two or three +entries in the parish accounts of St. Margaret, Westminster, to the +year 1491 or 1492, in which we read, "Item: atte bureyng of William +Caxton for iiij, torches vj^s viij^d. Item: for the belle at same +Bureyng vj^d." Wynkyn de Worde no doubt referred to this time. + +Caxton, Mr. Warton observes, by translating, or procuring to be +translated, a great number of books from the French, greatly contributed +to promote the state of literature in England. In regard to his types, +Mr. Dibdin says he appears to have made use of five distinct sets, or +fonts, of letters, which, in his account of Caxton's works, he has +engraved plates in fac-simile. Edward Rowe Mores, in his "Dissertation +upon English Typographical Founders and Foundries," says Caxton's letter +was originally of the sort called Secretary, and of this he had two +fonts; afterward he came nearer to the English face, and had three fonts +of Great Primer, a rude one which he used anno 1474, another something +better, and a third cut about 1482; one of Double Pica, good, which +first appears 1490; and one of Long Primer, at least nearly agreeing +with the bodies which have since been called by those names. All of +Caxton's works were printed in what are called black letter. + + + + +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS[9] + + [Footnote 9: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By A. R. SPOFFORD, LL.D. + +(1436-1506) + +[Illustration: Christopher Columbus.] + + +The discovery and the discoverer of America have furnished an almost +inexhaustible theme for the critic, the biographer, and the historian. +In the year 1892 there was celebrated an event which has come by common +consent to be regarded as a world-famous epoch, worthy to be held in +everlasting remembrance. We commemorated the man whose discovery almost +doubled the extent of the habitable globe. + +The life, the voyages, the brilliant triumphs, and the mournful end of +Columbus are already familiar to most readers. To recount them at length +would be here a needless repetition. Let us rather attempt to glance at +some of the historic disputes involving the character and acts of the +great discoverer, to sketch briefly the sources of information about +him, and to characterize some of the more important writings upon the +subject. + +There is no lack of biographical material concerning the discoverer of +America. He has left memorials of his personality and life-history more +abundant than most of the men who have influenced their age. There are +more than sixty authentic letters of Columbus in existence. There are +long narratives of his expeditions and discoveries, by persons who knew +him more or less intimately. There is an extended biography of him +written by his own son, Ferdinand Columbus, or from materials furnished +by him. There are numerous documents and state papers authenticating his +acts, his privileges, and his dignities. And yet, with all the wealth of +material, so copious upon his character and his career, it would seem, +from recent developments, that the true discoverer of America is yet to +be discovered. + +Among the many lives of Columbus that have been written, there exist +some twenty-five in the English language. Of these two or three only +have any historical or critical value. The mass of biographies, both +English and American, are mere echoes or abridgments, in other forms of +language, of the great work of Washington Irving, first published in +1828. This book was written in Spain, and based upon collections of +documents (manuscript and printed) not previously used by biographers. +Hence its value as the most copious and systematic life of Columbus +which had appeared in any language. The finished and graceful style +which characterizes all the works of its accomplished author gave it a +high place in literature, which it has maintained for more than half a +century, being constantly reprinted. + +Next in point of time to Irving, though treating Columbus with less +fulness of detail, came the polished historian Prescott, whose "History +of Ferdinand and Isabella" was published in 1837. This ardent and +laborious scholar was, like Irving, constitutionally inclined to the +optimistic view of his leading characters. To magnify the virtues and to +minimize the faults of their heroes has always been the besetting sin of +biographers. The pomp and picturesque circumstance of the Spanish court, +the splendid administrative abilities of Ferdinand, the beauty, +amiability, and devoted piety of Isabella, are depicted in glowing +colors, but the crimes and cruelties which they sanctioned, while +condemned upon one page, are softly extenuated upon others. Columbus +appears as a romantic figure in history, the glory of whose successful +discovery atones for his many failings. + +Of the original sources of information about Columbus the most important +are: + +1. The great collection of original documents printed in Spanish by +Navarrete, in 1825-37, in five volumes, and partly reprinted in a French +translation in 1828. These contain the precious letters of Columbus, +many of which have been translated and recently published in English. + +2. The "Historia general de las Indias," of Oviedo, first published in +1535. + +3. The "Historia de las Indias," of the Spanish Bishop Las Casas, +composed in 1527 to 1561, which remained in manuscript until 1875, when +it was printed from the original Spanish. + +4. The "Letters and the Decades of Peter Martyr," written in part +contemporaneously with the discovery of America, and printed in Latin in +1530, and in English in 1555. + +5. The "Historia de las Reyes Catolicos," of Andres Bernaldez. + +6. The "Life of the Discoverer," by Ferdinand Columbus, first published +in 1571 at Venice, in Italian. + +The last five writers had personal knowledge or intercourse with +Columbus, while Las Casas, Oviedo, and Ferdinand had the advantage of +residence in America, and intimate knowledge of the aborigines, and of +the men and events of the period. + +Almost every item involved in the checkered and eventful life of +Columbus has afforded a fruitful theme for controversy. His birth, even, +is disputed, under stress of evidence, as falling anywhere between 1435 +and 1447--a discrepancy of twelve years. His birthplace is claimed by +more towns than that of Homer, although his own statement, that he was a +native of Genoa, has met general concurrence. His knowledge of +geography, astronomy, and navigation is asserted and denied with various +degrees of pertinacity. His treatment by the sovereigns of Portugal, +Castile, and Aragon is so far in question that irreconcilable +differences of opinion exist. How much Columbus really owed to the aid +of the crown, and how much to private enterprise, in fitting out his +expeditions of discovery, cannot be definitely ascertained. How far he +was hindered by the bigotry, or helped by the enlightenment of powerful +ecclesiastics, as at the council of Salamanca, is a theme of perennial +controversy. + +The island where he first landed is so far from being identified, that +many books have been written to prove the claims of this, that, or the +other gem of the sea to be the true land-fall of Columbus. His treatment +of the natives has been made the subject of unsparing denunciation and +of undiscriminating eulogy. His conduct toward his own, often mutinous, +crews is alternately lauded as humane and generous, or denounced as +arrogant and cruel, according to the sympathies or the point of view of +the critic. His imprisonment and attempted disgrace have been made the +theme of indignant comment and of extenuating apology. His moral +character and marital relations are subjects of irreconcilable +differences of judgment. His deep religious bias, so manifest in nearly +all his writings, has been praised as a mark of exalted merit by some +writers, and stigmatized by others as cant and superstition. The last +resting-place of his bones, even, is in doubt, which it required an +elaborate investigation by the Royal Academy of History of Madrid to +solve in favor of Havana, as against the cathedral of Santo Domingo; +though its report is still controverted, and M. A. Pinart has proved to +the satisfaction of many that a misprision took place and that the true +remains of Columbus still rest at Santo Domingo. The movement to +canonize the great discoverer has been championed with more zeal than +discretion by some over-ardent churchmen, while the too-evident human +frailties of the proposed candidate for the honors of sainthood have +inspired an abundant caution in the councils of the Vatican. + +On a subject fraught with so much inherent difficulty, contradictory +evidence, and conflict of opinion, he is on the safest ground who +candidly holds his judgment in reserve. In the light of the +keenly-sifted evidence which modern critical study has brought to bear, +the laudatory judgments of Irving and Prescott, rendered sixty years +ago, cannot stand wholly approved. + +Neither can a discerning reader accept the fulsome laudations of his +principal French biographer, Roselly de Lorgues, whose rhetorical +panegyrics and pious eulogies place its author in the front rank of the +canonizers. + +On the other hand, those who have taken the unfavorable view of +Columbus, have done their utmost to divest him of most of the honors +which the general voice of history has assigned him as America's +greatest discoverer. The established fact that parts of North America +were seen centuries before, though no permanent settlement nor +continuity of intercourse ensued, has been used to discredit him, though +he was undeniably the pioneer who set out with a plan to discover, and +did discover by design, what others found only by accident. His +geographical ideas were derived, they say, from Behaim and Toscanelli; +his nautical skill from Pinzon; his certainty of finding new lands from +Alonzo Sanchez; his courage and daring from some of his fellow-voyagers. + +We are pointed to his double reckoning on his first voyage, by which he +deceived his sailors as to their true distance from Spain, as evidence +of a false nature. He is charged with ambition, cupidity, and arrogance, +in demanding titles, dignities, and money as fruits of his discoveries. +He was, we are told, a fanatic, a visionary, a tyrant, a buccaneer, a +liar, and a slave-trader. He was proud, cruel, and vindictive. + +What manner of man, then, was this Columbus, with whose name the trump +of fame has been busy so long? As to his person, we have no verified +portrait, while the likenesses (of all periods) claiming to represent +his features, present irreconcilable differences. But here is the +description of him given by Herrera: "Columbus was tall of stature, +long-visaged, of a majestic aspect, his nose hooked, his eyes gray, of a +clear complexion, somewhat ruddy. He was witty and pleasant, well-spoken +and eloquent, moderately grave, affable to strangers, to his own family +mild. His conversation was discreet, which gained him the affection of +those he had to deal with, and his presence attracted respect, having an +air of authority and grandeur. He was a man of undaunted courage and +high thoughts, patient, unmoved in the many troubles and adversities +that attended him, ever relying on the Divine Providence." Gomara +describes him as "a man of good height, strong-limbed, with a long +countenance, fresh and rosy in aspect, somewhat given to anger, hardy in +exposure to fatigues." + +Benzoni says that Columbus was "a man of exalted intellect, of a +pleasant and ingenuous countenance." + +Bernaldez, the historian of Ferdinand and Isabella, who knew him +intimately in his later years, says "he was a man of very lofty genius, +and of marvellously honored memory." + +[Illustration: Columbus ridiculed at the Council of Salamanca.] + +With these personal characteristics, Columbus united a restless spirit, +a firm will, and a singularly enthusiastic temperament. The latter +faculty gave him a consuming zeal for his undertakings, which was as +rare as it proved ultimately successful in compassing his great +discovery. He was discouraged by no rebuffs, would take no denials. His +motto seemed to be never to despair, and never to let go. His spiritual +nature was as remarkable as his intellectual. Here, his imagination was +the predominant faculty. He firmly believed himself divinely +commissioned to find out the Indies, and to bring their inhabitants into +the fold of the true faith. He had early vowed to devote the profits of +his enterprise, if successful, to rescue the tomb of Christ from the +infidels. Himself a devout son of the Church, he fervently believed that +he had miraculous aid on many perilous occasions of his life. Humble +before God, he was sufficiently proud and independent before men. He +insisted upon conditions with the haughty sovereigns of Spain which they +deemed exacting, but the high views and tenacity of Columbus carried the +day, and his own terms were granted at last. He never forgot, in all his +subsequent trials and humiliations, that he was a Spanish admiral, and +Viceroy of the Indies. + +Such was the character of Columbus. Let us now look at his environment, +which in all men contributes so much to make or modify character. Born +in Genoa, the headquarters in that day of navigation, Columbus early +imbibed a passion for maritime affairs. His youthful days and nights +were given to the study of astronomy and of navigation. He was a trained +sailor and map-maker from his boyhood. He brooded over the problems +involved in the spherical form of the earth. He caught up all the hints +and allusions in classical and mediæval writers that came in his way, of +other lands than those already known. The Atlantis of Plato, and the +clear prediction in Seneca of another world in the west, fired his +imagination. He himself tells us that he voyaged to the Ultima Thule of +his day, which was Iceland, besides various expeditions in the Atlantic +and Mediterranean. + +The early fancies of isles in the western sea loomed up before his eyes, +and repeated themselves in his dreams. These visions were heightened by +that vague sense of wonder that is linked with the unknown. No wonder, +then, that Columbus, with a bent almost preternatural toward the +undiscovered regions of the globe, should dream of new lands, new men, +new scenery, and new wealth. But to his vivid imagination dreams became +realities, until he believed with all the force of his ardent nature +that he was divinely commissioned to be a discoverer. Hitherto the +Portuguese voyages familiar to Columbus had only skirted the coast of +Africa, and discovered the Cape Verde Islands and the Azores. It was not +till 1486, years after the idea of his western voyage took firm root in +his mind, that the Cape of Good Hope was at last doubled by Vasco da +Gama. All voyages prior to his had been only tentative and brief, slowly +creeping from headland to headland, or else finding new islands by being +drifted out of courses long familiar to mariners. + +It was the supreme merit of Columbus that he was the first to cut loose +from one continent to find another, and to steer boldly across an +unknown sea, in search of an unknown world. We need not belittle (still +less need we deny) the finding of Greenland and of other parts of North +America by the Norsemen in the ninth and tenth centuries. We may hail +Eric the Red and his stout son, Leif Ericson, as pioneers in what may be +termed coasting voyages of discovery. But the story of America gains as +little from these shadowy and abortive voyages as civilization has +gained from their fruitless results. + +On the first voyage of Columbus, he was more fortunate in the uncertain +elements which always affect sea voyages so overpoweringly than in some +of his later ones. His own vessel, with single deck, was about ninety +feet long, by a breadth of twenty feet. The Pinta, a faster sailer, and +the Nina (or "baby") were smaller caravels, and without decks, commanded +respectively by the brothers Martin and Vicente Pinzon. The three +vessels carried ninety persons, sailing September 6, 1492, running first +south to the Canaries, and then stretching straight westward on the +twenty-eighth parallel for what the admiral believed to be the coast of +Japan. Delightful weather favored the voyagers, but when, on the tenth +day out from Spain, the caravels struck into that wonderful stretch of +seaweed and grass, known as the Sargasso Sea, fear lest they should run +aground or soon be unable to sail in either direction took possession of +the crews. In five days the caravels ran into smooth water again. But as +their distance from Spain grew greater, the spirit of protest and mutiny +grew louder. Columbus needed all of his invincible constancy and +firmness of purpose to quell and to animate his despairing crews. At +last, October 21, 1492--day ever memorable in the annals of this +world--the unknown land rose from the bosom of the water. It was named +by its pious discoverer San Salvador--Holy Saviour. The charm of climate +and of landscape enchanted all, and fear and despondency gave way to +delight and joy and the most extravagant anticipations. The subsequent +history of this first voyage, the wreck of the admiral's flag-ship Santa +Maria, the base desertion of Pinzon, and his baffled attempt to +forestall Columbus in the credit of the discovery, the triumphal honors +paid to the successful admiral, and the pope's bull conferring upon +Spain all lands west of a meridian one hundred leagues from the +Azores--all this is familiar to most readers. The actual discoveries of +the first voyage included Cuba and Hispaniola (or Haiti), with some +little islands of the Bahama group, of small importance. + +On his second voyage Columbus found no difficulty in collecting +seventeen ships and 1,500 adventurers, so popular had the new way to the +Indies become when the way was once found. He set sail six months after +his return to Spain, or on September 15, 1493. He returned in June, +1496, after three years of explorations, interrupted by a long illness, +and having discovered Jamaica, Porto Rico, Santa Cruz, Antigua, +Montserrat, Dominica, and Guadaloupe. + +The third voyage began May 30, 1498, and embraced six vessels and 200 +men. Columbus struck southwestward from the Cape Verde Islands and ran +nearly to the equator, into a region of torrid heat, discovering +Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and the Gulf of Paria, and making his first +landing on the continent, at the Pearl Coast, near the mouth of the +Orinoco, in what is now Venezuela. This voyage witnessed many +disasters--the rebellion of Roldan, the severe prostration of the +admiral by fever, and his seizure and imprisonment in chains by the +infamous Bobadilla. + +The fourth and last voyage of Columbus, with four small caravels and 150 +men, was begun May 11, 1502. On this voyage he discovered Martinique and +the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Veragua, on the mainland, +returning to Spain, after untold disasters and miseries, on November 7, +1504. Then followed the weary struggle of the infirm old voyager to +secure justice and a part of his hard-earned benefits from the crown. +But Isabella had died, and Ferdinand, under the influence of the +hard-hearted and cruel bigot, Fonseca, postponed all the claims of +Columbus. He who had given a world died in poverty, a suppliant for the +means of an honorable existence. + +It is easy enough for the writers of the nineteenth century to criticise +the actors of the fifteenth; and learned scholars, sitting in luxurious +easy-chairs in great libraries, can pass swift and severe judgment upon +the acts and motives of Columbus. But let them go back four hundred +years, and divest themselves of the bias which the science of to-day +unconsciously inspires; let them quit the age of steam-engines, +telegraphs, democratic governments, printing-presses, and +Sunday-schools; let them orient themselves, and become Spaniards of +1492, instead of Americans of 1892; let them take the place of +Columbus--if they are gifted with imagination enough among their +manifold endowments to do it; let them think his thoughts, endure his +trials, cherish his resolves, encounter his rebuffs, overcome his +obstacles, launch out on his voyage, govern his mutinous crew, deal with +his savage and hostile tribes, combat the traitors in his camp, suffer +his shipwrecks, struggle with his disappointments, bear the ignominy of +his chains, see his visions, and pray his prayers. + +Behold him, launched on his uncertain voyage across the "sea of +darkness," in three little caravels, no larger than the modern yacht, +and far less seaworthy. Watch his devoted and anxious look, his solitary +self-communings, his all-night vigils under the silent stars. See his +motley crew, picked up at random in Palos streets, ignorant, +superstitious, and full of fears, dreading every added mile of the +voyage, and alarmed at the prevalent east winds which they thought would +never permit them to sail back to Spain; so that Columbus, on a contrary +head-wind springing up, thanked God with all the fervency of his pious +soul. Pursue his career in his later expeditions, hampered by the +mutinous vagabonds whom fate had thrust upon him as followers, many of +them desperadoes just out of jail. See his baffled endeavors to maintain +order and discipline among such a crew; to restrain their excesses, curb +their lawless acts of violence, and secure some semblance of decency in +their conduct toward the natives. Many of them, we read, were so given +over to idleness and sloth, that they actually made the islanders beasts +of burden, to carry them on their backs. It is a most unhappy fact that +the missionaries of the cross were often accompanied by bands of +miscreants, who wantonly broke every commandment in the decalogue and +trampled upon every precept of the gospel. See him in his last voyage, +beating about the rocks and shoals of an unknown archipelago, overtaken +by West India hurricanes, almost engulfed in waterspouts, scudding under +bare poles amid perilous breakers, blinded by lightning, deafened by +incessant peals of thunder, his crazy little barks tossed about like +cockle-shells in the raging waves, his anchors lost, his worm-eaten +vessels as full of holes as a honey-comb, two caravels abandoned, and +the two remaining run ashore at Jamaica, where Columbus built huts on +their decks to shelter his forlorn crew. See him stranded here, pressed +by hunger and want, visited by sickness and almost blindness, burning +with fever under the wilting, fiery heat of the tropics, desolate, +forsaken, infirm, and old. There he lay a whole year without relief, +until the cup of his misery was full. + +If Columbus was sometimes harsh and cruel, we are to remember that he +lived in an age when the most cruel and barbarous punishments were +common. There are numerous instances of his clemency both to natives and +to his revolted Spaniards, and he more than once jeopardized his own +life by sparing theirs. Among a treacherous and vindictive race, many of +whom were continually plotting for his overthrow, the admiral, endowed +with full power over the lives and acts of his followers, was compelled +to make examples of the worst, many of whom were criminals released from +the prisons of Spain. Like other fighters, he met treachery with +treachery, cruelty with cruelty. He had never learned to love his +enemies, nor to turn his cheek for the second blow. Show us the man +invested with absolute power, in that or in any former age, who abused +it less. Try him by the moral standards, not of our humane and +enlightened age, but by those of his own. Compared with the deeds of +darkness that were done by Bobadilla and Ovando, the governors who +replaced him, the reign of Columbus appears, even at its worst, to have +been mild and merciful. + +By the side of the atrocities and cruel massacres perpetrated under +Cortes in Mexico, and Pizarro in Peru, the few deeds of blood under +Columbus appear slight indeed. While we have no right to extenuate his +errors and his abuses, we have as little right to hold him to a standard +nowhere set up in his day. He had learned his ethics in a school which +taught that, for great and pious objects, the end justified the means. +In the ardor of his zeal for what he deemed the Christian faith, +Columbus committed many glaring mistakes and errors; but what +over-zealous apostle or reformer has failed to do the same? Columbus was +unduly eager after gold, they say; but in our advanced age, when that +which Virgil called "the accursed hunger for gold" pervades all ranks, +and our cities are nothing but great encampments of fortune-hunters, +does it lie in our mouths to condemn him? + +The age of Columbus took him as he was--all full of human imperfections +and frailties, but full also to overflowing with a great idea, and with +a will, a perseverance, a constancy, and a faith so sublime, as fairly +to conquer every obstacle, after a weary struggle of eighteen years, and +to carry forward his arduous enterprise to triumphant success. That the +great discoverer failed as a governor and administrator makes nothing +against his merits as a discoverer. That his light at last went out in +darkness--that the world he discovered brought nothing to Spain but +disappointment and Dead Sea ashes--that he dragged out a miserable old +age in rotten and unseaworthy ships, lying ill in the torrid heats of +the West Indies, racked with excruciating pain, and in absolute penury +and want--all this but adds point to a life so full of paradox that we +may almost pardon him for believing in miracles. After so much glory and +so much fame, his life darkened down to its dreary and pathetic close. +His ardent soul went at last where wicked governments cease from +troubling, and weary mariners are at rest. On May 20, 1506, worn out by +disease, anxieties, and labors, the great discoverer launched forth on +his last voyage of discovery, beyond the border of that unknown land +whose boundaries are hid from mortal ken. + +His place among the immortals is secure. By the power of the +unconquerable mind with which nature had endowed him, he achieved a fame +so imperishable that neither the arrows of malice, nor the shafts of +envy, nor the keenest pens of critics, nor the assaults of iconoclasts +can avail to destroy it. + +[Signature: A. R. Spofford.] + + + + +VASCO DA GAMA[10] + + [Footnote 10: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By Judge ALBION W. TOURGÉE + +(1460-1525) + +[Illustration: Vasco Da Gama.] + + +Vasco da Gama was the pet of fortune. Never did a man win immortality +more easily. As a discoverer and a navigator he should rank not only +below Columbus, but also below Bartolemeo Diaz and Cabral among his own +countrymen, as well as Vespucius and Magellan, who carried the Spanish +flag, and the Cabots, who established England's claim to the most +important portions of the New World. As a commander, an administrator, +and ruler of newly discovered regions, however, he ranks easily above +them all. He not only led the way to India, but laid securely the +foundations of Portuguese empire in the East. + +Even in the hour of his birth he was fortunate. Prince Henry, surnamed +"the Navigator," to whose indefatigable exertions for more than forty +years was due that impulse to maritime achievement of which the +discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the result, +had just died, and his influence hung like an inspiration over the +little kingdom for which he had wrought with such self-denying +patience. This grandson of John of Gaunt has received scant credit for +that wonderful series of discoveries by which the accessible earth was +more than quadrupled in extent. Yet without him, there is no reason to +believe that either the coast of Africa would have been explored, the +Cape of Good Hope passed, or the American continents discovered for a +century, at least, perhaps for two or three centuries afterward. He was +the father of discovery, and it was his hand more than any or all others +that rolled up the curtain of darkness which hid the major part of the +habitable globe. All the navigators and discoverers of that marvellous +age were but the agents of his genius and the creatures of his +indefatigable exertion. + +The son of the most noted sovereign of Portugal, and grandson of that +rugged Englishman from whose loins have sprung so many royal lines, he +was fitted by descent and training for the heroic part which he +performed. Distinguished for military achievement before he had come to +man's estate, urged by four of the leading sovereigns of Europe to take +command of their armies, and made Grand Master of the Order of Christ +before he was twenty-five, there is hardly any limit to the military +distinction he might have won or the power he might have secured, had he +sought his own advancement. + +But he gave himself to Portugal, and determined to raise the little +kingdom his father had so gallantly held against jealous and powerful +neighbors, to the rank of a first-class power. To seek to enlarge a +realm shut in by mountains on one side and the sea upon the other, by +constant strife with embittered enemies, he saw at once was to invite +annihilation. The sea afforded the only avenue of hope, the continent of +Africa, where his father had already gained something from the Moor, in +battling with whom he had himself won renown, the only visible +opportunity. So he determined to explore, and finally, to circumnavigate +Africa, and give to Portugal whatever of power or wealth the ocean or +the dark continent might hide. He believed that India might be reached +by sailing round its southern extremity, and he determined to pour the +wealth of the Orient into the treasury of the kingdom his father had +established. + +In 1418, therefore, he turned his back on personal ambition, laid aside +the glory of military renown, and sat himself down to a hermit's life +and a scholar's labors on the promontory of Sagres, in the province of +Algarve, that point on the coast of Portugal which stretches farthest +out into the Atlantic in the direction of his hope. Here he built an +observatory whose light was the last his captains saw as they went +forth, and the first to greet them on their return. Here he opened a +school of navigation, and here were trained the discoverers who opened +the way for all who came afterward. Here was not only nourished the +impulse which fired the hearts of Columbus and his contemporaries, but +here was taught the science and here were gathered the facts which +enabled them to achieve success. + +Up to that time, Cape Nun had been the boundary of the modern world to +the southward. With infinite patience, Prince Henry labored to convince +his captains that the terrors which they thought lay at the southward of +this point were wholly imaginary. Little by little his caravels crept +down the coast of Africa. Every year he sent out two or three. +Navigators and geographers flocked to his service. In two years he +re-discovered Madeira and Porto Santo, of which latter he afterward made +Perestrello, the father of Columbus's wife, the governor. By 1433 his +ships had reached Cape Bojador; eight years afterward they passed Cape +Blanco; in 1445 they were at the mouth of the Senegal. Still he urged +them on toward that "_thesaurus Arabum et divitia Indiæ_," to which he +set himself the task of opening up the way. The crown of Portugal +assumed all the cost of these expeditions. Gold, ivory, cinnabar, +dye-woods, spices, and slaves, added to the wealth of the kingdom only +to furnish forth new ventures. + +He died before the end came, but not until many of the most important +problems of cosmographic condition had been solved. It was known by +actual experience that the "steaming sea" was a myth. Ships had crossed +the equator, and their crews came back to tell of southward-stretching +shadows. Ships were able, it was seen, to sail up the southern slope of +the world as well as down it. Why they did not fall off into space, none +knew, but that they did not was proved. Gravitation was a force whose +laws and character were yet unformulated. The diurnal motion of the +earth was hardly suspected until a hundred years later. But the facts on +which these two fundamental truths are based were being gathered for +Newton and Copernicus. When he died, those whom he had inspired and +instructed continued the work to which he had devoted himself, under the +patronage of his brother Alfonso and his nephew João II.; until, in +1486, Bartholomeo Diaz had sailed two hundred miles to the eastward of +the Cape of Good Hope and returned to assure his sovereign that the way +to India had at length been found. + +It was not, however, until Dom Manoel had succeeded to the throne, in +1495, that any successful effort was made to follow up the success which +Diaz had achieved. The way to India was indeed open, but no one seems to +have had sufficient fortitude to undertake so long a voyage in order to +reach it by that route. Dom Manoel had, however, but one idea. He was +not a geographer like his predecessor, João, "the perfect," but he was a +man of action, and determined that the route Prince Henry's navigators +had opened to India should not remain unused. Vasco da Gama was then in +his thirty-fifth year, the handsomest man of his age, of ancient family, +and it is claimed was not without royal blood in his veins. As a soldier +he was trained in the war with Castile; as a navigator he had served +under Prince Henry's best captains. Camoens, the historical poet of +Portugal, declares that he was familiar not only with the recorded +achievements of his predecessors, but with all the regions they had +discovered. Dom João, on the return of Diaz, selected him to command the +fleet he meant to send to follow up this discovery. In the ten years +that elapsed before he actually sailed, it is probable that he had grown +to be not only a better geographer, but also a stronger, more +cool-headed, and reliable man. That he was able to command, those +mutineers who cavilled at his severity during the stormy passage of four +months from Lisbon to Table Bay, found out when they demanded that he +give up trying to reach India and return to Portugal as other captains +had done, at the behest of their crews. He made short work of them, and +in his whole career, so salutary was the lesson, no one under his +command ever again refused to obey his orders. + +It was July 8, 1497, when he sailed from Lisbon, and it was not until +December 1st that he left Delagoa Bay, the farthest eastward point which +Diaz had reached, to pass over the actually unknown water that lay +between him and India. Even this could hardly be called "unknown water," +for Corvilhan, who a dozen years before had made his way overland to +Aden, had sent back to Dom João II. this message: + +"Anyone who will persist, is sure to sail around the southernmost point +of Africa, and can then easily make his way up the eastern shore and +across the gulf to India." + +Literally were his words fulfilled. With favoring breezes, Gama reached +Malinda early in January, 1498, and securing the services of an Indian +pilot, who had not only sailed hither from Calicut, but seemed as +familiar as Gama himself with compass and astrolabe, he set out boldly +across the Indian Ocean, and in May arrived at Calicut. When we consider +that this latter part of the voyage was with a pilot accustomed to make +the trip in the far more fragile crafts of the Arabs, the boldness of +the undertaking does not seem so apparent to one of our day. Compared +with the voyages of Columbus, Magellan, Vespucius, or Cabral over +absolutely unknown seas, without pilots or charts of any kind, the +passage from Aden to India hardly seems remarkable. Yet upon this the +fame of Gama as an explorer rests, and as has been remarked, "few men +have won fame so easily." His real merit lay in the fact that he did +what so few of his predecessors were able to accomplish, controlled the +mutinous crews, who had after all been the most serious obstacle in the +path of Portugal to the coveted Indian possessions. It is probable that +if Prince Henry had encouraged his captains to exercise greater +severity, the darling object of his life might have been attained before +his death and the birth of the fortunate explorer, whose cheaply-won +fame has obscured his own, even with the king-loving Portuguese. + +It would seem as if the capacity to control men, which was so prominent +a characteristic of the "Discoverer of India," was not of a conciliatory +character, for the Zamorin of Calicut received him but coldly, and +before his ships were loaded the difference had ripened into a quarrel, +and he was obliged to cut his way out of the harbor to begin his +homeward voyage. This lack of complaisance on the part of the Zamorin he +attributed, not without reason, to the jealousy of the Arab merchants, +whose swift-sailing dhows crowded the port. Why should they not be +jealous of him who came to take away their immemorial privilege? +Theretofore the treasures of the Orient had reached the western world +only through the hands of the Arab merchants. The dhow and the camel had +been its carriers. Gama had brought the more capacious caravel to bear +them over a new highway to the western consumers. His success meant the +loss of a great part of the business on which the sailors, merchants, +and camel-drivers of Arabia depended for a livelihood. Why should they +not conspire to kill him and destroy his fleet? + +His homeward passage was as fortunate as the outward one had been. That +he did not experience the disasters which befell others, was no doubt +largely due to the fact that he foresaw and avoided peril whenever +possible. He was one of those men who, while shrinking from no +unavoidable danger, take no unnecessary risks. He was received with +unprecedented honors when, after two years and two months' absence, his +ships were again anchored in the Tagus. Their rich cargo attested the +rare value of the trade he had opened up. Despite the gold which the +miners of Española were beginning to send to Spain, and the pearls which +had come from Cubagua, the apparent value of the discoveries of Columbus +were as nothing to the boundless wealth which Gama's voyage assured to +Portugal. By the bull of Pope Alexander VI., all lands discovered east +of the meridian of the Azores belonged to the King of Portugal. It was +not only half the world, but that half which was of most inexhaustible +richness, Asia and Africa. Titles and honors and wealth were conferred +upon the fortunate explorer. In consideration perhaps of his royal +extraction, he was permitted to affix the kingly title, "Dom," to his +name. No wonder he was thus honored, when the cargo of one small caravel +loaded with spices, yielded a greater sum than the whole outfit of the +fleet Columbus commanded on his first voyage! + +In an incredibly short time, thirteen ships were fitted out, and under +that prince of navigators, Cabral, set sail to secure the results of +Gama's discovery. On him, too, fortune smiled as it rarely has on them +that "go down to the sea in ships." Blown out of his course by +head-winds, his very mishaps ripened into the rarest fortune, for he +discovered Brazil, and thus added to his master's realm what was +destined to be one of the richest kingdoms of the world. With the +instinct of genius, and a courage as rare as it was heroic, he did not +return to notify his king of the new continent which had risen out of +the deep before him, but sending back a single caravel with the +marvellous news, he turned his battered prows to that point of the +compass where he judged the Cape of Good Hope to be, and after passing +three thousand miles of water that had never known a keel before, he +rounded the southern point of Africa and proceeded to carry out his +orders. He lacked, however, the soldierly qualities and administrative +power of the "Discoverer of India," who the year after his return was +sent out to complete his work. This time he had a fleet of twenty sail, +and from the outset was bent not only on taking permanent possession of +the countries whose trade it was desirable to secure, but on avenging +the affront that had before been offered him by the Zamorin of Calicut +and the Arab traders who had inspired the action. + +On his way he founded the colonies of Mozambique and Sofala, and sailed +to Travancore. During the passage he fell in with a ship which was +carrying many Indian Mussulmans to Mecca, laden with rich presents for +the shrine of the Prophet. This he pillaged and burned, with all of her +300 passengers except twenty women and children, whom he saved more for +his own pleasure, no doubt, than from any pity for them. He excused this +act of savagery, so far as any excuse was necessary, on the ground that +they were paynim Moors, and some among them had incited the attack upon +him at Calicut on his former voyage. The truth is they were rich; he +wanted the plunder; and there was less likelihood of trouble if he +killed them than if they were left alive to publish and avenge their +losses. It was merely an application of the freebooter's maxim, that +"dead men tell no tales." + +Arriving at Calicut, he found that forty Portuguese who had been left to +establish a permanent post, had been killed. With unusual deliberation, +he investigated the matter and demanded reparation, submission, and a +treaty acknowledging the sovereignty of Portugal over India. This being +refused, he bombarded the city, burned the ships in the harbor, and +compelled the Zamorin himself and all the native princes of the region +to submit and acknowledge themselves feudatories of Portugal. So rapid +were his movements, and so accurate his calculations, that before the +close of 1503 he had reached Lisbon again with thirteen vessels laden to +the gunwale with the plunder of the Orient--by all odds the richest +argosy that had come to any European port since the days of the Romans. + +Da Gama was now forty-three years old, and must have been in the very +prime of manhood. Why so skilled a navigator, so intrepid a commander, +so shrewd a negotiator, and so successful an administrator, who had +established the power of Portugal from Delagoa Bay to Calcutta, should, +at that period of his life, have been laid upon the shelf for twenty +years, is a conundrum hard to answer. Knowing the character of Dom +Manoel, it is not difficult to guess that his sordidness lay somewhere +at the bottom of the trouble; but it is said to Gama's credit, that he +neither whined nor remonstrated. + +It must be admitted, however, that he was succeeded by one who was +greatly his superior both as a general, a statesman, and an +administrator. If Vasco da Gama laid the foundations of Portuguese +empire in the East, Alfonso d'Albuquerque, "the Great," broadened and +built upon them as he could never have done. From Aden to Cochin blood +flowed beneath his blows, but peace followed; and though he was termed +"the Portuguese Mars," his justice became traditional, and his sagacity +was shown in the permanence of the settlements he made, even under the +incompetent viceroys who followed him. + +It was twenty years since Vasco da Gama had commanded a ship. +Albuquerque was dead, and his successors had brought shame and defeat +upon the Portuguese power in the East. Dom Manoel was dead also, and +whatever grievance he had against "the Discoverer of India," seems to +have died with him. His successor, Dom João III., casting about for +someone to bring order out of confusion, success out of failure, and +honor out of shame, called again into his service the courtly and +sagacious mariner, now over sixty years of age; and conferring upon him +the title of viceroy, sent him to retrieve the prestige his successors +had lost. His high spirit was yet undaunted, and when he neared the +coast of India and found the waters in a strange ferment for which no +one could account, as there was neither wind nor tide, he said loftily: +"The sea beholds its conqueror and trembles before him!" It sounds +bombastic, but in the mouth of one who had first guided a civilized keel +over its surface, such arrogance is at least pardonable. + +In the few months that intervened before his death he made the power of +Portugal once more respected in the East. When he died in Cochin, in +1525, he was mourned by the natives as a just ruler, and by his +countrymen as one who had saved to Portugal the richest part of the +national domain. It is not strange, therefore, that when his ashes were +conveyed to Lisbon, they were received with a pomp almost equal to that +which greeted him when he came as the discoverer of the Orient and its +priceless treasures. It is rare in history that one receives two +triumphs, the one while living and the other when dead, especially in +connection with the same achievement; but it is rarer still that one who +has won immortality should leave a record so singularly free from +bickering and strife as that of the dignified and self-contained +Portuguese rival of Columbus, Dom Vasco da Gama, the "Discoverer and +Sixth Viceroy of India, Count of Vidigueira," where he lies entombed. +Little is known of his private life; but there seems no doubt that it +was free from the stains that obscure his great rival's fame, from whom +he also differed in the fact that he neither begged nor boasted, and in +old age was honored even more than in his prime. + +[Signature: Albion W. Tourgée.] + + + + +THE CHEVALIER BAYARD + +By HERBERT GREENHOUGH SMITH + +(1476-1524) + +[Illustration: The Chevalier Bayard.] + + +Pierre Du Terrail was born in 1476, at Castle Bayard, in Dauphiny. The +house of Terrail belonged to the Scarlet of the ancient peers of France. +The Lords of Bayard, during many generations, had died under the flags +of battle. Poictiers, Agincourt, and Montlhéry had taken, in succession, +the last three; and in 1479, when Pierre was in his nurse's arms, his +father, Aymon du Terrail, was carried from the field of Guinegate with a +frightful wound, from the effects of which, although he survived for +seventeen years to limp about his castle with the help of sticks, he +never again put on his shirt of mail. + +The old knight was thus debarred from bringing up his son as his own +squire. But the Bishop of Grenoble, his wife's brother, was a close +friend of Charles the Warrior, the great Duke of Savoy. When Pierre was +in his fourteenth year it was proposed that he should begin his knightly +education among the pages of the duke. The bishop promised to present +him. A little horse was bought; a tailor was set to work to make a +gorgeous suit of silk and velvet; and Pierre was ready to set out. + +During six months the palace of Charles became his home. The lovable and +handsome boy soon won all hearts about him. The duke with delight saw +him leap and wrestle, throw the bar, and ride a horse better than any +page about the court. The duchess and her ladies loved to send him on +their dainty missions. His temper was bright and joyous; his only fault, +if fault it can be called, was an over-generosity of nature. His purse +was always empty; and when he had no money, any trifling service of a +lackey or a groom would be requited with a silver button, a dagger, or a +clasp of gold. And such was to be his character through life. Time after +time, in after years, his share of treasure, after some great victory, +would have paid a prince's ransom; yet often he could not lay his hand +on five gold pieces. + +When Pierre had lived at the palace about half a year, the duke made a +visit to Lyons, to pay his duty to the king. That king was Charles the +Eighth, then a boy of twenty, who was making his days fly merrily with +tilts and hawking parties, and his nights with dances and the whispers +of fair dames. The duke desired to carry with him to his sovereign a +present worthy of a king's acceptance. A happy notion struck him. He +resolved to present the king with Bayard and his horse. + +King Charles, delighted with his new page, placed him in the palace of +Lord Ligny, a prince of the great house of Luxemburg, and there for +three years he continued to reside. During that time his training was +the usual training of a page. But the child was the father of the man. +Thoughts of great deeds, of tilts and battle-fields, of champions going +down before his lance, of crowns of myrtle, and the smiles of lovely +ladies--such already were the dreams which set his soul on fire. + +At seventeen Pierre received the rank of gentleman. Thenceforward he was +free to follow his own fortune; he was free to seek the glorious +Dulcinea of his dreams--a fame as bright and sparkling as his sword. And +thereupon begins to pass before us, brilliant as the long-drawn scenes +of a dissolving view, the strange and splendid series of his exploits. +He had not ceased to be a page ten days before the court was ringing +with his name. + +Sir Claude de Vauldre, Lord of Burgundy, was regarded as the stoutest +knight in France. He was then at Lyons, and was about to hold a tilt, +with lance and battle-axe, before the ladies and the king. His shield +was hanging in the Ainay meadows, and beside it Montjoy, the +king-at-arms, sat all day with his book open, taking down the names of +those who struck the shield. Among these came Bayard. Montjoy laughed as +he wrote down his name; the king, Lord Ligny, and his own companions, +heard with mingled trepidation and delight that Bayard had struck the +blazon of Sir Claude. But no one had a thought of what was coming. The +day arrived, the tilt was held, and Bayard, by the voice of all the +ladies, bore off the prize above the head of every knight in Lyons. + +The glory of this exploit was extreme. It quickly spread. Three days +later Bayard went to join the garrison at Aire. He found, as he rode +into the little town, that the fame of his achievement had arrived +before him. Heads were everywhere thrust out of windows, and a band of +fifty of his future comrades issued on horseback from the garrison to +bid him welcome. A few days after his arrival he held a tilt in his own +person, after the example of Sir Claude. The palms were a diamond and a +clasp of gold. Forty-eight of his companions struck his shield, and rode +into the lists against him. Bayard overthrew the whole band, one by one, +and was once more hailed at sunset by the notes of trumpets as the +champion of the tourney. + +It is not in tournaments and tilts, however, that a knight can win his +spurs. Bayard burned for battle. For many months he burned in vain; but +at last the banners of the king were given to the wind, and Bayard, to +his unspeakable delight, found himself marching under Lord Ligny against +Naples. + +The two armies faced each other at Fornovo. The odds against the French +were six to one, and the fight was long and bloody. When the great +victory was at last decided, Bayard was among the first of those called +up before the king. That day two horses had dropped dead beneath him; +his cuirass and sword were hacked and battered, and a captured standard, +blazing with the arms of Naples, was in his hand. At the king's order he +knelt down, and received upon the spot the rank of knight. At one bound +he had achieved the height of glory--to be knighted by his sovereign on +the field of battle. + +Bayard was not yet nineteen. His figure at that age was tall and +slender; his hair and eyes were black; his complexion was a sunny brown; +and his countenance had something of the eagle's. + +He was now for some time idle. He was left in garrison in Lombardy. But +fiercer fields were soon to call him. Ludovico Sforza took Milan. At +Binasco, Lord Bernardino Cazache, one of Sforza's captains, had three +hundred horse; and twenty miles from Milan was Bayard's place of +garrison. With fifty of his comrades he rode out one morning, bent on +assaulting Lord Bernardino's force. The latter, warned by a scout of +their approach, armed his party, and rushed fiercely from the fort. The +strife was fought with fury; but the Lombards, slowly driven back toward +Milan, at length wheeled round their horses and galloped like the wind +into the city. + +Bayard, darting in his spurs, waving his bare blade, and shouting out +his battle-cry of "France," was far ahead of his companions. Before he +knew his danger, he had dashed in with the fugitives at the city gates +and reached the middle of the square in front of Sforza's palace. He +found himself alone in the midst of the fierce enemy--with the white +crosses of France emblazoned on his shield. + +Sforza, hearing a tremendous uproar in the square, came to a window of +the palace and looked down. The square was swarming with the soldiers +of Binasco, savage, hacked, and bloody; and in the centre of the yelling +tumult, Bayard, still on horseback, was slashing at those who strove to +pull him from his seat. + +Sforza, in a voice of thunder, bade the knight be brought before him. +Bayard, seeing that resistance was mere madness, surrendered to Lord +Bernardino, and was led, disarmed, into the palace. Sforza was a soldier +more given to the ferocity than to the courtesies of war. But when the +young knight stood before him, when he heard his story, when he looked +upon his bold yet modest bearing, the fierce and moody prince was moved +to admiration. "Lord Bayard," he said, "I will not treat you as a +prisoner. I set you free; I will take no ransom; and I will grant you +any favor in my power." "My Lord Prince," said Bayard, "I thank you for +your courtesy with all my soul. I will ask you only for my horse and +armor." The horse was brought; Bayard sprang into the saddle, and an +hour later was received by his companions with raptures of surprise and +joy, as one who had come alive out of the lion's den. + +Milan fell; Sforza was taken; and Bayard went into garrison at +Monervino. At Andri, some miles distant, was a Spanish garrison under +the command of Don Alonzo de Sotomayor, one of the most famous knights +in Spain. Bayard, with fifty men, rode out one morning, in the hope of +falling in with some adventure. It happened that he came across Alonzo, +with an equal party, abroad on the same quest. Their forces met; both +sides flew joyously to battle, and for an hour the victory hung in the +balance. But at last Bayard, with his own sword, forced Alonzo to +surrender; and his party, carrying with them a large band of prisoners, +rode back in triumph to the garrison. + +Sotomayor behaved in most unknightly fashion, and after being ransomed, +accused Bayard of ill-treating him. Bayard sent him the lie, and +challenging him to a duel to the death, slew him. A few days later, the +Spaniards, panting for reprisal, proposed to meet a party of the French +in combat, for the glory of their nations. Bayard received the challenge +with delight. On the appointed day, thirteen knights of either side, +glittering in full harness, armed with sword and battle-axe, and +prepared for a contest to the death, rode forth into the lists. + +By the laws of such a tilt a knight unhorsed, or forced across the +boundary, became a prisoner, and could fight no longer. The Spaniards, +with great cunning, set themselves to maim the horses; and by these +tactics, eleven of the French were soon dismounted. Two alone were left +to carry on the contest, Bayard and Lord Orose. + +Then followed such a feat of arms as struck the gazers dumb. For four +hours these two held good their ground against the whole thirteen. The +Spaniards, stung with rage and shame, spurred till their heels dripped +blood. In vain. Night fell; the bugles sounded; and still the +unconquerable pair rode round the ring. + +But great as this feat was, it was soon to be succeeded by a greater. A +few weeks afterward the French and Spanish camps were posted on opposite +sides of the river Gargliano. Between them was a bridge, in the +possession of the French; and some way farther down the river was a +ford, known only to the Spanish general, Pedro de Paez. He proposed to +lure the French guards from the bridge, and then to seize it. And his +stratagem was ready. + +Early in the morning the French soldiers at the bridge were startled to +perceive a party of the enemy, each horseman bearing a foot-soldier on +his crupper, approach the river at the ford and begin to move across it. +Instantly, as Paez had intended, they left the bridge and rushed toward +the spot. Bayard, attended by Le Basque, was in the act of putting on +his armor. He sprang into the saddle, and was about to spur after his +companions, when he perceived, across the river, a party of two hundred +Spaniards making for the bridge. The danger was extreme; for if the +bridge were taken the camp itself would be in the most deadly peril. +Bayard bade Le Basque gallop for his life to bring assistance. And he +himself rode forward to the bridge, alone. + +The Spaniards, on seeing a solitary knight advance against them, laughed +loudly at his folly. Their foremost horsemen were already half-way over +when Bayard, with his lance in rest, came flying down upon them. His +onset swept the first three off the bridge into the river, and instantly +the rest, with cries of vengeance, rushed furiously upon him. Bayard, +not to be surrounded, backed his horse against the railing of the +bridge, rose up in his stirrups, swung his falchion with both hands +above his head, and lashed out with such fury that, with every blow a +bloody Spaniard fell into the river, and the whole troop recoiled in +wonder and dismay, as if before a demon. While they still stood, +half-dazed, two hundred glaring at one man, a shout was heard, and Le +Basque, with a band of horsemen, was seen approaching like a whirlwind. +In two minutes the Spaniards were swept back upon the land in hopeless +rout--and the French camp was saved. + +Bayard received for this great feat the blazon of a porcupine, with this +inscription, _Unus agminis vires habet_--"One man has the might of +armies." + +And still came exploit after exploit in succession--exploits of every +kind of fiery daring. At Genoa, when the town revolted, Bayard stormed +the fort of the insurgents, quelled the riot, forced the city to +surrender, and hanged the leader on a pole. At Agnadello, against the +troops of Venice, he waded with his men through fens and ditches, took +the picked bands of Lord d'Alvicino on the flank, scattered them to the +winds, and won the day. At Padua, during the long siege, he scoured the +country with his band of horse, and frequently rode back to camp at +nightfall with more prisoners than armed men. At Mirandola, where he +faced the papal armies, he laid a scheme to take the Pope himself. A +snowstorm kept the fiery Julius in his tent, and Bayard lost him. A few +days afterward the pontiff's life was in his hands. A traitor offered, +for a purse of gold, to poison the Pope's wine. But it is not the +Bayards of the world who fight with pots of poison; and the slippery +Judas had to fly in terror from the camp, or Bayard would infallibly +have hanged him. + +So far, amid his life of perils, Bayard had escaped without a wound. But +now his time had come. + +Brescia was taken by the troops of Venice. Gaston de Foix, the +thunderbolt of Italy, marched with 12,000 men to its relief. Bayard was +among them. At the head of the storming-party he was first across the +ramparts, and was turning round to cheer his men to victory when a pike +struck him in the thigh. The shaft broke off, and the iron head remained +embedded in the wound. + +Two of his archers caught him as he fell, bore him out of the rush of +battle, and partly stanched the wound by stripping up the linen of their +shirts. They then bore him to a mansion close at hand. The master of the +house, who seems to have been a person of more wealth than valor, had +disappeared, and was thought to be hiding somewhere in a convent, +leaving his wife and his two daughters to themselves. The girls had fled +into a hay-loft, and plunged themselves beneath the hay; but, on the +thunderous knocking of the archers, the lady of the house came trembling +to the door. Bayard was carried in, a surgeon was luckily discovered +close at hand, and the pike-head was extracted. The wound was pronounced +to be not dangerous. But Bayard, to his great vexation, found he was +doomed to lie in idleness for several weeks. + +According to the laws of war, the house was his, and all the inmates +were his prisoners. And the fact was well for them. Outside the house +existed such a scene of horror as, even in that age, was rare. Ten +thousand men lay dead in the great square; the city was given up to +pillage, and it is said that the conquerors gorged themselves that day +with booty worth three million crowns. The troops were drunk with +victory and rapine. No man's life, no woman's honor, was in safety for +an instant. + +Bayard set his archers at the door-way. His name was a talisman against +the boldest; and in the midst of the fierce tumult that raged all round +it, the house in which he lay remained a sanctuary of peace. + +The ladies of the house were soon reassured. Bayard refused to regard +them as his prisoners or to take a coin of ransom. The daughters, two +lovely and accomplished girls, were delighted to attend the wounded +knight. They talked and sang to him, they touched the mandolin, they +woke the music of the virginals. In such society the hours flew lightly +by. The wound healed, and in six weeks Bayard was himself again. + +On the day of his departure the lady of the house came into his +apartment, and besought him, as their preserver, to accept a certain +little box of steel. The box contained two thousand five hundred golden +ducats. Bayard took it. "But five hundred ducats," he said, "I desire +you to divide for me among the nuns whose convents have been pillaged." +Then, turning to her daughters, "Ladies," he said, "I owe you more than +thanks for your kind care of me. Soldiers do not carry with them pretty +things for ladies; but I pray each of you to accept from me a thousand +ducats, to aid your marriage portions." And with that he poured the +coins into their aprons. + +[Illustration: Bayard taking Leave of the Ladies of Brescia.] + +His horse was brought, and he was about to mount, when the girls came +stealing down the steps into the castle court, each with a little +present, worked by their own hands, which they desired him to accept. +One brought a pair of armlets, made of gold and silver thread; the +other, a purse of crimson satin. And this was all the spoil that Bayard +carried from the inestimable wealth of Brescia--the little keepsakes of +two girls whom he had saved. + +The scenes of Bayard's life at which we have been glancing have been +chiefly those of his great feats of arms. And so it must be still; for +it is these of which the details have survived in history. And yet it +was such incidents as these at Brescia which made the fame of Bayard +what it was and what it is. To his foes, he was the flower of chivalry; +but to his friends, he was, besides, the most adored of men. It is said +that in his native province of Dauphiny, at his death, more than a +hundred ancient soldiers owed to him the roof that covered their old +age; that more than a hundred orphan girls had received their marriage +portions from his bounty. But of such acts the vast majority are +unrecorded; for these are not the deeds which shine in the world's eye. + +Gaston de Foix was now before Ravenna. Bayard rode thither with all +speed; he was just in time. Two days after his arrival came the battle. +Weak though he still was from his long illness, Bayard on that day was +seen, as ever, "shining above his fellow-men." He turned the tide of +victory; he tore two standards from the foe with his own hand; and he +was first in the pursuit. + +Two months after, Bayard was at Pavia. The little troop with which he +was then serving had there sought refuge under Louis d'Ars. The armies +of the Swiss burst in upon them. Bayard, with a handful of soldiers in +the market-place, held, for two hours, their whole force at bay, while +his companions were retreating from the town across a bridge of boats. +As he himself was crossing, last of all, a shot struck him in the +shoulder, and stripped it to the bone. No surgeon was at hand. The +wound, roughly stanched with moss, brought on a fever, and for some time +he lay in danger of his life. + +And now Bayard was to follow a new master. Louis XII. died; Francis I. +received the crown; and Bayard, with the young king, marched to Milan, +which the Swiss had seized and held. + +On Thursday, September 13, 1515, King Francis pitched his camp at +Marignano, before the city of the spires. No danger of attack was +apprehended; the king sat calmly down to supper in his tent; when all at +once the Swiss, aroused to madness by the fiery eloquence of Cardinal de +Sion, broke like a tempest from the city, and fell upon the camp. The +French, by the red light of sunset, flew to arms, and fought with fury +till night fell. Both armies sat all night on horseback, waiting for the +dawn; and with the first streaks of morning, flew again to battle. It +was noon before the bitter contest ended, and the Swiss, still fighting +every inch of ground, drew slowly back toward the city. It had been, +indeed, as Trevulzio called it, a Battle of the Giants. And the greatest +of the giants had been Bayard and the king. + +That evening Francis held, before his tent, the ceremony of creating +knights of valor. But before the ceremony began, a proclamation by the +heralds startled and delighted all the camp. Francis had determined to +receive the rank in his own person. Bayard was to knight the king! + +In the days of the primeval chivalry, when even princes were compelled +to win their spurs, such a spectacle was not uncommon. But not for ages +had a king been knighted by a subject on a field of battle. Nor was any +splendor wanting that could make the spectacle impressive. Nowhere in +Ariosto is a picture of more gorgeous details than is presented by this +scene of history; the great crimson silk pavilion, the seat spread with +cloth of gold, the blazoned banners, the heralds with their silver +trumpets, the multitude all hushed in wonder, the plumed and glittering +company of knights and men-at-arms. Such were the surroundings amid +which Francis knelt, and Bayard, with his drawn sword, gave the +accolade. + +The sword with which he had performed the ceremony Bayard kept +religiously until his death. It was then mislaid, and never +rediscovered. The loss is a misfortune. For few relics could exist of +more romantic interest than the sword with which the noblest of all +knights did honor to the most magnificent of kings. + +Bayard's glory had long been at such a height that hardly any exploit +could increase it. And yet an exploit was at hand at which, even when +Bayard was the actor of it, all France and Germany were to stand in +wonder. + +The German emperor, marching with a mighty army on Champagne, took +Monson by surprise, and advanced against Mézières. If Mézières were +taken, the whole province would be in the most deadly peril. And yet +defence seemed hopeless; the place had no artillery, and the ramparts +were in ruins. At this crisis Bayard volunteered to hold the crazy city. +"No walls are weak," he said, in his own noble style, "which are +defended by brave men." + +With a small but chosen band he hastened to Mézières. Two days after his +arrival the Count of Nassau, with a vast array of men and cannon, +appeared before the walls. The siege began--a siege which seemed +impossible to last twelve hours. + +But day after day went by, and still the town was standing. Every day +the ramparts gaped with cannon-shot; but every night, as if by miracle, +they rose again. The defenders suffered from wounds, pestilence, and +famine; but Bayard had put every man on oath to eat his horse, and then +his boots, before he would surrender. Three weeks passed; and when at +last the king arrived with forces to relieve the town, he found a few +gaunt spectres still glaring defiance from the battered ramparts against +a hundred cannon and more than forty thousand men. + +Nothing can more strikingly describe the part of Bayard than the +testimony of his enemies themselves. Some time after, Mary of Hungary +asked the Count of Nassau in disdain how it came to pass that with a +host of troops and guns he could not take a crazy pigeon-house. +"Because," replied the count, "there was an eagle in it." + +It was Bayard's last great exploit. It had been his lifelong wish that +he might fall upon the field of battle. And so it was to be. + +Early in the spring of 1524, the French camp was posted at Biagrasso. +Lord Bonnivet, who was in command, found himself, after a prolonged +resistance, at last compelled by famine and sickness to retire before +the Spaniards. It was Bayard's constant custom to be first in an +advance and last in retreat, and that day he was, as usual, in the post +of danger. It was for the last time. Friends and enemies were to hear, +before night fell, the thrilling tidings that Bayard was no more. + +On both sides of the road which the retreating army had to traverse the +Spaniards had placed in ambush a large force of arquebusiers. It was a +weapon which Bayard held in detestation; for while skill and courage +were required to wield a spear or sword, any skulking wretch could pull +a trigger from behind a stone. From one of these hated weapons he +received his death. As he was retreating slowly with his face toward the +foe, a stone from a cross-arquebus struck him on the side. He instantly +sank forward on his saddle-bow, exclaiming in a faint voice, "Great God! +I am killed." + +His squire helped him from his horse, and he was laid beneath a tree. +His spine was broken in two places; and he felt within himself that he +was dying. He took his sword, and kissed the cross-hilt, murmuring aloud +the Latin prayer, "_Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam +tuam_." + +The Spaniards were approaching. His friends made some attempt to raise +him and to bear him from the field. But the least movement made him +faint with agony; and he felt that all was vain. He charged his +companions, as they loved him, to turn his face toward the enemy, and to +retire into a place of safety; and he sent, with his last breath, his +salutation to the king. With breaking hearts they did as he desired, and +he was left alone. + +When the Spaniards reached the spot, they found him still alive, but +sinking fast. The conduct of Lord Pescara, the Spanish general, toward +his dying foe, was worthy of a great and noble knight. He bade his own +pavilion to be spread above him; cushions were placed beneath his head; +and a friar was brought, to whom he breathed his last confession. As he +was uttering the final words, his voice faltered, and his head fell. The +friar looked upon his face--and saw that all was over. + + + + +GUSTAVUS VASA[11] + + [Footnote 11: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By CHARLES F. HORNE + +(1496-1560) + + +Three or four hundred years ago the little country of Denmark was of +much greater importance than it is to-day. It had the mightiest navy in +the world, and its rule over the seas was undisputed. Its appearance on +the map was also very different then, for it not only extended over much +of the German territory now surrounding it, but also held all Norway as +a province. Sweden, too, though often rebelling, and being punished with +terrible cruelty, was, up to the year 1523, a dependency of the Danish +crown. + +Naturally the Danes rather looked down on the conquered Swedes, and made +them the subject of many rude jests and taunts. There was in the +beginning of the sixteenth century at the great Danish university at +Upsala a Swedish boy, who with the rest of his countrymen must have +suffered many such insults. His proud, brave, little heart rebelled +against this treatment; and one day, when his teacher had driven him +beyond endurance with his severe punishments and bitter sneers, the boy +snatched out his little sword and plunged it straight through the +master's book. "I will teach you something, too," he cried; "teach you +that the Swedes are no cowards, for some day I will gather them together +and treat every Dane in Sweden as I do your book." Then he rushed out of +the school, never to return. + +[Illustration: Gustavus Vasa.] + +Many lads have, in some moment of passion made big boasts of what they +would do "some day." Few ever made so tremendous a vaunt; fewer still +ever so completely fulfilled their threats; and, perhaps, no one ever +struggled so patiently, so nobly, nor against such tremendous obstacles +before the goal was reached, as did this angry little Swede, known to +history as Gustavus Vasa. He was born in 1496, and was the oldest son of +Sir Eric Johansson, governor of a little group of islands in the Gulf of +Bothnia. Returning home after his precipitate flight from school, +Gustavus grew up under the eye of his stalwart father, who trained him +to be not only a strong and a shrewd man, but also a good one. + +Sent at the age of eighteen to the court of Svante Sture, the regent +governing Sweden, he threw himself eagerly into the great war for +freedom which his countrymen had begun under that mighty leader. This +struggle was so far successful that four years later King Christian, of +Denmark, utterly defeated on land and with his fleet in sore danger +anchored off Stockholm, and proposed a peace. He asked that hostages be +sent to remain on his ships, while he was on shore arranging the treaty. +This was readily agreed to, and the hostages went on board without a +thought of evil, the king having guaranteed their safe return. Young +Vasa, although only twenty-two, had already gained such prominence among +the patriots as to be one of those selected for this duty. Just as he +and his companions reached the ships, the wind, which had hitherto blown +from such a direction that King Christian was unable to leave the +harbor, suddenly changed, and the king as promptly changing his plans, +hoisted sail and fled from Stockholm, carrying with him, as prisoners, +the hostages whom he was bound in honor to respect. But this grim and +cruel old king never at any time let himself be checked by his promised +word; and now he seriously considered slaying these men as rebels and +traitors. Finally he concluded to hold them as prisoners. + +Gustavus was placed for safe keeping in the castle of Eric Bauer, a +Jutland noble, where he remained for two years. He lived on the very +poorest food, and far worse, had to endure taunts a hundred times more +bitter than those of his old school days, from the young nobles about +him. Worse still, he learned from them that King Christian was gathering +another and greater army with which to utterly crush the rebellious +Swedes; and he could neither warn his countrymen nor raise a finger to +give them help. But his courage and patience never failed him. Through +all that weary time he was always planning and watching for a chance to +escape. At last it came. Deceived by his apparent indifference his +jailers permitted him to ride, and even to hunt with them, but always +under a careful watch. One day, however, the hunt grew so exciting that +everyone forgot Gustavus and rode hard and fast after the game. He saw +his opportunity, and rode hardest and fastest of all. Soon he was first +in the race; but he did not stop when he reached the captured deer. +There was no one in sight and he hurried on faster than ever. When his +horse gave out he pressed forward on foot, and nightfall found him forty +miles from the castle. He astonished a countryman by trading clothes +with him; and the next day, thus disguised, he hired himself to a drover +to help him drive a herd of cattle to the great German city of Lubeck. +Probably no cattle had ever been so driven before. Our hero knew well +that the pursuit would be fast and furious, and he kept the herd almost +on a steady run. The old drover was in a perpetual state of amazement; +he did not know whether to regard his new assistant as a madman or as +the most valuable hand he had ever hired. Gustavus never let the poor +old fellow rest a moment; he had to eat his meals as he walked, and even +to totter along half asleep. At last animals and men reached Lubeck, all +badly worn out, but safe, for Lubeck was a free city and a powerful one, +and when, an hour later, the enraged Eric Bauer galloped up to its great +gates, he knew that his prisoner was beyond his reach, and that unless +he could persuade the citizens to give him up there was no chance of +recapturing him. + +The citizens did not give Gustavus up. He and his jailer were brought +face to face before the City Council to argue their case. When Eric said +his prisoner had broken his word in escaping, Gustavus related how the +king had broken his in the capture. When Eric threatened them all with +his master's wrath, the shrewd old burghers laughed. They knew King +Christian had other things to keep him busy enough, and that he would +think twice before attacking their great league of cities. Besides, this +young man had already shown that he could do great things, and, as one +of the Council said, "Who knows what he may win if we send him home." So +Eric was forced to leave without his captive; and after some delay, +during which he was treated with high honor, Gustavus was sent home by +the kind Lubeckers with the promise to help him, if need be, with both +men and money. + +Indeed Sweden needed all the help she could get just then; but it did +not seem as though one man could do much for her. King Christian had +carried out his threats, and landing with a great army, defeated the +brave Sture and spread terror and destruction through all the land. The +tale of his cruelty and treacheries belongs rather to the history of +Sweden than of Gustavus. Enough to say that, having by promises of +peace and pardon got all the leading Swedes into his power, he had them +murdered, and then he and his soldiers went on slaying the common people +right and left in mere wanton savagery. All the surviving nobles were in +his pay; the least suspicion of an uprising was crushed with an iron +hand, the least murmur of discontent brought death. Never had Sweden +seemed more helpless in the power of the Danes. + +To this unhappy country came Gustavus Vasa, and at once he was declared +an outlaw, and a great price was offered for his head; for the king knew +that here survived one man whom he could neither terrify nor bribe. One +castle still held out against the besieging Danes, and for this Gustavus +set out. But its defenders were disheartened by their hopeless position, +and were almost on the point of surrender. They answered angrily to his +brave words, and he left them to try and rouse the peasantry all over +the land. + +Now began for him such a period of danger, sorrow, and privation, as few +men could have endured and lived. The land was filled with Danes eager +for his capture. The peasants were timid and disheartened. To his +passionate patriotic appeal they answered only, "We have salt and +herring still. If we rebel we will lose them too." Often they drove him +away with stones. Sometimes his own countrymen would have slain him for +the promised reward. At length it was no longer possible for him to +remain in Southern Sweden, and with a single servant he fled to the +highlands of Dalecarlia, a province in the north. From this on his life +reads like some wild romance of adventure. He had the grim courage and +grit and perseverance of a bull-dog. Nothing could dishearten him in his +seemingly hopeless and insane resolve to raise the Swedes once more +against Christian. + +He found as much devotion in some places, as he did treachery in others. +Having crossed a ferry in advance of his servant, this latter rode off +with their small stock of money. Gustavus plunged his horse into the +river, and riding back after the faithless servitor, pursued him all day +straight back into the enemy's country, until the terrified thief, +abandoning horse and money and all, fled into the woods. Gustavus +recovered his property and pursued his course. The Danes swarmed into +Dalecarlia after him. He disguised himself as a woodcutter, and lived as +such. One day he met in the woods a giant Dalesman named Liss Lars, and, +as they were chatting together, a great bear attacked Gustavus. After a +fierce battle Lars slew the brute with a blow of his axe. The two +woodcutters became friends, and Lars got his companion a place under the +same master as himself, where Gustavus remained a whole winter +unsuspected. Often he himself was questioned by the Danish spies, +hunting for the now famous Vasa. + +[Illustration: Abdication of Gustavus Vasa.] + +Once there was like to have been trouble between the two friends, for +Lars loved a maiden at the farm, who out of coquetry often smiled at +Gustavus, until the giant Dalesman became terribly jealous. One day when +she brought them their noon-day ale, she handed it first to Gustavus, +who, after drinking, returned it with a pleasant word and a pat on the +cheek. With a roar like a mad bull, Lars rushed on his comrade and +seized him in his giant arms. As he did so he saw around his neck the +embroidered collar worn by the Swedish nobility. The astounded Dalesman +staggered back, pointing to it. "Either thou art a thief, or the great +Gustavus himself." "Ay, friend Lars, I am the outlaw Gustavus, son of +Eric. Now, wilt thou hand me over to the Danes, or smash my head against +the floor, as just now thou seemedest minded?" "I will swear eternal +fealty to thee," cried Lars; "and if thou raisest the standard of +revolt, I will be the first to join." + +Soon, however, even this retired spot became too unsafe, and Gustavus +fled farther north. Once an old schoolmate offered him shelter, and +then, while Gustavus slept, rode away to get help to capture him. But +the housewife, suspecting her husband's treachery, roused Gustavus, who +climbed through a window twenty feet from the ground, and escaped on a +horse the good woman had provided. + +At another time, by burying himself in a load of hay he was carried past +some Danish soldiers who were searching for him. They thrust their +spears through the hay and then rode on. One of the spears wounded the +hidden man, and, seeing the blood trickle down, the soldiers hurried +back. But the driver had snatched out his knife and given a slight cut +to one of his horses; and when he pointed to this, charging one of them +with having done it, they rode away again laughing at their own +suspicions. In a hundred other equally dangerous situations he escaped +either by his own courage, or by the ready wit of the brave Dalecarlian +peasants; and at last the Danish spies gave up the hunt for him, and +returned to Stockholm. + +Then he came forth again, and in ringing words urged the people to +revolt. But though they loved Gustavus, and loved Sweden, yet they held +back in doubt and fear from his daring plans; and so the hero left them, +and went on through the surrounding provinces, telling everywhere of +King Christian's cruelty, and sowing seed which was to ripen later on. +Yet nowhere could he rouse the peasants to action, until word came that +the cruel king had sworn to cut a hand and foot from every man in +Sweden, that they might never revolt again. Now all felt that there was +nothing left but fight. In great haste the Dalecarlians sent after +Gustavus and brought him back. They held a great meeting, and to it came +Gustavus' wood-cutter friend, Liss Lars. He made a great homely speech, +saying, "This Gustavus, son of Eric, is a man. He has threshed with me, +and I know him. We can trust him, and sense has he, more than all of us +put together. He must be our leader." + +All swore fealty to Gustavus; and he bade them make swords and spears +and arrows on their own anvils, while he went on again to rouse the +other provinces. King Christian had been called home by a rumor of +rebellion there, but his lieutenants thought to crush this little +uprising of the Dalecarlians as easily as they had a few others, and one +of them marched promptly there with a large force. The brave peasants, +led by Liss Lars and another, attacked him as he was crossing a river +and defeated him with great slaughter. Gustavus heard rumors of the +battle, and that his little army was destroyed. In wild haste he +galloped back to Dalecarlia to find them celebrating their victory. + +Now did the men he had roused in every quarter come pouring in; and he +drilled them, and trained them, and encouraged them, became head and +hand and heart for them all, till soon he had such an army that he might +fairly hope to match any force the Danes could bring against him. Then +he sent out a proclamation declaring Christian deposed for his cruel and +bloody tyranny, and calling all true Swedes to join him in making war +upon the oppressor. + +Thus did this young man at twenty-five become the leader of a great +rebellion, which he himself had created and controlled. He led his men +against one fortress after another. There were long sieges and terrible +battles; but Gustavus proved himself as great a general as he was a man; +and two years later, in 1525, Stockholm, the last town remaining to the +Danes in Sweden, surrendered to his army. Christian himself had been +unable to leave Denmark, but he was in constant communication with his +lieutenants, and wild was his rage at the continued success of his young +opponent. Gustavus's mother and sister, with many other Swedish ladies, +had fallen into the king's hands at the time of those wholesale murders; +and he tried to frighten the hero with threats of what he would do to +them; but poor Gustavus had learned only too surely that most of them +were already dead from his cruel treatment. Finally this brute was +deposed by his own subjects, and a new king chosen. This king made some +faint attempts to recover Sweden, but he had small chance against such a +man as Vasa. + +The hero and his army entered Stockholm in triumph; and such of the old +nobles as were left, gathered in a council and offered him the crown +which he had wrested from Denmark. He refused it, saying he had labored +for his country, not himself, and bade the nobles choose from among +themselves some older man. But the whole country cried out that they +would submit to no man but him; he had freed them, he should rule them. +So there was, what seldom has been in history, a free choice of a king +by a united people; and Gustavus, son of Eric, became Gustavus I., King +of Sweden. Five years before he had been carried off a helpless, almost +friendless prisoner, by a mighty king. Now they had, by sheer force of +character, changed places; the king was in a dungeon, Gustavus on a +throne. + +Though the remainder of our hero's life was less adventurous, it was no +less noble. He made, as all had foreseen, a great king, showing himself +as wise and high-minded as he had already proven brave and patient. He +found Sweden a petty province, he left it a mighty kingdom; he found it +a wilderness, poor, thinly peopled, and semi-barbarous, he left it +prosperous, populous, and civilized. He himself was the head and centre +of all this, performing an amount of work which seems almost impossible +for one man. His letters, some of which remain, are clear, minute in +detail, and exact. He knew just how he wanted things done, and he had +them done his way. His own life might be summed up in his advice to his +two sons, given when, only a few months before his death, he resigned a +crown grown too heavy for his failing strength. "Think carefully, +execute promptly, _never give up_, never delay. Resolves not carried out +are like clouds without rain in times of drought." + + + + +MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS + +By SAMUEL L. KNAPP + +(1542-1587) + +[Illustration: Mary, Queen of Scots.] + + +Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, was the third child of James V. and his +wife, Mary of Guise. That lady had borne him previously, two sons, both +of whom died in infancy. Mary was born on December 7, 1542, in the +palace of Linlithgow. She was only seven days old when she lost her +father, who, at the time of her birth, lay sick at the palace of +Falkland. + +The young queen was crowned by Cardinal Beaton, at Stirling, on +September 9, 1543. Soon after her birth, the Parliament nominated +commissioners, to whom they intrusted the charge of the queen's person, +leaving all her other interests to the care of her mother. The first two +years of her life, Mary spent at Linlithgow, where it is said she had +the small-pox, but the disease must have been of a particularly gentle +kind, having left behind no visible traces. During the greater part of +the years 1545, 1546, and 1547, she resided at Stirling Castle, in the +keeping of Lords Erskine and Livingstone. She was afterward removed to +Inchmahome, a sequestered island in the lake of Monteith; after +remaining there upward of two years, it was thought expedient by those +who had at the time the disposal of her future destiny, that she should +be removed to France. She was accordingly, in the fifth year of her age, +taken to Dunbarton, where she was delivered to the French admiral, whose +vessels were waiting to receive her; and attended by Lords Erskine and +Livingstone, her three natural brothers, and four young ladies as +companions, she left Scotland. + +The thirteen happiest years of Mary's life were spent in France. She was +received at Brest, by order of Henry II., with all the honors due to her +rank and royal destiny. She travelled by easy stages to the palace at +St. Germain en Laye; and to mark the respect that was paid to her, the +prison gates of every town she came to were thrown open, and the +prisoners set free. Shortly after her arrival she was sent, along with +the king's own daughters, to one of the first convents in France, where +young ladies of distinction were instructed in the elementary branches +of education. + +Henry, to confirm the French authority in Scotland, was eager to marry +Francis, his son, to Mary. Francis, the young dauphin, who was much +about Mary's own age, was far inferior to her both in personal +appearance and mental endowments. They had been playmates from infancy; +they had prosecuted all their studies together; he loved her with the +tenderest affection; it was not in Mary's nature to be indifferent to +those who evinced affection for her; and if her fondness for Francis was +mingled with pity, it has long been asserted that "pity is akin to +love." + +On April 24, 1558, the nuptials took place in the church of Notre Dame, +with great splendor. Every eye was fixed on the youthful Mary; and, +inspired by those feelings which beauty seldom fails to excite, every +heart offered up prayers for her future welfare and happiness. She was +now at that age when feminine loveliness is perhaps most attractive. It +is not to be supposed, indeed, that her charms, in her sixteenth year, +had ripened into that full-blown maturity which they afterward attained; +but they were on this account only the more fascinating. Some have +conjectured that Mary's beauty has been extolled far above its real +merits; and it cannot be denied that many vague and erroneous notions +exist regarding it. But that her countenance possessed, in a pre-eminent +degree, the something which constitutes beauty, is sufficiently attested +by the unanimous declaration of all contemporary writers. Her person was +finely proportioned, and her carriage exceedingly graceful and +dignified. + +Shortly after the espousals, Mary and her husband retired to one of +their princely summer residences, where she discharged the duties of a +wife without ostentation. But the intriguing and restless ambition of +her uncles could not allow her to remain long quiet. About this time +Mary Tudor, who had succeeded Edward VI. on the English throne, died; +and although the Parliament had declared that the succession rested in +her sister Elizabeth, it was thought proper to claim for Mary Stuart a +prior right. But it was destined that there was to be another and more +unexpected death at the French court. Henry II. was killed at a +tournament by Count Montgomery. Francis and Mary succeeded to the +throne. Mary was now at the very height of European grandeur, for she +was queen of two powerful countries, and heir presumptive of a third. +She stood unluckily on too high a pinnacle to be able to retain her +position long. Francis died after a short reign of seventeen months, and +the heir to the throne Charles IX., being a minor, Catharine de Medicis +became once more virtually queen of France; and from her Mary could +expect no favors. + +In August, 1561, Mary left France with tears, and was received in +Scotland with every mark of respect. She came, alone and unprotected, to +assume the government of a country which had long been distinguished for +its rebellious turbulence. Contrasted, too, with her former situation, +that which she was now about to fill appeared particularly formidable. +By whatever counsel she acted, the blame of all unpopular measures would +be sure to rest with her. If she favored the Protestants, the Catholics +were sure to renounce her, and if she assisted the Catholics, the +Protestants would be again found assembling at Perth, listening, with +arms in their hands, to the sermons of John Knox, pulling down the +remaining monasteries, and subscribing additional covenants. Is it +surprising, then, that she found it difficult to steer her course +between the rocks of Scylla and the whirlpools of Charybdis? If +misfortunes ultimately overtook her, the wonder unquestionably ought to +be, not that they ever arrived, but that they should have been guarded +against so long. + +To further their political views, Mary's hand was sought for by princes +of the several European courts. The princes of the house of Austria, +apprehensive of the ambition of France, wished a union between the +Scottish queen and the Archduke Charles. Philip II., envying the +Austrians so important a prize, used all his influence to procure her +hand for his son Don Carlos, heir to the extensive domains of the +Spanish monarchy. Catharine de Medicis, jealous of them both, offered +the hand of the Duke of Anjou, brother to her former husband, and +Elizabeth, the artful queen of England, recommended Lord Robert Dudley, +afterward Earl of Leicester. + +Mary shunned all their intrigues, and followed the bent of her own +inclination in marrying Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, eldest son of the +Earl of Lennox. Darnley, at this time in the bloom of youth, was +distinguished for the beauty and grace of his person, and accomplished +in every elegant art; and he also professed the Catholic religion. +Darnley's qualifications, however, were superficial, and abandoning +himself to pleasure and the vices of youth, he became gradually careless +and indifferent toward the queen, whose disappointments and +mortifications were in proportion to the fervor of her former +sentiments. Her French secretary was one David Rizzio, who was possessed +of musical talents, and to whom she became much attached. Darnley became +jealous of Rizzio, and he, with a number of conspirators, took +possession of the palace on March 9, 1566, while the queen was at supper +with the Countess of Argyle and Rizzio. The latter clung to the queen +for protection, but he was torn from her and dragged to the next +apartment, where the fury of his enemies put an end to his existence, by +piercing his body with fifty-six wounds. The conspirators put Mary under +guard, but she escaped, and by the aid of Bothwell and others, she was +soon enabled to put her enemies at defiance. This event served to +alienate Mary's affections from Darnley. + +On June 19, 1566, the queen gave birth to a son; an event more fortunate +to the nation than to his unhappy mother, whose evil destiny received +aggravation from a circumstance which appeared so flattering to her +hopes. + +Darnley, neglected by the queen, and despised by the people, remained in +solitude at Stirling, but alarmed by the rumor of a design to seize his +person, he thought fit to retire to his father at Glasgow. On his way +thither he was seized with a dangerous illness. Mary visited him, and +it is said prevailed on him to be removed to the capital, where she +would attend on him. Kirk of Field, a house belonging to the provost of +a collegiate church, was prepared for his reception. The situation, on a +rising ground and in an open field, was recommended for the salubrity of +its air. + +At two o'clock on the morning of February 10, 1567, the city was alarmed +by a sudden explosion. The house in which Darnley resided was blown up +with gunpowder. The dead body of Henry and a servant, who slept in his +room, were found lying in an adjacent garden, without marks of violence, +and untouched by fire. Thus perished Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in his +twenty-first year, a youth whom the indulgence of nature and fortune had +combined to betray to his ruin. + +This execrable deed gave rise to various suspicions and conjectures, +which, while they glanced at the queen from her new sentiments with +regard to her husband, were, with a general consent, directed toward +Bothwell. A proclamation was issued from the throne, offering a +considerable reward for the murderer. Neither the power and greatness of +Bothwell, nor his favor with the queen, secured him from the indignant +sentiment of the nation. He had a mock trial, in which he was acquitted. + +The queen, on a journey from Edinburgh to Stirling, to visit her son, +was seized by a party of Bothwell's and conducted a prisoner to his +castle at Dunbar. Here he prevailed on her to marry him, and on her +subsequent appearance in public she was received with a sullen and +disrespectful silence by the people. + +The transactions which had passed during the last three months in +Scotland were beheld by Europe with horror and detestation. The murder +of the king, the impunity with which his assassins were suffered to +escape, and the marriage of the queen with the man accused of being +their chief, were a series of incidents, which, for their atrocity and +rapid succession, were scarcely to be paralleled in the pages of +history. A general infamy fell upon the Scotch nation, which was +regarded, from these circumstances, as a people void of decency, +humanity, and honor. + +[Illustration: Mary Stuart and Rizzio.] + +The discontented nobles confederated together and flew to arms. Bothwell +and Mary were unable to stem the opposition; she surrendered to her +enemies, and was conducted a captive to the castle of Lochleven. Mary +had for some weeks suffered the terrors of a prison; of her deliverance +there seemed to be but little prospect; no one had appeared as her +defender or advocate. Thus solitary, deserted, and distressed, her +persecutors reckoned on her fears and on her sex. Lord Lindsay, the +fiercest zealot of the party, was employed to communicate their plan to +the queen, and to obtain from her a subscription to the papers with +which he was charged. In the execution of his commission, he spared +neither harshness nor brutality; certain death was offered to the +unhappy victim, as the alternative of her refusal. Thus urged, she +yielded to the pressure of circumstances, and put her signature to the +papers presented to her by Lindsay. By one of these papers she resigned +the crown, renounced all share in the government, and consented to +the coronation of the young king. By another, she appointed Murray to +the regency, and vested him with the powers and privileges of the +office. Pierced with grief, and bathed in indignant tears, she signed +the deed of her own humiliation, and furnished to her adversaries the +instrument of her abasement. + +The people were not generally satisfied with the conduct of Murray, the +regent, and the scattered party of the queen began gradually to reunite. +Such was the disposition of the nation when Mary, through the medium of +George Douglas, a youth of eighteen, contrived to escape from prison. +She flew on horseback, at full speed, to Hamilton, where, before a train +of great and splendid nobles, and an army 6,000 strong, she declared +that the deeds signed by her during her imprisonment, and the +resignation of her crown, were extorted from her by fear. An engagement +between her forces and those of Murray took place at Hamilton; her army +was defeated. She stood on a hill and saw all that passed. In confusion +and horror she began her flight, and so terrible was the trepidation of +her spirits, that she stopped not till she reached the abbey of +Dunrenan, in Galloway, fully sixty Scottish miles from the field of +battle. In the space of eleven days she had beheld herself a prisoner, +at the mercy of her greatest enemies; at the head of a powerful army, +with a numerous train of nobles devoted to her service; and a fugitive, +at the hazard of her life, driven, with a few attendants, to lurk in a +corner of her kingdom. Still anxious and agitated in her retreat, she +was impelled by her fears to an irretrievable step, fatal to all her +future hopes. In vain her attendants, with the lords Herries and Heming, +implored her on their knees not to confide in Elizabeth, her resolution +was not to be shaken, and to England she fatally resolved to fly. No +longer an object of jealousy, but compassion, Mary trusted in the +generosity of a sister queen, that she would not take advantage of her +calamitous situation. She got into a fisherman's boat, and with about +twenty attendants, landed at Workington, in Cumberland, whence, with +marks of respect, she was conducted to Carlisle. + +She addressed, on her arrival in England, a letter to the queen, in +which she painted in glowing colors the injuries she had sustained, and +implored the sympathy and assistance which her present situation so +pressingly required. Elizabeth and her council deliberated upon the +course which, in this extraordinary event, it would be proper to pursue; +and at last determined, in spite of justice and humanity, to avail +herself of the advantages given her by the confidence of her rival. Mary +demanded a personal interview with Elizabeth, but this honor she was +told must be denied to her. She had no intention of acknowledging +superiority in the queen of England, who, she expected, would, as a +friend, herself receive and examine her defences. But Elizabeth chose to +consider herself as umpire between the Scottish queen and her subjects; +and she prepared to appoint commissioners to hear the pleadings of both +parties, and wrote to the Regent of Scotland to empower proper persons +to appear in his name, and produce what could be alleged in vindication +of his proceedings. + +Mary, who had hitherto relied on the professions of Elizabeth, was by +this proposal at once undeceived, and she was, in despite of her +remonstrances and complaints, conducted to Bolton, a castle of Lord +Scroop, on the borders of Yorkshire. Commissioners met on both sides, +and after protracted deliberations for four months, they left things +just as they found them. + +The last eighteen years of Mary's life were spent in imprisonment, and +are comparatively a blank in her personal history. She was transported, +at intervals, from castle to castle, and was intrusted sometimes to the +charge of one nobleman, and sometimes to another; but for her the active +scenes of life were past; the splendor and dignity of a throne were to +be enjoyed no longer; the sceptre of her native country was never more +to grace her hands; her will ceased to influence a nation; her voice did +not travel beyond the walls that witnessed her confinement. She came +into England at the age of twenty-five, in the prime of womanhood, the +full vigor of health, and the rapidly ripening strength of her +intellectual powers. She was there destined to feel, in all its +bitterness, that "hope deferred maketh the heart sick." Year after year +passed slowly on, and year after year her spirits became more exhausted, +her health feebler, and her doubts and fears confirmed, till they at +length settled in despair. Premature old age overtook her before she was +past the meridian of life; and for some time before her death, her hair +was white "with other snows than those of age." Yet, during the whole of +this long period, amid sufferings which would have broken many a +masculine spirit, and which, even in our own times, have been seen to +conquer those who had conquered empires, Mary retained the innate grace +and dignity of her character, never forgetting that she had been born a +queen, or making her calamities an excuse for the commission of any +petty meanness, which she would have scorned in the days of her +prosperity. Full of incident as her previous life had been, brilliant in +many of its achievements, it may be doubted whether the forbearance, +fortitude, and magnanimity displayed in her latter years, do not redound +more highly to her praise than all that preceded. Elizabeth wished for +some plausible pretext to take away the life of the unhappy Mary, whom, +though so defenceless, she regarded as a dangerous rival. The Duke of +Norfolk made offers of marriage to Mary, to which she consented, in case +she should be liberated. His scheme also was to favor the Catholic +cause, and on its being discovered he was thrown into prison, where, +after six months' confinement, he was liberated, on condition of his +holding no further intercourse with the queen. He was, however, arrested +the second time, and executed. + +A conspiracy soon after took place, through the blind affection of the +English Catholics for Mary, and their implacable hatred of Elizabeth; +that, while it proved fatal to the life of one queen, has left on the +memory of the other an indelible stain. It was a conspiracy of two +zealous Catholics, to take the life of Elizabeth. The plot was revealed +in confidence to Anthony Babington, a young gentleman of Derbyshire, +possessing a large fortune and many amiable qualities, whom the +Archbishop of Glasgow had recommended to the notice of Mary. The +conspirators, through treachery, were arrested, and it is said two +letters from Mary were found with Babington. This was a pretext to +represent these fanatics as the instruments of the captive queen. +Determined that no circumstance of solemnity suited to the dignity of +the person arraigned might be wanting, Elizabeth appointed, by a +commission under the great seal, forty persons, the most illustrious in +the kingdom for their rank and birth, together with five judges, for the +decision of the cause. + +On October 11, 1586, the commissioners arrived at Fotheringay, where +Mary was confined. She solemnly protested her innocence of the crime +laid to her charge, and having never countenanced any attempt against +the life of Elizabeth, she refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of +the commissioners. "I came," said she, "into the kingdom an independent +sovereign, to implore the queen's assistance, not to subject myself to +her authority. Nor is my spirit so broken by past misfortunes, or +intimidated by present dangers, as to stoop to anything unbecoming the +majesty of a crowned head, or that will disgrace the ancestors from whom +I am descended, and the son to whom I shall leave my throne." + +Mary made her own defence; and her conduct before her judges displayed +the magnanimity of a heroine, tempered by the gentleness and modesty of +a woman. The judges were predetermined to find her guilty: the trial was +a mere pretence to give a sanction to their proceedings; they were +unanimous in declaring Mary "to be accessory to the conspiracy of +Babington, and to have imagined divers matters, tending to the hurt, +death, and destruction of Elizabeth, contrary to the express words of +the statute made for the security of the life of the queen." + +On Tuesday, February 7, 1587, the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent arrived +at Fotheringay, and read in Mary's presence the warrant for her +execution, which was appointed for the ensuing day. "That soul," said +Mary, calmly crossing herself, "is unworthy the joys of heaven, which +repines because the body must endure the stroke of the axe. I submit +willingly to the lot which heaven has decreed for me; though I did not +expect the Queen of England would set the first example of violating the +sacred person of a sovereign prince." Then laying her hand on a Bible, +which happened to be near her, she solemnly protested her innocence. + +At the scaffold she prayed for the prosperity of her son, and for a long +and peaceable reign to Elizabeth. She hoped for mercy, she declared, +only through the death of Christ, at the foot of whose image she +willingly shed her blood. With intrepid calmness she laid her neck on +the block; her hands were held by one executioner, while the other, with +two blows, dissevered her head from her body. "So perish all the enemies +of Elizabeth!" exclaimed the dean, as he held up the streaming head. +"Amen," answered the Earl of Kent alone; every other eye was drowned in +tears; every other voice was stifled in commiseration. Thus, after a +life of forty-four years and two months, nineteen years of which had +been passed in captivity, perished the lovely and unfortunate Mary, +Queen of Scots. + + + + +CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH[12] + + [Footnote 12: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By MARION HARLAND + +(1579-1631) + +[Illustration: Captain John Smith.] + + +Of the antecedents of John Smith, Esquire, Captain and Knight, little is +recorded beyond the facts that he was of gentle blood and honorable +lineage, and that he was born in Lancashire, England, in 1579. + +He was still under age when he enlisted as a private soldier and fought +with "our army" in Flanders. Sigismund Bathor, Duke of Transylvania, was +warring with the Turks, and young Smith, athirst for adventure, next +took service under him. Before the Transylvanian town of Regall, he +killed three Turkish officers in single combat, for which doughty deed +he was knighted. The certificate of Sigismund's patent empowering the +Englishman to quarter three Turks' heads upon the family coat-of-arms is +in the Herald's Office in London. + +The tables were turned by his subsequent capture by the Turks. He was +sent to Tartary as a slave, not a prisoner of war, and compelled to +perform the most ignoble tasks, until, escaping by killing his brutal +master, he made his way by his wits to his native country in 1604. He +was now twenty-five years of age, and emphatically a soldier of fortune. +The tale of his prowess and adventures had preceded him, and he was +eagerly welcomed in London by kindred spirits who were preparing to +emigrate to America to form the colony of Virginia under the grant and +direct patronage of James I. By the time the enterprise was ripe for +execution, Smith had made himself so useful in counsel and preparation +that the king named him as one of the councillors of the prospective +colony. + +The boundary lines of the royal grant were two hundred miles north, and +the same distance south, of the mouth of the James River, and east and +west "from sea to sea." + +On December 19, 1606, the band of adventurers, 100 in number, embarked +at Gravesend in three small vessels. Christopher Newport was in command, +but Smith, and his close allies, Bartholomew Gosnold and George Percy, a +younger brother of the Duke of Northumberland, were the ruling spirits +of the voyagers. Carpenters and laborers were oddly jumbled upon the +list of emigrants with jewellers, perfumers, and gold refiners, and +"gentlemen" held prominence in numbers and influence. The officers +outnumbered the privates. The little fleet was hardly out of the offing +when the struggle for power began. The voyage was not half accomplished +when John Smith was charged with complicity in a discovered mutiny. He +had intended, it was alleged, to murder his superiors, seize the fleet, +and make himself king of Virginia. The "General History of Virginia" +tells how serious an aspect the affair wore: + +"Such factions here we had, as commonly attend such voyages, that a +paire of gallowes was made, but Captain Smith, for whom they were +intended, _could not be persuaded to use them_." + +He was still under suspicion and arrest when the fleet anchored (May 13, +1607) in the broad river, Powhatan, to which the English explorers gave +the name of their king. Their first tents were pitched and first cabins +built upon a low peninsula flanked by extensive marshes. The settlement +received the name of Jamestown, in further demonstration of loyalty. + +When the king's sealed orders were opened, the name of John Smith +appeared second upon the roll of seven councillors appointed to govern +the infant colony. Next to him Gosnold was fittest for the responsible +position assigned to them. His death within three months after the +landing, left Smith the object of the envious distrust of Wingfield, who +had been elected president, and virtually alone in the honest desire to +found a permanent settlement in Virginia for ends he thus sets forth: + +"Erecting towns, peopling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming +things unjust, teaching virtue and gain to our native Mother Country." + +There is a prophetic ring in this remarkable utterance of one whom his +contemporaries persisted in regarding as a reckless adventurer, +ambitious and unscrupulous. His frank denunciation of the feeble +measures of Wingfield and the selfish villainy of Ratcliffe, another +colleague, had earned the ill-will of the president and the relentless +hatred of Ratcliffe. Smith, being under arrest, was not allowed to take +his place among the councillors. He bided the day of justice with +patience learned from adversity. When the supreme opportunity came he +grasped it. An attack from hostile Indians proved Wingfield's unfitness +for the military command, and the alarmed colonists turned instinctively +to the bravest of their number. Wingfield anticipated the uprising by +reiterating his intention of sending Smith to England for trial, for the +double crime of mutiny and treason. + +"The restive soldier suddenly flamed out. He would be tried in Virginia +as was his right--there was the charter! and the trial took place. The +result was a ruinous commentary on the characters of Wingfield and the +council. The testimony of their own witnesses convicted them of +subornation of perjury to destroy Smith. He was acquitted by the jury of +all the charges against him, and Kendall, who had conducted the +prosecution, was condemned to pay him £200 damages. This sum was +presented by Smith to the colony for the general use, and then the foes +partook of the commission, and the soldier was admitted to his seat in +the council." (Cooke's "History of Virginia.") + +By autumn the settlement was fearfully reduced in numbers and spirits. +Fever, engendered by marshland malaria and famine, threatened utter +extinction. + +"From May to September, those who escaped lived upon sturgeon and +sea-crabs; 50 in this time were buried," writes one of the sufferers. +"The rest, seeing the president's projects to escape these miseries in +our pinnace by flight (who all this time had neither felt want or +sickness), so moved our dead spirits as we deposed him and established +Ratcliffe in his place." + +It was an exchange of inefficiency for deliberate wickedness, and in the +excess of continued misery the more reasonable of the victims arose as a +man and put Smith at the head of affairs. + +The "terrible summer" left hardly ten men who could wield axe or hoe. +Smith himself was ill with malarial fever, yet nursed the sick, prayed +with the dying, and kept up the hearts of all by brave words and braver +action. He bought corn and meat of the Indians when they would sell, and +when they refused, secured supplies by intimidation. Yet we find him, as +soon as the immediate peril was over, again the subordinate of envious +leaders, and volunteering to satisfy malcontents in America and in +England, by heading a party in mid-December to attempt the discovery of +the great "South Sea," for so long the _ignis fatuus_ of Western +adventurers. + +The explorers sailed up the James, diverging here and there into the +tortuous creeks of the Chickahominy. When stopped by shallows, Smith +procured a canoe and Indian guides and pushed on with but two other +white men (Robinson and Emry) into the unknown wilderness, teeming with +spies jealous of the foreign intruders. Attempting to land at +"Powhatan," one of "the emperor's" residences, he and his guide sank +into the morass and were fired upon from the shore. + +"The salvages ... followed him with 300 bowmen, led by the king of +Pamunkee, who, searching the turnings of the river, found Robinson and +Emry by the fire-side. These they shot full of arrowes and slew." + +Smith bound the Indian guide to his arm and used him as a shield, thus +saving his own life. He was, however, captured, lashed to a tree, and +would have been killed, but for his address in presenting the King +Opecancanough with "a round ivory double compass Dyall"--his own pocket +compass--directing the attention of the "salvages" to the movement of +the needle, and describing the uses of the instrument. + +"A month those Babarians kept him prisoner; many strange triumphes and +conjurations they made of him, yet he so demeaned himself among them as +he not only diverted them from surprising the Fort, but procured his own +libertie, and got himself and his company such estimation among them +that these Salvages admired him as a demi-god." + +From the pen of a contemporary we have the account of what led to his +"libertie." He had killed two of the attacking party, and was condemned +by Powhatan to die for the offence. + +[Illustration: Captain Smith saved by Pocahontas.] + +"Having feasted him after their best barbarous manner they could, a long +consultation was held; but the conclusion was, two great stones were +brought before Powhatan, then, as many as could lay hands on him, +dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with +their clubs to beate out his brains, Pocahontas, the king's dearest +daughter, when no entreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes, +and laid her owne upon his to save him from death; whereat the emperor +was contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her bells, beads, +and copper." + +From other pages we get the stage-setting for this, the most dramatic +incident in colonial history. + +The emperor had heard the evidence with a "sour look," sitting in state +upon a rude dais, covered with mats, his body wrapped in a cloak of +raccoon skins. His dusky harem was grouped about him, watchful and +interested. When the trial was over he bade one wife to bring water to +wash the captive's hands, another a bunch of feathers to dry them upon. +This was preliminary to the feast. + +"So fat they fed Mee," says "A True Relation of Virginia," published by +Smith in 1608, "that I much doubted they intended to have sacrificed mee +to the Quioughquosiche, which is a superiour power they worship." + +The appointment to the position of armorer in the royal household, and +trinket-maker to the princess, was one of honor. Smith enjoyed it for a +month only, but to his residence at Powhatan and intimacy with +Pocahontas, he was indebted for the familiarity with Indian language and +customs which was afterward of incalculable benefit to the Virginians. +He describes Pocahontas in respectful admiration: + +"For features, countenance, and expression she much exceeded the rest." + +Her gala attire was a doeskin mantle lined with down from the breasts of +wood-pigeons; bangles of coral bound her brown ankles and wrists, and in +her hair was a white heron's feather in token of her royal blood. At the +time of her rescue of Smith she was about thirteen years old. + +In January, 1608, the emperor offered Smith a forest principality if he +would remain with the tribe, but he petitioned to be allowed to return +to Jamestown. The request was reluctantly granted, and an escort sent +with him to the "Fort." This returned, bearing gifts for Powhatan and +his wives, with marvellous stories of the cannon-shot fired into the +sleety forest at Smith's command. We cannot but wonder what toy or +ornament went to the petted child whom he had served in glad gratitude +while a member of her father's household. + +He had no time for sentimental musings. Upon the very day of his +unlooked for return (January 8, 1608), Ratcliffe repeated Wingfield's +attempt to escape to England in the only vessel left at Jamestown. The +anchor was actually raised when Smith hastily collected a force and +hurried to the landing. "With the hazzard of his life, with sakre, +falcon, and musket shot, Smith forced" (them) "now the third time to +stay or sinke." + +In their sullen rage the foiled conspirators plotted and nearly executed +a fiendish revenge. Once more we copy from the "General History," +written by Smith and his friends. + +"Some no better than they should be, had plotted with the president" +(Ratcliffe) "the next day to have put him" (Smith) "to death by the +Leviticall law for the lives of Robinson and Emry, pretending the fault +was his that had led them to their ends; but he quickly took such order +with such lawyers that he layd them by the heeles till he sent some of +them prisoners to England." + +The colony was almost destitute of food, and the memories of the famine +of last year terrified the imaginations of those who had lived through +it. "Gentlemen" having again predominated in reinforcements sent from +England, the crops planted and gathered in Smith's absence had been +meagre, while rats brought over in one of the vessels had wrought havoc +with stored grain. Like an angel of mercy was the apparition of +Pocahontas, at the head of a "wild train" of Indians laden with corn and +game, approaching the fort. "Ever once in four or five days during the +time of two or three years," the young princess, thus attended, visited +the fort and succored the needy settlers. Smith declares that "next +under God she preserved the colony from death, famine, and utter +confusion." He might have subjoined that, but for himself, not even +Pocahontas's bounty could have saved the settlement from the +consequences of misconduct and misrule. + +His was the only voice lifted to condemn the mad folly of loading a +homeward-bound vessel with the glittering mud of a neighboring creek. +That he was "not enamored of their dirty skill to freight such a drunken +ship with so much gilded dirt"--was one of the mildest of his phrases, +as, "breathing out these and many other passions," he harangued those +who had "no thought, no discourse, no hope, and no work but to dig gold, +wash gold, refine gold, and load gold." + +Before the English assayers confirmed his judgment as to the value of +this cargo, the intrepid adventurer had sailed, with fourteen others, up +the Chesapeake into new and wonderful regions. Never losing heart, even +when he believed himself to be dying from the sting of a poisonous fish, +he discovered and entered the Potomac, the Rappahannock, and tributary +creeks, fighting his way when not allowed to proceed peaceably. In July +(1608) he led another party to the spot now occupied by the city of +Baltimore, and made friends with a tribe called Susquehannocks, believed +to be sun-worshippers. Returning from these voyages of three thousand +miles in all, he drew in masterly style a chart of the countries +explored, and sent it to England. + +Jamestown was still in a state of what he calls "combustion," under the +tyranny of Ratcliffe. Emboldened by Smith's return, the colonists +deposed the hated governor, and formally elected Smith Governor of +Virginia. The winter closed in upon an "affrighted" population. +Storehouses were nearly empty, agriculture having been neglected in the +gold fever. As Smith could not be "persuaded to use" the gallows, so he +now announced that "no persuasion could persuade _him_ to starve." In +company with George Percy and fifty others, he visited his old ally +Powhatan, and tried to buy food. A change had come to the emperor's +heart. He addressed his quondam armorer as a "rash youth;" protested +that he was afraid of him, and would not treat with the English unless +they came to him unarmed. Warned by Pocahontas, who stole through the +woods after dark to apprise Smith that treachery was intended, the +party lay on their arms all night, and the force sent to surprise them +retreated. Next day, Powhatan loaded the boats with corn, and Smith +sailed up the York upon a similar errand to Opecancanough, Powhatan's +brother. While in audience with him, the Englishmen were surrounded by a +band of seven hundred armed savages. Seizing the wily chieftain by the +scalp-lock, Smith held a pistol to his breast, and demanded a cargo of +corn and safe-conduct for his party to Jamestown. The fifty men, without +loss of a single life, took back enough food to victual the town. + +Early in the spring of 1609, the president thus made known his policy to +his constituents: + +"Countrymen! You see now that power resteth wholly in myself. You must +obey this now for a law--_he that will not work shall not eat_. And +though you presume that authority here is but a shadow and that I dare +not touch the lives of any, but my own must answer for it, yet he that +offendeth, let him assuredly expect his due punishment. + +"I protest by that God that made me, since necessity hath no power to +force you to gather for yourselves, you shall not only gather for +yourselves, but for those that are sick. _They_ shall not starve." + +Fields were tilled, the fort was repaired, wise Powhatan treated the +pale-faces kindly for Smith's sake, and the emigrants felt for the first +time firm ground beneath their feet. They had twenty-four pieces of +ordnance, and three hundred stand of small-arms; three ships, seven +boats, a store of more than two months' provisions, six hundred hogs, +with goats, fowls, and sheep, and an established trading-station with +the natives. + +Like an aërolite from the summer sky came news from England that a fleet +was to be sent out with a new colony, a new charter, and new officers; +Smith's old enemy, Christopher Newport, was in command of the +expedition. Smith had been complained of at home as "dealing harshly +with the natives and not returning the ships full-freighted." His day +was over. The king so willed it. + +Smith's last official act was the establishment of a colony at Powhatan, +renamed "Nonsuch," opposite where the city of Richmond was laid out over +a century later. On his way back to Jamestown, he was cruelly wounded by +the explosion of a bag of gunpowder. There was no good surgeon in the +colony. To return forthwith to England was but anticipating by a few +weeks what must be when the fleet arrived. + +He returned to London at the age of thirty. "He had broke the ice and +beat the path, but had not there" (in Virginia) "one foot of ground, nor +the very house he builded, nor the ground he digged with his own hands." + +In 1614 he returned to America, but now to the northern region assigned +to the Plymouth Company. He gave name to Boston; explored and made a +survey of the New England coast. On a second voyage he had a fight with +a French squadron, was captured, and taken to Rochelle. While there he +wrote a "Description of New England," for which service James I. +appointed him "Admiral of New England." He died in London, in 1631, at +the age of fifty-two, never having revisited Virginia. Upon his tomb, in +the Church of St. Sepulchre's, London, may be still traced the outlines +of the Three Turks' Heads and the inscription, beginning: + + "_Here lies one conquered that hath conquered kings._" + +Any sketch of his life, however brief, would be incomplete that +contained no reference to the letter written by him to Queen Anne (the +consort of James I.), in 1616, recommending the Lady Rebecca Rolfe to +the royal favor. + +He would "be guilty of the deadly poison of ingratitude," he wrote, if +he failed to narrate what he and the colony at Jamestown owed to +Pocahontas. He besought the queen's kindly consideration for the +stranger just landed upon her shores, as due to Pocahontas's "great +spirit, her desert, birth, want, and simplicity." His one call upon the +wife of John Rolfe, Gentleman, was marked by profound respect on his +part to one whom he accosted as "Lady Rebecca;" by profound emotion on +hers. + +John Smith's biography and epitaph are best summed up by one of his +brothers-in-arms: + + "What shall I saye, but thus we lost him that in all his + proceedings made justice his first guide and experience his + second, ever hating basenesse, sloth, pride, and indignitie more + than any dangers; that never allowed more for himself than for + his soldiers with him; that upon no danger would send them where + he would not lead them himselfe; that would never see us want + what he either had or could by any means get us; that would + rather want than borrow, or starve than not pay; that loved + action more than wordes, and hated falsehood and covetousnesse + worse than death; whose adventures were our lives and whose losse + our deaths." + +[Signature: Marion Harland.] + + + + +WILLIAM HARVEY + +(1578-1657) + + +William Harvey was born on April 1, 1578, at Folkestone, on the southern +coast of Kent. He was the eldest of nine children; of the rest little +more is known, than that several of the brothers were among the most +eminent merchants in the city of London during the reigns of the two +first Stuarts. His father, Thomas Harvey, followed no profession. He +married Joanna Falke, at the age of twenty, and lived upon his own +estate at Folkestone. This property devolved by inheritance upon his +eldest son; and the greater part of it was eventually bequeathed by him +to the college at which he was educated. + +At ten years of age he commenced his studies at the grammar school in +Canterbury; and upon May 31, 1593, soon after the completion of his +fifteenth year, was admitted as a pensioner at Caius College, Cambridge. + +[Illustration: William Harvey.] + +At that time a familiar acquaintance with logic and the learned +languages was indispensable as a first step in the prosecution of all +the branches of science, especially of medicine; and the skill with +which Harvey avails himself of the scholastic form of reasoning in his +great work on the Circulation, with the elegant Latin style of all his +writings, particularly of his latest work on the Generation of Animals, +affords a sufficient proof of his diligence in the prosecution of these +preliminary studies during the next four years which he spent at +Cambridge. The two next were occupied in visiting the principal cities +and seminaries of the Continent. He then prepared to address himself to +those investigations to which the rest of his life was devoted; and the +scene of his introduction to them could not have been better chosen than +at the University of Padua, where he became a student in his +twenty-second year. + +The ancient physicians gathered what they knew of anatomy from +inaccurate dissections of the lower animals, and the slender knowledge +thus acquired, however inadequate to unfold the complicated functions of +the human frame, was abundantly sufficient as a basis for conjecture, of +which they took full advantage. With them everything became easy to +explain, precisely because nothing was understood; and the nature and +treatment of disease, the great object of medicine, and its subsidiary +sciences, was hardily abandoned to the conduct of the imagination, and +sought for literally among the stars. Nevertheless, so firmly was their +authority established, that even down to the close of the sixteenth +century the naturalists of Europe still continued to derive all their +physiology, and the greater part of their anatomy and medicine, from the +works of Aristotle and Galen, read not in the original Greek, but +re-translated into Latin from the interpolated versions of the Arabian +physicians. The opinions entertained by these dictators in the republic +of letters, and consequently by their submissive followers, with regard +to the structure and functions of the organs concerned in the +circulation, were particularly fanciful and confused; so much so that it +would be no easy task to give an intelligible account of them that would +not be tedious from its length. It will be enough to say, that a +scarcely more oppressive mass of mischievous error was cleared away from +the science of astronomy by the discovery of Newton, than that from +which physiology was disencumbered by the discovery of Harvey. + +But though the work was completed by an Englishman, it is to Italy that, +in anatomy, as in most of the sciences, we owe the first attempts to +cast off the thralldom of the ancients. Mundinus had published a work +in the year 1315, which contained a few original observations of his +own; and his essay was so well received that it remained the text-book +of the Italian schools of anatomy for upward of two centuries. It was +enriched from time to time by various annotators, among the chief of +whom were Achillini, and Berengarius, the first person who published +anatomical plates. But the great reformer of anatomy was Vesalius, who, +born at Brussels in 1514, had attained such early celebrity during his +studies at Paris and Louvain, that he was invited by the Republic of +Venice, in his twenty-second year, to the chair of anatomy at Padua, +which he filled for seven years with the highest reputation. He also +taught at Bologna, and subsequently, by the invitation of Cosmo de' +Medici, at Pisa. The first edition of his work, "De Corporis Humani +Fabrica" was printed at Basle, in the year 1543; it is perhaps one of +the most successful efforts of human industry and research, and from the +date of its publication begins an entirely new era in the science of +which it treats. The despotic sway hitherto maintained in the schools of +medicine by the writings of Aristotle and Galen was now shaken to its +foundation, and a new race of anatomists eagerly pressed forward in the +path of discovery. Among these no one was more conspicuous than +Fallopius, the disciple, successor, and in fame the rival, of Vesalius, +at Padua. After him the anatomical professorship was filled by Fabricius +ab Aquapendente, the last of the distinguished anatomists who flourished +at Padua in the sixteenth century. + +Harvey became his pupil in 1599, and from this time he appears to have +applied himself seriously to the study of anatomy. The first germ of the +discovery which has shed immortal honor on his name and country was +conceived in the lecture-room of Fabricius. + +He remained at Padua for two years; and having received the Degree of +Doctor of Arts and Medicine, with unusual marks of distinction, returned +to England early in the year 1602. Two years afterward he commenced +practice in London and married the daughter of Dr. Launcelot Browne, by +whom he had no children. He became a Fellow of the College of +Physicians, when about thirty years of age, having in the meantime +renewed his degree of Doctor in Medicine, at Cambridge; and was soon +after elected Physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, which office he +retained till a late period of his life. + +On August 4, 1615, he was appointed Reader of Anatomy and Surgery to the +College of Physicians. From some scattered hints in his writings it +appears that his doctrine of the circulation was first advanced in his +lectures at the college about four years afterward; and a note-book in +his own hand-writing is still preserved at the British Museum, in which +the principal arguments by which it is substantiated are briefly set +down, as if for reference in the lecture-room. Yet with the +characteristic caution and modesty of true genius, he continued for nine +years longer to reason and experimentalize upon what is now considered +one of the simplest, as it is undoubtedly the most important known law +of animal nature; and it was not till the year 1628, the fifty-first of +his life, that he consented to publish his discovery to the world. + +In that year the "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis" was +published at Frankfort. This masterly treatise begins with a short +outline and refutation of the opinions of former anatomists on the +movement of the animal fluids and the function of the heart; the author +discriminating with care, and anxiously acknowledging the glimpses of +the truth to be met with in their writings; as if he had not only kept +in mind the justice due to previous discoveries, and the prudence of +softening the novelty and veiling the extent of his own, but had +foreseen the preposterous imputation of plagiarism, which, with other +inconsistent charges, was afterward brought forward against him. This +short sketch is followed by a plain exposition of the anatomy of the +circulation, and a detail of the results of numerous experiments; and +the new theory is finally maintained in a strain of close and powerful +reasoning, and followed into some of its most important consequences. +The whole argument is conducted in simple and unpretending language, +with great perspicuity, and scrupulous attention to logical form. + +The doctrine announced by Harvey may be briefly stated thus: The blood +circulates through the body, thereby sustaining life. The heart is +simply the pump which drives the blood through the arteries, from whence +it returns impure, and is then forced through the lungs and repurified. + +The pulmonary circulation had been surmised by Galen, and maintained by +his successors; but no proof even of this insulated portion of the +truth, more than amounted to strong probability, had been given till the +time of Harvey, and no plausible claim to the discovery, still less to +the demonstration, of the general circulation has ever been set up in +opposition to his. Indeed, its truth was quite inconsistent with the +ideas everywhere entertained in the schools on the functions of the +heart and other viscera, and was destructive of many favorite theories. +The new doctrine, therefore, as may well be supposed, was received by +most of the anatomists of the period with distrust, and by all with +surprise. Some of them undertook to refute it, but their objections +turned principally on the silence of Galen, or consisted of the most +frivolous cavils; the controversy, too, assumed the form of personal +abuse even more speedily than is usually the case when authority is at +issue with reason. To such opposition Harvey for some time did not think +it necessary to reply; but some of his friends in England, and of the +adherents to his doctrine on the Continent, warmly took up his defence. +At length he was induced to take a personal share in the dispute in +answer to Riolanus, a Parisian anatomist of some celebrity, whose +objections were distinguished by some show of philosophy, and unusual +abstinence from abuse. The answer was conciliatory and complete, but +ineffectual to produce conviction; and in reply to Harvey's appeal to +direct experiment, his opponent urged nothing but conjecture and +assertion. Harvey once more rejoined at a considerable length; taking +occasion to give a spirited rebuke to the unworthy reception he had met +with, in which it seems that Riolanus had now permitted himself to join; +adducing several new and conclusive experiments in support of his +theory; and entering at large upon its value in simplifying physiology +and the study of diseases, with other interesting collateral topics. +Riolanus, however, still remained unconvinced; and his second rejoinder +was treated by Harvey with contemptuous silence. He had already +exhausted the subject in the two excellent controversial pieces just +mentioned, the last of which is said to have been written at Oxford +about 1645; and he never resumed the discussion in print. Time had now +come to the assistance of argument, and his discovery began to be +generally admitted. To this, indeed, his opponents contributed, by a +still more singular discovery of their own, namely, that the facts had +been observed, and the important inference drawn, long before. This was +the mere allegation of envy, chafed at the achievements of another, +which, from their apparent facility, might have been its own. It is +indeed strange that the simple mechanism thus explained should have been +unobserved or misunderstood so long; and nothing can account for it but +the imperceptible lightness as well as the strength of the chains which +authority imposes on the mind. + +In the year 1623 Harvey became physician extraordinary to James I., and +seven years later was appointed physician to Charles. He followed the +fortunes of that monarch, who treated him with great distinction during +the first years of the civil war, and he was present at the battle of +Edgehill, in 1642. Having been incorporated doctor of physic by the +University of Oxford, he was promoted by Charles to the wardenship of +Merton College, in 1645; but he did not retain this office very long, +his predecessor, Dr. Brent, being reinstated by the Parliament after the +surrender of Oxford in the following year. + +Harvey then returned to London, and resided with his brother Eliat at +Cockaine house, in the Poultry. About the time of Charles's execution he +gave up his practice, which had never been considerable, probably in +consequence of his devotion to the scientific, rather than the +practical, parts of his profession. He himself, however, attributed his +want of success to the enmity excited by his discovery. After a second +visit to the Continent, he secluded himself in the country, sometimes at +his own house in Lambeth, and sometimes with his brother Eliat at Combe, +in Surrey. Here he was visited by his friend, Dr. Ent, in 1651, by whom +he was persuaded to allow the publication of his work on the "Generation +of Animals." It was the fruit of many years of experiment and +meditation; and, though the vehicle of no remarkable discovery, is +replete with interest and research, and contains passages of brilliant +and even poetical eloquence. The object of his work is to trace the germ +through all its changes to the period of maturity; and the illustrations +are principally drawn from the phenomena exhibited by eggs in the +process of incubation, which he watched with great care, and has +described with minuteness and fidelity. The microscope had not at that +time the perfection it has since attained; and consequently Harvey's +account of the first appearance of the chick is somewhat inaccurate, and +has been superseded by the observations of Malpighi, Hunter, and others. +The experiments upon which he chiefly relied in this department of +natural history had been repeated in the presence of Charles I., who +appears to have taken great interest in the studies of his physician. + +[Illustration: Harvey demonstrating the Circulation of the Blood.] + +In the year 1653, the seventy-fifth of his life, Harvey presented the +College of Physicians with the title-deed of a building erected in their +garden, and elegantly fitted up, at his expense, with a library and +museum, and commodious apartments for their social meetings. Upon this +occasion he resigned the professorship of anatomy, which he had held for +nearly forty years, and was succeeded by Dr. Glisson. + +In 1654 he was elected to the presidency of the college, which he +declined on the plea of age; and the former president, Sir Francis +Prujean, was re-elected at his request. Two years afterward he made a +donation to the college of a part of his patrimonial estate, to the +yearly value of £56, as a provision for the maintenance of the library, +and the annual festival and oration in commemoration of benefactors. + +At length his constitution, which had long been harassed by the gout, +yielded to the increasing infirmities of age, and he died in his +eightieth year, on June 3, 1657. He was buried at Hempstead, in Essex, +in a vault belonging to his brother Eliat, who was his principal heir, +and his remains were followed to the grave by a numerous procession of +the body of which he had been so illustrious and munificent a member. + +In person he was below the middle size, but well proportioned. He had a +dark complexion, black hair, and small, lively eyes. In his youth his +temper is said to have been very hasty. If so, he was cured of this +defect as he grew older; for nothing can be more courteous and temperate +than his controversial writings; and the genuine kindness and modesty +which were conspicuous in all his dealings with others, with his +instructive conversation, gained him many attached and excellent +friends. He was fond of meditation and retirement; and there is much in +his works to characterize him as a man of warm and unaffected piety. + + + + +PRINCE CHARLES STUART[13] + + [Footnote 13: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By ANDREW LANG, LL.D. + +(1720-1788) + + +Charles Edward Stuart, called the "Young Pretender" by his enemies, the +"Young Chevalier" by neutrals, "Prince of Wales" and "Prince Regent" by +his partisans, "Prince Edouard" by the French, "Ned" by his intimates, +as we read in letters of Oliphant of Gask, and "Prince Charlie" by later +generations, was born at Rome, December 31, 1720. His father was James +VIII., of Scotland, and III. of England, according to the Legitimist +theory; his foes called him "The Pretender," partly on the strength of +the old fable about the warming-pan, so useful to the Whigs. No sane +person now doubts the genuineness of James' descent from James II., but +the nickname of Pretender still sticks, though Boswell tells us that +George III. particularly disliked an appellation which "may be +parliamentary, but is not gentlemanly." James III., or the Chevalier de +St. George, was taken up by Louis XIV. on the death of James II., in +France. He is said to have displayed courage in several battles in +Flanders, but his attempt to assert his rights in 1715 was a melancholy +failure. James showed melancholy and want of confidence; he soon left +Scotland for the Continent, and the best that can be said for his +conduct is that he endeavored to compensate the peasants whose houses +were destroyed in the military operations of "the Fifteen." Unable to +reside in France, he retired to Rome, a pensioner of the Pope, and +entertained with royal honors. In 1719 he married Clementina Sobieski, a +granddaughter of the famous John Sobieski, who delivered Europe from the +Turks. Their eldest son, Prince Charles, appears to have inherited the +spirit and daring of his Polish ancestors, which animated him throughout +his youth, and were extinguished less by Culloden than by the treatment +which he received from the French court, by his imprisonment in +Vincennes in 1748, and by the unrelenting animosity of the English +Government, which made him a homeless exile living mysteriously in +hiding on the Continent. Heart-broken by these misfortunes and by other +disappointments, Charles developed an unreasoning and sullen obstinacy, +which alienated his adherents, while the habit of heavy drinking, +learned in his Highland distresses, ruined his head and heart, and +converted the most gallant, gay, and promising of princes into a brutal +dipsomaniac. + +[Illustration: Prince Charles Stuart.] + +The education of Charles was casual and interrupted. Now he was in the +hands of Protestants, now of Catholic governors and tutors, as the +advice of English adherents, or the wishes of his devout mother, chanced +to prevail. There were frequent quarrels between James and his wife, +turning partly on the question of education, more on the jealousy which +the queen conceived of the Countess of Inverness. The Pope sided with +the queen in these melancholy broils, and James's private life (which +was not faultless) was much more subject to criticism and interference +than that of his at least equally lax rival on the English throne. A +second son, Henry Benedict, Duke of York, was born in 1725, and, at one +time, was regarded as of more martial disposition than Prince Charles. +As the elder, Charles was first under fire, and at the siege of Gaeta, +in 1734, while a mere boy, he displayed coolness, daring, and contempt +of danger. Young Henry, aged nine, "was so much discontented at being +refused the partnership of that glory and that danger, that he would not +put on his sword till his father threatened to take away his garter +too," says Murray of Broughton, in a letter dated 1742. In later life +the Duke of York showed no military aptitude. A kind of progress which +Charles made through the cities of Italy, aroused his desire to be a +prince in more than name. The English Government quarrelled with the +Republic of Venice about the royal honors paid to the prince, and his +ambition was awakened. His education, we have said, was very imperfect. +Murray of Broughton, indeed, credits him with Latin, Greek, history, and +philosophy. But his spelling in both French and English was unusually +bad, even in an age of free spelling; he wrote _époles_ for _epaules_, +"Gems" for "James," "sord" for "sword." He did not neglect physical +exercise; was wont to make long marches without stockings, to harden his +feet (as he told a follower during his Highland distresses). He was a +good shot, fond of hunting, and, about 1742, was probably the first man +who ever played golf in Italy. Murray describes him as "tall above the +common stature, his limbs cast in the most exact mould, his complexion +of an uncommon delicacy, all his features perfectly regular and well +turned, and his eyes the finest I ever saw." Whether they were blue or +hazel is undecided; they are hazel in at least one contemporary +portrait. As a boy, engravings show him pretty, merry, and buoyant; an +air of melancholy may be remarked as early as 1744. With bright +nut-brown hair, golden in the sun, and worn long beneath his peruke, he +certainly justified the endearing name of "Bonny Prince Charlie." The +distinction of his air could be concealed by no disguise, as his +followers loved fondly to declare. He certainly had the royal memory for +faces. At the opera, in 1773, he noticed an English officer opposite, +whom he sent for. The gentleman visited the royal box, accompanied by a +Scotch servant. "I have seen you before," said Charles to this man. "You +once brought me a message at Falkirk, in 1746." + +Such was Prince Charles when, in 1742, Murray of Broughton became +acquainted with the royal exile in Rome, and was appointed secretary for +Scotland. With Lochiel and others, Murray formed a Jacobite association +in his native country. Negotiations were begun with the French court, +which hung off and on, as did the English Jacobites. They would rise, if +France supplied men, money, and arms. France would do this if +sufficiently assured of support in England. The king had no enthusiasm +for the enterprise. He was weary of promises and of leaning on that +broken reed, Louis XV. Murray intrigued in Scotland, Lord Elcho in +England, Kelly at the French court. Lord Semple confused all by false +hopes; Charles was much in the hands of Irishmen--Sheridan, Sullivan, +O'Brien, and O'Neil; already a "forward," or Prince's party was growing, +as opposed to the waiting policy and party of the disheartened and +unambitious James. To what extent English Jacobites were pledged is +uncertain. There was much discontent with the Hanoverian dynasty in +England, but the dread of popery was strong among the middle classes. +The butchers were advised that Catholics ate no meat on Sundays, the +official clergy preached Protestant sermons, the Jacobite gentry feared +for their lives and estates in case of failure, and the sagacity of the +Government has never revealed the extent to which the Duke of Beaufort +and others were committed to King James. The universities, the sporting +squires, and the smugglers drank to "The king over the water," but there +enthusiasm began and ended. + +More was expected, and till assured of more, France held aloof, while +making promises enough. Even the Highland chiefs said that without a +French army nothing could be done. In 1744 Charles left Rome, under +pretext of a hunting party, concealed his withdrawal with great skill, +and reached Paris. He was obliged, however, to be incognito and was not +received by the king. An invading force was crowded on board ship. The +chance seemed excellent, England's forces being mainly abroad; but the +old friends of England, the winds, drove the battered fleet back into +harbor, and Charles in vain tried to persuade the Earl Marischal to +accompany him to Scotland in a small fishing vessel. + +One result followed the reception of Charles by France, niggardly as +that reception was--war with England broke out, and the French army of +invasion was moved from Dunkirk to Flanders. The prince, not permitted +to serve in the French army, returned to Paris, where he had been +falsely assured by Semple and Æneas Macdonald that England was ready to +rise for him. Murray, who visited him in Paris, tried to dissuade him +from a wild venture; in Scotland he found the chiefs of his own opinion, +but the letter carrying the news never reached the prince. His Irish +friends urged him on; "the expedition was entirely an Irish project." He +borrowed money from his bankers, the Waters, he pawned his share of the +Sobieski jewels, and, with a privateer man-of-war and a brig, La +Doutelle, he left Belleisle on July 13, 1745. Neither the French court +nor his father knew that, attended only by seven men, "The Seven Men of +Moidart," he had set out to seek for a crown. The day before he embarked +he wrote to James; he said that no man would buy a horse, nor trust a +prince, that showed no spirit. "I never intend to come back," he added. +So, dressed as a student of the Scots College, he started. He lost his +convoy, the Elizabeth, on the way, after a drawn battle with the Lion +(Captain Brett). Resisting all advice to turn back, as Æneas Macdonald, +who accompanied him, narrates, he held on in La Doutelle, and reached +Erisca, an islet between Barra and South Uist, on August 2, 1745. An +eagle hovered over his ship, and Tullibardine hailed the royal bird as a +happy omen. But he found himself unwelcome. Boisdale bade him go home; +"I _am_ at home," said the prince. He steered for Moidart, the most +beautiful but the wildest shore of Scotland, a region of steep and +serrated mountains, of long salt-water straits, winding beneath the +bases of the hills, and of great fresh-water lochs. Loch Nahuagh was his +port; here he received Clan Ranald, whose desolate keep, Castle Tirrim, +stands yet in ruins, since "the Fifteen." Glenaladale (whose descendants +yet hold their barren acres), Dalilea, and Kinlochmoidart (now, like +Clan Ranald, landless men) met him with discouraging words. But, seeing +a flash in the eyes of a young Macdonald, of Kinlochmoidart, Charles +said, "You will not forsake me?" "I will follow you to death, were no +other sword drawn in your cause." + +The chiefs caught fire, Charles landed, with the seven men of +Moidart--Æneas Macdonald, the Judas of the cause; the Duke of Athol +(Tullibardine), who had been out in the fifteen; Sheridan, the prince's +tutor; Sir John Macdonald; Kelley, a parson who had been in Atterbury's +affair; Strickland, an Englishman; and Buchanan. Young Lochiel was +disinclined to join, but yielded to the fascination of the prince. With +his accession the rising was a certainty. But Duncan Forbes of Culloden, +the lord president, had influence enough to hold back the Macleods of +Skye, to paralyze the shifty Lovat, and to secure the Sutherland house +for the Hanoverian cause. Charles left Boisdale for Kinlochmoidart, "the +head of Loch Moidart," where an avenue of trees, the prince's walk, is +still shown, though the old house was burned after Culloden. Keppoch cut +off a small party of Scots Royal; this was first blood for the Jacobite +cause. The wounded were hospitably treated by Lochiel; the English +captain was released on parole. Charles now crossed the steep hills +between Kinlochmoidart and the long narrow lake of Loch Sheil, there he +took boat, and rowed past the lands of Glenaladale and Dalilea to +Glenfinnan, where Tullibardine raised the standard, inscribed _Tandem +Triumphans_. A statue of the prince, gazing southward, now marks the +spot. The clans came in, and as Charles marched southeast, each glen +sent down its warriors to join the stream. The clansmen, as a rule, had +probably little knowledge of or interest in the cause. They followed +their chiefs. The surviving Gaelic poetry speaks much of the chieftains; +of _Tearlach, righ nan Gael_, but little is said. It was the middle of +August before the rulers of England received the news of the landing. +They at once set a reward of £30,000 on Charles's head, a proceeding +"unusual among Christian princes," said Charles, who was compelled by +his forces, and their threats of desertion, to follow the evil example. +Sir John Cope was sent with an English army to stop the prince. It +appeared likely that the armies would meet about Dalwhinnie, now the +highest and bleakest part of the Highland Railway. The path then led +over Corryarrack; Charles and his men raced for the summit, but Cope was +not to be seen. He had marched east and north, to Inverness, and all the +south of Scotland lay open to the prince. He passed by Killiecrankie and +Blair Athol to Perth; Cluny came in, with the Duke of Perth, and Lord +George Murray, Charles's most skilled general, who had been out at +Glensheil, in 1719, and had learned the lesson of war in the Sardinian +army. How easily he won Edinburgh, how he held court at Holyrood, how he +routed Cope (who returned by sea) at Preston Pans or Gladsmuir, is +familiar to all. His clemency was conspicuous; he wrote to James that he +would give up Holyrood to the wounded, rather than see them homeless. +Home, a Whig volunteer, and the author of a Whiggish history, +acknowledges the nobility of his conduct, and his "foolish lenity" (he +would not permit the execution of several persons who tried to +assassinate him) is blamed by the fanatics who, in 1749, issued a wild +Cameronian manifesto, "The Active Testimonies of Presbyterians." The +contrast with the savage brutalities of Cumberland is very notable. In +the battle the chiefs refused to let Charles lead the charge, but he was +at the head of the second line, "a pistol shot behind" the first. +Preston Pans was fought on September 21, 1745. That Charles dallied +before Edinburgh Castle till October 21st was no fault of his. Some of +his men had gone home with booty, others were to be waited for, many of +the chiefs were in favor of holding Scotland under James as a separate +kingdom, and it was only by constant personal appeals that the prince +persuaded them to push south. Lord George's strategy deceived the +English, who knew not where to look for the Highlanders. They met at +Carlisle, took it, passed through Preston and Manchester, gave +Cumberland the slip, and their advanced posts, six miles south of Derby, +were within a hundred and twenty miles of London. The army of Finchley +was unlikely to make a stand, the city was partly Jacobite, the mob were +ready for anything, when Lord George and the chiefs insisted on retreat. +Historians doubt which policy was the wiser; it is certain that success, +if to be attained at all, could only be won by audacity. The chiefs, +however, declared for a return and a junction with French forces then +expected. Charles wept and prayed to no avail. His army, as disappointed +as himself, found their faces set to the north, and the prince, who had +ever walked among the first ranks, leaving his carriage to old Lord +Pitsligo, now rode dejected and heart-broken. The retreat was rapid and +able. At Clifton, Murray turned on the pursuing dragoons, headed a +claymore charge, and drove them back. A hapless garrison of Lancashire +volunteers was left to the tender mercies of Cumberland in Carlisle, and +Charles went by way of Whiggish Dumfries (the house where he lodged is +now an inn) to Glasgow. To all intents and purposes the end had come. +Charles had lost faith in the advisers who dragged him back from the +south, he listened to Murray of Broughton and to his Irishry; he +suspected, unjustly but not unnaturally, the good faith of Lord George. +He dallied at Stirling, besieging the castle without proper artillery, +and Hawley was sent to attack him. On January 17, 1746, the armies met +at Falkirk. A storm of wind and rain blew at the backs of the +Highlanders, they charged, scattered the enemy, drove them in flight, +and cut up the Glasgow volunteers. But, in the dark and the mist they +scarcely knew their own advantage. The pipers had thrown their pipes to +their boys, had gone in with the claymore, and could not sound the +calls. Hawley wrote to Cumberland "My heart is broke ... I got off but +three cannon of the ten." Hawley retreated to Edinburgh, the Duke of +Cumberland came to take the command; the Highlanders began to desert +with their booty, dissensions prevailed, and Charles went on besieging +Stirling. Again Lord George Murray urged a retreat, Charles dashed his +head in impotent rage against the wall of his room, but he had to +follow. With perfect truth he said: + +"I cannot see anything but ruin and destruction to us all in case we +should think of a retreat;" his forces in flight would lose heart, his +enemies would gain confidence. All this was true, but all this was +unavailing. Months were spent in unimportant movements. Cumberland, +meanwhile, instructed his men in the method of meeting a Highland +charge, and deceiving the parry of the Highland shields. It was known +that France would lend no substantial aid, and a French subsidy of +30,000 _Louis d'or_ came too late, after the battle of Culloden, and was +buried at the head of Loch Arkaig. One last chance Charles had: Lord +George proposed, and Charles eagerly seconded, a night surprise at +Nairn. But the delays on the march, and the arrival of dawn, made Murray +command a retreat, and Charles's faith in him was irretrievably gone for +the time, though he later expressed in writing a more worthy opinion. +With 10,000 well-fed men against 5,000 who were starving, Cumberland had +every chance of victory at Culloden. The Macdonalds, placed on the left +wing, would not charge. Keppoch's men were discontented because they +were not allowed to have a Catholic chaplain. Crying out, "The children +of my clan have forsaken me," Keppoch charged alone, and died the death +of renown. Beaten and blinded by a storm of snow in their faces, the +Highland right clove the ranks of Monro and Burrell, only to fall, in +layers three or four deep, before the fire of Sempill's regiment in the +second line. The whole English force advanced; Charles rode to his +second line, and offered to charge with them. His officers told him that +it was in vain; Highlanders once beaten would not rally. (MS. "Lyon in +Mourning," and MS. of Stuart Threipland at Abbotsford.) Charles was +hurried off the field by his Irish tutor, and fled to Lord Lovat's, at +Gortuleg. A story of his lack of courage, told by Sir Walter Scott on +the authority of Sir James Stewart Denham's recollections of Lord +Elcho's MS., is erroneous. Lord Elcho's MS. does not contain the +statement. What he objects to is Charles's refusal to meet the fragments +of his army at Ruthven, in Badenoch, whence they hoped to wage a +guerilla warfare. Lord George Murray himself admits that the project was +impossible. Charles, however, should have gone to Ruthven, but he +distrusted Lord George; and his hope of a speedy voyage to France, where +he expected to receive aid in men and money, was frustrated. + +It is needless to repeat the tale of Cumberland's almost incredible +butcheries, cruelties, and robberies, or to tell of the executions +accompanied by the torture of disembowelling the living man. The story +of Charles's wanderings and distresses is narrated best in the MS. "Lyon +in Mourning," partly printed by Robert Chambers, in "Jacobite Memoirs." +No words can overpraise the loyalty of the starving Highlanders; neither +English tortures, nor the promise of £30,000, ever moved one man or +woman from their constant faith. Only one hungry boy whom Charles had +fed, attempted to betray him, but was not believed. As for the prince, +he is briefly described by a companion as "the most prudent man not to +be a coward, the most daring not to be foolhardy, whom he had ever +known." He showed a constant gayety, singing and telling tales to +hearten his followers. His resource was endless; he was by far the best +cook and the least fastidious eater of his company. He could cook a dish +of cow's brains, or swallow raw oatmeal and salt-water. Surrounded by +English _cordons_, through which he slipped at night up the bed of a +burn, when the sentinels had reached their furthest point apart, Charles +led a little expedition which cut off the cattle intended for the +provender of his enemies. (MS. "Lyon in Mourning.") He would not even +let a companion carry his great-coat. He knew every extremity of hunger, +thirst, and cold; and perhaps his most miserable experience was to lurk +for many hours, devoured by midges, under a wet rock. Unshorn, unwashed, +in a filthy shirt, his last, he was yet the courteous prince in his +dealings with all women whom he met, notably with Flora Macdonald, the +stainless and courageous heroine of loyalty and womanly kindness. At +last, late in September, 1746, Charles, with Lochiel and many others, +escaped in a French barque from Loch Nahuagh, where he had first landed. +It has been said of him by his enemies, especially by Dr. King, a +renegade, that he was avaricious and ungrateful. Letters and receipts in +the muniment room of a Highland chief show him directing large sums, +probably out of the Loch Arkaig treasure, to be paid to Lochiel, to +"Keppoch's lady," and to many poor clansmen. The receipts, written in +hiding, and dried with snuff or sand, attest that the money came to the +persons for whom it was intended. + +Charles' expedition could only be justified by success. That it failed +was due to no want of courage, or audacity, or resolve on his part, but +to the very nature of a Highland army, to the jealousies of Irish and +Scotch, to the half-heartedness of his English partisans, and to the +English horror of his father's religion. By his own creed he held very +loosely. + +[Illustration: The First Meeting of Prince Charles with Flora MacDonald.] + +In France Charles was a popular hero, and adored by ladies. His +appearance at court was magnificent, and for him the Princesse de +Tallemant made every sacrifice. But the Government was deaf to his +appeals, a journey to Spain was fruitless; worst of all, his brother +Henry, to whom he had been tenderly devoted, accepted a cardinal's hat, +on July 3, 1747. This was fatal. The English would never forgive a son +of their so-called king who became a Romish priest; and the shadow of +the hat fell on Charles. From letters of James to the prince, it is +plain that, for some reason, the Duke of York could not look forward to +marriage and to continuing the Stuart family. The young man, therefore, +having also a vocation withal, accepted ecclesiastical rank, and a +cluster of rich benefices. A breach between Charles and James followed, +which was never healed, despite the touching letters of the king to his +"dearest Carluccio." Charles betook himself to adventurous and secret +projects. In the Highlands he had learned to seek the consolation of the +poor, and to forget hunger, cold, misery, and sorrow in drink. He drank +"our best bowlsman," says an islander, under the table. The habit soon +dominated him, and--with his disgraceful arrest and imprisonment, when +he refused to acknowledge the peace of Aix la Chapelle and to withdraw +from France--soured his character and ruined his life. Released from +Vincennes, he hurried to the then Papal city of Avignon, where he +introduced boxing-matches. England threatened to bombard Civita Vecchia, +and Charles had to depart. Whither he went no man knows. There is a +Jacobite tract of 1750, purporting to be written by his equerry, Henry +Goring. According to this, Charles, Goring, and a mysterious Comte de la +Luze (Marshal Keith?), went to Lyons, Dijon, Strasbourg. Here Charles +rescued a beautiful girl from a fire, and honorably declined to take +advantage of her manifest passion for her preserver. The party was +attacked by assassins, Charles shot two of them, La Luze and Goring +accounted for others. They took ship from some northern coast, were +tempest-driven to an unfriendly port, visited, apparently, Frederick the +Great, spent some time in Lithuania, and there are hints of a love +affair, though Charles had already proclaimed that he would never +marry to beget royal beggars. He certainly visited Sweden; there was +talk of him as a candidate for the Polish crown. For many years +(1749-1755) neither James nor the English Government knew where Charles +really was. Grimm says that for three years he lay hidden in the house +of a lady in Paris, a friend of the Princesse de Tallemant. A sportsman +and a lover of the open air is not likely to have loitered so long with +Armida in a secret chamber. There is tattle about him in D'Argenson's +"Memoirs;" a disguised shabby prince appears now and then, none knows +whence, and vanishes. In the papers of Charles Stuart, Comte d'Albanie, +one finds a trace of a visit paid by the prince to Ireland. There is +evidence, in the State Papers, that he was not far from Paris, in June, +1749. We have it under his own hand, in the Stuart Papers at Windsor, +that he visited London on September 5, 1750, returning to Paris on +September 13th. Here, as we know from the document left by Archibald +Cameron, Lochiel's brother, the last man executed for the rising, or +rather for a later plot, Charles renounced the Catholic faith. Charles +himself gives 1750 as the date of this conversion. It came five years +too late, and he recanted his recantation. He was in England again later +(1752), and held his last council in Merriworth Castle in Kent. There is +a legend of his ghost haunting a house in Godalming, which probably +comes from a tradition of his residence there. Since 1750 or +thereabouts, a Miss Clementina Walkinshaw, of Barrowfield, had been his +mistress. He is said to have met her near Glasgow, and flirted with her; +when or where she fled to him on the continent is obscure. Mr. Ewald +supposes her to have been with him in Paris before the affair of +Vincennes (1748). The writer, however, has seen a letter from Paris to a +sister of Miss Walkinshaw describing the arrest at the Opera House, +without the most distant allusion to Clementina, about whom her sister +would be concerned. Clementina, judging by a miniature, was a lady with +very large black eyes; a portrait in oil gives a less favorable view of +her charms. In 1754 Charles was again in England, and in Nottingham. He +actually walked in Hyde Park, where someone, recognizing him, tried to +kneel to him. He therefore returned at once to France. He is reported to +have come back in 1755 or 1756, braving the reward of £30,000 for his +head. The Jacobites now requested him to dismiss Clementina Walkinshaw, +whose eldest sister was a lady housekeeper in the Hanoverian family. A +scrap in Charles's hand at Windsor proves that he regarded some lady as +a possible traitor, but he declined to be dictated to, in his household +matters, by his adherents. This gave the English Jacobites an excuse for +turning their coats, of which they availed themselves. Sir Walter Scott +makes the romance of "Redgauntlet" hang on the incident. About this time +jottings of Charles prove that he fancied himself a Republican. He hated +Louis XV., and declined on one occasion to act as a bug-bear +(_épouvantail_), at the request of France. He had already struck a medal +in honor of the British Navy and contempt of the French. He is now lost +sight of till 1760, when Miss Walkinshaw, with his daughter, left his +protection for that of a convent. This lady, in some letters, now +unluckily lost, endeavored to persuade her family that she was married +to the prince. A later myth averred that her daughter (the Duchess of +Albany) had been secretly married, and a General Stuart, claiming, on +this evidence, to be a legitimate descendant of the prince, died about +1852. As Charles, late in life, legitimatized his daughter by Clementina +Walkinshaw (a thing needless had he been married to her mother), and +made affirmation that he never had any other child, all these legends +are manifestly absurd. (The affirmation is among documents in possession +of Lord Braye, and is published by the Historical MSS. Commission.) + +From this point there is little historical or personal interest in the +life of Charles. His father, James III., died in 1766, and was buried as +a king. Charles hurried from Bouillon to Rome; his brother, the +cardinal, tried to secure his recognition by the Papal Court, but the +Pope dared not, and no other government chose to defy the English +Ministry. Charles's life was spent, now in seclusion, now in society; he +still was fond of shooting, of music, and the drama; he still retained +his grace of demeanor when he happened to be sober. Late in 1771 he went +in disguise to Paris, where he accepted a pension from France, and a +beautiful bride, Louise, Princess of Stolberg, descended from the Earl +of Ailesbury into whose arms Charles II. fell under the stroke of his +fatal illness. The ill-matched pair were married on Good Friday, April +17, 1772. At first Charles behaved with more sobriety and good humor +than usual. A child of the marriage was expected, at least by the Scotch +Jacobites, in 1773. There is a legend that a child was actually born, +was intrusted to Captain John Carter Allen, was brought up by him as his +own, and this infant, grown to manhood, became the father of two +gentlemen calling themselves John Sobieski Stolberg Stuart and Charles +Edward Stuart, Counts of Albany. They lived till late in the present +century, were picturesque figures in society, and writers of some spirit +and vigor. For long they were much cherished by some noble Highland +families. Charles, the younger, has left descendants. It is needless to +discuss here the authenticity of these claims. + +Charles's relations with his wife were on the pattern of his relations +with his mistress. He was jealous, and brutal beyond description; she +was courted by Alfieri, the poet, and, after fleeing from her husband to +a convent, she united her fortunes with Alfieri's. On his death she +chose a young French painter, Fabre, as his successor, and to him she +left her rich collection of relics, spoils of the poet and the king. A +beautiful, witty, and engaging woman, she was long a centre of society +in Italy. She died in 1824. In 1784 Charles sent for his daughter by +Miss Walkinshaw. Both had long been maintained by the cardinal. He made +her Duchess of Albany, medals were designed, if never struck, +representing her as _spes ultima et exigua_, "the last frail hope," of +the Stuarts. For the last time, in conversation with a Mr. Greathead, +the old spirit blazed out. His face brightened, he began the tale of his +campaign, but, when attempting to narrate the butcheries of Cumberland, +the cruel executions in London, he fell on the floor in convulsions. He +used to solace himself by playing on the pipes, and at the sound of the +martial music which he had heard on three stricken fields, he was able +to live in the past. On January 31, 1788, the anniversary of the death +of Charles I., Charles Edward passed away from earth. His daughter did +not long survive him; she was killed by a fall from her horse. Henry now +took the title of Henry IX. "by grace of God, not by the will of men." +He died in 1806; the French had stripped him of all his property, even +the famous Sobieski rubies were gone, and he was in receipt of a pension +from the English Government. In 1819 George IV. erected a monument by +Canova, in St Peters at Rome, to "James III., son of James II., King of +Great Britain, to Charles Edward, and Henry, his sons, the last of the +Royal Stuart line. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." Sir Walter +Scott visited this alone of Roman sights, in 1832, just before he came +home to die. + +Had Charles fallen at Culloden, history could find no blot on his name, +no stain on the white rose. Surviving, as he did, a broken-hearted +exile, with no home, no chance of a career, "eating his own heart, +shunning the paths of men," as Homer says of Bellerophon, he fell a +victim to the habit which has ever the same wretched results, which +turns a hero to a coward, a gentleman to a brute. Yet, in his one year +of brilliance, he won immortal love. Scott had seen strong men, the +prince's ancient comrades, weep at the mention of his name. No man, in +any age, ever inspired such a large, such a gallant, such a tender and +melancholy body of song. Even now as one hears the notes of + + "Will ye no come back again, + Better lo'ed ye canna be," + +sung by the lads of a Scotch village, one feels that Charles Stuart did +not wholly fail; the song outlives the dynasty, and relics of Prince +Charlie are fondly cherished, while no man cares a halfpenny for his +Hanoverian rivals. + +The best life of Prince Charles is that by Mr. Ewald (London, 1875). Mr. +Ewald alone has used the State Papers at the Record Office. Lord +Stanhope's and Mr. Chambers's "Histories of the Forty-five" are also +excellent; as are "Jacobite Memoirs," selected from Bishop Forbes's MS. +"Lyon in Mourning." These works, with the contemporary tracts, and some +MSS., with Lord Stanhope's "Decline of the Last Stuarts," and the Stuart +Papers at Windsor, as given in Browne's "History of the Highland Clans," +have been consulted in compiling this study of Prince Charles. + +[Signature: Andrew Lang.] + + + + +CAPTAIN JAMES COOK[14] + + [Footnote 14: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By OLIVER OPTIC + +(1728-1779) + +[Illustration: Captain James Cook.] + + +As an example of the self-made man without fortune or the prestige of a +distinguished family to assist him, perhaps there is none better and +more instructive than the career of Captain Cook, the great English +navigator and discoverer. At his birth, in 1728, his father was a +farm-laborer, and his mother belonged to the same grade of society. They +lived in the north of England, and were people of excellent character. +On account of his honesty, industry, and skill in farming, his father +was promoted to the place of head servant on a farm some distance from +where he had been working; but it does not appear that he ever made any +further advancement. James learned to read and write, and was instructed +in some of the simpler rules of arithmetic, which was the extent of his +school learning, a very slender outfit for one of the distinction to +which he attained in a lifetime of fifty years. + +At the age of thirteen James was bound as an apprentice to a dry-goods +dealer in a small way in a considerable fishing town. The business did +not suit the youth at all, for he had before cherished the idea of going +to sea, and his surroundings in a seaport doubtless increased his +yearnings in that direction. A disagreement between the apprentice and +his employer enabled him to procure his discharge, and he engaged his +services to the Messrs. Walker, a couple of Quakers, who owned two +vessels employed in the coal trade. He passed the greater portion of his +term, and a considerable period after its expiration, as a common sailor +on board of the ship Free Love, where he obtained a thorough knowledge +of seamanship. From this humble sphere he was promoted to be mate of one +of the Walker ships. His life in this capacity was uneventful, though he +was all the time learning navigation and storing his mind with the +information which was to enable him to distinguish himself in later +years. + +In 1755, when Cook was twenty-seven years old, war broke out between +England and France, and there was a great demand for seamen for the navy +of England. At that time the system of impressment was in vogue, and +when Britain wanted sailors she took them, wherever and whenever she +could find them. Press-gangs were sent out, under one or more officers, +by ships of war in port needing more men. They visited the +drinking-places and taverns of the town and captured all the seamen +they could find, usually more or less intoxicated, and compelled them to +go on board of the man-of-war. They were forced to do duty. Sometimes +the unlucky tars were taken from the vessels to which they belonged, +whether in port or at sea. This impressment was not always confined to +British seamen, and this system was one of the causes which led to the +war of 1812 between England and the United States. Though the law +sanctioning this abuse was never repealed, press-gangs became obsolete +half a century ago. + +Cook's ship was in the Thames at this time, and he was liable to +impressment, for mates were not exempt, though captains were. Like all +British seamen, he had a dread of being forced into the naval service, +oftener because they were forced than for any other reason. He concealed +himself, and used all the precautions he could to avoid such a calamity, +as he then regarded it. But he faithfully reconsidered the subject, and +concluded to enter the navy by voluntary enlistment, thus escaping +impressment, which would be an outrage upon his manhood. He began his +service on board the Eagle, a sixty-gun ship, which was soon after +commanded by Captain Palliser. Cook was not only an able and skilful +seaman, but he diligently and faithfully performed every duty, so that +he soon attracted the attention of his officers. + +His friends at home had endeavored to do something for him, and his +commander received a letter from a member of Parliament commending the +seaman to his favor. The captain acknowledged the merit of Cook in his +reply, but stated that he had been in the navy for so brief a period +that he could not be made a commissioned officer, but in due time, if he +proved worthy, a master's warrant might be obtained for him. Four years +after he entered the service a strong interest secured this promotion +for him. In this capacity he was assigned to the frigate Mercury, which +was ordered to North America, where she became one of the fleet that +operated in connection with the army of General Wolfe in the siege of +Quebec. + +The navigation of this portion of the St. Lawrence River was difficult +and dangerous then to the English; they were comparative strangers +there, and the French had removed the channel buoys. It was necessary to +make a survey, and Captain Palliser recommended Master Cook for the +service. The locality was exposed to the enemy, and for several nights +he conducted the work till he had about completed it, when his +operations were discovered by the French. A force of Indians was sent to +capture the surveyor, and they surrounded him in the darkness in their +canoes, and Cook made his escape only by leaping ashore, to which his +barge had been directed, near the English hospital, while the Indians +were boarding the boat over the stern. But he had performed the duty +intrusted to him, and from his measurements constructed a perfect chart +of the channel. + +He was a very skilful draughtsman, though he had educated himself in the +art, as well as an expert surveyor, and he was employed by the admiral +in making surveys of other portions of the river. His charts of the +locality were published, with soundings and sailing directions; and they +were so correct that no others were needed for at least a hundred +years. He piloted the boats of the squadron in the attack upon +Montmorency, and superintended the landing of the troops for the assault +on the Plains of Abraham, where both Wolfe and Montcalm were mortally +wounded. + +For four years Cook had been an acting master, but in 1759 he was fully +confirmed in his rank and appointed to the flag-ship of Lord Colvill, +passing the following winter at Halifax. This was a season of leisure +from active professional occupation, and the master employed it in +studying geometry, astronomy, and mathematics generally, fitting himself +for the highest positions in the navy. For the next ten years he was +largely engaged in surveying in Newfoundland, and was present at its +capture from the French. Returning to England he was married, but was +soon sent back to the field of his recent labors, as marine surveyor of +the coasts, by the influence of his constant friend, now Sir Hugh +Palliser. He was busily employed in this capacity, rendering valuable +service to his country, and especially to the king's ministers in +arranging the terms of peace with France. During his absence he observed +an eclipse of the sun, which was so well done that his results were +published in the "Philosophical Transactions," adding greatly to his +reputation as an astronomer. + +At this period the spirit of discovery was reanimated in England, and an +expedition was fitted out, at the instance of the Royal Society, +primarily to observe a transit of Venus across the disk of the sun, +which could only be done in some parts of the Pacific Ocean. Sir Hugh +Palliser was again his friend, and Cook, raised to the rank of +lieutenant, was appointed to the command. He selected a ship of three +hundred and seventy tons, called the Endeavor, for the purpose, and +accompanied by several eminent scientists, he sailed in 1778. In +addition to its astronomical task, the expedition was to make +discoveries and explorations in the Pacific. + +It would be impossible to follow Lieutenant Cook in the details of his +three notable voyages of discovery in anything less than a volume, so +full are they of interesting incidents. He proceeded first to Madeira, +and then across the Atlantic to Rio Janeiro, where he made a +considerable stay to obtain supplies, and improve the condition of his +crew. Passing through the Strait of Le Maire, he went around Cape Horn, +and in April of 1769 the Endeavor arrived at Otaheite, now called +Tahiti, in the Society Islands, where the transit was to be observed. +The observations required a considerable stay in Matavia Bay, and as +soon as he had made his preparations on shore for the work, the +commander established regulations for intercourse between his people and +the natives who crowded in multitudes around their strange visitors. + +No man in his day and generation ever had more extensive dealings with +the uncivilized tribes of the earth than Captain Cook, and none ever +treated them with more enlightened humanity, or with more even-handed +justice. His treatment of the aborigines of the vast number of islands +and other regions he visited, is in remarkable contrast with that of the +early explorers of the Western Continent. By the latter the natives were +remorselessly slain, enslaved, and even tortured. They were regarded as +pagans, with no natural rights, whose territories, families, and persons +were the legitimate spoils of the conquerors. On the contrary, Cook, +with the means in his possession to overawe, subdue, and subjugate them, +always extended to them the utmost consideration in his power. He could +be severe when necessity required, but his forbearance was almost +unlimited. + +The first of a series of rules he established and enforced was: "To +endeavor, by every fair means, to cultivate a friendship with the +natives, and to treat them with all imaginable humanity." He was largely +dependent upon the resources of the islands he visited for the +sustenance of his people; but nothing, except in dire necessity, was +ever taken from the natives by force. Persons were appointed to trade +with them, and no others were allowed to barter or exchange goods with +them, and a proper equivalent was always to be given. His own men were +put under the strictest discipline in order to control their relations +with the natives who constantly surrounded them. Generally the most +friendly spirit prevailed on both sides. The inhabitants of all the +islands seemed to have a natural inclination to steal, and most of the +trouble with them grew out of this tendency. Cook judiciously repressed +theft from the beginning, and almost invariably compelled the +restoration of the property. + +On the other hand, his own men were sometimes tempted to desert; but he +hunted them down, secured one or more chiefs as hostages, or by some +common-sense method recovered the absentees. At some of the islands Cook +was extremely popular with the inhabitants, and was regarded as a +superior being, even a demigod, in many of them. When he was compelled +to resort to extreme severity, he did not begin with cannon, loaded with +grape, but trusted first to the loud report, terrific to the savages, +fired over their heads, or had the muskets loaded with small shot which +would hurt, but did not kill. No slaughter that could possibly be +avoided was permitted. If he erred at all it was on the side of +humanity, and if he had been less forbearing he might have added more +years to his length of days. + +The astronomical work at Otaheite was successfully accomplished, and in +July Captain Cook departed, taking with him Tupia, a native of some +distinction, who proved to be valuable to him as an interpreter, and for +his general knowledge. During this voyage he visited many of the islands +of the Pacific, including New Zealand, where he encountered no little +hostility, so that it was often difficult and sometimes impossible to +establish friendly relations with the natives. But he obtained what he +needed, and proceeded on his voyage. He gave names to islands, bays, +straits, and harbors, some of which seem strange at the present day, but +most of them were suggested by the circumstances of the visit. Of many +of the islands he took possession in the name of his sovereign, leaving +memorials of his landing. + +Sailing to the westward, he examined the east coast of New Holland, as +it was then called, Australia, at the present time, charted the coast, +as he had done throughout the voyage, and took possession of the country +in the name of England. The existence of a Southern Continent had long +been a mooted question, and in this and subsequent voyages Captain Cook +searched unsuccessfully for it. He passed through Torres Strait, and +thus proved that New Guinea was not a part of Australia, as some +claimed. Continuing his voyage, he went around the Cape of Good Hope, +and reached England in the middle of 1771. The results of his cruise of +nearly four years were exceedingly important to his country. His +reputation was largely increased, and he was promoted to the rank of +commander in the navy. + +So well approved was the conduct of Captain Cook on his first voyage +around the world, that he was appointed to the command of another +similar expedition, consisting of two ships, the Resolution and the +Adventure, and after about a year on shore, he sailed again in 1772. He +went around the Cape of Good Hope, and cruised in the Southern Pacific, +discovering and taking possession of New Caledonia, visiting islands +where he had landed before, and exploring and charting the New Hebrides. +His instructions particularly required him to circumnavigate the earth +in the highest practicable southern latitude in search of the unknown +continent still supposed to be there. He used the southern summer for +this purpose; but he found no land he was willing to call a continent. +Though large bodies of land have since been discovered in that region, +the question is still an open one. + +Adapting his operations to the varying climate of the north and the +south, Captain Cook continued his explorations, encountering many +hardships and perils in unknown seas, from hostile savages, and in the +icy realms of the extreme south. + +He returned to England in 1775 after an absence of three years. The +commander had always taken excellent care of the health of his men, for +in voyages of the description he had undertaken the mortality was always +considerable, and sometimes terrible. One of the most noticeable +features of his second expedition was that it returned with a record of +only one death in both ships; and the details of the means he used to +secure a good sanitary condition among his crews are very interesting. + +On his return Cook was immediately raised to the rank of post-captain, +and was also appointed a captain in Greenwich Hospital, which secured to +him an honorable retirement, and reward for his important labors. He was +elected a member of the Royal Society, which also bestowed upon him a +gold medal in recognition of his contributions to the science of the +period. The passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific by the north coast +of America was exciting a great deal of attention at this time, and +Captain Cook was sent upon an expedition to continue his explorations in +the Pacific, and then to investigate the mystery of a northwest passage. +He sailed in the Resolution in 1776, and was followed by Captain Clerke +in the Discovery. He proceeded, after his arrival at the Cape of Good +Hope, to Tasmania, visited New Zealand again, and passed the following +year in explorations in the Pacific. + +[Illustration: Death of Captain Cook.] + +In the first month of 1778 he discovered the Sandwich Islands, to which +he gave this name in honor of his patron, the Earl of Sandwich, then +the first Lord of the Admiralty. Obtaining the supplies he needed, the +commander proceeded to explore the northwest coast of America, which he +followed inside of Behring Strait, till the ice and cold compelled him +to seek a more southern latitude, which he found in the genial airs of +the Sandwich Islands. + +During his former visit he had found the natives to be friendly and +generally well disposed, though more addicted to thieving than the +people of any other islands the explorer had visited. For some +unexplained reason they were in a different frame of mind on his second +visit. A boat belonging to the expedition had been stolen by the +savages, and Captain Cook proceeded, in his usual vigorous manner, to +recover it. He sent a boat on shore for this purpose, and then landed +himself with another party, intending to capture a certain chief, to be +exchanged for the boat. An immense crowd gathered around him, and were +hypocritically friendly at first; but it was soon observed that they +were arming themselves. The commander asked Kariopoo, the chief he had +selected, to go with him, and he made no objection. The captain had +ordered the marines to be drawn up on the shore, and leading his +prisoner by the hand he approached the boat, the natives opening a +passage for him. + +The chief's family and friends interposed to save him, declaring that he +would be killed if he went on board of the ship. The captain +expostulated with them and the tumult increased. The lieutenant of +marines wanted to fire, but Cook refused the pet mission. The tumult +soon became a battle, and then he ordered his men to fire. As he was +trying to save his party he was struck with a club, which partially +stunned him, and then he was stabbed in the back of the neck by an iron +dagger. He fell into shallow water, and the savages threw themselves +upon him. A struggle ensued, and he was hauled on the beach by his foes, +where they stabbed him in turn in their barbarous rage. His body lay on +the beach, and it might have been recovered, but it was not. Only a +portion of his remains were obtained, and they were buried at sea. + +Thus perished Captain James Cook, and all England mourned him. + +[Signature: William S. Adams.] + + + + +JOHN HOWARD[15] + + [Footnote 15: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By HARRIET G. WALKER + +(1726-1790) + +[Illustration: John Howard.] + + +John Howard was born in Hackney, Middlesex County, England, September 2, +1726. The only existing record of this fact is the inscription upon his +monument in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. His parentage came through a +somewhat obscure family, his father being sometimes mentioned as an +upholsterer and sometimes as a merchant of moderate means. Of his mother +we know only her name--Chomley--and that she died when her second child, +and only son, was an infant. The father was a strict, sturdy, honest, +severe Puritan, the marks of whose character ever remained on the +character of the son. + +The motherless boy seems to have passed unnoticed through the weary days +of a sickly childhood, and the usual martyrdom of the "dullest boy in +the school," under first one tutor and then another, to his sixteenth +year, when he left school and books, as he afterward testifies, "not +thoroughly knowing any one thing." How much does any boy or girl +thoroughly know of any one thing at sixteen? Surely not enough to +warrant his removal from school. + +But not so reasoned the father of John Howard, for we find him at this +age apprenticing his only son to Alderman Newham, a wholesale grocer on +Watling Street, London. + +That this was not a change made from pecuniary necessity is evidenced by +the liberal provision made for the boy. We are told that his father paid +£700 for his fee of apprenticeship, and provided him a separate suite of +apartments, a servant, and a pair of saddle-horses! The inference is +that young John's progress in school was not such as to warrant his +continuance at his books. + +His letters and manuscripts still in existence reveal a lamentable +deficiency in orthography and the handling of the king's English. + +Some of Howard's biographers attempt to attribute his methodical +businesslike habits in later life to the experience gained while in the +service of this wholesale grocer. But when we consider that his stay was +far less than one year, we may fairly be allowed to conclude that more +was due to an inherited temperament for slow methodical action. + +Before reaching his seventeenth year, the death of his father released +him from the grocery business, for which he had evidently no affection, +and left him in possession of £7,000 in ready cash, beside land, plate, +house, etc. + +This fortune was left under the management of guardians, it being his +father's wish that he should not control it until his twenty-fourth +year. But his course of life goes to show that he had wonderfully easy +trustees, as he immediately bought himself off the grocery business, and +made a long tour of the Continent for the benefit of his health. +Returning to England, he dropped into the little village of Stoke +Newington, a mere hamlet, where he had some possessions. + +That a young man of wealth and free from all ties of family or business, +should have voluntarily chosen such a home, and been contented to remain +there, in a state of idle inactivity, for the space of seven or eight +years, can be accounted for only by remembering his feeble health. + +When twenty-five, his health entirely failed, and he was prostrated by a +severe fit of illness, through which he was nursed by his landlady, Mrs. +Loidore. Upon his recovery he made her his wife, in testimony of his +gratitude, though history records that she had neither beauty, money, +nor health, having been an invalid for twenty-two years, and was +twenty-seven years his senior. + +Two or three years after this seemingly ill-suited marriage, which, +strange to say, seems to have been a not unhappy one, Mrs. Howard died. +Immediately Mr. Howard, then twenty-eight or nine years of age, again +left England for a second extended tour. This being the year of the +great earthquake of Lisbon, he naturally turned his steps thitherward. + +Setting sail from England for Spain, he was captured on the high seas by +a French privateer, and for two months suffered the hardships and +indignities of prison life in those times. Upon his release he used all +his influence to secure the exchange of the remainder of his vessel's +company, and was successful. This prison experience he never forgot. + +Three years later (1758) he married Henrietta Leeds, a lady of fine +character, and one to whom he was sincerely attached. Indeed, so fearful +was he that their married life might not be entirely without jars, that +he made a bargain with her, in advance of their marriage, that on all +disputed points the adjustment should be according to his judgment. One +is at a loss which member of a couple the most to admire, the man who +could make such a proposition, or the woman who would bind herself with +such bonds! But, like his first marriage, his strange contract with his +second wife seems to have led only to happy results. + +They settled in Cardington, upon the Howard estate, and for the next +seven years led the uneventful life of landed gentry of the times. The +husband and wife were united in their efforts to improve the morals and +general condition of their tenantry. Rightly believing that the +beginning of all reform was to improve the physical condition, Howard +spared no expense in rearing new cottages upon new and improved plans, +held his tenants removable at will, and through their improved +conditions ruled over them with an almost despotic sway, tempered and +made bearable in that all his restrictions and requirements were on the +line of their temporal and spiritual advancement. + +How strange is the making of history! Had the gentle, loving, +well-governed, dependent Mrs. Howard lived on, this would no doubt have +been the continuation, the aim, and the end of John Howard's life--to +constantly advance and improve the interests and condition of his +tenantry, and to wisely govern and administer his estate. But it was not +so to be. The happy home must be broken up, and the man whom God needed +must, through the sting of his own sorrow, be sent out again upon his +wanderings to do the work reserved for him in the broad field not of his +own choosing. The birth of the only child, a son, preceded the death of +its mother by but a few days, and Howard was again alone. To the end of +his life he remained a sincere and constant mourner for the wife to whom +he owed the happiest, if not the most useful, seven years of his life. +It is said by some of his biographers that he always kept the +anniversary of her death as a solemn day of fasting and prayer. + +Come we now to the point in his career where, all unknown to himself, +Howard took up the work which was to startle the whole civilized world, +and place his name in the roll of those whose memories die not. + +But first let us remember the son whose life began where his mother's +ended, and ended where it was well his mother had not lived to see it. + +It would seem that the loss of his beloved wife and the sad recollection +of his own motherless unloved boyhood, would have made of John Howard a +tender and pitiful, as well as devoted father. Such was not the case, if +we may judge from the vehemence with which some of his biographers deny +the charges of undue severity to the infant, and forgetfulness and +neglect of the growing-up boy, and the silence of others on the same +subject. + +The real truth probably was, so far as we can judge, that the man had +nothing in his stiff nature and puritanical education, certainly nothing +in his own early life, to make him respond to the uninteresting +helplessness of infancy. + +So we find him doing his duty by the crying infant of a few months, in a +manner which would be amusing if it were not pathetic. He takes him from +the nurse, lays him across his knees, and sits unmoved and unmovable +until the tempest exhausts itself, and the child is silent from +exhaustion, when he hands him solemnly back to the nurse, and feels +that, by so much at least, has he cast out of the young child the spice +of Old Adam, which is the birthright of us all! A few such experiences, +we are told, and the child would at once cease its struggles and be +silent. One would surely think it would! + +But the silent, lonely man, bereft of the loving companionship of the +gentle wife, who would so differently have soothed and silenced the +crying infant, could not long bear the solitude of his broken home, and +so began the years of wanderings, which lasted as long as his life, and +through which he seems so largely to have lost sight of his young son at +his most impressionable age, save to provide for his material wants, +and to some extent, also, his education. When with him in later years he +appears to have enjoyed his society, or at least the evidences which he +gave of implicit, unreasoning obedience, illustrated by his remark, "I +believe if I told the boy to put his hand in the fire he would obey me." + +At four the boy was put into a boarding-school, and the home was broken +up. The later glimpses which we get of his career are vague, +unsatisfactory, or decidedly bad, until the end came, and "Jack" was +incarcerated in a mad-house when but twenty-two, where his unfortunate +life went out after twelve years' confinement in a darkness that +darkened also the last years of his good, if injudicious, father, with a +sorrow beside which all common bereavements should seem like blessings. + +In 1769, then, we see the Cardington home broken up, the boy placed in a +boarding-school, and John Howard setting forth upon what to him was but +an aimless journey, in search of consolation, amid new scenes, for the +shattered fortunes of his home. He travelled over large portions of +Italy, and returned again to England, where in 1773 he was elected High +Sheriff of Bedford. No sooner had he entered upon the duties of his +office, than he was struck with the gross injustice of the practices, +especially as affecting those prisoners held for debt. Many heads of +families were held for months and years, not for the original debt for +which they were incarcerated, which in many cases had been forgiven or +paid, but for an accumulation of fees due to jailer and divers other +officers of the prison, who drew their salaries from this source. Much +astounded by such a state of things in a Christian land, but supposing +it to be a peculiarity of his own county, he made a journey into some of +the surrounding districts, to learn from them, if possible, some better +method. It but augmented his indignation and distress to find their +condition and methods worse even than at home, since in some he actually +found the fees wrung from these unhappy prisoners to amount to so much +that the office of jailer was sold to the highest bidder, the sum paid +for the position often amounting to as much as £40 per annum. + +On this tour Howard, now thoroughly awake on the subject, could not but +observe the miseries of the prisoners from other sources, besides +extortions. This might have been borne, but for the terrible crowding of +herds of men and women, without regard to age, sex, character, or crime, +into foul underground dungeons, damp, dark, unventilated, often +unwarmed, with insufficient and unfit food and clothing, without beds, +and many in chains. Such were the sights which met his gaze at every +turn, and moved his soul with shame for his country, and a slow but +deadly anger that, once kindled, died only with his life. Thoroughly and +systematically he continued his investigation of the jails and prisons +of England, until he had been over them all, which consumed nearly a +year's time (travel was a different matter a hundred years ago, from +now), and then made his report public, for which labor he was called +before the bar of the House of Commons and received the thanks of that +august body. + +More satisfactory still, he had the pleasure of seeing two bills passed, +one making the office of jailer a salaried position, thereby abolishing +the whole iniquitous system of special fees from prisoners, the other +having reference to improvements in ventilation and other sanitary +matters. + +The text of these bills he had printed in large bold type at his own +expense, and sent them to every jail and prison in England. A few months +later, being desirous of seeing whether or not the requirements of the +new laws were being put into execution, he made personal inspection, +riding by chaise or on horseback from city to city and from town to +town. + +Toward the last of this year, 1774, Howard made his first and last +venture into the arena of political life. Being a man of strong, stern +political convictions, and feeling it his duty to stand by his +principles, he listened to the advice of friends, and made a stand for +the House of Commons. Fortunately for the world he was defeated by _four +votes_. + +On such small hinges swing the doors of life. Had he been elected he +would doubtless have sunk out of sight and been forgotten, and his great +work would have been given to some other agent. + +Though greatly disappointed at his failure, Howard's mind at once +returned to the question of prison reform, and his next journey led him +over Ireland and Scotland. The former he found worse and the latter +better than England. + +Being desirous of publishing a book upon his investigations and their +results, he at the close of this year left England to examine the +prisons of France, Flanders, and Holland. It surprises us much to learn +that he found the prisons of Holland almost models, while France is +declared far in advance of England, although these were the days of the +Bastille! He also journeyed into Switzerland and again made a survey of +the jails of England and Wales. Feeling at last that he had sufficient +material he returned to England and began upon his book. For eight +months he labored incessantly upon this work, correcting proofs, +collating and arranging statistics, etc., although for the literary part +he was obliged to call in the assistance of some of his learned friends, +who, better than he understood the use of the king's English. + +This book made a most profound sensation throughout the civilized world. +That it might reach a more extended circulation, it was sold at less +than the cost of production, and large numbers were given away among the +officials. All this expense was borne by Howard out of his own private +purse, as were at all times his immense and constant outlay in travel. +Not only his whole private income, but the fortune of £15,000 received +from his only sister at her death, was expended in the same manner. + +Subsequently Howard published a second volume, in 1780, as an appendix +to the first, and in 1784 a third and last, which was a compilation of +the first two, with much added material acquired during his continuous +travels over every part of Europe. + +[Illustration: Howard relieving a Prisoner.] + +During the earlier and idler parts of his life, Howard had been pleased +to dabble somewhat in medicine, after the manner of the gentlemen of his +time. This stood him in good part upon his travels, and made him +familiar with the various forms of disease that especially afflicted +prisons and the people at large. For jail fever and typhus he rightly +judged that the sanitary and food conditions were sufficient cause and +attacked them from this basis. But having in a measure finished his jail +and prison work, to his mind, he became possessed with the idea that he +might search out and find a remedy for the dreadful _plague_ that was +filling all Europe with dismay. The methodical habit of the man's mind +is evidenced by noting that he followed exactly the same method in this +as in his former undertaking, namely, personal investigation and +experience. He left home in July, 1789, and it is surprising that for +six months he literally lived in the poisonous atmosphere of the +pest-houses, pest-ships, and lazarettos of Europe, and escaped +contagion. In January, 1790, however, in a little Russian village near +the Crimea, he was called upon to prescribe for a young lady, ill with +some low malignant fever, from which visit he contracted the same +disease. Being then sixty-four years of age, naturally frail, worn down +by sixteen years of hard, exhaustive toil, depleted by a diet that found +no place for meats or stimulants, he had nothing upon which to rally, +and rapidly sank into the long slumber which at last gave him what he +had so many years denied himself--_rest_. + +His remains were buried there in Russia in the village of Dophinovka. +After his death a monument was erected to his memory, being the first +placed in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This was appropriately inscribed +to his memory, although it was his latest expressed wish that he should +be left to sleep in an unmarked, unknown grave. + +A just estimate of the character of John Howard can only be arrived at +by a careful consideration of the times in which he lived and the +peculiar circumstances of his life. The natural inherited sternness of +his character never felt the modifying influences of a mother's love or +the companionship of brothers or sisters. His ill health added to his +restless desire for travel and change, but unfitted him for close or +continued application to any special line of thought or interest, while +his early independence in the management of his fortune placed in his +way strong temptations to extravagance and idleness. + +It is therefore more than an ordinary indication of an inborn principle +of humanity when we find him, upon his first settlement upon his +father's estates, devoting time, thought, and money to the amelioration +of the condition of his neglected and suffering tenantry. Model +landlords were not in fashion in those times, and a man who so +administered his affairs must have done so in the face of much +criticism, ridicule, and contempt among his peers. + +But none of these things seem to have moved him from the even tenor of +his way. Yet there was no sentimentalism in his dealings with his +tenants, as we find him holding them to a strict accounting for the use +made of their improved conditions. + +So of his prison work. It seemed to be all and altogether for the +masses, and not for individuals. No record is left of personal +almsgiving, save when resorted to as a ruse to obtain entrance to the +French prisons. That his interest was not in individuals is further +shown by the calm and deliberate manner in which he prosecuted his +investigations, taking years for the accumulation of materials and +months to their careful watching through the press. It was the principle +of justice ingrained in the man's deepest nature that forced him to +_know_ all that could be known or said upon both sides before speaking. +It was this thoroughness, this absolute fairness, that made of his work +and of his inartistically constructed books the tremendous and lasting +success which they were. + +Deeply religious, he naturally reflected the spirit of the religious +teachings of the times, which savored more of the terrors of the law +than of mercy and forgiveness to evil-doers; that found more worship in +denying self the indulgences of soft living than in the partaking of the +harmless pleasures and sweets of life, giving a good God thanks for His +good gifts. Through all the life and writings of Howard one constantly +hears the minor chord of infinite sadness wrought into his life by his +motherless infancy, his unloved boyhood, his years of invalidism, his +ceaseless mourning for his wife Henrietta, the bitterness of death in +the cup held to his lips by his unfortunate son, and over and above all, +the constant atmosphere of crime, cruelty, sin, and suffering in which +he spent the last sixteen years of his life. Life to him came to mean +sin, suffering, and sorrow in the world about him, and for himself work, +work, incessant work, in the effort to do what one man could to lift or +lighten the burden under which the whole earth groaned. Death came to +him where he would have most wished it might, and took him directly from +labor to reward. And throughout the coming ages the world will be the +better because in the last half of the eighteenth century there lived, +labored, and died in the midst of his labors one _John Howard, the +Philanthropist_. + +[Signature: Harriet G. Walker.] + + + + +ETHAN ALLEN[16] + + [Footnote 16: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.] + +By GERTRUDE VAN RENSSELAER WICKHAM + +(1738-1789) + + +Was Ethan Allen a hero or a humbug? a patriot or a pretender? Ask +Vermont and she cries "Nulli secundus!" Ask New York and the reply is +"Ad referendum." + +The differentiation antedates the American Revolution and the part Ethan +Allen played in that historic drama. It is an inheritance of loving +loyalty and gratitude that quivers in the answer of one State, the +traditional antagonisms of prejudice that speak in the other. + +But for Ethan Allen, Vermont would have had no separate existence. But +for Ethan Allen, New York's northeastern boundary would have been the +Connecticut River. Therefore, on one shore of Lake Champlain the +disputed shield is unalloyed gold, reflecting all that is strong and +brave, all that is courageous and magnanimous, all that is patriotic and +generous, while from the other shore its appearance is as brass engraven +by vanity and vulgarity, by self-sufficiency and infidelity. + +[Illustration: Ethan Allen.] + +Controversy over property rights engenders such diversities of opinion, +and when, as in this case, one side gains all and the other loses much, +the exultation of triumph or the bitterness of defeat will color the ink +of all literature on the subject for a century to come. + +Not until after the year 1761 did the dense wilderness of either +Northern New York, or what was then considered Western New Hampshire, +prove attractive to the Yankee or Dutch settler in search of a pioneer +home. The cruel conflicts that for over seventy years had made these +border lands the scene of bloody race enmities were ended by the +conquest of Canada. These primeval forests, that had echoed only to the +tread of skulking savages, or the revengeful tramp of opposing forces, +became peaceful spots for the erection of hearth-stones around which +women and children might gather in safety. Many of the Connecticut +soldiery who had taken active part in the late French and Indian wars, +now recalled the beautiful country through which they had marched to +meet or pursue the foe, the grandeur of its evergreen mountain peaks, +the limpid sheets of water nestling between, its sparkling fish-laden +streams, and the apparent fertility of its soil. + +These recollections were stimulated by the conditions which confronted +them on their return to peaceful and agricultural pursuits. The +subdivision of farms among the many robust sons of the average New +England household had reached its limit, and the young man who would +found a home and family of his own, thenceforth must seek for cheaper +and broader acres than were to be found already under cultivation. New +Hampshire's liberal offer of grants in her western border upon easy +terms, decided the future of many a New England lad, and for several +years the tide of emigration rolled steadily northward. + +From Burlington, on Lake Champlain, for one hundred miles south to +Bennington, the sound of the axe was heard by day and by night. The +enthusiasms of a new country lent strength to the arm and courage to the +heart. In every direction homes sprang up, surrounded by young orchards, +and beyond and around these, cultivated fields. + +Suddenly the settlers were set to wondering and worrying at the sight of +strange surveyors taking new measurements through the farms wrenched +from the wilds with so much of hard labor and wearisome toil. And then +the blow fell. New York was claiming all this tract of land as part of +her province, and declaring New Hampshire grants to be null and void. A +second payment for their farms was demanded, based upon their present +value as improved property. + +In some cases new owners put in an appearance and attempted to take +possession, having purchased, in good faith, of land speculators in New +York City, to whom Governor Colden, of New York, had issued immense +grants covering a large part of the disputed territory. These +speculators were mostly lawyers, who were favorites or friends of the +governor. Against these shrewd men of wealth and education, with their +powerful backing, the puny defence of the original settlers seemed +wellnigh hopeless. But it was to be a contest between might and right, +and that invisible influence which seems ever to weaken the one and +strengthen the other was surely, though silently at work. + +Upon this scene of trouble and uncertainty appears Ethan Allen, a +farmer, born about thirty years before in Coventry, Conn., large of +frame, of great personal strength, and with mental characteristics in +harmony with his powerful physique: a tender-hearted giant whose +standard of honor and honesty soon measured the injustice of New York's +position in the land controversy, and at once sided with the besieged +farmers, with whom he had many generalities of sympathy. + +With fiery energy of will and purpose, he immediately assumed the +leadership of the defence, guiding its combined strength into the legal +side of the question, thus meeting the power of alleged law with like +weapons. Selecting the best legal talent of Connecticut as assistants, +and armed with New Hampshire's charter and seal, he appeared in the +Albany courts to contest New York's claim that the Connecticut River was +the boundary between that province and New Hampshire. + +But the trial was a farce, stripped of all dignity and justice by the +fact that the judge upon the bench, the prosecuting attorneys, and other +officials were personally interested, each holding New York grants for +many thousand acres in the disputed territory. All evidence for the +defence, even the New Hampshire charter, was ruled out of court, and +Ethan Allen's peaceful efforts for defence were defeated. + +He returned home, burning with indignation and resolving to protect his +property and that of his neighbors, if need were, by the force of his +own strong right arm. For six years, under his leadership, all attempts +by New York settlers to take possession were frustrated by the alertness +of the "Green Mountain Boys," as the defence now termed themselves, who +drove them off quietly or with violence, according to the exigencies of +the occasion. + +As a measure of punishment for these acts, Ethan Allen was outlawed by +the Governor of New York, and a price offered for his capture. Soon +after he rode alone into Albany one day, and alighting at a tavern in +the heart of the city, called for refreshment. His former visit had +marked his strong personality in the remembrance of many, and he was at +once recognized by prominent officials, who stared at him with +curiosity, but made no effort to arrest him. Returning their gaze, he +lifted his glass to his lips, pledging in a loud, firm voice "The Green +Mountain Boys," and then rode away unmolested. + +This act was defined by his friends as the rashness of bravery; by his +enemies as the madness of impudence. + +But the cloud overhanging the shores of Lake Champlain was but a shadow +compared with the darkness of the storm brooding over the whole region +south and east of it, and the battle of Lexington ended this local +strife. + +Thenceforth, Ethan Allen was to bid defiance, not to a State, but to a +nation. To him and his Green Mountain Boys came urgent appeals from +leading patriots of the American Revolution for help and support in the +coming struggle, and the answer was more than kindly assent and promise: +it was prompt and vigorous action--the first aggressive blow at the +power of Great Britain, for the musket-shots that harassed the +retreating red-coats from Concord were those of spirited defence rather +than of deliberate attack. + +As the fortress of Ticonderoga had been the key of the position in the +late French and Indian wars, the gain or loss of which meant either +overwhelming victory or disaster, so now it was deemed of equal +importance in the coming conflict, which inevitably would bring the +British foe upon them from the North, along the same familiar war-path. +The capture of this fort was a serious undertaking, for it was well +garrisoned by a company of British soldiers, and thoroughly equipped for +vigorous defense. Only the keenest strategy and the most complete +surprise would avail in the accomplishment of the task. + +But the experience and ability of Ethan Allen--who had been unanimously +chosen as leader--was adequate to the occasion, and his plans were made +with the greatest secrecy and skill. One of his men was detailed to gain +admission to the fort on some pretext, and then by skilfully acting the +part of a greenhorn full of foolish questions, to learn many important +facts and necessary details. In addition, a lad was found thoroughly +familiar with the interior of the garrison, who would serve as guide, +and on the night of May 9, 1775, 270 American patriots appeared on the +shore opposite Fort Ticonderoga, which was on the west or New York side +of Lake Champlain. + +A day or two previous a small force of men had been despatched secretly +to points above and below this spot in quest of boats, which failing +them, in this emergency only 83 of the 270 men could be accommodated in +the limited number at hand. Spring lingers long in this latitude, and +the night, clear and cold, was giving way to dawn when the brave leader +and his little vanguard of heroes resolved to attack without further +re-enforcement. According to military precedent, he first harangued his +followers. + +"Friends and fellow-soldiers, you have for a number of years been a +scourge and a terror to arbitrary power. Your valor has been famed +abroad and acknowledged, as appears by the advice and orders to me from +the General Assembly of Connecticut to surprise and take the garrison +now before us. I now propose to advance before you and in person conduct +you through the wicket gate; for we must this morning either quit our +pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves of this fortress in a few +minutes. And inasmuch as it is a desperate attempt, which none but the +bravest men dare undertake, I do not urge it on any contrary to his +will. You that will undertake voluntarily, poise your firelock!" + +Needless to state, the firelocks were all "poised"--whatever that may +be--and, led by Allen, a rush was made, the sentry overpowered, and +soon the gallant "83" were standing back to back on the parade-ground +within the fort, their muskets levelled at the two barracks which, +filled with sleeping soldiers, faced each other. + +The commandant was then aroused by loud rapping on his door and the +voice of Allen bidding him come out and surrender the fort. The +astonished officer, half dressed, made his appearance, demanding by what +authority he was asked to do such a thing. + +A part of Ethan Allen's famous reply: "In the name of Jehovah and the +Continental Congress!" was more prophetic than authentic, as the latter +earthly tribunal at that time had no existence. + +The hundred cannon and quantities of ammunition found in the fort were +sent east, where they proved of great service in the siege of Boston. + +Crown Point, the garrison of St. Johns, many boats, vessels, and a +British armed schooner soon after fell into the hands of the Green +Mountain Boys, thus giving them the full sweep of Lake Champlain, and +holding in check any attempts at invasion from that direction. + +Ethan Allen's military instincts and foresight transcended any +experience and all knowledge he possessed on the subject. He at once saw +the importance of pushing the advantage now gained, by an immediate +advance upon Canada before reinforcements could arrive to strengthen the +strongholds of Montreal and Quebec; a measure which, if adopted, would +have changed the whole history of the northern campaign that eventually +proved so disastrous. + +With the splendid magnanimity of a noble soul and the abnegation of a +true patriot, he addressed the Continental Congress of New York on the +subject, first apologizing for his seeming neglect to consult with that +body before his attack on Ticonderoga, which was within its province, +and explaining the necessity for secrecy, which prompted him. Note the +spirit of prophecy breathed in the following words: + +"I wish to God America would at this critical juncture exert herself +agreeable to the indignity offered her by a tyrannical ministry. She +might rise on eagle's wings and mount up to glory, freedom, and immortal +honor if she did but know and exert her strength. Fame is now hovering +over her head. A vast continent must now sink to slavery, poverty, and +bondage, or rise to unconquerable freedom, immense wealth, inexpressible +felicity, and immortal fame." + +He then offers the services of his own men for the purpose, and to raise +a regiment of rangers in Northern New York, a proposal which he trusts +will not be deemed impertinent. + +[Illustration: Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga.] + +But for some unexplained reason no action was taken on his suggestions +until months later, when the conditions had materially changed, making +such a campaign exceedingly more difficult. Generals Schuyler and +Montgomery were then in command, and to Ethan Allen was given a task +requiring shrewdness, tact, and great personal influence--to enlist the +co-operation or the neutrality of the Canadians in the struggle between +the American colonists and the mother country. For weeks he travelled in +Canada, "preaching politics" so successfully that he was able to +report a company of 300 Canadian recruits for the American service, and +that 2,000 more could be enlisted when needed. + +In returning from this expedition he was persuaded by a brother officer +into a step that but for an accident would have been more brilliant than +Allen's former exploit and added fresh laurels to his name as a military +hero. It was no less than the surprise and capture of Fort Montreal, +then garrisoned by 500 men, 40 only of whom were regulars, the remainder +volunteers and Indians. + +It seemed a feasible undertaking. The plan was similar to the seizure of +Ticonderoga--the quiet landing of boats under the walls of the fort +before daybreak and the quick rush of attack. The forces were divided, +Allen taking 110 men and landing below the city. The remainder and +larger portion were to cross the river above and then signal the others. +Colonel Allen promptly performed his part of the programme, but no +signal greeted his ears, and daylight found him in full view of the fort +and unable to retreat. He and his men for two hours bravely resisted the +enemy, who sallied out to attack them, but without avail, and they were +taken prisoners. + +The story of Ethan Allen's long captivity, lasting two years and eight +months, as told by himself, is one of the most interesting narratives +connected with the Revolutionary war. Loaded with chains, consigned to +the filthy hold of a vessel, with no seat nor bed save a seaman's chest, +half starved, tortured by daily indignities, his high courage and brave +spirit never faltered. Once, when insulted, he sprang at his +tormentor--the captain of the ship--and with his shackled hands knocked +him down; and again he bit off the nail that fastened his handcuffs, and +by these feats of strength and anger awed his guards into some show of +respect. + +The method by which he saved himself from a felon's death in England was +worthy the dignity of a veteran diplomat. A letter to the Continental +Congress, which he knew would never reach its destination, but fall into +the hands of its bitterest enemy, Lord North, contained an account of +his ill treatment and possible fate, and closed with the request that if +retaliation upon the Tory and other prisoners in its power should be +found necessary, it might be exercised not according to his own value or +rank, but in proportion to the importance of the cause for which he +suffered. + +The English ministry concluded evidently to treat him henceforth as a +prisoner of war entitled to an honorable exchange, rather than a rebel +deserving an ignoble death, and he was returned to America, where he was +confined, with varieties of usage, in Halifax, and afterward in New +York. + +While in the latter place, and suffering from hunger and long ill +health, he was approached by a British officer, authorized to offer him +the command of a royalist regiment, and the gift of thousands of acres +of land at the close of the war, in any part of the American colonies he +might select, providing he would forsake the patriot cause and take oath +of allegiance to the crown. Colonel Allen rejected this overture with +great scorn, assuring the officer that he had as little land to promise +him as had the devil when making a similar one. + +"Thereupon," said Allen, "he closed the conversation and turned from me +with an air of dislike, saying I was a bigot." + +An exchange of prisoners at length freed him from a situation so full of +personal hardship and mental anguish, and he hastened home to his +family, from whom he so long and cruelly had been separated. + +His only son had died in the meantime, and his wife and daughters, not +expecting his arrival, were not at Bennington in time to receive him. +But his neighbors and friends flocked in from miles around to give him +greeting, and although it was the Sabbath, a day strictly observed in +those parts, the enthusiasm of the joyful occasion could neither be +postponed nor suppressed, and its expression found vent in the firing of +cannon and happy huzzas. + +The "Hampshire Grants" in his absence had become the full-fledged "State +of Vermont," knocking for admission at the doors of the Continental +Congress. + +Ethan Allen at once was appointed General of the Vermont State Militia, +and although he did not again join the American army, his natural gifts +of diplomacy were of inestimable service to the country, and the number +of men he could summon at a moment's notice to his command, served to +hold in check any attempted raids of the enemy through Canada. He lived +eight years after the declaration of peace, dying at the age of +fifty-one, in Burlington, where he was engaged in farming. + +A little incident never before in print was recently related to the +writer of this sketch by a lady to whom it was told in childhood by an +old man who, as a lad, lived on Ethan Allen's farm. It was in +illustration of the simplicity of the celebrated hero's private life. + +The farm hands all sat at the table with the family, much to the +amusement or astonishment of his frequent guests, who sometimes were +wealthy and distinguished and quite unaccustomed to such practical +exhibitions of democracy. One of these had the poor taste to expostulate +with the general, and remarked, "I should think your men would prefer to +eat by themselves." + +General Allen feigned to misunderstand the meaning of this, and after a +moment's reflection replied, "Thank you very much for calling my +attention to it. I see that what has been hearty enough for my family +may not have been for my hard-working help. I will take more notice +hereafter to see that they are better served." + +"It was little use," says my informant, "to try to dictate to Ethan +Allen." + +[Signature: Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 5 of 8, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN. *** + +***** This file should be named 28455-8.txt or 28455-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/4/5/28455/ + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Christine P. 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