diff options
Diffstat (limited to '754.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 754.txt | 13369 |
1 files changed, 13369 insertions, 0 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,13369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon + +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: The Story of Mankind + +Author: Hendrik van Loon + +Release Date: December, 1996 [Etext #754] +Posting Date: November 27, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MANKIND *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller + + + + + +THE STORY OF MANKIND + +By Hendrik Van Loon, Ph.D. + +Professor of the Social Sciences in Antioch College. Author of The Fall +of the Dutch Republic, The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom, The Golden Book of +the Dutch Navigators, A Short Story of Discovery, Ancient Man. + + + + + +Frontispiece caption= THE SCENE OF OUR HISTORY IS LAID UPON A LITTLE +PLANET, LOST IN THE VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. + + +To JIMMIE "What is the use of a book without pictures?" said Alice. + + + + +FOREWORD + +For Hansje and Willem: + + +WHEN I was twelve or thirteen years old, an uncle of mine who gave me +my love for books and pictures promised to take me upon a memorable +expedition. I was to go with him to the top of the tower of Old Saint +Lawrence in Rotterdam. + +And so, one fine day, a sexton with a key as large as that of Saint +Peter opened a mysterious door. "Ring the bell," he said, "when you come +back and want to get out," and with a great grinding of rusty old hinges +he separated us from the noise of the busy street and locked us into a +world of new and strange experiences. + +For the first time in my life I was confronted by the phenomenon of +audible silence. When we had climbed the first flight of stairs, I added +another discovery to my limited knowledge of natural phenomena--that of +tangible darkness. A match showed us where the upward road continued. +We went to the next floor and then to the next and the next until I had +lost count and then there came still another floor, and suddenly we had +plenty of light. This floor was on an even height with the roof of the +church, and it was used as a storeroom. Covered with many inches of +dust, there lay the abandoned symbols of a venerable faith which had +been discarded by the good people of the city many years ago. That which +had meant life and death to our ancestors was here reduced to junk and +rubbish. The industrious rat had built his nest among the carved images +and the ever watchful spider had opened up shop between the outspread +arms of a kindly saint. + +The next floor showed us from where we had derived our light. Enormous +open windows with heavy iron bars made the high and barren room the +roosting place of hundreds of pigeons. The wind blew through the iron +bars and the air was filled with a weird and pleasing music. It was +the noise of the town below us, but a noise which had been purified and +cleansed by the distance. The rumbling of heavy carts and the clinking +of horses' hoofs, the winding of cranes and pulleys, the hissing sound +of the patient steam which had been set to do the work of man in +a thousand different ways--they had all been blended into a softly +rustling whisper which provided a beautiful background for the trembling +cooing of the pigeons. + +Here the stairs came to an end and the ladders began. And after the +first ladder (a slippery old thing which made one feel his way with a +cautious foot) there was a new and even greater wonder, the town-clock. +I saw the heart of time. I could hear the heavy pulsebeats of the rapid +seconds--one--two--three--up to sixty. Then a sudden quivering noise +when all the wheels seemed to stop and another minute had been chopped +off eternity. Without pause it began again--one--two--three--until at +last after a warning rumble and the scraping of many wheels a thunderous +voice, high above us, told the world that it was the hour of noon. + +On the next floor were the bells. The nice little bells and their +terrible sisters. In the centre the big bell, which made me turn stiff +with fright when I heard it in the middle of the night telling a story +of fire or flood. In solitary grandeur it seemed to reflect upon those +six hundred years during which it had shared the joys and the sorrows of +the good people of Rotterdam. Around it, neatly arranged like the blue +jars in an old-fashioned apothecary shop, hung the little fellows, who +twice each week played a merry tune for the benefit of the country-folk +who had come to market to buy and sell and hear what the big world had +been doing. But in a corner--all alone and shunned by the others--a big +black bell, silent and stern, the bell of death. + +Then darkness once more and other ladders, steeper and even more +dangerous than those we had climbed before, and suddenly the fresh air +of the wide heavens. We had reached the highest gallery. Above us the +sky. Below us the city--a little toy-town, where busy ants were hastily +crawling hither and thither, each one intent upon his or her particular +business, and beyond the jumble of stones, the wide greenness of the +open country. + +It was my first glimpse of the big world. + +Since then, whenever I have had the opportunity, I have gone to the top +of the tower and enjoyed myself. It was hard work, but it repaid in full +the mere physical exertion of climbing a few stairs. + +Besides, I knew what my reward would be. I would see the land and the +sky, and I would listen to the stories of my kind friend the watchman, +who lived in a small shack, built in a sheltered corner of the gallery. +He looked after the clock and was a father to the bells, and he warned +of fires, but he enjoyed many free hours and then he smoked a pipe and +thought his own peaceful thoughts. He had gone to school almost fifty +years before and he had rarely read a book, but he had lived on the top +of his tower for so many years that he had absorbed the wisdom of that +wide world which surrounded him on all sides. + +History he knew well, for it was a living thing with him. "There," he +would say, pointing to a bend of the river, "there, my boy, do you see +those trees? That is where the Prince of Orange cut the dikes to drown +the land and save Leyden." Or he would tell me the tale of the old +Meuse, until the broad river ceased to be a convenient harbour and +became a wonderful highroad, carrying the ships of De Ruyter and Tromp +upon that famous last voyage, when they gave their lives that the sea +might be free to all. + +Then there were the little villages, clustering around the protecting +church which once, many years ago, had been the home of their Patron +Saints. In the distance we could see the leaning tower of Delft. Within +sight of its high arches, William the Silent had been murdered and there +Grotius had learned to construe his first Latin sentences. And still +further away, the long low body of the church of Gouda, the early home +of the man whose wit had proved mightier than the armies of many an +emperor, the charity-boy whom the world came to know as Erasmus. + +Finally the silver line of the endless sea and as a contrast, +immediately below us, the patchwork of roofs and chimneys and houses +and gardens and hospitals and schools and railways, which we called our +home. But the tower showed us the old home in a new light. The confused +commotion of the streets and the market-place, of the factories and +the workshop, became the well-ordered expression of human energy +and purpose. Best of all, the wide view of the glorious past, which +surrounded us on all sides, gave us new courage to face the problems of +the future when we had gone back to our daily tasks. + +History is the mighty Tower of Experience, which Time has built amidst +the endless fields of bygone ages. It is no easy task to reach the top +of this ancient structure and get the benefit of the full view. There is +no elevator, but young feet are strong and it can be done. + +Here I give you the key that will open the door. + +When you return, you too will understand the reason for my enthusiasm. + +HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON. + + + +CONTENTS + + + 1. THE SETTING OF THE STAGE + 2. OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS + 3. PREHISTORIC MAX BEGINS TO MAKE THINGS FOR HIMSELF + 4. THE EGYPTIANS INVENT THE ART OF WRITING AND THE RECORD + OF HISTORY BEGINS + 5. THE BEGINNING OF CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE + 6. THE RISE AND FALL OF EGYPT + 7. MESOPOTAMIA, THE SECOND CENTRE OF EASTERN CIVILISATION + 8. THE SUMERIAN NAIL WRITERS, WHOSE CLAY TABLETS TELL US + THE STORY OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA, THE GREAT SEMITIC + MELTING-POT + 9. THE STORY OF MOSES, THE LEADER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE + 10. THE PHOENICIANS, WHO GAVE US OUR ALPHABET + 11. THE INDO-EUROPEAN PERSIANS CONQUER THE SEMITIC AND THE + EGYPTIAN WORLD + 12. THE PEOPLE OF THE AEGEAN SEA CARRIED THE CIVILISATION + OF OLD ASIA INTO THE WILDERNESS OF EUROPE + 13. MEANWHILE THE INDO-EUROPEAN TRIBE OF THE HELLENES WAS + TAKING POSSESSION OF GREECE + 14. THE GREEK CITIES THAT WERE REALLY STATES + 15. THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TRY THE DIFFICULT + EXPERIMENT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT + 16. HOW THE GREEKS LIVED + 17. THE ORIGINS OF THE THEATRE, THE FIRST FORM OF PUBLIC + AMUSEMENT + 18. HOW THE GREEKS DEFENDED EUROPE AGAINST AN ASIATIC INVASION AND + DROVE THE PERSIANS BACK ACROSS THE AEGEAN SEA + 19. HOW ATHENS AND SPARTA FOUGHT A LONG AND DISASTROUS WAR + FOR THE LEADERSHIP OF GREECE + 20. ALEXANDER THE MACEDONIAN ESTABLISHES A GREEK WORLD + EMPIRE, AND WHAT BECAME OF THIS HIGH AMBITION + 21. A SHORT SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 1 TO 20 + 22. THE SEMITIC COLONY OF CARTHAGE ON THE NORTHERN COAST OF + AFRICA AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN CITY OF ROME ON THE WEST + COAST OF ITALY FOUGHT EACH OTHER FOR THE POSSESSION OF + THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND CARTHAGE WAS DESTROYED + 23. HOW ROME HAPPENED + 24. HOW THE REPUBLIC OF ROME, AFTER CENTURIES OF UNREST AND + REVOLUTION, BECAME AN EMPIRE + 25. THE STORY OF JOSHUA OF NAZARETH, WHOM THE GREEKS CALLED + JESUS + 26. THE TWILIGHT OF ROME + 27. HOW ROME BECAME THE CENTRE OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD + 28. AHMED, THE CAMEL DRIVER, WHO BECAME THE PROPHET OF THE + ARABIAN DESERT, AND WHOSE FOLLOWERS ALMOST CONQUERED + THE ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF + ALLAH, THE "ONLY TRUE GOD" + 29. HOW CHARLEMAGNE, THE KING OF THE RANKS, CAME TO BEAR + THE TITLE OF EMPEROR AND TRIED TO REVIVE THE OLD IDEAL + OF WORLD-EMPIRE + 30. WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE TENTH CENTURY PRAYED THE LORD + TO PROTECT THEM FROM THE FURY OF THE NORSEMEN + 31. HOW CENTRAL EUROPE, ATTACKED FROM THREE SIDES, BECAME + AN ARMED CAMP AND WHY EUROPE WOULD HAVE PERISHED + WITHOUT THOSE PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS AND ADMINISTRATORS + WHO WERE PART OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + 32. CHIVALRY + 33. THE STRANGE DOUBLE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE + AGES, AND HOW IT LED TO ENDLESS QUARRELS BETWEEN THE + POPES AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS + 34. BUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT QUARRELS WERE FORGOTTEN WHEN + THE TURKS TOOK THE HOLY LAND, DESECRATED THE HOLY + PLACES AND INTERFERED SERIOUSLY WITH THE TRADE FROM + EAST TO WEST. EUROPE WENT CRUSADING + 35. WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES SAID THAT CITY AIR + IS FREE AIR + 36. HOW THE PEOPLE OF THE CITIES ASSERTED THEIR RIGHT + TO BE HEARD IN THE ROYAL COUNCILS OF THEIR COUNTRY + 37. WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES THOUGHT OF THE + WORLD IN WHICH THEY HAPPENED TO LIVE + 38. HOW THE CRUSADES ONCE MORE MADE THE MEDITERRANEAN A + BUSY CENTRE OF TRADE AND HOW THE CITIES OF THE ITALIAN + PENINSULA BECAME THE GREAT DISTRIBUTING CENTRE FOR THE + COMMERCE WITH ASIA AND AFRICA + 39. PEOPLE ONCE MORE DARED TO BE HAPPY JUST BECAUSE THEY + WERE ALIVE. THEY TRIED TO SAVE THE REMAINS OF THE + OLDER AND MORE AGREEABLE CIVILISATION OF ROME AND + GREECE AND THEY WERE 80 PROUD OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS + THAT THEY SPOKE OF A RENAISSANCE OR RE-BIRTH OF + CIVILISATION + 40. THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO FEEL THE NEED OF GIVING EXPRESSION + TO THEIR NEWLY DISCOVERED JOY OF LIVING. THEY EXPRESSED + THEIR HAPPINESS IN POETRY AND IN SCULPTURE AND + IN ARCHITECTURE AND PAINTING, AND IN THE BOOKS THEY + PRINTED + 41. BUT NOW THAT PEOPLE HAD BROKEN THROUGH THE BONDS OF + THEIR NARROW MEDIEVAL LIMITATIONS, THEY HAD TO HAVE + MORE ROOM FOR THEIR WANDERINGS. THE EUROPEAN WORLD + HAD GROWN TOO SMALL FOR THEIR AMBITIONS. IT WAS THE + TIME OF THE GREAT VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY + 42. CONCERNING BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS + 43. THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN RACE IS BEST COMPARED TO A + GIGANTIC PENDULUM WHICH FOREVER SWINGS FORWARD AND + BACKWARD. THE RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE AND THE ARTISTIC + AND LITERARY ENTHUSIASM OF THE RENAISSANCE WERE FOLLOWED + BY THE ARTISTIC AND LITERARY INDIFFERENCE AND THE + RELIGIOUS ENTHUSIASM OF THE REFORMATION + 44. THE AGE OF THE GREAT RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES + 45. HOW THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS + AND THE LESS DIVINE BUT MORE REASONABLE RIGHT OF + PARLIAMENT ENDED DISASTROUSLY FOR KING CHARLES II + 46. IN FRANCE, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS + CONTINUED WITH GREATER POMP AND SPLENDOR THAN EVER + BEFORE AND THE AMBITION OF THE RULER WAS ONLY TEMPERED + BY THE NEWLY INVENTED LAW OF THE BALANCE OF POWER + 47. THE STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS MUSCOVITE EMPIRE WHICH SUDDENLY + BURST UPON THE GRAND POLITICAL STAGE OF EUROPE + 48. RUSSIA AND SWEDEN FOUGHT MANY WARS TO DECIDE WHO + SHALL BE THE LEADING POWER OF NORTHEASTERN EUROPE + 49. THE EXTRAORDINARY RISE OF A LITTLE STATE IN A DREARY PART + OF NORTHERN GERMANY, CALLED PRUSSIA + 50. HOW THE NEWLY FOUNDED NATIONAL OR DYNASTIC STATES OF + EUROPE TRIED TO MAKE THEMSELVES RICH AND WHAT WAS + MEANT BY THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM + 51. AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE HEARD + STRANGE REPORTS OF SOMETHING WHICH HAD HAPPENED IN + THE WILDERNESS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. THE + DESCENDANTS OF THE MEN WHO HAD PUNISHED KING CHARLES + FOR HIS INSISTENCE UPON HIS DIVINE RIGHTS ADDED A + NEW CHAPTER TO THE OLD STORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT + 62. THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION PROCLAIMS THE PRINCIPLES + OF LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND EQUALITY UNTO All THE PEOPLE + OF THE EARTH + 53. NAPOLEON + 54. AS SOON AS NAPOLEON HAD BEEN SENT TO ST. HELENA, THE + RULERS WHO SO OFTEN HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY THE HATED + CORSICAN MET AT VIENNA AND TRIED TO UNDO THE MANY + CHANCES WHICH HAD BEEN BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE FRENCH + REVOLUTION + 55. THEY TRIED TO ASSURE THE WORLD AN ERA OF UNDISTURBED + PEACE BY SUPPRESSING ALL NEW IDEAS. THEY MADE THE + POLICE-SPY THE HIGHEST FUNCTIONARY IN THE STATE AND + SOON THE PRISONS OF ALL COUNTRIES WERE FILLED WITH + THOSE WHO CLAIMED THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO + GOVERN THEMSELVES AS THEY SEE FIT + 56. THE LOVE OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, HOWEVER, WAS TOO + STRONG TO BE DESTROYED IN THIS WAY. THE SOUTH AMERICANS + WERE THE FIRST TO REBEL AGAINST THE REACTIONARY + MEASURES OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. GREECE AND BELGIUM + AND SPAIN AND A LARGE NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES + OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT FOLLOWED SUIT AND THE + NINETEENTH CENTURY WAS FILLED WITH THE RUMOR OF MANY + WARS OF INDEPENDENCE + 57. BUT WHITE THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR + NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVED + HAD BEEN ENTIRELY CHANGED BY A SERIES OF INVENTIONS, + WHICH HAD MADE THE CLUMSY OLD STEAM-ENGINE OF THE + EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THE MOST FAITHFUL AND EFFICIENT + STAVE OF MAN + 58. THE NEW ENGINES WERE VERY EXPENSIVE AND ONLY PEOPLE + OF WEALTH COULD AFFORD THEM. THE OLD CARPENTER OR + SHOEMAKER WHO HAD BEEN HIS OWN MASTER IN HIS LITTLE + WORKSHOP WAS OBLIGED TO HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO THE OWNERS + OF THE BIG MECHANICAL TOOLS, AND WHITE HE MADE + MORE MONEY THAN BEFORE, HE LOST HIS FORMER INDEPENDENCE + AND HE DID NOT LIKE THAT + 59. THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY DID NOT BRING + ABOUT THE ERA OF HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY WHICH HAD + BEEN PREDICTED BY THE GENERATION WHICH SAW THE STAGE + COACH REPLACED BY THE RAILROAD. SEVERAL REMEDIES + WERE SUGGESTED, BUT NONE OF THESE QUITE SOLVED THE + PROBLEM + 60. BUT THE WORLD HAD UNDERGONE ANOTHER CHANGE WHICH WAS + OF GREATER IMPORTANCE THAN EITHER THE POLITICAL OR THE + INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS. AFTER GENERATIONS OF OPPRESSION + AND PERSECUTION, THE SCIENTIST HAD AT LAST GAINED + LIBERTY OF ACTION AND HE WAS NOW TRYING TO DISCOVER + THE FUNDAMENTAL LAWS WHICH GOVERN THE UNIVERSE + 61. A CHAPTER OF ART + 62. THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, INCLUDING SEVERAL EXPLANATIONS + AND A FEW APOLOGIES + 63. THE GREAT WAR, WHICH WAS REALLY THE STRUGGLE FOR A + NEW AND BETTER WORLD + 64.ANIMATED CHRONOLOGY + 65.CONCERNING THE PICTURES + + 66.AN HISTORICAL READING LIST FOR CHILDREN + + 67.INDEX + + + + +THE STORY OF MANKIND + + +HIGH Up in the North in the land called Svithjod, there stands a rock. +It is a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Once every thousand +years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. + +When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity +will have gone by. + + + + +THE SETTING OF THE STAGE + + +WE live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark. + +Who are we? + +Where do we come from? + +Whither are we bound? + +Slowly, but with persistent courage, we have been pushing this question +mark further and further towards that distant line, beyond the horizon, +where we hope to find our answer. + +We have not gone very far. + +We still know very little but we have reached the point where (with a +fair degree of accuracy) we can guess at many things. + +In this chapter I shall tell you how (according to our best belief) the +stage was set for the first appearance of man. + +If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal +life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length, then the tiny +line just below indicates the age during which man (or a creature more +or less resembling man) has lived upon this earth. + +Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose +of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going +to study him, rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other +animals, who, all in their own way, have a very interesting historical +development behind them. + +In the beginning, the planet upon which we live was (as far as we now +know) a large ball of flaming matter, a tiny cloud of smoke in the +endless ocean of space. Gradually, in the course of millions of years, +the surface burned itself out, and was covered with a thin layer of +rocks. Upon these lifeless rocks the rain descended in endless torrents, +wearing out the hard granite and carrying the dust to the valleys that +lay hidden between the high cliffs of the steaming earth. + +Finally the hour came when the sun broke through the clouds and saw how +this little planet was covered with a few small puddles which were to +develop into the mighty oceans of the eastern and western hemispheres. + +Then one day the great wonder happened. What had been dead, gave birth +to life. + +The first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea. + +For millions of years it drifted aimlessly with the currents. But during +all that time it was developing certain habits that it might survive +more easily upon the inhospitable earth. Some of these cells were +happiest in the dark depths of the lakes and the pools. They took root +in the slimy sediments which had been carried down from the tops of the +hills and they became plants. Others preferred to move about and they +grew strange jointed legs, like scorpions and began to crawl along +the bottom of the sea amidst the plants and the pale green things that +looked like jelly-fishes. Still others (covered with scales) depended +upon a swimming motion to go from place to place in their search for +food, and gradually they populated the ocean with myriads of fishes. + +Meanwhile the plants had increased in number and they had to search for +new dwelling places. There was no more room for them at the bottom of +the sea. Reluctantly they left the water and made a new home in the +marshes and on the mud-banks that lay at the foot of the mountains. +Twice a day the tides of the ocean covered them with their brine. For +the rest of the time, the plants made the best of their uncomfortable +situation and tried to survive in the thin air which surrounded the +surface of the planet. After centuries of training, they learned how +to live as comfortably in the air as they had done in the water. They +increased in size and became shrubs and trees and at last they learned +how to grow lovely flowers which attracted the attention of the busy big +bumble-bees and the birds who carried the seeds far and wide until the +whole earth had become covered with green pastures, or lay dark under +the shadow of the big trees. But some of the fishes too had begun to +leave the sea, and they had learned how to breathe with lungs as well as +with gills. We call such creatures amphibious, which means that they +are able to live with equal ease on the land and in the water. The first +frog who crosses your path can tell you all about the pleasures of the +double existence of the amphibian. + +Once outside of the water, these animals gradually adapted themselves +more and more to life on land. Some became reptiles (creatures who +crawl like lizards) and they shared the silence of the forests with +the insects. That they might move faster through the soft soil, they +improved upon their legs and their size increased until the world was +populated with gigantic forms (which the hand-books of biology list +under the names of Ichthyosaurus and Megalosaurus and Brontosaurus) +who grew to be thirty to forty feet long and who could have played with +elephants as a full grown cat plays with her kittens. + +Some of the members of this reptilian family began to live in the tops +of the trees, which were then often more than a hundred feet high. +They no longer needed their legs for the purpose of walking, but it was +necessary for them to move quickly from branch to branch. And so they +changed a part of their skin into a sort of parachute, which stretched +between the sides of their bodies and the small toes of their fore-feet, +and gradually they covered this skinny parachute with feathers and +made their tails into a steering gear and flew from tree to tree and +developed into true birds. + +Then a strange thing happened. All the gigantic reptiles died within a +short time. We do not know the reason. Perhaps it was due to a sudden +change in climate. Perhaps they had grown so large that they could +neither swim nor walk nor crawl, and they starved to death within sight +but not within reach of the big ferns and trees. Whatever the cause, the +million year old world-empire of the big reptiles was over. + +The world now began to be occupied by very different creatures. They +were the descendants of the reptiles but they were quite unlike these +because they fed their young from the "mammae" or the breasts of the +mother. Wherefore modern science calls these animals "mammals." They +had shed the scales of the fish. They did not adopt the feathers of +the bird, but they covered their bodies with hair. The mammals however +developed other habits which gave their race a great advantage over the +other animals. The female of the species carried the eggs of the young +inside her body until they were hatched and while all other living +beings, up to that time, had left their children exposed to the dangers +of cold and heat, and the attacks of wild beasts, the mammals kept their +young with them for a long time and sheltered them while they were still +too weak to fight their enemies. In this way the young mammals were +given a much better chance to survive, because they learned many things +from their mothers, as you will know if you have ever watched a cat +teaching her kittens to take care of themselves and how to wash their +faces and how to catch mice. + +But of these mammals I need not tell you much for you know them well. +They surround you on all sides. They are your daily companions in the +streets and in your home, and you can see your less familiar cousins +behind the bars of the zoological garden. + +And now we come to the parting of the ways when man suddenly leaves the +endless procession of dumbly living and dying creatures and begins to +use his reason to shape the destiny of his race. + +One mammal in particular seemed to surpass all others in its ability +to find food and shelter. It had learned to use its fore-feet for the +purpose of holding its prey, and by dint of practice it had developed a +hand-like claw. After innumerable attempts it had learned how to balance +the whole of the body upon the hind legs. (This is a difficult act, +which every child has to learn anew although the human race has been +doing it for over a million years.) + +This creature, half ape and half monkey but superior to both, became +the most successful hunter and could make a living in every clime. For +greater safety, it usually moved about in groups. It learned how to make +strange grunts to warn its young of approaching danger and after many +hundreds of thousands of years it began to use these throaty noises for +the purpose of talking. + +This creature, though you may hardly believe it, was your first +"man-like" ancestor. + + + + +OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS + + +WE know very little about the first "true" men. We have never seen +their pictures. In the deepest layer of clay of an ancient soil we +have sometimes found pieces of their bones. These lay buried amidst the +broken skeletons of other animals that have long since disappeared from +the face of the earth. Anthropologists (learned scientists who devote +their lives to the study of man as a member of the animal kingdom) have +taken these bones and they have been able to reconstruct our earliest +ancestors with a fair degree of accuracy. + +The great-great-grandfather of the human race was a very ugly and +unattractive mammal. He was quite small, much smaller than the people +of today. The heat of the sun and the biting wind of the cold winter had +coloured his skin a dark brown. His head and most of his body, his arms +and legs too, were covered with long, coarse hair. He had very thin but +strong fingers which made his hands look like those of a monkey. His +forehead was low and his jaw was like the jaw of a wild animal which +uses its teeth both as fork and knife. He wore no clothes. He had seen +no fire except the flames of the rumbling volcanoes which filled the +earth with their smoke and their lava. + +He lived in the damp blackness of vast forests, as the pygmies of Africa +do to this very day. When he felt the pangs of hunger he ate raw leaves +and the roots of plants or he took the eggs away from an angry bird and +fed them to his own young. Once in a while, after a long and patient +chase, he would catch a sparrow or a small wild dog or perhaps a rabbit. +These he would eat raw for he had never discovered that food tasted +better when it was cooked. + +During the hours of day, this primitive human being prowled about +looking for things to eat. + +When night descended upon the earth, he hid his wife and his children +in a hollow tree or behind some heavy boulders, for he was surrounded on +all sides by ferocious animals and when it was dark these animals began +to prowl about, looking for something to eat for their mates and their +own young, and they liked the taste of human beings. It was a world +where you must either eat or be eaten, and life was very unhappy because +it was full of fear and misery. + +In summer, man was exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, and during +the winter his children would freeze to death in his arms. When such a +creature hurt itself, (and hunting animals are forever breaking their +bones or spraining their ankles) he had no one to take care of him and +he must die a horrible death. + +Like many of the animals who fill the Zoo with their strange noises, +early man liked to jabber. That is to say, he endlessly repeated the +same unintelligible gibberish because it pleased him to hear the sound +of his voice. In due time he learned that he could use this guttural +noise to warn his fellow beings whenever danger threatened and he gave +certain little shrieks which came to mean "there is a tiger!" or "here +come five elephants." Then the others grunted something back at him and +their growl meant, "I see them," or "let us run away and hide." And this +was probably the origin of all language. + +But, as I have said before, of these beginnings we know so very little. +Early man had no tools and he built himself no houses. He lived and died +and left no trace of his existence except a few collar-bones and a few +pieces of his skull. These tell us that many thousands of years ago the +world was inhabited by certain mammals who were quite different from +all the other animals--who had probably developed from another unknown +ape-like animal which had learned to walk on its hind-legs and use +its fore-paws as hands--and who were most probably connected with the +creatures who happen to be our own immediate ancestors. + +It is little enough we know and the rest is darkness. + + + + +PREHISTORIC MAN + +PREHISTORIC MAN BEGINS TO MAKE THINGS FOR HIMSELF. + + +EARLY man did not know what time meant. He kept no records of birthdays +or wedding anniversaries or the hour of death. He had no idea of days or +weeks or even years. But in a general way he kept track of the seasons +for he had noticed that the cold winter was invariably followed by the +mild spring--that spring grew into the hot summer when fruits ripened +and the wild ears of corn were ready to be eaten and that summer ended +when sudden gusts of wind swept the leaves from the trees and a number +of animals were getting ready for the long hibernal sleep. + +But now, something unusual and rather frightening had happened. +Something was the matter with the weather. The warm days of summer had +come very late. The fruits had not ripened. The tops of the mountains +which used to be covered with grass now lay deeply hidden underneath a +heavy burden of snow. + +Then, one morning, a number of wild people, different from the other +creatures who lived in that neighbourhood, came wandering down from the +region of the high peaks. They looked lean and appeared to be starving. +They uttered sounds which no one could understand. They seemed to +say that they were hungry. There was not food enough for both the old +inhabitants and the newcomers. When they tried to stay more than a few +days there was a terrible battle with claw-like hands and feet and whole +families were killed. The others fled back to their mountain slopes and +died in the next blizzard. + +But the people in the forest were greatly frightened. All the time the +days grew shorter and the nights grew colder than they ought to have +been. + +Finally, in a gap between two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck +of greenish ice. Rapidly it increased in size. A gigantic glacier came +sliding downhill. Huge stones were being pushed into the valley. With +the noise of a dozen thunderstorms torrents of ice and mud and blocks of +granite suddenly tumbled among the people of the forest and killed them +while they slept. Century old trees were crushed into kindling wood. And +then it began to snow. + +It snowed for months and months. All the plants died and the animals +fled in search of the southern sun. Man hoisted his young upon his +back and followed them. But he could not travel as fast as the wilder +creatures and he was forced to choose between quick thinking or quick +dying. He seems to have preferred the former for he has managed to +survive the terrible glacial periods which upon four different occasions +threatened to kill every human being on the face of the earth. + +In the first place it was necessary that man clothe himself lest +he freeze to death. He learned how to dig holes and cover them with +branches and leaves and in these traps he caught bears and hyenas, which +he then killed with heavy stones and whose skins he used as coats for +himself and his family. + +Next came the housing problem. This was simple. Many animals were in the +habit of sleeping in dark caves. Man now followed their example, drove +the animals out of their warm homes and claimed them for his own. + +Even so, the climate was too severe for most people and the old and the +young died at a terrible rate. Then a genius bethought himself of +the use of fire. Once, while out hunting, he had been caught in a +forest-fire. He remembered that he had been almost roasted to death by +the flames. Thus far fire had been an enemy. Now it became a friend. A +dead tree was dragged into the cave and lighted by means of smouldering +branches from a burning wood. This turned the cave into a cozy little +room. + +And then one evening a dead chicken fell into the fire. It was not +rescued until it had been well roasted. Man discovered that meat tasted +better when cooked and he then and there discarded one of the old habits +which he had shared with the other animals and began to prepare his +food. + +In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the +cleverest brains survived. They had to struggle day and night against +cold and hunger. They were forced to invent tools. They learned how to +sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers. They were obliged to +put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they +found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the +rays of the sun. And so the glacial period, which had threatened to +destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced +man to use his brain. + + + + +HIEROGLYPHICS + +THE EGYPTIANS INVENT THE ART OF WRITING AND THE RECORD OF HISTORY BEGINS + + +THESE earliest ancestors of ours who lived in the great European +wilderness were rapidly learning many new things. It is safe to say that +in due course of time they would have given up the ways of savages and +would have developed a civilisation of their own. But suddenly there +came an end to their isolation. They were discovered. + +A traveller from an unknown southland who had dared to cross the sea +and the high mountain passes had found his way to the wild people of the +European continent. He came from Africa. His home was in Egypt. + +The valley of the Nile had developed a high stage of civilisation +thousands of years before the people of the west had dreamed of the +possibilities of a fork or a wheel or a house. And we shall therefore +leave our great-great-grandfathers in their caves, while we visit +the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, where stood the +earliest school of the human race. + +The Egyptians have taught us many things. They were excellent farmers. +They knew all about irrigation. They built temples which were afterwards +copied by the Greeks and which served as the earliest models for the +churches in which we worship nowadays. They had invented a calendar +which proved such a useful instrument for the purpose of measuring time +that it has survived with a few changes until today. But most important +of all, the Egyptians had learned how to preserve speech for the benefit +of future generations. They had invented the art of writing. + +We are so accustomed to newspapers and books and magazines that we take +it for granted that the world has always been able to read and write. +As a matter of fact, writing, the most important of all inventions, is +quite new. Without written documents we would be like cats and dogs, who +can only teach their kittens and their puppies a few simple things and +who, because they cannot write, possess no way in which they can make +use of the experience of those generations of cats and dogs that have +gone before. + +In the first century before our era, when the Romans came to Egypt, they +found the valley full of strange little pictures which seemed to have +something to do with the history of the country. But the Romans were not +interested in "anything foreign" and did not inquire into the origin of +these queer figures which covered the walls of the temples and the walls +of the palaces and endless reams of flat sheets made out of the papyrus +reed. The last of the Egyptian priests who had understood the holy art +of making such pictures had died several years before. Egypt deprived +of its independence had become a store-house filled with important +historical documents which no one could decipher and which were of no +earthly use to either man or beast. + +Seventeen centuries went by and Egypt remained a land of mystery. But +in the year 1798 a French general by the name of Bonaparte happened to +visit eastern Africa to prepare for an attack upon the British Indian +Colonies. He did not get beyond the Nile, and his campaign was a +failure. But, quite accidentally, the famous French expedition solved +the problem of the ancient Egyptian picture-language. + +One day a young French officer, much bored by the dreary life of his +little fortress on the Rosetta river (a mouth of the Nile) decided to +spend a few idle hours rummaging among the ruins of the Nile Delta. And +behold! he found a stone which greatly puzzled him. Like everything else +in Egypt it was covered with little figures. But this particular slab of +black basalt was different from anything that had ever been discovered. +It carried three inscriptions. One of these was in Greek. The Greek +language was known. "All that is necessary," so he reasoned, "is to +compare the Greek text with the Egyptian figures, and they will at once +tell their secrets." + +The plan sounded simple enough but it took more than twenty years to +solve the riddle. In the year 1802 a French professor by the name of +Champollion began to compare the Greek and the Egyptian texts of +the famous Rosetta stone. In the year 1823 he announced that he had +discovered the meaning of fourteen little figures. A short time later +he died from overwork, but the main principles of Egyptian writing had +become known. Today the story of the valley of the Nile is better known +to us than the story of the Mississippi River. We possess a written +record which covers four thousand years of chronicled history. + +As the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (the word means "sacred writing") +have played such a very great role in history, (a few of them in +modified form have even found their way into our own alphabet,) you +ought to know something about the ingenious system which was used fifty +centuries ago to preserve the spoken word for the benefit of the coming +generations. + +Of course, you know what a sign language is. Every Indian story of our +western plains has a chapter devoted to strange messages writter{sic} +in the form of little pictures which tell how many buffaloes were killed +and how many hunters there were in a certain party. As a rule it is not +difficult to understand the meaning of such messages. + +Ancient Egyptian, however, was not a sign language. The clever people of +the Nile had passed beyond that stage long before. Their pictures meant +a great deal more than the object which they represented, as I shall try +to explain to you now. + +Suppose that you were Champollion, and that you were examining a stack +of papyrus sheets, all covered with hieroglyphics. Suddenly you came +across a picture of a man with a saw. "Very well," you would say, "that +means of course that a farmer went out to cut down a tree." Then you +take another papyrus. It tells the story of a queen who had died at the +age of eighty-two. In the midst of a sentence appears the picture of the +man with the saw. Queens of eighty-two do not handle saws. The picture +therefore must mean something else. But what? + +That is the riddle which the Frenchman finally solved. He discovered +that the Egyptians were the first to use what we now call "phonetic +writing"--a system of characters which reproduce the "sound" (or phone) +of the spoken word and which make it possible for us to translate all +our spoken words into a written form, with the help of only a few dots +and dashes and pothooks. + +Let us return for a moment to the little fellow with the saw. The word +"saw" either means a certain tool which you will find in a carpenter's +shop, or it means the past tense of the verb "to see." + +This is what had happened to the word during the course of centuries. +First of all it had meant only the particular tool which it represented. +Then that meaning had been lost and it had become the past participle +of a verb. After several hundred years, the Egyptians lost sight of +both these meanings and the picture {illust.} came to stand for a single +letter, the letter S. A short sentence will show you what I mean. +Here is a modern English sentence as it would have been written in +hieroglyphics. {illust.} + +The {illust.} either means one of these two round objects in your head, +which allow you to see or it means "I," the person who is talking. + +A {illust.} is either an insect which gathers honey, or it represents +the verb "to be" which means to exist. Again, it may be the first part +of a verb like "be-come" or "be-have." In this particular instance it +is followed by {illust.} which means a "leaf" or "leave" or "lieve" (the +sound of all three words is the same). + +The "eye" you know all about. + +Finally you get the picture of a {illust.}. It is a giraffe It is part +of the old sign-language out of which the hieroglyphics developed. + +You can now read that sentence without much difficulty. + +"I believe I saw a giraffe." + +Having invented this system the Egyptians developed it during thousands +of years until they could write anything they wanted, and they used +these "canned words" to send messages to friends, to keep business +accounts and to keep a record of the history of their country, that +future generations might benefit by the mistakes of the past. + + + + +THE NILE VALLEY + +THE BEGINNING OF CIVILISATION IN THE VALLEY OF THE NILE + + +THE history of man is the record of a hungry creature in search of food. +Wherever food was plentiful, thither man has travelled to make his home. + +The fame of the Valley of the Nile must have spread at an early date. +From the interior of Africa and from the desert of Arabia and from the +western part of Asia people had flocked to Egypt to claim their share +of the rich farms. Together these invaders had formed a new race which +called itself "Remi" or "the Men" just as we sometimes call America +"God's own country." They had good reason to be grateful to a Fate which +had carried them to this narrow strip of land. In the summer of each +year the Nile turned the valley into a shallow lake and when the waters +receded all the grainfields and the pastures were covered with several +inches of the most fertile clay. + +In Egypt a kindly river did the work of a million men and made it +possible to feed the teeming population of the first large cities of +which we have any record. It is true that all the arable land was not +in the valley. But a complicated system of small canals and well-sweeps +carried water from the river-level to the top of the highest banks +and an even more intricate system of irrigation trenches spread it +throughout the land. + +While man of the prehistoric age had been obliged to spend sixteen hours +out of every twenty-four gathering food for himself and the members of +his tribe, the Egyptian peasant or the inhabitant of the Egyptian city +found himself possessed of a certain leisure. He used this spare time +to make himself many things that were merely ornamental and not in the +least bit useful. + +More than that. One day he discovered that his brain was capable of +thinking all kinds of thoughts which had nothing to do with the problems +of eating and sleeping and finding a home for the children. The Egyptian +began to speculate upon many strange problems that confronted him. +Where did the stars come from? Who made the noise of the thunder which +frightened him so terribly? Who made the River Nile rise with such +regularity that it was possible to base the calendar upon the appearance +and the disappearance of the annual floods? Who was he, himself, a +strange little creature surrounded on all sides by death and sickness +and yet happy and full of laughter? + +He asked these many questions and certain people obligingly stepped +forward to answer these inquiries to the best of their ability. The +Egyptians called them "priests" and they became the guardians of his +thoughts and gained great respect in the community. They were highly +learned men who were entrusted with the sacred task of keeping the +written records. They understood that it is not good for man to +think only of his immediate advantage in this world and they drew his +attention to the days of the future when his soul would dwell beyond the +mountains of the west and must give an account of his deeds to Osiris, +the mighty God who was the Ruler of the Living and the Dead and who +judged the acts of men according to their merits. Indeed, the priests +made so much of that future day in the realm of Isis and Osiris that +the Egyptians began to regard life merely as a short preparation for the +Hereafter and turned the teeming valley of the Nile into a land devoted +to the Dead. + +In a strange way, the Egyptians had come to believe that no soul could +enter the realm of Osiris without the possession of the body which had +been its place of residence in this world. Therefore as soon as a man +was dead his relatives took his corpse and had it embalmed. For weeks +it was soaked in a solution of natron and then it was filled with pitch. +The Persian word for pitch was "Mumiai" and the embalmed body was called +a "Mummy." It was wrapped in yards and yards of specially prepared linen +and it was placed in a specially prepared coffin ready to be removed to +its final home. But an Egyptian grave was a real home where the body was +surrounded by pieces of furniture and musical instruments (to while away +the dreary hours of waiting) and by little statues of cooks and bakers +and barbers (that the occupant of this dark home might be decently +provided with food and need not go about unshaven). + +Originally these graves had been dug into the rocks of the western +mountains but as the Egyptians moved northward they were obliged to +build their cemeteries in the desert. The desert however is full of +wild animals and equally wild robbers and they broke into the graves and +disturbed the mummy or stole the jewelry that had been buried with the +body. To prevent such unholy desecration the Egyptians used to build +small mounds of stones on top of the graves. These little mounds +gradually grew in size, because the rich people built higher mounds than +the poor and there was a good deal of competition to see who could make +the highest hill of stones. The record was made by King Khufu, whom the +Greeks called Cheops and who lived thirty centuries before our era. His +mound, which the Greeks called a pyramid (because the Egyptian word for +high was pir-em-us) was over five hundred feet high. + +It covered more than thirteen acres of desert which is three times as +much space as that occupied by the church of St. Peter, the largest +edifice of the Christian world. + +During twenty years, over a hundred thousand men were busy carrying the +necessary stones from the other side of the river--ferrying them across +the Nile (how they ever managed to do this, we do not understand), +dragging them in many instances a long distance across the desert and +finally hoisting them into their correct position. But so well did +the King's architects and engineers perform their task that the narrow +passage-way which leads to the royal tomb in the heart of the stone +monster has never yet been pushed out of shape by the weight of those +thousands of tons of stone which press upon it from all sides. + + + + +THE STORY OF EGYPT + +THE RISE AND FALL OF EGYPT + + +THE river Nile was a kind friend but occasionally it was a hard +taskmaster. It taught the people who lived along its banks the noble art +of "team-work." They depended upon each other to build their irrigation +trenches and keep their dikes in repair. In this way they learned how +to get along with their neighbours and their mutual-benefit-association +quite easily developed into an organised state. + +Then one man grew more powerful than most of his neighbours and he +became the leader of the community and their commander-in-chief when the +envious neighbours of western Asia invaded the prosperous valley. In +due course of time he became their King and ruled all the land from the +Mediterranean to the mountains of the west. + +But these political adventures of the old Pharaohs (the word meant +"the Man who lived in the Big House") rarely interested the patient and +toiling peasant of the grain fields. Provided he was not obliged to pay +more taxes to his King than he thought just, he accepted the rule of +Pharaoh as he accepted the rule of Mighty Osiris. + +It was different however when a foreign invader came and robbed him of +his possessions. After twenty centuries of independent life, a savage +Arab tribe of shepherds, called the Hyksos, attacked Egypt and for five +hundred years they were the masters of the valley of the Nile. They were +highly un-popular and great hate was also felt for the Hebrews who +came to the land of Goshen to find a shelter after their long wandering +through the desert and who helped the foreign usurper by acting as his +tax-gatherers and his civil servants. + +But shortly after the year 1700 B.C. the people of Thebes began a +revolution and after a long struggle the Hyksos were driven out of the +country and Egypt was free once more. + +A thousand years later, when Assyria conquered all of western Asia, +Egypt became part of the empire of Sardanapalus. In the seventh century +B.C. it became once more an independent state which obeyed the rule of a +king who lived in the city of Sais in the Delta of the Nile. But in the +year 525 B.C., Cambyses, the king of the Persians, took possession +of Egypt and in the fourth century B.C., when Persia was conquered by +Alexander the Great, Egypt too became a Macedonian province. It regained +a semblance of independence when one of Alexander's generals set himself +up as king of a new Egyptian state and founded the dynasty of the +Ptolemies, who resided in the newly built city of Alexandria. + +Finally, in the year 89 B.C., the Romans came. The last Egyptian queen, +Cleopatra, tried her best to save the country. Her beauty and charm were +more dangerous to the Roman generals than half a dozen Egyptian army +corps. Twice she was successful in her attacks upon the hearts of her +Roman conquerors. But in the year 30 B.C., Augustus, the nephew and +heir of Caesar, landed in Alexandria. He did not share his late uncle's +admiration for the lovely princess. He destroyed her armies, but spared +her life that he might make her march in his triumph as part of the +spoils of war. When Cleopatra heard of this plan, she killed herself by +taking poison. And Egypt became a Roman province. + + + + +MESOPOTAMIA + +MESOPOTAMIA--THE SECOND CENTRE OF EASTERN CIVILISATION + + +I AM going to take you to the top of the highest pyramid and I am going +to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk. Way, +way off, in the distance, far beyond the yellow sands of the desert, you +will see something green and shimmering. It is a valley situated between +two rivers. It is the Paradise of the Old Testament. It is the land of +mystery and wonder which the Greeks called Mesopotamia--the "country +between the rivers." + +The names of the two rivers are the Euphrates (which the Babylonians +called the Purattu) and the Tigris (which was known as the Diklat). They +begin their course amidst the snows of the mountains of Armenia where +Noah's Ark found a resting place and slowly they flow through the +southern plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf. +They perform a very useful service. They turn the arid regions of +western Asia into a fertile garden. + +The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had offered them +food upon fairly easy terms. The "land between the rivers" was popular +for the same reason. It was a country full of promise and both the +inhabitants of the northern mountains and the tribes which roamed +through the southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their +own and most exclusive possession. The constant rivalry between the +mountaineers and the desert-nomads led to endless warfare. Only the +strongest and the bravest could hope to survive and that will explain +why Mesopotamia became the home of a very strong race of men who +were capable of creating a civilisation which was in every respect as +important as that of Egypt. + + + + +THE SUMERIANS + +THE SUMERIAN NAIL WRITERS, WHOSE CLAY TABLETS TELL US THE STORY OF +ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA, THE GREAT SEMITIC MELTING-POT + + +THE fifteenth century was an age of great discoveries. Columbus tried +to find a way to the island of Kathay and stumbled upon a new and +unsuspected continent. An Austrian bishop equipped an expedition which +was to travel eastward and find the home of the Grand Duke of Muscovy, +a voyage which led to complete failure, for Moscow was not visited by +western men until a generation later. Meanwhile a certain Venetian +by the name of Barbero had explored the ruins of western Asia and had +brought back reports of a most curious language which he had found +carved in the rocks of the temples of Shiraz and engraved upon endless +pieces of baked clay. + +But Europe was busy with many other things and it was not until the +end of the eighteenth century that the first "cuneiform inscriptions" +(so-called because the letters were wedge-shaped and wedge is called +"Cuneus" in Latin) were brought to Europe by a Danish surveyor, named +Niebuhr. Then it took thirty years before a patient German school-master +by the name of Grotefend had deciphered the first four letters, the +D, the A, the R and the SH, the name of the Persian King Darius. +And another twenty years had to go by until a British officer, Henry +Rawlinson, who found the famous inscription of Behistun, gave us a +workable key to the nail-writing of western Asia. + +Compared to the problem of deciphering these nail-writings, the job of +Champollion had been an easy one. The Egyptians used pictures. But the +Sumerians, the earliest inhabitants of Mesopotamia, who had hit upon +the idea of scratching their words in tablets of clay, had discarded +pictures entirely and had evolved a system of V-shaped figures which +showed little connection with the pictures out of which they had been +developed. A few examples will show you what I mean. In the beginning a +star, when drawn with a nail into a brick looked as follows: {illust.} +This sign however was too cumbersome and after a short while when the +meaning of "heaven" was added to that of star the picture was simplified +in this way {illust.} which made it even more of a puzzle. In the same +way an ox changed from {illust} into {illust.} and a fish changed from +{illust.} into {illust.} The sun was originally a plain circle {illust.} +and became {illust.} If we were using the Sumerian script today we would +make an {illust.} look like {illust.}. This system of writing down our +ideas looks rather complicated but for more than thirty centuries it +was used by the Sumerians and the Babylonians and the Assyrians and the +Persians and all the different races which forced their way into the +fertile valley. + +The story of Mesopotamia is one of endless warfare and conquest. First +the Sumerians came from the North. They were a white People who had +lived in the mountains. They had been accustomed to worship their Gods +on the tops of hills. After they had entered the plain they constructed +artificial little hills on top of which they built their altars. They +did not know how to build stairs and they therefore surrounded their +towers with sloping galleries. Our engineers have borrowed this idea, as +you may see in our big railroad stations where ascending galleries lead +from one floor to another. We may have borrowed other ideas from the +Sumerians but we do not know it. The Sumerians were entirely ab-sorbed +by those races that entered the fertile valley at a later date. Their +towers however still stand amidst the ruins of Mesopotamia. The Jews saw +them when they went into exile in the land of Babylon and they called +them towers of Babillli, or towers of Babel. + +In the fortieth century before our era, the Sumerians had entered +Mesopotamia. They were soon afterwards over-powered by the Akkadians, +one of the many tribes from the desert of Arabia who speak a common +dialect and who are known as the "Semites," because in the olden days +people believed them to be the direct descendants of Shem, one of the +three sons of Noah. A thousand years later, the Akkadians were forced to +submit to the rule of the Amorites, another Semitic desert tribe whose +great King Hammurabi built himself a magnificent palace in the holy +city of Babylon and who gave his people a set of laws which made the +Babylonian state the best administered empire of the ancient world. Next +the Hittites, whom you will also meet in the Old Testament, over-ran the +Fertile Valley and destroyed whatever they could not carry away. They +in turn were vanquished by the followers of the great desert God, Ashur, +who called themselves Assyrians and who made the city of Nineveh the +center of a vast and terrible empire which conquered all of western Asia +and Egypt and gathered taxes from countless subject races until the end +of the seventh century before the birth of Christ when the Chaldeans, +also a Semitic tribe, re-established Babylon and made that city the most +important capital of that day. Nebuchadnezzar, the best known of their +Kings, encouraged the study of science, and our modern knowledge of +astronomy and mathematics is all based upon certain first principles +which were discovered by the Chaldeans. In the year 538 B.C. a crude +tribe of Persian shepherds invaded this old land and overthrew the +empire of the Chaldeans. Two hundred years later, they in turn were +overthrown by Alexander the Great, who turned the Fertile Valley, the +old melting-pot of so many Semitic races, into a Greek province. Next +came the Romans and after the Romans, the Turks, and Mesopotamia, the +second centre of the world's civilisation, became a vast wilderness +where huge mounds of earth told a story of ancient glory. + + + + +MOSES + +THE STORY OF MOSES, THE LEADER OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE + + +SOME time during the twentieth century before our era, a small and +unimportant tribe of Semitic shepherds had left its old home, which was +situated in the land of Ur on the mouth of the Euphrates, and had tried +to find new pastures within the domain of the Kings of Babylonia. They +had been driven away by the royal soldiers and they had moved westward +looking for a little piece of unoccupied territory where they might set +up their tents. + +This tribe of shepherds was known as the Hebrews or, as we call them, +the Jews. They had wandered far and wide, and after many years of dreary +peregrinations they had been given shelter in Egypt. For more than five +centuries they had dwelt among the Egyptians and when their adopted +country had been overrun by the Hyksos marauders (as I told you in +the story of Egypt) they had managed to make themselves useful to the +foreign invader and had been left in the undisturbed possession of their +grazing fields. But after a long war of independence the Egyptians had +driven the Hyksos out of the valley of the Nile and then the Jews had +come upon evil times for they had been degraded to the rank of common +slaves and they had been forced to work on the royal roads and on the +Pyramids. And as the frontiers were guarded by the Egyptian soldiers it +had been impossible for the Jews to escape. + +After many years of suffering they were saved from their miserable +fate by a young Jew, called Moses, who for a long time had dwelt in the +desert and there had learned to appreciate the simple virtues of his +earliest ancestors, who had kept away from cities and city-life and had +refused to let themselves be corrupted by the ease and the luxury of a +foreign civilisation. + +Moses decided to bring his people back to a love of the ways of the +patriarchs. He succeeded in evading the Egyptian troops that were sent +after him and led his fellow tribesmen into the heart of the plain at +the foot of Mount Sinai. During his long and lonely life in the desert, +he had learned to revere the strength of the great God of the Thunder +and the Storm, who ruled the high heavens and upon whom the shepherds +depended for life and light and breath. This God, one of the many +divinities who were widely worshipped in western Asia, was called +Jehovah, and through the teaching of Moses, he became the sole Master of +the Hebrew race. + +One day, Moses disappeared from the camp of the Jews. It was whispered +that he had gone away carrying two tablets of rough-hewn stone. That +afternoon, the top of the mountain was lost to sight. The darkness of +a terrible storm hid it from the eye of man. But when Moses returned, +behold! there stood engraved upon the tablets the words which Jehovah +had spoken unto the people of Israel amidst the crash of his thunder and +the blinding flashes of his lightning. And from that moment, Jehovah was +recognised by all the Jews as the Highest Master of their Fate, the only +True God, who had taught them how to live holy lives when he bade them +to follow the wise lessons of his Ten Commandments. + +They followed Moses when he bade them continue their journey through the +desert. They obeyed him when he told them what to eat and drink and what +to avoid that they might keep well in the hot climate. And finally after +many years of wandering they came to a land which seemed pleasant and +prosperous. It was called Palestine, which means the country of the +"Pilistu" the Philistines, a small tribe of Cretans who had settled +along the coast after they had been driven away from their own island. +Unfortunately, the mainland, Palestine, was already inhabited by another +Semitic race, called the Canaanites. But the Jews forced their way into +the valleys and built themselves cities and constructed a mighty temple +in a town which they named Jerusalem, the Home of Peace. As for Moses, +he was no longer the leader of his people. He had been allowed to see +the mountain ridges of Palestine from afar. Then he had closed his tired +eyes for all time. He had worked faithfully and hard to please Jehovah. +Not only had he guided his brethren out of foreign slavery into the free +and independent life of a new home but he had also made the Jews the +first of all nations to worship a single God. + + + + +THE PHOENICIANS + +THE PHOENICIANS WHO GAVE US OUR ALPHABET + + +THE Phoenicians, who were the neighbours of the Jews, were a Semitic +tribe which at a very early age had settled along the shores of the +Mediterranean. They had built themselves two well-fortified towns, Tyre +and Sidon, and within a short time they had gained a monopoly of the +trade of the western seas. Their ships went regularly to Greece and +Italy and Spain and they even ventured beyond the straits of Gibraltar +to visit the Scilly islands where they could buy tin. Wherever they +went, they built themselves small trading stations, which they called +colonies. Many of these were the origin of modern cities, such as Cadiz +and Marseilles. + +They bought and sold whatever promised to bring them a good profit. +They were not troubled by a conscience. If we are to believe all their +neighbours they did not know what the words honesty or integrity meant. +They regarded a well-filled treasure chest the highest ideal of all good +citizens. Indeed they were very unpleasant people and did not have a +single friend. Nevertheless they have rendered all coming generations +one service of the greatest possible value. They gave us our alphabet. + +The Phoenicians had been familiar with the art of writing, invented by +the Sumerians. But they regarded these pothooks as a clumsy waste +of time. They were practical business men and could not spend hours +engraving two or three letters. They set to work and invented a new +system of writing which was greatly superior to the old one. They +borrowed a few pictures from the Egyptians and they simplified a number +of the wedge-shaped figures of the Sumerians. They sacrificed the pretty +looks of the older system for the advantage of speed and they reduced +the thousands of different images to a short and handy alphabet of +twenty-two letters. + +In due course of time, this alphabet travelled across the AEgean Sea and +entered Greece. The Greeks added a few letters of their own and carried +the improved system to Italy. The Romans modified the figures somewhat +and in turn taught them to the wild barbarians of western Europe. Those +wild barbarians were our own ancestors, and that is the reason why this +book is written in characters that are of Phoenician origin and not +in the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians or in the nail-script of the +Sumerians. + + + + +THE INDO-EUROPEANS + +THE INDO-EUROPEAN PERSIANS CONQUER THE SEMITIC AND THE EGYPTIAN WORLD + + +THE world of Egypt and Babylon and Assyria and Phoenicia had existed +almost thirty centuries and the venerable races of the Fertile Valley +were getting old and tired. Their doom was sealed when a new and +more energetic race appeared upon the horizon. We call this race the +Indo-European race, because it conquered not only Europe but also made +itself the ruling class in the country which is now known as British +India. + +These Indo-Europeans were white men like the Semites but they spoke +a different language which is regarded as the common ancestor of all +European tongues with the exception of Hungarian and Finnish and the +Basque dialects of Northern Spain. + +When we first hear of them, they had been living along the shores of the +Caspian Sea for many centuries. But one day they had packed their tents +and they had wandered forth in search of a new home. Some of them had +moved into the mountains of Central Asia and for many centuries they had +lived among the peaks which surround the plateau of Iran and that is why +we call them Aryans. Others had followed the setting sun and they had +taken possession of the plains of Europe as I shall tell you when I give +you the story of Greece and Rome. + +For the moment we must follow the Aryans. Under the leadership of +Zarathustra (or Zoroaster) who was their great teacher many of them had +left their mountain homes to follow the swiftly flowing Indus river on +its way to the sea. + +Others had preferred to stay among the hills of western Asia and there +they had founded the half-independent communities of the Medes and the +Persians, two peoples whose names we have copied from the old Greek +history-books. In the seventh century before the birth of Christ, the +Medes had established a kingdom of their own called Media, but this +perished when Cyrus, the chief of a clan known as the Anshan, made +himself king of all the Persian tribes and started upon a career of +conquest which soon made him and his children the undisputed masters of +the whole of western Asia and of Egypt. + +Indeed, with such energy did these Indo-European Persians push their +triumphant campaigns in the west that they soon found themselves in +serious difficulties with certain other Indo-European tribes which +centuries before had moved into Europe and had taken possession of the +Greek peninsula and the islands of the AEgean Sea. + +These difficulties led to the three famous wars between Greece and +Persia during which King Darius and King Xerxes of Persia invaded the +northern part of the peninsula. They ravaged the lands of the Greeks and +tried very hard to get a foothold upon the European continent. + +But in this they did not succeed. The navy of Athens proved +unconquerable. By cutting off the lines of supplies of the Persian +armies, the Greek sailors invariably forced the Asiatic rulers to return +to their base. + +It was the first encounter between Asia, the ancient teacher, and +Europe, the young and eager pupil. A great many of the other chapters +of this book will tell you how the struggle between east and west has +continued until this very day. + + + + +THE AEGEAN SEA + +THE PEOPLE OF THE AEGEAN SEA CARRIED THE CIVILISATION OF OLD ASIA INTO +THE WILDERNESS OF EUROPE + + +WHEN Heinrich Schliemann was a little boy his father told him the story +of Troy. He liked that story better than anything else he had ever heard +and he made up his mind, that as soon as he was big enough to leave +home, he would travel to Greece and "find Troy." That he was the son of +a poor country parson in a Mecklenburg village did not bother him. He +knew that he would need money but he decided to gather a fortune first +and do the digging afterwards. As a matter of fact, he managed to get +a large fortune within a very short time, and as soon as he had enough +money to equip an expedition, he went to the northwest corner of Asia +Minor, where he supposed that Troy had been situated. + +In that particular nook of old Asia Minor, stood a high mound covered +with grainfields. According to tradition it had been the home of Priamus +the king of Troy. Schliemann, whose enthusiasm was somewhat greater than +his knowledge, wasted no time in preliminary explorations. At once he +began to dig. And he dug with such zeal and such speed that his trench +went straight through the heart of the city for which he was looking +and carried him to the ruins of another buried town which was at least +a thousand years older than the Troy of which Homer had written. Then +something very interesting occurred. If Schliemann had found a few +polished stone hammers and perhaps a few pieces of crude pottery, no one +would have been surprised. Instead of discovering such objects, which +people had generally associated with the prehistoric men who had lived +in these regions before the coming of the Greeks, Schliemann found +beautiful statuettes and very costly jewelry and ornamented vases of a +pattern that was unknown to the Greeks. He ventured the suggestion that +fully ten centuries before the great Trojan war, the coast of the AEgean +had been inhabited by a mysterious race of men who in many ways had been +the superiors of the wild Greek tribes who had invaded their country and +had destroyed their civilisation or absorbed it until it had lost +all trace of originality. And this proved to be the case. In the late +seventies of the last century, Schliemann visited the ruins of Mycenae, +ruins which were so old that Roman guide-books marvelled at their +antiquity. There again, beneath the flat slabs of stone of a small round +enclosure, Schliemann stumbled upon a wonderful treasure-trove, which +had been left behind by those mysterious people who had covered the +Greek coast with their cities and who had built walls, so big and so +heavy and so strong, that the Greeks called them the work of the Titans, +those god-like giants who in very olden days had used to play ball with +mountain peaks. + +A very careful study of these many relics has done away with some of the +romantic features of the story. The makers of these early works of +art and the builders of these strong fortresses were no sorcerers, but +simple sailors and traders. They had lived in Crete, and on the many +small islands of the AEgean Sea. They had been hardy mariners and they +had turned the AEgean into a center of commerce for the exchange of +goods between the highly civilised east and the slowly developing +wilderness of the European mainland. + +For more than a thousand years they had maintained an island empire +which had developed a very high form of art. Indeed their most important +city, Cnossus, on the northern coast of Crete, had been entirely modern +in its insistence upon hygiene and comfort. The palace had been properly +drained and the houses had been provided with stoves and the Cnossians +had been the first people to make a daily use of the hitherto unknown +bathtub. The palace of their King had been famous for its winding +staircases and its large banqueting hall. The cellars underneath this +palace, where the wine and the grain and the olive-oil were stored, had +been so vast and had so greatly impressed the first Greek visitors, that +they had given rise to the story of the "labyrinth," the name which we +give to a structure with so many complicated passages that it is almost +impossible to find our way out, once the front door has closed upon our +frightened selves. + +But what finally became of this great AEgean Empire and what caused its +sudden downfall, that I can not tell. + +The Cretans were familiar with the art of writing, but no one has yet +been able to decipher their inscriptions. Their history therefore is +unknown to us. We have to reconstruct the record of their adventures +from the ruins which the AEgeans have left behind. These ruins make it +clear that the AEgean world was suddenly conquered by a less civilised +race which had recently come from the plains of northern Europe. Unless +we are very much mistaken, the savages who were responsible for the +destruction of the Cretan and the AEgean civilisation were none other +than certain tribes of wandering shepherds who had just taken possession +of the rocky peninsula between the Adriatic and the AEgean seas and who +are known to us as Greeks. + + + + +THE GREEKS + +MEANWHILE THE INDO-EUROPEAN TRIBE OF THE HELLENES WAS TAKING POSSESSION +OF GREECE + + +THE Pyramids were a thousand years old and were beginning to show the +first signs of decay, and Hammurabi, the wise king of Babylon, had been +dead and buried several centuries, when a small tribe of shepherds left +their homes along the banks of the River Danube and wandered southward +in search of fresh pastures. They called themselves Hellenes, after +Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. According to the old myths +these were the only two human beings who had escaped the great flood, +which countless years before had destroyed all the people of the world, +when they had grown so wicked that they disgusted Zeus, the mighty God, +who lived on Mount Olympus. + +Of these early Hellenes we know nothing. Thucydides, the historian of +the fall of Athens, describing his earliest ancestors, said that they +"did not amount to very much," and this was probably true. They were +very ill-mannered. They lived like pigs and threw the bodies of their +enemies to the wild dogs who guarded their sheep. They had very little +respect for other people's rights, and they killed the natives of the +Greek peninsula (who were called the Pelasgians) and stole their farms +and took their cattle and made their wives and daughters slaves and +wrote endless songs praising the courage of the clan of the Achaeans, +who had led the Hellenic advance-guard into the mountains of Thessaly +and the Peloponnesus. + +But here and there, on the tops of high rocks, they saw the castles +of the AEgeans and those they did not attack for they feared the metal +swords and the spears of the AEgean soldiers and knew that they could +not hope to defeat them with their clumsy stone axes. + +For many centuries they continued to wander from valley to valley and +from mountain side to mountain side Then the whole of the land had been +occupied and the migration had come to an end. + +That moment was the beginning of Greek civilisation. The Greek farmer, +living within sight of the AEgean colonies, was finally driven by +curiosity to visit his haughty neighbours. He discovered that he could +learn many useful things from the men who dwelt behind the high stone +walls of Mycenae, and Tiryns. + +He was a clever pupil. Within a short time he mastered the art of +handling those strange iron weapons which the AEgeans had brought +from Babylon and from Thebes. He came to understand the mysteries of +navigation. He began to build little boats for his own use. + +And when he had learned everything the AEgeans could teach him he turned +upon his teachers and drove them back to their islands. Soon afterwards +he ventured forth upon the sea and conquered all the cities of the +AEgean. Finally in the fifteenth century before our era he plundered and +ravaged Cnossus and ten centuries after their first appearance upon the +scene the Hellenes were the undisputed rulers of Greece, of the +AEgean and of the coastal regions of Asia Minor. Troy, the last great +commercial stronghold of the older civilisation, was destroyed in the +eleventh century B.C. European history was to begin in all seriousness. + + + + +THE GREEK CITIES + +THE GREEK CITIES THAT WERE REALLY STATES + + +WE modern people love the sound of the word "big." We pride ourselves +upon the fact that we belong to the "biggest" country in the world and +possess the "biggest" navy and grow the "biggest" oranges and potatoes, +and we love to live in cities of "millions" of inhabitants and when we +are dead we are buried in the "biggest cemetery of the whole state." + +A citizen of ancient Greece, could he have heard us talk, would not have +known what we meant. "Moderation in all things" was the ideal of +his life and mere bulk did not impress him at all. And this love of +moderation was not merely a hollow phrase used upon special occasions: +it influenced the life of the Greeks from the day of their birth to the +hour of their death. It was part of their literature and it made them +build small but perfect temples. It found expression in the clothes +which the men wore and in the rings and the bracelets of their wives. It +followed the crowds that went to the theatre and made them hoot down any +playwright who dared to sin against the iron law of good taste or good +sense. + +The Greeks even insisted upon this quality in their politicians and in +their most popular athletes. When a powerful runner came to Sparta and +boasted that he could stand longer on one foot than any other man in +Hellas the people drove him from the city because he prided himself +upon an accomplishment at which he could be beaten by any common goose. +"That is all very well," you will say, "and no doubt it is a great +virtue to care so much for moderation and perfection, but why should +the Greeks have been the only people to develop this quality in olden +times?" For an answer I shall point to the way in which the Greeks +lived. + +The people of Egypt or Mesopotamia had been the "subjects" of a +mysterious Supreme Ruler who lived miles and miles away in a dark palace +and who was rarely seen by the masses of the population. The Greeks on +the other hand, were "free citizens" of a hundred independent little +"cities" the largest of which counted fewer inhabitants than a large +modern village. When a peasant who lived in Ur said that he was a +Babylonian he meant that he was one of millions of other people who paid +tribute to the king who at that particular moment happened to be master +of western Asia. But when a Greek said proudly that he was an Athenian +or a Theban he spoke of a small town, which was both his home and his +country and which recognised no master but the will of the people in the +market-place. + +To the Greek, his fatherland was the place where he was born; where he +had spent his earliest years playing hide and seek amidst the forbidden +rocks of the Acropolis; where he had grown into manhood with a thousand +other boys and girls, whose nicknames were as familiar to him as those +of your own schoolmates. His Fatherland was the holy soil where his +father and mother lay buried. It was the small house within the high +city-walls where his wife and children lived in safety. It was a +complete world which covered no more than four or five acres of rocky +land. Don't you see how these surroundings must have influenced a man +in everything he did and said and thought? The people of Babylon and +Assyria and Egypt had been part of a vast mob. They had been lost in +the multitude. The Greek on the other hand had never lost touch with +his immediate surroundings. He never ceased to be part of a little +town where everybody knew every one else. He felt that his intelligent +neighbours were watching him. Whatever he did, whether he wrote plays +or made statues out of marble or composed songs, he remembered that his +efforts were going to be judged by all the free-born citizens of his +home-town who knew about such things. This knowledge forced him to +strive after perfection, and perfection, as he had been taught from +childhood, was not possible without moderation. + +In this hard school, the Greeks learned to excel in many things. They +created new forms of government and new forms of literature and new +ideals in art which we have never been able to surpass. They performed +these miracles in little villages that covered less ground than four or +five modern city blocks. + +And look, what finally happened! + +In the fourth century before our era, Alexander of Macedonia conquered +the world. As soon as he had done with fighting, Alexander decided that +he must bestow the benefits of the true Greek genius upon all mankind. +He took it away from the little cities and the little villages and tried +to make it blossom and bear fruit amidst the vast royal residences of +his newly acquired Empire. But the Greeks, removed from the familiar +sight of their own temples, removed from the well-known sounds and +smells of their own crooked streets, at once lost the cheerful joy and +the marvellous sense of moderation which had inspired the work of +their hands and brains while they laboured for the glory of their old +city-states. They became cheap artisans, content with second-rate work. +The day the little city-states of old Hellas lost their independence and +were forced to become part of a big nation, the old Greek spirit died. +And it has been dead ever since. + + + + +GREEK SELF-GOVERNMENT + +THE GREEKS WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE TO TRY THE DIFFICULT EXPERIMENT OF +SELF-GOVERNMENT + + +IN the beginning, all the Greeks had been equally rich and equally poor. +Every man had owned a certain number of cows and sheep. His mud-hut had +been his castle. He had been free to come and go as he wished. Whenever +it was necessary to discuss matters of public importance, all the +citizens had gathered in the market-place. One of the older men of the +village was elected chairman and it was his duty to see that everybody +had a chance to express his views. In case of war, a particularly +energetic and self-confident villager was chosen commander-in-chief, but +the same people who had voluntarily given this man the right to be +their leader, claimed an equal right to deprive him of his job, once the +danger had been averted. + +But gradually the village had grown into a city. Some people had worked +hard and others had been lazy. A few had been unlucky and still others +had been just plain dishonest in dealing with their neighbours and had +gathered wealth. As a result, the city no longer consisted of a number +of men who were equally well-off. On the contrary it was inhabited by a +small class of very rich people and a large class of very poor ones. + +There had been another change. The old commander-in-chief who had been +willingly recognised as "headman" or "King" because he knew how to lead +his men to victory, had disappeared from the scene. His place had been +taken by the nobles--a class of rich people who during the course of +time had got hold of an undue share of the farms and estates. + +These nobles enjoyed many advantages over the common crowd of freemen. +They were able to buy the best weapons which were to be found on the +market of the eastern Mediterranean. They had much spare time in which +they could practise the art of fighting. They lived in strongly +built houses and they could hire soldiers to fight for them. They were +constantly quarrelling among each other to decide who should rule the +city. The victorious nobleman then assumed a sort of Kingship over all +his neighbours and governed the town until he in turn was killed or +driven away by still another ambitious nobleman. + +Such a King, by the grace of his soldiers, was called a "Tyrant" and +during the seventh and sixth centuries before our era every Greek city +was for a time ruled by such Tyrants, many of whom, by the way, happened +to be exceedingly capa-ble men. But in the long run, this state of +affairs became unbearable. Then attempts were made to bring about +reforms and out of these reforms grew the first democratic government of +which the world has a record. + +It was early in the seventh century that the people of Athens decided to +do some housecleaning and give the large number of freemen once more a +voice in the government as they were supposed to have had in the days +of their Achaean ancestors. They asked a man by the name of Draco to +provide them with a set of laws that would protect the poor against +the aggressions of the rich. Draco set to work. Unfortunately he was a +professional lawyer and very much out of touch with ordinary life. In +his eyes a crime was a crime and when he had finished his code, the +people of Athens discovered that these Draconian laws were so severe +that they could not possibly be put into effect. There would not have +been rope enough to hang all the criminals under their new system of +jurisprudence which made the stealing of an apple a capital offence. + +The Athenians looked about for a more humane reformer. At last they +found some one who could do that sort of thing better than anybody else. +His name was Solon. He belonged to a noble family and he had travelled +all over the world and had studied the forms of government of many other +countries. After a careful study of the subject, Solon gave Athens a set +of laws which bore testimony to that wonderful principle of moderation +which was part of the Greek character. He tried to improve the condition +of the peasant without however destroying the prosperity of the nobles +who were (or rather who could be) of such great service to the state as +soldiers. To protect the poorer classes against abuse on the part of +the judges (who were always elected from the class of the nobles because +they received no salary) Solon made a provision whereby a citizen with a +grievance had the right to state his case before a jury of thirty of his +fellow Athenians. + +Most important of all, Solon forced the average freeman to take a direct +and personal interest in the affairs of the city. No longer could he +stay at home and say "oh, I am too busy today" or "it is raining and I +had better stay indoors." He was expected to do his share; to be at the +meeting of the town council; and carry part of the responsibility for +the safety and the prosperity of the state. + +This government by the "demos," the people, was often far from +successful. There was too much idle talk. There were too many hateful +and spiteful scenes between rivals for official honor. But it taught +the Greek people to be independent and to rely upon themselves for their +salvation and that was a very good thing. + + + + +GREEK LIFE + +HOW THE GREEKS LIVED + + +BUT how, you will ask, did the ancient Greeks have time to look after +their families and their business if they were forever running to the +market-place to discuss affairs of state? In this chapter I shall tell +you. + +In all matters of government, the Greek democracy recognised only one +class of citizens--the freemen. Every Greek city was composed of a small +number of free born citizens, a large number of slaves and a sprinkling +of foreigners. + +At rare intervals (usually during a war, when men were needed for the +army) the Greeks showed themselves willing to confer the rights of +citizenship upon the "barbarians" as they called the foreigners. But +this was an exception. Citizenship was a matter of birth. You were an +Athenian because your father and your grandfather had been Athenians +before you. But however great your merits as a trader or a soldier, if +you were born of non-Athenian parents, you remained a "foreigner" until +the end of time. + +The Greek city, therefore, whenever it was not ruled by a king or a +tyrant, was run by and for the freemen, and this would not have been +possible without a large army of slaves who outnumbered the free +citizens at the rate of six or five to one and who performed those tasks +to which we modern people must devote most of our time and energy if we +wish to provide for our families and pay the rent of our apartments. +The slaves did all the cooking and baking and candlestick making of the +entire city. They were the tailors and the carpenters and the jewelers +and the school-teachers and the bookkeepers and they tended the store +and looked after the factory while the master went to the public meeting +to discuss questions of war and peace or visited the theatre to see the +latest play of AEschylus or hear a discussion of the revolutionary +ideas of Euripides, who had dared to express certain doubts upon the +omnipotence of the great god Zeus. + +Indeed, ancient Athens resembled a modern club. All the freeborn citizens +were hereditary members and all the slaves were hereditary servants, and +waited upon the needs of their masters, and it was very pleasant to be a +member of the organisation. + +But when we talk about slaves, we do not mean the sort of people about +whom you have read in the pages of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It is true that +the position of those slaves who tilled the fields was a very unpleasant +one, but the average freeman who had come down in the world and who had +been obliged to hire himself out as a farm hand led just as miserable +a life. In the cities, furthermore, many of the slaves were more +prosperous than the poorer classes of the freemen. For the Greeks, who +loved moderation in all things, did not like to treat their slaves after +the fashion which afterward was so common in Rome, where a slave had as +few rights as an engine in a modern factory and could be thrown to the +wild animals upon the smallest pretext. + +The Greeks accepted slavery as a necessary institution, without which no +city could possibly become the home of a truly civilised people. + +The slaves also took care of those tasks which nowadays are performed by +the business men and the professional men. As for those household duties +which take up so much of the time of your mother and which worry your +father when he comes home from his office, the Greeks, who understood +the value of leisure, had reduced such duties to the smallest possible +minimum by living amidst surroundings of extreme simplicity. + +To begin with, their homes were very plain. Even the rich nobles spent +their lives in a sort of adobe barn, which lacked all the comforts which +a modern workman expects as his natural right. A Greek home consisted +of four walls and a roof. There was a door which led into the street but +there were no windows. The kitchen, the living rooms and the sleeping +quarters were built around an open courtyard in which there was a small +fountain, or a statue and a few plants to make it look bright. Within +this courtyard the family lived when it did not rain or when it was not +too cold. In one corner of the yard the cook (who was a slave) prepared +the meal and in another corner, the teacher (who was also a +slave) taught the children the alpha beta gamma and the tables of +multiplication and in still another corner the lady of the house, who +rarely left her domain (since it was not considered good form for a +married woman to be seen on the street too often) was repairing her +husband's coat with her seamstresses (who were slaves,) and in the +little office, right off the door, the master was inspecting the +accounts which the overseer of his farm (who was a slave) had just +brought to him. + +When dinner was ready the family came together but the meal was a very +simple one and did not take much time. The Greeks seem to have regarded +eating as an unavoidable evil and not a pastime, which kills many dreary +hours and eventually kills many dreary people. They lived on bread and +on wine, with a little meat and some green vegetables. They drank water +only when nothing else was available because they did not think it very +healthy. They loved to call on each other for dinner, but our idea of a +festive meal, where everybody is supposed to eat much more than is good +for him, would have disgusted them. They came together at the table for +the purpose of a good talk and a good glass of wine and water, but as +they were moderate people they despised those who drank too much. + +The same simplicity which prevailed in the dining room also dominated +their choice of clothes. They liked to be clean and well groomed, to +have their hair and beards neatly cut, to feel their bodies strong with +the exercise and the swimming of the gymnasium, but they never followed +the Asiatic fashion which prescribed loud colours and strange patterns. +They wore a long white coat and they managed to look as smart as a +modern Italian officer in his long blue cape. + +They loved to see their wives wear ornaments but they thought it very +vulgar to display their wealth (or their wives) in public and whenever +the women left their home they were as inconspicuous as possible. + +In short, the story of Greek life is a story not only of moderation but +also of simplicity. "Things," chairs and tables and books and houses and +carriages, are apt to take up a great deal of their owner's time. In the +end they invariably make him their slave and his hours are spent looking +after their wants, keeping them polished and brushed and painted. The +Greeks, before everything else, wanted to be "free," both in mind and +in body. That they might maintain their liberty, and be truly free in +spirit, they reduced their daily needs to the lowest possible point. + + + + +THE GREEK THEATRE + +THE ORIGINS OF THE THEATRE, THE FIRST FORM OF PUBLIC AMUSEMENT + + +AT a very early stage of their history the Greeks had begun to collect +the poems, which had been written in honor of their brave ancestors who +had driven the Pelasgians out of Hellas and had destroyed the power of +Troy. These poems were recited in public and everybody came to listen to +them. But the theatre, the form of entertainment which has become almost +a necessary part of our own lives, did not grow out of these recited +heroic tales. It had such a curious origin that I must tell you +something about it in a separate chapter + +The Greeks had always been fond of parades. Every year they held solemn +processions in honor of Dionysos the God of the wine. As everybody in +Greece drank wine (the Greeks thought water only useful for the purpose +of swimming and sailing) this particular Divinity was as popular as a +God of the Soda-Fountain would be in our own land. + +And because the Wine-God was supposed to live in the vineyards, amidst a +merry mob of Satyrs (strange creatures who were half man and half goat), +the crowd that joined the procession used to wear goat-skins and to +hee-haw like real billy-goats. The Greek word for goat is "tragos" and +the Greek word for singer is "oidos." The singer who meh-mehed like a +goat therefore was called a "tragos-oidos" or goat singer, and it is +this strange name which developed into the modern word "Tragedy," which +means in the theatrical sense a piece with an unhappy ending, just as +Comedy (which really means the singing of something "comos" or gay) is +the name given to a play which ends happily. + +But how, you will ask, did this noisy chorus of masqueraders, stamping +around like wild goats, ever develop into the noble tragedies which have +filled the theatres of the world for almost two thousand years? + +The connecting link between the goat-singer and Hamlet is really very +simple as I shall show you in a moment. + +The singing chorus was very amusing in the beginning and attracted large +crowds of spectators who stood along the side of the road and laughed. +But soon this business of tree-hawing grew tiresome and the Greeks +thought dullness an evil only comparable to ugliness or sickness. They +asked for something more entertaining. Then an inventive young poet +from the village of Icaria in Attica hit upon a new idea which proved a +tremendous success. He made one of the members of the goat-chorus step +forward and engage in conversation with the leader of the musicians who +marched at the head of the parade playing upon their pipes of Pan. +This individual was allowed to step out of line. He waved his arms and +gesticulated while he spoke (that is to say he "acted" while the others +merely stood by and sang) and he asked a lot of questions, which the +bandmaster answered according to the roll of papyrus upon which the poet +had written down these answers before the show began. + +This rough and ready conversation--the dialogue--which told the story +of Dionysos or one of the other Gods, became at once popular with the +crowd. Henceforth every Dionysian procession had an "acted scene" and +very soon the "acting" was considered more important than the procession +and the meh-mehing. + +AEschylus, the most successful of all "tragedians" who wrote no less +than eighty plays during his long life (from 526 to 455) made a +bold step forward when he introduced two "actors" instead of one. A +generation later Sophocles increased the number of actors to three. When +Euripides began to write his terrible tragedies in the middle of the +fifth century, B.C., he was allowed as many actors as he liked and +when Aristophanes wrote those famous comedies in which he poked fun +at everybody and everything, including the Gods of Mount Olympus, the +chorus had been reduced to the role of mere bystanders who were lined up +behind the principal performers and who sang "this is a terrible world" +while the hero in the foreground committed a crime against the will of +the Gods. + +This new form of dramatic entertainment demanded a proper setting, and +soon every Greek city owned a theatre, cut out of the rock of a nearby +hill. The spectators sat upon wooden benches and faced a wide circle +(our present orchestra where you pay three dollars and thirty cents for +a seat). Upon this half-circle, which was the stage, the actors and the +chorus took their stand. Behind them there was a tent where they made +up with large clay masks which hid their faces and which showed the +spectators whether the actors were supposed to be happy and smiling or +unhappy and weeping. The Greek word for tent is "skene" and that is the +reason why we talk of the "scenery" of the stage. + +When once the tragedy had become part of Greek life, the people took +it very seriously and never went to the theatre to give their minds a +vacation. A new play became as important an event as an election and +a successful playwright was received with greater honors than those +bestowed upon a general who had just returned from a famous victory. + + + + +THE PERSIAN WARS + +HOW THE GREEKS DEFENDED EUROPE AGAINST ASIATIC INVASION AND DROVE THE +PERSIANS BACK ACROSS THE AEGEAN SEA + + +THE Greeks had learned the art of trading from the AEgeans who had +been the pupils of the Phoenicians. They had founded colonies after the +Phoenician pattern. They had even improved upon the Phoenician methods +by a more general use of money in dealing with foreign customers. In +the sixth century before our era they had established themselves firmly +along the coast of Asia Minor and they were taking away trade from the +Phoenicians at a fast rate. This the Phoenicians of course did not +like but they were not strong enough to risk a war with their Greek +competitors. They sat and waited nor did they wait in vain. + +In a former chapter, I have told you how a humble tribe of Persian +shepherds had suddenly gone upon the warpath and had conquered the +greater part of western Asia. The Persians were too civilised to plunder +their new subjects. They contented themselves with a yearly tribute. +When they reached the coast of Asia Minor they insisted that the Greek +colonies of Lydia recognize the Persian Kings as their over-Lords and +pay them a stipulated tax. The Greek colonies objected. The Persians +insisted. Then the Greek colonies appealed to the home-country and the +stage was set for a quarrel. + +For if the truth be told, the Persian Kings regarded the Greek +city-states as very dangerous political institutions and bad examples +for all other people who were supposed to be the patient slaves of the +mighty Persian Kings. + +Of course, the Greeks enjoyed a certain degree of safety because their +country lay hidden beyond the deep waters of the AEgean. But here their +old enemies, the Phoenicians, stepped forward with offers of help and +advice to the Persians. If the Persian King would provide the soldiers, +the Phoenicians would guarantee to deliver the necessary ships to carry +them to Europe. It was the year 492 before the birth of Christ, and Asia +made ready to destroy the rising power of Europe. + +As a final warning the King of Persia sent messengers to the Greeks +asking for "earth and water" as a token of their submission. The Greeks +promptly threw the messengers into the nearest well where they would +find both "earth and water" in large abundance and thereafter of course +peace was impossible. + +But the Gods of High Olympus watched over their children and when the +Phoenician fleet carrying the Persian troops was near Mount Athos, the +Storm-God blew his cheeks until he almost burst the veins of his brow, +and the fleet was destroyed by a terrible hurricane and the Persians +were all drowned. + +Two years later they returned. This time they sailed straight across +the AEgean Sea and landed near the village of Marathon. As soon as the +Athenians heard this they sent their army of ten thousand men to guard +the hills that surrounded the Marathonian plain. At the same time they +despatched a fast runner to Sparta to ask for help. But Sparta was +envious of the fame of Athens and refused to come to her assistance. +The other Greek cities followed her example with the exception of tiny +Plataea which sent a thousand men. On the twelfth of September of the +year 490, Miltiades, the Athenian commander, threw this little army +against the hordes of the Persians. The Greeks broke through the Persian +barrage of arrows and their spears caused terrible havoc among the +disorganised Asiatic troops who had never been called upon to resist +such an enemy. + +That night the people of Athens watched the sky grow red with the flames +of burning ships. Anxiously they waited for news. At last a little +cloud of dust appeared upon the road that led to the North. It was +Pheidippides, the runner. He stumbled and gasped for his end was near. +Only a few days before had he returned from his errand to Sparta. He had +hastened to join Miltiades. That morning he had taken part in the attack +and later he had volunteered to carry the news of victory to his beloved +city. The people saw him fall and they rushed forward to support him. +"We have won," he whispered and then he died, a glorious death which +made him envied of all men. + +As for the Persians, they tried, after this defeat, to land near Athens +but they found the coast guarded and disappeared, and once more the land +of Hellas was at peace. + +Eight years they waited and during this time the Greeks were not idle. +They knew that a final attack was to be expected but they did not agree +upon the best way to avert the danger. Some people wanted to increase +the army. Others said that a strong fleet was necessary for success. The +two parties led by Aristides (for the army) and Themistocles (the leader +of the bigger-navy men) fought each other bitterly and nothing was done +until Aristides was exiled. Then Themistocles had his chance and he +built all the ships he could and turned the Piraeus into a strong naval +base. + +In the year 481 B.C. a tremendous Persian army appeared in Thessaly, a +province of northern Greece. In this hour of danger, Sparta, the +great military city of Greece, was elected commander-in-chief. But the +Spartans cared little what happened to northern Greece provided their +own country was not invaded, They neglected to fortify the passes that +led into Greece. + +A small detachment of Spartans under Leonidas had been told to guard +the narrow road between the high mountains and the sea which connected +Thessaly with the southern provinces. Leonidas obeyed his orders. He +fought and held the pass with unequalled bravery. But a traitor by the +name of Ephialtes who knew the little byways of Malis guided a regiment +of Persians through the hills and made it possible for them to attack +Leonidas in the rear. Near the Warm Wells--the Thermopylae--a terrible +battle was fought. + +When night came Leonidas and his faithful soldiers lay dead under the +corpses of their enemies. + +But the pass had been lost and the greater part of Greece fell into the +hands of the Persians. They marched upon Athens, threw the garrison from +the rocks of the Acropolis and burned the city. The people fled to the +Island of Salamis. All seemed lost. But on the 20th of September of the +year 480 Themistocles forced the Persian fleet to give battle within the +narrow straits which separated the Island of Salamis from the mainland +and within a few hours he destroyed three quarters of the Persian ships. + +In this way the victory of Thermopylae came to naught. Xerxes was forced +to retire. The next year, so he decreed, would bring a final decision. +He took his troops to Thessaly and there he waited for spring. + +But this time the Spartans understood the seriousness of the hour. +They left the safe shelter of the wall which they had built across the +isthmus of Corinth and under the leadership of Pausanias they marched +against Mardonius the Persian general. The united Greeks (some one +hundred thousand men from a dozen different cities) attacked the three +hundred thou-sand men of the enemy near Plataea. Once more the heavy +Greek infantry broke through the Persian barrage of arrows. The Persians +were defeated, as they had been at Marathon, and this time they left for +good. By a strange coincidence, the same day that the Greek armies won +their victory near Plataea, the Athenian ships destroyed the enemy's +fleet near Cape Mycale in Asia Minor. + +Thus did the first encounter between Asia and Europe end. Athens had +covered herself with glory and Sparta had fought bravely and well. If +these two cities had been able to come to an agreement, if they had been +willing to forget their little jealousies, they might have become the +leaders of a strong and united Hellas. + +But alas, they allowed the hour of victory and enthusiasm to slip by, +and the same opportunity never returned. + + + + +ATHENS vs. SPARTA + +HOW ATHENS AND SPARTA FOUGHT A LONG AND DISASTROUS WAR FOR THE +LEADERSHIP OF GREECE + + +ATHENS and Sparta were both Greek cities and their people spoke a common +language. In every other respect they were different. Athens rose high +from the plain. It was a city exposed to the fresh breezes from the sea, +willing to look at the world with the eyes of a happy child. Sparta, on +the other hand, was built at the bottom of a deep valley, and used the +surrounding mountains as a barrier against foreign thought. Athens was a +city of busy trade. Sparta was an armed camp where people were soldiers +for the sake of being soldiers. The people of Athens loved to sit in the +sun and discuss poetry or listen to the wise words of a philosopher. +The Spartans, on the other hand, never wrote a single line that was +considered literature, but they knew how to fight, they liked to fight, +and they sacrificed all human emotions to their ideal of military +preparedness. + +No wonder that these sombre Spartans viewed the success of Athens with +malicious hate. The energy which the defence of the common home had +developed in Athens was now used for purposes of a more peaceful nature. +The Acropolis was rebuilt and was made into a marble shrine to the +Goddess Athena. Pericles, the leader of the Athenian democracy, sent far +and wide to find famous sculptors and painters and scientists to make +the city more beautiful and the young Athenians more worthy of their +home. At the same time he kept a watchful eye on Sparta and built high +walls which connected Athens with the sea and made her the strongest +fortress of that day. + +An insignificant quarrel between two little Greek cities led to the +final conflict. For thirty years the war between Athens and Sparta +continued. It ended in a terrible disaster for Athens. + +During the third year of the war the plague had entered the city. More +than half of the people and Pericles, the great leader, had been killed. +The plague was followed by a period of bad and untrustworthy leadership. +A brilliant young fellow by the name of Alcibiades had gained the favor +of the popular assembly. He suggested a raid upon the Spartan colony of +Syracuse in Sicily. An expedition was equipped and everything was ready. +But Alcibiades got mixed up in a street brawl and was forced to flee. +The general who succeeded him was a bungler. First he lost his ships and +then he lost his army, and the few surviving Athenians were thrown into +the stone-quarries of Syracuse, where they died from hunger and thirst. + +The expedition had killed all the young men of Athens. The city was +doomed. After a long siege the town surrendered in April of the year +404. The high walls were demolished. The navy was taken away by the +Spartans. Athens ceased to exist as the center of the great colonial +empire which it had conquered during the days of its prosperity. But +that wonderful desire to learn and to know and to investigate which +had distinguished her free citizens during the days of greatness and +prosperity did not perish with the walls and the ships. It continued to +live. It became even more brilliant. + +Athens no longer shaped the destinies of the land of Greece. But now, as +the home of the first great university the city began to influence the +minds of intelligent people far beyond the narrow frontiers of Hellas. + + + + +ALEXANDER THE GREAT + +ALEXANDER THE MACEDONIAN ESTABLISHES A GREEK WORLD-EMPIRE, AND WHAT +BECAME OF THIS HIGH AMBITION + + +WHEN the Achaeans had left their homes along the banks of the Danube to +look for pastures new, they had spent some time among the mountains of +Macedonia. Ever since, the Greeks had maintained certain more or +less formal relations with the people of this northern country. The +Macedonians from their side had kept themselves well informed about +conditions in Greece. + +Now it happened, just when Sparta and Athens had finished their +disastrous war for the leadership of Hellas, that Macedonia was ruled +by an extraordinarily clever man by the name of Philip. He admired +the Greek spirit in letters and art but he despised the Greek lack of +self-control in political affairs. It irritated him to see a perfectly +good people waste its men and money upon fruitless quarrels. So he +settled the difficulty by making himself the master of all Greece and +then he asked his new subjects to join him on a voyage which he meant to +pay to Persia in return for the visit which Xerxes had paid the Greeks +one hundred and fifty years before. + +Unfortunately Philip was murdered before he could start upon this +well-prepared expedition. The task of avenging the destruction of Athens +was left to Philip's son Alexander, the beloved pupil of Aristotle, +wisest of all Greek teachers. + +Alexander bade farewell to Europe in the spring of the year 334 B.C. +Seven years later he reached India. In the meantime he had destroyed +Phoenicia, the old rival of the Greek merchants. He had conquered Egypt +and had been worshipped by the people of the Nile valley as the son +and heir of the Pharaohs. He had defeated the last Persian king--he had +overthrown the Persian empire he had given orders to rebuild Babylon--he +had led his troops into the heart of the Himalayan mountains and had +made the entire world a Macedonian province and dependency. Then he +stopped and announced even more ambitious plans. + +The newly formed Empire must be brought under the influence of the Greek +mind. The people must be taught the Greek language--they must live in +cities built after a Greek model. The Alexandrian soldier now turned +school-master. The military camps of yesterday became the peaceful +centres of the newly imported Greek civilisation. Higher and higher +did the flood of Greek manners and Greek customs rise, when suddenly +Alexander was stricken with a fever and died in the old palace of King +Hammurabi of Babylon in the year 323. + +Then the waters receded. But they left behind the fertile clay of a +higher civilisation and Alexander, with all his childish ambitions and +his silly vanities, had performed a most valuable service. His Empire +did not long survive him. A number of ambitious generals divided the +territory among themselves. But they too remained faithful to the dream +of a great world brotherhood of Greek and Asiatic ideas and knowledge. + +They maintained their independence until the Romans added western +Asia and Egypt to their other domains. The strange inheritance of this +Hellenistic civilisation (part Greek, part Persian, part Egyptian +and Babylonian) fell to the Roman conquerors. During the following +centuries, it got such a firm hold upon the Roman world, that we feel +its influence in our own lives this very day. + + +A SUMMARY + +A SHORT SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 1 to 20 + + +THUS far, from the top of our high tower we have been looking eastward. +But from this time on, the history of Egypt and Mesopotamia is going +to grow less interesting and I must take you to study the western +landscape. + +Before we do this, let us stop a moment and make clear to ourselves what +we have seen. + +First of all I showed you prehistoric man--a creature very simple in his +habits and very unattractive in his manners. I told you how he was +the most defenceless of the many animals that roamed through the early +wilderness of the five continents, but being possessed of a larger and +better brain, he managed to hold his own. + +Then came the glaciers and the many centuries of cold weather, and life +on this planet became so difficult that man was obliged to think three +times as hard as ever before if he wished to survive. Since, however, +that "wish to survive" was (and is) the mainspring which keeps every +living being going full tilt to the last gasp of its breath, the brain +of glacial man was set to work in all earnestness. Not only did these +hardy people manage to exist through the long cold spells which killed +many ferocious animals, but when the earth became warm and comfortable +once more, prehistoric man had learned a number of things which gave +him such great advantages over his less intelligent neighbors that the +danger of extinction (a very serious one during the first half million +years of man's residence upon this planet) became a very remote one. + +I told you how these earliest ancestors of ours were slowly plodding +along when suddenly (and for reasons that are not well understood) the +people who lived in the valley of the Nile rushed ahead and almost over +night, created the first centre of civilisation. + +Then I showed you Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers," which was +the second great school of the human race. And I made you a map of the +little island bridges of the AEgean Sea, which carried the knowledge and +the science of the old east to the young west, where lived the Greeks. + +Next I told you of an Indo-European tribe, called the Hellenes, who +thousands of years before had left the heart of Asia and who had in +the eleventh century before our era pushed their way into the rocky +peninsula of Greece and who, since then, have been known to us as the +Greeks. And I told you the story of the little Greek cities that +were really states, where the civilisation of old Egypt and Asia was +transfigured (that is a big word, but you can "figure out" what it +means) into something quite new, something that was much nobler and +finer than anything that had gone before. + +When you look at the map you will see how by this time civilisation has +described a semi-circle. It begins in Egypt, and by way of Mesopotamia +and the AEgean Islands it moves westward until it reaches the European +continent. The first four thousand years, Egyptians and Babylonians and +Phoenicians and a large number of Semitic tribes (please remember that +the Jews were but one of a large number of Semitic peoples) have carried +the torch that was to illuminate the world. They now hand it over to the +Indo-European Greeks, who become the teachers of another Indo-European +tribe, called the Romans. But meanwhile the Semites have pushed westward +along the northern coast of Africa and have made themselves the rulers +of the western half of the Mediterranean just when the eastern half has +become a Greek (or Indo-European) possession. + +This, as you shall see in a moment, leads to a terrible conflict between +the two rival races, and out of their struggle arises the victorious +Roman Empire, which is to take this Egyptian-Mesopotamian-Greek +civilisation to the furthermost corners of the European continent, where +it serves as the foundation upon which our modern society is based. + +I know all this sounds very complicated, but if you get hold of these +few principles, the rest of our history will become a great deal +simpler. The maps will make clear what the words fail to tell. And after +this short intermission, we go back to our story and give you an account +of the famous war between Carthage and Rome. + + + + +ROME AND CARTHAGE + +THE SEMITIC COLONY OF CARTHAGE ON THE NORTHERN COAST OF AFRICA AND THE +INDO-EUROPEAN CITY OF ROME ON THE WEST COAST OF ITALY FOUGHT EACH +OTHER FOR THE POSSESSION OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND CARTHAGE WAS +DESTROYED + + +THE little Phoenician trading post of Kart-hadshat stood on a low hill +which overlooked the African Sea, a stretch of water ninety miles +wide which separates Africa from Europe. It was an ideal spot for a +commercial centre. Almost too ideal. It grew too fast and became too +rich. When in the sixth century before our era, Nebuchadnezzar of +Babylon destroyed Tyre, Carthage broke off all further relations with +the Mother Country and became an independent state--the great western +advance-post of the Semitic races. + +Unfortunately the city had inherited many of the traits which for a +thousand years had been characteristic of the Phoenicians. It was a vast +business-house, protected by a strong navy, indifferent to most of the +finer aspects of life. The city and the surrounding country and the +distant colonies were all ruled by a small but exceedingly powerful +group of rich men, The Greek word for rich is "ploutos" and the Greeks +called such a government by "rich men" a "Plutocracy." Carthage was a +plutocracy and the real power of the state lay in the hands of a dozen +big ship-owners and mine-owners and merchants who met in the back +room of an office and regarded their common Fatherland as a business +enterprise which ought to yield them a decent profit. They were however +wide awake and full of energy and worked very hard. + +As the years went by the influence of Carthage upon her neighbours +increased until the greater part of the African coast, Spain and certain +regions of France were Carthaginian possessions, and paid tribute, taxes +and dividends to the mighty city on the African Sea. + +Of course, such a "plutocracy" was forever at the mercy of the crowd. +As long as there was plenty of work and wages were high, the majority of +the citizens were quite contented, allowed their "betters" to rule them +and asked no embarrassing questions. But when no ships left the harbor, +when no ore was brought to the smelting-ovens, when dockworkers and +stevedores were thrown out of employment, then there were grumblings and +there was a demand that the popular assembly be called together as in +the olden days when Carthage had been a self-governing republic. + +To prevent such an occurrence the plutocracy was obliged to keep the +business of the town going at full speed. They had managed to do this +very successfully for almost five hun-dred years when they were greatly +disturbed by certain rumors which reached them from the western coast of +Italy. It was said that a little village on the banks of the Tiber had +suddenly risen to great power and was making itself the acknowledged +leader of all the Latin tribes who inhabited central Italy. It was also +said that this village, which by the way was called Rome, intended to +build ships and go after the commerce of Sicily and the southern coast +of France. + +Carthage could not possibly tolerate such competition. The young rival +must be destroyed lest the Carthaginian rulers lose their prestige as +the absolute rulers of the western Mediterranean. The rumors were duly +investigated and in a general way these were the facts that came to +light. + +The west coast of Italy had long been neglected by civilisation. Whereas +in Greece all the good harbours faced eastward and enjoyed a full view +of the busy islands of the AEgean, the west coast of Italy contemplated +nothing more exciting than the desolate waves of the Mediterranean. The +country was poor. It was therefore rarely visited by foreign merchants +and the natives were allowed to live in undisturbed possession of their +hills and their marshy plains. + +The first serious invasion of this land came from the north. At an +unknown date certain Indo-European tribes had managed to find their way +through the passes of the Alps and had pushed southward until they +had filled the heel and the toe of the famous Italian boot with their +villages and their flocks. Of these early conquerors we know nothing. +No Homer sang their glory. Their own accounts of the foundation of Rome +(written eight hundred years later when the little city had become the +centre of an Empire) are fairy stories and do not belong in a history. +Romulus and Remus jumping across each other's walls (I always forget who +jumped across whose wall) make entertaining reading, but the foundation +of the City of Rome was a much more prosaic affair. Rome began as a +thousand American cities have done, by being a convenient place for +barter and horse-trading. It lay in the heart of the plains of central +Italy The Tiber provided direct access to the sea. The land-road from +north to south found here a convenient ford which could be used all the +year around. And seven little hills along the banks of the river offered +the inhabitants a safe shelter against their enemies who lived in the +mountains and those who lived beyond the horizon of the nearby sea. + +The mountaineers were called the Sabines. They were a rough crowd with +an unholy desire for easy plunder. But they were very backward. They +used stone axes and wooden shields and were no match for the Romans +with their steel swords. The sea-people on the other hand were dangerous +foes. They were called the Etruscans and they were (and still are) one +of the great mysteries of history. Nobody knew (or knows) whence they +came; who they were; what had driven them away from their original +homes. We have found the remains of their cities and their cemeteries +and their waterworks all along the Italian coast. We are familiar with +their inscriptions. But as no one has ever been able to decipher the +Etruscan alphabet, these written messages are, so far, merely annoying +and not at all useful. + +Our best guess is that the Etruscans came originally from Asia Minor and +that a great war or a pestilence in that country had forced them to +go away and seek a new home elsewhere. Whatever the reason for their +coming, the Etruscans played a great role in history. They carried the +pollen of the ancient civilisation from the east to the west and they +taught the Romans who, as we know, came from the north, the first +principles of architecture and street-building and fighting and art and +cookery and medicine and astronomy. + +But just as the Greeks had not loved their AEgean teachers, in this same +way did the Romans hate their Etruscan masters. They got rid of them +as soon as they could and the opportunity offered itself when Greek +merchants discovered the commercial possibilities of Italy and when the +first Greek vessels reached Rome. The Greeks came to trade, but they +stayed to instruct. They found the tribes who inhabited the Roman +country-side (and who were called the Latins) quite willing to learn +such things as might be of practical use. At once they understood the +great benefit that could be derived from a written alphabet and +they copied that of the Greeks. They also understood the commercial +advantages of a well-regulated system of coins and measures and weights. +Eventually the Romans swallowed Greek civilisation hook, line and +sinker. + +They even welcomed the Gods of the Greeks to their country. Zeus was +taken to Rome where he became known as Jupiter and the other divinities +followed him. The Roman Gods however never were quite like their +cheerful cousins who had accompanied the Greeks on their road through +life and through history. The Roman Gods were State Functionaries. Each +one managed his own department with great prudence and a deep sense +of justice, but in turn he was exact in demanding the obedience of his +worshippers. This obedience the Romans rendered with scrupulous care. +But they never established the cordial personal relations and that +charming friendship which had existed between the old Hellenes and the +mighty residents of the high Olympian peak. + +The Romans did not imitate the Greek form of government, but being of +the same Indo-European stock as the people of Hellas, the early history +of Rome resembles that of Athens and the other Greek cities. They did +not find it difficult to get rid of their kings, the descendants of the +ancient tribal chieftains. But once the kings had been driven from the +city, the Romans were forced to bridle the power of the nobles, and it +took many centuries before they managed to establish a system which gave +every free citizen of Rome a chance to take a personal interest in the +affairs of his town. + +Thereafter the Romans enjoyed one great advantage over the Greeks. They +managed the affairs of their country without making too many speeches. +They were less imaginative than the Greeks and they preferred an ounce +of action to a pound of words. They understood the tendency of the +multitude (the "plebe," as the assemblage of free citizens was called) +only too well to waste valuable time upon mere talk. They therefore +placed the actual business of running the city into the hands of two +"consuls" who were assisted by a council of Elders, called the Senate +(because the word "senex" means an old man). As a matter of custom and +practical advantage the senators were elected from the nobility. But +their power had been strictly defined. + +Rome at one time had passed through the same sort of struggle between +the poor and the rich which had forced Athens to adopt the laws of Draco +and Solon. In Rome this conflict had occurred in the fifth century B. +C. As a result the freemen had obtained a written code of laws which +protected them against the despotism of the aristocratic judges by the +institution of the "Tribune." These Tribunes were city-magistrates, +elected by the freemen. They had the right to protect any citizen +against those actions of the government officials which were thought to +be unjust. A consul had the right to condemn a man to death, but if the +case had not been absolutely proved the Tribune could interfere and save +the poor fellow's life. + +But when I use the word Rome, I seem to refer to a little city of a few +thousand inhabitants. And the real strength of Rome lay in the country +districts outside her walls. And it was in the government of these +outlying provinces that Rome at an early age showed her wonderful gift +as a colonising power. + +In very early times Rome had been the only strongly fortified city in +central Italy, but it had always offered a hospitable refuge to +other Latin tribes who happened to be in danger of attack. The Latin +neighbours had recognised the advantages of a close union with such +a powerful friend and they had tried to find a basis for some sort of +defensive and offensive alliance. Other nations, Egyptians, Babylonians, +Phoenicians, even Greeks, would have insisted upon a treaty of +submission on the part of the "barbarians," The Romans did nothing of +the sort. They gave the "outsider" a chance to become partners in a +common "res publica"--or common-wealth. + +"You want to join us," they said. "Very well, go ahead and join. We +shall treat you as if you were full-fledged citizens of Rome. In return +for this privilege we expect you to fight for our city, the mother of us +all, whenever it shall be necessary." + +The "outsider" appreciated this generosity and he showed his gratitude +by his unswerving loyalty. + +Whenever a Greek city had been attacked, the foreign residents had moved +out as quickly as they could. Why defend something which meant nothing +to them but a temporary boarding house in which they were tolerated as +long as they paid their bills? But when the enemy was before the gates +of Rome, all the Latins rushed to her defence. It was their Mother who +was in danger. It was their true "home" even if they lived a hundred +miles away and had never seen the walls of the sacred Hills. + +No defeat and no disaster could change this sentiment. In the beginning +of the fourth century B.C. the wild Gauls forced their way into Italy. +They had defeated the Roman army near the River Allia and had marched +upon the city. They had taken Rome and then they expected that the +people would come and sue for peace. They waited, but nothing happened. +After a short time the Gauls found themselves surrounded by a hostile +population which made it impossible for them to obtain supplies. After +seven months, hunger forced them to withdraw. The policy of Rome to +treat the "foreigner" on equal terms had proved a great success and Rome +stood stronger than ever before. + +This short account of the early history of Rome shows you the enormous +difference between the Roman ideal of a healthy state, and that of the +ancient world which was embodied in the town of Carthage. The Romans +counted upon the cheerful and hearty co-operation between a number of +"equal citizens." The Carthaginians, following the example of Egypt and +western Asia, insisted upon the unreasoning (and therefore unwilling) +obedience of "Subjects" and when these failed they hired professional +soldiers to do their fighting for them. + +You will now understand why Carthage was bound to fear such a clever and +powerful enemy and why the plutocracy of Carthage was only too willing +to pick a quarrel that they might destroy the dangerous rival before it +was too late. + +But the Carthaginians, being good business men, knew that it never +pays to rush matters. They proposed to the Romans that their respective +cities draw two circles on the map and that each town claim one of these +circles as her own "sphere of influence" and promise to keep out of the +other fellow's circle. The agreement was promptly made and was broken +just as promptly when both sides thought it wise to send their armies +to Sicily where a rich soil and a bad government invited foreign +interference. + +The war which followed (the so-called first Punic War) lasted +twenty-four years. It was fought out on the high seas and in the +beginning it seemed that the experienced Carthaginian navy would defeat +the newly created Roman fleet. Following their ancient tactics, the +Carthaginian ships would either ram the enemy vessels or by a bold +attack from the side they would break their oars and would then kill the +sailors of the helpless vessel with their arrows and with fire balls. +But Roman engineers invented a new craft which carried a boarding bridge +across which the Roman infantrymen stormed the hostile ship. Then there +was a sudden end to Carthaginian victories. At the battle of Mylae their +fleet was badly defeated. Carthage was obliged to sue for peace, and +Sicily became part of the Roman domains. + +Twenty-three years later new trouble arose. Rome (in quest of copper) +had taken the island of Sardinia. Carthage (in quest of silver) +thereupon occupied all of southern Spain. This made Carthage a direct +neighbour of the Romans. The latter did not like this at all and they +ordered their troops to cross the Pyrenees and watch the Carthaginian +army of occupation. + +The stage was set for the second outbreak between the two rivals. Once +more a Greek colony was the pretext for a war. The Carthaginians were +besieging Saguntum on the east coast of Spain. The Saguntians appealed +to Rome and Rome, as usual, was willing to help. The Senate promised the +help of the Latin armies, but the preparation for this expedition took +some time, and meanwhile Saguntum had been taken and had been destroyed. +This had been done in direct opposition to the will of Rome. The Senate +decided upon war. One Roman army was to cross the African sea and make +a landing on Carthaginian soil. A second division was to keep the +Carthaginian armies occupied in Spain to prevent them from rushing +to the aid of the home town. It was an excellent plan and everybody +expected a great victory. But the Gods had decided otherwise. + +It was the fall of the year 218 before the birth of Christ and the Roman +army which was to attack the Carthaginians in Spain had left Italy. +People were eagerly waiting for news of an easy and complete victory +when a terrible rumour began to spread through the plain of the Po. +Wild mountaineers, their lips trembling with fear, told of hundreds of +thousands of brown men accompanied by strange beasts "each one as big +as a house," who had suddenly emerged from the clouds of snow which +surrounded the old Graian pass through which Hercules, thousands of +years before, had driven the oxen of Geryon on his way from Spain to +Greece. Soon an endless stream of bedraggled refugees appeared before +the gates of Rome, with more complete details. Hannibal, the son of +Hamilcar, with fifty thousand soldiers, nine thousand horsemen and +thirty-seven fighting elephants, had crossed the Pyrenees. He had +defeated the Roman army of Scipio on the banks of the Rhone and he had +guided his army safely across the mountain passes of the Alps although +it was October and the roads were thickly covered with snow and ice. +Then he had joined forces with the Gauls and together they had defeated +a second Roman army just before they crossed the Trebia and laid siege +to Placentia, the northern terminus of the road which connected Rome +with the province of the Alpine districts. + +The Senate, surprised but calm and energetic as usual, hushed up +the news of these many defeats and sent two fresh armies to stop the +invader. Hannibal managed to surprise these troops on a narrow road +along the shores of the Trasimene Lake and there he killed all the Roman +officers and most of their men. This time there was a panic among +the people of Rome, but the Senate kept its nerve. A third army was +organised and the command was given to Quintus Fabius Maximus with full +power to act "as was necessary to save the state." + +Fabius knew that he must be very careful lest all be lost. His raw and +untrained men, the last available soldiers, were no match for Hannibal's +veterans. He refused to accept battle but forever he followed Hannibal, +destroyed everything eatable, destroyed the roads, attacked small +detachments and generally weakened the morale of the Carthaginian troops +by a most distressing and annoying form of guerilla warfare. + +Such methods however did not satisfy the fearsome crowds who had found +safety behind the walls of Rome. They wanted "action." Something must be +done and must be done quickly. A popular hero by the name of Varro, the +sort of man who went about the city telling everybody how much better +he could do things than slow old Fabius, the "Delayer," was made +commander-in-chief by popular acclamation. At the battle of Cannae (216) +he suffered the most terrible defeat of Roman history. More than seventy +thousand men were killed. Hannibal was master of all Italy. + +He marched from one end of the peninsula to the other, proclaiming +himself the "deliverer from the yoke of Rome" and asking the different +provinces to join him in warfare upon the mother city. Then once more +the wisdom of Rome bore noble fruit. With the exceptions of Capua and +Syracuse, all Roman cities remained loyal. Hannibal, the deliverer, +found himself opposed by the people whose friend he pretended to be. +He was far away from home and did not like the situation. He sent +messengers to Carthage to ask for fresh supplies and new men. Alas, +Carthage could not send him either. + +The Romans with their boarding-bridges, were the masters of the sea. +Hannibal must help himself as best he could. He continued to defeat the +Roman armies that were sent out against him, but his own numbers +were decreasing rapidly and the Italian peasants held aloof from this +self-appointed "deliverer." + +After many years of uninterrupted victories, Hannibal found himself +besieged in the country which he had just conquered. For a moment, the +luck seemed to turn. Hasdrubal, his brother, had defeated the Roman +armies in Spain. He had crossed the Alps to come to Hannibal's +assistance. He sent messengers to the south to tell of his arrival and +ask the other army to meet him in the plain of the Tiber. Unfortunately +the messengers fell into the hands of the Romans and Hannibal waited +in vain for further news until his brother's head, neatly packed in a +basket, came rolling into his camp and told him of the fate of the last +of the Carthaginian troops. + +With Hasdrubal out of the way, young Publius Scipio easily reconquered +Spain and four years later the Romans were ready for a final attack upon +Carthage. Hannibal was called back. He crossed the African Sea and tried +to organise the defences of his home-city. In the year 202 at the battle +of Zama, the Carthaginians were defeated. Hannibal fled to Tyre. From +there he went to Asia Minor to stir up the Syrians and the Macedonians +against Rome. He accomplished very little but his activities among these +Asiatic powers gave the Romans an excuse to carry their warfare into the +territory of the east and annex the greater part of the AEgean world. + +Driven from one city to another, a fugitive without a home, Hannibal at +last knew that the end of his ambitious dream had come. His beloved city +of Carthage had been ruined by the war. She had been forced to sign a +terrible peace. Her navy had been sunk. She had been forbidden to make +war without Roman permission. She had been condemned to pay the Romans +millions of dollars for endless years to come. Life offered no hope of +a better future. In the year 190 B.C. Hannibal took poison and killed +himself. + +Forty years later, the Romans forced their last war upon Carthage. Three +long years the inhabitants of the old Phoenician colony held out against +the power of the new republic. Hunger forced them to surrender. The few +men and women who had survived the siege were sold as slaves. The city +was set on fire. For two whole weeks the store-houses and the pal-aces +and the great arsenal burned. Then a terrible curse was pronounced upon +the blackened ruins and the Roman legions returned to Italy to enjoy +their victory. + +For the next thousand years, the Mediterranean remained a European sea. +But as soon as the Roman Empire had been destroyed, Asia made another +attempt to dominate this great inland sea, as you will learn when I tell +you about Mohammed. + + + + +THE RISE OF ROME + +HOW ROME HAPPENED + + +THE Roman Empire was an accident. No one planned it. It "happened." No +famous general or statesman or cut-throat ever got up and said "Friends, +Romans, Citizens, we must found an Empire. Follow me and together we +shall conquer all the land from the Gates of Hercules to Mount Taurus." + +Rome produced famous generals and equally distinguished statesmen and +cut-throats, and Roman armies fought all over the world. But the Roman +empire-making was done without a preconceived plan. The average +Roman was a very matter-of-fact citizen. He disliked theories about +government. When someone began to recite "eastward the course of Roman +Empire, etc., etc.," he hastily left the forum. He just continued to +take more and more land because circumstances forced him to do so. He +was not driven by ambition or by greed. Both by nature and inclination +he was a farmer and wanted to stay at home. But when he was attacked he +was obliged to defend himself and when the enemy happened to cross the +sea to ask for aid in a distant country then the patient Roman marched +many dreary miles to defeat this dangerous foe and when this had been +accomplished, he stayed behind to adminster{sic} his newly conquered +provinces lest they fall into the hands of wandering Barbarians and +become themselves a menace to Roman safety. It sounds rather complicated +and yet to the contemporaries it was so very simple, as you shall see in +a moment. + +In the year 203 B.C. Scipio had crossed the African Sea and had carried +the war into Africa. Carthage had called Hannibal back. Badly supported +by his mercenaries, Hannibal had been defeated near Zama. The Romans had +asked for his surrender and Hannibal had fled to get aid from the kings +of Macedonia and Syria, as I told you in my last chapter. + +The rulers of these two countries (remnants of the Empire of Alexander +the Great) just then were contemplating an expedition against Egypt. +They hoped to divide the rich Nile valley between themselves. The king +of Egypt had heard of this and he had asked Rome to come to his +support. The stage was set for a number of highly interesting plots and +counter-plots. But the Romans, with their lack of imagination, rang +the curtain down before the play had been fairly started. Their legions +completely defeated the heavy Greek phalanx which was still used by the +Macedonians as their battle formation. That happened in the year 197 +B.C. at the battle in the plains of Cynoscephalae, or "Dogs' Heads," in +central Thessaly. + +The Romans then marched southward to Attica and informed the Greeks that +they had come to "deliver the Hellenes from the Macedonian yoke." The +Greeks, having learned nothing in their years of semi-slavery, used +their new freedom in a most unfortunate way. All the little city-states +once more began to quarrel with each other as they had done in the good +old days. The Romans, who had little understanding and less love for +these silly bickerings of a race which they rather despised, showed +great forebearance. But tiring of these endless dissensions they lost +patience, invaded Greece, burned down Corinth (to "encourage the other +Greeks") and sent a Roman governor to Athens to rule this turbulent +province. In this way, Macedonia and Greece became buffer states which +protected Rome's eastern frontier. + +Meanwhile right across the Hellespont lay the Kingdom of Syria, and +Antiochus III, who ruled that vast land, had shown great eagerness when +his distinguished guest, General Hannibal, explained to him how easy it +would be to invade Italy and sack the city of Rome. + +Lucius Scipio, a brother of Scipio the African fighter who had defeated +Hannibal and his Carthaginians at Zama, was sent to Asia Minor. He +destroyed the armies of the Syrian king near Magnesia (in the year 190 +B.C.) Shortly afterwards, Antiochus was lynched by his own people. Asia +Minor became a Roman protectorate and the small City-Republic of Rome +was mistress of most of the lands which bordered upon the Mediterranean. + + + + +THE ROMAN EMPIRE + +HOW THE REPUBLIC OF ROME AFTER CENTURIES OF UNREST AND REVOLUTION BECAME +AN EMPIRE + + +WHEN the Roman armies returned from these many victorious campaigns, +they were received with great jubilation. Alas and alack! this sudden +glory did not make the country any happier. On the contrary. The endless +campaigns had ruined the farmers who had been obliged to do the hard +work of Empire making. It had placed too much power in the hands of the +successful generals (and their private friends) who had used the war as +an excuse for wholesale robbery. + +The old Roman Republic had been proud of the simplicity which had +characterised the lives of her famous men. The new Republic felt ashamed +of the shabby coats and the high principles which had been fashionable +in the days of its grandfathers. It became a land of rich people ruled +by rich people for the benefit of rich people. As such it was doomed to +disastrous failure, as I shall now tell you. + +Within less than a century and a half. Rome had become the mistress of +practically all the land around the Mediterranean. In those early days +of history a prisoner of war lost his freedom and became a slave. The +Roman regarded war as a very serious business and he showed no mercy to +a conquered foe. After the fall of Carthage, the Carthaginian women and +children were sold into bondage together with their own slaves. And a +like fate awaited the obstinate inhabitants of Greece and Macedonia and +Spain and Syria when they dared to revolt against the Roman power. + +Two thousand years ago a slave was merely a piece of machinery. Nowadays +a rich man invests his money in factories. The rich people of Rome +(senators, generals and war-profiteers) invested theirs in land and in +slaves. The land they bought or took in the newly-acquired provinces. +The slaves they bought in open market wherever they happened to be +cheapest. During most of the third and second centuries before Christ +there was a plentiful supply, and as a result the landowners worked +their slaves until they dropped dead in their tracks, when they bought +new ones at the nearest bargain-counter of Corinthian or Carthaginian +captives. + +And now behold the fate of the freeborn farmer! + +He had done his duty toward Rome and he had fought her battles without +complaint. But when he came home after ten, fifteen or twenty years, his +lands were covered with weeds and his family had been ruined. But he was +a strong man and willing to begin life anew. He sowed and planted and +waited for the harvest. He carried his grain to the market together with +his cattle and his poultry, to find that the large landowners who worked +their estates with slaves could underbid him all along the line. For a +couple of years he tried to hold his own. Then he gave up in despair. He +left the country and he went to the nearest city. In the city he was as +hungry as he had been before on the land. But he shared his misery with +thousands of other disinherited beings. They crouched together in filthy +hovels in the suburbs of the large cities. They were apt to get sick and +die from terrible epidemics. They were all profoundly discontented. They +had fought for their country and this was their reward. They were always +willing to listen to those plausible spell-binders who gather around a +public grievance like so many hungry vultures, and soon they became a +grave menace to the safety of the state. + +But the class of the newly-rich shrugged its shoulders. "We have our +army and our policemen," they argued, "they will keep the mob in order." +And they hid themselves behind the high walls of their pleasant villas +and cultivated their gardens and read the poems of a certain Homer which +a Greek slave had just translated into very pleasing Latin hexameters. + +In a few families however the old tradition of unselfish service to the +Commonwealth continued. Cornelia, the daughter of Scipio Africanus, +had been married to a Roman by the name of Gracchus. She had two sons, +Tiberius and Gaius. When the boys grew up they entered politics and +tried to bring about certain much-needed reforms. A census had shown +that most of the land of the Italian peninsula was owned by two thousand +noble families. Tiberius Gracchus, having been elected a Tribune, tried +to help the freemen. He revived two ancient laws which restricted the +number of acres which a single owner might possess. In this way he hoped +to revive the valuable old class of small and independent freeholders. +The newly-rich called him a robber and an enemy of the state. There were +street riots. A party of thugs was hired to kill the popular Tribune. +Tiberius Gracchus was attacked when he entered the assembly and was +beaten to death. Ten years later his brother Gaius tried the experiment +of reforming a nation against the expressed wishes of a strong +privileged class. He passed a "poor law" which was meant to help the +destitute farmers. Eventually it made the greater part of the Roman +citizens into professional beggars. + +He established colonies of destitute people in distant parts of the +empire, but these settlements failed to attract the right sort of +people. Before Gaius Gracchus could do more harm he too was murdered and +his followers were either killed or exiled. The first two reformers had +been gentlemen. The two who came after were of a very different stamp. +They were professional soldiers. One was called Marius. The name of the +other was Sulla. Both enjoyed a large personal following. + +Sulla was the leader of the landowners. Marius, the victor in a great +battle at the foot of the Alps when the Teutons and the Cimbri had been +annihilated, was the popular hero of the disinherited freemen. + +Now it happened in the year 88 B.C. that the Senate of Rome was greatly +disturbed by rumours that came from Asia. Mithridates, king of a country +along the shores of the Black Sea, and a Greek on his mother's side, +had seen the possibility of establishing a second Alexandrian Empire. +He began his campaign for world-domination with the murder of all Roman +citizens who happened to be in Asia Minor, men, women and children. +Such an act, of course, meant war. The Senate equipped an army to march +against the King of Pontus and punish him for his crime. But who was to +be commander-in-chief? "Sulla," said the Senate, "because he is Consul." +"Marius," said the mob, "because he has been Consul five times and +because he is the champion of our rights." + +Possession is nine points of the law. Sulla happened to be in actual +command of the army. He went west to defeat Mithridates and Marius fled +to Africa. There he waited until he heard that Sulla had crossed into +Asia. He then returned to Italy, gathered a motley crew of malcontents, +marched on Rome and entered the city with his professional highwaymen, +spent five days and five nights, slaughtering the enemies of the +Senatorial party, got himself elected Consul and promptly died from the +excitement of the last fortnight. + +There followed four years of disorder. Then Sulla, having defeated +Mithridates, announced that he was ready to return to Rome and settle +a few old scores of his own. He was as good as his word. For weeks his +soldiers were busy executing those of their fellow citizens who were +suspected of democratic sympathies. One day they got hold of a young +fellow who had been often seen in the company of Marius. They were going +to hang him when some one interfered. "The boy is too young," he said, +and they let him go. His name was Julius Caesar. You shall meet him +again on the next page. + +As for Sulla, he became "Dictator," which meant sole and supreme ruler +of all the Roman possessions. He ruled Rome for four years, and he died +quietly in his bed, having spent the last year of his life tenderly +raising his cabbages, as was the custom of so many Romans who had spent +a lifetime killing their fellow-men. + +But conditions did not grow better. On the contrary, they grew worse. +Another general, Gnaeus Pompeius, or Pompey, a close friend of Sulla, +went east to renew the war against the ever troublesome Mithridates. He +drove that energetic potentate into the mountains where Mithridates took +poison and killed himself, well knowing what fate awaited him as a +Roman captive. Next he re-established the authority of Rome over Syria, +destroyed Jerusalem, roamed through western Asia, trying to revive the +myth of Alexander the Great, and at last (in the year 62) returned to +Rome with a dozen ship-loads of defeated Kings and Princes and Generals, +all of whom were forced to march in the triumphal procession of this +enormously popular Roman who presented his city with the sum of forty +million dollars in plunder. + +It was necessary that the government of Rome be placed in the hands of +a strong man. Only a few months before, the town had almost fallen +into the hands of a good-for-nothing young aristocrat by the name of +Catiline, who had gambled away his money and hoped to reimburse himself +for his losses by a little plundering. Cicero, a public-spirited lawyer, +had discovered the plot, had warned the Senate, and had forced Catiline +to flee. But there were other young men with similar ambitions and it +was no time for idle talk. + +Pompey organised a triumvirate which was to take charge of affairs. He +became the leader of this Vigilante Committee. Gaius Julius Caesar, who +had made a reputation for himself as governor of Spain, was the second +in command. The third was an indifferent sort of person by the name of +Crassus. He had been elected because he was incredibly rich, having been +a successful contractor of war supplies. He soon went upon an expedition +against the Parthians and was killed. + +As for Caesar, who was by far the ablest of the three, he decided that +he needed a little more military glory to become a popular hero. He +crossed the Alps and conquered that part of the world which is now +called France. Then he hammered a solid wooden bridge across the Rhine +and invaded the land of the wild Teutons. Finally he took ship and +visited England. Heaven knows where he might have ended if he had not +been forced to return to Italy. Pompey, so he was informed, had been +appointed dictator for life. This of course meant that Caesar was to +be placed on the list of the "retired officers," and the idea did not +appeal to him. He remembered that he had begun life as a follower of +Marius. He decided to teach the Senators and their "dictator" another +lesson. He crossed the Rubicon River which separated the province of +Cis-alpine Gaul from Italy. Everywhere he was received as the "friend of +the people." Without difficulty Caesar entered Rome and Pompey fled to +Greece Caesar followed him and defeated his followers near Pharsalus. +Pompey sailed across the Mediterranean and escaped to Egypt. When he +landed he was murdered by order of young king Ptolemy. A few days later +Caesar arrived. He found himself caught in a trap. Both the Egyptians +and the Roman garrison which had remained faithful to Pompey, attacked +his camp. + +Fortune was with Caesar. He succeeded in setting fire to the Egyptian +fleet. Incidentally the sparks of the burning vessels fell on the +roof of the famous library of Alexandria (which was just off the water +front,) and destroyed it. Next he attacked the Egyptian army, drove +the soldiers into the Nile, drowned Ptolemy, and established a new +government under Cleopatra, the sister of the late king. Just then word +reached him that Pharnaces, the son and heir of Mithridates, had gone +on the war-path. Caesar marched northward, defeated Pharnaces in a war +which lasted five days, sent word of his victory to Rome in the famous +sentence "veni, vidi, vici," which is Latin for "I came, I saw, I +conquered," and returned to Egypt where he fell desperately in love with +Cleopatra, who followed him to Rome when he returned to take charge of +the government, in the year 46. He marched at the head of not less than +four different victory-parades, having won four different campaigns. + +Then Caesar appeared in the Senate to report upon his adventures, and +the grateful Senate made him "dictator" for ten years. It was a fatal +step. + +The new dictator made serious attempts to reform the Roman state. +He made it possible for freemen to become members of the Senate. He +conferred the rights of citizenship upon distant communities as had been +done in the early days of Roman history. He permitted "foreigners" to +exercise influence upon the government. He reformed the administration +of the distant provinces which certain aristocratic families had come to +regard as their private possessions. In short he did many things for +the good of the majority of the people but which made him thoroughly +unpopular with the most powerful men in the state. Half a hundred young +aristocrats formed a plot "to save the Republic." On the Ides of March +(the fifteenth of March according to that new calendar which Caesar had +brought with him from Egypt) Caesar was murdered when he entered the +Senate. Once more Rome was without a master. + +There were two men who tried to continue the tradition of Caesar's +glory. One was Antony, his former secretary. The other was Octavian, +Caesar's grand-nephew and heir to his estate. Octavian remained in +Rome, but Antony went to Egypt to be near Cleopatra with whom he too had +fallen in love, as seems to have been the habit of Roman generals. + +A war broke out between the two. In the battle of Actium, Octavian +defeated Antony. Antony killed himself and Cleopatra was left alone to +face the enemy. She tried very hard to make Octavian her third Roman +conquest. When she saw that she could make no impression upon this very +proud aristocrat, she killed herself, and Egypt became a Roman province. + +As for Octavian, he was a very wise young man and he did not repeat the +mistake of his famous uncle. He knew how people will shy at words. He +was very modest in his demands when he returned to Rome. He did not want +to be a "dictator." He would be entirely satisfied with the title of +"the Honourable." But when the Senate, a few years later, addressed him +as Augustus--the Illustrious--he did not object and a few years later +the man in the street called him Caesar, or Kaiser, while the soldiers, +accustomed to regard Octavian as their Commander-in-chief referred to +him as the Chief, the Imperator or Emperor. The Republic had become an +Empire, but the average Roman was hardly aware of the fact. + +In 14 A.D. his position as the Absolute Ruler of the Roman people had +become so well established that he was made an object of that divine +worship which hitherto had been reserved for the Gods. And his +successors were true "Emperors"--the absolute rulers of the greatest +empire the world had ever seen. + +If the truth be told, the average citizen was sick and tired of anarchy +and disorder. He did not care who ruled him provided the new master gave +him a chance to live quietly and without the noise of eternal street +riots. Octavian assured his subjects forty years of peace. He had no +desire to extend the frontiers of his domains, In the year 9 A.D. he +had contem-plated an invasion of the northwestern wilderness which was +inhabited by the Teutons. But Varrus, his general, had been killed with +all his men in the Teutoburg Woods, and after that the Romans made no +further attempts to civilise these wild people. + +They concentrated their efforts upon the gigantic problem of internal +reform. But it was too late to do much good. Two centuries of revolution +and foreign war had repeatedly killed the best men among the younger +generations. It had ruined the class of the free farmers. It had +introduced slave labor, against which no freeman could hope to compete. +It had turned the cities into beehives inhabited by pauperized +and unhealthy mobs of runaway peasants. It had created a large +bureaucracy--petty officials who were underpaid and who were forced to +take graft in order to buy bread and clothing for their families. +Worst of all, it had accustomed people to violence, to blood-shed, to a +barbarous pleasure in the pain and suffering of others. + +Outwardly, the Roman state during the first century of our era was a +magnificent political structure, so large that Alexander's empire became +one of its minor provinces. Underneath this glory there lived millions +upon millions of poor and tired human beings, toiling like ants who have +built a nest underneath a heavy stone. They worked for the benefit of +some one else. They shared their food with the animals of the fields. +They lived in stables. They died without hope. + +It was the seven hundred and fifty-third year since the founding of +Rome. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus was living in the palace +of the Palatine Hill, busily engaged upon the task of ruling his empire. + +In a little village of distant Syria, Mary, the wife of Joseph the +Carpenter, was tending her little boy, born in a stable of Bethlehem. + +This is a strange world. + +Before long, the palace and the stable were to meet in open combat. + +And the stable was to emerge victorious. + + + + +JOSHUA OF NAZARETH + +THE STORY OF JOSHUA OF NAZARETH, WHOM THE GREEKS CALLED JESUS + + +IN the autumn of the year of the city 783 (which would be 62 A.D., in +our way of counting time) AEsculapius Cultellus, a Roman physician, +wrote to his nephew who was with the army in Syria as follows: + + +My dear Nephew, + +A few days ago I was called in to prescribe for a sick man named Paul. +He appeared to be a Roman citizen of Jewish parentage, well educated +and of agreeable manners. I had been told that he was here in connection +with a law-suit, an appeal from one of our provincial courts, Caesarea +or some such place in the eastern Mediterranean. He had been described +to me as a "wild and violent" fellow who had been making speeches +against the People and against the Law. I found him very intelligent and +of great honesty. + +A friend of mine who used to be with the army in Asia Minor tells me +that he heard something about him in Ephesus where he was preaching +sermons about a strange new God. I asked my patient if this were true +and whether he had told the people to rebel against the will of our +beloved Emperor. Paul answered me that the Kingdom of which he had +spoken was not of this world and he added many strange utterances which +I did not understand, but which were probably due to his fever. + +His personality made a great impression upon me and I was sorry to hear +that he was killed on the Ostian Road a few days ago. Therefore I am +writing this letter to you. When next you visit Jerusalem, I want you to +find out something about my friend Paul and the strange Jewish prophet, +who seems to have been his teacher. Our slaves are getting much excited +about this so-called Messiah, and a few of them, who openly talked of +the new kingdom (whatever that means) have been crucified. I would like +to know the truth about all these rumours and I am + + Your devoted Uncle, + AESCULAPIUS CULTELLUS. + + +Six weeks later, Gladius Ensa, the nephew, a captain of the VII Gallic +Infantry, answered as follows: + + +My dear Uncle, + +I received your letter and I have obeyed your instructions. + +Two weeks ago our brigade was sent to Jerusalem. There have been several +revolutions during the last century and there is not much left of the +old city. We have been here now for a month and to-morrow we shall +continue our march to Petra, where there has been trouble with some of +the Arab tribes. I shall use this evening to answer your questions, but +pray do not expect a detailed report. + +I have talked with most of the older men in this city but few have been +able to give me any definite information. A few days ago a pedler came +to the camp. I bought some of his olives and I asked him whether he had +ever heard of the famous Messiah who was killed when he was young. He +said that he remembered it very clearly, because his father had taken +him to Golgotha (a hill just outside the city) to see the execution, +and to show him what became of the enemies of the laws of the people of +Judaea. He gave me the address of one Joseph, who had been a personal +friend of the Messiah and told me that I had better go and see him if I +wanted to know more. + +This morning I went to call on Joseph. He was quite an old man. He had +been a fisherman on one of the fresh-water lakes. His memory was +clear, and from him at last I got a fairly definite account of what had +happened during the troublesome days before I was born. + +Tiberius, our great and glorious emperor, was on the throne, and an +officer of the name of Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judaea and +Samaria. Joseph knew little about this Pilatus. He seemed to have been +an honest enough official who left a decent reputation as procurator of +the province. In the year 755 or 756 (Joseph had forgotten when) Pilatus +was called to Jerusalem on account of a riot. A certain young man (the +son of a carpenter of Nazareth) was said to be planning a revolution +against the Roman government. Strangely enough our own intelligence +officers, who are usually well informed, appear to have heard nothing +about it, and when they investigated the matter they reported that +the carpenter was an excellent citizen and that there was no reason to +proceed against him. But the old-fashioned leaders of the Jewish +faith, according to Joseph, were much upset. They greatly disliked his +popularity with the masses of the poorer Hebrews. The "Nazarene" (so +they told Pilatus) had publicly claimed that a Greek or a Roman or even +a Philistine, who tried to live a decent and honourable life, was quite +as good as a Jew who spent his days studying the ancient laws of Moses. +Pilatus does not seem to have been impressed by this argument, but when +the crowds around the temple threatened to lynch Jesus, and kill all +his followers, he decided to take the carpenter into custody to save his +life. + +He does not appear to have understood the real nature of the quarrel. +Whenever he asked the Jewish priests to explain their grievances, they +shouted "heresy" and "treason" and got terribly excited. Finally, +so Joseph told me, Pilatus sent for Joshua (that was the name of the +Nazarene, but the Greeks who live in this part of the world always refer +to him as Jesus) to examine him personally. He talked to him for several +hours. He asked him about the "dangerous doctrines" which he was said +to have preached on the shores of the sea of Galilee. But Jesus answered +that he never referred to politics. He was not so much interested in +the bodies of men as in Man's soul. He wanted all people to regard their +neighbours as their brothers and to love one single God, who was the +father of all living beings. + +Pilatus, who seems to have been well versed in the doctrines of the +Stoics and the other Greek philosophers, does not appear to have +discovered anything seditious in the talk of Jesus. According to +my informant he made another attempt to save the life of the kindly +prophet. He kept putting the execution off. Meanwhile the Jewish people, +lashed into fury by their priests, got frantic with rage. There had +been many riots in Jerusalem before this and there were only a few Roman +soldiers within calling distance. Reports were being sent to the +Roman authorities in Caesarea that Pilatus had "fallen a victim to the +teachings of the Nazarene." Petitions were being circulated all through +the city to have Pilatus recalled, because he was an enemy of the +Emperor. You know that our governors have strict instructions to avoid +an open break with their foreign subjects. To save the country from +civil war, Pilatus finally sacrificed his prisoner, Joshua, who behaved +with great dignity and who forgave all those who hated him. He was +crucified amidst the howls and the laughter of the Jerusalem mob. + +That is what Joseph told me, with tears running down his old cheeks. I +gave him a gold piece when I left him, but he refused it and asked me +to hand it to one poorer than himself. I also asked him a few questions +about your friend Paul. He had known him slightly. He seems to have been +a tent maker who gave up his profession that he might preach the words +of a loving and forgiving God, who was so very different from that +Jehovah of whom the Jewish priests are telling us all the time. +Afterwards, Paul appears to have travelled much in Asia Minor and in +Greece, telling the slaves that they were all children of one loving +Father and that happiness awaits all, both rich and poor, who have tried +to live honest lives and have done good to those who were suffering and +miserable. + +I hope that I have answered your questions to your satisfaction. The +whole story seems very harmless to me as far as the safety of the state +is concerned. But then, we Romans never have been able to understand the +people of this province. I am sorry that they have killed your friend +Paul. I wish that I were at home again, and I am, as ever, + + Your dutiful nephew, + GLADIUS ENSA. + + + + +THE FALL OF ROME + +THE TWILIGHT OF ROME + + +THE text-books of ancient History give the date 476 as the year in which +Rome fell, because in that year the last emperor was driven off his +throne. But Rome, which was not built in a day, took a long time +falling. The process was so slow and so gradual that most Romans did not +realise how their old world was coming to an end. They complained about +the unrest of the times--they grumbled about the high prices of food and +about the low wages of the workmen--they cursed the profiteers who had a +monopoly of the grain and the wool and the gold coin. Occasionally they +rebelled against an unusually rapacious governor. But the majority of +the people during the first four centuries of our era ate and drank +(whatever their purse allowed them to buy) and hated or loved (according +to their nature) and went to the theatre (whenever there was a free +show of fighting gladiators) or starved in the slums of the big +cities, utterly ignorant of the fact that their empire had outlived its +usefulness and was doomed to perish. + +How could they realise the threatened danger? Rome made a fine showing +of outward glory. Well-paved roads connected the different provinces, +the imperial police were active and showed little tenderness for +highwaymen. The frontier was closely guarded against the savage tribes +who seemed to be occupying the waste lands of northern Europe. The whole +world was paying tribute to the mighty city of Rome, and a score of +able men were working day and night to undo the mistakes of the past and +bring about a return to the happier conditions of the early Republic. + +But the underlying causes of the decay of the State, of which I have +told you in a former chapter, had not been removed and reform therefore +was impossible. + +Rome was, first and last and all the time, a city-state as Athens and +Corinth had been city-states in ancient Hellas. It had been able to +dominate the Italian peninsula. But Rome as the ruler of the entire +civilised world was a political impossibility and could not endure. Her +young men were killed in her endless wars. Her farmers were ruined by +long military service and by taxation. They either became professional +beggars or hired themselves out to rich landowners who gave them board +and lodging in exchange for their services and made them "serfs," those +unfortunate human beings who are neither slaves nor freemen, but who +have become part of the soil upon which they work, like so many cows, +and the trees. + +The Empire, the State, had become everything. The common citizen had +dwindled down to less than nothing. As for the slaves, they had heard +the words that were spoken by Paul. They had accepted the message of the +humble carpenter of Nazareth. They did not rebel against their masters. +On the contrary, they had been taught to be meek and they obeyed their +superiors. But they had lost all interest in the affairs of this world +which had proved such a miserable place of abode. They were willing to +fight the good fight that they might enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. +But they were not willing to engage in warfare for the benefit of an +ambitious emperor who aspired to glory by way of a foreign campaign in +the land of the Parthians or the Numidians or the Scots. + +And so conditions grew worse as the centuries went by. The first +Emperors had continued the tradition of "leadership" which had given the +old tribal chieftains such a hold upon their subjects. But the Emperors +of the second and third centuries were Barrack-Emperors, professional +soldiers, who existed by the grace of their body-guards, the so-called +Praetorians. They succeeded each other with terrifying rapidity, +murdering their way into the palace and being murdered out of it as soon +as their successors had become rich enough to bribe the guards into a +new rebellion. + +Meanwhile the barbarians were hammering at the gates of the northern +frontier. As there were no longer any native Roman armies to stop their +progress, foreign mercenaries had to be hired to fight the invader. As +the foreign soldier happened to be of the same blood as his supposed +enemy, he was apt to be quite lenient when he engaged in battle. +Finally, by way of experiment, a few tribes were allowed to settle +within the confines of the Empire. Others followed. Soon these tribes +complained bitterly of the greedy Roman tax-gatherers, who took away +their last penny. When they got no redress they marched to Rome and +loudly demanded that they be heard. + +This made Rome very uncomfortable as an Imperial residence. Constantine +(who ruled from 323 to 337) looked for a new capital. He chose +Byzantium, the gate-way for the commerce between Europe and Asia. The +city was renamed Constantinople, and the court moved eastward. When +Constantine died, his two sons, for the sake of a more efficient +administration, divided the Empire between them. The elder lived in +Rome and ruled in the west. The younger stayed in Constantinople and was +master of the east. + +Then came the fourth century and the terrible visitation of the Huns, +those mysterious Asiatic horsemen who for more than two centuries +maintained themselves in Northern Europe and continued their career of +bloodshed until they were defeated near Chalons-sur-Marne in France in +the year 451. As soon as the Huns had reached the Danube they had begun +to press hard upon the Goths. The Goths, in order to save themselves, +were thereupon obliged to invade Rome. The Emperor Valens tried to stop +them, but was killed near Adrianople in the year 378. Twenty-two years +later, under their king, Alaric, these same West Goths marched westward +and attacked Rome. They did not plunder, and destroyed only a few +palaces. Next came the Vandals, and showed less respect for the +venerable traditions of the city. Then the Burgundians. Then the East +Goths. Then the Alemanni. Then the Franks. There was no end to the +invasions. Rome at last was at the mercy of every ambitious highway +robber who could gather a few followers. + +In the year 402 the Emperor fled to Ravenna, which was a sea-port and +strongly fortified, and there, in the year 475, Odoacer, commander of a +regiment of the German mercenaries, who wanted the farms of Italy to +be divided among themselves, gently but effectively pushed Romulus +Augustulus, the last of the emperors who ruled the western division, +from his throne, and proclaimed himself Patriarch or ruler of Rome. The +eastern Emperor, who was very busy with his own affairs, recognised him, +and for ten years Odoacer ruled what was left of the western provinces. + +A few years later, Theodoric, King of the East Goths, invaded the newly +formed Patriciat, took Ravenna, murdered Odoacer at his own dinner +table, and established a Gothic Kingdom amidst the ruins of the western +part of the Empire. This Patriciate state did not last long. In the +sixth century a motley crowd of Longobards and Saxons and Slavs and +Avars invaded Italy, destroyed the Gothic kingdom, and established a new +state of which Pavia became the capital. + +Then at last the imperial city sank into a state of utter neglect and +despair. The ancient palaces had been plundered time and again. The +schools had been burned down. The teachers had been starved to death. +The rich people had been thrown out of their villas which were now +inhabited by evil-smelling and hairy barbarians. The roads had fallen +into decay. The old bridges were gone and commerce had come to a +standstill. Civilisation--the product of thousands of years of patient +labor on the part of Egyptians and Babylonians and Greeks and Romans, +which had lifted man high above the most daring dreams of his earliest +ancestors, threatened to perish from the western continent. + +It is true that in the far east, Constantinople continued to be the +centre of an Empire for another thousand years. But it hardly counted +as a part of the European continent. Its interests lay in the east. It +began to forget its western origin. Gradually the Roman language was +given up for the Greek. The Roman alphabet was discarded and Roman +law was written in Greek characters and explained by Greek judges. The +Emperor became an Asiatic despot, worshipped as the god-like kings of +Thebes had been worshipped in the valley of the Nile, three thousand +years before. When missionaries of the Byzantine church looked for fresh +fields of activity, they went eastward and carried the civilisation of +Byzantium into the vast wilderness of Russia. + +As for the west, it was left to the mercies of the Barbarians. For +twelve generations, murder, war, arson, plundering were the order of +the day. One thing--and one thing alone--saved Europe from complete +destruction, from a return to the days of cave-men and the hyena. + +This was the church--the flock of humble men and women who for many +centuries had confessed themselves the followers of Jesus, the carpenter +of Nazareth, who had been killed that the mighty Roman Empire might be +saved the trouble of a street-riot in a little city somewhere along the +Syrian frontier. + + + + +RISE OF THE CHURCH + +HOW ROME BECAME THE CENTRE OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD + + +THE average intelligent Roman who lived under the Empire had taken very +little interest in the gods of his fathers. A few times a year he went +to the temple, but merely as a matter of custom. He looked on +patiently when the people celebrated a religious festival with a solemn +procession. But he regarded the worship of Jupiter and Minerva and +Neptune as something rather childish, a survival from the crude days +of the early republic and not a fit subject of study for a man who had +mastered the works of the Stoics and the Epicureans and the other great +philosophers of Athens. + +This attitude made the Roman a very tolerant man. The government +insisted that all people, Romans, foreigners, Greeks, Babylonians, Jews, +should pay a certain outward respect to the image of the Emperor +which was supposed to stand in every temple, just as a picture of +the President of the United States is apt to hang in an American Post +Office. But this was a formality without any deeper meaning. Generally +speaking everybody could honour, revere and adore whatever gods he +pleased, and as a result, Rome was filled with all sorts of queer little +temples and synagogues, dedicated to the worship of Egyptian and African +and Asiatic divinities. + +When the first disciples of Jesus reached Rome and began to preach their +new doctrine of a universal brotherhood of man, nobody objected. The man +in the street stopped and listened Rome, the capital of the world, +had always been full of wandering preachers, each proclaiming his +own "mystery." Most of the self-appointed priests appealed to the +senses--promised golden rewards and endless pleasure to the followers of +their own particular god. Soon the crowd in the street noticed that the +so-called Christians (the followers of the Christ or "anointed") spoke +a very different language. They did not appear to be impressed by great +riches or a noble position. They extolled the beauties of poverty and +humility and meekness. These were not exactly the virtues which had made +Rome the mistress of the world. It was rather interesting to listen to +a "mystery" which told people in the hey-day of their glory that their +worldly success could not possibly bring them lasting happiness. + +Besides, the preachers of the Christian mystery told dreadful stories +of the fate that awaited those who refused to listen to the words of +the true God. It was never wise to take chances. Of course the old Roman +gods still existed, but were they strong enough to protect their friends +against the powers of this new deity who had been brought to Europe from +distant Asia? People began to have doubts. They returned to listen to +further explanations of the new creed. After a while they began to meet +the men and women who preached the words of Jesus. They found them very +different from the average Roman priests. They were all dreadfully +poor. They were kind to slaves and to animals. They did not try to gain +riches, but gave away whatever they had. The example of their unselfish +lives forced many Romans to forsake the old religion. They joined the +small communities of Christians who met in the back rooms of private +houses or somewhere in an open field, and the temples were deserted. + +This went on year after year and the number of Christians continued to +increase. Presbyters or priests (the original Greek meant "elder") were +elected to guard the interests of the small churches. A bishop was made +the head of all the communities within a single province. Peter, who had +fol-lowed Paul to Rome, was the first Bishop of Rome. In due time his +successors (who were addressed as Father or Papa) came to be known as +Popes. + +The church became a powerful institution within the Empire. The +Christian doctrines appealed to those who despaired of this world. They +also attracted many strong men who found it impossible to make a career +under the Imperial government, but who could exercise their gifts of +leadership among the humble followers of the Nazarene teacher. At last +the state was obliged to take notice. The Roman Empire (I have said this +before) was tolerant through indifference. It allowed everybody to +seek salvation after his or her own fashion. But it insisted that the +different sects keep the peace among themselves and obey the wise rule +of "live and let live." + +The Christian communities however, refused to practice any sort of +tolerance. They publicly declared that their God, and their God alone, +was the true ruler of Heaven and Earth, and that all other gods +were imposters. This seemed unfair to the other sects and the police +discouraged such utterances. The Christians persisted. + +Soon there were further difficulties. The Christians refused to go +through the formalities of paying homage to the emperor. They refused +to appear when they were called upon to join the army. The Roman +magistrates threatened to punish them. The Christians answered that this +miserable world was only the ante-room to a very pleasant Heaven and +that they were more than willing to suffer death for their principles. +The Romans, puzzled by such conduct, sometimes killed the offenders, but +more often they did not. There was a certain amount of lynching during +the earliest years of the church, but this was the work of that part +of the mob which accused their meek Christian neighbours of every +conceivable crime, (such as slaughtering and eating babies, bringing +about sickness and pestilence, betraying the country in times of danger) +because it was a harmless sport and devoid of danger, as the Christians +refused to fight back. + +Meanwhile, Rome continued to be invaded by the Barbarians and when her +armies failed, Christian missionaries went forth to preach their gospel +of peace to the wild Teutons. They were strong men without fear of +death. They spoke a language which left no doubt as to the future of +unrepentant sinners. The Teutons were deeply impressed. They still had a +deep respect for the wisdom of the ancient city of Rome. Those men were +Romans. They probably spoke the truth. Soon the Christian missionary +became a power in the savage regions of the Teutons and the Franks. Half +a dozen missionaries were as valuable as a whole regiment of soldiers. +The Emperors began to understand that the Christian might be of great +use to them. In some of the provinces they were given equal rights with +those who remained faithful to the old gods. The great change however +came during the last half of the fourth century. + +Constantine, sometimes (Heaven knows why) called Constantine the Great, +was emperor. He was a terrible ruffian, but people of tender qualities +could hardly hope to survive in that hard-fighting age. During a long +and checkered career, Constantine had experienced many ups and downs. +Once, when almost defeated by his enemies, he thought that he would try +the power of this new Asiatic deity of whom everybody was talking. He +promised that he too would become a Christian if he were successful in +the coming battle. He won the victory and thereafter he was convinced of +the power of the Christian God and allowed himself to be baptised. + +From that moment on, the Christian church was officially recognised and +this greatly strengthened the position of the new faith. + +But the Christians still formed a very small minority of all the people, +(not more than five or six percent,) and in order to win, they were +forced to refuse all compromise. The old gods must be destroyed. For a +short spell the emperor Julian, a lover of Greek wisdom, managed to save +the pagan Gods from further destruction. But Julian died of his wounds +during a campaign in Persia and his successor Jovian re-established the +church in all its glory. One after the other the doors of the ancient +temples were then closed. Then came the emperor Justinian (who built the +church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople), who discontinued the school +of philosophy at Athens which had been founded by Plato. + +That was the end of the old Greek world, in which man had been allowed +to think his own thoughts and dream his own dreams according to his +desires. The somewhat vague rules of conduct of the philosophers had +proved a poor compass by which to steer the ship of life after a deluge +of savagery and ignorance had swept away the established order of +things. There was need of something more positive and more definite. +This the Church provided. + +During an age when nothing was certain, the church stood like a rock and +never receded from those principles which it held to be true and sacred. +This steadfast courage gained the admiration of the multitudes and +carried the church of Rome safely through the difficulties which +destroyed the Roman state. + +There was however, a certain element of luck in the final success of +the Christian faith. After the disappearance of Theodoric's Roman-Gothic +kingdom, in the fifth century, Italy was comparatively free from foreign +invasion. The Lombards and Saxons and Slavs who succeeded the Goths were +weak and backward tribes. Under those circumstances it was possible for +the bishops of Rome to maintain the independence of their city. Soon the +remnants of the empire, scattered throughout the peninsula, recognised +the Dukes of Rome (or bishops) as their political and spiritual rulers. + +The stage was set for the appearance of a strong man. He came in the +year 590 and his name was Gregory. He belonged to the ruling classes of +ancient Rome, and he had been "prefect" or mayor of the city. Then he +had become a monk and a bishop and finally, and much against his will, +(for he wanted to be a missionary and preach Christianity to the heathen +of England,) he had been dragged to the Church of Saint Peter to be made +Pope. He ruled only fourteen years but when he died the Christian world +of western Europe had officially recognised the bishops of Rome, the +Popes, as the head of the entire church. + +This power, however, did not extend to the east. In Constantinople the +Emperors continued the old custom which had recognised the successors of +Augustus and Tiberius both as head of the government and as High Priest +of the Established Religion. In the year 1453 the eastern Roman Empire +was conquered by the Turks. Constantinople was taken, and Constantine +Paleologue, the last Roman Emperor, was killed on the steps of the +Church of the Holy Sophia. + +A few years before, Zoe, the daughter of his brother Thomas, had married +Ivan III of Russia. In this way did the grand-dukes of Moscow fall heir +to the traditions of Constantinople. The double-eagle of old Byzantium +(reminiscent of the days when Rome had been divided into an eastern and +a western part) became the coat of arms of modern Russia. The Tsar who +had been merely the first of the Russian nobles, assumed the aloofness +and the dignity of a Roman emperor before whom all subjects, both high +and low, were inconsiderable slaves. + +The court was refashioned after the oriental pattern which the eastern +Emperors had imported from Asia and from Egypt and which (so they +flattered themselves) resembled the court of Alexander the Great. This +strange inheritance which the dying Byzantine Empire bequeathed to an +unsuspecting world continued to live with great vigour for six more +centuries, amidst the vast plains of Russia. The last man to wear +the crown with the double eagle of Constantinople, Tsar Nicholas, was +murdered only the other day, so to speak. His body was thrown into a +well. His son and his daughters were all killed. All his ancient rights +and prerogatives were abolished, and the church was reduced to the +position which it had held in Rome before the days of Constantine. + +The eastern church however fared very differently, as we shall see +in the next chapter when the whole Christian world is going to be +threatened with destruction by the rival creed of an Arab camel-driver. + + + + +MOHAMMED + +AHMED, THE CAMEL-DRIVER, WHO BECAME THE PROPHET OF THE ARABIAN DESERT +AND WHOSE FOLLOWERS ALMOST CONQUERED THE ENTIRE KNOWN WORLD FOR THE +GREATER GLORY OF ALLAH, THE ONLY TRUE GOD + + +SINCE the days of Carthage and Hannibal we have said nothing of the +Semitic people. You will remember how they filled all the chapters +devoted to the story of the Ancient World. The Babylonians, the +Assyrians, the Phoenicians, the Jews, the Arameans, the Chaldeans, all +of them Semites, had been the rulers of western Asia for thirty or forty +centuries. They had been conquered by the Indo-European Persians who had +come from the east and by the Indo-European Greeks who had come from the +west. A hundred years after the death of Alexander the Great, Carthage, +a colony of Semitic Phoenicians, had fought the Indo-European Romans +for the mastery of the Mediterranean. Carthage had been defeated and +destroyed and for eight hundred years the Romans had been masters of the +world. In the seventh century, however, another Semitic tribe appeared +upon the scene and challenged the power of the west. They were the +Arabs, peaceful shepherds who had roamed through the desert since the +beginning of time without showing any signs of imperial ambitions. + +Then they listened to Mohammed, mounted their horses and in less than +a century they had pushed to the heart of Europe and proclaimed the +glories of Allah, "the only God," and Mohammed, "the prophet of the only +God," to the frightened peasants of France. + +The story of Ahmed, the son of Abdallah and Aminah (usually known as +Mohammed, or "he who will be praised,"); reads like a chapter in the +"Thousand and One Nights." He was a camel-driver, born in Mecca. +He seems to have been an epileptic and he suffered from spells of +unconsciousness when he dreamed strange dreams and heard the voice of +the angel Gabriel, whose words were afterwards written down in a book +called the Koran. His work as a caravan leader carried him all over +Arabia and he was constantly falling in with Jewish merchants and with +Christian traders, and he came to see that the worship of a single God +was a very excellent thing. His own people, the Arabs, still revered +queer stones and trunks of trees as their ancestors had done, tens of +thousands of years before. In Mecca, their holy city, stood a little +square building, the Kaaba, full of idols and strange odds and ends of +Hoo-doo worship. + +Mohammed decided to be the Moses of the Arab people. He could not well +be a prophet and a camel-driver at the same time. So he made himself +independent by marrying his employer, the rich widow Chadija. Then he +told his neighbours in Mecca that he was the long-expected prophet sent +by Allah to save the world. The neighbours laughed most heartily and +when Mohammed continued to annoy them with his speeches they decided to +kill him. They regarded him as a lunatic and a public bore who deserved +no mercy. Mohammed heard of the plot and in the dark of night he fled to +Medina together with Abu Bekr, his trusted pupil. This happened in the +year 622. It is the most important date in Mohammedan history and is +known as the Hegira--the year of the Great Flight. + +In Medina, Mohammed, who was a stranger, found it easier to proclaim +himself a prophet than in his home city, where every one had known him +as a simple camel-driver. Soon he was surrounded by an increasing number +of followers, or Moslems, who accepted the Islam, "the submission to the +will of God," which Mohammed praised as the highest of all virtues. +For seven years he preached to the people of Medina. Then he believed +himself strong enough to begin a campaign against his former neighbours +who had dared to sneer at him and his Holy Mission in his old +camel-driving days. At the head of an army of Medinese he marched across +the desert. His followers took Mecca without great difficulty, and +having slaughtered a number of the inhabitants, they found it quite easy +to convince the others that Mohammed was really a great prophet. + +From that time on until the year of his death, Mohammed was fortunate in +everything he undertook. + +There are two reasons for the success of Islam. In the first place, +the creed which Mohammed taught to his followers was very simple. The +disciples were told that they must love Allah, the Ruler of the World, +the Merciful and Compassionate. They must honour and obey their parents. +They were warned against dishonesty in dealing with their neighbours +and were admonished to be humble and charitable, to the poor and to the +sick. Finally they were ordered to abstain from strong drink and to be +very frugal in what they ate. That was all. There were no priests, who +acted as shepherds of their flocks and asked that they be supported at +the common expense. The Mohammedan churches or mosques were merely large +stone halls without benches or pictures, where the faithful could gather +(if they felt so inclined) to read and discuss chapters from the Koran, +the Holy Book. But the average Mohammedan carried his religion with him +and never felt himself hemmed in by the restrictions and regulations +of an established church. Five times a day he turned his face towards +Mecca, the Holy City, and said a simple prayer. For the rest of the time +he let Allah rule the world as he saw fit and accepted whatever fate +brought him with patient resignation. + +Of course such an attitude towards life did not encourage the Faithful +to go forth and invent electrical machinery or bother about railroads +and steamship lines. But it gave every Mohammedan a certain amount of +contentment. It bade him be at peace with himself and with the world in +which he lived and that was a very good thing. + +The second reason which explains the success of the Moslems in their +warfare upon the Christians, had to do with the conduct of those +Mohammedan soldiers who went forth to do battle for the true faith. +The Prophet promised that those who fell, facing the enemy, would go +directly to Heaven. This made sudden death in the field preferable to +a long but dreary existence upon this earth. It gave the Mohammedans an +enormous advantage over the Crusaders who were in constant dread of a +dark hereafter, and who stuck to the good things of this world as long +as they possibly could. Incidentally it explains why even to-day Moslem +soldiers will charge into the fire of European machine guns quite +indifferent to the fate that awaits them and why they are such dangerous +and persistent enemies. + +Having put his religious house in order, Mohammed now began to enjoy +his power as the undisputed ruler of a large number of Arab tribes. But +success has been the undoing of a large number of men who were great in +the days of adversity. He tried to gain the good will of the rich people +by a number of regulations which could appeal to those of wealth. +He allowed the Faithful to have four wives. As one wife was a costly +investment in those olden days when brides were bought directly from +the parents, four wives became a positive luxury except to those who +possessed camels and dromedaries and date orchards beyond the dreams of +avarice. A religion which at first had been meant for the hardy hunters +of the high skied desert was gradually transformed to suit the needs +of the smug merchants who lived in the bazaars of the cities. It was a +regrettable change from the original program and it did very little good +to the cause of Mohammedanism. As for the prophet himself, he went on +preaching the truth of Allah and proclaiming new rules of conduct until +he died, quite suddenly, of a fever on June the seventh of the year 632. + +His successor as Caliph (or leader) of the Moslems was his +father-in-law, Abu-Bekr, who had shared the early dangers of the +prophet's life. Two years later, Abu-Bekr died and Omar ibn Al-Khattab +followed him. In less than ten years he conquered Egypt, Persia, +Phoenicia, Syria and Palestine and made Damascus the capital of the +first Mohammedan world empire. + +Omar was succeeded by Ali, the husband of Mohammed's daughter, Fatima, +but a quarrel broke out upon a point of Moslem doctrine and Ali was +murdered. After his death, the caliphate was made hereditary and the +leaders of the faithful who had begun their career as the spiritual head +of a religious sect became the rulers of a vast empire. They built a +new city on the shores of the Euphrates, near the ruins of Babylon and +called it Bagdad, and organising the Arab horsemen into regiments of +cavalry, they set forth to bring the happiness of their Moslem faith to +all unbelievers. In the year 700 A.D. a Mohammedan general by the name +of Tarik crossed the old gates of Hercules and reached the high rock on +the European side which he called the Gibel-al-tarik, the Hill of Tarik +or Gibraltar. + +Eleven years later in the battle of Xeres de la Frontera, he defeated +the king of the Visigoths and then the Moslem army moved northward +and following the route of Hannibal, they crossed the passes of the +Pyrenees. They defeated the Duke of Aquitania, who tried to halt them +near Bordeaux, and marched upon Paris. But in the year 732 (one hundred +years after the death of the prophet,) they were beaten in a battle +between Tours and Poitiers. On that day, Charles Martel (Charles with +the Hammer) the Frankish chieftain, saved Europe from a Mohammedan +con-quest. He drove the Moslems out of France, but they maintained +themselves in Spain where Abd-ar-Rahman founded the Caliphate of +Cordova, which became the greatest centre of science and art of +mediaeval Europe. + +This Moorish kingdom, so-called because the people came from Mauretania +in Morocco, lasted seven centuries. It was only after the capture of +Granada, the last Moslem stronghold, in the year 1492, that Columbus +received the royal grant which allowed him to go upon a voyage of +discovery. The Mohammedans soon regained their strength in the new +conquests which they made in Asia and Africa and to-day there are as +many followers of Mohammed as there are of Christ. + + + + +CHARLEMAGNE + +HOW CHARLEMAGNE, THE KING OF THE FRANKS, CAME TO BEAR THE TITLE OF +EMPEROR AND TRIED TO REVIVE THE OLD IDEAL OF WORLD-EMPIRE + + +THE battle of Poitiers had saved Europe from the Mohammedans. But the +enemy within--the hopeless disorder which had followed the disappearance +of the Roman police officer--that enemy remained. It is true that the +new converts of the Christian faith in Northern Europe felt a deep +respect for the mighty Bishop of Rome. But that poor bishop did not feel +any too safe when he looked toward the distant mountains. Heaven knew +what fresh hordes of barbarians were ready to cross the Alps and begin a +new attack on Rome. It was necessary--very necessary--for the spiritual +head of the world to find an ally with a strong sword and a powerful +fist who was willing to defend His Holiness in case of danger. + +And so the Popes, who were not only very holy but also very practical, +cast about for a friend, and presently they made overtures to the most +promising of the Germanic tribes who had occupied north-western Europe +after the fall of Rome. They were called the Franks. One of their +earliest kings, called Merovech, had helped the Romans in the battle of +the Catalaunian fields in the year 451 when they defeated the Huns. +His descendants, the Merovingians, had continued to take little bits of +imperial territory until the year 486 when king Clovis (the old French +word for "Louis") felt himself strong enough to beat the Romans in the +open. But his descendants were weak men who left the affairs of state to +their Prime minister, the "Major Domus" or Master of the Palace. + +Pepin the Short, the son of the famous Charles Martel, who succeeded his +father as Master of the Palace, hardly knew how to handle the situation. +His royal master was a devout theologian, without any interest in +politics. Pepin asked the Pope for advice. The Pope who was a practical +person answered that the "power in the state belonged to him who was +actually possessed of it." Pepin took the hint. He persuaded Childeric, +the last of the Merovingians to become a monk and then made himself king +with the approval of the other Germanic chieftains. But this did +not satisfy the shrewd Pepin. He wanted to be something more than a +barbarian chieftain. He staged an elaborate ceremony at which Boniface, +the great missionary of the European northwest, anointed him and made +him a "King by the grace of God." It was easy to slip those words, "Del +gratia," into the coronation service. It took almost fifteen hundred +years to get them out again. + +Pepin was sincerely grateful for this kindness on the part of the +church. He made two expeditions to Italy to defend the Pope against +his enemies. He took Ravenna and several other cities away from the +Longobards and presented them to His Holiness, who incorporated +these new domains into the so-called Papal State, which remained an +independent country until half a century ago. + +After Pepin's death, the relations between Rome and Aix-la-Chapelle or +Nymwegen or Ingelheim, (the Frankish Kings did not have one official +residence, but travelled from place to place with all their ministers +and court officers,) became more and more cordial. Finally the Pope and +the King took a step which was to influence the history of Europe in a +most profound way. + +Charles, commonly known as Carolus Magnus or Charlemagne, succeeded +Pepin in the year 768. He had conquered the land of the Saxons in +eastern Germany and had built towns and monasteries all over the +greater part of northern Europe. At the request of certain enemies +of Abd-ar-Rahman, he had invaded Spain to fight the Moors. But in the +Pyrenees he had been attacked by the wild Basques and had been forced +to retire. It was upon this occasion that Roland, the great Margrave of +Breton, showed what a Frankish chieftain of those early days meant when +he promised to be faithful to his King, and gave his life and that of +his trusted followers to safeguard the retreat of the royal army. + +During the last ten years of the eighth century, however, Charles was +obliged to devote himself exclusively to affairs of the South. The Pope, +Leo III, had been attacked by a band of Roman rowdies and had been left +for dead in the street. Some kind people had bandaged his wounds and had +helped him to escape to the camp of Charles, where he asked for help. An +army of Franks soon restored quiet and carried Leo back to the Lateran +Palace which ever since the days of Constantine, had been the home of +the Pope. That was in December of the year 799. On Christmas day of the +next year, Charlemagne, who was staying in Rome, attended the service +in the ancient church of St. Peter. When he arose from prayer, the +Pope placed a crown upon his head, called him Emperor of the Romans and +hailed him once more with the title of "Augustus" which had not been +heard for hundreds of years. + +Once more Northern Europe was part of a Roman Empire, but the dignity +was held by a German chieftain who could read just a little and never +learned to write. But he could fight and for a short while there was +order and even the rival emperor in Constantinople sent a letter of +approval to his "dear Brother." + +Unfortunately this splendid old man died in the year 814. His sons +and his grandsons at once began to fight for the largest share of the +imperial inheritance. Twice the Carolingian lands were divided, by +the treaties of Verdun in the year 843 and by the treaty of +Mersen-on-the-Meuse in the year 870. The latter treaty divided the +entire Frankish Kingdom into two parts. Charles the Bold received the +western half. It contained the old Roman province called Gaul where the +language of the people had become thoroughly romanized. The Franks soon +learned to speak this language and this accounts for the strange fact +that a purely Germanic land like France should speak a Latin tongue. + +The other grandson got the eastern part, the land which the Romans had +called Germania. Those inhospitable regions had never been part of +the old Empire. Augustus had tried to conquer this "far east," but his +legions had been annihilated in the Teutoburg Wood in the year 9 and the +people had never been influenced by the higher Roman civilisation. They +spoke the popular Germanic tongue. The Teuton word for "people" was +"thiot." The Christian missionaries therefore called the German language +the "lingua theotisca" or the "lingua teutisca," the "popular dialect" +and this word "teutisca" was changed into "Deutsch" which accounts for +the name "Deutschland." + +As for the famous Imperial Crown, it very soon slipped off the heads of +the Carolingian successors and rolled back onto the Italian plain, where +it became a sort of plaything of a number of little potentates who stole +the crown from each other amidst much bloodshed and wore it (with or +without the permission of the Pope) until it was the turn of some more +ambitious neighbour. The Pope, once more sorely beset by his enemies, +sent north for help. He did not appeal to the ruler of the west-Frankish +kingdom, this time. His messengers crossed the Alps and addressed +themselves to Otto, a Saxon Prince who was recognised as the greatest +chieftain of the different Germanic tribes. + +Otto, who shared his people's affection for the blue skies and the gay +and beautiful people of the Italian peninsula, hastened to the rescue. +In return for his services, the Pope, Leo VIII, made Otto "Emperor," +and the eastern half of Charles' old kingdom was henceforth known as the +"Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." + +This strange political creation managed to live to the ripe old age +of eight hundred and thirty-nine years. In the year 1801, (during the +presidency of Thomas Jefferson,) it was most unceremoniously relegated +to the historical scrapheap. The brutal fellow who destroyed the old +Germanic Empire was the son of a Corsican notary-public who had made a +brilliant career in the service of the French Republic. He was ruler of +Europe by the grace of his famous Guard Regiments, but he desired to be +something more. He sent to Rome for the Pope and the Pope came and stood +by while General Napoleon placed the imperial crown upon his own head +and proclaimed himself heir to the tradition of Charlemagne. For history +is like life. The more things change, the more they remain the same. + + + + +THE NORSEMEN + +WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE TENTH CENTURY PRAYED THE LORD TO PROTECT THEM FROM +THE FURY OF THE NORSEMEN + + +IN the third and fourth centuries, the Germanic tribes of central Europe +had broken through the defences of the Empire that they might plunder +Rome and live on the fat of the land. In the eighth century it became +the turn of the Germans to be the "plundered-ones." They did not +like this at all, even if their enemies were their first cousins, the +Norsemen, who lived in Denmark and Sweden and Norway. + +What forced these hardy sailors to turn pirate we do not know, but +once they had discovered the advantages and pleasures of a buccaneering +career there was no one who could stop them. They would suddenly descend +upon a peaceful Frankish or Frisian village, situated on the mouth of +a river. They would kill all the men and steal all the women. Then they +would sail away in their fast-sailing ships and when the soldiers of +the king or emperor arrived upon the scene, the robbers were gone and +nothing remained but a few smouldering ruins. + +During the days of disorder which followed the death of Charlemagne, the +Northmen developed great activity. Their fleets made raids upon every +country and their sailors established small independent kingdoms along +the coast of Holland and France and England and Germany, and they even +found their way into Italy. The Northmen were very intelligent They +soon learned to speak the language of their subjects and gave up the +uncivilised ways of the early Vikings (or Sea-Kings) who had been very +picturesque but also very unwashed and terribly cruel. + +Early in the tenth century a Viking by the name of Rollo had repeatedly +attacked the coast of France. The king of France, too weak to resist +these northern robbers, tried to bribe them into "being good." He +offered them the province of Normandy, if they would promise to stop +bothering the rest of his domains. Rollo accepted this bargain and +became "Duke of Normandy." + +But the passion of conquest was strong in the blood of his children. +Across the channel, only a few hours away from the European mainland, +they could see the white cliffs and the green fields of England. Poor +England had passed through difficult days. For two hundred years it had +been a Roman colony. After the Romans left, it had been conquered by the +Angles and the Saxons, two German tribes from Schleswig. Next the +Danes had taken the greater part of the country and had established the +kingdom of Cnut. The Danes had been driven away and now (it was early in +the eleventh century) another Saxon king, Edward the Confessor, was +on the throne. But Edward was not expected to live long and he had no +children. The circumstances favoured the ambitious dukes of Normandy. + +In 1066 Edward died. Immediately William of Normandy crossed the +channel, defeated and killed Harold of Wessex (who had taken the crown) +at the battle of Hastings, and proclaimed himself king of England. + +In another chapter I have told you how in the year 800 a German +chieftain had become a Roman Emperor. Now in the year 1066 the grandson +of a Norse pirate was recognised as King of England. + +Why should we ever read fairy stories, when the truth of history is so +much more interesting and entertaining? + + + + +FEUDALISM + +HOW CENTRAL EUROPE, ATTACKED FROM THREE SIDES, BECAME AN ARMED CAMP AND +WHY EUROPE WOULD HAVE PERISHED WITHOUT THOSE PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS AND +ADMINISTRATORS WHO WERE PART OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM + + +THE following, then, is the state of Europe in the year one thousand, +when most people were so unhappy that they welcomed the prophecy +foretelling the approaching end of the world and rushed to the +monasteries, that the Day of Judgement might find them engaged upon +devout duties. + +At an unknown date, the Germanic tribes had left their old home in Asia +and had moved westward into Europe. By sheer pressure of numbers they +had forced their way into the Roman Empire. They had destroyed the great +western empire, but the eastern part, being off the main route of +the great migrations, had managed to survive and feebly continued the +traditions of Rome's ancient glory. + +During the days of disorder which had followed, (the true "dark ages" of +history, the sixth and seventh centuries of our era,) the German tribes +had been persuaded to accept the Christian religion and had recognised +the Bishop of Rome as the Pope or spiritual head of the world. In the +ninth century, the organising genius of Charlemagne had revived the +Roman Empire and had united the greater part of western Europe into a +single state. During the tenth century this empire had gone to pieces. +The western part had become a separate kingdom, France. The eastern half +was known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, and the rulers +of this federation of states then pretended that they were the direct +heirs of Caesar and Augustus. + +Unfortunately the power of the kings of France did not stretch beyond +the moat of their royal residence, while the Holy Roman Emperor was +openly defied by his powerful subjects whenever it suited their fancy or +their profit. + +To increase the misery of the masses of the people, the triangle of +western Europe (look at page 128, please) was for ever exposed to +attacks from three sides. On the south lived the ever dangerous +Mohammedans. The western coast was ravaged by the Northmen. The eastern +frontier (defenceless except for the short stretch of the Carpathian +mountains) was at the mercy of hordes of Huns, Hungarians, Slavs and +Tartars. + +The peace of Rome was a thing of the remote past, a dream of the "Good +Old Days" that were gone for ever. It was a question of "fight or die," +and quite naturally people preferred to fight. Forced by circumstances, +Europe became an armed camp and there was a demand for strong +leadership. Both King and Emperor were far away. The frontiersmen (and +most of Europe in the year 1000 was "frontier") must help themselves. +They willingly submitted to the representatives of the king who were +sent to administer the outlying districts, PROVIDED THEY COULD PROTECT +THEM AGAINST THEIR ENEMIES. + +Soon central Europe was dotted with small principalities, each one ruled +by a duke or a count or a baron or a bishop, as the case might be, and +organised as a fighting unit. These dukes and counts and barons had +sworn to be faithful to the king who had given them their "feudum" +(hence our word "feudal,") in return for their loyal services and a +certain amount of taxes. But travel in those days was slow and the +means of communication were exceedingly poor. The royal or imperial +administrators therefore enjoyed great independence, and within the +boundaries of their own province they assumed most of the rights which +in truth belonged to the king. + +But you would make a mistake if you supposed that the people of the +eleventh century objected to this form of government. They supported +Feudalism because it was a very practical and necessary institution. +Their Lord and Master usually lived in a big stone house erected on the +top of a steep rock or built between deep moats, but within sight of his +subjects. In case of danger the subjects found shelter behind the walls +of the baronial stronghold. That is why they tried to live as near the +castle as possible and it accounts for the many European cities which +began their career around a feudal fortress. + +But the knight of the early middle ages was much more than a +professional soldier. He was the civil servant of that day. He was the +judge of his community and he was the chief of police. He caught the +highwaymen and protected the wandering pedlars who were the merchants of +the eleventh century. He looked after the dikes so that the countryside +should not be flooded (just as the first noblemen had done in the valley +of the Nile four thousand years before). He encouraged the Troubadours +who wandered from place to place telling the stories of the ancient +heroes who had fought in the great wars of the migrations. Besides, he +protected the churches and the monasteries within his territory, and +although he could neither read nor write, (it was considered unmanly to +know such things,) he employed a number of priests who kept his accounts +and who registered the marriages and the births and the deaths which +occurred within the baronial or ducal domains. + +In the fifteenth century the kings once more became strong enough to +exercise those powers which belonged to them because they were "anointed +of God." Then the feudal knights lost their former independence. Reduced +to the rank of country squires, they no longer filled a need and soon +they became a nuisance. But Europe would have perished without the +"feudal system" of the dark ages. There were many bad knights as there +are many bad people to-day. But generally speaking, the rough-fisted +barons of the twelfth and thirteenth century were hard-working +administrators who rendered a most useful service to the cause of +progress. During that era the noble torch of learning and art which had +illuminated the world of the Egyptians and the Greeks and the Romans was +burning very low. Without the knights and their good friends, the monks, +civilisation would have been extinguished entirely, and the human race +would have been forced to begin once more where the cave-man had left +off. + + + + +CHIVALRY + +CHIVALRY + + +IT was quite natural that the professional fighting-men of the Middle +Ages should try to establish some sort of organisation for their +mutual benefit and protection. Out of this need for close organisation, +Knighthood or Chivalry was born. + +We know very little about the origins of Knighthood. But as the system +developed, it gave the world something which it needed very badly--a +definite rule of conduct which softened the barbarous customs of that +day and made life more livable than it had been during the five hundred +years of the Dark Ages. It was not an easy task to civilise the rough +frontiersmen who had spent most of their time fighting Mohammedans and +Huns and Norsemen. Often they were guilty of backsliding, and having +vowed all sorts of oaths about mercy and charity in the morning, they +would murder all their prisoners before evening. But progress is +ever the result of slow and ceaseless labour, and finally the most +unscrupulous of knights was forced to obey the rules of his "class" or +suffer the consequences. + +These rules were different in the various parts of Europe, but they all +made much of "service" and "loyalty to duty." The Middle Ages regarded +service as something very noble and beautiful. It was no disgrace to be +a servant, provided you were a good servant and did not slacken on the +job. As for loyalty, at a time when life depended upon the faithful +per-formance of many unpleasant duties, it was the chief virtue of the +fighting man. + +A young knight therefore was asked to swear that he would be faithful as +a servant to God and as a servant to his King. Furthermore, he promised +to be generous to those whose need was greater than his own. He pledged +his word that he would be humble in his personal behaviour and would +never boast of his own accomplishments and that he would be a friend of +all those who suffered, (with the exception of the Mohammedans, whom he +was expected to kill on sight). + +Around these vows, which were merely the Ten Commandments expressed +in terms which the people of the Middle Ages could understand, there +developed a complicated system of manners and outward behaviour. The +knights tried to model their own lives after the example of those heroes +of Arthur's Round Table and Charlemagne's court of whom the Troubadours +had told them and of whom you may read in many delightful books which +are enumerated at the end of this volume. They hoped that they might +prove as brave as Lancelot and as faithful as Roland. They carried +themselves with dignity and they spoke careful and gracious words that +they might be known as True Knights, however humble the cut of their +coat or the size of their purse. + +In this way the order of Knighthood became a school of those good +manners which are the oil of the social machinery. Chivalry came to mean +courtesy and the feudal castle showed the rest of the world what clothes +to wear, how to eat, how to ask a lady for a dance and the thousand +and one little things of every-day behaviour which help to make life +interesting and agreeable. + +Like all human institutions, Knighthood was doomed to perish as soon as +it had outlived its usefulness. + +The crusades, about which one of the next chapters tells, were followed +by a great revival of trade. Cities grew overnight. The townspeople +became rich, hired good school teachers and soon were the equals of +the knights. The invention of gun-powder deprived the heavily armed +"Chevalier" of his former advantage and the use of mercenaries made it +impossible to conduct a battle with the delicate niceties of a chess +tournament. The knight became superfluous. Soon he became a ridiculous +figure, with his devotion to ideals that had no longer any practical +value. It was said that the noble Don Quixote de la Mancha had been the +last of the true knights. After his death, his trusted sword and his +armour were sold to pay his debts. + +But somehow or other that sword seems to have fallen into the hands of a +number of men. Washington carried it during the hopeless days of Valley +Forge. It was the only defence of Gordon, when he had refused to desert +the people who had been entrusted to his care, and stayed to meet his +death in the besieged fortress of Khartoum. + +And I am not quite sure but that it proved of invaluable strength in +winning the Great War. + + + + +POPE vs. EMPEROR + +THE STRANGE DOUBLE LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES AND HOW IT +LED TO ENDLESS QUARRELS BETWEEN THE POPES AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS + + +IT is very difficult to understand the people of by-gone ages. Your own +grandfather, whom you see every day, is a mysterious being who lives in +a different world of ideas and clothes and manners. I am now telling you +the story of some of your grandfathers who are twenty-five generations +removed, and I do not expect you to catch the meaning of what I write +without re-reading this chapter a number of times. + +The average man of the Middle Ages lived a very simple and uneventful +life. Even if he was a free citizen, able to come and go at will, he +rarely left his own neighbourhood. There were no printed books and only +a few manuscripts. Here and there, a small band of industrious monks +taught reading and writing and some arithmetic. But science and history +and geography lay buried beneath the ruins of Greece and Rome. + +Whatever people knew about the past they had learned by listening to +stories and legends. Such information, which goes from father to son, is +often slightly incorrect in details, but it will preserve the main +facts of history with astonishing accuracy. After more than two thousand +years, the mothers of India still frighten their naughty children by +telling them that "Iskander will get them," and Iskander is none other +than Alexander the Great, who visited India in the year 330 before the +birth of Christ, but whose story has lived through all these ages. + +The people of the early Middle Ages never saw a textbook of Roman +history. They were ignorant of many things which every school-boy to-day +knows before he has entered the third grade. But the Roman Empire, which +is merely a name to you, was to them something very much alive. They +felt it. They willingly recognised the Pope as their spiritual +leader because he lived in Rome and represented the idea of the Roman +super-power. And they were profoundly grateful when Charlemagne, and +afterwards Otto the Great, revived the idea of a world-empire and +created the Holy Roman Empire, that the world might again be as it +always had been. + +But the fact that there were two different heirs to the Roman tradition +placed the faithful burghers of the Middle Ages in a difficult position. +The theory behind the mediaeval political system was both sound and +simple. While the worldly master (the emperor) looked after the physical +well-being of his subjects, the spiritual master (the Pope) guarded +their souls. + +In practice, however, the system worked very badly. The Emperor +invariably tried to interfere with the affairs of the church and the +Pope retaliated and told the Emperor how he should rule his domains. +Then they told each other to mind their own business in very +unceremonious language and the inevitable end was war. + +Under those circumstances, what were the people to do, A good Christian +obeyed both the Pope and his King. But the Pope and the Emperor were +enemies. Which side should a dutiful subject and an equally dutiful +Christian take? + +It was never easy to give the correct answer. When the Emperor happened +to be a man of energy and was sufficiently well provided with money to +organise an army, he was very apt to cross the Alps and march on Rome, +besiege the Pope in his own palace if need be, and force His Holiness to +obey the imperial instructions or suffer the consequences. + +But more frequently the Pope was the stronger. Then the Emperor or the +King together with all his subjects was excommunicated. This meant that +all churches were closed, that no one could be baptised, that no dying +man could be given absolution--in short, that half of the functions of +mediaeval government came to an end. + +More than that, the people were absolved from their oath of loyalty to +their sovereign and were urged to rebel against their master. But if +they followed this advice of the distant Pope and were caught, they were +hanged by their near-by Lege Lord and that too was very unpleasant. + +Indeed, the poor fellows were in a difficult position and none fared +worse than those who lived during the latter half of the eleventh +century, when the Emperor Henry IV of Germany and Pope Gregory VII +fought a two-round battle which decided nothing and upset the peace of +Europe for almost fifty years. + +In the middle of the eleventh century there had been a strong movement +for reform in the church. The election of the Popes, thus far, had +been a most irregular affair. It was to the advantage of the Holy Roman +Emperors to have a well-disposed priest elected to the Holy See. They +frequently came to Rome at the time of election and used their influence +for the benefit of one of their friends. + +In the year 1059 this had been changed. By a decree of Pope Nicholas +II the principal priests and deacons of the churches in and around +Rome were organised into the so-called College of Cardinals, and this +gathering of prominent churchmen (the word "Cardinal" meant principal) +was given the exclusive power of electing the future Popes. + +In the year 1073 the College of Cardinals elected a priest by the name +of Hildebrand, the son of very simple parents in Tuscany, as Pope, and +he took the name of Gregory VII. His energy was unbounded. His belief in +the supreme powers of his Holy Office was built upon a granite rock of +conviction and courage. In the mind of Gregory, the Pope was not only +the absolute head of the Christian church, but also the highest Court of +Appeal in all worldly matters. The Pope who had elevated simple German +princes to the dignity of Emperor could depose them at will. He could +veto any law passed by duke or king or emperor, but whosoever should +question a papal decree, let him beware, for the punishment would be +swift and merciless. + +Gregory sent ambassadors to all the European courts to inform the +potentates of Europe of his new laws and asked them to take due notice +of their contents. William the Conqueror promised to be good, but Henry +IV, who since the age of six had been fighting with his subjects, had no +intention of submitting to the Papal will. He called together a college +of German bishops, accused Gregory of every crime under the sun and then +had him deposed by the council of Worms. + +The Pope answered with excommunication and a demand that the German +princes rid themselves of their unworthy ruler. The German princes, only +too happy to be rid of Henry, asked the Pope to come to Augsburg and +help them elect a new Emperor. + +Gregory left Rome and travelled northward. Henry, who was no fool, +appreciated the danger of his position. At all costs he must make peace +with the Pope, and he must do it at once. In the midst of winter he +crossed the Alps and hastened to Canossa where the Pope had stopped for +a short rest. Three long days, from the 25th to the 28th of January of +the year 1077, Henry, dressed as a penitent pilgrim (but with a warm +sweater underneath his monkish garb), waited outside the gates of the +castle of Canossa. Then he was allowed to enter and was pardoned for +his sins. But the repentance did not last long. As soon as Henry +had returned to Germany, he behaved exactly as before. Again he was +excommunicated. For the second time a council of German bishops deposed +Gregory, but this time, when Henry crossed the Alps he was at the head +of a large army, besieged Rome and forced Gregory to retire to Salerno, +where he died in exile. This first violent outbreak decided nothing. As +soon as Henry was back in Germany, the struggle between Pope and Emperor +was continued. + +The Hohenstaufen family which got hold of the Imperial German Throne +shortly afterwards, were even more independent than their predecessors. +Gregory had claimed that the Popes were superior to all kings because +they (the Popes) at the Day of Judgement would be responsible for the +behaviour of all the sheep of their flock, and in the eyes of God, a +king was one of that faithful herd. + +Frederick of Hohenstaufen, commonly known as Barbarossa or Red Beard, +set up the counter-claim that the Empire had been bestowed upon his +predecessor "by God himself" and as the Empire included Italy and Rome, +he began a campaign which was to add these "lost provinces" to the +northern country. Barbarossa was accidentally drowned in Asia Minor +during the second Crusade, but his son Frederick II, a brilliant +young man who in his youth had been exposed to the civilisation of +the Mohammedans of Sicily, continued the war. The Popes accused him of +heresy. It is true that Frederick seems to have felt a deep and serious +contempt for the rough Christian world of the North, for the boorish +German Knights and the intriguing Italian priests. But he held his +tongue, went on a Crusade and took Jerusalem from the infidel and was +duly crowned as King of the Holy City. Even this act did not placate +the Popes. They deposed Frederick and gave his Italian possessions to +Charles of Anjou, the brother of that King Louis of France who became +famous as Saint Louis. This led to more warfare. Conrad V, the son +of Conrad IV, and the last of the Hohenstaufens, tried to regain the +kingdom, and was defeated and decapitated at Naples. But twenty years +later, the French who had made themselves thoroughly unpopular in Sicily +were all murdered during the so-called Sicilian Vespers, and so it went. + +The quarrel between the Popes and the Emperors was never settled, but +after a while the two enemies learned to leave each other alone. + +In the year 1278, Rudolph of Hapsburg was elected Emperor. He did not +take the trouble to go to Rome to be crowned. The Popes did not object +and in turn they kept away from Germany. This meant peace but two +entire centuries which might have been used for the purpose of internal +organisation had been wasted in useless warfare. + +It is an ill wind however that bloweth no good to some one. The little +cities of Italy, by a process of careful balancing, had managed to +increase their power and their independence at the expense of both +Emperors and Popes. When the rush for the Holy Land began, they were +able to handle the transportation problem of the thousands of eager +pilgrims who were clamoring for passage, and at the end of the Crusades +they had built themselves such strong defences of brick and of gold that +they could defy Pope and Emperor with equal indifference. + +Church and State fought each other and a third party--the mediaeval +city--ran away with the spoils. + + + + +THE CRUSADES + +BUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT QUARRELS WERE FORGOTTEN WHEN THE TURKS TOOK THE +HOLY LAND, DESECRATED THE HOLY PLACES AND INTERFERED SERIOUSLY WITH THE +TRADE FROM EAST TO WEST. EUROPE WENT CRUSADING + + +DURING three centuries there had been peace between Christians and +Moslems except in Spain and in the eastern Roman Empire, the two states +defending the gateways of Europe. The Mohammedans having conquered Syria +in the seventh century were in possession of the Holy Land. But +they regarded Jesus as a great prophet (though not quite as great as +Mohammed), and they did not interfere with the pilgrims who wished +to pray in the church which Saint Helena, the mother of the Emperor +Constantine, had built on the spot of the Holy Grave. But early in the +eleventh century, a Tartar tribe from the wilds of Asia, called the +Seljuks or Turks, became masters of the Mohammedan state in western Asia +and then the period of tolerance came to an end. The Turks took all of +Asia Minor away from the eastern Roman Emperors and they made an end to +the trade between east and west. + +Alexis, the Emperor, who rarely saw anything of his Christian neighbours +of the west, appealed for help and pointed to the danger which +threatened Europe should the Turks take Constantinople. + +The Italian cities which had established colonies along the coast +of Asia Minor and Palestine, in fear for their possessions, reported +terrible stories of Turkish atrocities and Christian suffering. All +Europe got excited. + +Pope Urban II, a Frenchman from Reims, who had been educated at the same +famous cloister of Cluny which had trained Gregory VII, thought that +the time had come for action. The general state of Europe was far from +satisfactory. The primitive agricultural methods of that day (unchanged +since Roman times) caused a constant scarcity of food. There was +unemployment and hunger and these are apt to lead to discontent and +riots. Western Asia in older days had fed millions. It was an excellent +field for the purpose of immigration. + +Therefore at the council of Clermont in France in the year 1095 the Pope +arose, described the terrible horrors which the infidels had inflicted +upon the Holy Land, gave a glowing description of this country which +ever since the days of Moses had been overflowing with milk and honey, +and exhorted the knights of France and the people of Europe in general +to leave wife and child and deliver Palestine from the Turks. + +A wave of religious hysteria swept across the continent. All reason +stopped. Men would drop their hammer and saw, walk out of their shop and +take the nearest road to the east to go and kill Turks. Children would +leave their homes to "go to Palestine" and bring the terrible Turks +to their knees by the mere appeal of their youthful zeal and Christian +piety. Fully ninety percent of those enthusiasts never got within sight +of the Holy Land. They had no money. They were forced to beg or steal to +keep alive. They became a danger to the safety of the highroads and they +were killed by the angry country people. + +The first Crusade, a wild mob of honest Christians, defaulting +bankrupts, penniless noblemen and fugitives from justice, following the +lead of half-crazy Peter the Hermit and Walter-without-a-Cent, began +their campaign against the Infidels by murdering all the Jews whom +they met by the way. They got as far as Hungary and then they were all +killed. + +This experience taught the Church a lesson. Enthusiasm alone would not +set the Holy Land free. Organisation was as necessary as good-will and +courage. A year was spent in training and equipping an army of 200,000 +men. They were placed under command of Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert, duke +of Normandy, Robert, count of Flanders, and a number of other noblemen, +all experienced in the art of war. + +In the year 1096 this second crusade started upon its long voyage. At +Constantinople the knights did homage to the Emperor. (For as I have +told you, traditions die hard, and a Roman Emperor, however poor and +powerless, was still held in great respect). Then they crossed into +Asia, killed all the Moslems who fell into their hands, stormed +Jerusalem, massacred the Mohammedan population, and marched to the Holy +Sepulchre to give praise and thanks amidst tears of piety and gratitude. +But soon the Turks were strengthened by the arrival of fresh troops. +Then they retook Jerusalem and in turn killed the faithful followers of +the Cross. + +During the next two centuries, seven other crusades took place. +Gradually the Crusaders learned the technique of the trip. The land +voyage was too tedious and too dangerous. They preferred to cross the +Alps and go to Genoa or Venice where they took ship for the east. +The Genoese and the Venetians made this trans-Mediterranean passenger +service a very profitable business. They charged exorbitant rates, and +when the Crusaders (most of whom had very little money) could not pay +the price, these Italian "profiteers" kindly allowed them to "work their +way across." In return for a fare from Venice to Acre, the Crusader +undertook to do a stated amount of fighting for the owners of his +vessel. In this way Venice greatly increased her territory along the +coast of the Adriatic and in Greece, where Athens became a Venetian +colony, and in the islands of Cyprus and Crete and Rhodes. + +All this, however, helped little in settling the question of the Holy +Land. After the first enthusiasm had worn off, a short crusading trip +became part of the liberal education of every well-bred young man, and +there never was any lack of candidates for service in Palestine. But the +old zeal was gone. The Crusaders, who had begun their warfare with deep +hatred for the Mohammedans and great love for the Christian people of +the eastern Roman Empire and Armenia, suffered a complete change of +heart. They came to despise the Greeks of Byzantium, who cheated them +and frequently betrayed the cause of the Cross, and the Armenians and +all the other Levantine races, and they began to appreciate the virtues +of their enemies who proved to be generous and fair opponents. + +Of course, it would never do to say this openly. But when the Crusader +returned home, he was likely to imitate the manners which he had learned +from his heathenish foe, compared to whom the average western knight was +still a good deal of a country bumpkin. He also brought with him several +new food-stuffs, such as peaches and spinach which he planted in his +garden and grew for his own benefit. He gave up the barbarous custom of +wearing a load of heavy armour and appeared in the flowing robes of +silk or cotton which were the traditional habit of the followers of +the Prophet and were originally worn by the Turks. Indeed the Crusades, +which had begun as a punitive expedition against the Heathen, became +a course of general instruction in civilisation for millions of young +Europeans. + +From a military and political point of view the Crusades were a failure. +Jerusalem and a number of cities were taken and lost. A dozen little +kingdoms were established in Syria and Palestine and Asia Minor, but +they were re-conquered by the Turks and after the year 1244 (when +Jerusalem became definitely Turkish) the status of the Holy Land was the +same as it had been before 1095. + +But Europe had undergone a great change. The people of the west had been +allowed a glimpse of the light and the sunshine and the beauty of the +east. Their dreary castles no longer satisfied them. They wanted a +broader life. Neither Church nor State could give this to them. + +They found it in the cities. + + + + +THE MEDIAEVAL CITY + +WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES SAID THAT "CITY AIR IS FREE AIR" + + +THE early part of the Middle Ages had been an era of pioneering and of +settlement. A new people, who thus far had lived outside the wild range +of forest, mountains and marshes which protected the north-eastern +frontier of the Roman Empire, had forced its way into the plains of +western Europe and had taken possession of most of the land. They were +restless, as all pioneers have been since the beginning of time. They +liked to be "on the go." They cut down the forests and they cut each +other's throats with equal energy. Few of them wanted to live in cities. +They insisted upon being "free," they loved to feel the fresh air of +the hillsides fill their lungs while they drove their herds across the +wind-swept pastures. When they no longer liked their old homes, they +pulled up stakes and went away in search of fresh adventures. + +The weaker ones died. The hardy fighters and the courageous women who +had followed their men into the wilderness survived. In this way they +developed a strong race of men. They cared little for the graces of +life. They were too busy to play the fiddle or write pieces of poetry. +They had little love for discussions. The priest, "the learned man" of +the village (and before the middle of the thirteenth century, a layman +who could read and write was regarded as a "sissy") was supposed to +settle all questions which had no direct practical value. Meanwhile the +German chieftain, the Frankish Baron, the Northman Duke (or whatever +their names and titles) occupied their share of the territory which +once had been part of the great Roman Empire and among the ruins of past +glory, they built a world of their own which pleased them mightily and +which they considered quite perfect. + +They managed the affairs of their castle and the surrounding country to +the best of their ability. They were as faithful to the commandments of +the Church as any weak mortal could hope to be. They were sufficiently +loyal to their king or emperor to keep on good terms with those distant +but always dangerous potentates. In short, they tried to do right and +to be fair to their neighbours without being exactly unfair to their own +interests. + +It was not an ideal world in which they found themselves. The greater +part of the people were serfs or "villains," farm-hands who were as much +a part of the soil upon which they lived as the cows and sheep whose +stables they shared. Their fate was not particularly happy nor was it +particularly unhappy. But what was one to do? The good Lord who ruled +the world of the Middle Ages had undoubtedly ordered everything for the +best. If He, in his wisdom, had decided that there must be both knights +and serfs, it was not the duty of these faithful sons of the church to +question the arrangement. The serfs therefore did not complain but when +they were too hard driven, they would die off like cattle which are not +fed and stabled in the right way, and then something would be hastily +done to better their condition. But if the progress of the world had +been left to the serf and his feudal master, we would still be living +after the fashion of the twelfth century, saying "abracadabra" when we +tried to stop a tooth-ache, and feeling a deep contempt and hatred for +the dentist who offered to help us with his "science," which most likely +was of Mohammedan or heathenish origin and therefore both wicked and +useless. + +When you grow up you will discover that many people do not believe in +"progress" and they will prove to you by the terrible deeds of some of +our own contemporaries that "the world does not change." But I hope +that you will not pay much attention to such talk. You see, it took +our ancestors almost a million years to learn how to walk on their +hind legs. Other centuries had to go by before their animal-like +grunts developed into an understandable language. Writing--the art of +preserving our ideas for the benefit of future generations, without +which no progress is possible was invented only four thousand years ago. +The idea of turning the forces of nature into the obedient servants of +man was quite new in the days of your own grandfather. It seems to me, +therefore, that we are making progress at an unheard-of rate of speed. +Perhaps we have paid a little too much attention to the mere physical +comforts of life. That will change in due course of time and we shall +then attack the problems which are not related to health and to wages +and plumbing and machinery in general. + +But please do not be too sentimental about the "good old days." Many +people who only see the beautiful churches and the great works of art +which the Middle Ages have left behind grow quite eloquent when they +compare our own ugly civilisation with its hurry and its noise and the +evil smells of backfiring motor trucks with the cities of a thousand +years ago. But these mediaeval churches were invariably surrounded by +miserable hovels compared to which a modern tenement house stands +forth as a luxurious palace. It is true that the noble Lancelot and the +equally noble Parsifal, the pure young hero who went in search of the +Holy Grail, were not bothered by the odor of gasoline. But there were +other smells of the barnyard variety--odors of decaying refuse which +had been thrown into the street--of pig-sties surrounding the Bishop's +palace--of unwashed people who had inherited their coats and hats from +their grandfathers and who had never learned the blessing of soap. I +do not want to paint too unpleasant a picture. But when you read in the +ancient chronicles that the King of France, looking out of the windows +of his palace, fainted at the stench caused by the pigs rooting in the +streets of Paris, when an ancient manuscript recounts a few details of +an epidemic of the plague or of small-pox, then you begin to under-stand +that "progress" is something more than a catchword used by modern +advertising men. + +No, the progress of the last six hundred years would not have been +possible without the existence of cities. I shall, therefore, have to +make this chapter a little longer than many of the others. It is +too important to be reduced to three or four pages, devoted to mere +political events. + +The ancient world of Egypt and Babylonia and Assyria had been a world +of cities. Greece had been a country of City-States. The history of +Phoenicia was the history of two cities called Sidon and Tyre. The Roman +Empire was the "hinterland" of a single town. Writing, art, science, +astronomy, architecture, literature, the theatre--the list is +endless--have all been products of the city. + +For almost four thousand years the wooden bee-hive which we call a town +had been the workshop of the world. Then came the great migrations. The +Roman Empire was destroyed. The cities were burned down and Europe once +more became a land of pastures and little agricultural villages. During +the Dark Ages the fields of civilisation had lain fallow. + +The Crusades had prepared the soil for a new crop. It was time for the +harvest, but the fruit was plucked by the burghers of the free cities. + +I have told you the story of the castles and the monasteries, with their +heavy stone enclosures--the homes of the knights and the monks, who +guarded men's bodies and their souls. You have seen how a few artisans +(butchers and bakers and an occasional candle-stick maker) came to +live near the castle to tend to the wants of their masters and to find +protection in case of danger. Sometimes the feudal lord allowed these +people to surround their houses with a stockade. But they were dependent +for their living upon the good-will of the mighty Seigneur of the +castle. When he went about they knelt before him and kissed his hand. + +Then came the Crusades and many things changed. The migrations had +driven people from the north-east to the west. The Crusades made +millions of people travel from the west to the highly civilised regions +of the south-east. They discovered that the world was not bounded by the +four walls of their little settlement. They came to appreciate better +clothes, more comfortable houses, new dishes, products of the mysterious +Orient. After their return to their old homes, they insisted that they +be supplied with those articles. The peddler with his pack upon his +back--the only merchant of the Dark Ages--added these goods to his old +merchandise, bought a cart, hired a few ex-crusaders to protect him +against the crime wave which followed this great international war, +and went forth to do business upon a more modern and larger scale. His +career was not an easy one. Every time he entered the domains of another +Lord he had to pay tolls and taxes. But the business was profitable all +the same and the peddler continued to make his rounds. + +Soon certain energetic merchants discovered that the goods which they +had always imported from afar could be made at home. They turned part +of their homes into a workgshop.{sic} They ceased to be merchants and +became manufacturers. They sold their products not only to the lord of +the castle and to the abbot in his monastery, but they exported them to +nearby towns. The lord and the abbot paid them with products of their +farms, eggs and wines, and with honey, which in those early days was +used as sugar. But the citizens of distant towns were obliged to pay in +cash and the manufacturer and the merchant began to own little pieces of +gold, which entirely changed their position in the society of the early +Middle Ages. + +It is difficult for you to imagine a world without money. In a modern +city one cannot possible live without money. All day long you carry a +pocket full of small discs of metal to "pay your way." You need a nickel +for the street-car, a dollar for a dinner, three cents for an evening +paper. But many people of the early Middle Ages never saw a piece of +coined money from the time they were born to the day of their death. The +gold and silver of Greece and Rome lay buried beneath the ruins of their +cities. The world of the migrations, which had succeeded the Empire, was +an agricultural world. Every farmer raised enough grain and enough sheep +and enough cows for his own use. + +The mediaeval knight was a country squire and was rarely forced to pay +for materials in money. His estates produced everything that he and his +family ate and drank and wore on their backs. The bricks for his house +were made along the banks of the nearest river. Wood for the rafters of +the hall was cut from the baronial forest. The few articles that had to +come from abroad were paid for in goods--in honey--in eggs--in fagots. + +But the Crusades upset the routine of the old agricultural life in a +very drastic fashion. Suppose that the Duke of Hildesheim was going to +the Holy Land. He must travel thousands of miles and he must pay his +passage and his hotel-bills. At home he could pay with products of his +farm. But he could not well take a hundred dozen eggs and a cart-load +of hams with him to satisfy the greed of the shipping agent of Venice or +the inn-keeper of the Brenner Pass. These gentlemen insisted upon cash. +His Lordship therefore was obliged to take a small quantity of gold with +him upon his voyage. Where could he find this gold? He could borrow it +from the Lombards, the descendants of the old Longobards, who had turned +professional money-lenders, who seated behind their exchange-table +(commonly known as "banco" or bank) were glad to let his Grace have a +few hundred gold pieces in exchange for a mortgage upon his estates, +that they might be repaid in case His Lordship should die at the hands +of the Turks. + +That was dangerous business for the borrower. In the end, the Lombards +invariably owned the estates and the Knight became a bankrupt, who +hired himself out as a fighting man to a more powerful and more careful +neighbour. + +His Grace could also go to that part of the town where the Jews were +forced to live. There he could borrow money at a rate of fifty or sixty +percent. interest. That, too, was bad business. But was there a way out? +Some of the people of the little city which surrounded the castle were +said to have money. They had known the young lord all his life. His +father and their fathers had been good friends. They would not be +unreasonable in their demands. Very well. His Lordship's clerk, a +monk who could write and keep accounts, sent a note to the best known +merchants and asked for a small loan. The townspeople met in the +work-room of the jeweller who made chalices for the nearby churches and +discussed this demand. They could not well refuse. It would serve no +purpose to ask for "interest." In the first place, it was against the +religious principles of most people to take interest and in the second +place, it would never be paid except in agricultural products and of +these the people had enough and to spare. + +"But," suggested the tailor who spent his days quietly sitting upon his +table and who was somewhat of a philosopher, "suppose that we ask some +favour in return for our money. We are all fond of fishing. But his +Lordship won't let us fish in his brook. Suppose that we let him have +a hundred ducats and that he give us in return a written guarantee +allowing us to fish all we want in all of his rivers. Then he gets the +hundred which he needs, but we get the fish and it will be good business +all around." + +The day his Lordship accepted this proposition (it seemed such an easy +way of getting a hundred gold pieces) he signed the death-warrant of his +own power. His clerk drew up the agreement. His Lordship made his mark +(for he could not sign his name) and departed for the East. Two years +later he came back, dead broke. The townspeople were fishing in the +castle pond. The sight of this silent row of anglers annoyed his +Lordship. He told his equerry to go and chase the crowd away. They went, +but that night a delegation of merchants visited the castle. They were +very polite. They congratulated his Lordship upon his safe return. They +were sorry his Lordship had been annoyed by the fishermen, but as his +Lordship might perhaps remember he had given them permission to do so +himself, and the tailor produced the Charter which had been kept in the +safe of the jeweller ever since the master had gone to the Holy Land. + +His Lordship was much annoyed. But once more he was in dire need of some +money. In Italy he had signed his name to certain documents which were +now in the possession of Salvestro dei Medici, the well-known banker. +These documents were "promissory notes" and they were due two months +from date. Their total amount came to three hundred and forty pounds, +Flemish gold. Under these circumstances, the noble knight could not well +show the rage which filled his heart and his proud soul. Instead, he +suggested another little loan. The merchants retired to discuss the +matter. + +After three days they came back and said "yes." They were only too happy +to be able to help their master in his difficulties, but in return +for the 345 golden pounds would he give them another written promise +(another charter) that they, the townspeople, might establish a council +of their own to be elected by all the merchants and free citizens of the +city, said council to manage civic affairs without interference from the +side of the castle? + +His Lordship was confoundedly angry. But again, he needed the money. He +said yes, and signed the charter. Next week, he repented. He called +his soldiers and went to the house of the jeweller and asked for the +documents which his crafty subjects had cajoled out of him under the +pressure of circumstances. He took them away and burned them. The +townspeople stood by and said nothing. But when next his Lordship needed +money to pay for the dowry of his daughter, he was unable to get a +single penny. After that little affair at the jeweller's his credit was +not considered good. He was forced to eat humble-pie and offer to make +certain reparations. Before his Lordship got the first installment of +the stipulated sum, the townspeople were once more in possession of all +their old charters and a brand new one which permitted them to build +a "city-hall" and a strong tower where all the charters might be kept +protected against fire and theft, which really meant protected against +future violence on the part of the Lord and his armed followers. + +This, in a very general way, is what happened during the centuries which +followed the Crusades. It was a slow process, this gradual shifting +of power from the castle to the city. There was some fighting. A few +tailors and jewellers were killed and a few castles went up in smoke. +But such occurrences were not common. Almost imperceptibly the towns +grew richer and the feudal lords grew poorer. To maintain themselves +they were for ever forced to exchange charters of civic liberty in +return for ready cash. The cities grew. They offered an asylum to +run-away serfs who gained their liberty after they had lived a number +of years behind the city walls. They came to be the home of the more +energetic elements of the surrounding country districts. They were proud +of their new importance and expressed their power in the churches and +public buildings which they erected around the old market place, where +centuries before the barter of eggs and sheep and honey and salt had +taken place. They wanted their children to have a better chance in life +than they had enjoyed themselves. They hired monks to come to their +city and be school teachers. When they heard of a man who could paint +pictures upon boards of wood, they offered him a pension if he would +come and cover the walls of their chapels and their town hall with +scenes from the Holy Scriptures. + +Meanwhile his Lordship, in the dreary and drafty halls of his castle, +saw all this up-start splendour and regretted the day when first he had +signed away a single one of his sovereign rights and prerogatives. But +he was helpless. The townspeople with their well-filled strong-boxes +snapped their fingers at him. They were free men, fully prepared to hold +what they had gained by the sweat of their brow and after a struggle +which had lasted for more than ten generations. + + + + +MEDIAEVAL SELF-GOVERNMENT + +HOW THE PEOPLE OF THE CITIES ASSERTED THEIR RIGHT TO BE HEARD IN THE +ROYAL COUNCILS OF THEIR COUNTRY + + +As long as people were "nomads," wandering tribes of shepherds, all men +had been equal and had been responsible for the welfare and safety of +the entire community. + +But after they had settled down and some had become rich and others had +grown poor, the government was apt to fall into the hands of those +who were not obliged to work for their living and who could devote +themselves to politics. + +I have told you how this had happened in Egypt and in Mesopotamia and in +Greece and in Rome. It occurred among the Germanic population of western +Europe as soon as order had been restored. The western European world +was ruled in the first place by an emperor who was elected by the seven +or eight most important kings of the vast Roman Empire of the German +nation and who enjoyed a great deal of imaginary and very little actual +power. It was ruled by a number of kings who sat upon shaky thrones. The +every-day government was in the hands of thousands of feudal princelets. +Their subjects were peasants or serfs. There were few cities. There was +hardly any middle class. But during the thirteenth century (after an +absence of almost a thousand years) the middle class--the merchant +class--once more appeared upon the historical stage and its rise +in power, as we saw in the last chapter, had meant a decrease in the +influence of the castle folk. + +Thus far, the king, in ruling his domains, had only paid attention to +the wishes of his noblemen and his bishops. But the new world of trade +and commerce which grew out of the Crusades forced him to recognise +the middle class or suffer from an ever-increasing emptiness of his +exchequer. Their majesties (if they had followed their hidden wishes) +would have as lief consulted their cows and their pigs as the good +burghers of their cities. But they could not help themselves. They +swallowed the bitter pill because it was gilded, but not without a +struggle. + +In England, during the absence of Richard the Lion Hearted (who had gone +to the Holy Land, but who was spending the greater part of his crusading +voyage in an Austrian jail) the government of the country had been +placed in the hands of John, a brother of Richard, who was his inferior +in the art of war, but his equal as a bad administrator. John had begun +his career as a regent by losing Normandy and the greater part of the +French possessions. Next, he had managed to get into a quarrel with +Pope Innocent III, the famous enemy of the Hohenstaufens. The Pope had +excommunicated John (as Gregory VII had excommunicated the Emperor Henry +IV two centuries before). In the year 1213 John had been obliged to make +an ignominious peace just as Henry IV had been obliged to do in the year +1077. + +Undismayed by his lack of success, John continued to abuse his royal +power until his disgruntled vassals made a prisoner of their anointed +ruler and forced him to promise that he would be good and would never +again interfere with the ancient rights of his subjects. All this +happened on a little island in the Thames, near the village of +Runnymede, on the 15th of June of the year 1215. The document to which +John signed his name was called the Big Charter--the Magna Carta. It +contained very little that was new. It re-stated in short and direct +sentences the ancient duties of the king and enumerated the privileges +of his vassals. It paid little attention to the rights (if any) of +the vast majority of the people, the peasants, but it offered certain +securities to the rising class of the merchants. It was a charter of +great importance because it defined the powers of the king with more +precision than had ever been done before. But it was still a purely +mediaeval document. It did not refer to common human beings, unless they +happened to be the property of the vassal, which must be safe-guarded +against royal tyranny just as the Baronial woods and cows were protected +against an excess of zeal on the part of the royal foresters. + +A few years later, however, we begin to hear a very different note in +the councils of His Majesty. + +John, who was bad, both by birth and inclination, solemnly had promised +to obey the great charter and then had broken every one of its many +stipulations. Fortunately, he soon died and was succeeded by his son +Henry III, who was forced to recognise the charter anew. Meanwhile, +Uncle Richard, the Crusader, had cost the country a great deal of money +and the king was obliged to ask for a few loans that he might pay his +obligations to the Jewish money-lenders. The large land-owners and the +bishops who acted as councillors to the king could not provide him with +the necessary gold and silver. The king then gave orders that a few +representatives of the cities be called upon to attend the sessions of +his Great Council. They made their first appearance in the year 1265. +They were supposed to act only as financial experts who were not +supposed to take a part in the general discussion of matters of state, +but to give advice exclusively upon the question of taxation. + +Gradually, however, these representatives of the "commons" were +consulted upon many of the problems and the meeting of noblemen, bishops +and city delegates developed into a regular Parliament, a place "ou l'on +parfait," which means in English where people talked, before important +affairs of state were decided upon. + +But the institution of such a general advisory-board with certain +executive powers was not an English invention, as seems to ke the +general belief, and government by a "king and his parliament" was by no +means restricted to the British Isles. You will find it in every part of +Europe. In some countries, like France, the rapid increase of the Royal +power after the Middle Ages reduced the influence of the "parliament" +to nothing. In the year 1302 representatives of the cities had been +admitted to the meeting of the French Parliament, but five centuries had +to pass before this "Parliament" was strong enough to assert the rights +of the middle class, the so-called Third Estate, and break the power +of the king. Then they made up for lost time and during the French +Revolution, abolished the king, the clergy and the nobles and made the +representatives of the common people the rulers of the land. In Spain +the "cortex" (the king's council) had been opened to the commoners as +early as the first half of the twelfth century. In the Germain Empire, +a number of important cities had obtained the rank of "imperial cities" +whose representatives must be heard in the imperial diet. + +In Sweden, representatives of the people attended the sessions of the +Riksdag at the first meeting of the year 1359. In Denmark the Daneholf, +the ancient national assembly, was re-established in 1314, and, although +the nobles often regained control of the country at the expense of +the king and the people, the representatives of the cities were never +completely deprived of their power. + +In the Scandinavian country, the story of representative government is +particularly interesting. In Iceland, the "Althing," the assembly of all +free landowners, who managed the affairs of the island, began to hold +regular meetings in the ninth century and continued to do so for more +than a thousand years. + +In Switzerland, the freemen of the different cantons defended their +assemblies against the attempts of a number of feudal neighbours with +great success. + +Finally, in the Low Countries, in Holland, the councils of the different +duchies and counties were attended by representatives of the third +estate as early as the thirteenth century. + +In the sixteenth century a number of these small provinces rebelled +against their king, abjured his majesty in a solemn meeting of the +"Estates General," removed the clergy from the discussions, broke +the power of the nobles and assumed full executive authority over the +newly-established Republic of the United Seven Netherlands. For two +centuries, the representatives of the town-councils ruled the country +without a king, without bishops and without noblemen. The city had +become supreme and the good burghers had become the rulers of the land. + + + + +THE MEDIAEVAL WORLD + +WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES THOUGHT OF THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY +HAPPENED TO LIVE + + +DATES are a very useful invention. We could not do without them but +unless we are very careful, they will play tricks with us. They are +apt to make history too precise. For example, when I talk of the +point-of-view of mediaeval man, I do not mean that on the 31st of +December of the year 476, suddenly all the people of Europe said, "Ah, +now the Roman Empire has come to an end and we are living in the Middle +Ages. How interesting!" + +You could have found men at the Frankish court of Charlemagne who were +Romans in their habits, in their manners, in their out-look upon life. +On the other hand, when you grow up you will discover that some of the +people in this world have never passed beyond the stage of the cave-man. +All times and all ages overlap, and the ideas of succeeding generations +play tag with each other. But it is possible to study the minds of a +good many true representatives of the Middle Ages and then give you an +idea of the average man's attitude toward life and the many difficult +problems of living. + +First of all, remember that the people of the Middle Ages never thought +of themselves as free-born citizens, who could come and go at will and +shape their fate according to their ability or energy or luck. On the +contrary, they all considered themselves part of the general scheme of +things, which included emperors and serfs, popes and heretics, heroes +and swashbucklers, rich men, poor men, beggar men and thieves. They +accepted this divine ordinance and asked no questions. In this, of +course, they differed radically from modern people who accept nothing +and who are forever trying to improve their own financial and political +situation. + +To the man and woman of the thirteenth century, the world +hereafter--a Heaven of wonderful delights and a Hell of brimstone and +suffering--meant something more than empty words or vague theological +phrases. It was an actual fact and the mediaeval burghers and knights +spent the greater part of their time preparing for it. We modern people +regard a noble death after a well-spent life with the quiet calm of the +ancient Greeks and Romans. After three score years of work and effort, +we go to sleep with the feeling that all will be well. + +But during the Middle Ages, the King of Terrors with his grinning skull +and his rattling bones was man's steady companion. He woke his victims +up with terrible tunes on his scratchy fiddle he sat down with them at +dinner--he smiled at them from behind trees and shrubs when they took +a girl out for a walk. If you had heard nothing but hair-raising yarns +about cemeteries and coffins and fearful diseases when you were very +young, instead of listening to the fairy stories of Anderson and Grimm, +you, too, would have lived all your days in a dread of the final hour +and the gruesome day of Judgment. That is exactly what happened to the +children of the Middle Ages. They moved in a world of devils and spooks +and only a few occasional angels. Sometimes, their fear of the future +filled their souls with humility and piety, but often it influenced them +the other way and made them cruel and sentimental. They would first of +all murder all the women and children of a captured city and then they +would devoutly march to a holy spot and with their hands gory with +the blood of innocent victims, they would pray that a merciful heaven +forgive them their sins. Yea, they would do more than pray, they would +weep bitter tears and would confess themselves the most wicked of +sinners. But the next day, they would once more butcher a camp of +Saracen enemies without a spark of mercy in their hearts. + +Of course, the Crusaders were Knights and obeyed a somewhat different +code of manners from the common men. But in such respects the common man +was just the same as his master. He, too, resembled a shy horse, easily +frightened by a shadow or a silly piece of paper, capable of excellent +and faithful service but liable to run away and do terrible damage when +his feverish imagination saw a ghost. + +In judging these good people, however, it is wise to remember the +terrible disadvantages under which they lived. They were really +barbarians who posed as civilised people. Charlemagne and Otto the Great +were called "Roman Emperors," but they had as little resemblance to a +real Roman Emperor (say Augustus or Marcus Aurelius) as "King" Wumba +Wumba of the upper Congo has to the highly educated rulers of Sweden or +Denmark. They were savages who lived amidst glorious ruins but who +did not share the benefits of the civilisation which their fathers and +grandfathers had destroyed. They knew nothing. They were ignorant of +almost every fact which a boy of twelve knows to-day. They were obliged +to go to one single book for all their information. That was the Bible. +But those parts of the Bible which have influenced the history of the +human race for the better are those chapters of the New Testament which +teach us the great moral lessons of love, charity and forgiveness. As +a handbook of astronomy, zoology, botany, geometry and all the other +sciences, the venerable book is not entirely reliable. In the twelfth +century, a second book was added to the mediaeval library, the great +encyclopaedia of useful knowledge, compiled by Aristotle, the Greek +philosopher of the fourth century before Christ. Why the Christian +church should have been willing to accord such high honors to the +teacher of Alexander the Great, whereas they condemned all other Greek +philosophers on account of their heathenish doctrines, I really do +not know. But next to the Bible, Aristotle was recognized as the only +reliable teacher whose works could be safely placed into the hands of +true Christians. + +His works had reached Europe in a somewhat roundabout way. They had gone +from Greece to Alexandria. They had then been translated from the Greek +into the Arabic language by the Mohammedans who conquered Egypt in the +seventh century. They had followed the Moslem armies into Spain and the +philosophy of the great Stagirite (Aristotle was a native of Stagira in +Macedonia) was taught in the Moorish universities of Cordova. The Arabic +text was then translated into Latin by the Christian students who had +crossed the Pyrenees to get a liberal education and this much travelled +version of the famous books was at last taught at the different schools +of northwestern Europe. It was not very clear, but that made it all the +more interesting. + +With the help of the Bible and Aristotle, the most brilliant men of the +Middle Ages now set to work to explain all things between Heaven and +Earth in their relation to the expressed will of God. These brilliant +men, the so-called Scholasts or Schoolmen, were really very intelligent, +but they had obtained their information exclusively from books, and +never from actual observation. If they wanted to lecture on the sturgeon +or on caterpillars, they read the Old and New Testaments and Aristotle, +and told their students everything these good books had to say upon +the subject of caterpillars and sturgeons. They did not go out to the +nearest river to catch a sturgeon. They did not leave their libraries +and repair to the backyard to catch a few caterpillars and look at these +animals and study them in their native haunts. Even such famous scholars +as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas did not inquire whether the +sturgeons in the land of Palestine and the caterpillars of Macedonia +might not have been different from the sturgeons and the caterpillars of +western Europe. + +When occasionally an exceptionally curious person like Roger Bacon +appeared in the council of the learned and began to experiment with +magnifying glasses and funny little telescopes and actually dragged the +sturgen and the caterpillar into the lecturing room and proved that they +were different from the creatures described by the Old Testament and by +Aristotle, the Schoolmen shook their dignified heads. Bacon was going +too far. When he dared to suggest that an hour of actual observation +was worth more than ten years with Aristotle and that the works of that +famous Greek might as well have remained untranslated for all the good +they had ever done, the scholasts went to the police and said, "This man +is a danger to the safety of the state. He wants us to study Greek that +we may read Aristotle in the original. Why should he not be contented +with our Latin-Arabic translation which has satisfied our faithful +people for so many hundred years? Why is he so curious about the insides +of fishes and the insides of insects? He is probably a wicked magician +trying to upset the established order of things by his Black Magic." And +so well did they plead their cause that the frightened guardians of the +peace forbade Bacon to write a single word for more than ten years. When +he resumed his studies he had learned a lesson. He wrote his books in +a queer cipher which made it impossible for his contemporaries to read +them, a trick which became common as the Church became more desperate in +its attempts to prevent people from asking questions which would lead to +doubts and infidelity. + +This, however, was not done out of any wicked desire to keep people +ignorant. The feeling which prompted the heretic hunters of that day +was really a very kindly one. They firmly believed--nay, they knew--that +this life was but the preparation for our real existence in the +next world. They felt convinced that too much knowledge made people +uncomfortable, filled their minds with dangerous opinions and led to +doubt and hence to perdition. A mediaeval Schoolman who saw one of +his pupils stray away from the revealed authority of the Bible and +Aristotle, that he might study things for himself, felt as uncomfortable +as a loving mother who sees her young child approach a hot stove. She +knows that he will burn his little fingers if he is allowed to touch it +and she tries to keep him back, if necessary she will use force. But she +really loves the child and if he will only obey her, she will be as good +to him as she possibly can be. In the same way the mediaeval guardians +of people's souls, while they were strict in all matters pertaining to +the Faith, slaved day and night to render the greatest possible service +to the members of their flock. They held out a helping hand whenever +they could and the society of that day shows the influence of thousands +of good men and pious women who tried to make the fate of the average +mortal as bearable as possible. + +A serf was a serf and his position would never change. But the Good Lord +of the Middle Ages who allowed the serf to remain a slave all his life +had bestowed an immortal soul upon this humble creature and therefore +he must be protected in his rights, that he might live and die as a good +Christian. When he grew too old or too weak to work he must be +taken care of by the feudal master for whom he had worked. The serf, +therefore, who led a monotonous and dreary life, was never haunted by +fear of to-morrow. He knew that he was "safe"--that he could not be +thrown out of employment, that he would always have a roof over his head +(a leaky roof, perhaps, but roof all the same), and that he would always +have something to eat. + +This feeling of "stability" and of "safety" was found in all classes of +society. In the towns the merchants and the artisans established guilds +which assured every member of a steady income. It did not encourage the +ambitious to do better than their neighbours. Too often the guilds +gave protection to the "slacker" who managed to "get by." But they +established a general feeling of content and assurance among the +labouring classes which no longer exists in our day of general +competition. The Middle Ages were familiar with the dangers of what we +modern people call "corners," when a single rich man gets hold of all +the available grain or soap or pickled herring, and then forces the +world to buy from him at his own price. The authorities, therefore, +discouraged wholesale trading and regulated the price at which merchants +were allowed to sell their goods. + +The Middle Ages disliked competition. Why compete and fill the world +with hurry and rivalry and a multitude of pushing men, when the Day of +Judgement was near at hand, when riches would count for nothing and +when the good serf would enter the golden gates of Heaven while the bad +knight was sent to do penance in the deepest pit of Inferno? + +In short, the people of the Middle Ages were asked to surrender part +of their liberty of thought and action, that they might enjoy greater +safety from poverty of the body and poverty of the soul. + +And with a very few exceptions, they did not object. They firmly +believed that they were mere visitors upon this planet--that they were +here to be prepared for a greater and more important life. Deliberately +they turned their backs upon a world which was filled with suffering and +wickedness and injustice. They pulled down the blinds that the rays +of the sun might not distract their attention from that chapter in the +Apocalypse which told them of that heavenly light which was to illumine +their happiness in all eternity. They tried to close their eyes to most +of the joys of the world in which they lived that they might enjoy those +which awaited them in the near future. They accepted life as a necessary +evil and welcomed death as the beginning of a glorious day. + +The Greeks and the Romans had never bothered about the future but had +tried to establish their Paradise right here upon this earth. They had +succeeded in making life extremely pleasant for those of their fellow +men who did not happen to be slaves. Then came the other extreme of the +Middle Ages, when man built himself a Paradise beyond the highest clouds +and turned this world into a vale of tears for high and low, for rich +and poor, for the intelligent and the dumb. It was time for the pendulum +to swing back in the other direction, as I shall tell you in my next +chapter. + + + + +MEDIAEVAL TRADE + +HOW THE CRUSADES ONCE MORE MADE THE MEDITERRANEAN A BUSY CENTRE OF +TRADE AND HOW THE CITIES OF THE ITALIAN PENINSULA BECAME THE GREAT +DISTRIBUTING CENTRE FOR THE COMMERCE WITH ASIA AND AFRICA + + +THERE were three good reasons why the Italian cities should have been +the first to regain a position of great importance during the late +Middle Ages. The Italian peninsula had been settled by Rome at a very +early date. There had been more roads and more towns and more schools +than anywhere else in Europe. + +The barbarians had burned as lustily in Italy as elsewhere, but there +had been so much to destroy that more had been able to survive. In +the second place, the Pope lived in Italy and as the head of a vast +political machine, which owned land and serfs and buildings and forests +and rivers and conducted courts of law, he was in constant receipt of +a great deal of money. The Papal authorities had to be paid in gold and +silver as did the merchants and ship-owners of Venice and Genoa. The +cows and the eggs and the horses and all the other agricultural products +of the north and the west must be changed into actual cash before the +debt could be paid in the distant city of Rome. + +This made Italy the one country where there was a comparative abundance +of gold and silver. Finally, during the Crusades, the Italian cities had +become the point of embarkation for the Crusaders and had profiteered to +an almost unbelievable extent. + +And after the Crusades had come to an end, these same Italian cities +remained the distributing centres for those Oriental goods upon which +the people of Europe had come to depend during the time they had spent +in the near east. + +Of these towns, few were as famous as Venice. Venice was a republic +built upon a mud bank. Thither people from the mainland had fled during +the invasions of the barbarians in the fourth century. Surrounded on all +sides by the sea they had engaged in the business of salt-making. Salt +had been very scarce during the Middle Ages, and the price had been +high. For hundreds of years Venice had enjoyed a monopoly of this +indispensable table commodity (I say indispensable, because people, like +sheep, fall ill unless they get a certain amount of salt in their food). +The people had used this monopoly to increase the power of their city. +At times they had even dared to defy the power of the Popes. The town +had grown rich and had begun to build ships, which engaged in trade +with the Orient. During the Crusades, these ships were used to carry +passengers to the Holy Land, and when the passengers could not pay for +their tickets in cash, they were obliged to help the Venetians who were +for ever increasing their colonies in the AEgean Sea, in Asia Minor and +in Egypt. + +By the end of the fourteenth century, the population had grown to two +hundred thousand, which made Venice the biggest city of the Middle Ages. +The people were without influence upon the government which was the +private affair of a small number of rich merchant families. They elected +a senate and a Doge (or Duke), but the actual rulers of the city were +the members of the famous Council of Ten,--who maintained themselves +with the help of a highly organised system of secret service men and +professional murderers, who kept watch upon all citizens and quietly +removed those who might be dangerous to the safety of their high-handed +and unscrupulous Committee of Public Safety. + +The other extreme of government, a democracy of very turbulent habits, +was to be found in Florence. This city controlled the main road from +northern Europe to Rome and used the money which it had derived from +this fortunate economic position to engage in manufacturing. The +Florentines tried to follow the example of Athens. Noblemen, priests and +members of the guilds all took part in the discussions of civic affairs. +This led to great civic upheaval. People were forever being divided +into political parties and these parties fought each other with intense +bitterness and exiled their enemies and confiscated their possessions +as soon as they had gained a victory in the council. After several +centuries of this rule by organised mobs, the inevitable happened. A +powerful family made itself master of the city and governed the town and +the surrounding country after the fashion of the old Greek "tyrants." +They were called the Medici. The earliest Medici had been physicians +(medicus is Latin for physician, hence their name), but later they had +turned banker. Their banks and their pawnshops were to be found in all +the more important centres of trade. Even today our American pawn-shops +display the three golden balls which were part of the coat of arms +of the mighty house of the Medici, who became rulers of Florence and +married their daughters to the kings of France and were buried in graves +worthy of a Roman Caesar. + +Then there was Genoa, the great rival of Venice, where the merchants +specialised in trade with Tunis in Africa and the grain depots of the +Black Sea. Then there were more than two hundred other cities, some +large and some small, each a perfect commercial unit, all of them +fighting their neighbours and rivals with the undying hatred of +neighbours who are depriving each other of their profits. + +Once the products of the Orient and Africa had been brought to these +distributing centres, they must be prepared for the voyage to the west +and the north. + +Genoa carried her goods by water to Marseilles, from where they were +reshipped to the cities along the Rhone, which in turn served as the +market places of northern and western France. + +Venice used the land route to northern Europe. This ancient road led +across the Brenner pass, the old gateway for the barbarians who had +invaded Italy. Past Innsbruck, the merchandise was carried to Basel. +From there it drifted down the Rhine to the North Sea and England, or it +was taken to Augsburg where the Fugger family (who were both bankers +and manufacturers and who prospered greatly by "shaving" the coins with +which they paid their workmen), looked after the further distribution to +Nuremberg and Leipzig and the cities of the Baltic and to Wisby (on the +Island of Gotland) which looked after the needs of the Northern Baltic +and dealt directly with the Republic of Novgorod, the old commercial +centre of Russia which was destroyed by Ivan the Terrible in the middle +of the sixteenth century. + +The little cities on the coast of north-western Europe had an +interesting story of their own. The mediaeval world ate a great deal of +fish. There were many fast days and then people were not permitted to +eat meat. For those who lived away from the coast and from the rivers, +this meant a diet of eggs or nothing at all. But early in the thirteenth +century a Dutch fisherman had discovered a way of curing herring, so +that it could be transported to distant points. The herring fisheries of +the North Sea then became of great importance. But some time during the +thirteenth century, this useful little fish (for reasons of its own) +moved from the North Sea to the Baltic and the cities of that inland +sea began to make money. All the world now sailed to the Baltic to catch +herring and as that fish could only be caught during a few months +each year (the rest of the time it spends in deep water, raising large +families of little herrings) the ships would have been idle during the +rest of the time unless they had found another occupation. They were +then used to carry the wheat of northern and central Russia to southern +and western Europe. On the return voyage they brought spices and silks +and carpets and Oriental rugs from Venice and Genoa to Bruges and +Hamburg and Bremen. + +Out of such simple beginnings there developed an important system of +international trade which reached from the manufacturing cities of +Bruges and Ghent (where the almighty guilds fought pitched battles with +the kings of France and England and established a labour tyranny which +completely ruined both the employers and the workmen) to the Republic +of Novgorod in northern Russia, which was a mighty city until Tsar Ivan, +who distrusted all merchants, took the town and killed sixty thousand +people in less than a month's time and reduced the survivors to beggary. + +That they might protect themselves against pirates and excessive +tolls and annoying legislation, the merchants of the north founded a +protective league which was called the "Hansa." The Hansa, which had +its headquarters in Lubeck, was a voluntary association of more than +one hundred cities. The association maintained a navy of its own which +patrolled the seas and fought and defeated the Kings of England and +Denmark when they dared to interfere with the rights and the privileges +of the mighty Hanseatic merchants. + +I wish that I had more space to tell you some of the wonderful stories +of this strange commerce which was carried on across the high mountains +and across the deep seas amidst such dangers that every voyage became a +glorious adventure. But it would take several volumes and it cannot be +done here. + +Besides, I hope that I have told you enough about the Middle Ages to +make you curious to read more in the excellent books of which I shall +give you a list at the end of this volume. + +The Middle Ages, as I have tried to show you, had been a period of very +slow progress. The people who were in power believed that "progress" +was a very undesirable invention of the Evil One and ought to be +discouraged, and as they hap-pened to occupy the seats of the mighty, it +was easy to enforce their will upon the patient serfs and the illiterate +knights. Here and there a few brave souls sometimes ventured forth +into the forbidden region of science, but they fared badly and were +considered lucky when they escaped with their lives and a jail sentence +of twenty years. + +In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the flood of international +commerce swept over western Europe as the Nile had swept across +the valley of ancient Egypt. It left behind a fertile sediment of +prosperity. Prosperity meant leisure hours and these leisure hours gave +both men and women a chance to buy manuscripts and take an interest in +literature and art and music. + +Then once more was the world filled with that divine curiosity which has +elevated man from the ranks of those other mammals who are his distant +cousins but who have remained dumb, and the cities, of whose growth and +development I have told you in my last chapter, offered a safe shelter +to these brave pioneers who dared to leave the very narrow domain of the +established order of things. + +They set to work. They opened the windows of their cloistered and +studious cells. A flood of sunlight entered the dusty rooms and +showed them the cobwebs which had gathered during the long period of +semi-darkness. + +They began to clean house. Next they cleaned their gardens. + +Then they went out into the open fields, outside the crumbling town +walls, and said, "This is a good world. We are glad that we live in it." + +At that moment, the Middle Ages came to an end and a new world began. + + + + +THE RENAISSANCE + +PEOPLE ONCE MORE DARED TO BE HAPPY JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE ALIVE. THEY +TRIED TO SAVE THE REMAINS OF THE OLDER AND MORE AGREEABLE CIVILISATION +OF ROME AND GREECE AND THEY WERE SO PROUD OF THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS THAT +THEY SPOKE OF A RENAISSANCE OR RE-BIRTH OF CIVILISATION + + +THE Renaissance was not a political or religious movement. It was a +state of mind. + +The men of the Renaissance continued to be the obedient sons of the +mother church. They were subjects of kings and emperors and dukes and +murmured not. + +But their outlook upon life was changed. They began to wear different +clothes--to speak a different language--to live different lives in +different houses. + +They no longer concentrated all their thoughts and their efforts +upon the blessed existence that awaited them in Heaven. They tried to +establish their Paradise upon this planet, and, truth to tell, they +succeeded in a remarkable degree. + +I have quite often warned you against the danger that lies in historical +dates. People take them too literally. They think of the Middle Ages as +a period of darkness and ignorance. "Click," says the clock, and the +Renaissance begins and cities and palaces are flooded with the bright +sunlight of an eager intellectual curiosity. + +As a matter of fact, it is quite impossible to draw such sharp lines. +The thirteenth century belonged most decidedly to the Middle Ages. All +historians agree upon that. But was it a time of darkness and stagnation +merely? By no means. People were tremendously alive. Great states were +being founded. Large centres of commerce were being developed. High +above the turretted towers of the castle and the peaked roof of the +town-hall, rose the slender spire of the newly built Gothic cathedral. +Everywhere the world was in motion. The high and mighty gentlemen of the +city-hall, who had just become conscious of their own strength (by way +of their recently acquired riches) were struggling for more power with +their feudal masters. The members of the guilds who had just become +aware of the important fact that "numbers count" were fighting the high +and mighty gentlemen of the city-hall. The king and his shrewd advisers +went fishing in these troubled waters and caught many a shining bass +of profit which they proceeded to cook and eat before the noses of the +surprised and disappointed councillors and guild brethren. + +To enliven the scenery during the long hours of evening when the badly +lighted streets did not invite further political and economic dispute, +the Troubadours and Minnesingers told their stories and sang their songs +of romance and adventure and heroism and loyalty to all fair women. +Meanwhile youth, impatient of the slowness of progress, flocked to the +universities, and thereby hangs a story. + +The Middle Ages were "internationally minded." That sounds difficult, +but wait until I explain it to you. We modern people are "nationally +minded." We are Americans or Englishmen or Frenchmen or Italians and +speak English or French or Italian and go to English and French and +Italian universities, unless we want to specialise in some particular +branch of learning which is only taught elsewhere, and then we learn +another language and go to Munich or Madrid or Moscow. But the people +of the thirteenth or fourteenth century rarely talked of themselves +as Englishmen or Frenchmen or Italians. They said, "I am a citizen of +Sheffield or Bordeaux or Genoa." Because they all belonged to one and +the same church they felt a certain bond of brotherhood. And as all +educated men could speak Latin, they possessed an international language +which removed the stupid language barriers which have grown up in +modern Europe and which place the small nations at such an enormous +disadvantage. Just as an example, take the case of Erasmus, the great +preacher of tolerance and laughter, who wrote his books in the sixteenth +century. He was the native of a small Dutch village. He wrote in Latin +and all the world was his audience. If he were alive to-day, he would +write in Dutch. Then only five or six million people would be able +to read him. To be understood by the rest of Europe and America, his +publishers would be obliged to translate his books into twenty different +languages. That would cost a lot of money and most likely the publishers +would never take the trouble or the risk. + +Six hundred years ago that could not happen. The greater part of the +people were still very ignorant and could not read or write at all. But +those who had mastered the difficult art of handling the goose-quill +belonged to an international republic of letters which spread across +the entire continent and which knew of no boundaries and respected +no limitations of language or nationality. The universities were the +strongholds of this republic. Unlike modern fortifications, they did not +follow the frontier. They were to be found wherever a teacher and a few +pupils happened to find themselves together. There again the Middle Ages +and the Renaissance differed from our own time. Nowadays, when a new +university is built, the process (almost invariably) is as follows: Some +rich man wants to do something for the community in which he lives or a +particular religious sect wants to build a school to keep its faithful +children under decent supervision, or a state needs doc-tors and lawyers +and teachers. The university begins as a large sum of money which is +deposited in a bank. This money is then used to construct buildings and +laboratories and dormitories. Finally professional teachers are hired, +entrance examinations are held and the university is on the way. + +But in the Middle Ages things were done differently. A wise man said to +himself, "I have discovered a great truth. I must impart my knowledge +to others." And he began to preach his wisdom wherever and whenever he +could get a few people to listen to him, like a modern soap-box orator. +If he was an interesting speaker, the crowd came and stayed. If he was +dull, they shrugged their shoulders and continued their way. + +By and by certain young men began to come regularly to hear the words +of wisdom of this great teacher. They brought copybooks with them and a +little bottle of ink and a goose quill and wrote down what seemed to be +important. One day it rained. The teacher and his pupils retired to an +empty basement or the room of the "Professor." The learned man sat in +his chair and the boys sat on the floor. That was the beginning of the +University, the "universitas," a corporation of professors and students +during the Middle Ages, when the "teacher" counted for everything and +the building in which he taught counted for very little. + +As an example, let me tell you of something that happened in the ninth +century. In the town of Salerno near Naples there were a number of +excellent physicians. They attracted people desirous of learning the +medical profession and for almost a thousand years (until 1817) there +was a university of Salerno which taught the wisdom of Hippocrates, the +great Greek doctor who had practiced his art in ancient Hellas in the +fifth century before the birth of Christ. + +Then there was Abelard, the young priest from Brittany, who early in +the twelfth century began to lecture on theology and logic in Paris. +Thousands of eager young men flocked to the French city to hear him. +Other priests who disagreed with him stepped forward to explain their +point of view. Paris was soon filled with a clamouring multitude of +Englishmen and Germans and Italians and students from Sweden and Hungary +and around the old cathedral which stood on a little island in the Seine +there grew the famous University of Paris. In Bologna in Italy, a monk +by the name of Gratian had compiled a text-book for those whose business +it was to know the laws of the church. Young priests and many laymen +then came from all over Europe to hear Gratian explain his ideas. To +protect themselves against the landlords and the innkeepers and the +boarding-house ladies of the city, they formed a corporation (or +University) and behold the beginning of the university of Bologna. + +Next there was a quarrel in the University of Paris. We do not know +what caused it, but a number of disgruntled teachers together with +their pupils crossed the channel and found a hospitable home in a +little village on the Thames called Oxford, and in this way the famous +University of Oxford came into being. In the same way, in the year 1222, +there had been a split in the University of Bologna. The discontented +teachers (again followed by their pupils) had moved to Padua and their +proud city thenceforward boasted of a university of its own. And so +it went from Valladolid in Spain to Cracow in distant Poland and from +Poitiers in France to Rostock in Germany. + +It is quite true that much of the teaching done by these early +professors would sound absurd to our ears, trained to listen to +logarithms and geometrical theorems. The point however, which I want to +make is this--the Middle Ages and especially the thirteenth century +were not a time when the world stood entirely still. Among the younger +generation, there was life, there was enthusiasm, and there was a +restless if somewhat bashful asking of questions. And out of this +turmoil grew the Renaissance. + +But just before the curtain went down upon the last scene of the +Mediaeval world, a solitary figure crossed the stage, of whom you ought +to know more than his mere name. This man was called Dante. He was the +son of a Florentine lawyer who belonged to the Alighieri family and he +saw the light of day in the year 1265. He grew up in the city of his +ancestors while Giotto was painting his stories of the life of St. +Francis of Assisi upon the walls of the Church of the Holy Cross, but +often when he went to school, his frightened eyes would see the puddles +of blood which told of the terrible and endless warfare that raged +forever between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, the followers of the +Pope and the adherents of the Emperors. + +When he grew up, he became a Guelph, because his father had been +one before him, just as an American boy might become a Democrat or a +Republican, simply because his father had happened to be a Democrat or +a Republican. But after a few years, Dante saw that Italy, unless united +under a single head, threatened to perish as a victim of the disordered +jealousies of a thousand little cities. Then he became a Ghilbeiline. + +He looked for help beyond the Alps. He hoped that a mighty emperor +might come and re-establish unity and order. Alas! he hoped in vain. The +Ghibellines were driven out of Florence in the year 1802. From that time +on until the day of his death amidst the dreary ruins of Ravenna, in the +year 1321, Dante was a homeless wanderer, eating the bread of charity at +the table of rich patrons whose names would have sunk into the deepest +pit of oblivion but for this single fact, that they had been kind to a +poet in his misery. During the many years of exile, Dante felt compelled +to justify himself and his actions when he had been a political leader +in his home-town, and when he had spent his days walking along the +banks of the Arno that he might catch a glimpse of the lovely Beatrice +Portinari, who died the wife of another man, a dozen years before the +Ghibelline disaster. + +He had failed in the ambitions of his career. He had faithfully served +the town of is birth and before a corrupt court he had been accused +of stealing the public funds and had been condemned to be burned alive +should he venture back within the realm of the city of Florence. To +clear himself before his own conscience and before his contemporaries, +Dante then created an Imaginary World and with great detail he described +the circumstances which had led to his defeat and depicted the hopeless +condition of greed and lust and hatred which had turned his fair and +beloved Italy into a battlefield for the pitiless mercenaries of wicked +and selfish tyrants. + +He tells us how on the Thursday before Easter of the year 1300 he had +lost his way in a dense forest and how he found his path barred by a +leopard and a lion and a wolf. He gave himself up for lost when a white +figure appeared amidst the trees. It was Virgil, the Roman poet and +philosopher, sent upon his errand of mercy by the Blessed Virgin and by +Beatrice, who from high Heaven watched over the fate of her true lover. +Virgil then takes Dante through Purgatory and through Hell. Deeper and +deeper the path leads them until they reach the lowest pit where Lucifer +himself stands frozen into the eternal ice surrounded by the most +terrible of sinners, traitors and liars and those who have achieved fame +and success by lies and by deceit. But before the two wanderers have +reached this terrible spot, Dante has met all those who in some way or +other have played a role in the history of his beloved city. Emperors +and Popes, dashing knights and whining usurers, they are all there, +doomed to eternal punishment or awaiting the day of deliverance, when +they shall leave Purgatory for Heaven. + +It is a curious story. It is a handbook of everything the people of the +thirteenth century did and felt and feared and prayed for. Through it +all moves the figure of the lonely Florentine exile, forever followed by +the shadow of his own despair. + +And behold! when the gates of death were closing upon the sad poet of +the Middle Ages, the portals of life swung open to the child who was to +be the first of the men of the Renaissance. That was Francesco Petrarca, +the son of the notary public of the little town of Arezzo. + +Francesco's father had belonged to the same political party as Dante. He +too had been exiled and thus it happened that Petrarca (or Petrarch, as +we call him) was born away from Florence. At the age of fifteen he was +sent to Montpellier in France that he might become a lawyer like his +father. But the boy did not want to be a jurist. He hated the law. He +wanted to be a scholar and a poet--and because he wanted to be a scholar +and a poet beyond everything else, he became one, as people of a +strong will are apt to do. He made long voyages, copying manuscripts in +Flanders and in the cloisters along the Rhine and in Paris and Liege +and finally in Rome. Then he went to live in a lonely valley of the wild +mountains of Vaucluse, and there he studied and wrote and soon he +had become so famous for his verse and for his learning that both the +University of Paris and the king of Naples invited him to come and teach +their students and subjects. On the way to his new job, he was obliged +to pass through Rome. The people had heard of his fame as an editor +of half-forgotten Roman authors. They decided to honour him and in the +ancient forum of the Imperial City, Petrarch was crowned with the laurel +wreath of the Poet. + +From that moment on, his life was an endless career of honour and +appreciation. He wrote the things which people wanted most to hear. They +were tired of theological disputations. Poor Dante could wander through +hell as much as he wanted. But Petrarch wrote of love and of nature and +the sun and never mentioned those gloomy things which seemed to have +been the stock in trade of the last generation. And when Petrarch came +to a city, all the people flocked out to meet him and he was received +like a conquering hero. If he happened to bring his young friend +Boccaccio, the story teller, with him, so much the better. They were +both men of their time, full of curiosity, willing to read everything +once, digging in forgotten and musty libraries that they might find +still another manuscript of Virgil or Ovid or Lucrece or any of the +other old Latin poets. They were good Christians. Of course they were! +Everyone was. But no need of going around with a long face and wearing +a dirty coat just because some day or other you were going to die. Life +was good. People were meant to be happy. You desired proof of this? Very +well. Take a spade and dig into the soil. What did you find? Beautiful +old statues. Beautiful old vases. Ruins of ancient buildings. All these +things were made by the people of the greatest empire that ever existed. +They ruled all the world for a thousand years. They were strong and +rich and handsome (just look at that bust of the Emperor Augustus!). Of +course, they were not Christians and they would never be able to enter +Heaven. At best they would spend their days in purgatory, where Dante +had just paid them a visit. + +But who cared? To have lived in a world like that of ancient Rome was +heaven enough for any mortal being. And anyway, we live but once. Let us +be happy and cheerful for the mere joy of existence. + +Such, in short, was the spirit that had begun to fill the narrow and +crooked streets of the many little Italian cities. + +You know what we mean by the "bicycle craze" or the "automobile craze." +Some one invents a bicycle. People who for hundreds of thousands of +years have moved slowly and painfully from one place to another go +"crazy" over the prospect of rolling rapidly and easily over hill and +dale. Then a clever mechanic makes the first automobile. No longer is +it necessary to pedal and pedal and pedal. You just sit and let +little drops of gasoline do the work for you. Then everybody wants +an automobile. Everybody talks about Rolls-Royces and Flivvers and +carburetors and mileage and oil. Explorers penetrate into the hearts of +unknown countries that they may find new supplies of gas. Forests arise +in Sumatra and in the Congo to supply us with rubber. Rubber and oil +become so valuable that people fight wars for their possession. The +whole world is "automobile mad" and little children can say "car" before +they learn to whisper "papa" and "mamma." + +In the fourteenth century, the Italian people went crazy about the newly +discovered beauties of the buried world of Rome. Soon their enthusiasm +was shared by all the people of western Europe. The finding of an +unknown manuscript became the excuse for a civic holiday. The man who +wrote a grammar became as popular as the fellow who nowadays invents a +new spark-plug. The humanist, the scholar who devoted his time and his +energies to a study of "homo" or mankind (instead of wasting his hours +upon fruitless theological investigations), that man was regarded with +greater honour and a deeper respect than was ever bestowed upon a hero +who had just conquered all the Cannibal Islands. + +In the midst of this intellectual upheaval, an event occurred which +greatly favoured the study of the ancient philosophers and authors. The +Turks were renewing their attacks upon Europe. Constantinople, capital +of the last remnant of the original Roman Empire, was hard pressed. In +the year 1393 the Emperor, Manuel Paleologue, sent Emmanuel Chrysoloras +to western Europe to explain the desperate state of old Byzantium and to +ask for aid. This aid never came. The Roman Catholic world was more +than willing to see the Greek Catholic world go to the punishment that +awaited such wicked heretics. But however indifferent western Europe +might be to the fate of the Byzantines, they were greatly interested in +the ancient Greeks whose colonists had founded the city on the Bosphorus +ten centuries after the Trojan war. They wanted to learn Greek that they +might read Aristotle and Homer and Plato. They wanted to learn it +very badly, but they had no books and no grammars and no teachers. The +magistrates of Florence heard of the visit of Chrysoloras. The people of +their city were "crazy to learn Greek." Would he please come and teach +them? He would, and behold! the first professor of Greek teaching alpha, +beta, gamma to hundreds of eager young men, begging their way to the +city of the Arno, living in stables and in dingy attics that they night +learn how to decline the verb [gr paidenw paideneis paidenei] and enter +into the companionship of Sophocles and Homer. + +Meanwhile in the universities, the old schoolmen, teaching their ancient +theology and their antiquated logic; explaining the hidden mysteries +of the old Testament and discussing the strange science of their +Greek-Arabic-Spanish-Latin edition of Aristotle, looked on in dismay and +horror. Next, they turned angry. This thing was going too far. The young +men were deserting the lecture halls of the established universities to +go and listen to some wild-eyed "humanist" with his newfangled notions +about a "reborn civilization." + +They went to the authorities. They complained. But one cannot force an +unwilling horse to drink and one cannot make unwilling ears listen to +something which does not really interest them. The schoolmen were +losing ground rapidly. Here and there they scored a short victory. They +combined forces with those fanatics who hated to see other people enjoy +a happiness which was foreign to their own souls. In Florence, the +centre of the Great Rebirth, a terrible fight was fought between the +old order and the new. A Dominican monk, sour of face and bitter in his +hatred of beauty, was the leader of the mediaeval rear-guard. He fought +a valiant battle. Day after day he thundered his warnings of God's holy +wrath through the wide halls of Santa Maria del Fiore. "Repent," he +cried, "repent of your godlessness, of your joy in things that are not +holy!" He began to hear voices and to see flaming swords that flashed +through the sky. He preached to the little children that they might not +fall into the errors of these ways which were leading their fathers to +perdition. He organised companies of boy-scouts, devoted to the service +of the great God whose prophet he claimed to be. In a sudden moment of +frenzy, the frightened people promised to do penance for their wicked +love of beauty and pleasure. They carried their books and their statues +and their paintings to the market place and celebrated a wild "carnival +of the vanities" with holy singing and most unholy dancing, while +Savonarola applied his torch to the accumulated treasures. + +But when the ashes cooled down, the people began to realise what they +had lost. This terrible fanatic had made them destroy that which they +had come to love above all things. They turned against him, Savonarola +was thrown into jail. He was tortured. But he refused to repent for +anything he had done. He was an honest man. He had tried to live a holy +life. He had willingly destroyed those who deliberately refused to share +his own point of view. It had been his duty to eradicate evil wherever +he found it. A love of heathenish books and heathenish beauty in the +eyes of this faithful son of the Church, had been an evil. But he stood +alone. He had fought the battle of a time that was dead and gone. The +Pope in Rome never moved a finger to save him. On the contrary, he +approved of his "faithful Florentines" when they dragged Savonarola to +the gallows, hanged him and burned his body amidst the cheerful howling +and yelling of the mob. + +It was a sad ending, but quite inevitable. Savonarola would have been +a great man in the eleventh century. In the fifteenth century he was +merely the leader of a lost cause. For better or worse, the Middle +Ages had come to an end when the Pope had turned humanist and when the +Vatican became the most important museum of Roman and Greek antiquities. + + + + +THE AGE OF EXPRESSION + +THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO FEEL THE NEED OF GIVING EXPRESSION TO THEIR NEWLY +DISCOVERED JOY OF LIVING. THEY EXPRESSED THEIR HAPPINESS IN POETRY AND +IN SCULPTURE AND IN ARCHITECTURE AND IN PAINTING AND IN THE BOOKS THEY +PRINTED + + +IN the year 1471 there died a pious old man who had spent seventy-two +of his ninety-one years behind the sheltering walls of the cloister of +Mount St. Agnes near the good town of Zwolle, the old Dutch Hanseatic +city on the river Ysel. He was known as Brother Thomas and because he +had been born in the village of Kempen, he was called Thomas a Kempis. +At the age of twelve he had been sent to Deventer, where Gerhard Groot, +a brilliant graduate of the universities of Paris, Cologne and Prague, +and famous as a wandering preacher, had founded the Society of the +Brothers of the Common Life. The good brothers were humble laymen who +tried to live the simple life of the early Apostles of Christ while +working at their regular jobs as carpenters and house-painters and stone +masons. They maintained an excellent school, that deserving boys of poor +parents might be taught the wisdom of the Fathers of the church. At this +school, little Thomas had learned how to conjugate Latin verbs and how +to copy manuscripts. Then he had taken his vows, had put his little +bundle of books upon his back, had wandered to Zwolle and with a sigh +of relief he had closed the door upon a turbulent world which did not +attract him. + +Thomas lived in an age of turmoil, pestilence and sudden death. In +central Europe, in Bohemia, the devoted disciples of Johannus Huss, +the friend and follower of John Wycliffe, the English reformer, were +avenging with a terrible warfare the death of their beloved leader who +had been burned at the stake by order of that same Council of Constance, +which had promised him a safe-conduct if he would come to Switzerland +and explain his doctrines to the Pope, the Emperor, twenty-three +cardinals, thirty-three archbishops and bishops, one hundred and fifty +abbots and more than a hundred princes and dukes who had gathered +together to reform their church. + +In the west, France had been fighting for a hundred years that she might +drive the English from her territories and just then was saved from +utter defeat by the fortunate appearance of Joan of Arc. And no sooner +had this struggle come to an end than France and Burgundy were at each +other's throats, engaged upon a struggle of life and death for the +supremacy of western Europe. + +In the south, a Pope at Rome was calling the curses of Heaven down +upon a second Pope who resided at Avignon, in southern France, and who +retaliated in kind. In the far east the Turks were destroying the last +remnants of the Roman Empire and the Russians had started upon a final +crusade to crush the power of their Tartar masters. + +But of all this, Brother Thomas in his quiet cell never heard. He had +his manuscripts and his own thoughts and he was contented. He poured his +love of God into a little volume. He called it the Imitation of Christ. +It has since been translated into more languages than any other book +save the Bible. It has been read by quite as many people as ever studied +the Holy Scriptures. It has influenced the lives of countless millions. +And it was the work of a man whose highest ideal of existence was +expressed in the simple wish that "he might quietly spend his days +sitting in a little corner with a little book." + +Good Brother Thomas represented the purest ideals of the Middle Ages. +Surrounded on all sides by the forces of the victorious Renaissance, +with the humanists loudly proclaiming the coming of modern times, +the Middle Ages gathered strength for a last sally. Monasteries +were reformed. Monks gave up the habits of riches and vice. Simple, +straightforward and honest men, by the example of their blameless +and devout lives, tried to bring the people back to the ways of +righteousness and humble resignation to the will of God. But all to no +avail. The new world rushed past these good people. The days of quiet +meditation were gone. The great era of "expression" had begun. + +Here and now let me say that I am sorry that I must use so many "big +words." I wish that I could write this history in words of one syllable. +But it cannot be done. You cannot write a text-book of geometry +without reference to a hypotenuse and triangles and a rectangular +parallelopiped. You simply have to learn what those words mean or do +without mathematics. In history (and in all life) you will eventually +be obliged to learn the meaning of many strange words of Latin and Greek +origin. Why not do it now? + +When I say that the Renaissance was an era of expression, I mean this: +People were no longer contented to be the audience and sit still while +the emperor and the pope told them what to do and what to think. They +wanted to be actors upon the stage of life. They insisted upon giving +"expression" to their own individual ideas. If a man happened to be +interested in statesmanship like the Florentine historian, Niccolo +Macchiavelli, then he "expressed" himself in his books which revealed +his own idea of a successful state and an efficient ruler. If on the +other hand he had a liking for painting, he "expressed" his love for +beautiful lines and lovely colours in the pictures which have made the +names of Giotto, Fra Angelico, Rafael and a thousand others household +words wherever people have learned to care for those things which +express a true and lasting beauty. + +If this love for colour and line happened to be combined with an +interest in mechanics and hydraulics, the result was a Leonardo da +Vinci, who painted his pictures, experimented with his balloons and +flying machines, drained the marshes of the Lombardian plains and +"expressed" his joy and interest in all things between Heaven and Earth +in prose, in painting, in sculpture and in curiously conceived engines. +When a man of gigantic strength, like Michael Angelo, found the brush +and the palette too soft for his strong hands, he turned to sculpture +and to architecture, and hacked the most terrific creatures out of heavy +blocks of marble and drew the plans for the church of St. Peter, the +most concrete "expression" of the glories of the triumphant church. And +so it went. + +All Italy (and very soon all of Europe) was filled with men and women +who lived that they might add their mite to the sum total of our +accumulated treasures of knowledge and beauty and wisdom. In Germany, +in the city of Mainz, Johann zum Gansefleisch, commonly known as Johann +Gutenberg, had just invented a new method of copying books. He had +studied the old woodcuts and had perfected a system by which individual +letters of soft lead could be placed in such a way that they formed +words and whole pages. It is true, he soon lost all his money in a +law-suit which had to do with the original invention of the press. He +died in poverty, but the "expression" of his particular inventive genius +lived after him. + +Soon Aldus in Venice and Etienne in Paris and Plantin in Antwerp and +Froben in Basel were flooding the world with carefully edited editions +of the classics printed in the Gothic letters of the Gutenberg Bible, +or printed in the Italian type which we use in this book, or printed in +Greek letters, or in Hebrew. + +Then the whole world became the eager audience of those who had +something to say. The day when learning had been a monopoly of a +privileged few came to an end. And the last excuse for ignorance was +removed from this world, when Elzevier of Haarlem began to print his +cheap and popular editions. Then Aristotle and Plato, Virgil and +Horace and Pliny, all the goodly company of the ancient authors and +philosophers and scientists, offered to become man's faithful friend in +exchange for a few paltry pennies. Humanism had made all men free and +equal before the printed word. + + + + +THE GREAT DISCOVERIES + +BUT NOW THAT PEOPLE HAD BROKEN THROUGH THE BONDS OF THEIR NARROW +MEDIAEVAL LIMITATIONS, THEY HAD TO HAVE MORE ROOM FOR THEIR WANDERINGS. +THE EUROPEAN WORLD HAD GROWN TOO SMALL FOR THEIR AMBITIONS. IT WAS THE +TIME OF THE GREAT VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY + + +THE Crusades had been a lesson in the liberal art of travelling. But +very few people had ever ventured beyond the well-known beaten track +which led from Venice to Jaffe. In the thirteenth century the Polo +brothers, merchants of Venice, had wandered across the great Mongolian +desert and after climbing mountains as high as the moon, they had found +their way to the court of the great Khan of Cathay, the mighty emperor +of China. The son of one of the Polos, by the name of Marco, had written +a book about their adventures, which covered a period of more than +twenty years. The astonished world had gaped at his descriptions of the +golden towers of the strange island of Zipangu, which was his Italian +way of spelling Japan. Many people had wanted to go east, that they +might find this gold-land and grow rich. But the trip was too far and +too dangerous and so they stayed at home. + +Of course, there was always the possibility of making the voyage by sea. +But the sea was very unpopular in the Middle Ages and for many very good +reasons. In the first place, ships were very small. The vessels on which +Magellan made his famous trip around the world, which lasted many years, +were not as large as a modern ferryboat. They carried from twenty to +fifty men, who lived in dingy quarters (too low to allow any of them +to stand up straight) and the sailors were obliged to eat poorly cooked +food as the kitchen arrangements were very bad and no fire could be made +whenever the weather was the least bit rough. The mediaeval world knew +how to pickle herring and how to dry fish. But there were no canned +goods and fresh vegetables were never seen on the bill of fare as soon +as the coast had been left behind. Water was carried in small barrels. +It soon became stale and then tasted of rotten wood and iron rust and +was full of slimy growing things. As the people of the Middle Ages knew +nothing about microbes (Roger Bacon, the learned monk of the thirteenth +century seems to have suspected their existence, but he wisely kept his +discovery to himself) they often drank unclean water and sometimes the +whole crew died of typhoid fever. Indeed the mortality on board the +ships of the earliest navigators was terrible. Of the two hundred +sailors who in the year 1519 left Seville to accompany Magellan on his +famous voyage around the world, only eighteen returned. As late as the +seventeenth century when there was a brisk trade between western Europe +and the Indies, a mortality of 40 percent was nothing unusual for a trip +from Amsterdam to Batavia and back. The greater part of these victims +died of scurvy, a disease which is caused by lack of fresh vegetables +and which affects the gums and poisons the blood until the patient dies +of sheer exhaustion. + +Under those circumstances you will understand that the sea did not +attract the best elements of the population. Famous discoverers like +Magellan and Columbus and Vasco da Gama travelled at the head of crews +that were almost entirely composed of ex-jailbirds, future murderers and +pickpockets out of a Job. + +These navigators certainly deserve our admiration for the courage and +the pluck with which they accomplished their hopeless tasks in the face +of difficulties of which the people of our own comfortable world can +have no conception. Their ships were leaky. The rigging was clumsy. +Since the middle of the thirteenth century they had possessed some sort +of a compass (which had come to Europe from China by way of Arabia and +the Crusades) but they had very bad and incorrect maps. They set their +course by God and by guess. If luck was with them they returned after +one or two or three years. In the other case, their bleeched bones +remained behind on some lonely beach. But they were true pioneers. They +gambled with luck. Life to them was a glorious adventure. And all the +suffering, the thirst and the hunger and the pain were forgotten when +their eyes beheld the dim outlines of a new coast or the placid waters +of an ocean that had lain forgotten since the beginning of time. + +Again I wish that I could make this book a thousand pages long. The +subject of the early discoveries is so fascinating. But history, to +give you a true idea of past times, should be like those etchings +which Rembrandt used to make. It should cast a vivid light on certain +important causes, on those which are best and greatest. All the rest +should be left in the shadow or should be indicated by a few lines. And +in this chapter I can only give you a short list of the most important +discoveries. + +Keep in mind that all during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the +navigators were trying to accomplish just ONE THING--they wanted to +find a comfortable and safe road to the empire of Cathay (China), to the +island of Zipangu (Japan) and to those mysterious islands, where grew +the spices which the mediaeval world had come to like since the days +of the Crusades, and which people needed in those days before the +introduction of cold storage, when meat and fish spoiled very quickly +and could only be eaten after a liberal sprinkling of pepper or nutmeg. + +The Venetians and the Genoese had been the great navigators of the +Mediterranean, but the honour for exploring the coast of the Atlantic +goes to the Portuguese. Spain and Portugal were full of that patriotic +energy which their age-old struggle against the Moorish invaders had +developed. Such energy, once it exists, can easily be forced into new +channels. In the thirteenth century, King Alphonso III had conquered the +kingdom of Algarve in the southwestern corner of the Spanish peninsula +and had added it to his dominions. In the next century, the Portuguese +had turned the tables on the Mohammedans, had crossed the straits of +Gibraltar and had taken possession of Ceuta, opposite the Arabic city +of Ta'Rifa (a word which in Arabic means "inventory" and which by way +of the Spanish language has come down to us as "tariff,") and Tangiers, +which became the capital of an African addition to Algarve. + +They were ready to begin their career as explorers. + +In the year 1415, Prince Henry, known as Henry the Navigator, the son +of John I of Portugal and Philippa, the daughter of John of Gaunt (about +whom you can read in Richard II, a play by William Shakespeare) began to +make preparations for the systematic exploration of northwestern +Africa. Before this, that hot and sandy coast had been visited by the +Phoenicians and by the Norsemen, who remembered it as the home of the +hairy "wild man" whom we have come to know as the gorilla. One +after another, Prince Henry and his captains discovered the Canary +Islands--re-discovered the island of Madeira which a century before had +been visited by a Genoese ship, carefully charted the Azores which had +been vaguely known to both the Portuguese and the Spaniards, and caught +a glimpse of the mouth of the Senegal River on the west coast of Africa, +which they supposed to be the western mouth of the Nile. At last, by the +middle of the Fifteenth Century, they saw Cape Verde, or the Green Cape, +and the Cape Verde Islands, which lie almost halfway between the coast +of Africa and Brazil. + +But Henry did not restrict himself in his investigations to the waters +of the Ocean. He was Grand Master of the Order of Christ. This was a +Portuguese continuation of the crusading order of the Templars which had +been abolished by Pope Clement V in the year 1312 at the request of King +Philip the Fair of France, who had improved the occasion by burning his +own Templars at the stake and stealing all their possessions. Prince +Henry used the revenues of the domains of his religious order to equip +several expeditions which explored the hinterland of the Sahara and of +the coast of Guinea. + +But he was still very much a son of the Middle Ages and spent a great +deal of time and wasted a lot of money upon a search for the mysterious +"Presser John," the mythical Christian Priest who was said to be the +Emperor of a vast empire "situated somewhere in the east." The story of +this strange potentate had first been told in Europe in the middle of +the twelfth century. For three hundred years people had tried to find +"Presser John" and his descendants Henry took part in the search. Thirty +years after his death, the riddle was solved. + +In the year 1486 Bartholomew Diaz, trying to find the land of Prester +John by sea, had reached the southernmost point of Africa. At first +he called it the Storm Cape, on account of the strong winds which had +prevented him from continuing his voyage toward the east, but the Lisbon +pilots who understood the importance of this discovery in their quest +for the India water route, changed the name into that of the Cape of +Good Hope. + +One year later, Pedro de Covilham, provided with letters of credit on +the house of Medici, started upon a similar mission by land. He crossed +the Mediterranean and after leaving Egypt, he travelled southward. +He reached Aden, and from there, travelling through the waters of the +Persian Gulf which few white men had seen since the days of Alexander +the Great, eighteen centuries before, he visited Goa and Calicut on the +coast of India where he got a great deal of news about the island of the +Moon (Madagascar) which was supposed to lie halfway between Africa and +India. Then he returned, paid a secret visit to Mecca and to Medina, +crossed the Red Sea once more and in the year 1490 he discovered the +realm of Prester John, who was no one less than the Black Negus (or +King) of Abyssinia, whose ancestors had adopted Christianity in the +fourth century, seven hundred years before the Christian missionaries +had found their way to Scandinavia. + +These many voyages had convinced the Portuguese geographers and +cartographers that while the voyage to the Indies by an eastern +sea-route was possible, it was by no means easy. Then there arose a +great debate. Some people wanted to continue the explorations east of +the Cape of Good Hope. Others said, "No, we must sail west across the +Atlantic and then we shall reach Cathay." + +Let us state right here that most intelligent people of that day were +firmly convinced that the earth was not as flat as a pancake but was +round. The Ptolemean system of the universe, invented and duly described +by Claudius Ptolemy, the great Egyptian geographer, who had lived in the +second century of our era, which had served the simple needs of the men +of the Middle Ages, had long been discarded by the scientists of the +Renaissance. They had accepted the doctrine of the Polish mathematician, +Nicolaus Copernicus, whose studies had convinced him that the earth +was one of a number of round planets which turned around the sun, a +discovery which he did not venture to publish for thirty-six years +(it was printed in 1548, the year of his death) from fear of the Holy +Inquisition, a Papal court which had been established in the thirteenth +century when the heresies of the Albigenses and the Waldenses in France +and in Italy (very mild heresies of devoutly pious people who did +not believe in private property and preferred to live in Christ-like +poverty) had for a moment threatened the absolute power of the bishops +of Rome. But the belief in the roundness of the earth was common +among the nautical experts and, as I said, they were now debating the +respective advantages of the eastern and the western routes. + +Among the advocates of the western route was a Genoese mariner by the +name of Cristoforo Colombo. He was the son of a wool merchant. He seems +to have been a student at the University of Pavia where he specialised +in mathematics and geometry. Then he took up his father's trade but +soon we find him in Chios in the eastern Mediterranean travelling on +business. Thereafter we hear of voyages to England but whether he went +north in search of wool or as the captain of a ship we do not know. In +February of the year 1477, Colombo (if we are to believe his own words) +visited Iceland, but very likely he only got as far as the Faroe Islands +which are cold enough in February to be mistaken for Iceland by any +one. Here Colombo met the descendants of those brave Norsemen who in the +tenth century had settled in Greenland and who had visited America in +the eleventh century, when Leif's vessel had been blown to the coast of +Vineland, or Labrador. + +What had become of those far western colonies no one knew. The American +colony of Thorfinn Karlsefne, the husband of the widow of Leif's brother +Thorstein, founded in the year 1003, had been discontinued three years +later on account of the hostility of the Esquimaux. As for Greenland, +not a word had been heard from the settlers since the year 1440. Very +likely the Greenlanders had all died of the Black Death, which had just +killed half the people of Norway. However that might be, the tradition +of a "vast land in the distant west" still survived among the people of +the Faroe and Iceland, and Colombo must have heard of it. He gathered +further information among the fishermen of the northern Scottish islands +and then went to Portugal where he married the daughter of one of the +captains who had served under Prince Henry the Navigator. + +From that moment on (the year 1478) he devoted himself to the quest of +the western route to the Indies. He sent his plans for such a voyage to +the courts of Portugal and Spain. The Portuguese, who felt certain that +they possessed a monopoly of the eastern route, would not listen to +his plans. In Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, whose +marriage in 1469 had made Spain into a single kingdom, were busy driving +the Moors from their last stronghold, Granada. They had no money for +risky expeditions. They needed every peseta for their soldiers. + +Few people were ever forced to fight as desperately for their ideas as +this brave Italian. But the story of Colombo (or Colon or Columbus, as +we call him,) is too well known to bear repeating. The Moors surrendered +Granada on the second of January of the year 1492. In the month of April +of the same year, Columbus signed a contract with the King and Queen +of Spain. On Friday, the 3rd of August, he left Palos with three little +ships and a crew of 88 men, many of whom were criminals who had been +offered indemnity of punishment if they joined the expedition. At +two o'clock in the morning of Friday, the 12th of October, Columbus +discovered land. On the fourth of January of the year 1493, Columbus +waved farewell to the 44 men of the little fortress of La Navidad (none +of whom was ever again seen alive) and returned homeward. By the middle +of February he reached the Azores where the Portuguese threatened +to throw him into gaol. On the fifteenth of March, 1493, the admiral +reached Palos and together with his Indians (for he was convinced that +he had discovered some outlying islands of the Indies and called the +natives red Indians) he hastened to Barcelona to tell his faithful +patrons that he had been successful and that the road to the gold and +the silver of Cathay and Zipangu was at the disposal of their most +Catholic Majesties. + +Alas, Columbus never knew the truth. Towards the end of his life, on his +fourth voyage, when he had touched the mainland of South America, he may +have suspected that all was not well with his discovery. But he died +in the firm belief that there was no solid continent between Europe and +Asia and that he had found the direct route to China. + +Meanwhile, the Portuguese, sticking to their eastern route, had been +more fortunate. In the year 1498, Vasco da Gama had been able to reach +the coast of Malabar and return safely to Lisbon with a cargo of spice. +In the year 1502 he had repeated the visit. But along the western route, +the work of exploration had been most disappointing. In 1497 and 1498 +John and Sebastian Cabot had tried to find a passage to Japan but they +had seen nothing but the snowbound coasts and the rocks of Newfoundland, +which had first been sighted by the Northmen, five centuries before. +Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine who became the Pilot Major of Spain, and +who gave his name to our continent, had explored the coast of Brazil, +but had found not a trace of the Indies. + +In the year 1513, seven years after the death of Columbus, the truth at +last began to dawn upon the geographers of Europe. Vasco Nunez de +Balboa had crossed the Isthmus of Panama, had climbed the famous peak in +Darien, and had looked down upon a vast expanse of water which seemed to +suggest the existence of another ocean. + +Finally in the year 1519 a fleet of five small Spanish ships under +command of the Portuguese navigator, Ferdinand de Magellan, sailed +westward (and not eastward since that route, was absolutely in the hands +of the Portuguese who allowed no competition) in search of the Spice +Islands. Magellan crossed the Atlantic between Africa and Brazil and +sailed southward. He reached a narrow channel between the southernmost +point of Patagonia, the "land of the people with the big feet," and +the Fire Island (so named on account of a fire, the only sign of the +existence of natives, which the sailors watched one night). For almost +five weeks the ships of Magellan were at the mercy of the terrible +storms and blizzards which swept through the straits. A mutiny broke +out among the sailors. Magellan suppressed it with terrible severity +and sent two of his men on shore where they were left to repent of their +sins at leisure. At last the storms quieted down, the channel broadened, +and Magellan entered a new ocean. Its waves were quiet and placid. He +called it the Peaceful Sea, the Mare Pacifico. Then he continued in a +western direction. He sailed for ninety-eight days without seeing land. +His people almost perished from hunger and thirst and ate the rats that +infested the ships, and when these were all gone they chewed pieces of +sail to still their gnawing hunger. + +In March of the year 1521 they saw land. Magellan called it the land of +the Ladrones (which means robbers) because the natives stole everything +they could lay hands on. Then further westward to the Spice Islands! + +Again land was sighted. A group of lonely islands. Magellan called them +the Philippines, after Philip, the son of his master Charles V, the +Philip II of unpleasant historical memory. At first Magellan was well +received, but when he used the guns of his ships to make Christian +converts he was killed by the aborigines, together with a number of his +captains and sailors. The survivors burned one of the three remaining +ships and continued their voyage. They found the Moluccas, the famous +Spice Islands; they sighted Borneo and reached Tidor. There, one of +the two ships, too leaky to be of further use, remained behind with +her crew. The "Vittoria," under Sebastian del Cano, crossed the Indian +Ocean, missed seeing the northern coast of Australia (which was not +discovered until the first half of the seventeenth century when ships of +the Dutch East India Company explored this flat and inhospitable land), +and after great hardships reached Spain. + +This was the most notable of all voyages. It had taken three years. It +had been accomplished at a great cost both of men and money. But it had +established the fact that the earth was round and that the new lands +discovered by Columbus were not a part of the Indies but a separate +continent. From that time on, Spain and Portugal devoted all their +energies to the development of their Indian and American trade. To +prevent an armed conflict between the rivals, Pope Alexander VI (the +only avowed heathen who was ever elected to this most holy office) +had obligingly divided the world into two equal parts by a line +of demarcation which followed the 50th degree of longitude west of +Greenwich, the so-called division of Tordesillas of 1494. The Portuguese +were to establish their colonies to the east of this line, the Spaniards +were to have theirs to the west. This accounts for the fact that the +entire American continent with the exception of Brazil became Spanish +and that all of the Indies and most of Africa became Portuguese until +the English and the Dutch colonists (who had no respect for Papal +decisions) took these possessions away in the seventeenth and eighteenth +centuries. + +When news of the discovery of Columbus reached the Rialto of Venice, the +Wall street of the Middle Ages, there was a terrible panic. Stocks and +bonds went down 40 and 50 percent. After a short while, when it appeared +that Columbus had failed to find the road to Cathay, the Venetian +merchants recovered from their fright. But the voyages of da Gama and +Magellan proved the practical possibilities of an eastern water-route +to the Indies. Then the rulers of Genoa and Venice, the two great +commercial centres of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, began to be +sorry that they had refused to listen to Columbus. But it was too late. +Their Mediterranean became an inland sea. The overland trade to the +Indies and China dwindled to insignificant proportions. The old days of +Italian glory were gone. The Atlantic became the new centre of commerce +and therefore the centre of civilisation. It has remained so ever since. + +See how strangely civilisation has progressed since those early days, +fifty centuries before, when the inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile +began to keep a written record of history, From the river Nile, it went +to Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers. Then came the turn of Crete +and Greece and Rome. An inland sea became the centre of trade and the +cities along the Mediterranean were the home of art and science and +philosophy and learning. In the sixteenth century it moved westward once +more and made the countries that border upon the Atlantic become the +masters of the earth. + +There are those who say that the world war and the suicide of the great +European nations has greatly diminished the importance of the Atlantic +Ocean. They expect to see civilisation cross the American continent and +find a new home in the Pacific. But I doubt this. + +The westward trip was accompanied by a steady increase in the size +of ships and a broadening of the knowledge of the navigators. The +flat-bottomed vessels of the Nile and the Euphrates were replaced by +the sailing vessels of the Phoenicians, the AEgeans, the Greeks, the +Carthaginians and the Romans. These in turn were discarded for the +square rigged vessels of the Portuguese and the Spaniards. And the +latter were driven from the ocean by the full-rigged craft of the +English and the Dutch. + +At present, however, civilisation no longer depends upon ships. Aircraft +has taken and will continue to take the place of the sailing vessel +and the steamer. The next centre of civilisation will depend upon the +development of aircraft and water power. And the sea once more shall be +the undisturbed home of the little fishes, who once upon a time shared +their deep residence with the earliest ancestors of the human race. + + + + +BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS + +CONCERNING BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS + + +THE discoveries of the Portuguese and the Spaniards had brought the +Christians of western Europe into close contact with the people of India +and of China. They knew of course that Christianity was not the only +religion on this earth. There were the Mohammedans and the heathenish +tribes of northern Africa who worshipped sticks and stones and dead +trees. But in India and in China the Christian conquerors found new +millions who had never heard of Christ and who did not want to hear of +Him, because they thought their own religion, which was thousands of +years old, much better than that of the West. As this is a story of +mankind and not an exclusive history of the people of Europe and +our western hemisphere, you ought to know something of two men whose +teaching and whose example continue to influence the actions and the +thoughts of the majority of our fellow-travellers on this earth. + +In India, Buddha was recognised as the great religious teacher. His +history is an interesting one. He was born in the Sixth Century before +the birth of Christ, within sight of the mighty Himalaya Mountains, +where four hundred years before Zarathustra (or Zoroaster), the first of +the great leaders of the Aryan race (the name which the Eastern branch +of the Indo-European race had given to itself), had taught his people +to regard life as a continuous struggle between Ahriman, and Ormuzd, the +Gods of Evil and Good. Buddha's father was Suddhodana, a mighty chief +among the tribe of the Sakiyas. His mother, Maha Maya, was the daughter +of a neighbouring king. She had been married when she was a very young +girl. But many moons had passed beyond the distant ridge of hills and +still her husband was without an heir who should rule his lands after +him. At last, when she was fifty years old, her day came and she went +forth that she might be among her own people when her baby should come +into this world. + +It was a long trip to the land of the Koliyans, where Maha Maya had +spent her earliest years. One night she was resting among the cool trees +of the garden of Lumbini. There her son was born. He was given the name +of Siddhartha, but we know him as Buddha, which means the Enlightened +One. + +In due time, Siddhartha grew up to be a handsome young prince and when +he was nineteen years old, he was married to his cousin Yasodhara. +During the next ten years he lived far away from all pain and all +suffering, behind the protecting walls of the royal palace, awaiting the +day when he should succeed his father as King of the Sakiyas. + +But it happened that when he was thirty years old, he drove outside of +the palace gates and saw a man who was old and worn out with labour +and whose weak limbs could hardly carry the burden of life. Siddhartha +pointed him out to his coachman, Channa, but Channa answered that there +were lots of poor people in this world and that one more or less did not +matter. The young prince was very sad but he did not say anything and +went back to live with his wife and his father and his mother and tried +to be happy. A little while later he left the palace a second time. +His carriage met a man who suffered from a terrible disease. Siddhartha +asked Channa what had been the cause of this man's suffering, but the +coachman answered that there were many sick people in this world and +that such things could not be helped and did not matter very much. The +young prince was very sad when he heard this but again he returned to +his people. + +A few weeks passed. One evening Siddhartha ordered his carriage in order +to go to the river and bathe. Suddenly his horses were frightened by the +sight of a dead man whose rotting body lay sprawling in the ditch beside +the road. The young prince, who had never been allowed to see such +things, was frightened, but Channa told him not to mind such trifles. +The world was full of dead people. It was the rule of life that all +things must come to an end. Nothing was eternal. The grave awaited us +all and there was no escape. + +That evening, when Siddhartha returned to his home, he was received with +music. While he was away his wife had given birth to a son. The people +were delighted because now they knew that there was an heir to the +throne and they celebrated the event by the beating of many drums. +Siddhartha, however, did not share their joy. The curtain of life had +been lifted and he had learned the horror of man's existence. The sight +of death and suffering followed him like a terrible dream. + +That night the moon was shining brightly. Siddhartha woke up and began +to think of many things. Never again could he be happy until he should +have found a solution to the riddle of existence. He decided to find +it far away from all those whom he loved. Softly he went into the room +where Yasodhara was sleeping with her baby. Then he called for his +faithful Channa and told him to follow. + +Together the two men went into the darkness of the night, one to find +rest for his soul, the other to be a faithful servant unto a beloved +master. + +The people of India among whom Siddhartha wandered for many years were +just then in a state of change. Their ancestors, the native Indians, +had been conquered without great difficulty by the war-like Aryans +(our distant cousins) and thereafter the Aryans had been the rulers +and masters of tens of millions of docile little brown men. To maintain +themselves in the seat of the mighty, they had divided the population +into different classes and gradually a system of "caste" of the most +rigid sort had been enforced upon the natives. The descendants of the +Indo-European conquerors belonged to the highest "caste," the class of +warriors and nobles. Next came the caste of the priests. Below these +followed the peasants and the business men. The ancient natives, +however, who were called Pariahs, formed a class of despised and +miserable slaves and never could hope to be anything else. + +Even the religion of the people was a matter of caste. The old +Indo-Europeans, during their thousands of years of wandering, had met +with many strange adventures. These had been collected in a book called +the Veda. The language of this book was called Sanskrit, and it was +closely related to the different languages of the European continent, to +Greek and Latin and Russian and German and two-score others. The three +highest castes were allowed to read these holy scriptures. The Pariah, +however, the despised member of the lowest caste, was not permitted to +know its contents. Woe to the man of noble or priestly caste who should +teach a Pariah to study the sacred volume! + +The majority of the Indian people, therefore, lived in misery. Since +this planet offered them very little joy, salvation from suffering +must be found elsewhere. They tried to derive a little consolation from +meditation upon the bliss of their future existence. + +Brahma, the all-creator who was regarded by the Indian people as the +supreme ruler of life and death, was worshipped as the highest ideal of +perfection. To become like Brahma, to lose all desires for riches and +power, was recognised as the most exalted purpose of existence. Holy +thoughts were regarded as more important than holy deeds, and many +people went into the desert and lived upon the leaves of trees and +starved their bodies that they might feed their souls with the glorious +contemplation of the splendours of Brahma, the Wise, the Good and the +Merciful. + +Siddhartha, who had often observed these solitary wanderers who were +seeking the truth far away from the turmoil of the cities and the +villages, decided to follow their example. He cut his hair. He took his +pearls and his rubies and sent them back to his family with a message +of farewell, which the ever faithful Channa carried. Without a single +follower, the young prince then moved into the wilderness. + +Soon the fame of his holy conduct spread among the mountains. Five young +men came to him and asked that they might be allowed to listen to his +words of wisdom. He agreed to be their master if they would follow him. +They consented, and he took them into the hills and for six years +he taught them all he knew amidst the lonely peaks of the Vindhya +Mountains. But at the end of this period of study, he felt that he was +still far from perfection. The world that he had left continued to +tempt him. He now asked that his pupils leave him and then he fasted for +forty-nine days and nights, sitting upon the roots of an old tree. At +last he received his reward. In the dusk of the fiftieth evening, +Brahma revealed himself to his faithful servant. From that moment on, +Siddhartha was called Buddha and he was revered as the Enlightened One +who had come to save men from their unhappy mortal fate. + +The last forty-five years of his life, Buddha spent within the valley of +the Ganges River, teaching his simple lesson of submission and meekness +unto all men. In the year 488 before our era, he died, full of years and +beloved by millions of people. He had not preached his doctrines for the +benefit of a single class. Even the lowest Pariah might call himself his +disciple. + +This, however, did not please the nobles and the priests and the +merchants who did their best to destroy a creed which recognised the +equality of all living creatures and offered men the hope of a second +life (a reincarnation) under happier circumstances. As soon as they +could, they encouraged the people of India to return to the ancient +doctrines of the Brahmin creed with its fasting and its tortures of the +sinful body. But Buddhism could not be destroyed. Slowly the disciples +of the Enlightened One wandered across the valleys of the Himalayas, and +moved into China. They crossed the Yellow Sea and preached the wisdom +of their master unto the people of Japan, and they faithfully obeyed the +will of their great master, who had forbidden them to use force. To-day +more people recognise Buddha as their teacher than ever before and their +number surpasses that of the combined followers of Christ and Mohammed. + +As for Confucius, the wise old man of the Chinese, his story is a simple +one. He was born in the year 550 B.C. He led a quiet, dignified and +uneventful life at a time when China was without a strong central +government and when the Chinese people were at the mercy of bandits and +robber-barons who went from city to city, pillaging and stealing and +murdering and turning the busy plains of northern and central China into +a wilderness of starving people. + +Confucius, who loved his people, tried to save them. He did not have +much faith in the use of violence. He was a very peaceful person. He +did not think that he could make people over by giving them a lot of new +laws. He knew that the only possible salvation would come from a change +of heart, and he set out upon the seemingly hopeless task of changing +the character of his millions of fellow men who inhabited the wide +plains of eastern Asia. The Chinese had never been much interested in +religion as we understand that word. They believed in devils and spooks +as most primitive people do. But they had no prophets and recognised no +"revealed truth." Confucius is almost the only one among the great moral +leaders who did not see visions, who did not proclaim himself as the +messenger of a divine power; who did not, at some time or another, claim +that he was inspired by voices from above. + +He was just a very sensible and kindly man, rather given to lonely +wanderings and melancholy tunes upon his faithful flute. He asked for no +recognition. He did not demand that any one should follow him or worship +him. He reminds us of the ancient Greek philosophers, especially those +of the Stoic School, men who believed in right living and righteous +thinking without the hope of a reward but simply for the peace of the +soul that comes with a good conscience. + +Confucius was a very tolerant man. He went out of his way to visit +Lao-Tse, the other great Chinese leader and the founder of a philosophic +system called "Taoism," which was merely an early Chinese version of the +Golden Rule. + +Confucius bore no hatred to any one. He taught the virtue of supreme +self-possession. A person of real worth, according to the teaching of +Confucius, did not allow himself to be ruffled by anger and suffered +whatever fate brought him with the resignation of those sages who +understand that everything which happens, in one way or another, is +meant for the best. + +At first he had only a few students. Gradually the number increased. +Before his death, in the year 478 B.C., several of the kings and the +princes of China confessed themselves his disciples. When Christ was +born in Bethlehem, the philosophy of Confucius had already become a part +of the mental make-up of most Chinamen. It has continued to influence +their lives ever since. Not however in its pure, original form. Most +religions change as time goes on. Christ preached humility and meekness +and absence from worldly ambitions, but fifteen centuries after +Golgotha, the head of the Christian church was spending millions upon +the erection of a building that bore little relation to the lonely +stable of Bethlehem. + +Lao-Tse taught the Golden Rule, and in less than three centuries the +ignorant masses had made him into a real and very cruel God and had +buried his wise commandments under a rubbish-heap of superstition which +made the lives of the average Chinese one long series of frights and +fears and horrors. + +Confucius had shown his students the beauties of honouring their Father +and their Mother. They soon began to be more interested in the memory of +their departed parents than in the happiness of their children and their +grandchildren. Deliberately they turned their backs upon the future and +tried to peer into the vast darkness of the past. The worship of the +ancestors became a positive religious system. Rather than disturb a +cemetery situated upon the sunny and fertile side of a mountain, they +would plant their rice and wheat upon the barren rocks of the other +slope where nothing could possibly grow. And they preferred hunger and +famine to the desecration of the ancestral grave. + +At the same time the wise words of Confucius never quite lost their hold +upon the increasing millions of eastern Asia. Confucianism, with its +profound sayings and shrewd observations, added a touch of common-sense +philosophy to the soul of every Chinaman and influenced his entire life, +whether he was a simple laundry man in a steaming basement or the ruler +of vast provinces who dwelt behind the high walls of a secluded palace. + +In the sixteenth century the enthusiastic but rather uncivilised +Christians of the western world came face to face with the older creeds +of the East. The early Spaniards and Portuguese looked upon the peaceful +statues of Buddha and contemplated the venerable pictures of Confucius +and did not in the least know what to make of those worthy prophets +with their far-away smile. They came to the easy conclusion that these +strange divinities were just plain devils who represented something +idolatrous and heretical and did not deserve the respect of the true +sons of the Church. Whenever the spirit of Buddha or Confucius seemed to +interfere with the trade in spices and silks, the Europeans attacked the +"evil influence" with bullets and grape-shot. That system had certain +very definite disadvantages. It has left us an unpleasant heritage of +ill-will which promises little good for the immediate future. + + + + +THE REFORMATION + +THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN RACE IS BEST COMPARED TO A GIGANTIC PENDULUM +WHICH FOREVER SWINGS FORWARD AND BACKWARD. THE RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENCE +AND THE ARTISTIC AND LITERARY ENTHUSIASM OF THE RENAISSANCE WERE +FOLLOWED BY THE ARTISTIC AND LITERARY INDIFFERENCE AND THE RELIGIOUS +ENTHUSIASM OF THE REFORMATION + + +OF course you have heard of the Reformation. You think of a small but +courageous group of pilgrims who crossed the ocean to have "freedom of +religious worship." Vaguely in the course of time (and more especially +in our Protestant countries) the Reformation has come to stand for the +idea of "liberty of thought." Martin Luther is represented as the leader +of the vanguard of progress. But when history is something more than a +series of flattering speeches addressed to our own glorious ancestors, +when to use the words of the German historian Ranke, we try to discover +what "actually happened," then much of the past is seen in a very +different light. + +Few things in human life are either entirely good or entirely bad. +Few things are either black or white. It is the duty of the honest +chronicler to give a true account of all the good and bad sides of every +historical event. It is very difficult to do this because we all have +our personal likes and dislikes. But we ought to try and be as fair as +we can be, and must not allow our prejudices to influence us too much. + +Take my own case as an example. I grew up in the very Protestant centre +of a very Protestant country. I never saw any Catholics until I was +about twelve years old. Then I felt very uncomfortable when I met them. +I was a little bit afraid. I knew the story of the many thousand people +who had been burned and hanged and quartered by the Spanish Inquisition +when the Duke of Alba tried to cure the Dutch people of their Lutheran +and Calvinistic heresies. All that was very real to me. It seemed to +have happened only the day before. It might occur again. There might +be another Saint Bartholomew's night, and poor little me would be +slaughtered in my nightie and my body would be thrown out of the window, +as had happened to the noble Admiral de Coligny. + +Much later I went to live for a number of years in a Catholic country. +I found the people much pleasanter and much more tolerant and quite as +intelligent as my former countrymen. To my great surprise, I began to +discover that there was a Catholic side to the Reformation, quite as +much as a Protestant. + +Of course the good people of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, +who actually lived through the Reformation, did not see things that +way. They were always right and their enemy was always wrong. It was +a question of hang or be hanged, and both sides preferred to do the +hanging. Which was no more than human and for which they deserve no +blame. + +When we look at the world as it appeared in the year 1500, an easy date +to remember, and the year in which the Emperor Charles V was born, this +is what we see. The feudal disorder of the Middle Ages has given way +before the order of a number of highly centralised kingdoms. The most +powerful of all sovereigns is the great Charles, then a baby in a +cradle. He is the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella and of Maximilian +of Habsburg, the last of the mediaeval knights, and of his wife Mary, +the daughter of Charles the Bold, the ambitious Burgundian duke who had +made successful war upon France but had been killed by the independent +Swiss peasants. The child Charles, therefore, has fallen heir to the +greater part of the map, to all the lands of his parents, grandparents, +uncles, cousins and aunts in Germany, in Austria, in Holland, in +Belgium, in Italy, and in Spain, together with all their colonies in +Asia, Africa and America. By a strange irony of fate, he has been born +in Ghent, in that same castle of the counts of Flanders, which the +Germans used as a prison during their recent occupation of Belgium, and +although a Spanish king and a German emperor, he receives the training +of a Fleming. + +As his father is dead (poisoned, so people say, but this is never +proved), and his mother has lost her mind (she is travelling through her +domains with the coffin containing the body of her departed husband), +the child is left to the strict discipline of his Aunt Margaret. Forced +to rule Germans and Italians and Spaniards and a hundred strange races, +Charles grows up a Fleming, a faithful son of the Catholic Church, but +quite averse to religious intolerance. He is rather lazy, both as a boy +and as a man. But fate condemns him to rule the world when the world is +in a turmoil of religious fervour. Forever he is speeding from Madrid to +Innsbruck and from Bruges to Vienna. He loves peace and quiet and he is +always at war. At the age of fifty-five, we see him turn his back upon +the human race in utter disgust at so much hate and so much stupidity. +Three years later he dies, a very tired and disappointed man. + +So much for Charles the Emperor. How about the Church, the second great +power in the world? The Church has changed greatly since the early days +of the Middle Ages, when it started out to conquer the heathen and show +them the advantages of a pious and righteous life. In the first place, +the Church has grown too rich. The Pope is no longer the shepherd of +a flock of humble Christians. He lives in a vast palace and surrounds +himself with artists and musicians and famous literary men. His churches +and chapels are covered with new pictures in which the saints look more +like Greek Gods than is strictly necessary. He divides his time unevenly +between affairs of state and art. The affairs of state take ten percent +of his time. The other ninety percent goes to an active interest in +Roman statues, recently discovered Greek vases, plans for a new summer +home, the rehearsal of a new play. The Archbishops and the Cardinals +follow the example of their Pope. The Bishops try to imitate the +Archbishops. The village priests, however, have remained faithful to +their duties. They keep themselves aloof from the wicked world and +the heathenish love of beauty and pleasure. They stay away from the +monasteries where the monks seem to have forgotten their ancient vows of +simplicity and poverty and live as happily as they dare without causing +too much of a public scandal. + +Finally, there are the common people. They are much better off than they +have ever been before. They are more prosperous, they live in better +houses, their children go to better schools, their cities are more +beautiful than before, their firearms have made them the equal of their +old enemies, the robber-barons, who for centuries have levied such heavy +taxes upon their trade. So much for the chief actors in the Reformation. + +Now let us see what the Renaissance has done to Europe, and then you +will understand how the revival of learning and art was bound to be +followed by a revival of religious interests. The Renaissance began in +Italy. From there it spread to France. It was not quite successful in +Spain, where five hundred years of warfare with the Moors had made the +people very narrow minded and very fanatical in all religious matters. +The circle had grown wider and wider, but once the Alps had been +crossed, the Renaissance had suffered a change. + +The people of northern Europe, living in a very different climate, +had an outlook upon life which contrasted strangely with that of their +southern neighbours. The Italians lived out in the open, under a sunny +sky. It was easy for them to laugh and to sing and to be happy. The +Germans, the Dutch, the English, the Swedes, spent most of their time +indoors, listening to the rain beating on the closed windows of their +comfortable little houses. They did not laugh quite so much. They took +everything more seriously. They were forever conscious of their immortal +souls and they did not like to be funny about matters which they +considered holy and sacred. The "humanistic" part of the Renaissance, +the books, the studies of ancient authors, the grammar and the +text-books, interested them greatly. But the general return to the +old pagan civilisation of Greece and Rome, which was one of the chief +results of the Renaissance in Italy, filled their hearts with horror. + +But the Papacy and the College of Cardinals was almost entirely composed +of Italians and they had turned the Church into a pleasant club where +people discussed art and music and the theatre, but rarely mentioned +religion. Hence the split between the serious north and the more +civilised but easy-going and indifferent south was growing wider and +wider all the time and nobody seemed to be aware of the danger that +threatened the Church. + +There were a few minor reasons which will explain why the Reformation +took place in Germany rather than in Sweden or England. The Germans bore +an ancient grudge against Rome. The endless quarrels between Emperor and +Pope had caused much mutual bitterness. In the other European countries +where the government rested in the hands of a strong king, the ruler +had often been able to protect his subjects against the greed of the +priests. In Germany, where a shadowy emperor ruled a turbulent crowd of +little princelings, the good burghers were more directly at the mercy +of their bishops and prelates. These dignitaries were trying to collect +large sums of money for the benefit of those enormous churches which +were a hobby of the Popes of the Renaissance. The Germans felt that they +were being mulcted and quite naturally they did not like it. + +And then there is the rarely mentioned fact that Germany was the home +of the printing press. In northern Europe books were cheap and the +Bible was no longer a mysterious manu-script owned and explained by +the priest. It was a household book of many families where Latin was +understood by the father and by the children. Whole families began to +read it, which was against the law of the Church. They discovered +that the priests were telling them many things which, according to the +original text of the Holy Scriptures, were somewhat different. This +caused doubt. People began to ask questions. And questions, when they +cannot be answered, often cause a great deal of trouble. + +The attack began when the humanists of the North opened fire upon the +monks. In their heart of hearts they still had too much respect and +reverence for the Pope to direct their sallies against his Most Holy +Person. But the lazy, ignorant monks, living behind the sheltering walls +of their rich monasteries, offered rare sport. + +The leader in this warfare, curiously enough, was a very faithful son +of the church Gerard Gerardzoon, or Desiderius Erasmus, as he is usually +called, was a poor boy, born in Rotterdam in Holland, and educated +at the same Latin school of Deventer from which Thomas a Kempis had +graduated. He had become a priest and for a time he had lived in a +monastery. He had travelled a great deal and knew whereof he wrote, When +he began his career as a public pamphleteer (he would have been called +an editorial writer in our day) the world was greatly amused at an +anonymous series of letters which had just appeared under the title of +"Letters of Obscure Men." In these letters, the general stupidity and +arrogance of the monks of the late Middle Ages was exposed in a strange +German-Latin doggerel which reminds one of our modern limericks. Erasmus +himself was a very learned and serious scholar, who knew both Latin and +Greek and gave us the first reliable version of the New Testament, +which he translated into Latin together with a corrected edition of the +original Greek text. But he believed with Sallust, the Roman poet, that +nothing prevents us from "stating the truth with a smile upon our lips." + +In the year 1500, while visiting Sir Thomas More in Eng-land, he took +a few weeks off and wrote a funny little book, called the "Praise of +Folly," in which he attacked the monks and their credulous followers +with that most dangerous of all weapons, humor. The booklet was the best +seller of the sixteenth century. It was translated into almost every +language and it made people pay attention to those other books of +Erasmus in which he advocated reform of the many abuses of the church +and appealed to his fellow humanists to help him in his task of bringing +about a great rebirth of the Christian faith. + +But nothing came of these excellent plans. Erasmus was too reasonable +and too tolerant to please most of the enemies of the church. They were +waiting for a leader of a more robust nature. + +He came, and his name was Martin Luther. + +Luther was a North-German peasant with a first-class brain and possessed +of great personal courage. He was a university man, a master of arts of +the University of Erfurt; afterwards he joined a Dominican monastery. +Then he became a college professor at the theological school of +Wittenberg and began to explain the scriptures to the indifferent +ploughboys of his Saxon home. He had a lot of spare time and this he +used to study the original texts of the Old and New Testaments. Soon +he began to see the great difference which existed between the words of +Christ and those that were preached by the Popes and the Bishops. In the +year 1511, he visited Rome on official business. Alexander VI, of the +family of Borgia, who had enriched himself for the benefit of his +son and daughter, was dead. But his successor, Julius II, a man of +irreproachable personal character, was spending most of his time +fighting and building and did not impress this serious minded German +theologian with his piety. Luther returned to Wittenberg a much +disappointed man. But worse was to follow. + +The gigantic church of St. Peter which Pope Julius had wished upon his +innocent successors, although only half begun, was already in need of +repair. Alexander VI had spent every penny of the Papal treasury. Leo X, +who succeeded Julius in the year 1513, was on the verge of bankruptcy. +He reverted to an old method of raising ready cash. He began to sell +"indulgences." An indulgence was a piece of parchment which in return +for a certain sum of money, promised a sinner a decrease of the time +which he would have to spend in purgatory. It was a perfectly correct +thing according to the creed of the late Middle Ages. Since the church +had the power to forgive the sins of those who truly repented before +they died, the church also had the right to shorten, through its +intercession with the Saints, the time during which the soul must be +purified in the shadowy realms of Purgatory. + +It was unfortunate that these Indulgences must be sold for money. But +they offered an easy form of revenue and besides, those who were too +poor to pay, received theirs for nothing. + +Now it happened in the year 1517 that the exclusive territory for the +sale of indulgences in Saxony was given to a Dominican monk by the name +of Johan Tetzel. Brother Johan was a hustling salesman. To tell the +truth he was a little too eager. His business methods outraged the pious +people of the little duchy. And Luther, who was an honest fellow, got so +angry that he did a rash thing. On the 31st of October of the year 1517, +he went to the court church and upon the doors thereof he posted a sheet +of paper with ninety-five statements (or theses), attacking the sale of +indulgences. These statements had been written in Latin. Luther had no +intention of starting a riot. He was not a revolutionist. He objected to +the institution of the Indulgences and he wanted his fellow professors +to know what he thought about them. But this was still a private affair +of the clerical and professorial world and there was no appeal to the +prejudices of the community of laymen. + +Unfortunately, at that moment when the whole world had begun to take an +interest in the religious affairs of the day it was utterly impossible +to discuss anything, without at once creating a serious mental +disturbance. In less than two months, all Europe was discussing the +ninety-five theses of the Saxon monk. Every one must take sides. +Every obscure little theologian must print his own opinion. The papal +authorities began to be alarmed. They ordered the Wittenberg professor +to proceed to Rome and give an account of his action. Luther wisely +remembered what had happened to Huss. He stayed in Germany and he was +punished with excommunication. Luther burned the papal bull in the +presence of an admiring multitude and from that moment, peace between +himself and the Pope was no longer possible. + +Without any desire on his part, Luther had become the leader of a vast +army of discontented Christians. German patriots like Ulrich von Hutten, +rushed to his defence. The students of Wittenberg and Erfurt and Leipzig +offered to defend him should the authorities try to imprison him. The +Elector of Saxony reassured the eager young men. No harm would befall +Luther as long as he stayed on Saxon ground. + +All this happened in the year 1520. Charles V was twenty years old and +as the ruler of half the world, was forced to remain on pleasant terms +with the Pope. He sent out calls for a Diet or general assembly in the +good city of Worms on the Rhine and commanded Luther to be present and +give an account of his extraordinary behaviour. Luther, who now was the +national hero of the Germans, went. He refused to take back a single +word of what he had ever written or said. His conscience was controlled +only by the word of God. He would live and die for his conscience + +The Diet of Worms, after due deliberation, declared Luther an outlaw +before God and man, and forbade all Germans to give him shelter or food +or drink, or to read a single word of the books which the dastardly +heretic had written. But the great reformer was in no danger. By the +majority of the Germans of the north the edict was denounced as a most +unjust and outrageous document. For greater safety, Luther was hidden in +the Wartburg, a castle belonging to the Elector of Saxony, and there +he defied all papal authority by translating the entire Bible into the +German language, that all the people might read and know the word of God +for themselves. + +By this time, the Reformation was no longer a spiritual and religious +affair. Those who hated the beauty of the modern church building used +this period of unrest to attack and destroy what they did not like +because they did not understand it. Impoverished knights tried to make +up for past losses by grabbing the territory which belonged to the +monasteries. Discontented princes made use of the absence of the Emperor +to increase their own power. The starving peasants, following the +leadership of half-crazy agitators, made the best of the opportunity +and attacked the castles of their masters and plundered and murdered and +burned with the zeal of the old Crusaders. + +A veritable reign of disorder broke loose throughout the Empire. Some +princes became Protestants (as the "protesting" adherents of Luther were +called) and persecuted their Catholic subjects. Others remained Catholic +and hanged their Protestant subjects. The Diet of Speyer of the year +1526 tried to settle this difficult question of allegiance by ordering +that "the subjects should all be of the same religious denomination as +their princes." This turned Germany into a checkerboard of a thousand +hostile little duchies and principalities and created a situation which +prevented the normal political growth for hundreds of years. + +In February of the year 1546 Luther died and was put to rest in the +same church where twenty-nine years before he had proclaimed his famous +objections to the sale of Indulgences. In less than thirty years, the +indifferent, joking and laughing world of the Renaissance had been +transformed into the arguing, quarrelling, back-biting, debating-society +of the Reformation. The universal spiritual empire of the Popes came +to a sudden end and the whole Western Europe was turned into a +battle-field, where Protestants and Catholics killed each other for +the greater glory of certain theological doctrines which are +as incomprehensible to the present generation as the mysterious +inscriptions of the ancient Etruscans. + + + + +RELIGIOUS WARFARE + +THE AGE OF THE GREAT RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSIES + + +THE sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were the age of religious +controversy. + +If you will notice you will find that almost everybody around you is +forever "talking economics" and discussing wages and hours of labor and +strikes in their relation to the life of the community, for that is the +main topic of interest of our own time. + +The poor little children of the year 1600 or 1650 fared worse. They +never heard anything but "religion." Their heads were filled with +"predestination," "transubstantition," "free will," and a hundred other +queer words, expressing obscure points of "the true faith," whether +Catholic or Protestant. According to the desire of their parents they +were baptised Catholics or Lutherans or Calvinists or Zwinglians or +Anabaptists. They learned their theology from the Augsburg catechism, +composed by Luther, or from the "institutes of Christianity," written +by Calvin, or they mumbled the Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith which were +printed in the English Book of Common Prayer, and they were told that +these alone represented the "True Faith." + +They heard of the wholesale theft of church property perpetrated by King +Henry VIII, the much-married monarch of England, who made himself the +supreme head of the English church, and assumed the old papal rights of +appointing bishops and priests. They had a nightmare whenever some one +mentioned the Holy Inquisition, with its dungeons and its many torture +chambers, and they were treated to equally horrible stories of how a mob +of outraged Dutch Protestants had got hold of a dozen defenceless old +priests and hanged them for the sheer pleasure of killing those who +professed a different faith. It was unfortunate that the two contending +parties were so equally matched. Otherwise the struggle would have come +to a quick solution. Now it dragged on for eight generations, and it +grew so complicated that I can only tell you the most important details, +and must ask you to get the rest from one of the many histories of the +Reformation. + +The great reform movement of the Protestants had been followed by a +thoroughgoing reform within the bosom of the Church. Those popes who +had been merely amateur humanists and dealers in Roman and Greek +antiquities, disappeared from the scene and their place was taken by +serious men who spent twenty hours a day administering those holy duties +which had been placed in their hands. + +The long and rather disgraceful happiness of the monasteries came to an +end. Monks and nuns were forced to be up at sunrise, to study the Church +Fathers, to tend the sick and console the dying. The Holy Inquisition +watched day and night that no dangerous doctrines should be spread by +way of the printing press. Here it is customary to mention poor Galileo, +who was locked up because he had been a little too indiscreet in +explaining the heavens with his funny little telescope and had muttered +certain opinions about the behaviour of the planets which were entirely +opposed to the official views of the church. But in all fairness to the +Pope, the clergy and the Inquisition, it ought to be stated that the +Protestants were quite as much the enemies of science and medicine as +the Catholics and with equal manifestations of ignorance and intolerance +regarded the men who investigated things for themselves as the most +dangerous enemies of mankind. + +And Calvin, the great French reformer and the tyrant (both political and +spiritual) of Geneva, not only assisted the French authorities when they +tried to hang Michael Servetus (the Spanish theologian and physician +who had become famous as the assistant of Vesalius, the first great +anatomist), but when Servetus had managed to escape from his French jail +and had fled to Geneva, Calvin threw this brilliant man into prison +and after a prolonged trial, allowed him to be burned at the stake on +account of his heresies, totally indifferent to his fame as a scientist. + +And so it went. We have few reliable statistics upon the subject, but on +the whole, the Protestants tired of this game long before the Catholics, +and the greater part of honest men and women who were burned and hanged +and decapitated on account of their religious beliefs fell as victims of +the very energetic but also very drastic church of Rome. + +For tolerance (and please remember this when you grow older), is of very +recent origin and even the people of our own so-called "modern world" +are apt to be tolerant only upon such matters as do not interest them +very much. They are tolerant towards a native of Africa, and do not care +whether he becomes a Buddhist or a Mohammedan, because neither Buddhism +nor Mohammedanism means anything to them. But when they hear that their +neighbour who was a Republican and believed in a high protective tariff, +has joined the Socialist party and now wants to repeal all tariff laws, +their tolerance ceases and they use almost the same words as those +employed by a kindly Catholic (or Protestant) of the seventeenth +century, who was informed that his best friend whom he had always +respected and loved had fallen a victim to the terrible heresies of the +Protestant (or Catholic) church. + +"Heresy" until a very short time ago was regarded as a disease. Nowadays +when we see a man neglecting the personal cleanliness of his body and +his home and exposing himself and his children to the dangers of typhoid +fever or another preventable disease, we send for the board-of-health +and the health officer calls upon the police to aid him in removing this +person who is a danger to the safety of the entire community. In the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a heretic, a man or a woman who +openly doubted the fundamental principles upon which his Protestant +or Catholic religion had been founded, was considered a more terrible +menace than a typhoid carrier. Typhoid fever might (very likely would) +destroy the body. But heresy, according to them, would positively +destroy the immortal soul. It was therefore the duty of all good +and logical citizens to warn the police against the enemies of the +established order of things and those who failed to do so were as +culpable as a modern man who does not telephone to the nearest doctor +when he discovers that his fellow-tenants are suffering from cholera or +small-pox. + +In the years to come you will hear a great deal about preventive +medicine. Preventive medicine simply means that our doctors do not wait +until their patients are sick, then step forward and cure them. On the +contrary, they study the patient and the conditions under which he lives +when he (the patient) is perfectly well and they remove every possible +cause of illness by cleaning up rubbish, by teaching him what to eat and +what to avoid, and by giving him a few simple ideas of personal hygiene. +They go even further than that, and these good doctors enter the +schools and teach the children how to use tooth-brushes and how to avoid +catching colds. + +The sixteenth century which regarded (as I have tried to show you) +bodily illness as much less important than sickness which threatened the +soul, organised a system of spiritual preventive medicine. As soon as +a child was old enough to spell his first words, he was educated in +the true (and the "only true") principles of the Faith. Indirectly this +proved to be a good thing for the general progress of the people of +Europe. The Protestant lands were soon dotted with schools. They used a +great deal of very valuable time to explain the Catechism, but they gave +instruction in other things besides theology. They encouraged reading +and they were responsible for the great prosperity of the printing +trade. + +But the Catholics did not lag behind. They too devoted much time and +thought to education. The Church, in this matter, found an invaluable +friend and ally in the newly-founded order of the Society of Jesus. The +founder of this remarkable organisation was a Spanish soldier who +after a life of unholy adventures had been converted and thereupon felt +himself bound to serve the church just as many former sinners, who have +been shown the errors of their way by the Salvation Army, devote the +remaining years of their lives to the task of aiding and consoling those +who are less fortunate. + +The name of this Spaniard was Ignatius de Loyola. He was born in the +year before the discovery of America. He had been wounded and lamed for +life and while he was in the hospital he had seen a vision of the Holy +Virgin and her Son, who bade him give up the wickedness of his former +life. He decided to go to the Holy Land and finish the task of the +Crusades. But a visit to Jerusalem had shown him the impossibility of +the task and he returned west to help in the warfare upon the heresies +of the Lutherans. + +In the year 1534 he was studying in Paris at the Sorbonne. Together with +seven other students he founded a fraternity. The eight men promised +each other that they would lead holy lives, that they would not strive +after riches but after righteousness, and would devote themselves, body +and soul, to the service of the Church. A few years later this small +fraternity had grown into a regular organisation and was recognised by +Pope Paul III as the Society of Jesus. + +Loyola had been a military man. He believed in discipline, and absolute +obedience to the orders of the superior dignitaries became one of the +main causes for the enormous success of the Jesuits. They specialised +in education. They gave their teachers a most thorough-going education +before they allowed them to talk to a single pupil. They lived with +their students and they entered into their games. They watched them with +tender care. And as a result they raised a new generation of faithful +Catholics who took their religious duties as seriously as the people of +the early Middle Ages. + +The shrewd Jesuits, however, did not waste all their efforts upon the +education of the poor. They entered the palaces of the mighty and became +the private tutors of future emperors and kings. And what this meant you +will see for yourself when I tell you about the Thirty Years War. But +before this terrible and final outbreak of religious fanaticism, a great +many other things had happened. + +Charles V was dead. Germany and Austria had been left to his brother +Ferdinand. All his other possessions, Spain and the Netherlands and the +Indies and America had gone to his son Philip. Philip was the son of +Charles and a Portuguese princess who had been first cousin to her own +husband. The children that are born of such a union are apt to be +rather queer. The son of Philip, the unfortunate Don Carlos, (murdered +afterwards with his own father's consent,) was crazy. Philip was not +quite crazy, but his zeal for the Church bordered closely upon religious +insanity. He believed that Heaven had appointed him as one of the +saviours of mankind. Therefore, whosoever was obstinate and refused to +share his Majesty's views, proclaimed himself an enemy of the human race +and must be exterminated lest his example corrupt the souls of his pious +neighbours. + +Spain, of course, was a very rich country. All the gold and silver of +the new world flowed into the Castilian and Aragonian treasuries. But +Spain suffered from a curious economic disease. Her peasants were +hard working men and even harder working women. But the better classes +maintained a supreme contempt for any form of labour, outside of +employment in the army or navy or the civil service. As for the Moors, +who had been very industrious artisans, they had been driven out of +the country long before. As a result, Spain, the treasure chest of the +world, remained a poor country because all her money had to be sent +abroad in exchange for the wheat and the other necessities of life which +the Spaniards neglected to raise for themselves. + +Philip, ruler of the most powerful nation of the sixteenth century, +depended for his revenue upon the taxes which were gathered in the busy +commercial bee-hive of the Netherlands. But these Flemings and Dutchmen +were devoted followers of the doctrines of Luther and Calvin and they +had cleansed their churches of all images and holy paintings and they +had informed the Pope that they no longer regarded him as their shepherd +but intended to follow the dictates of their consciences and the +commands of their newly translated Bible. + +This placed the king in a very difficult position. He could not possibly +tolerate the heresies of his Dutch subjects, but he needed their money. +If he allowed them to be Protestants and took no measures to save +their souls he was deficient in his duty toward God. If he sent the +Inquisition to the Netherlands and burned his subjects at the stake, he +would lose the greater part of his income. + +Being a man of uncertain will-power he hesitated a long time. He tried +kindness and sternness and promises and threats. The Hollanders remained +obstinate, and continued to sing psalms and listen to the sermons of +their Lutheran and Calvinist preachers. Philip in his despair sent his +"man of iron," the Duke of Alba, to bring these hardened sinners to +terms. Alba began by decapitating those leaders who had not wisely left +the country before his arrival. In the year 1572 (the same year that the +French Protestant leaders were all killed during the terrible night of +Saint Bartholomew), he attacked a number of Dutch cities and massacred +the inhabitants as an example for the others. The next year he laid +siege to the town of Leyden, the manufacturing center of Holland. + +Meanwhile, the seven small provinces of the northern Netherlands had +formed a defensive union, the so-called union of Utrecht, and had +recognised William of Orange, a German prince who had been the private +secretary of the Emperor Charles V, as the leader of their army and as +commander of their freebooting sailors, who were known as the Beggars +of the Sea. William, to save Leyden, cut the dykes, created a shallow +inland sea, and delivered the town with the help of a strangely equipped +navy consisting of scows and flat-bottomed barges which were rowed and +pushed and pulled through the mud until they reached the city walls. + +It was the first time that an army of the invincible Spanish king had +suffered such a humiliating defeat. It surprised the world just as the +Japanese victory of Mukden, in the Russian-Japanese war, surprised our +own generation. The Protestant powers took fresh courage and Philip +devised new means for the purpose of conquering his rebellious subjects. +He hired a poor half-witted fanatic to go and murder William of Orange. +But the sight of their dead leader did not bring the Seven Provinces to +their knees. On the contrary it made them furiously angry. In the year +1581, the Estates General (the meeting of the representatives of the +Seven Provinces) came together at the Hague and most solemnly abjured +their "wicked king Philip" and themselves assumed the burden of +sovereignty which thus far had been invested in their "King by the Grace +of God." + +This is a very important event in the history of the great struggle for +political liberty. It was a step which reached much further than the +uprising of the nobles which ended with the signing of the Magna Carta. +These good burghers said "Between a king and his subjects there is a +silent understanding that both sides shall perform certain services and +shall recognise certain definite duties. If either party fails to +live up to this contract, the other has the right to consider it +terminated." The American subjects of King George III in the year 1776 +came to a similar conclusion. But they had three thousand miles of ocean +between themselves and their ruler and the Estates General took their +decision (which meant a slow death in case of defeat) within hearing of +the Spanish guns and although in constant fear of an avenging Spanish +fleet. + +The stories about a mysterious Spanish fleet that was to conquer both +Holland and England, when Protestant Queen Elizabeth had succeeded +Catholic "Bloody Mary" was an old one. For years the sailors of the +waterfront had talked about it. In the eighties of the sixteenth +century, the rumour took a definite shape. According to pilots who had +been in Lisbon, all the Spanish and Portuguese wharves were building +ships. And in the southern Netherlands (in Belgium) the Duke of Parma +was collecting a large expeditionary force to be carried from Ostend to +London and Amsterdam as soon as the fleet should arrive. + +In the year 1586 the Great Armada set sail for the north. But the +harbours of the Flemish coast were blockaded by a Dutch fleet and the +Channel was guarded by the English, and the Spaniards, accustomed to the +quieter seas of the south, did not know how to navigate in this squally +and bleak northern climate. What happened to the Armada once it was +attacked by ships and by storms I need not tell you. A few ships, by +sailing around Ireland, escaped to tell the terrible story of defeat. +The others perished and lie at the bottom of the North Sea. + +Turn about is fair play. The British nod the Dutch Protestants now +carried the war into the territory of the enemy. Before the end of the +century, Houtman, with the help of a booklet written by Linschoten +(a Hollander who had been in the Portuguese service), had at last +discovered the route to the Indies. As a result the great Dutch East +India Company was founded and a systematic war upon the Portuguese and +Spanish colonies in Asia and Africa was begun in all seriousness. + +It was during this early era of colonial conquest that a curious lawsuit +was fought out in the Dutch courts. Early in the seventeenth century a +Dutch Captain by the name of van Heemskerk, a man who had made himself +famous as the head of an expedition which had tried to discover the +North Eastern Passage to the Indies and who had spent a winter on the +frozen shores of the island of Nova Zembla, had captured a Portuguese +ship in the straits of Malacca. You will remember that the Pope had +divided the world into two equal shares, one of which had been given +to the Spaniards and the other to the Portuguese. The Portuguese quite +naturally regarded the water which surrounded their Indian islands as +part of their own property and since, for the moment, they were not at +war with the United Seven Netherlands, they claimed that the captain +of a private Dutch trading company had no right to enter their private +domain and steal their ships. And they brought suit. The directors of +the Dutch East India Company hired a bright young lawyer, by the name of +De Groot or Grotius, to defend their case. He made the astonishing plea +that the ocean is free to all comers. Once outside the distance which a +cannon ball fired from the land can reach, the sea is or (according to +Grotius) ought to be, a free and open highway to all the ships of all +nations. It was the first time that this startling doctrine had been +publicly pronounced in a court of law. It was opposed by all the other +seafaring people. To counteract the effect of Grotius' famous plea for +the "Mare Liberum," or "Open Sea," John Selden, the Englishman, wrote +his famous treatise upon the "Mare Clausum" or "Closed Sea" which +treated of the natural right of a sovereign to regard the seas which +surrounded his country as belonging to his territory. I mention this +here because the question had not yet been decided and during the last +war caused all sorts of difficulties and complications. + +To return to the warfare between Spaniard and Hollander and Englishman, +before twenty years were over the most valuable colonies of the Indies +and the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon and those along the coast of China +and even Japan were in Protestant hands. In 1621 a West Indian Company +was founded which conquered Brazil and in North America built a fortress +called Nieuw Amsterdam at the mouth of the river which Henry Hudson had +discovered in the year 1609 + +These new colonies enriched both England and the Dutch Republic to such +an extent that they could hire foreign soldiers to do their fighting on +land while they devoted themselves to commerce and trade. To them the +Protestant revolt meant independence and prosperity. But in many other +parts of Europe it meant a succession of horrors compared to which the +last war was a mild excursion of kindly Sunday-school boys. + +The Thirty Years War which broke out in the year 1618 and which ended +with the famous treaty of Westphalia in 1648 was the perfectly natural +result of a century of ever increasing religious hatred. It was, as +I have said, a terrible war. Everybody fought everybody else and the +struggle ended only when all parties had been thoroughly exhausted and +could fight no longer. + +In less than a generation it turned many parts of central Europe into a +wilderness, where the hungry peasants fought for the carcass of a dead +horse with the even hungrier wolf. Five-sixths of all the German towns +and villages were destroyed. The Palatinate, in western Germany, was +plundered twenty-eight times. And a population of eighteen million +people was reduced to four million. + +The hostilities began almost as soon as Ferdinand II of the House of +Habsburg had been elected Emperor. He was the product of a most careful +Jesuit training and was a most obedient and devout son of the Church. +The vow which he had made as a young man, that he would eradicate all +sects and all heresies from his domains, Ferdinand kept to the best +of his ability. Two days before his election, his chief opponent, +Frederick, the Protestant Elector of the Palatinate and a son-in-law of +James I of England, had been made King of Bohemia, in direct violation +of Ferdinand's wishes. + +At once the Habsburg armies marched into Bohemia. The young king looked +in vain for assistance against this formidable enemy. The Dutch Republic +was willing to help, but, engaged in a desperate war of its own with +the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, it could do little. The Stuarts in +England were more interested in strengthening their own absolute power +at home than spending money and men upon a forlorn adventure in far away +Bohemia. After a struggle of a few months, the Elector of the Palatinate +was driven away and his domains were given to the Catholic house of +Bavaria. This was the beginning of the great war. + +Then the Habsburg armies, under Tilly and Wallenstein, fought their way +through the Protestant part of Germany until they had reached the +shores of the Baltic. A Catholic neighbour meant serious danger to the +Protestant king of Denmark. Christian IV tried to defend himself by +attacking his enemies before they had become too strong for him. The +Danish armies marched into Germany but were defeated. Wallenstein +followed up his victory with such energy and violence that Denmark was +forced to sue for peace. Only one town of the Baltic then remained in +the hands of the Protestants. That was Stralsund. + +There, in the early summer of the year 1630, landed King Gustavus +Adolphus of the house of Vasa, king of Sweden, and famous as the man who +had defended his country against the Russians. A Protestant prince of +unlimited ambition, desirous of making Sweden the centre of a great +Northern Empire, Gustavus Adolphus was welcomed by the Protestant +princes of Europe as the saviour of the Lutheran cause. He defeated +Tilly, who had just successfully butchered the Protestant inhabitants of +Magdeburg. Then his troops began their great march through the heart +of Germany in an attempt to reach the Habsburg possessions in Italy. +Threatened in the rear by the Catholics, Gustavus suddenly veered +around and defeated the main Habsburg army in the battle of Lutzen. +Unfortunately the Swedish king was killed when he strayed away from his +troops. But the Habsburg power had been broken. + +Ferdinand, who was a suspicious sort of person, at once began to +distrust his own servants. Wallenstein, his commander-in-chief, was +murdered at his instigation. When the Catholic Bourbons, who ruled +France and hated their Habsburg rivals, heard of this, they joined the +Protestant Swedes. The armies of Louis XIII invaded the eastern part +of Germany, and Turenne and Conde added their fame to that of Baner +and Weimar, the Swedish generals, by murdering, pillaging and burning +Habsburg property. This brought great fame and riches to the Swedes +and caused the Danes to become envious. The Protestant Danes thereupon +declared war upon the Protestant Swedes who were the allies of the +Catholic French, whose political leader, the Cardinal de Richelieu, had +just deprived the Huguenots (or French Protestants) of those rights of +public worship which the Edict of Nantes of the year 1598 had guaranteed +them. + +The war, after the habit of such encounters, did not decide anything, +when it came to an end with the treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The +Catholic powers remained Catholic and the Protestant powers stayed +faithful to the doctrines of Luther and Calvin and Zwingli. The Swiss +and Dutch Protestants were recognised as independent republics. France +kept the cities of Metz and Toul and Verdun and a part of the Alsace. +The Holy Roman Empire continued to exist as a sort of scare-crow state, +without men, without money, without hope and without courage. + +The only good the Thirty Years War accomplished was a negative one. It +discouraged both Catholics and Protestants from ever trying it again. +Henceforth they left each other in peace. This however did not mean +that religious feeling and theological hatred had been removed from this +earth. On the contrary. The quarrels between Catholic and Protestant +came to an end, but the disputes between the different Protestant sects +continued as bitterly as ever before. In Holland a difference of +opinion as to the true nature of predestination (a very obscure point of +theology, but exceedingly important the eyes of your great-grandfather) +caused a quarrel which ended with the decapitation of John of +Oldenbarneveldt, the Dutch statesman, who had been responsible for +the success of the Republic during the first twenty years of its +independence, and who was the great organising genius of her Indian +trading company. In England, the feud led to civil war. + +But before I tell you of this outbreak which led to the first execution +by process-of-law of a European king, I ought to say something about the +previous history of England. In this book I am trying to give you only +those events of the past which can throw a light upon the conditions of +the present world. If I do not mention certain countries, the cause is +not to be found in any secret dislike on my part. I wish that I could +tell you what happened to Norway and Switzerland and Serbia and China. +But these lands exercised no great influence upon the development of +Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I therefore pass +them by with a polite and very respectful bow. England however is in +a different position. What the people of that small island have done +during the last five hundred years has shaped the course of history in +every corner of the world. Without a proper knowledge of the background +of English history, you cannot understand what you read in the +newspapers. And it is therefore necessary that you know how England +happened to develop a parliamentary form of government while the rest of +the European continent was still ruled by absolute monarchs. + + + + +THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION + +HOW THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE "DIVINE RIGHT" OF KINGS AND THE LESS DIVINE +BUT MORE REASONABLE "RIGHT OF PARLIAMENT" ENDED DISASTROUSLY FOR KING +CHARLES II + + +CAESAR, the earliest explorer of north-western Europe, had crossed +the Channel in the year 55 B.C. and had conquered England. During four +centuries the country then remained a Roman province. But when the +Barbarians began to threaten Rome, the garrisons were called back from +the frontier that they might defend the home country and Britannia was +left without a government and without protection. + +As soon as this became known among the hungry Saxon tribes of northern +Germany, they sailed across the North Sea and made themselves at home in +the prosperous island. They founded a number of independent Anglo-Saxon +kingdoms (so called after the original Angles or English and the Saxon +invaders) but these small states were for ever quarrelling with each +other and no King was strong enough to establish himself as the head +of a united country. For more than five hundred years, Mercia and +Northumbria and Wessex and Sussex and Kent and East Anglia, or whatever +their names, were exposed to attacks from various Scandinavian pirates. +Finally in the eleventh century, England, together with Norway and +northern Germany became part of the large Danish Empire of Canute the +Great and the last vestiges of independence disappeared. + +The Danes, in the course of time, were driven away but no sooner was +England free, than it was conquered for the fourth time. The new enemies +were the descendants of another tribe of Norsemen who early in the +tenth century had invaded France and had founded the Duchy of Normandy. +William, Duke of Normandy, who for a long time had looked across the +water with an envious eye, crossed the Channel in October of the year +1066. At the battle of Hastings, on October the fourteenth of that +year, he destroyed the weak forces of Harold of Wessex, the last of +the Anglo-Saxon Kings and established himself as King of England. But +neither William nor his successors of the House of Anjou and Plantagenet +regarded England as their true home. To them the island was merely +a part of their great inheritance on the continent--a sort of colony +inhabited by rather backward people upon whom they forced their own +language and civilisation. Gradually however the "colony" of England +gained upon the "Mother country" of Normandy. At the same time the +Kings of France were trying desperately to get rid of the powerful +Norman-English neighbours who were in truth no more than disobedient +servants of the French crown. After a century of war fare the French +people, under the leadership of a young girl by the name of Joan of Arc, +drove the "foreigners" from their soil. Joan herself, taken a prisoner +at the battle of Compiegne in the year 1430 and sold by her Burgundian +captors to the English soldiers, was burned as a witch. But the English +never gained foothold upon the continent and their Kings were at last +able to devote all their time to their British possessions. As the +feudal nobility of the island had been engaged in one of those strange +feuds which were as common in the middle ages as measles and small-pox, +and as the greater part of the old landed proprietors had been killed +during these so-called Wars of the Roses, it was quite easy for the +Kings to increase their royal power. And by the end of the fifteenth +century, England was a strongly centralised country, ruled by Henry VII +of the House of Tudor, whose famous Court of Justice, the "Star Chamber" +of terrible memory, suppressed all attempts on the part of the surviving +nobles to regain their old influence upon the government of the country +with the utmost severity. + +In the year 1509 Henry VII was succeeded by his son Henry VIII, and from +that moment on the history of England gained a new importance for the +country ceased to be a mediaeval island and became a modern state. + +Henry had no deep interest in religion. He gladly used a private +disagreement with the Pope about one of his many divorces to declare +himself independent of Rome and make the church of England the first of +those "nationalistic churches" in which the worldly ruler also acts as +the spiritual head of his subjects. This peaceful reformation of 1034 +not only gave the house of Tudor the support of the English clergy, who +for a long time had been exposed to the violent attacks of many Lutheran +propagandists, but it also increased the Royal power through the +confiscation of the former possessions of the monasteries. At the same +time it made Henry popular with the merchants and tradespeople, who as +the proud and prosperous inhabitants of an island which was separated +from the rest of Europe by a wide and deep channel, had a great dislike +for everything "foreign" and did not want an Italian bishop to rule +their honest British souls. + +In 1517 Henry died. He left the throne to his small son, aged ten. The +guardians of the child, favoring the modern Lutheran doctrines, did +their best to help the cause of Protestantism. But the boy died before +he was sixteen, and was succeeded by his sister Mary, the wife of Philip +II of Spain, who burned the bishops of the new "national church" and in +other ways followed the example of her royal Spanish husband + +Fortunately she died, in the year 1558, and was succeeded by Elizabeth, +the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the second of his six wives, +whom he had decapitated when she no longer pleased him. Elizabeth, who +had spent some time in prison, and who had been released only at +the request of the Holy Roman Emperor, was a most cordial enemy of +everything Catholic and Spanish. She shared her father's indifference +in the matter of religion but she inherited his ability as a very shrewd +judge of character, and spent the forty-five years of her reign in +strengthening the power of the dynasty and in increasing the revenue and +possessions of her merry islands. In this she was most ably assisted by +a number of men who gathered around her throne and made the Elizabethan +age a period of such importance that you ought to study it in detail in +one of the special books of which I shall tell you in the bibliography +at the end of this volume. + +Elizabeth, however, did not feel entirely safe upon her throne. She had +a rival and a very dangerous one. Mary, of the house of Stuart, daughter +of a French duchess and a Scottish father, widow of king Francis II of +France and daughter-in-law of Catherine of Medici (who had organised the +murders of Saint Bartholomew's night), was the mother of a little boy +who was afterwards to become the first Stuart king of England. She was +an ardent Catholic and a willing friend to those who were the enemies +of Elizabeth. Her own lack of political ability and the violent +methods which she employed to punish her Calvinistic subjects, caused +a revolution in Scotland and forced Mary to take refuge on English +territory. For eighteen years she remained in England, plotting forever +and a day against the woman who had given her shelter and who was at +last obliged to follow the advice of her trusted councilors "to cutte +off the Scottish Queen's heade." + +The head was duly "cutte off" in the year 1587 and caused a war with +Spain. But the combined navies of England and Holland defeated Philip's +Invincible Armada, as we have already seen, and the blow which had been +meant to destroy the power of the two great anti-Catholic leaders was +turned into a profitable business adventure. + +For now at last, after many years of hesitation, the English as well as +the Dutch thought it their good right to invade the Indies and America +and avenge the ills which their Protestant brethren had suffered at +the hands of the Spaniards. The English had been among the earliest +successors of Columbus. British ships, commanded by the Venetian pilot +Giovanni Caboto (or Cabot), had been the first to discover and explore +the northern American continent in 1496. Labrador and Newfoundland were +of little importance as a possible colony. But the banks of Newfoundland +offered a rich reward to the English fishing fleet. A year later, in +1497, the same Cabot had explored the coast of Florida. + +Then had come the busy years of Henry VII and Henry VIII when there had +been no money for foreign explorations. But under Elizabeth, with the +country at peace and Mary Stuart in prison, the sailors could leave +their harbour without fear for the fate of those whom they left behind. +While Elizabeth was still a child, Willoughby had ventured to sail past +the North Cape and one of his captains, Richard Chancellor, pushing +further eastward in his quest of a possible road to the Indies, had +reached Archangel, Russia, where he had established diplomatic and +commercial relations with the mysterious rulers of this distant +Muscovite Empire. During the first years of Elizabeth's rule this voyage +had been followed up by many others. Merchant adventurers, working +for the benefit of a "joint stock Company" had laid the foundations of +trading companies which in later centuries were to become colonies. Half +pirate, half diplomat, willing to stake everything on a single lucky +voyage, smugglers of everything that could be loaded into the hold of +a vessel, dealers in men and merchandise with equal indifference to +everything except their profit, the sailors of Elizabeth had carried the +English flag and the fame of their Virgin Queen to the four corners of +the Seven Seas. Meanwhile William Shakespeare kept her Majesty amused at +home, and the best brains and the best wit of England co-operated with +the queen in her attempt to change the feudal inheritance of Henry VIII +into a modern national state. + +In the year 1603 the old lady died at the age of seventy. Her cousin, +the great-grandson of her own grandfather Henry VII and son of Mary +Stuart, her rival and enemy, succeeded her as James I. By the Grace of +God, he found himself the ruler of a country which had escaped the fate +of its continental rivals. While the European Protestants and Catholics +were killing each other in a hopeless attempt to break the power +of their adversaries and establish the exclusive rule of their own +particular creed, England was at peace and "reformed" at leisure without +going to the extremes of either Luther or Loyola. It gave the island +kingdom an enormous advantage in the coming struggle for colonial +possessions. It assured England a leadership in international affairs +which that country has maintained until the present day. Not even the +disastrous adventure with the Stuarts was able to stop this normal +development. + +The Stuarts, who succeeded the Tudors, were "foreigners" in England. +They do not seem to have appreciated or understood this fact. The native +house of Tudor could steal a horse, but the "foreign" Stuarts were not +allowed to look at the bridle without causing great popular disapproval. +Old Queen Bess had ruled her domains very much as she pleased. In +general however, she had always followed a policy which meant money in +the pocket of the honest (and otherwise) British merchants. Hence +the Queen had been always assured of the wholehearted support of her +grateful people. And small liberties taken with some of the rights +and prerogatives of Parliament were gladly overlooked for the ulterior +benefits which were derived from her Majesty's strong and successful +foreign policies. + +Outwardly King James continued the same policy. But he lacked that +personal enthusiasm which had been so very typical of his great +predecessor. Foreign commerce continued to be encouraged. The Catholics +were not granted any liberties. But when Spain smiled pleasantly upon +England in an effort to establish peaceful relations, James was seen to +smile back. The majority of the English people did not like this, but +James was their King and they kept quiet. + +Soon there were other causes of friction. King James and his son, +Charles I, who succeeded him in the year 1625 both firmly believed in +the principle of their "divine right" to administer their realm as they +thought fit without consulting the wishes of their subjects. The idea +was not new. The Popes, who in more than one way had been the successors +of the Roman Emperors (or rather of the Roman Imperial ideal of a +single and undivided state covering the entire known world), had +always regarded themselves and had been publicly recognised as the +"Vice-Regents of Christ upon Earth." No one questioned the right of God +to rule the world as He saw fit. As a natural result, few ventured to +doubt the right of the divine "Vice-Regent" to do the same thing and +to demand the obedience of the masses because he was the direct +representative of the Absolute Ruler of the Universe and responsible +only to Almighty God. + +When the Lutheran Reformation proved successful, those rights which +formerly had been invested in the Papacy were taken over by the many +European sovereigns who became Protestants. As head of their own +national or dynastic churches they insisted upon being "Christ's +Vice-Regents" within the limit of their own territory. The people +did not question the right of their rulers to take such a step. +They accepted it, just as we in our own day accept the idea of a +representative system which to us seems the only reasonable and +just form of government. It is unfair therefore to state that either +Lutheranism or Calvinism caused the particular feeling of irritation +which greeted King-James's oft and loudly repeated assertion of his +"Divine Right." There must have been other grounds for the genuine +English disbelief in the Divine Right of Kings. + +The first positive denial of the "Divine Right" of sovereigns had been +heard in the Netherlands when the Estates General abjured their lawful +sovereign King Philip II of Spain, in the year 1581. "The King," so they +said, "has broken his contract and the King therefore is dismissed like +any other unfaithful servant." Since then, this particular idea of a +king's responsibilities towards his subjects had spread among many of +the nations who inhabited the shores of the North Sea. They were in a +very favourable position. They were rich. The poor people in the heart +of central Europe, at the mercy of their Ruler's body-guard, could not +afford to discuss a problem which would at once land them in the deepest +dungeon of the nearest castle. But the merchants of Holland and England +who possessed the capital necessary for the maintenance of great armies +and navies, who knew how to handle the almighty weapon called "credit," +had no such fear. They were willing to pit the "Divine Right" of their +own good money against the "Divine Right" of any Habsburg or Bourbon +or Stuart. They knew that their guilders and shillings could beat the +clumsy feudal armies which were the only weapons of the King. They dared +to act, where others were condemned to suffer in silence or run the risk +of the scaffold. + +When the Stuarts began to annoy the people of England with their +claim that they had a right to do what they pleased and never mind the +responsibility, the English middle classes used the House of Commons as +their first line of defence against this abuse of the Royal Power. The +Crown refused to give in and the King sent Parliament about its own +business. Eleven long years, Charles I ruled alone. He levied taxes +which most people regarded as illegal and he managed his British kingdom +as if it had been his own country estate. He had capable assistants and +we must say that he had the courage of his convictions. + +Unfortunately, instead of assuring himself of the support of his +faithful Scottish subjects, Charles became involved in a quarrel with +the Scotch Presbyterians. Much against his will, but forced by his need +for ready cash, Charles was at last obliged to call Parliament together +once more. It met in April of 1640 and showed an ugly temper. It was +dissolved a few weeks later. A new Parliament convened in November. This +one was even less pliable than the first one. The members understood +that the question of "Government by Divine Right" or "Government by +Parliament" must be fought out for good and all. They attacked the +King in his chief councillors and executed half a dozen of them. They +announced that they would not allow themselves to be dissolved without +their own approval. Finally on December 1, 1641, they presented to the +King a "Grand Remonstrance" which gave a detailed account of the many +grievances of the people against their Ruler. + +Charles, hoping to derive some support for his own policy in the country +districts, left London in January of 1642. Each side organised an army +and prepared for open warfare between the absolute power of the crown +and the absolute power of Parliament. During this struggle, the most +powerful religious element of England, called the Puritans, (they were +Anglicans who had tried to purify their doctrines to the most absolute +limits), came quickly to the front. The regiments of "Godly men," +commanded by Oliver Cromwell, with their iron discipline and their +profound confidence in the holiness of their aims, soon became the model +for the entire army of the opposition. Twice Charles was defeated. After +the battle of Naseby, in 1645, he fled to Scotland. The Scotch sold him +to the English. + +There followed a period of intrigue and an uprising of the Scotch +Presbyterians against the English Puritan. In August of the year 1648 +after the three-days' battle of Preston Pans, Cromwell made an end to +this second civil war, and took Edinburgh. Meanwhile his soldiers, tired +of further talk and wasted hours of religious debate, had decided to act +on their own initiative. They removed from Parliament all those who did +not agree with their own Puritan views. Thereupon the "Rump," which was +what was left of the old Parliament, accused the King of high treason. +The House of Lords refused to sit as a tribunal. A special tribunal was +appointed and it condemned the King to death. On the 30th of January of +the year 1649, King Charles walked quietly out of a window of White Hall +onto the scaffold. That day, the Sovereign People, acting through their +chosen representatives, for the first time executed a ruler who had +failed to understand his own position in the modern state. + +The period which followed the death of Charles is usually called after +Oliver Cromwell. At first the unofficial Dictator of England, he was +officially made Lord Protector in the year 1653. He ruled five years. He +used this period to continue the policies of Elizabeth. Spain once more +became the arch enemy of England and war upon the Spaniard was made a +national and sacred issue. + +The commerce of England and the interests of the traders were placed +before everything else, and the Protestant creed of the strictest nature +was rigourously maintained. In maintaining England's position abroad, +Cromwell was successful. As a social reformer, however, he failed very +badly. The world is made up of a number of people and they rarely think +alike. In the long run, this seems a very wise provision. A government +of and by and for one single part of the entire community cannot +possibly survive. The Puritans had been a great force for good when they +tried to correct the abuse of the royal power. As the absolute Rulers of +England they became intolerable. + +When Cromwell died in 1658, it was an easy matter for the Stuarts to +return to their old kingdom. Indeed, they were welcomed as "deliverers" +by the people who had found the yoke of the meek Puritans quite as hard +to bear as that of autocratic King Charles. Provided the Stuarts were +willing to forget about the Divine Right of their late and lamented +father and were willing to recognise the superiority of Parliament, the +people promised that they would be loyal and faithful subjects. + +Two generations tried to make a success of this new arrangement. But the +Stuarts apparently had not learned their lesson and were unable to drop +their bad habits. Charles II, who came back in the year 1660, was an +amiable but worthless person. His indolence and his constitutional +insistence upon following the easiest course, together with his +conspicuous success as a liar, prevented an open outbreak between +himself and his people. By the act of Uniformity in 1662 he broke the +power of the Puritan clergy by banishing all dissenting clergymen from +their parishes. By the so-called Conventicle Act of 1664 he tried to +prevent the Dissenters from attending religious meetings by a threat of +deportation to the West Indies. This looked too much like the good old +days of Divine Right. People began to show the old and well-known +signs of impatience, and Parliament suddenly experienced difficulty in +providing the King with funds. + +Since he could not get money from an unwilling Parliament, Charles +borrowed it secretly from his neighbour and cousin King Louis of France. +He betrayed his Protestant allies in return for 200,000 pounds per year, +and laughed at the poor simpletons of Parliament. + +Economic independence suddenly gave the King great faith in his own +strength. He had spent many years of exile among his Catholic relations +and he had a secret liking for their religion. Perhaps he could bring +England back to Rome! He passed a Declaration of Indulgence which +suspended the old laws against the Catholics and Dissenters. This +happened just when Charles' younger brother James was said to have +become a Catholic. All this looked suspicious to the man in the street +People began to fear some terrible Popish plot. A new spirit of unrest +entered the land. Most of the people wanted to prevent another outbreak +of civil war. To them Royal Oppression and a Catholic King--yea, even +Divine Right,--were preferable to a new struggle between members of the +same race. Others however were less lenient. They were the much-feared +Dissenters, who invariably had the courage of their convictions. They +were led by several great noblemen who did not want to see a return of +the old days of absolute royal power. + +For almost ten years, these two great parties, the Whigs (the middle +class element, called by this derisive name be-cause in the year 1640 a +lot of Scottish Whiggamores or horse-drovers headed by the Presbyterian +clergy, had marched to Edinburgh to oppose the King) and the Tories (an +epithet originally used against the Royalist Irish adherents but now +applied to the supporters of the King) opposed each other, but neither +wished to bring about a crisis. They allowed Charles to die peacefully +in his bed and permitted the Catholic James II to succeed his brother +in 1685. But when James, after threatening the country with the terrible +foreign invention of a "standing army" (which was to be commanded by +Catholic Frenchmen), issued a second Declaration of Indulgence in 1688, +and ordered it to be read in all Anglican churches, he went just a +trifle beyond that line of sensible demarcation which can only be +transgressed by the most popular of rulers under very exceptional +circumstances. Seven bishops refused to comply with the Royal Command. +They were accused of "seditious libel." They were brought before a +court. The jury which pronounced the verdict of "not guilty" reaped a +rich harvest of popular approval. + +At this unfortunate moment, James (who in a second marriage had taken to +wife Maria of the Catholic house of Modena-Este) became the father of a +son. This meant that the throne was to go to a Catholic boy rather than +to his older sisters, Mary and Anne, who were Protestants. The man in +the street again grew suspicious. Maria of Modena was too old to have +children! It was all part of a plot! A strange baby had been brought +into the palace by some Jesuit priest that England might have a Catholic +monarch. And so on. It looked as if another civil war would break out. +Then seven well-known men, both Whigs and Tories, wrote a letter asking +the husband of James's oldest daughter Mary, William III the Stadtholder +or head of the Dutch Republic, to come to England and deliver the +country from its lawful but entirely undesirable sovereign. + +On the fifth of November of the year 1688, William landed at Torbay. As +he did not wish to make a martyr out of his father-in-law, he helped him +to escape safely to France. On the 22nd of January of 1689 he summoned +Parliament. On the 13th of February of the same year he and his wife +Mary were proclaimed joint sovereigns of England and the country was +saved for the Protestant cause. + +Parliament, having undertaken to be something more than a mere advisory +body to the King, made the best of its opportunities. The old Petition +of Rights of the year 1628 was fished out of a forgotten nook of the +archives. A second and more drastic Bill of Rights demanded that the +sovereign of England should belong to the Anglican church. Furthermore +it stated that the king had no right to suspend the laws or permit +certain privileged citizens to disobey certain laws. It stipulated that +"without consent of Parliament no taxes could be levied and no army +could be maintained." Thus in the year 1689 did England acquire an +amount of liberty unknown in any other country of Europe. + +But it is not only on account of this great liberal measure that the +rule of William in England is still remembered. During his lifetime, +government by a "responsible" ministry first developed. No king of +course can rule alone. He needs a few trusted advisors. The Tudors had +their Great Council which was composed of Nobles and Clergy. This body +grew too large. It was restricted to the small "Privy Council." In the +course of time it became the custom of these councillors to meet the +king in a cabinet in the palace. Hence they were called the "Cabinet +Council." After a short while they were known as the "Cabinet." + +William, like most English sovereigns before him, had chosen his +advisors from among all parties. But with the increased strength of +Parliament, he had found it impossible to direct the politics of the +country with the help of the Tories while the Whigs had a majority in +the house of Commons. Therefore the Tories had been dismissed and the +Cabinet Council had been composed entirely of Whigs. A few years later +when the Whigs lost their power in the House of Commons, the king, for +the sake of convenience, was obliged to look for his support among the +leading Tories. Until his death in 1702, William was too busy fighting +Louis of France to bother much about the government of England. +Practically all important affairs had been left to his Cabinet Council. +When William's sister-in-law, Anne, succeeded him in 1702 this condition +of affairs continued. When she died in 1714 (and unfortunately not a +single one of her seventeen children survived her) the throne went to +George I of the House of Hanover, the son of Sophie, grand-daughter of +James I. + +This somewhat rustic monarch, who never learned a word of English, +was entirely lost in the complicated mazes of England's political +arrangements. He left everything to his Cabinet Council and kept away +from their meetings, which bored him as he did not understand a single +sentence. In this way the Cabinet got into the habit of ruling England +and Scotland (whose Parliament had been joined to that of England in +1707) without bothering the King, who was apt to spend a great deal of +his time on the continent. + +During the reign of George I and George II, a succession of great Whigs +(of whom one, Sir Robert Walpole, held office for twenty-one years) +formed the Cabinet Council of the King. Their leader was finally +recognised as the official leader not only of the actual Cabinet but +also of the majority party in power in Parliament. The attempts of +George III to take matters into his own hands and not to leave the +actual business of government to his Cabinet were so disastrous that +they were never repeated. And from the earliest years of the eighteenth +century on, England enjoyed representative government, with a +responsible ministry which conducted the affairs of the land. + +To be quite true, this government did not represent all classes of +society. Less than one man in a dozen had the right to vote. But it was +the foundation for the modern representative form of government. In +a quiet and orderly fashion it took the power away from the King +and placed it in the hands of an ever increasing number of popular +representatives. It did not bring the millenium to England, but it saved +that country from most of the revolutionary outbreaks which proved so +disastrous to the European continent in the eighteenth and nineteenth +centuries. + + + + +THE BALANCE OF POWER + +IN FRANCE ON THE OTHER HAND THE "DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS" CONTINUED WITH +GREATER POMP AND SPLENDOUR THAN EVER BEFORE AND THE AMBITION OF THE +RULER WAS ONLY TEMPERED BY THE NEWLY INVENTED LAW OF THE "BALANCE OF +POWER" + + +As a contrast to the previous chapter, let me tell you what happened in +France during the years when the English people were fighting for their +liberty. The happy combination of the right man in the right country at +the right moment is very rare in History. Louis XIV was a realisation of +this ideal, as far as France was concerned, but the rest of Europe would +have been happier without him. + +The country over which the young king was called to rule was the most +populous and the most brilliant nation of that day. Louis came to the +throne when Mazarin and Richelieu, the two great Cardinals, had just +hammered the ancient French Kingdom into the most strongly centralised +state of the seventeenth century. He was himself a man of extraordinary +ability. We, the people of the twentieth century, are still surrounded +by the memories of the glorious age of the Sun King. Our social life +is based upon the perfection of manners and the elegance of expression +attained at the court of Louis. In international and diplomatic +relations, French is still the official language of diplomacy and +international gatherings because two centuries ago it reached a polished +elegance and a purity of expression which no other tongue had as yet +been able to equal. The theatre of King Louis still teaches us lessons +which we are only too slow in learning. During his reign the French +Academy (an invention of Richelieu) came to occupy a position in +the world of letters which other countries have flattered by their +imitation. We might continue this list for many pages. It is no matter +of mere chance that our modern bill-of-fare is printed in French. The +very difficult art of decent cooking, one of the highest expressions of +civilisation, was first practiced for the benefit of the great Monarch. +The age of Louis XIV was a time of splendour and grace which can still +teach us a lot. + +Unfortunately this brilliant picture has another side which was far less +encouraging. Glory abroad too often means misery at home, and France +was no exception to this rule Louis XIV succeeded his father in the year +1643. He died in the year 1715. That means that the government of France +was in the hands of one single man for seventy-two years, almost two +whole generations. + +It will be well to get a firm grasp of this idea, "one single man." +Louis was the first of a long list of monarchs who in many countries +established that particular form of highly efficient autocracy which we +call "enlightened despotism." He did not like kings who merely played +at being rulers and turned official affairs into a pleasant picnic. The +Kings of that enlightened age worked harder than any of their subjects. +They got up earlier and went to bed later than anybody else, and felt +their "divine responsibility" quite as strongly as their "divine right" +which allowed them to rule without consulting their subjects. + +Of course, the king could not attend to everything in person. He was +obliged to surround himself with a few helpers and councillors. One +or two generals, some experts upon foreign politics, a few clever +financiers and economists would do for this purpose. But these +dignitaries could act only through their Sovereign. They had no +individual existence. To the mass of the people, the Sovereign actually +represented in his own sacred person the government of their country. +The glory of the common fatherland became the glory of a single dynasty. +It meant the exact opposite of our own American ideal. France was ruled +of and by and for the House of Bourbon. + +The disadvantages of such a system are clear. The King grew to be +everything. Everybody else grew to be nothing at all. The old and +useful nobility was gradually forced to give up its former shares in +the government of the provinces. A little Royal bureaucrat, his fingers +splashed with ink, sitting behind the greenish windows of a government +building in faraway Paris, now performed the task which a hundred years +before had been the duty of the feudal Lord. The feudal Lord, deprived +of all work, moved to Paris to amuse himself as best he could at +the court. Soon his estates began to suffer from that very dangerous +economic sickness, known as "Absentee Landlordism." Within a single +generation, the industrious and useful feudal administrators had become +the well-mannered but quite useless loafers of the court of Versailles. + +Louis was ten years old when the peace of Westphalia was concluded and +the House of Habsburg, as a result of the Thirty Years War, lost its +predominant position in Europe. It was inevitable that a man with his +ambition should use so favourable a moment to gain for his own dynasty +the honours which had formerly been held by the Habsburgs. In the year +1660 Louis had married Maria Theresa, daughter of the King of Spain. +Soon afterward, his father-in-law, Philip IV, one of the half-witted +Spanish Habsburgs, died. At once Louis claimed the Spanish Netherlands +(Belgium) as part of his wife's dowry. Such an acquisition would have +been disastrous to the peace of Europe, and would have threatened the +safety of the Protestant states. Under the leadership of Jan de Witt, +Raadpensionaris or Foreign Minister of the United Seven Netherlands, +the first great international alliance, the Triple Alliance of Sweden, +England and Holland, of the year 1661, was concluded. It did not last +long. With money and fair promises Louis bought up both King Charles and +the Swedish Estates. Holland was betrayed by her allies and was left +to her own fate. In the year 1672 the French invaded the low countries. +They marched to the heart of the country. For a second time the dikes +were opened and the Royal Sun of France set amidst the mud of the Dutch +marshes. The peace of Nimwegen which was concluded in 1678 settled +nothing but merely anticipated another war. + +A second war of aggression from 1689 to 1697, ending with the Peace +of Ryswick, also failed to give Louis that position in the affairs +of Europe to which he aspired. His old enemy, Jan de Witt, had been +murdered by the Dutch rabble, but his successor, William III (whom you +met in the last chapter), had checkmated all efforts of Louis to make +France the ruler of Europe. + +The great war for the Spanish succession, begun in the year 1701, +immediately after the death of Charles II, the last of the Spanish +Habsburgs, and ended in 1713 by the Peace of Utrecht, remained equally +undecided, but it had ruined the treasury of Louis. On land the French +king had been victorious, but the navies of England and Holland had +spoiled all hope for an ultimate French victory; besides the long +struggle had given birth to a new and fundamental principle of +international politics, which thereafter made it impossible for one +single nation to rule the whole of Europe or the whole of the world for +any length of time. + +That was the so-called "balance of power." It was not a written law but +for three centuries it has been obeyed as closely as are the laws of +nature. The people who originated the idea maintained that Europe, in +its nationalistic stage of development, could only survive when there +should be an absolute balance of the many conflicting interests of the +entire continent. No single power or single dynasty must ever be allowed +to dominate the others. During the Thirty Years War, the Habsburgs had +been the victims of the application of this law. They, however, had been +unconscious victims. The issues during that struggle were so clouded in +a haze of religious strife that we do not get a very clear view of the +main tendencies of that great conflict. But from that time on, we begin +to see how cold, economic considerations and calculations prevail in all +matters of international importance. We discover the development of a +new type of statesman, the statesman with the personal feelings of the +slide-rule and the cash-register. Jan de Witt was the first successful +exponent of this new school of politics. William III was the first +great pupil. And Louis XIV with all his fame and glory, was the first +conscious victim. There have been many others since. + + + + +THE RISE OF RUSSIA + +THE STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS MOSCOVITE EMPIRE WHICH SUDDENLY BURST UPON +THE GRAND POLITICAL STAGE OF EUROPE + + +IN the year 1492, as you know, Columbus discovered America. Early in +the year, a Tyrolese by the name of Schnups, travelling as the head of a +scientific expedition for the Archbishop of Tyrol, and provided with +the best letters of introduction and excellent credit tried to reach +the mythical town of Moscow. He did not succeed. When he reached the +frontiers of this vast Moscovite state which was vaguely supposed to +exist in the extreme Eastern part of Europe, he was firmly turned back. +No foreigners were wanted. And Schnups went to visit the heathen Turk in +Constantinople, in order that he might have something to report to his +clerical master when he came back from his explorations. + +Sixty-one years later, Richard Chancellor, trying to discover the +North-eastern passage to the Indies, and blown by an ill wind into +the White Sea, reached the mouth of the Dwina and found the Moscovite +village of Kholmogory, a few hours from the spot where in 1584 the town +of Archangel was founded. This time the foreign visitors were requested +to come to Moscow and show themselves to the Grand Duke. They went and +returned to England with the first commercial treaty ever concluded +between Russia and the western world. Other nations soon followed and +something became known of this mysterious land. + +Geographically, Russia is a vast plain. The Ural mountains are low +and form no barrier against invaders. The rivers are broad but often +shallow. It was an ideal territory for nomads. + +While the Roman Empire was founded, grew in power and disappeared again, +Slavic tribes, who had long since left their homes in Central Asia, +wandered aimlessly through the forests and plains of the region between +the Dniester and Dnieper rivers. The Greeks had sometimes met these +Slavs and a few travellers of the third and fourth centuries mention +them. Otherwise they were as little known as were the Nevada Indians in +the year 1800. + +Unfortunately for the peace of these primitive peoples, a very +convenient trade-route ran through their country. This was the main road +from northern Europe to Constantinople. It followed the coast of the +Baltic until the Neva was reached. Then it crossed Lake Ladoga and went +southward along the Volkhov river. Then through Lake Ilmen and up the +small Lovat river. Then there was a short portage until the Dnieper was +reached. Then down the Dnieper into the Black Sea. + +The Norsemen knew of this road at a very early date. In the ninth +century they began to settle in northern Russia, just as other Norsemen +were laying the foundation for independent states in Germany and France. +But in the year 862, three Norsemen, brothers, crossed the Baltic and +founded three small dynasties. Of the three brothers, only one, Rurik, +lived for a number of years. He took possession of the territory of his +brothers, and twenty years after the arrival of this first Norseman, a +Slavic state had been established with Kiev as its capital. + +From Kiev to the Black Sea is a short distance. Soon the existence of an +organised Slavic State became known in Constantinople. This meant a new +field for the zealous missionaries of the Christian faith. Byzantine +monks followed the Dnieper on their way northward and soon reached the +heart of Russia. They found the people worshipping strange gods who were +supposed to dwell in woods and rivers and in mountain caves. They taught +them the story of Jesus. There was no competition from the side of Roman +missionaries. These good men were too busy educating the heathen Teutons +to bother about the distant Slavs. Hence Russia received its religion +and its alphabet and its first ideas of art and architecture from the +Byzantine monks and as the Byzantine empire (a relic of the eastern +Roman empire) had become very oriental and had lost many of its European +traits, the Russians suffered in consequence. + +Politically speaking these new states of the great Russian plains +did not fare well. It was the Norse habit to divide every inheritance +equally among all the sons. No sooner had a small state been founded +but it was broken up among eight or nine heirs who in turn left their +territory to an ever increasing number of descendants. It was inevitable +that these small competing states should quarrel among themselves. +Anarchy was the order of the day. And when the red glow of the eastern +horizon told the people of the threatened invasion of a savage Asiatic +tribe, the little states were too weak and too divided to render any +sort of defence against this terrible enemy. + +It was in the year 1224 that the first great Tartar invasion took place +and that the hordes of Jenghiz Khan, the conqueror of China, Bokhara, +Tashkent and Turkestan made their first appearance in the west. The +Slavic armies were beaten near the Kalka river and Russia was at +the mercy of the Mongolians. Just as suddenly as they had come they +disappeared. Thirteen years later, in 1237, however, they returned. +In less than five years they conquered every part of the vast Russian +plains. Until the year 1380 when Dmitry Donskoi, Grand Duke of Moscow, +beat them on the plains of Kulikovo, the Tartars were the masters of the +Russian people. + +All in all, it took the Russians two centuries to deliver themselves +from this yoke. For a yoke it was and a most offensive and objectionable +one. It turned the Slavic peasants into miserable slaves. No Russian +could hope to survive un-less he was willing to creep before a dirty +little yellow man who sat in a tent somewhere in the heart of the +steppes of southern Russia and spat at him. It deprived the mass of the +people of all feeling of honour and independence. It made hunger and +misery and maltreatment and personal abuse the normal state of human +existence. Until at last the average Russian, were he peasant or +nobleman, went about his business like a neglected dog who has been +beaten so often that his spirit has been broken and he dare not wag his +tail without permission. + +There was no escape. The horsemen of the Tartar Khan were fast and +merciless. The endless prairie did not give a man a chance to cross into +the safe territory of his neighbour. He must keep quiet and bear what +his yellow master decided to inflict upon him or run the risk of death. +Of course, Europe might have interfered. But Europe was engaged upon +business of its own, fighting the quarrels between the Pope and the +emperor or suppressing this or that or the other heresy. And so Europe +left the Slav to his fate, and forced him to work out his own salvation. + +The final saviour of Russia was one of the many small states, founded +by the early Norse rulers. It was situated in the heart of the Russian +plain. Its capital, Moscow, was upon a steep hill on the banks of the +Moskwa river. This little principality, by dint of pleasing the Tartar +(when it was necessary to please), and opposing him (when it was safe to +do so), had, during the middle of the fourteenth century made itself the +leader of a new national life. It must be remembered that the Tartars +were wholly deficient in constructive political ability. They could only +destroy. Their chief aim in conquering new territories was to obtain +revenue. To get this revenue in the form of taxes, it was necessary to +allow certain remnants of the old political organization to continue. +Hence there were many little towns, surviving by the grace of the Great +Khan, that they might act as tax-gatherers and rob their neighbours for +the benefit of the Tartar treasury. + +The state of Moscow, growing fat at the expense of the surrounding +territory, finally became strong enough to risk open rebellion against +its masters, the Tartars. It was successful and its fame as the leader +in the cause of Russian independence made Moscow the natural centre for +all those who still believed in a better future for the Slavic race. In +the year 1458, Constantinople was taken by the Turks. Ten years later, +under the rule of Ivan III, Moscow informed the western world that the +Slavic state laid claim to the worldly and spiritual inheritance of the +lost Byzantine Empire, and such traditions of the Roman empire as had +survived in Constantinople. A generation afterwards, under Ivan the +Terrible, the grand dukes of Moscow were strong enough to adopt the +title of Caesar, or Tsar, and to demand recognition by the western +powers of Europe. + +In the year 1598, with Feodor the First, the old Muscovite dynasty, +descendants of the original Norseman Rurik, came to an end. For the next +seven years, a Tartar half-breed, by the name of Boris Godunow, reigned +as Tsar. It was during this period that the future destiny of the large +masses of the Russian people was decided. This Empire was rich in land +but very poor in money. There was no trade and there were no factories. +Its few cities were dirty villages. It was composed of a strong central +government and a vast number of illiterate peasants. This government, +a mixture of Slavic, Norse, Byzantine and Tartar influences, recognised +nothing beyond the interest of the state. To defend this state, it +needed an army. To gather the taxes, which were necessary to pay the +soldiers, it needed civil servants. To pay these many officials it +needed land. In the vast wilderness on the east and west there was a +sufficient supply of this commodity. But land without a few labourers +to till the fields and tend the cattle, has no value. Therefore the old +nomadic peasants were robbed of one privilege after the other, until +finally, during the first year of the sixteenth century, they were +formally made a part of the soil upon which they lived. The Russian +peasants ceased to be free men. They became serfs or slaves and they +remained serfs until the year 1861, when their fate had become so +terrible that they were beginning to die out. + +In the seventeenth century, this new state with its growing territory +which was spreading quickly into Siberia, had become a force with which +the rest of Europe was obliged to reckon. In 1618, after the death of +Boris Godunow, the Russian nobles had elected one of their own number +to be Tsar. He was Michael, the son of Feodor, of the Moscow family of +Romanow who lived in a little house just outside the Kremlin. + +In the year 1672 his great-grandson, Peter, the son of another Feodor, +was born. When the child was ten years old, his step-sister Sophia took +possession of the Russian throne. The little boy was allowed to spend +his days in the suburbs of the national capital, where the foreigners +lived. Surrounded by Scotch barkeepers, Dutch traders, Swiss +apothecaries, Italian barbers, French dancing teachers and German +school-masters, the young prince obtained a first but rather +extraordinary impression of that far-away and mysterious Europe where +things were done differently. + +When he was seventeen years old, he suddenly pushed Sister Sophia +from the throne. Peter himself became the ruler of Russia. He was not +contented with being the Tsar of a semi-barbarous and half-Asiatic +people. He must be the sovereign head of a civilised nation. To change +Russia overnight from a Byzantine-Tartar state into a European empire +was no small undertaking. It needed strong hands and a capable head. +Peter possessed both. In the year 1698, the great operation of grafting +Modern Europe upon Ancient Russia was performed. The patient did not +die. But he never got over the shock, as the events of the last five +years have shown very plainly. + + + + +RUSSIA vs. SWEDEN + +RUSSIA AND SWEDEN FIGHT MANY WARS TO DECIDE WHO SHALL BE THE LEADING +POWER OF NORTH-EASTERN EUROPE + + +IN the year 1698, Tsar Peter set forth upon his first voyage to western +Europe. He travelled by way of Berlin and went to Holland and to +England. As a child he had almost been drowned sailing a homemade boat +in the duck pond of his father's country home. This passion for water +remained with him to the end of his life. In a practical way it showed +itself in his wish to give his land-locked domains access to the open +sea. + +While the unpopular and harsh young ruler was away from home, the +friends of the old Russian ways in Moscow set to work to undo all +his reforms. A sudden rebellion among his life-guards, the Streltsi +regiment, forced Peter to hasten home by the fast mail. He appointed +himself executioner-in-chief and the Streltsi were hanged and quartered +and killed to the last man. Sister Sophia, who had been the head of the +rebellion, was locked up in a cloister and the rule of Peter be-gan in +earnest. This scene was repeated in the year 1716 when Peter had gone +on his second western trip. That time the reactionaries followed the +leadership of Peter's half-witted son, Alexis. Again the Tsar returned +in great haste. Alexis was beaten to death in his prison cell and the +friends of the old fashioned Byzantine ways marched thousands of dreary +miles to their final destination in the Siberian lead mines. After that, +no further outbreaks of popular discontent took place. Until the time of +his death, Peter could reform in peace. + +It is not easy to give you a list of his reforms in chronological order. +The Tsar worked with furious haste. He followed no system. He issued +his decrees with such rapidity that it is difficult to keep count. +Peter seemed to feel that everything that had ever happened before was +entirely wrong. The whole of Russia therefore must be changed within the +shortest possible time. When he died he left behind a well-trained army +of 200,000 men and a navy of fifty ships. The old system of government +had been abolished over night. The Duma, or convention of Nobles, had +been dismissed and in its stead, the Tsar had surrounded himself with an +advisory board of state officials, called the Senate. + +Russia was divided into eight large "governments" or provinces. Roads +were constructed. Towns were built. Industries were created wherever it +pleased the Tsar, without any regard for the presence of raw material. +Canals were dug and mines were opened in the mountains of the east. In +this land of illiterates, schools were founded and establishments +of higher learning, together with Universities and hospitals and +professional schools. Dutch naval engineers and tradesmen and artisans +from all over the world were encouraged to move to Russia. Printing +shops were established, but all books must be first read by the imperial +censors. The duties of each class of society were carefully written +down in a new law and the entire system of civil and criminal laws was +gathered into a series of printed volumes. The old Russian costumes +were abolished by Imperial decree, and policemen, armed with scissors, +watching all the country roads, changed the long-haired Russian mou-jiks +suddenly into a pleasing imitation of smooth-shaven west. Europeans. + +In religious matters, the Tsar tolerated no division of power. There +must be no chance of a rivalry between an Emperor and a Pope as had +happened in Europe. In the year 1721, Peter made himself head of the +Russian Church. The Patriarchate of Moscow was abolished and the Holy +Synod made its appearance as the highest source of authority in all +matters of the Established Church. + +Since, however, these many reforms could not be success-ful while the +old Russian elements had a rallying point in the town of Moscow, Peter +decided to move his government to a new capital. Amidst the unhealthy +marshes of the Baltic Sea the Tsar built this new city. He began to +reclaim the land in the year 1703. Forty thousand peasants worked for +years to lay the foundations for this Imperial city. The Swedes attacked +Peter and tried to destroy his town and illness and misery killed tens +of thousands of the peasants. But the work was continued, winter and +summer, and the ready-made town soon began to grow. In the year 1712, it +was officially de-clared to be the "Imperial Residence." A dozen years +later it had 75,000 inhabitants. Twice a year the whole city was flooded +by the Neva. But the terrific will-power of the Tsar created dykes and +canals and the floods ceased to do harm. When Peter died in 1725 he was +the owner of the largest city in northern Europe. + +Of course, this sudden growth of so dangerous a rival had been a source +of great worry to all the neighbours. From his side, Peter had watched +with interest the many adventures of his Baltic rival, the kingdom +of Sweden. In the year 1654, Christina, the only daughter of Gustavus +Adolphus, the hero of the Thirty Years War, had renounced the throne +and had gone to Rome to end her days as a devout Catholic. A Protestant +nephew of Gustavus Adolphus had succeeded the last Queen of the House of +Vasa. Under Charles X and Charles XI, the new dynasty had brought +Sweden to its highest point of development. But in 1697, Charles XI died +suddenly and was succeeded by a boy of fifteen, Charles XII. + +This was the moment for which many of the northern states had waited. +During the great religious wars of the seventeenth century, Sweden had +grown at the expense of her neighbours. The time had come, so the owners +thought, to balance the account. At once war broke out between Russia, +Poland, Denmark and Saxony on the one side, and Sweden on the other. The +raw and untrained armies of Peter were disastrously beaten by Charles in +the famous battle of Narva in November of the year 1700. Then Charles, +one of the most interesting military geniuses of that century, turned +against his other enemies and for nine years he hacked and burned his +way through the villages and cities of Poland, Saxony, Denmark and +the Baltic provinces, while Peter drilled and trained his soldiers in +distant Russia. + +As a result, in the year 1709, in the battle of Poltawa, the Moscovites +destroyed the exhausted armies of Sweden. Charles continued to be a +highly picturesque figure, a wonderful hero of romance, but in his vain +attempt to have his revenge, he ruined his own country. In the year +1718, he was accidentally killed or assassinated (we do not know which) +and when peace was made in 1721, in the town of Nystadt, Sweden had lost +all of her former Baltic possessions except Finland. The new Russian +state, created by Peter, had become the leading power of northern +Europe. But already a new rival was on the way. The Prussian state was +taking shape. + + + + +THE RISE OF PRUSSIA + +THE EXTRAORDINARY RISE OF A LITTLE STATE IN A DREARY PART OF NORTHERN +GERMANY, CALLED PRUSSIA + + +THE history of Prussia is the history of a frontier district. In +the ninth century, Charlemagne had transferred the old centre of +civilisation from the Mediterranean to the wild regions of northwestern +Europe. His Frankish soldiers had pushed the frontier of Europe further +and further towards the east. They had conquered many lands from the +heathenish Slavs and Lithuanians who were living in the plain between +the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian Mountains, and the Franks administered +those outlying districts just as the United States used to administer +her territories before they achieved the dignity of statehood. + +The frontier state of Brandenburg had been originally founded by +Charlemagne to defend his eastern possessions against raids of the wild +Saxon tribes. The Wends, a Slavic tribe which inhabited that region, +were subjugated during the tenth century and their market-place, by the +name of Brennabor, became the centre of and gave its name to the new +province of Brandenburg. + +During the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, +a succession of noble families exercised the functions of imperial +governor in this frontier state. Finally in the fifteenth century, +the House of Hohenzollern made its appear-ance, and as Electors of +Brandenburg, commenced to change a sandy and forlorn frontier territory +into one of the most efficient empires of the modern world. + +These Hohenzollerns, who have just been removed from the historical +stage by the combined forces of Europe and America, came originally +from southern Germany. They were of very humble origin. In the twelfth +century a certain Frederick of Hohenzollern had made a lucky marriage +and had been appointed keeper of the castle of Nuremberg. His +descendants had used every chance and every opportunity to improve their +power and after several centuries of watchful grabbing, they had been +appointed to the dignity of Elector, the name given to those sovereign +princes who were supposed to elect the Emperors of the old German +Empire. During the Reformation, they had taken the side of the +Protestants and the early seventeenth century found them among the most +powerful of the north German princes. + +During the Thirty Years War, both Protestants and Catholics had +plundered Brandenburg and Prussia with equal zeal. But under Frederick +William, the Great Elector, the damage was quickly repaired and by a +wise and careful use of all the economic and intellectual forces of the +country, a state was founded in which there was practically no waste. + +Modern Prussia, a state in which the individual and his wishes and +aspirations have been entirely absorbed by the interests of the +community as a whole this Prussia dates back to the father of Frederick +the Great. Frederick William I was a hard working, parsimonious Prussian +sergeant, with a great love for bar-room stories and strong Dutch +tobacco, an intense dislike of all frills and feathers, (especially if +they were of French origin,) and possessed of but one idea. That idea +was Duty. Severe with himself, he tolerated no weakness in his subjects, +whether they be generals or common soldiers. The relation between +himself and his son Frederick was never cordial, to say the least. The +boorish manners of the father offended the finer spirit of the son. +The son's love for French manners, literature, philosophy and music was +rejected by the father as a manifestation of sissy-ness. There followed +a terrible outbreak between these two strange temperaments. Frederick +tried to escape to England. He was caught and court-martialed and forced +to witness the decapitation of his best friend who had tried to help +him. Thereupon as part of his punishment, the young prince was sent to +a little fortress somewhere in the provinces to be taught the details of +his future business of being a king. It proved a blessing in disguise. +When Frederick came to the throne in 1740, he knew how his country was +managed from the birth certificate of a pauper's son to the minutest +detail of a complicated annual Budget. + +As an author, especially in his book called the "Anti-Macchiavelli," +Frederick had expressed his contempt for the political creed of the +ancient Florentine historian, who had advised his princely pupils to lie +and cheat whenever it was necessary to do so for the benefit of their +country. The ideal ruler in Frederick's volume was the first servant of +his people, the enlightened despot after the example of Louis XIV. In +practice, however, Frederick, while working for his people twenty hours +a day, tolerated no one to be near him as a counsellor. His ministers +were superior clerks. Prussia was his private possession, to be treated +according to his own wishes. And nothing was allowed to interfere with +the interest of the state. + +In the year 1740 the Emperor Charles VI, of Austria, died. He had tried +to make the position of his only daughter, Maria Theresa, secure +through a solemn treaty, written black on white, upon a large piece +of parchment. But no sooner had the old emperor been deposited in the +ancestral crypt of the Habsburg family, than the armies of Frederick +were marching towards the Austrian frontier to occupy that part of +Silesia for which (together with almost everything else in central +Europe) Prussia clamored, on account of some ancient and very doubtful +rights of claim. In a number of wars, Frederick conquered all of +Silesia, and although he was often very near defeat, he maintained +himself in his newly acquired territories against all Austrian +counter-attacks. + +Europe took due notice of this sudden appearance of a very powerful new +state. In the eighteenth century, the Germans were a people who had been +ruined by the great religious wars and who were not held in high esteem +by any one. Frederick, by an effort as sudden and quite as terrific as +that of Peter of Russia, changed this attitude of contempt into one of +fear. The internal affairs of Prussia were arranged so skillfully that +the subjects had less reason for complaint than elsewhere. The treasury +showed an annual surplus instead of a deficit. Torture was abolished. +The judiciary system was improved. Good roads and good schools and good +universities, together with a scrupulously honest administration, made +the people feel that whatever services were demanded of them, they (to +speak the vernacular) got their money's worth. + +After having been for several centuries the battle field of the French +and the Austrians and the Swedes and the Danes and the Poles, Germany, +encouraged by the example of Prussia, began to regain self-confidence. +And this was the work of the little old man, with his hook-nose and his +old uniforms covered with snuff, who said very funny but very unpleasant +things about his neighbours, and who played the scandalous game of +eighteenth century diplomacy without any regard for the truth, provided +he could gain something by his lies. This in spite of his book, +"Anti-Macchiavelli." In the year 1786 the end came. His friends were +all gone. Children he had never had. He died alone, tended by a single +servant and his faithful dogs, whom he loved better than human beings +because, as he said, they were never ungrateful and remained true to +their friends. + + + + +THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM + +HOW THE NEWLY FOUNDED NATIONAL OR DYNASTIC STATES OF EUROPE TRIED TO +MAKE THEMSELVES RICH AND WHAT WAS MEANT BY THE MERCANTILE SYSTEM + + +WE have seen how, during the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, +the states of our modern world began to take shape. Their origins +were different in almost every case. Some had been the result of the +deliberate effort of a single king. Others had happened by chance. Still +others had been the result of favourable natural geographic boundaries. +But once they had been founded, they had all of them tried to strengthen +their internal administration and to exert the greatest possible +influence upon foreign affairs. All this of course had cost a great deal +of money. The mediaeval state with its lack of centralised power did not +depend upon a rich treasury. The king got his revenues from the crown +domains and his civil service paid for itself. The modern centralised +state was a more complicated affair. The old knights disappeared and +hired government officials or bureaucrats took their place. Army, navy, +and internal administration demanded millions. The question then became +where was this money to be found? + +Gold and silver had been a rare commodity in the middle ages. The +average man, as I have told you, never saw a gold piece as long as +he lived. Only the inhabitants of the large cities were familiar with +silver coin. The discovery of America and the exploitation of the +Peruvian mines changed all this. The centre of trade was transferred +from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic seaboard. The old "commercial +cities" of Italy lost their financial importance. New "commercial +nations" took their place and gold and silver were no longer a +curiosity. + +Through Spain and Portugal and Holland and England, precious metals +began to find their way to Europe The sixteenth century had its own +writers on the subject of political economy and they evolved a theory of +national wealth which seemed to them entirely sound and of the greatest +possible benefit to their respective countries. They reasoned that both +gold and silver were actual wealth. Therefore they believed that the +country with the largest supply of actual cash in the vaults of its +treasury and its banks was at the same time the richest country. And +since money meant armies, it followed that the richest country was also +the most powerful and could rule the rest of the world. + +We call this system the "mercantile system," and it was accepted with +the same unquestioning faith with which the early Christians believed +in Miracles and many of the present-day American business men believe in +the Tariff. In practice, the Mercantile system worked out as follows: +To get the largest surplus of precious metals a country must have a +favourable balance of export trade. If you can export more to your +neighbour than he exports to your own country, he will owe you money +and will be obliged to send you some of his gold. Hence you gain and he +loses. As a result of this creed, the economic program of almost every +seventeenth century state was as follows: + +1. Try to get possession of as many precious metals as you can. + +2. Encourage foreign trade in preference to domestic trade. + +3. Encourage those industries which change raw materials into exportable +finished products. + +4. Encourage a large population, for you will need workmen for your +factories and an agricultural community does not raise enough workmen. + +5. Let the State watch this process and interfere whenever it is +necessary to do so. + + +Instead of regarding International Trade as something akin to a force of +nature which would always obey certain natural laws regardless of man's +interference, the people of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries +tried to regulate their commerce by the help of official decrees and +royal laws and financial help on the part of the government. + +In the sixteenth century Charles V adopted this Mercantile System +(which was then something entirely new) and introduced it into his many +possessions. Elizabeth of England flattered him by her imitation. The +Bourbons, especially King Louis XIV, were fanatical adherents of this +doctrine and Colbert, his great minister of finance, became the prophet +of Mercantilism to whom all Europe looked for guidance. + +The entire foreign policy of Cromwell was a practical application of +the Mercantile System. It was invariably directed against the rich rival +Republic of Holland. For the Dutch shippers, as the common-carriers of +the merchandise of Europe, had certain leanings towards free-trade and +therefore had to be destroyed at all cost. + +It will be easily understood how such a system must affect the colonies. +A colony under the Mercantile System became merely a reservoir of gold +and silver and spices, which was to be tapped for the benefit of the +home country. The Asiatic, American and African supply of precious +metals and the raw materials of these tropical countries became a +monopoly of the state which happened to own that particular colony. +No outsider was ever allowed within the precincts and no native was +permitted to trade with a merchant whose ship flew a foreign flag. + +Undoubtedly the Mercantile System encouraged the development of +young industries in certain countries where there never had been any +manufacturing before. It built roads and dug canals and made for better +means of transportation. It demanded greater skill among the workmen and +gave the merchant a better social position, while it weakened the power +of the landed aristocracy. + +On the other hand, it caused very great misery. It made the natives in +the colonies the victims of a most shameless exploitation. It exposed +the citizens of the home country to an even more terrible fate. It +helped in a great measure to turn every land into an armed camp and +divided the world into little bits of territory, each working for its +own direct benefit, while striving at all times to destroy the power of +its neighbours and get hold of their treasures. It laid so much stress +upon the importance of owning wealth that "being rich" came to be +regarded as the sole virtue of the average citizen. Economic systems +come and go like the fashions in surgery and in the clothes of women, +and during the nineteenth century the Mercantile System was discarded in +favor of a system of free and open competition. At least, so I have been +told. + + + + +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION + +AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE HEARD STRANGE REPORTS OF +SOMETHING WHICH HAD HAPPENED IN THE WILDERNESS; OF THE NORTH AMERICAN +CONTINENT. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE MEN WHO HAD PUNISHED KING CHARLES FOR +HIS INSISTENCE UPON HIS "DIVINE RIGHTS" ADDED A NEW CHAPTER TO THE OLD +STORY OF THE STRUGGLE FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT + + +FOR the sake of convenience, we ought to go back a few centuries and +repeat the early history of the great struggle for colonial possessions. + +As soon as a number of European nations had been created upon the new +basis of national or dynastic interests, that is to say, during and +immediately after the Thirty Years War, their rulers, backed up by the +capital of their merchants and the ships of their trading companies, +continued the fight for more territory in Asia, Africa and America. + +The Spaniards and the Portuguese had been exploring the Indian Sea +and the Pacific Ocean for more than a century ere Holland and England +appeared upon the stage. This proved an advantage to the latter. The +first rough work had already been done. What is more, the earliest +navigators had so often made themselves unpopular with the Asiatic and +American and African natives that both the English and the Dutch were +welcomed as friends and deliverers. We cannot claim any superior virtues +for either of these two races. But they were merchants before everything +else. They never allowed religious considerations to interfere with +their practical common sense. During their first relations with weaker +races, all European nations have behaved with shocking brutality. The +English and the Dutch, however, knew better where to draw the dine. +Provided they got their spices and their gold and silver and their +taxes, they were willing to let the native live as it best pleased him. + +It was not very difficult for them therefore to establish themselves +in the richest parts of the world. But as soon as this had been +accomplished, they began to fight each other for still further +possessions. Strangely enough, the colonial wars were never settled in +the colonies themselves. They were decided three thousand miles away +by the navies of the contending countries. It is one of the most +interesting principles of ancient and modern warfare (one of the few +reliable laws of history) that "the nation which commands the sea is +also the nation which commands the land." So far this law has never +failed to work, but the modern airplane may have changed it. In the +eighteenth century, however, there were no flying machines and it was +the British navy which gained for England her vast American and Indian +and African colonies. + +The series of naval wars between England and Holland in the seventeenth +century does not interest us here. It ended as all such encounters +between hopelessly ill-matched powers will end. But the warfare between +England and France (her other rival) is of greater importance to us, for +while the superior British fleet in the end defeated the French navy, +a great deal of the preliminary fighting was done on our own American +continent. In this vast country, both France and England claimed +everything which had been discovered and a lot more which the eye of no +white man had ever seen. In 1497 Cabot had landed in the northern part +of America and twenty-seven years later, Giovanni Verrazano had visited +these coasts. Cabot had flown the English flag. Verrazano had sailed +under the French flag. Hence both England and France proclaimed +themselves the owners of the entire continent. + +During the seventeenth century, some ten small English colonies had been +founded between Maine and the Carolinas. They were usually a haven +of refuge for some particular sect of English dissenters, such as the +Puritans, who in the year 1620 went to New England, or the Quakers, who +settled in Pennsylvania in 1681. They were small frontier communities, +nestling close to the shores of the ocean, where people had gathered to +make a new home and begin life among happier surroundings, far away from +royal supervision and interference. + +The French colonies, on the other hand, always remained a possession of +the crown. No Huguenots or Protestants were allowed in these colonies +for fear that they might contaminate the Indians with their dangerous +Protestant doctrines and would perhaps interfere with the missionary +work of the Jesuit fathers. The English colonies, therefore, had been +founded upon a much healthier basis than their French neighbours and +rivals. They were an expression of the commercial energy of the English +middle classes, while the French settlements were inhabited by people +who had crossed the ocean as servants of the king and who expected to +return to Paris at the first possible chance. + +Politically, however, the position of the English colonies was far from +satisfactory. The French had discovered the mouth of the Saint Lawrence +in the sixteenth century. From the region of the Great Lakes they had +worked their way southward, had descended the Mississippi and had built +several fortifications along the Gulf of Mexico. After a century +of exploration, a line of sixty French forts cut off the English +settlements along the Atlantic seaboard from the interior. + +The English land grants, made to the different colonial companies had +given them "all land from sea to sea." This sounded well on paper, +but in practice, British territory ended where the line of French +fortifications began. To break through this barrier was possible but it +took both men and money and caused a series of horrible border wars in +which both sides murdered their white neighbours, with the help of the +Indian tribes. + +As long as the Stuarts had ruled England there had been no danger of +war with France. The Stuarts needed the Bourbons in their attempt to +establish an autocratic form of government and to break the power of +Parliament. But in 1689 the last of the Stuarts had disappeared from +British soil and Dutch William, the great enemy of Louis XIV succeeded +him. From that time on, until the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France and +England fought for the possession of India and North America. + +During these wars, as I have said before, the English navies invariably +beat the French. Cut off from her colonies, France lost most of her +possessions, and when peace was declared, the entire North American +continent had fallen into British hands and the great work of +exploration of Cartier, Champlain, La Salle, Marquette and a score of +others was lost to France. + +Only a very small part of this vast domain was inhabited. From +Massachusetts in the north, where the Pilgrims (a sect of Puritans who +were very intolerant and who therefore had found no happiness either in +Anglican England or Calvinist Holland) had landed in the year 1620, to +the Carolinas and Virginia (the tobacco-raising provinces which had +been founded entirely for the sake of profit), stretched a thin line of +sparsely populated territory. But the men who lived in this new land of +fresh air and high skies were very different from their brethren of +the mother country. In the wilderness they had learned independence and +self-reliance. They were the sons of hardy and energetic ancestors. Lazy +and timourous people did not cross the ocean in those days. The American +colonists hated the restraint and the lack of breathing space which had +made their lives in the old country so very unhappy. They meant to be +their own masters. This the ruling classes of England did not seem to +understand. The government annoyed the colonists and the colonists, who +hated to be bothered in this way, began to annoy the British government. + +Bad feeling caused more bad feeling. It is not necessary to repeat here +in detail what actually happened and what might have been avoided if the +British king had been more intelligent than George III or less given to +drowsiness and indifference than his minister, Lord North. The British +colonists, when they understood that peaceful arguments would not settle +the difficulties, took to arms. From being loyal subjects, they turned +rebels, who exposed themselves to the punishment of death when they were +captured by the German soldiers, whom George hired to do his fighting +after the pleasant custom of that day, when Teutonic princes sold whole +regiments to the highest bidder. + +The war between England and her American colonies lasted seven years. +During most of that time, the final success of the rebels seemed very +doubtful. A great number of the people, especially in the cities, had +remained loyal to their king. They were in favour of a compromise, +and would have been willing to sue for peace. But the great figure of +Washington stood guard over the cause of the colonists. + +Ably assisted by a handful of brave men, he used his steadfast but badly +equipped armies to weaken the forces of the king. Time and again when +defeat seemed unavoidable, his strategy turned the tide of battle. Often +his men were ill-fed. During the winter they lacked shoes and coats +and were forced to live in unhealthy dug-outs. But their trust in their +great leader was absolute and they stuck it out until the final hour of +victory. + +But more interesting than the campaigns of Washington or the diplomatic +triumphs of Benjamin Franklin who was in Europe getting money from the +French government and the Amsterdam bankers, was an event which occurred +early in the revolution. The representatives of the different colonies +had gathered in Philadelphia to discuss matters of common importance. It +was the first year of the Revolution. Most of the big towns of the +sea coast were still in the hands of the British. Reinforcements +from England were arriving by the ship load. Only men who were deeply +convinced of the righteousness of their cause would have found the +courage to take the momentous decision of the months of June and July of +the year 1776. + +In June, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a motion to the +Continental Congress that "these united colonies are, and of right ought +to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all +allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection +between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be, totally +dissolved." + +The motion was seconded by John Adams of Massachusetts. It was carried +on July the second and on July fourth, it was followed by an official +Declaration of Independence, which was the work of Thomas Jefferson, a +serious and exceedingly capable student of both politics and government +and destined to be one of the most famous of out American presidents. + +When news of this event reached Europe, and was followed by the final +victory of the colonists and the adoption of the famous Constitution of +the year 1787 (the first of all written constitutions) it caused great +interest. The dynastic system of the highly centralised states which had +been developed after the great religious wars of the seventeenth century +had reached the height of its power. Everywhere the palace of the king +had grown to enormous proportions, while the cities of the royal realm +were being surrounded by rapidly growing acres of slums. The inhabitants +of those slums were showing signs of restlessness. They were quite +helpless. But the higher classes, the nobles and the professional men, +they too were beginning to have certain doubts about the economic and +political conditions under which they lived. The success of the American +colonists showed them that many things were possible which had been held +impossible only a short time before. + +According to the poet, the shot which opened the battle of Lexington was +"heard around the world." That was a bit of an exaggeration. The Chinese +and the Japanese and the Russians (not to speak of the Australians, who +had just been re-discovered by Captain Cook, whom they killed for his +trouble,) never heard of it at all. But it carried across the Atlantic +Ocean. It landed in the powder house of European discontent and in +France it caused an explosion which rocked the entire continent from +Petrograd to Madrid and buried the representatives of the old statecraft +and the old diplomacy under several tons of democratic bricks. + + + + +THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + +THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION PROCLAIMS THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY, +FRATERNITY AND EQUALITY UNTO ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH + + +BEFORE we talk about a revolution it is just as well that we explain +just what this word means. In the terms of a great Russian writer (and +Russians ought to know what they are talking about in this field) a +revolution is "a swift overthrow, in a few years, of institutions +which have taken centuries to root in the soil, and seem so fixed and +immovable that even the most ardent reformers hardly dare to attack them +in their writings. It is the fall, the crumbling away in a brief +period, of all that up to that time has composed the essence of social, +religious, political and economic life in a nation." + +Such a revolution took place in France in the eighteenth century when +the old civilisation of the country had grown stale. The king in the +days of Louis XIV had become EVERYTHING and was the state. The Nobility, +formerly the civil servant of the federal state, found itself without +any duties and became a social ornament of the royal court. + +This French state of the eighteenth century, however, cost incredible +sums of money. This money had to be produced in the form of taxes. +Unfortunately the kings of France had not been strong enough to force +the nobility and the clergy to pay their share of these taxes. Hence +the taxes were paid entirely by the agricultural population. But the +peasants living in dreary hovels, no longer in intimate contact with +their former landlords, but victims of cruel and incompetent land +agents, were going from bad to worse. Why should they work and exert +themselves? Increased returns upon their land merely meant more taxes +and nothing for themselves and therefore they neglected their fields as +much as they dared. + +Hence we have a king who wanders in empty splendour through the vast +halls of his palaces, habitually followed by hungry office seekers, all +of whom live upon the revenue obtained from peasants who are no better +than the beasts of the fields. It is not a pleasant picture, but it +is not exaggerated. There was, however, another side to the so-called +"Ancien Regime" which we must keep in mind. + +A wealthy middle class, closely connected with the nobility (by the +usual process of the rich banker's daughter marrying the poor baron's +son) and a court composed of all the most entertaining people of +France, had brought the polite art of graceful living to its highest +development. As the best brains of the country were not allowed to +occupy themselves with questions of political economics, they spent +their idle hours upon the discussion of abstract ideas. + +As fashions in modes of thought and personal behaviour are quite as +likely to run to extremes as fashion in dress, it was natural that the +most artificial society of that day should take a tremendous interest +in what they considered "the simple life." The king and the queen, the +absolute and unquestioned proprietors of this country galled France, +together with all its colonies and dependencies, went to live in funny +little country houses all dressed up as milk-maids and stable-boys and +played at being shepherds in a happy vale of ancient Hellas. Around +them, their courtiers danced attendance, their court-musicians composed +lovely minuets, their court barbers devised more and more elaborate and +costly headgear, until from sheer boredom and lack of real jobs, this +whole artificial world of Versailles (the great show place which Louis +XIV had built far away from his noisy and restless city) talked of +nothing but those subjects which were furthest removed from their own +lives, just as a man who is starving will talk of nothing except food. + +When Voltaire, the courageous old philosopher, playwright, historian and +novelist, and the great enemy of all religious and political tyranny, +began to throw his bombs of criticism at everything connected with the +Established Order of Things, the whole French world applauded him and +his theatrical pieces played to standing room only. When Jean +Jacques Rousseau waxed sentimental about primitive man and gave his +contemporaries delightful descriptions of the happiness of the original +inhabitants of this planet, (about whom he knew as little as he +did about the children, upon whose education he was the recognised +authority,) all France read his "Social Contract" and this society in +which the king and the state were one, wept bitter tears when they +heard Rousseau's appeal for a return to the blessed days when the real +sovereignty had lain in the hands of the people and when the king had +been merely the servant of his people. + +When Montesquieu published his "Persian Letters" in which two +distinguished Persian travellers turn the whole existing society of +France topsy-turvy and poke fun at everything from the king down to +the lowest of his six hundred pastry cooks, the book immediately went +through four editions and assured the writer thousands of readers for +his famous discussion of the "Spirit of the Laws" in which the noble +Baron compared the excellent English system with the backward system of +France and advocated instead of an absolute monarchy the establishment +of a state in which the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial +powers should be in separate hands and should work independently of each +other. When Lebreton, the Parisian book-seller, announced that Messieurs +Diderot, d'Alembert, Turgot and a score of other distinguished writers +were going to publish an Encyclopaedia which was to contain "all the new +ideas and the new science and the new knowledge," the response from +the side of the public was most satisfactory, and when after twenty-two +years the last of the twenty-eight volumes had been finished, the +somewhat belated interference of the police could not repress the +enthusiasm with which French society received this most important but +very dangerous contribution to the discussions of the day. + +Here, let me give you a little warning. When you read a novel about +the French revolution or see a play or a movie, you will easily get the +impression that the Revolution was the work of the rabble from the +Paris slums. It was nothing of the kind. The mob appears often upon the +revolutionary stage, but invariably at the instigation and under the +leadership of those middle-class professional men who used the hungry +multitude as an efficient ally in their warfare upon the king and +his court. But the fundamental ideas which caused the revolution were +invented by a few brilliant minds, and they were at first introduced +into the charming drawing-rooms of the "Ancien Regime" to provide +amiable diversion for the much-bored ladies and gentlemen of his +Majesty's court. These pleasant but careless people played with the +dangerous fireworks of social criticism until the sparks fell through +the cracks of the floor, which was old and rotten just like the rest of +the building. Those sparks unfortunately landed in the basement where +age-old rubbish lay in great confusion. Then there was a cry of fire. +But the owner of the house who was interested in everything except the +management of his property, did not know how to put the small blaze +out. The flame spread rapidly and the entire edifice was consumed by the +conflagration, which we call the Great French Revolution. + +For the sake of convenience, we can divide the French Revolution into +two parts. From 1789 to 1791 there was a more or less orderly attempt to +introduce a constitutional monarchy. This failed, partly through lack +of good faith and stupidity on the part of the monarch himself, partly +through circumstances over which nobody had any control. + +From 1792 to 1799 there was a Republic and a first effort to establish +a democratic form of government. But the actual outbreak of violence had +been preceded by many years of unrest and many sincere but ineffectual +attempts at reform. + +When France had a debt of 4000 million francs and the treasury was +always empty and there was not a single thing upon which new taxes could +be levied, even good King Louis (who was an expert locksmith and a great +hunter but a very poor statesman) felt vaguely that something ought to +be done. Therefore he called for Turgot, to be his Minister of Finance. +Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aulne, a man in the early +sixties, a splendid representative of the fast disappearing class of +landed gentry, had been a successful governor of a province and was +an amateur political economist of great ability. He did his best. +Unfortunately, he could not perform miracles. As it was impossible to +squeeze more taxes out of the ragged peasants, it was necessary to get +the necessary funds from the nobility and clergy who had never paid a +centime. This made Turgot the best hated man at the court of Versailles. +Furthermore he was obliged to face the enmity of Marie Antoinette, the +queen, who was against everybody who dared to mention the word "economy" +within her hearing. Soon Turgot was called an "unpractical visionary" +and a "theoretical-professor" and then of course his position became +untenable. In the year 1776 he was forced to resign. + +After the "professor" there came a man of Practical Business Sense. He +was an industrious Swiss by the name of Necker who had made himself rich +as a grain speculator and the partner in an international banking house. +His ambitious wife had pushed him into the government service that she +might establish a position for her daughter who afterwards as the +wife of the Swedish minister in Paris, Baron de Stael, became a famous +literary figure of the early nineteenth century. + +Necker set to work with a fine display of zeal just as Turgot had done. +In 1781 he published a careful review of the French finances. The king +understood nothing of this "Compte Rendu." He had just sent troops to +America to help the colonists against their common enemies, the English. +This expedition proved to be unexpectedly expensive and Necker was +asked to find the necessary funds. When instead of producing revenue, he +published more figures and made statistics and began to use the dreary +warning about "necessary economies" his days were numbered. In the year +1781 he was dismissed as an incompetent servant. + +After the Professor and the Practical Business Man came the delightful +type of financier who will guarantee everybody 100 per cent. per month +on their money if only they will trust his own infallible system. + +He was Charles Alexandre de Calonne, a pushing official, who had made +his career both by his industry and his complete lack of honesty and +scruples. He found the country heavily indebted, but he was a clever +man, willing to oblige everybody, and he invented a quick remedy. He +paid the old debts by contracting new ones. This method is not new. The +result since time immemorial has been disastrous. In less than three +years more than 800,000,000 francs had been added to the French debt by +this charming Minister of Finance who never worried and smilingly signed +his name to every demand that was made by His Majesty and by his lovely +Queen, who had learned the habit of spending during the days of her +youth in Vienna. + +At last even the Parliament of Paris (a high court of justice and not +a legislative body) although by no means lacking in loyalty to their +sovereign, decided that something must be done. Calonne wanted to borrow +another 80,000,000 francs. It had been a bad year for the crops and +the misery and hunger in the country districts were terrible. Unless +something sensible were done, France would go bankrupt. The King as +always was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. Would it not be +a good idea to consult the representatives of the people? Since 1614 +no Estates General had been called together. In view of the threatening +panic there was a demand that the Estates be convened. Louis XVI +however, who never could take a decision, refused to go as far as that. + +To pacify the popular clamour he called together a meeting of the +Notables in the year 1787. This merely meant a gathering of the best +families who discussed what could and should be done, without touching +their feudal and clerical privilege of tax-exemption. It is unreasonable +to expect that a certain class of society shall commit political and +economic suicide for the benefit of another group of fellow-citizens. +The 127 Notables obstinately refused to surrender a single one of their +ancient rights. The crowd in the street, being now exceedingly hungry, +demanded that Necker, in whom they had confidence, be reappointed. The +Notables said "No." The crowd in the street began to smash windows and +do other unseemly things. The Notables fled. Calonne was dismissed. + +A new colourless Minister of Finance, the Cardinal Lomenie de Brienne, +was appointed and Louis, driven by the violent threats of his starving +subjects, agreed to call together the old Estates General as "soon as +practicable." This vague promise of course satisfied no one. + +No such severe winter had been experienced for almost a century. The +crops had been either destroyed by floods or had been frozen to death in +the fields. All the olive trees of the Provence had been killed. Private +charity tried to do some-thing but could accomplish little for eighteen +million starving people. Everywhere bread riots occurred. A generation +before these would have been put down by the army. But the work of +the new philosophical school had begun to bear fruit. People began to +understand that a shotgun is no effective remedy for a hungry stomach +and even the soldiers (who came from among the people) were no longer +to be depended upon. It was absolutely necessary that the king should +do something definite to regain the popular goodwill, but again he +hesitated. + +Here and there in the provinces, little independent Republics were +established by followers of the new school. The cry of "no taxation +without representation" (the slogan of the American rebels a quarter of +a century before) was heard among the faithful middle classes. France +was threatened with general anarchy. To appease the people and to +increase the royal popularity, the government unexpectedly suspended the +former very strict form of censorship of books. At once a flood of +ink descended upon France. Everybody, high or low, criticised and was +criticised. More than 2000 pamphlets were published. Lomenie de Brienne +was swept away by a storm of abuse. Necker was hastily called back to +placate, as best he could, the nation-wide unrest. Immediately the stock +market went up thirty per cent. And by common consent, people suspended +judgment for a little while longer. In May of 1789 the Estates General +were to assemble and then the wisdom of the entire nation would speedily +solve the difficult problem of recreating the kingdom of France into a +healthy and happy state. + +This prevailing idea, that the combined wisdom of the people would be +able to solve all difficulties, proved disastrous. It lamed all personal +effort during many important months. Instead of keeping the government +in his own hands at this critical moment, Necker allowed everything to +drift. Hence there was a new outbreak of the acrimonious debate upon the +best ways to reform the old kingdom. Everywhere the power of the police +weakened. The people of the Paris suburbs, under the leadership of +professional agitators, gradually began to discover their strength, and +commenced to play the role which was to be theirs all through the years +of the great unrest, when they acted as the brute force which was used +by the actual leaders of the Revolution to secure those things which +could not be obtained in a legitimate fashion. + +As a sop to the peasants and the middle class, Necker de-cided that they +should be allowed a double representation in the Estates General. Upon +this subject, the Abbe Sieyes then wrote a famous pamphlet, "To what +does the Third Estate Amount?" in which he came to the conclusion that +the Third Estate (a name given to the middle class) ought to amount to +everything, that it had not amounted to anything in the past, and that +it now desired to amount to something. He expressed the sentiment of the +great majority of the people who had the best interests of the country +at heart. + +Finally the elections took place under the worst conditions imaginable. +When they were over, 308 clergymen, 285 noblemen and 621 representatives +of the Third Estate packed their trunks to go to Versailles. The Third +Estate was obliged to carry additional luggage. This consisted of +voluminous reports called "cahiers" in which the many complaints and +grievances of their constituents had been written down. The stage was +set for the great final act that was to save France. + +The Estates General came together on May 5th, 1789. The king was in a +bad humour. The Clergy and the Nobility let it be known that they were +unwilling to give up a single one of their privileges. The king ordered +the three groups of representatives to meet in different rooms and +discuss their grievances separately. The Third Estate refused to obey +the royal command. They took a solemn oath to that effect in a squash +court (hastily put in order for the purpose of this illegal meeting) on +the 20th of June, 1789. They insisted that all three Estates, Nobility, +Clergy and Third Estate, should meet together and so informed His +Majesty. The king gave in. + +As the "National Assembly," the Estates General began to discuss +the state of the French kingdom. The King got angry. Then again he +hesitated. He said that he would never surrender his absolute power. +Then he went hunting, forgot all about the cares of the state and when +he returned from the chase he gave in. For it was the royal habit to +do the right thing at the wrong time in the wrong way. When the people +clamoured for A, the king scolded them and gave them nothing. Then, when +the Palace was surrounded by a howling multitude of poor people, the +king surrendered and gave his subjects what they had asked for. By this +time, however, the people wanted A plus B. The comedy was repeated. When +the king signed his name to the Royal Decree which granted his beloved +subjects A and B they were threatening to kill the entire royal family +unless they received A plus B plus C. And so on, through the whole +alphabet and up to the scaffold. + +Unfortunately the king was always just one letter behind. He never +understood this. Even when he laid his head under the guillotine, he +felt that he was a much-abused man who had received a most unwarrantable +treatment at the hands of people whom he had loved to the best of his +limited ability. + +Historical "ifs," as I have often warned you, are never of any value. It +is very easy for us to say that the monarchy might have been saved "if" +Louis had been a man of greater energy and less kindness of heart. But +the king was not alone. Even "if" he had possessed the ruthless strength +of Napoleon, his career during these difficult days might have been +easily ruined by his wife who was the daughter of Maria Theresa of +Austria and who possessed all the characteristic virtues and vices of a +young girl who had been brought up at the most autocratic and mediaeval +court of that age. + +She decided that some action must be taken and planned a +counter-revolution. Necker was suddenly dismissed and loyal troops +were called to Paris. The people, when they heard of this, stormed the +fortress of the Bastille prison, and on the fourteenth of July of +the year 1789, they destroyed this familiar but much-hated symbol of +Autocratic Power which had long since ceased to be a political prison +and was now used as the city lock-up for pickpockets and second-story +men. Many of the nobles took the hint and left the country. But the king +as usual did nothing. He had been hunting on the day of the fall of the +Bastille and he had shot several deer and felt very much pleased. + +The National Assembly now set to work and on the 4th of August, with +the noise of the Parisian multitude in their ears, they abolished all +privileges. This was followed on the 27th of August by the "Declaration +of the Rights of Man," the famous preamble to the first French +constitution. So far so good, but the court had apparently not yet +learned its lesson. There was a wide-spread suspicion that the king was +again trying to interfere with these reforms and as a result, on the 5th +of October, there was a second riot in Paris. It spread to Versailles +and the people were not pacified until they had brought the king back to +his palace in Paris. They did not trust him in Versailles. They liked to +have him where they could watch him and control his correspondence with +his relatives in Vienna and Madrid and the other courts of Europe. + +In the Assembly meanwhile, Mirabeau, a nobleman who had become leader of +the Third Estate, was beginning to put order into chaos. But before he +could save the position of the king he died, on the 2nd of April of the +year 1791. The king, who now began to fear for his own life, tried to +escape on the 21st of June. He was recognised from his picture on +a coin, was stopped near the village of Varennes by members of the +National Guard, and was brought back to Paris. + +In September of 1791, the first constitution of France was accepted, and +the members of the National Assembly went home. On the first of October +of 1791, the legislative assembly came together to continue the work of +the National Assembly. In this new gathering of popular representatives +there were many extremely revolutionary elements. The boldest among +these were known as the Jacobins, after the old Jacobin cloister in +which they held their political meetings. These young men (most of them +belonging to the professional classes) made very violent speeches and +when the newspapers carried these orations to Berlin and Vienna, the +King of Prussia and the Emperor decided that they must do something +to save their good brother and sister. They were very busy just then +dividing the kingdom of Poland, where rival political factions had +caused such a state of disorder that the country was at the mercy of +anybody who wanted to take a couple of provinces. But they managed to +send an army to invade France and deliver the king. + +Then a terrible panic of fear swept throughout the land of France. All +the pent-up hatred of years of hunger and suffering came to a horrible +climax. The mob of Paris stormed the palace of the Tuilleries. The +faithful Swiss bodyguards tried to defend their master, but Louis, +unable to make up his mind, gave order to "cease firing" just when the +crowd was retiring. The people, drunk with blood and noise and cheap +wine, murdered the Swiss to the last man, then invaded the palace, and +went after Louis who had escaped into the meeting hall of the Assembly, +where he was immediately suspended of his office, and from where he was +taken as a prisoner to the old castle of the Temple. + +But the armies of Austria and Prussia continued their advance and the +panic changed into hysteria and turned men and women into wild beasts. +In the first week of September of the year 1792, the crowd broke +into the jails and murdered all the prisoners. The government did not +interfere. The Jacobins, headed by Danton, knew that this crisis meant +either the success or the failure of the revolution, and that only +the most brutal audacity could save them. The Legislative Assembly was +closed and on the 21st of September of the year 1792, a new National +Convention came together. It was a body composed almost entirely of +extreme revolutionists. The king was formally accused of high treason +and was brought before the Convention. He was found guilty and by a +vote of 361 to 360 (the extra vote being that of his cousin the Duke of +Orleans) he was condemned to death. On the 21st of January of the year +1793, he quietly and with much dignity suffered himself to be taken to +the scaffold. He had never understood what all the shooting and the fuss +had been about. And he had been too proud to ask questions. + +Then the Jacobins turned against the more moderate element in the +convention, the Girondists, called after their southern district, the +Gironde. A special revolutionary tribunal was instituted and twenty-one +of the leading Girondists were condemned to death. The others committed +suicide. They were capable and honest men but too philosophical and too +moderate to survive during these frightful years. + +In October of the year 1793 the Constitution was suspended by the +Jacobins "until peace should have been declared." All power was placed +in the hands of a small committee of Public Safety, with Danton +and Robespierre as its leaders. The Christian religion and the old +chronology were abolished. The "Age of Reason" (of which Thomas Paine +had written so eloquently during the American Revolution) had come and +with it the "Terror" which for more than a year killed good and bad and +indifferent people at the rate of seventy or eighty a day. + +The autocratic rule of the King had been destroyed. It was succeeded +by the tyranny of a few people who had such a passionate love for +democratic virtue that they felt compelled to kill all those who +disagreed with them. France was turned into a slaughter house. Everybody +suspected everybody else. No one felt safe. Out of sheer fear, a +few members of the old Convention, who knew that they were the next +candidates for the scaffold, finally turned against Robespierre, who +had already decapitated most of his former colleagues. Robespierre, +"the only true and pure Democrat," tried to kill himself but failed His +shattered jaw was hastily bandaged and he was dragged to the guillotine. +On the 27th of July, of the year 1794 (the 9th Thermidor of the year +II, according to the strange chronology of the revolution), the reign of +Terror came to an end, and all Paris danced with joy. + +The dangerous position of France, however, made it necessary that the +government remain in the hands of a few strong men, until the many +enemies of the revolution should have been driven from the soil of the +French fatherland. While the half-clad and half-starved revolutionary +armies fought their desperate battles of the Rhine and Italy and +Belgium and Egypt, and defeated every one of the enemies of the Great +Revolution, five Directors were appointed, and they ruled France for +four years. Then the power was vested in the hands of a successful +general by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, who became "First Consul" +of France in the year 1799. And during the next fifteen years, the +old European continent became the laboratory of a number of political +experiments, the like of which the world had never seen before. + + + + +NAPOLEON + +NAPOLEON + + +NAPOLEON was born in the year 1769, the third son of Carlo Maria +Buonaparte, an honest notary public of the city of Ajaccio in the island +of Corsica, and his good wife, Letizia Ramolino. He therefore was not +a Frenchman, but an Italian whose native island (an old Greek, +Carthaginian and Roman colony in the Mediterranean Sea) had for years +been struggling to regain its independence, first of all from the +Genoese, and after the middle of the eighteenth century from the French, +who had kindly offered to help the Corsicans in their struggle for +freedom and had then occupied the island for their own benefit. + +During the first twenty years of his life, young Napoleon was a +professional Corsican patriot--a Corsican Sinn Feiner, who hoped to +deliver his beloved country from the yoke of the bitterly hated French +enemy. But the French revolution had unexpectedly recognised the +claims of the Corsicans and gradually Napoleon, who had received a good +training at the military school of Brienne, drifted into the service of +his adopted country. Although he never learned to spell French correctly +or to speak it without a broad Italian accent, he became a Frenchman. +In due time he came to stand as the highest expression of all French +virtues. At present he is regarded as the symbol of the Gallic genius. + +Napoleon was what is called a fast worker. His career does not cover +more than twenty years. In that short span of time he fought more wars +and gained more victories and marched more miles and conquered more +square kilometers and killed more people and brought about more reforms +and generally upset Europe to a greater extent than anybody (including +Alexander the Great and Jenghis Khan) had ever managed to do. + +He was a little fellow and during the first years of his life his health +was not very good. He never impressed anybody by his good looks and he +remained to the end of his days very clumsy whenever he was obliged +to appear at a social function. He did not enjoy a single advantage of +breeding or birth or riches. For the greater part of his youth he was +desperately poor and often he had to go without a meal or was obliged to +make a few extra pennies in curious ways. + +He gave little promise as a literary genius. When he competed for a +prize offered by the Academy of Lyons, his essay was found to be next to +the last and he was number 15 out of 16 candidates. But he overcame all +these difficulties through his absolute and unshakable belief in his own +destiny, and in his own glorious future. Ambition was the main-spring +of his life. The thought of self, the worship of that capital letter "N" +with which he signed all his letters, and which recurred forever in the +ornaments of his hastily constructed palaces, the absolute will to make +the name Napoleon the most important thing in the world next to the name +of God, these desires carried Napoleon to a pinnacle of fame which no +other man has ever reached. + +When he was a half-pay lieutenant, young Bonaparte was very fond of the +"Lives of Famous Men" which Plutarch, the Roman historian, had written. +But he never tried to live up to the high standard of character set by +these heroes of the older days. Napoleon seems to have been devoid of +all those considerate and thoughtful sentiments which make men different +from the animals. It will be very difficult to decide with any degree of +accuracy whether he ever loved anyone besides himself. He kept a civil +tongue to his mother, but Letizia had the air and manners of a great +lady and after the fashion of Italian mothers, she knew how to rule her +brood of children and command their respect. For a few years he was fond +of Josephine, his pretty Creole wife, who was the daughter of a French +officer of Martinique and the widow of the Vicomte de Beauharnais, +who had been executed by Robespierre when he lost a battle against the +Prussians. But the Emperor divorced her when she failed to give him a +son and heir and married the daughter of the Austrian Emperor, because +it seemed good policy. + +During the siege of Toulon, where he gained great fame as commander of +a battery, Napoleon studied Macchiavelli with industrious care. He +followed the advice of the Florentine statesman and never kept his word +when it was to his advantage to break it. The word "gratitude" did not +occur in his personal dictionary. Neither, to be quite fair, did he +expect it from others. He was totally indifferent to human suffering. He +executed prisoners of war (in Egypt in 1798) who had been promised their +lives, and he quietly allowed his wounded in Syria to be chloroformed +when he found it impossible to transport them to his ships. He +ordered the Duke of Enghien to be condemned to death by a prejudiced +court-martial and to be shot contrary to all law on the sole ground that +the "Bourbons needed a warning." He decreed that those German officers +who were made prisoner while fighting for their country's independence +should be shot against the nearest wall, and when Andreas Hofer, the +Tyrolese hero, fell into his hands after a most heroic resistance, he +was executed like a common traitor. + +In short, when we study the character of the Emperor, we begin to +understand those anxious British mothers who used to drive their +children to bed with the threat that "Bonaparte, who ate little boys +and girls for breakfast, would come and get them if they were not very +good." And yet, having said these many unpleasant things about this +strange tyrant, who looked after every other department of his army with +the utmost care, but neglected the medical service, and who ruined his +uniforms with Eau de Cologne because he could not stand the smell of +his poor sweating soldiers; having said all these unpleasant things +and being fully prepared to add many more, I must confess to a certain +lurking feeling of doubt. + +Here I am sitting at a comfortable table loaded heavily with books, with +one eye on my typewriter and the other on Licorice the cat, who has a +great fondness for carbon paper, and I am telling you that the Emperor +Napoleon was a most contemptible person. But should I happen to look +out of the window, down upon Seventh Avenue, and should the endless +procession of trucks and carts come to a sudden halt, and should I hear +the sound of the heavy drums and see the little man on his white horse +in his old and much-worn green uniform, then I don't know, but I am +afraid that I would leave my books and the kitten and my home and +everything else to follow him wherever he cared to lead. My own +grandfather did this and Heaven knows he was not born to be a hero. +Millions of other people's grandfathers did it. They received no reward, +but they expected none. They cheerfully gave legs and arms and lives +to serve this foreigner, who took them a thousand miles away from their +homes and marched them into a barrage of Russian or English or Spanish +or Italian or Austrian cannon and stared quietly into space while they +were rolling in the agony of death. + +If you ask me for an explanation, I must answer that I have none. I can +only guess at one of the reasons. Napoleon was the greatest of actors +and the whole European continent was his stage. At all times and under +all circumstances he knew the precise attitude that would impress the +spectators most and he understood what words would make the deepest +impression. Whether he spoke in the Egyptian desert, before the backdrop +of the Sphinx and the pyramids, or addressed his shivering men on the +dew-soaked plains of Italy, made no difference. At all times he was +master of the situation. Even at the end, an exile on a little rock +in the middle of the Atlantic, a sick man at the mercy of a dull and +intolerable British governor, he held the centre of the stage. + +After the defeat of Waterloo, no one outside of a few trusted friends +ever saw the great Emperor. The people of Europe knew that he was living +on the island of St. Helena--they knew that a British garrison guarded +him day and night--they knew that the British fleet guarded the garrison +which guarded the Emperor on his farm at Longwood. But he was never out +of the mind of either friend or enemy. When illness and despair had at +last taken him away, his silent eyes continued to haunt the world. Even +to-day he is as much of a force in the life of France as a hundred years +ago when people fainted at the mere sight of this sallow-faced man who +stabled his horses in the holiest temples of the Russian Kremlin, and +who treated the Pope and the mighty ones of this earth as if they were +his lackeys. + +To give you a mere outline of his life would demand couple of volumes. +To tell you of his great political reform of the French state, of his +new codes of laws which were adopted in most European countries, of his +activities in every field of public activity, would take thousands of +pages. But I can explain in a few words why he was so successful during +the first part of his career and why he failed during the last ten +years. From the year 1789 until the year 1804, Napoleon was the great +leader of the French revolution. He was not merely fighting for the +glory of his own name. He defeated Austria and Italy and England and +Russia because he, himself, and his soldiers were the apostles of the +new creed of "Liberty, Fraternity and Equality" and were the enemies of +the courts while they were the friends of the people. + +But in the year 1804, Napoleon made himself Hereditary Emperor of the +French and sent for Pope Pius VII to come and crown him, even as Leo +III, in the year 800 had crowned that other great King of the Franks, +Charlemagne, whose example was constantly before Napoleon's eyes. + +Once upon the throne, the old revolutionary chieftain became an +unsuccessful imitation of a Habsburg monarch. He forgot his spiritual +Mother, the Political Club of the Jacobins. He ceased to be the defender +of the oppressed. He became the chief of all the oppressors and kept his +shooting squads ready to execute those who dared to oppose his imperial +will. No one had shed a tear when in the year 1806 the sad remains of +the Holy Roman Empire were carted to the historical dustbin and when the +last relic of ancient Roman glory was destroyed by the grandson of an +Italian peasant. But when the Napoleonic armies had invaded Spain, +had forced the Spaniards to recognise a king whom they detested, had +massacred the poor Madrilenes who remained faithful to their old rulers, +then public opinion turned against the former hero of Marengo and +Austerlitz and a hundred other revolutionary battles. Then and only +then, when Napoleon was no longer the hero of the revolution but the +personification of all the bad traits of the Old Regime, was it possible +for England to give direction to the fast-spreading sentiment of hatred +which was turning all honest men into enemies of the French Emperor. + +The English people from the very beginning had felt deeply disgusted +when their newspapers told them the gruesome details of the Terror. They +had staged their own great revolution (during the reign of Charles I) +a century before. It had been a very simple affair compared to the +upheaval of Paris. In the eyes of the average Englishman a Jacobin was +a monster to be shot at sight and Napoleon was the Chief Devil. The +British fleet had blockaded France ever since the year 1798. It had +spoiled Napoleon's plan to invade India by way of Egypt and had forced +him to beat an ignominious retreat, after his victories along the banks +of the Nile. And finally, in the year 1805, England got the chance it +had waited for so long. + +Near Cape Trafalgar on the southwestern coast of Spain, Nelson +annihilated the Napoleonic fleet, beyond a possible chance of recovery. +From that moment on, the Emperor was landlocked. Even so, he would have +been able to maintain himself as the recognised ruler of the continent +had he understood the signs of the times and accepted the honourable +peace which the powers offered him. But Napoleon had been blinded by the +blaze of his own glory. He would recognise no equals. He could tolerate +no rivals. And his hatred turned against Russia, the mysterious land of +the endless plains with its inexhaustible supply of cannon-fodder. + +As long as Russia was ruled by Paul I, the half-witted son of Catherine +the Great, Napoleon had known how to deal with the situation. But Paul +grew more and more irresponsible until his exasperated subjects were +obliged to murder him (lest they all be sent to the Siberian lead-mines) +and the son of Paul, the Emperor Alexander, did not share his father's +affection for the usurper whom he regarded as the enemy of mankind, the +eternal disturber of the peace. He was a pious man who believed that he +had been chosen by God to deliver the world from the Corsican curse. +He joined Prussia and England and Austria and he was defeated. He tried +five times and five times he failed. In the year 1812 he once more +taunted Napoleon until the French Emperor, in a blind rage, vowed that +he would dictate peace in Moscow. Then, from far and wide, from Spain +and Germany and Holland and Italy and Portugal, unwilling regiments were +driven northward, that the wounded pride of the great Emperor might be +duly avenged. The rest of the story is common knowledge. After a march +of two months, Napoleon reached the Russian capital and established his +headquarters in the holy Kremlin. On the night of September 15 of the +year 1812, Moscow caught fire. The town burned four days. When the +evening of the fifth day came, Napoleon gave the order for the retreat. +Two weeks later it began to snow. The army trudged through mud and sleet +until November the 26th when the river Berezina was reached. Then the +Russian attacks began in all seriousness. The Cossacks swarmed around +the "Grande Armee" which was no longer an army but a mob. In the middle +of December the first of the survivors began to be seen in the German +cities of the East. + +Then there were many rumours of an impending revolt. "The time +has come," the people of Europe said, "to free ourselves from this +insufferable yoke." And they began to look for old shotguns which had +escaped the eye of the ever-present French spies. But ere they knew +what had happened, Napoleon was back with a new army. He had left his +defeated soldiers and in his little sleigh had rushed ahead to Paris, +making a final appeal for more troops that he might defend the sacred +soil of France against foreign invasion. + +Children of sixteen and seventeen followed him when he moved eastward to +meet the allied powers. On October 16, 18, and 19 of the year 1813, the +terrible battle of Leipzig took place where for three days boys in green +and boys in blue fought each other until the Elbe ran red with blood. +On the afternoon of the 17th of October, the massed reserves of Russian +infantry broke through the French lines and Napoleon fled. + +Back to Paris he went. He abdicated in favour of his small son, but the +allied powers insisted that Louis XVIII, the brother of the late king +Louis XVI, should occupy the French throne, and surrounded by Cossacks +and Uhlans, the dull-eyed Bourbon prince made his triumphal entry into +Paris. + +As for Napoleon he was made the sovereign ruler of the little island +of Elba in the Mediterranean where he organised his stable boys into a +miniature army and fought battles on a chess board. + +But no sooner had he left France than the people began to realise what +they had lost. The last twenty years, however costly, had been a period +of great glory. Paris had been the capital of the world. The fat Bourbon +king who had learned nothing and had forgotten nothing during the days +of his exile disgusted everybody by his indolence. + +On the first of March of the year 1815, when the representatives of the +allies were ready to begin the work of unscrambling the map of Europe, +Napoleon suddenly landed near Cannes. In less than a week the French +army had deserted the Bourbons and had rushed southward to offer their +swords and bayonets to the "little Corporal." Napoleon marched straight +to Paris where he arrived on the twentieth of March. This time he was +more cautious. He offered peace, but the allies insisted upon war. The +whole of Europe arose against the "perfidious Corsican." Rapidly the +Emperor marched northward that he might crush his enemies before they +should be able to unite their forces. But Napoleon was no longer his old +self. He felt sick. He got tired easily. He slept when he ought to have +been up directing the attack of his advance-guard. Besides, he missed +many of his faithful old generals. They were dead. + +Early in June his armies entered Belgium. On the 16th of that month he +defeated the Prussians under Blucher. But a subordinate commander failed +to destroy the retreating army as he had been ordered to do. + +Two days later, Napoleon met Wellington near Waterloo. It was the 18th +of June, a Sunday. At two o'clock of the afternoon, the battle seemed +won for the French. At three a speck of dust appeared upon the eastern +horizon. Napoleon believed that this meant the approach of his own +cavalry who would now turn the English defeat into a rout. At four +o'clock he knew better. Cursing and swearing, old Blucher drove his +deathly tired troops into the heart of the fray. The shock broke the +ranks of the guards. Napoleon had no further reserves. He told his men +to save themselves as best they could, and he fled. + +For a second time, he abdicated in favor of his son. Just one hundred +days after his escape from Elba, he was making for the coast. He +intended to go to America. In the year 1803, for a mere song, he had +sold the French colony of Louisiana (which was in great danger of +being captured by the English) to the young American Republic. "The +Americans," so he said, "will be grateful and will give me a little bit +of land and a house where I may spend the last days of my life in peace +and quiet." But the English fleet was watching all French harbours. +Caught between the armies of the Allies and the ships of the British, +Napoleon had no choice. The Prussians intended to shoot him. The +English might be more generous. At Rochefort he waited in the hope that +something might turn up. One month after Waterloo, he received +orders from the new French government to leave French soil inside of +twenty-four hours. Always the tragedian, he wrote a letter to the +Prince Regent of England (George IV, the king, was in an insane asylum) +informing His Royal Highness of his intention to "throw himself upon the +mercy of his enemies and like Themistocles, to look for a welcome at the +fireside of his foes..." + +On the 15th of July he went on board the "Bellerophon," and surrendered +his sword to Admiral Hotham. At Plymouth he was transferred to the +"Northumberland" which carried him to St. Helena. There he spent +the last seven years of his life. He tried to write his memoirs, he +quarrelled with his keepers and he dreamed of past times. Curiously +enough he returned (at least in his imagination) to his original point +of departure. He remembered the days when he had fought the battles of +the Revolution. He tried to convince himself that he had always been +the true friend of those great principles of "Liberty, Fraternity and +Equality" which the ragged soldiers of the convention had carried to +the ends of the earth. He liked to dwell upon his career as +Commander-in-Chief and Consul. He rarely spoke of the Empire. Sometimes +he thought of his son, the Duke of Reichstadt, the little eagle, who +lived in Vienna, where he was treated as a "poor relation" by his young +Habsburg cousins, whose fathers had trembled at the very mention of the +name of Him. When the end came, he was leading his troops to victory. He +ordered Ney to attack with the guards. Then he died. + +But if you want an explanation of this strange career, if you really +wish to know how one man could possibly rule so many people for so many +years by the sheer force of his will, do not read the books that have +been written about him. Their authors either hated the Emperor or +loved him. You will learn many facts, but it is more important to "feel +history" than to know it. Don't read, but wait until you have a chance +to hear a good artist sing the song called "The Two Grenadiers." The +words were written by Heine, the great German poet who lived through the +Napoleonic era. The music was composed by Schumann, a German who saw +the Emperor, the enemy of his country, whenever he came to visit his +imperial father-in-law. The song therefore is the work of two men who +had every reason to hate the tyrant. + +Go and hear it. Then you will understand what a thousand volumes could +not possibly tell you. + + + + +THE HOLY ALLIANCE + +AS SOON AS NAPOLEON HAD BEEN SENT TO ST. HELENA THE RULERS WHO SO OFTEN +HAD BEEN DEFEATED BY THE HATED "CORSICAN" MET AT VIENNA AND TRIED +TO UNDO THE MANY CHANGES THAT HAD BEEN BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE FRENCH +REVOLUTION + + +THE Imperial Highnesses, the Royal Highnesses, their Graces the Dukes, +the Ministers Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, together with the plain +Excellencies and their army of secretaries, servants and hangers-on, +whose labours had been so rudely interrupted by the sudden return of the +terrible Corsican (now sweltering under the hot sun of St. Helena) went +back to their jobs. The victory was duly celebrated with dinners, garden +parties and balls at which the new and very shocking "waltz" was danced +to the great scandal of the ladies and gentlemen who remembered the +minuet of the old Regime. + +For almost a generation they had lived in retirement. At last the danger +was over. They were very eloquent upon the subject of the terrible +hardships which they had suffered. And they expected to be recompensed +for every penny they had lost at the hands of the unspeakable Jacobins +who had dared to kill their anointed king, who had abolished wigs and +who had discarded the short trousers of the court of Versailles for the +ragged pantaloons of the Parisian slums. + +You may think it absurd that I should mention such a detail. But, if +you please, the Congress of Vienna was one long succession of such +absurdities and for many months the question of "short trousers vs. long +trousers" interested the delegates more than the future settlement of +the Saxon or Spanish problems. His Majesty the King of Prussia went so +far as to order a pair of short ones, that he might give public evidence +of his contempt for everything revolutionary. + +Another German potentate, not to be outdone in this noble hatred for the +revolution, decreed that all taxes which his subjects had paid to the +French usurper should be paid a second time to the legitimate ruler +who had loved his people from afar while they were at the mercy of the +Corsican ogre. And so on. From one blunder to another, until one gasps +and exclaims "but why in the name of High Heaven did not the people +object?" Why not indeed? Because the people were utterly exhausted, were +desperate, did not care what happened or how or where or by whom they +were ruled, provided there was peace. They were sick and tired of war +and revolution and reform. + +In the eighties of the previous century they had all danced around the +tree of liberty. Princes had embraced their cooks and Duchesses had +danced the Carmagnole with their lackeys in the honest belief that +the Millennium of Equality and Fraternity had at last dawned upon this +wicked world. Instead of the Millennium they had been visited by the +Revolutionary commissary who had lodged a dozen dirty soldiers in their +parlor and had stolen the family plate when he returned to Paris to +report to his government upon the enthusiasm with which the "liberated +country" had received the Constitution, which the French people had +presented to their good neighbours. + +When they had heard how the last outbreak of revolutionary disorder +in Paris had been suppressed by a young officer, called Bonaparte, or +Buonaparte, who had turned his guns upon the mob, they gave a sigh of +relief. A little less liberty, fraternity and equality seemed a very +desirable thing. But ere long, the young officer called Buonaparte or +Bonaparte became one of the three consuls of the French Republic, then +sole consul and finally Emperor. As he was much more efficient than any +ruler that had ever been seen before, his hand pressed heavily upon his +poor subjects. He showed them no mercy. He impressed their sons into +his armies, he married their daughters to his generals and he took their +pictures and their statues to enrich his own museums. He turned +the whole of Europe into an armed camp and killed almost an entire +generation of men. + +Now he was gone, and the people (except a few professional military men) +had but one wish. They wanted to be let alone. For awhile they had been +allowed to rule themselves, to vote for mayors and aldermen and +judges. The system had been a terrible failure. The new rulers had been +inexperienced and extravagant. From sheer despair the people turned to +the representative men of the old Regime. "You rule us," they said, "as +you used to do. Tell us what we owe you for taxes and leave us alone. We +are busy repairing the damage of the age of liberty." + +The men who stage-managed the famous congress certainly did their best +to satisfy this longing for rest and quiet. The Holy Alliance, the main +result of the Congress, made the policeman the most important dignitary +of the State and held out the most terrible punishment to those who +dared criticise a single official act. + +Europe had peace, but it was the peace of the cemetery. + +The three most important men at Vienna were the Emperor Alexander of +Russia, Metternich, who represented the interests of the Austrian house +of Habsburg, and Talleyrand, the erstwhile bishop of Autun, who had +managed to live through the different changes in the French government +by the sheer force of his cunning and his intelligence and who now +travelled to the Austrian capital to save for his country whatever +could be saved from the Napoleonic ruin. Like the gay young man of the +limerick, who never knew when he was slighted, this unbidden guest came +to the party and ate just as heartily as if he had been really +invited. Indeed, before long, he was sitting at the head of the +table entertaining everybody with his amusing stories and gaining the +company's good will by the charm of his manner. + +Before he had been in Vienna twenty-four hours he knew that the allies +were divided into two hostile camps. On the one side were Russia, who +wanted to take Poland, and Prussia, who wanted to annex Saxony; and on +the other side were Austria and England, who were trying to prevent this +grab because it was against their own interest that either Prussia or +Russia should be able to dominate Europe. Talleyrand played the two +sides against each other with great skill and it was due to his efforts +that the French people were not made to suffer for the ten years +of oppression which Europe had endured at the hands of the Imperial +officials. He argued that the French people had been given no choice in +the matter. Napoleon had forced them to act at his bidding. But Napoleon +was gone and Louis XVIII was on the throne. "Give him a chance," +Talleyrand pleaded. And the Allies, glad to see a legitimate king +upon the throne of a revolutionary country, obligingly yielded and the +Bourbons were given their chance, of which they made such use that they +were driven out after fifteen years. + +The second man of the triumvirate of Vienna was Metternich, the Austrian +prime minister, the leader of the foreign policy of the house of +Habsburg. Wenzel Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg, was exactly +what the name suggests. He was a Grand Seigneur, a very handsome +gentleman with very fine manners, immensely rich, and very able, but the +product of a society which lived a thousand miles away from the sweating +multitudes who worked and slaved in the cities and on the farms. As a +young man, Metternich had been studying at the University of Strassburg +when the French Revolution broke out. Strassburg, the city which gave +birth to the Marseillaise, had been a centre of Jacobin activities. +Metternich remembered that his pleasant social life had been sadly +interrupted, that a lot of incompetent citizens had suddenly been called +forth to perform tasks for which they were not fit, that the mob had +celebrated the dawn of the new liberty by the murder of perfectly +innocent persons. He had failed to see the honest enthusiasm of the +masses, the ray of hope in the eyes of women and children who carried +bread and water to the ragged troops of the Convention, marching through +the city on their way to the front and a glorious death for the French +Fatherland. + +The whole thing had filled the young Austrian with disgust. It was +uncivilised. If there were any fighting to be done it must be done by +dashing young men in lovely uniforms, charging across the green +fields on well-groomed horses. But to turn an entire country into an +evil-smelling armed camp where tramps were overnight promoted to be +generals, that was both wicked and senseless. "See what came of all your +fine ideas," he would say to the French diplomats whom he met at a quiet +little dinner given by one of the innumerable Austrian grand-dukes. "You +wanted liberty, equality and fraternity and you got Napoleon. How much +better it would have been if you had been contented with the existing +order of things." And he would explain his system of "stability." He +would advocate a return to the normalcy of the good old days before +the war, when everybody was happy and nobody talked nonsense about +"everybody being as good as everybody else." In this attitude he was +entirely sincere and as he was an able man of great strength of will +and a tremendous power of persuasion, he was one of the most dangerous +enemies of the Revolutionary ideas. He did not die until the year 1859, +and he therefore lived long enough to see the complete failure of all +his policies when they were swept aside by the revolution of the year +1848. He then found himself the most hated man of Europe and more than +once ran the risk of being lynched by angry crowds of outraged citizens. +But until the very last, he remained steadfast in his belief that he had +done the right thing. + +He had always been convinced that people preferred peace to liberty and +he had tried to give them what was best for them. And in all fairness, +it ought to be said that his efforts to establish universal peace were +fairly successful. The great powers did not fly at each other's throat +for almost forty years, indeed not until the Crimean war between Russia +and England, France and Italy and Turkey, in the year 1854. That means a +record for the European continent. + +The third hero of this waltzing congress was the Emperor Alexander. +He had been brought up at the court of his grand-mother, the famous +Catherine the Great. Between the lessons of this shrewd old woman, who +taught him to regard the glory of Russia as the most important thing in +life, and those of his private tutor, a Swiss admirer of Voltaire and +Rousseau, who filled his mind with a general love of humanity, the boy +grew up to be a strange mixture of a selfish tyrant and a sentimental +revolutionist. He had suffered great indignities during the life of +his crazy father, Paul I. He had been obliged to wit-ness the wholesale +slaughter of the Napoleonic battle-fields. Then the tide had turned. His +armies had won the day for the Allies. Russia had become the saviour of +Europe and the Tsar of this mighty people was acclaimed as a half-god +who would cure the world of its many ills. + +But Alexander was not very clever. He did not know men and women as +Talleyrand and Metternich knew them. He did not understand the +strange game of diplomacy. He was vain (who would not be under the +circumstances?) and loved to hear the applause of the multitude and soon +he had become the main "attraction" of the Congress while Metternich and +Talleyrand and Castlereagh (the very able British representative) sat +around a table and drank a bottle of Tokay and decided what was actually +going to be done. They needed Russia and therefore they were very polite +to Alexander, but the less he had personally to do with the actual work +of the Congress, the better they were pleased. They even encouraged his +plans for a Holy Alliance that he might be fully occupied while they +were engaged upon the work at hand. + +Alexander was a sociable person who liked to go to parties and meet +people. Upon such occasions he was happy and gay but there was a very +different element in his character. He tried to forget something which +he could not forget. On the night of the 23rd of March of the year 1801 +he had been sitting in a room of the St. Michael Palace in Petersburg, +waiting for the news of his father's abdication. But Paul had refused +to sign the document which the drunken officers had placed before him +on the table, and in their rage they had put a scarf around his neck +and had strangled him to death. Then they had gone downstairs to tell +Alexander that he was Emperor of all the Russian lands. + +The memory of this terrible night stayed with the Tsar who was a very +sensitive person. He had been educated in the school of the great French +philosophers who did not believe in God but in Human Reason. But Reason +alone could not satisfy the Emperor in his predicament. He began to hear +voices and see things. He tried to find a way by which he could square +himself with his conscience. He became very pious and began to take +an interest in mysticism, that strange love of the mysterious and the +unknown which is as old as the temples of Thebes and Babylon. + +The tremendous emotion of the great revolutionary era had influenced the +character of the people of that day in a strange way. Men and women who +had lived through twenty years of anxiety and fear were no longer quite +normal. They jumped whenever the door-bell rang. It might mean the news +of the "death on the field of honour" of an only son. The phrases about +"brotherly love" and "liberty" of the Revolution were hollow words in +the ears of sorely stricken peasants. They clung to anything that might +give them a new hold on the terrible problems of life. In their grief +and misery they were easily imposed upon by a large number of imposters +who posed as prophets and preached a strange new doctrine which they dug +out of the more obscure passages of the Book of Revelations. + +In the year 1814, Alexander, who had already consulted a large number +of wonder-doctors, heard of a new seeress who was foretelling the coming +doom of the world and was exhorting people to repent ere it be too late. +The Baroness von Krudener, the lady in question, was a Russian woman of +uncertain age and similar reputation who had been the wife of a Russian +diplomat in the days of the Emperor Paul. She had squandered her +husband's money and had disgraced him by her strange love affairs. She +had lived a very dissolute life until her nerves had given way and for a +while she was not in her right mind. Then she had been converted by +the sight of the sudden death of a friend. Thereafter she despised all +gaiety. She confessed her former sins to her shoemaker, a pious Moravian +brother, a follower of the old reformer John Huss, who had been burned +for his heresies by the Council of Constance in the year 1415. + +The next ten years the Baroness spent in Germany making a specialty +of the "conversion" of kings and princes. To convince Alexander, the +Saviour of Europe, of the error of his ways was the greatest ambition +of her life. And as Alexander, in his misery, was willing to listen +to anybody who brought him a ray of hope, the interview was easily +arranged. On the evening of the fourth of June of the year 1815, she was +admitted to the tent of the Emperor. She found him reading his Bible. +We do not know what she said to Alexander, but when she left him three +hours later, he was bathed in tears, and vowed that "at last his +soul had found peace." From that day on the Baroness was his faithful +companion and his spiritual adviser. She followed him to Paris and then +to Vienna and the time which Alexander did not spend dancing he spent at +the Krudener prayer-meetings. + +You may ask why I tell you this story in such great detail? Are not the +social changes of the nineteenth century of greater importance than the +career of an ill-balanced woman who had better be forgotten? Of course +they are, but there exist any number of books which will tell you of +these other things with great accuracy and in great detail. I want you +to learn something more from this history than a mere succession of +facts. I want you to approach all historical events in a frame of mind +that will take nothing for granted. Don't be satisfied with the mere +statement that "such and such a thing happened then and there." Try +to discover the hidden motives behind every action and then you will +understand the world around you much better and you will have a greater +chance to help others, which (when all is said and done) is the only +truly satisfactory way of living. + +I do not want you to think of the Holy Alliance as a piece of paper +which was signed in the year 1815 and lies dead and forgotten somewhere +in the archives of state. It may be forgotten but it is by no means +dead. The Holy Alliance was directly responsible for the promulgation +of the Monroe Doctrine, and the Monroe Doctrine of America for the +Americans has a very distinct bearing upon your own life. That is the +reason why I want you to know exactly how this document happened to come +into existence and what the real motives were underlying this outward +manifestation of piety and Christian devotion to duty. + +The Holy Alliance was the joint labour of an unfortunate man who had +suffered a terrible mental shock and who was trying to pacify his +much-disturbed soul, and of an ambitious woman who after a wasted life +had lost her beauty and her attraction and who satisfied her vanity and +her desire for notoriety by assuming the role of self-appointed Messiah +of a new and strange creed. I am not giving away any secrets when I tell +you these details. Such sober minded people as Castlereagh, Metternich +and Talleyrand fully understood the limited abilities of the sentimental +Baroness. It would have been easy for Metternich to send her back to her +German estates. A few lines to the almighty commander of the imperial +police and the thing was done. + +But France and England and Austria depended upon the good-will of +Russia. They could not afford to offend Alexander. And they tolerated +the silly old Baroness because they had to. And while they regarded the +Holy Alliance as utter rubbish and not worth the paper upon which it was +written, they listened patiently to the Tsar when he read them the first +rough draft of this attempt to create the Brotherhood of Men upon a +basis of the Holy Scriptures. For this is what the Holy Alliance tried +to do, and the signers of the document solemnly declared that they would +"in the administration of their respective states and in their political +relations with every other government take for their sole guide +the precepts of that Holy Religion, namely the precepts of Justice, +Christian Charity and Peace, which far from being applicable only to +private concerns must have an immediate influence on the councils of +princes, and must guide all their steps as being the only means of +consolidating human institutions and remedying their imperfections." +They then proceeded to promise each other that they would remain united +"by the bonds of a true and indissoluble fraternity, and considering +each other as fellow-countrymen, they would on all occasions and in all +places lend each other aid and assistance." And more words to the same +effect. + +Eventually the Holy Alliance was signed by the Emperor of Austria, +who did not understand a word of it. It was signed by the Bourbons who +needed the friendship of Napoleon's old enemies. It was signed by +the King of Prussia, who hoped to gain Alexander for his plans for a +"greater Prussia," and by all the little nations of Europe who were at +the mercy of Russia. England never signed, because Castlereagh thought +the whole thing buncombe. The Pope did not sign because he resented this +interference in his business by a Greek-Orthodox and a Protestant. And +the Sultan did not sign because he never heard of it. + +The general mass of the European people, however, soon were forced to +take notice. Behind the hollow phrases of the Holy Alliance stood the +armies of the Quintuple Alliance which Metternich had created among the +great powers. These armies meant business. They let it be known that the +peace of Europe must not be disturbed by the so-called liberals who were +in reality nothing but disguised Jacobins, and hoped for a return of the +revolutionary days. The enthusiasm for the great wars of liberation of +the years 1812, 1818, 1814 and 1815 had begun to wear off. It had +been followed by a sincere belief in the coming of a happier day. The +soldiers who had borne the brunt of the battle wanted peace and they +said so. + +But they did not want the sort of peace which the Holy Alliance and the +Council of the European powers had now bestowed upon them. They cried +that they had been betrayed. But they were careful lest they be heard +by a secret-police spy. The reaction was victorious. It was a reaction +caused by men who sincerely believed that their methods were necessary +for the good of humanity. But it was just as hard to bear as if their +intentions had been less kind. And it caused a great deal of unnecessary +suffering and greatly retarded the orderly progress of political +development. + + + + +THE GREAT REACTION + +THEY TRIED TO ASSURE THE WORLD AN ERA OF UNDISTURBED PEACE BY +SUPPRESSING ALL NEW IDEAS. THEY MADE THE POLICE-SPY THE HIGHEST +FUNCTIONARY IN THE STATE AND SOON THE PRISONS OF ALL COUNTRIES WERE +FILLED WITH THOSE WHO CLAIMED THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO GOVERN +THEMSELVES AS THEY SEE FIT + + +To undo the damage done by the great Napoleonic flood was almost +impossible. Age-old fences had been washed away. The palaces of two +score dynasties had been damaged to such an extent that they had to +be condemned as uninhabitable. Other royal residences had been greatly +enlarged at the expense of less fortunate neighbours. Strange odds and +ends of revolutionary doctrine had been left behind by the receding +waters and could not be dislodged without danger to the entire +community. But the political engineers of the Congress did the best they +could and this is what they accomplished. + +France had disturbed the peace of the world for so many years that +people had come to fear that country almost instinctively. The Bourbons, +through the mouth of Talleyrand, had promised to be good, but the +Hundred Days had taught Europe what to expect should Napoleon manage +to escape for a second time. The Dutch Republic, therefore, was changed +into a Kingdom, and Belgium (which had not joined the Dutch struggle for +independence in the sixteenth century and since then had been part of +the Habsburg domains, firs t under Spanish rule and thereafter under +Austrian rule) was made part of this new kingdom of the Netherlands. +Nobody wanted this union either in the Protestant North or in the +Catholic South, but no questions were asked. It seemed good for the +peace of Europe and that was the main consideration. + +Poland had hoped for great things because a Pole, Prince Adam +Czartoryski, was one of the most intimate friends of Tsar Alexander +and had been his constant advisor during the war and at the Congress +of Vienna. But Poland was made a semi-independent part of Russia with +Alexander as her king. This solution pleased no one and caused much +bitter feeling and three revolutions. + +Denmark, which had remained a faithful ally of Napoleon until the end, +was severely punished. Seven years before, an English fleet had sailed +down the Kattegat and without a declaration of war or any warning had +bombarded Copenhagen and had taken away the Danish fleet, lest it be of +value to Napoleon. The Congress of Vienna went one step further. It took +Norway (which since the union of Calmar of the year 1397 had been united +with Denmark) away from Denmark and gave it to Charles XIV of Sweden as +a reward for his betrayal of Napoleon, who had set him up in the king +business. This Swedish king, curiously enough, was a former French +general by the name of Bernadotte, who had come to Sweden as one of +Napolean's{sic} adjutants, and had been invited to the throne of +that good country when the last of the rulers of the house of +Hollstein-Gottorp had died without leaving either son or daughter. From +1815 until 1844 he ruled his adopted country (the language of which he +never learned) width great ability. He was a clever man and enjoyed the +respect of both his Swedish and his Norwegian subjects, but he did +not succeed in joining two countries which nature and history had put +asunder. The dual Scandinavian state was never a success and in 1905, +Norway, in a most peaceful and orderly manner, set up as an independent +kingdom and the Swedes bade her "good speed" and very wisely let her go +her own way. + +The Italians, who since the days of the Renaissance had been at the +mercy of a long series of invaders, also had put great hopes in General +Bonaparte. The Emperor Napoleon, however, had grievously disappointed +them. Instead of the United Italy which the people wanted, they had been +divided into a number of little principalities, duchies, republics and +the Papal State, which (next to Naples) was the worst governed and +most miserable region of the entire peninsula. The Congress of +Vienna abolished a few of the Napoleonic republics and in their place +resurrected several old principalities which were given to deserving +members, both male and female, of the Habsburg family. + +The poor Spaniards, who had started the great nationalistic revolt +against Napoleon, and who had sacrificed the best blood of the country +for their king, were punished severely when the Congress allowed His +Majesty to return to his domains. This vicious creature, known as +Ferdinand VII, had spent the last four years of his life as a prisoner +of Napoleon. He had improved his days by knitting garments for the +statues of his favourite patron saints. He celebrated his return by +re-introducing the Inquisition and the torture-chamber, both of which +had been abolished by the Revolution. He was a disgusting person, +despised as much by his subjects as by his four wives, but the Holy +Alliance maintained him upon his legitimate throne and all efforts +of the decent Spaniards to get rid of this curse and make Spain a +constitutional kingdom ended in bloodshed and executions. + +Portugal had been without a king since the year 1807 when the royal +family had fled to the colonies in Brazil. The country had been used as +a base of supply for the armies of Wellington during the Peninsula war, +which lasted from 1808 until 1814. After 1815 Portugal continued to be +a sort of British province until the house of Braganza returned to the +throne, leaving one of its members behind in Rio de Janeiro as Emperor +of Brazil, the only American Empire which lasted for more than a few +years, and which came to an end in 1889 when the country became a +republic. + +In the east, nothing was done to improve the terrible conditions of both +the Slavs and the Greeks who were still subjects of the Sultan. In +the year 1804 Black George, a Servian swineherd, (the founder of the +Karageorgevich dynasty) had started a revolt against the Turks, but he +had been defeated by his enemies and had been murdered by one of his +supposed friends, the rival Servian leader, called Milosh Obrenovich, +(who became the founder of the Obrenovich dynasty) and the Turks had +continued to be the undisputed masters of the Balkans. + +The Greeks, who since the loss of their independence, two thousand years +before, had been subjects of the Macedonians, the Romans, the Venetians +and the Turks, had hoped that their countryman, Capo d'Istria, a native +of Corfu and together with Czartoryski, the most intimate personal +friends of Alexander, would do something for them. But the Congress of +Vienna was not interested in Greeks, but was very much interested in +keeping all "legitimate" monarchs, Christian, Moslem and otherwise, upon +their respective thrones. Therefore nothing was done. + +The last, but perhaps the greatest blunder of the Congress was the +treatment of Germany. The Reformation and the Thirty Years War had not +only destroyed the prosperity of the country, but had turned it into a +hopeless political rubbish heap, consisting of a couple of kingdoms, +a few grand-duchies, a large number of duchies and hundreds of +margravates, principalities, baronies, electorates, free cities and free +villages, ruled by the strangest assortment of potentates that was ever +seen off the comic opera stage. Frederick the Great had changed this +when he created a strong Prussia, but this state had not survived him by +many years. + +Napoleon had blue-penciled the demand for independence of most of these +little countries, and only fifty-two out of a total of more than three +hundred had survived the year 1806. During the years of the great +struggle for independence, many a young soldier had dreamed of a new +Fatherland that should be strong and united. But there can be no union +without a strong leadership, and who was to be this leader? + +There were five kingdoms in the German speaking lands. The rulers of +two of these, Austria and Prussia, were kings by the Grace of God. The +rulers of three others, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurtemberg, were kings by +the Grace of Napoleon, and as they had been the faithful henchmen of the +Emperor, their patriotic credit with the other Germans was therefore not +very good. + +The Congress had established a new German Confederation, a league of +thirty-eight sovereign states, under the chairmanship of the King of +Austria, who was now known as the Emperor of Austria. It was the sort of +make-shift arrangement which satisfied no one. It is true that a German +Diet, which met in the old coronation city of Frankfort, had been +created to discuss matters of "common policy and importance." But in +this Diet, thirty-eight delegates represented thirty-eight different +interests and as no decision could be taken without a unanimous vote +(a parliamentary rule which had in previous centuries ruined the mighty +kingdom of Poland), the famous German Confederation became very soon +the laughing stock of Europe and the politics of the old Empire began to +resemble those of our Central American neighbours in the forties and the +fifties of the last century. + +It was terribly humiliating to the people who had sacrificed everything +for a national ideal. But the Congress was not interested in the private +feelings of "subjects," and the debate was closed. + +Did anybody object? Most assuredly. As soon as the first feeling of +hatred against Napoleon had quieted down--as soon as the enthusiasm +of the great war had subsided--as soon as the people came to a full +realisation of the crime that had been committed in the name of "peace +and stability" they began to murmur. They even made threats of open +revolt. But what could they do? They were powerless. They were at the +mercy of the most pitiless and efficient police system the world had +ever seen. + +The members of the Congress of Vienna honestly and sincerely believed +that "the Revolutionary Principle had led to the criminal usurpation +of the throne by the former emperor Napoleon." They felt that they were +called upon to eradicate the adherents of the so-called "French ideas" +just as Philip II had only followed the voice of his conscience when he +burned Protestants or hanged Moors. In the beginning of the sixteenth +century a man who did not believe in the divine right of the Pope to +rule his subjects as he saw fit was a "heretic" and it was the duty +of all loyal citizens to kill him. In the beginning of the nineteenth +century, on the continent of Europe, a man who did not believe in the +divine right of his king to rule him as he or his Prime Minister saw +fit, was a "heretic," and it was the duty of all loyal citizens to +denounce him to the nearest policeman and see that he got punished. + +But the rulers of the year 1815 had learned efficiency in the school of +Napoleon and they performed their task much better than it had been done +in the year 1517. The period between the year 1815 and the year 1860 was +the great era of the political spy. Spies were everywhere. They lived in +palaces and they were to be found in the lowest gin-shops. They peeped +through the key-holes of the ministerial cabinet and they listened to +the conversations of the people who were taking the air on the benches +of the Municipal Park. They guarded the frontier so that no one might +leave without a duly viseed passport and they inspected all packages, +that no books with dangerous "French ideas" should enter the realm of +their Royal masters. They sat among the students in the lecture hall and +woe to the Professor who uttered a word against the existing order of +things. They followed the little boys and girls on their way to church +lest they play hookey. + +In many of these tasks they were assisted by the clergy. The church had +suffered greatly during the days of the revolution. The church property +had been confiscated. Several priests had been killed and the generation +that had learned its cathechism from Voltaire and Rousseau and the +other French philosophers had danced around the Altar of Reason when the +Committee of Public Safety had abolished the worship of God in October +of the year 1793. The priests had followed the "emigres" into their long +exile. Now they returned in the wake of the allied armies and they set +to work with a vengeance. + +Even the Jesuits came back in 1814 and resumed their former labours of +educating the young. Their order had been a little too successful in its +fight against the enemies of the church. It had established "provinces" +in every part of the world, to teach the natives the blessings of +Christianity, but soon it had developed into a regular trading company +which was for ever interfering with the civil authorities. During +the reign of the Marquis de Pombal, the great reforming minister of +Portugal, they had been driven out of the Portuguese lands and in the +year 1773 at the request of most of the Catholic powers of Europe, the +order had been suppressed by Pope Clement XIV. Now they were back on +the job, and preached the principles of "obedience" and "love for the +legitimate dynasty" to children whose parents had hired shopwindows that +they might laugh at Marie Antoinette driving to the scaffold which was +to end her misery. + +But in the Protestant countries like Prussia, things were not a whit +better. The great patriotic leaders of the year 1812, the poets and the +writers who had preached a holy war upon the usurper, were now branded +as dangerous "demagogues." Their houses were searched. Their letters +were read. They were obliged to report to the police at regular +intervals and give an account of themselves. The Prussian drill master +was let loose in all his fury upon the younger generation. When a party +of students celebrated the tercentenary of the Reformation with noisy +but harmless festivities on the old Wartburg, the Prussian bureaucrats +had visions of an imminent revolution. When a theological student, +more honest than intelligent, killed a Russian government spy who +was operating in Germany, the universities were placed under +police-supervision and professors were jailed or dismissed without any +form of trial. + +Russia, of course, was even more absurd in these anti-revolutionary +activities. Alexander had recovered from his attack of piety. He was +gradually drifting toward melancholia. He well knew his own limited +abilities and understood how at Vienna he had been the victim both of +Metternich and the Krudener woman. More and more he turned his back +upon the west and became a truly Russian ruler whose interests lay in +Constantinople, the old holy city that had been the first teacher of the +Slavs. The older he grew, the harder he worked and the less he was able +to accomplish. And while he sat in his study, his ministers turned the +whole of Russia into a land of military barracks. + +It is not a pretty picture. Perhaps I might have shortened this +description of the Great Reaction. But it is just as well that you +should have a thorough knowledge of this era. It was not the first time +that an attempt had been made to set the clock of history back. The +result was the usual one. + + + + +NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE + +THE LOVE OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE, HOWEVER WAS TOO STRONG TO BE +DESTROYED IN THIS WAY. THE SOUTH AMERICANS WERE THE FIRST TO REBEL +AGAINST THE REACTIONARY MEASURES OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA, GREECE AND +BELGIUM AND SPAIN AND A LARGE NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE EUROPEAN +CONTINENT FOLLOWED SUIT AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WAS FILLED WITH THE +RUMOUR OF MANY WARS OF INDEPENDENCE + + +IT will serve no good purpose to say "if only the Congress of Vienna had +done such and such a thing instead of taking such and such a course, the +history of Europe in the nineteenth century would have been different." +The Congress of Vienna was a gathering of men who had just passed +through a great revolution and through twenty years of terrible and +almost continuous warfare. They came together for the purpose of giving +Europe that "peace and stability" which they thought that the people +needed and wanted. They were what we call reactionaries. They sincerely +believed in the inability of the mass of the people to rule themselves. +They re-arranged the map of Europe in such a way as seemed to promise +the greatest possibility of a lasting success. They failed, but not +through any premeditated wickedness on their part. They were, for the +greater part, men of the old school who remembered the happier days of +their quiet youth and ardently wished a return of that blessed period. +They failed to recognise the strong hold which many of the revolutionary +principles had gained upon the people of the European continent. That +was a misfortune but hardly a sin. But one of the things which the +French Revolution had taught not only Europe but America as well, was +the right of people to their own "nationality." + +Napoleon, who respected nothing and nobody, was utterly ruthless in +his dealing with national and patriotic aspirations. But the early +revolutionary generals had proclaimed the new doctrine that "nationality +was not a matter of political frontiers or round skulls and broad noses, +but a matter of the heart and soul." While they were teaching the French +children the greatness of the French nation, they encouraged Spaniards +and Hollanders and Italians to do the same thing. Soon these people, who +all shared Rousseau's belief in the superior virtues of Original Man, +began to dig into their past and found, buried beneath the ruins of +the feudal system, the bones of the mighty races of which they supposed +themselves the feeble descendants. + +The first half of the nineteenth century was the era of the great +historical discoveries. Everywhere historians were busy publishing +mediaeval charters and early mediaeval chronicles and in every country +the result was a new pride in the old fatherland. A great deal of this +sentiment was based upon the wrong interpretation of historical +facts. But in practical politics, it does not matter what is true, but +everything depends upon what the people believe to be true. And in most +countries both the kings and their subjects firmly believed in the glory +and fame of their ancestors. + +The Congress of Vienna was not inclined to be sentimental. Their +Excellencies divided the map of Europe according to the best interests +of half a dozen dynasties and put "national aspirations" upon the Index, +or list of forbidden books, together with all other dangerous "French +doctrines." + +But history is no respecter of Congresses. For some reason or other (it +may be an historical law, which thus far has escaped the attention +of the scholars) "nations" seemed to be necessary for the orderly +development of human society and the attempt to stem this tide was +quite as unsuccessful as the Metternichian effort to prevent people from +thinking. + +Curiously enough the first trouble began in a very distant part of the +world, in South America. The Spanish colonies of that continent had been +enjoying a period of relative independence during the many years of the +great Napoleonic wars. They had even remained faithful to their king +when he was taken prisoner by the French Emperor and they had refused to +recognise Joseph Bonaparte, who had in the year 1808 been made King of +Spain by order of his brother. + +Indeed, the only part of America to get very much upset by the +Revolution was the island of Haiti, the Espagnola of Columbus' first +trip. Here in the year 1791 the French Convention, in a sudden outburst +of love and human brotherhood, had bestowed upon their black brethren +all the privileges hitherto enjoyed by their white masters. Just as +suddenly they had repented of this step, but the attempt to undo the +original promise led to many years of terrible warfare between General +Leclerc, the brother-in-law of Napoleon, and Toussaint l'Ouverture, the +negro chieftain. In the year 1801, Toussaint was asked to visit Leclerc +and discuss terms of peace. He received the solemn promise that he would +not be molested. He trusted his white adversaries, was put on board a +ship and shortly afterwards died in a French prison. But the negroes +gained their independence all the same and founded a Republic. +Incidentally they were of great help to the first great South American +patriot in his efforts to deliver his native country from the Spanish +yoke. + +Simon Bolivar, a native of Caracas in Venezuela, born in the year 1783, +had been educated in Spain, had visited Paris where he had seen the +Revolutionary government at work, had lived for a while in the United +States and had returned to his native land where the widespread +discontent against Spain, the mother country, was beginning to take a +definite form. In the year 1811, Venezuela declared its independence and +Bolivar became one of the revolutionary generals. Within two months, the +rebels were defeated and Bolivar fled. + +For the next five years he was the leader of an apparently lost cause. +He sacrificed all his wealth and he would not have been able to begin +his final and successful expedition without the support of the President +of Haiti. Thereafter the revolt spread all over South America and soon +it appeared that Spain was not able to suppress the rebellion unaided. +She asked for the support of the Holy Alliance. + +This step greatly worried England. The British shippers had succeeded +the Dutch as the Common Carriers of the world and they expected to reap +heavy profits from a declaration of independence on the part of all +South America. They had hopes that the United States of America would +interfere but the Senate had no such plans and in the House, too, there +were many voices which declared that Spain ought to be given a free +hand. + +Just then, there was a change of ministers in England. The Whigs went +out and the Tories came in. George Canning became secretary of State. He +dropped a hint that England would gladly back up the American government +with all the might of her fleet, if said government would declare +its disapproval of the plans of the Holy Alliance in regard to the +rebellious colonies of the southern continent. President Monroe +thereupon, on the 2nd of December of the year 1823, addressed Congress +and stated that: "America would consider any attempt on the part of +the allied powers to extend their system to any portion of this western +hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety," and gave warning that +"the American government would consider such action on the part of the +Holy Alliance as a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the +United States." Four weeks later, the text of the "Monroe Doctrine" was +printed in the English newspapers and the members of the Holy Alliance +were forced to make their choice. + +Metternich hesitated. Personally he would have been willing to risk the +displeasure of the United States (which had allowed both its army and +navy to fall into neglect since the end of the Anglo-American war of +the year 1812.) But Canning's threatening attitude and trouble on the +continent forced him to be careful. The expedition never took place and +South America and Mexico gained their independence. + +As for the troubles on the continent of Europe, they were coming fast +and furious. The Holy Alliance had sent French troops to Spain to act as +guardians of the peace in the year 1820. Austrian troops had been used +for a similar purpose in Italy when the "Carbonari" (the secret society +of the Charcoal Burners) were making propaganda for a united Italy and +had caused a rebellion against the unspeakable Ferdinand of Naples. + +Bad news also came from Russia where the death of Alexander had been the +sign for a revolutionary outbreak in St. Petersburg, a short but bloody +upheaval, the so-called Dekaberist revolt (because it took place in +December,) which ended with the hanging of a large number of good +patriots who had been disgusted by the reaction of Alexander's last +years and had tried to give Russia a constitutional form of government. + +But worse was to follow. Metternich had tried to assure himself of the +continued support of the European courts by a series of conferences +at Aix-la-Chapelle at Troppau at Laibach and finally at Verona. The +delegates from the different powers duly travelled to these agreeable +watering places where the Austrian prime minister used to spend his +summers. They always promised to do their best to suppress revolt but +they were none too certain of their success. The spirit of the people +was beginning to be ugly and especially in France the position of the +king was by no means satisfactory. + +The real trouble however began in the Balkans, the gateway to western +Europe through which the invaders of that continent had passed since the +beginning of time. The first outbreak was in Moldavia, the ancient Roman +province of Dacia which had been cut off from the Empire in the third +century. Since then, it had been a lost land, a sort of Atlantis, where +the people had continued to speak the old Roman tongue and still called +themselves Romans and their country Roumania. Here in the year 1821, +a young Greek, Prince Alexander Ypsilanti, began a revolt against the +Turks. He told his followers that they could count upon the support +of Russia. But Metternich's fast couriers were soon on their way to St +Petersburg and the Tsar, entirely persuaded by the Austrian arguments in +favor of "peace and stability," refused to help. Ypsilanti was forced to +flee to Austria where he spent the next seven years in prison. + +In the same year, 1821, trouble began in Greece. Since 1815 a secret +society of Greek patriots had been preparing the way for a revolt. +Suddenly they hoisted the flag of independence in the Morea (the ancient +Peloponnesus) and drove the Turkish garrisons away. The Turks answered +in the usual fashion. They took the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, +who was regarded as their Pope both by the Greeks and by many Russians, +and they hanged him on Easter Sunday of the year 1821, together with a +number of his bishops. The Greeks came back with a massacre of all +the Mohammedans in Tripolitsa, the capital of the Morea and the Turks +retaliated by an attack upon the island of Chios, where they murdered +25,000 Christians and sold 45,000 others as slaves into Asia and Egypt. + +Then the Greeks appealed to the European courts, but Metternich told +them in so many words that they could "stew in their own grease," (I +am not trying to make a pun, but I am quoting His Serene Highness who +informed the Tsar that this "fire of revolt ought to burn itself out +beyond the pale of civilisation" and the frontiers were closed to those +volunteers who wished to go to the rescue of the patriotic Hellenes. +Their cause seemed lost. At the request of Turkey, an Egyptian army was +landed in the Morea and soon the Turkish flag was again flying from +the Acropolis, the ancient stronghold of Athens. The Egyptian army +then pacified the country "a la Turque," and Metternich followed the +proceedings with quiet interest, awaiting the day when this "attempt +against the peace of Europe" should be a thing of the past. + +Once more it was England which upset his plans. The greatest glory of +England does not lie in her vast colonial possessions, in her wealth +or her navy, but in the quiet heroism and independence of her average +citizen. The Englishman obeys the law because he knows that respect +for the rights of others marks the difference between a dog-kennel and +civilised society. But he does not recognize the right of others to +interfere with his freedom of thought. If his country does something +which he believes to be wrong, he gets up and says so and the government +which he attacks will respect him and will give him full protection +against the mob which to-day, as in the time of Socrates, often loves to +destroy those who surpass it in courage or intelligence. There never has +been a good cause, however unpopular or however distant, which has not +counted a number of Englishmen among its staunchest adherents. The mass +of the English people are not different from those in other lands. They +stick to the business at hand and have no time for unpractical "sporting +ventures." But they rather admire their eccentric neighbour who drops +everything to go and fight for some obscure people in Asia or Africa and +when he has been killed they give him a fine public funeral and hold him +up to their children as an example of valor and chivalry. + +Even the police spies of the Holy Alliance were powerless against this +national characteristic. In the year 1824, Lord Byron, a rich young +Englishman who wrote the poetry over which all Europe wept, hoisted the +sails of his yacht and started south to help the Greeks. Three months +later the news spread through Europe that their hero lay dead in +Missolonghi, the last of the Greek strongholds. His lonely death caught +the imagination of the people. In all countries, societies were formed +to help the Greeks. Lafayette, the grand old man of the American +revolution, pleaded their cause in France. The king of Bavaria sent +hundreds of his officers. Money and supplies poured in upon the starving +men of Missolonghi. + +In England, George Canning, who had defeated the plans of the Holy +Alliance in South America, was now prime minis-ter. He saw his chance to +checkmate Metternich for a second time. The English and Russian fleets +were already in the Mediterranean. They were sent by governments which +dared no longer suppress the popular enthusiasm for the cause of the +Greek patriots. The French navy appeared because France, since the end +of the Crusades, had assumed the role of the defender of the Christian +faith in Mohammedan lands. On October 20 of the year 1827, the ships of +the three nations attacked the Turkish fleet in the bay of Navarino and +destroyed it. Rarely has the news of a battle been received with such +general rejoicing. The people of western Europe and Russia who enjoyed +no freedom at home consoled themselves by fighting an imaginary war of +liberty on behalf of the oppressed Greeks. In the year 1829 they had +their reward. Greece became an independent nation and the policy of +reaction and stability suffered its second great defeat. + +It would be absurd were I to try, in this short volume, to give you a +detailed account of the struggle for national independence in all other +countries. There are a large number of excellent books devoted to such +subjects. I have described the struggle for the independence of Greece +because it was the first successful attack upon the bulwark of reaction +which the Congress of Vienna had erected to "maintain the stability +of Europe." That mighty fortress of suppression still held out and +Metternich continued to be in command. But the end was near. + +In France the Bourbons had established an almost unbearable rule +of police officials who were trying to undo the work of the French +revolution, with an absolute disregard of the regulations and laws of +civilised warfare. When Louis XVIII died in the year 1824, the people +had enjoyed nine years of "peace" which had proved even more unhappy +than the ten years of war of the Empire. Louis was succeeded by his +brother, Charles X. + +Louis had belonged to that famous Bourbon family which, although it +never learned anything, never forgot anything. The recollection of +that morning in the town of Hamm, when news had reached him of the +decapitation of his brother, remained a constant warning of what might +happen to those kings who did not read the signs of the times aright. +Charles, on the other hand, who had managed to run up private debts of +fifty million francs before he was twenty years of age, knew nothing, +remembered nothing and firmly intended to learn nothing. As soon as +he had succeeded his brother, he established a government "by priests, +through priests and for priests," and while the Duke of Wellington, who +made this remark, cannot be called a violent liberal, Charles ruled in +such a way that he disgusted even that trusted friend of law and order. +When he tried to suppress the newspapers which dared to criticise his +government, and dismissed the Parliament because it supported the Press, +his days were numbered. + +On the night of the 27th of July of the year 1830, a revolution took +place in Paris. On the 30th of the same month, the king fled to the +coast and set sail for England. In this way the "famous farce of fifteen +years" came to an end and the Bourbons were at last removed from the +throne of France. They were too hopelessly incompetent. France then +might have returned to a Republican form of government, but such a step +would not have been tolerated by Metternich. + +The situation was dangerous enough. The spark of rebellion had leaped +beyond the French frontier and had set fire to another powder house +filled with national grievances. The new kingdom of the Netherlands +had not been a success. The Belgian and the Dutch people had nothing in +common and their king, William of Orange (the descendant of an uncle of +William the Silent), while a hard worker and a good business man, was +too much lacking in tact and pliability to keep the peace among his +uncongenial subjects. Besides, the horde of priests which had descended +upon France, had at once found its way into Belgium and whatever +Protestant William tried to do was howled down by large crowds of +excited citizens as a fresh attempt upon the "freedom of the Catholic +church." On the 25th of August there was a popular outbreak against the +Dutch authorities in Brussels. Two months later, the Belgians declared +themselves independent and elected Leopold of Coburg, the uncle of Queen +Victoria of England, to the throne. That was an excellent solution +of the difficulty. The two countries, which never ought to have been +united, parted their ways and thereafter lived in peace and harmony and +behaved like decent neighbours. + +News in those days when there were only a few short railroads, +travelled slowly, but when the success of the French and the Belgian +revolutionists became known in Poland there was an immediate clash +between the Poles and their Russian rulers which led to a year of +terrible warfare and ended with a complete victory for the Russians who +"established order along the banks of the Vistula" in the well-known +Russian fashion Nicholas the first, who had succeeded his brother +Alexander in 1825, firmly believed in the Divine Right of his own +family, and the thousands of Polish refugees who had found shelter in +western Europe bore witness to the fact that the principles of the Holy +Alliance were still more than a hollow phrase in Holy Russia. + +In Italy too there was a moment of unrest. Marie Louise Duchess of Parma +and wife of the former Emperor Napoleon, whom she had deserted after the +defeat of Waterloo, was driven away from her country, and in the Papal +state the exasperated people tried to establish an independent Republic. +But the armies of Austria marched to Rome and soon every thing was as of +old. Metternich continued to reside at the Ball Platz, the home of the +foreign minister of the Habsburg dynasty, the police spies returned to +their job, and peace reigned supreme. Eighteen more years were to pass +before a second and more successful attempt could be made to deliver +Europe from the terrible inheritance of the Vienna Congress. + +Again it was France, the revolutionary weather-cock of Europe, which +gave the signal of revolt. Charles X had been succeeded by Louis +Philippe, the son of that famous Duke of Orleans who had turned Jacobin, +had voted for the death of his cousin the king, and had played a role +during the early days of the revolution under the name of "Philippe +Egalite" or "Equality Philip." Eventually he had been killed when +Robespierre tried to purge the nation of all "traitors," (by which name +he indicated those people who did not share his own views) and his son +had been forced to run away from the revolutionary army. Young Louis +Philippe thereupon had wandered far and wide. He had taught school in +Switzerland and had spent a couple of years exploring the unknown "far +west" of America. After the fall of Napoleon he had returned to Paris. +He was much more intelligent than his Bourbon cousins. He was a simple +man who went about in the public parks with a red cotton umbrella under +his arm, followed by a brood of children like any good housefather. But +France had outgrown the king business and Louis did not know this until +the morning of the 24th of February, of the year 1848, when a crowd +stormed the Tuilleries and drove his Majesty away and proclaimed the +Republic. + +When the news of this event reached Vienna, Metternich expressed the +casual opinion that this was only a repetition of the year 1793 and that +the Allies would once more be obliged to march upon Paris and make an +end to this very unseemly democratic row. But two weeks later his own +Austrian capital was in open revolt. Metternich escaped from the mob +through the back door of his palace, and the Emperor Ferdinand was +forced to give his subjects a constitution which embodied most of the +revolutionary principles which his Prime Minister had tried to suppress +for the last thirty-three years. + +This time all Europe felt the shock. Hungary declared itself +independent, and commenced a war against the Habsburgs under the +leadership of Louis Kossuth. The unequal struggle lasted more than +a year. It was finally suppressed by the armies of Tsar Nicholas who +marched across the Carpathian mountains and made Hungary once more +safe for autocracy. The Habsburgs thereupon established extraordinary +court-martials and hanged the greater part of the Hungarian patriots +whom they had not been able to defeat in open battle. + +As for Italy, the island of Sicily declared itself independent from +Naples and drove its Bourbon king away. In the Papal states the prime +minister, Rossi, was murdered and the Pope was forced to flee. He +returned the next year at the head of a French army which remained in +Rome to protect His Holiness against his subjects until the year 1870. +Then it was called back to defend France against the Prussians, and Rome +became the capital of Italy. In the north, Milan and Venice rose against +their Austrian masters. They were supported by king Albert of Sardinia, +but a strong Austrian army under old Radetzky marched into the valley +of the Po, defeated the Sardinians near Custozza and Novara and forced +Albert to abdicate in favour of his son, Victor Emanuel, who a few years +later was to be the first king of a united Italy. + +In Germany the unrest of the year 1848 took the form of a great national +demonstration in favour of political unity and a representative form of +government. In Bavaria, the king who had wasted his time and money upon +an Irish lady who posed as a Spanish dancer--(she was called Lola Montez +and lies buried in New York's Potter's Field)--was driven away by the +enraged students of the university. In Prussia, the king was forced +to stand with uncovered head before the coffins of those who had been +killed during the street fighting and to promise a constitutional form +of government. And in March of the year 1849, a German parliament, +consisting of 550 delegates from all parts of the country came together +in Frankfort and proposed that king Frederick William of Prussia should +be the Emperor of a United Germany. + +Then, however, the tide began to turn. Incompetent Ferdinand had +abdicated in favour of his nephew Francis Joseph. The well-drilled +Austrian army had remained faithful to their war-lord. The hangman +was given plenty of work and the Habsburgs, after the nature of that +strangely cat-like family, once more landed upon their feet and rapidly +strengthened their position as the masters of eastern and western +Europe. They played the game of politics very adroitly and used the +jealousies of the other German states to prevent the elevation of the +Prussian king to the Imperial dignity. Their long train-ing in the art +of suffering defeat had taught them the value of patience. They knew how +to wait. They bided their time and while the liberals, utterly untrained +in practical politics, talked and talked and talked and got intoxicated +by their own fine speeches, the Austrians quietly gathered their forces, +dismissed the Parliament of Frankfort and re-established the old and +impossible German confederation which the Congress of Vienna had wished +upon an unsuspecting world. + +But among the men who had attended this strange Parliament of +unpractical enthusiasts, there was a Prussian country squire by the name +of Bismarck, who had made good use of his eyes and ears. He had a deep +contempt for oratory. He knew (what every man of action has always +known) that nothing is ever accomplished by talk. In his own way he was +a sincere patriot. He had been trained in the old school of diplomacy +and he could outlie his opponents just as he could outwalk them and +outdrink them and outride them. + +Bismarck felt convinced that the loose confederation of little states +must be changed into a strong united country if it would hold its own +against the other European powers. Brought up amidst feudal ideas of +loyalty, he decided that the house of Hohenzollern, of which he was +the most faithful servant, should rule the new state, rather than the +incompetent Habsburgs. For this purpose he must first get rid of the +Austrian influence, and he began to make the necessary preparations for +this painful operation. + +Italy in the meantime had solved her own problem, and had rid herself of +her hated Austrian master. The unity of Italy was the work of three +men, Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi. Of these three, Cavour, the +civil-engineer with the short-sighted eyes and the steel-rimmed glasses, +played the part of the careful political pilot. Mazzini, who had spent +most of his days in different European garrets, hiding from the Austrian +police, was the public agitator, while Garibaldi, with his band of +red-shirted rough-riders, appealed to the popular imagination. + +Mazzini and Garibaldi were both believers in the Republican form of +government. Cavour, however, was a monarchist, and the others who +recognised his superior ability in such matters of practical statecraft, +accepted his decision and sacrificed their own ambitions for the greater +good of their beloved Fatherland. + +Cavour felt towards the House of Sardinia as Bismarck did towards the +Hohenzollern family. With infinite care and great shrewdness he set to +work to jockey the Sardinian King into a position from which His Majesty +would be able to assume the leadership of the entire Italian people. The +unsettled political conditions in the rest of Europe greatly helped +him in his plans and no country contributed more to the independence of +Italy than her old and trusted (and often distrusted) neighbour, France. + +In that turbulent country, in November of the year 1852, the Republic +had come to a sudden but not unexpected end. Napoleon III the son of +Louis Bonaparte the former King of Holland, and the small nephew of a +great uncle, had re-established an Empire and had made himself Emperor +"by the Grace of God and the Will of the People." + +This young man, who had been educated in Germany and who mixed his +French with harsh Teutonic gutturals (just as the first Napoleon had +always spoken the language of his adopted country with a strong Italian +accent) was trying very hard to use the Napoleonic tradition for his own +benefit. But he had many enemies and did not feel very certain of his +hold upon his ready-made throne. He had gained the friendship of Queen +Victoria but this had not been a difficult task, as the good Queen was +not particularly brilliant and was very susceptible to flattery. As +for the other European sovereigns, they treated the French Emperor with +insulting haughtiness and sat up nights devising new ways in which they +could show their upstart "Good Brother" how sincerely they despised him. + +Napoleon was obliged to find a way in which he could break this +opposition, either through love or through fear. He well knew the +fascination which the word "glory" still held for his subjects. Since +he was forced to gamble for his throne he decided to play the game of +Empire for high stakes. He used an attack of Russia upon Turkey as an +excuse for bringing about the Crimean war in which England and France +combined against the Tsar on behalf of the Sultan. It was a very costly +and exceedingly unprofitable enterprise. Neither France nor England nor +Russia reaped much glory. + +But the Crimean war did one good thing. It gave Sardinia a chance to +volunteer on the winning side and when peace was declared it gave +Cavour the opportunity to lay claim to the gratitude of both England and +France. + +Having made use of the international situation to get Sardinia +recognised as one of the more important powers of Europe, the clever +Italian then provoked a war between Sardinia and Austria in June of the +year 1859. He assured himself of the support of Napoleon in exchange for +the provinces of Savoy and the city of Nice, which was really an Italian +town. The Franco-Italian armies defeated the Austrians at Magenta and +Solferino, and the former Austrian provinces and duchies were united +into a single Italian kingdom. Florence became the capital of this new +Italy until the year 1870 when the French recalled their troops from +Home to defend France against the Germans. As soon as they were gone, +the Italian troops entered the eternal city and the House of Sardinia +took up its residence in the old Palace of the Quirinal which an ancient +Pope had built on the ruins of the baths of the Emperor Constantine. + +The Pope, however, moved across the river Tiber and hid behind the walls +of the Vatican, which had been the home of many of his predecessors +since their return from the exile of Avignon in the year 1377. He +protested loudly against this high-handed theft of his domains and +addressed letters of appeal to those faithful Catholics who were +inclined to sympathise with him in his loss. Their number, however, was +small, and it has been steadily decreasing. For, once delivered from the +cares of state, the Pope was able to devote all his time to questions +of a spiritual nature. Standing high above the petty quarrels of the +European politicians, the Papacy assumed a new dignity which proved +of great benefit to the church and made it an international power for +social and religious progress which has shown a much more intelligent +appreciation of modern economic problems than most Protestant sects. + +In this way, the attempt of the Congress of Vienna to settle the Italian +question by making the peninsula an Austrian province was at last +undone. + +The German problem however remained as yet unsolved. It proved the most +difficult of all. The failure of the revolution of the year 1848 had led +to the wholesale migration of the more energetic and liberal elements +among the German people. These young fellows had moved to the United +States of America, to Brazil, to the new colonies in Asia and America. +Their work was continued in Germany but by a different sort of men. + +In the new Diet which met at Frankfort, after the collapse of the +German Parliament and the failure of the Liberals to establish a united +country, the Kingdom of Prussia was represented by that same Otto +von Bismarck from whom we parted a few pages ago. Bismarck by now had +managed to gain the complete confidence of the king of Prussia. That +was all he asked for. The opinion of the Prussian parliament or of the +Prussian people interested him not at all. With his own eyes he had seen +the defeat of the Liberals. He knew that he would not be able to get +rid of Austria without a war and he began by strengthening the Prussian +army. The Landtag, exasperated at his high-handed methods, refused to +give him the necessary credits. Bismarck did not even bother to discuss +the matter. He went ahead and increased his army with the help of funds +which the Prussian house of Peers and the king placed at his disposal. +Then he looked for a national cause which could be used for the purpose +of creating a great wave of patriotism among all the German people. + +In the north of Germany there were the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein +which ever since the middle ages had been a source of trouble. Both +countries were inhabited by a certain number of Danes and a certain +number of Germans, but although they were governed by the King of +Denmark, they were not an integral part of the Danish State and this +led to endless difficulties. Heaven forbid that I should revive this +forgotten question which now seems settled by the acts of the recent +Congress of Versailles. But the Germans in Holstein were very loud in +their abuse of the Danes and the Danes in Schleswig made a great ado of +their Danishness, and all Europe was discussing the problem and German +Mannerchors and Turnvereins listened to sentimental speeches about the +"lost brethren" and the different chancelleries were trying to discover +what it was all about, when Prussia mobilised her armies to "save +the lost provinces." As Austria, the official head of the German +Confederation, could not allow Prussia to act alone in such an important +matter, the Habsburg troops were mobilised too and the combined armies +of the two great powers crossed the Danish frontiers and after a very +brave resistance on the part of the Danes, occupied the two duchies. The +Danes appealed to Europe, but Europe was otherwise engaged and the poor +Danes were left to their fate. + +Bismarck then prepared the scene for the second number upon his Imperial +programme. He used the division of the spoils to pick a quarrel with +Austria. The Habsburgs fell into the trap. The new Prussian army, the +creation of Bismarck and his faithful generals, invaded Bohemia and in +less than six weeks, the last of the Austrian troops had been destroyed +at Koniggratz and Sadowa and the road to Vienna lay open. But Bismarck +did not want to go too far. He knew that he would need a few friends in +Europe. He offered the defeated Habsburgs very decent terms of peace, +provided they would resign their chairmanship of the Confederation. He +was less merciful to many of the smaller German states who had taken the +side of the Austrians, and annexed them to Prussia. The greater part of +the northern states then formed a new organisation, the so-called +North German Confederacy, and victorious Prussia assumed the unofficial +leadership of the German people. + +Europe stood aghast at the rapidity with which the work of consolidation +had been done. England was quite indifferent but France showed signs +of disapproval. Napoleon's hold upon the French people was steadily +diminishing. The Crimean war had been costly and had accomplished +nothing. + +A second adventure in the year 1863, when a French army had tried to +force an Austrian Grand-Duke by the name of Maximilian upon the Mexican +people as their Emperor, had come to a disastrous end as soon as the +American Civil War had been won by the North. For the Government at +Washington had forced the French to withdraw their troops and this had +given the Mexicans a chance to clear their country of the enemy and +shoot the unwelcome Emperor. + +It was necessary to give the Napoleonic throne a new coat of +glory-paint. Within a few years the North German Confederation would +be a serious rival of France. Napoleon decided that a war with Germany +would be a good thing for his dynasty. He looked for an excuse and +Spain, the poor victim of endless revolutions, gave him one. + +Just then the Spanish throne happened to be vacant. It had been +offered to the Catholic branch of the house of Hohenzollern. The French +government had objected and the Hohenzollerns had politely refused to +accept the crown. But Napoleon, who was showing signs of illness, was +very much under the influence of his beautiful wife, Eugenie de Montijo, +the daughter of a Spanish gentleman and the grand-daughter of William +Kirkpatrick, an American consul at Malaga, where the grapes come from. +Eugenie, although shrewd enough, was as badly educated as most Spanish +women of that day. She was at the mercy of her spiritual advisers and +these worthy gentlemen felt no love for the Protestant King of Prussia. +"Be bold," was the advice of the Empress to her husband, but she omitted +to add the second half of that famous Persian proverb which admonishes +the hero to "be bold but not too bold." Napoleon, convinced of the +strength of his army, addressed himself to the king of Prussia and +insisted that the king give him assurances that "he would never permit +another candidature of a Hohenzollern prince to the Spanish crown." +As the Hohenzollerns had just declined the honour, the demand was +superfluous, and Bismarck so informed the French government. But +Napoleon was not satisfied. + +It was the year 1870 and King William was taking the waters at Ems. +There one day he was approached by the French minister who tried to +re-open the discussion. The king answered very pleasantly that it was a +fine day and that the Spanish question was now closed and that nothing +more remained to be said upon the subject. As a matter of routine, a +report of this interview was telegraphed to Bismarck, who handled all +foreign affairs. Bismarck edited the dispatch for the benefit of the +Prussian and French press. Many people have called him names for doing +this. Bismarck however could plead the excuse that the doctoring of +official news, since time immemorial, had been one of the privileges of +all civilised governments. When the "edited" telegram was printed, the +good people in Berlin felt that their old and venerable king with his +nice white whiskers had been insulted by an arrogant little Frenchman +and the equally good people of Paris flew into a rage because their +perfectly courteous minister had been shown the door by a Royal Prussian +flunkey. + +And so they both went to war and in less than two months, Napoleon and +the greater part of his army were prisoners of the Germans. The Second +Empire had come to an end and the Third Republic was making ready to +defend Paris against the German invaders. Paris held out for five long +months. Ten days before the surrender of the city, in the nearby palace +of Versailles, built by that same King Louis XIV who had been such +a dangerous enemy to the Germans, the King of Prussia was publicly +proclaimed German Emperor and a loud booming of guns told the hungry +Parisians that a new German Empire had taken the place of the old +harmless Confederation of Teutonic states and stateless. + +In this rough way, the German question was finally settled. By the +end of the year 1871, fifty-six years after the memorable gathering at +Vienna, the work of the Congress had been entirely undone. Metternich +and Alexander and Talleyrand had tried to give the people of Europe a +lasting peace. The methods they had employed had caused endless wars and +revolutions and the feeling of a common brotherhood of the eighteenth +century was followed by an era of exaggerated nationalism which has not +yet come to an end. + + + + +THE AGE OF THE ENGINE + +BUT WHILE THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE WERE FIGHTING FOR THEIR NATIONAL +INDEPENDENCE, THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY LIVED HAD BEEN ENTIRELY CHANGED +BY A SERIES OF INVENTIONS, WHICH HAD MADE THE CLUMSY OLD STEAM ENGINE OF +THE 18TH CENTURY THE MOST FAITHFUL AND EFFICIENT SLAVE OF MAN + + +THE greatest benefactor of the human race died more than half a million +years ago. He was a hairy creature with a low brow and sunken eyes, a +heavy jaw and strong tiger-like teeth. He would not have looked well in +a gathering of modern scientists, but they would have honoured him as +their master. For he had used a stone to break a nut and a stick to lift +up a heavy boulder. He was the inventor of the hammer and the lever, our +first tools, and he did more than any human being who came after him +to give man his enormous advantage over the other animals with whom he +shares this planet. + +Ever since, man has tried to make his life easier by the use of a +greater number of tools. The first wheel (a round disc made out of an +old tree) created as much stir in the communities of 100,000 B.C. as the +flying machine did only a few years ago. + +In Washington, the story is told of a director of the Patent Office +who in the early thirties of the last century suggested that the Patent +Office be abolished, because "everything that possibly could be invented +had been invented." A similar feeling must have spread through the +prehistoric world when the first sail was hoisted on a raft and the +people were able to move from place to place without rowing or punting +or pulling from the shore. + +Indeed one of the most interesting chapters of history is the effort of +man to let some one else or something else do his work for him, while he +enjoyed his leisure, sitting in the sun or painting pictures on rocks, +or training young wolves and little tigers to behave like peaceful +domestic animals. + +Of course in the very olden days; it was always possible to enslave a +weaker neighbour and force him to do the unpleasant tasks of life. One +of the reasons why the Greeks and Romans, who were quite as intelligent +as we are, failed to devise more interesting machinery, was to be +found in the wide-spread existence of slavery. Why should a great +mathematician waste his time upon wires and pulleys and cogs and fill +the air with noise and smoke when he could go to the marketplace and buy +all the slaves he needed at a very small expense? + +And during the middle-ages, although slavery had been abolished and +only a mild form of serfdom survived, the guilds discouraged the idea of +using machinery because they thought this would throw a large number +of their brethren out of work. Besides, the Middle-Ages were not at all +interested in producing large quantities of goods. Their tailors and +butchers and carpenters worked for the immediate needs of the small +community in which they lived and had no desire to compete with their +neighbours, or to produce more than was strictly necessary. + +During the Renaissance, when the prejudices of the Church against +scientific investigations could no longer be enforced as rigidly as +before, a large number of men began to devote their lives to mathematics +and astronomy and physics and chemistry. Two years before the beginning +of the Thirty Years War, John Napier, a Scotchman, had published his +little book which described the new invention of logarithms. During the +war it-self, Gottfried Leibnitz of Leipzig had perfected the system +of infinitesimal calculus. Eight years before the peace of Westphalia, +Newton, the great English natural philosopher, was born, and in that +same year Galileo, the Italian astronomer, died. Meanwhile the Thirty +Years War had destroyed the prosperity of central Europe and there was +a sudden but very general interest in "alchemy," the strange +pseudo-science of the middle-ages by which people hoped to turn base +metals into gold. This proved to be impossible but the alchemists in +their laboratories stumbled upon many new ideas and greatly helped the +work of the chemists who were their successors. + +The work of all these men provided the world with a solid scientific +foundation upon which it was possible to build even the most complicated +of engines, and a number of practical men made good use of it. The +Middle-Ages had used wood for the few bits of necessary machinery. +But wood wore out easily. Iron was a much better material but iron was +scarce except in England. In England therefore most of the smelting was +done. To smelt iron, huge fires were needed. In the beginning, these +fires had been made of wood, but gradually the forests had been used up. +Then "stone coal" (the petrified trees of prehistoric times) was used. +But coal as you know has to be dug out of the ground and it has to be +transported to the smelting ovens and the mines have to be kept dry from +the ever invading waters. + +These were two problems which had to be solved at once. For the time +being, horses could still be used to haul the coal-wagons, but the +pumping question demanded the application of special machinery. Several +inventors were busy trying to solve the difficulty. They all knew that +steam would have to be used in their new engine. The idea of the steam +engine was very old. Hero of Alexandria, who lived in the first century +before Christ, has described to us several bits of machinery which +were driven by steam. The people of the Renaissance had played with +the notion of steam-driven war chariots. The Marquis of Worcester, a +contemporary of Newton, in his book of inventions, tells of a steam +engine. A little later, in the year 1698, Thomas Savery of London +applied for a patent for a pumping engine. At the same time, a +Hollander, Christian Huygens, was trying to perfect an engine in which +gun-powder was used to cause regular explosions in much the same way as +we use gasoline in our motors. + +All over Europe, people were busy with the idea. Denis Papin, a +Frenchman, friend and assistant of Huygens, was making experiments with +steam engines in several countries. He invented a little wagon that was +driven by steam, and a paddle-wheel boat. But when he tried to take a +trip in his vessel, it was confiscated by the authorities on a complaint +of the boatmen's union, who feared that such a craft would deprive them +of their livelihood. Papin finally died in London in great poverty, +having wasted all his money on his inventions. But at the time of his +death, another mechanical enthusiast, Thomas Newcomen, was working +on the problem of a new steam-pump. Fifty years later his engine was +improved upon by James Watt, a Glasgow instrument maker. In the year +1777, he gave the world the first steam engine that proved of real +practical value. + +But during the centuries of experiments with a "heat-engine," the +political world had greatly changed. The British people had succeeded +the Dutch as the common-carriers of the world's trade. They had opened +up new colonies. They took the raw materials which the colonies produced +to England, and there they turned them into finished products, and +then they exported the finished goods to the four corners of the world. +During the seventeenth century, the people of Georgia and the Carolinas +had begun to grow a new shrub which gave a strange sort of woolly +substance, the so-called "cotton wool." After this had been plucked, it +was sent to England and there the people of Lancastershire wove it into +cloth. This weaving was done by hand and in the homes of the workmen. +Very soon a number of improvements were made in the process of weaving. +In the year 1730, John Kay invented the "fly shuttle." In 1770, James +Hargreaves got a patent on his "spinning jenny." Eli Whitney, an +American, invented the cotton-gin, which separated the cotton from its +seeds, a job which had previously been done by hand at the rate of +only a pound a day. Finally Richard Arkwright and the Reverend Edmund +Cartwright invented large weaving machines, which were driven by water +power. And then, in the eighties of the eighteenth century, just when +the Estates General of France had begun those famous meetings which were +to revolutionise the political system of Europe, the engines of Watt +were arranged in such a way that they could drive the weaving machines +of Arkwright, and this created an economic and social revolution which +has changed human relationship in almost every part of the world. + +As soon as the stationary engine had proved a success, the inventors +turned their attention to the problem of propelling boats and carts with +the help of a mechanical contrivance. Watt himself designed plans for +a "steam locomotive," but ere he had perfected his ideas, in the year +1804, a locomotive made by Richard Trevithick carried a load of twenty +tons at Pen-y-darran in the Wales mining district. + +At the same time an American jeweller and portrait-painter by the name +of Robert Fulton was in Paris, trying to convince Napoleon that with +the use of his submarine boat, the "Nautilus," and his "steam-boat," the +French might be able to destroy the naval supremacy of England. + +Fulton's idea of a steamboat was not original. He had undoubtedly copied +it from John Fitch, a mechanical genius of Connecticut whose cleverly +constructed steamer had first navigated the Delaware river as early as +the year 1787. But Napoleon and his scientific advisers did not believe +in the practical possibility of a self-propelled boat, and although the +Scotch-built engine of the little craft puffed merrily on the Seine, the +great Emperor neglected to avail himself of this formidable weapon which +might have given him his revenge for Trafalgar. + +As for Fulton, he returned to the United States and, being a practical +man of business, he organised a successful steamboat company together +with Robert R. Livingston, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, +who was American Minister to France when Fulton was in Paris, trying +to sell his invention. The first steamer of this new company, the +"Clermont," which was given a monopoly of all the waters of New York +State, equipped with an engine built by Boulton and Watt of Birmingham +in England, began a regular service between New York and Albany in the +year 1807. + +As for poor John Fitch, the man who long before any one else had used +the "steam-boat" for commercial purposes, he came to a sad death. Broken +in health and empty of purse, he had come to the end of his resources +when his fifth boat, which was propelled by means of a screw-propeller, +had been destroyed. His neighbours jeered at him as they were to laugh a +hundred years later when Professor Langley constructed his funny flying +machines. Fitch had hoped to give his country an easy access to the +broad rivers of the west and his countrymen preferred to travel in +flat-boats or go on foot. In the year 1798, in utter despair and misery, +Fitch killed himself by taking poison. + +But twenty years later, the "Savannah," a steamer of 1850 tons and +making six knots an hour, (the Mauretania goes just four times as fast,) +crossed the ocean from Savannah to Liverpool in the record time of +twenty-five days. Then there was an end to the derision of the multitude +and in their enthusiasm the people gave the credit for the invention to +the wrong man. + +Six years later, George Stephenson, a Scotchman, who had been building +locomotives for the purpose of hauling coal from the mine-pit to +smelting ovens and cotton factories, built his famous "travelling +engine" which reduced the price of coal by almost seventy per cent and +which made it possible to establish the first regular passenger service +between Manchester and Liverpool, when people were whisked from city to +city at the unheard-of speed of fifteen miles per hour. A dozen years +later, this speed had been increased to twenty miles per hour. At the +present time, any well-behaved flivver (the direct descendant of +the puny little motor-driven machines of Daimler and Levassor of the +eighties of the last century) can do better than these early "Puffing +Billies." + +But while these practically-minded engineers were improving upon their +rattling "heat engines," a group of "pure" scientists (men who +devote fourteen hours of each day to the study of those "theoretical" +scientific phenomena without which no mechanical progress would be +possible) were following a new scent which promised to lead them into +the most secret and hidden domains of Nature. + +Two thousand years ago, a number of Greek and Roman philosophers +(notably Thales of Miletus and Pliny who was killed while trying +to study the eruption of Vesuvius of the year 79 when Pompeii and +Herculaneum were buried beneath the ashes) had noticed the strange +antics of bits of straw and of feather which were held near a piece of +amber which was being rubbed with a bit of wool. The schoolmen of the +Middle Ages had not been interested in this mysterious "electric" power. +But immediately after the Renaissance, William Gilbert, the private +physician of Queen Elizabeth, wrote his famous treatise on the character +and behaviour of Magnets. During the Thirty Years War Otto von +Guericke, the burgomaster of Magdeburg and the inventor of the air-pump, +constructed the first electrical machine. During the next century +a large number of scientists devoted themselves to the study of +electricity. Not less than three professors invented the famous Leyden +Jar in the year 1795. At the same time, Benjamin Franklin, the most +universal genius of America next to Benjamin Thomson (who after his +flight from New Hampshire on account of his pro-British sympathies +became known as Count Rumford) was devoting his attention to this +subject. He discovered that lightning and the electric spark were +manifestations of the same electric power and continued his electric +studies until the end of his busy and useful life. Then came Volta with +his famous "electric pile" and Galvani and Day and the Danish professor +Hans Christian Oersted and Ampere and Arago and Faraday, all of them +diligent searchers after the true nature of the electric forces. + +They freely gave their discoveries to the world and Samuel Morse (who +like Fulton began his career as an artist) thought that he could use +this new electric current to transmit messages from one city to another. +He intended to use copper wire and a little machine which he had +invented. People laughed at him. Morse therefore was obliged to finance +his own experiments and soon he had spent all his money and then he was +very poor and people laughed even louder. He then asked Congress to help +him and a special Committee on Commerce promised him their support. But +the members of Congress were not at all interested and Morse had to wait +twelve years before he was given a small congressional appropriation. He +then built a "telegraph" between Baltimore and Washington. In the year +1887 he had shown his first successful "telegraph" in one of the lecture +halls of New York University. Finally, on the 24th of May of the +year 1844 the first long-distance message was sent from Washington to +Baltimore and to-day the whole world is covered with telegraph wires +and we can send news from Europe to Asia in a few seconds. Twenty-three +years later Alexander Graham Bell used the electric current for his +telephone. And half a century afterwards Marconi improved upon these +ideas by inventing a system of sending messages which did away entirely +with the old-fashioned wires. + +While Morse, the New Englander, was working on his "telegraph," Michael +Faraday, the Yorkshire-man, had constructed the first "dynamo." This +tiny little machine was completed in the year 1881 when Europe was +still trembling as a result of the great July revolutions which had so +severely upset the plans of the Congress of Vienna. The first dynamo +grew and grew and grew and to-day it provides us with heat and with +light (you know the little incandescent bulbs which Edison, building +upon French and English experiments of the forties and fifties, first +made in 1878) and with power for all sorts of machines. If I am not +mistaken the electric-engine will soon entirely drive out the "heat +engine" just as in the olden days the more highly-organised prehistoric +animals drove out their less efficient neighbours. + +Personally (but I know nothing about machinery) this will make me very +happy. For the electric engine which can be run by waterpower is a clean +and companionable servant of mankind but the "heat-engine," the marvel +of the eighteenth century, is a noisy and dirty creature for ever +filling the world with ridiculous smoke-stacks and with dust and soot +and asking that it be fed with coal which has to be dug out of mines at +great inconvenience and risk to thousands of people. + +And if I were a novelist and not a historian, who must stick to facts +and may not use his imagination, I would describe the happy day when the +last steam locomotive shall be taken to the Museum of Natural History to +be placed next to the skeleton of the Dynosaur and the Pteredactyl and +the other extinct creatures of a by-gone age. + + + + +THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION + +BUT THE NEW ENGINES WERE VERY EXPENSIVE AND ONLY PEOPLE OF WEALTH COULD +AFFORD THEM. THE OLD CARPENTER OR SHOEMAKER WHO HAD BEEN HIS OWN MASTER +IN HIS LITTLE WORKSHOP WAS OBLIGED TO HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO THE OWNERS OF +THE BIG MECHANICAL TOOLS, AND WHILE HE MADE MORE MONEY THAN BEFORE, HE +LOST HIS FORMER INDEPENDENCE AND HE DID NOT LIKE THAT + + +IN the olden days the work of the world had been done by independent +workmen who sat in their own little workshops in the front of their +houses, who owned their tools, who boxed the ears of their own +apprentices and who, within the limits prescribed by their guilds, +conducted their business as it pleased them. They lived simple lives, +and were obliged to work very long hours, but they were their own +masters. If they got up and saw that it was a fine day to go fishing, +they went fishing and there was no one to say "no." + +But the introduction of machinery changed this. A machine is really +nothing but a greatly enlarged tool. A railroad train which carries you +at the speed of a mile a minute is in reality a pair of very fast +legs, and a steam hammer which flattens heavy plates of iron is just a +terrible big fist, made of steel. + +But whereas we can all afford a pair of good legs and a good strong +fist, a railroad train and a steam hammer and a cotton factory are very +expensive pieces of machinery and they are not owned by a single man, +but usually by a company of people who all contribute a certain sum and +then divide the profits of their railroad or cotton mill according to +the amount of money which they have invested. + +Therefore, when machines had been improved until they were really +practicable and profitable, the builders of those large tools, the +machine manufacturers, began to look for customers who could afford to +pay for them in cash. + +During the early middle ages, when land had been almost the only form of +wealth, the nobility were the only people who were considered wealthy. +But as I have told you in a previous chapter, the gold and silver which +they possessed was quite insignificant and they used the old system +of barter, exchanging cows for horses and eggs for honey. During the +crusades, the burghers of the cities had been able to gather riches +from the reviving trade between the east and the west, and they had been +serious rivals of the lords and the knights. + +The French revolution had entirely destroyed the wealth of the nobility +and had enormously increased that of the middle class or "bourgeoisie." +The years of unrest which followed the Great Revolution had offered +many middle-class people a chance to get more than their share of this +world's goods. The estates of the church had been confiscated by +the French Convention and had been sold at auction. There had been +a terrific amount of graft. Land speculators had stolen thousands of +square miles of valuable land, and during the Napoleonic wars, they had +used their capital to "profiteer" in grain and gun-powder, and now they +possessed more wealth than they needed for the actual expenses of their +households, and they could afford to build themselves factories and to +hire men and women to work the machines. + +This caused a very abrupt change in the lives of hundreds of thousands +of people. Within a few years, many cities doubled the number of their +inhabitants and the old civic centre which had been the real "home" of +the citizens was surrounded with ugly and cheaply built suburbs where +the workmen slept after their eleven or twelve hours, or thirteen hours, +spent in the factories and from where they returned to the factory as +soon as the whistle blew. + +Far and wide through the countryside there was talk of the fabulous sums +of money that could be made in the towns. The peasant boy, accustomed +to a life in the open, went to the city. He rapidly lost his old health +amidst the smoke and dust and dirt of those early and badly ventilated +workshops, and the end, very often, was death in the poor-house or in +the hospital. + +Of course the change from the farm to the factory on the part of so +many people was not accomplished without a certain amount of opposition. +Since one engine could do as much work as a hundred men, the ninety-nine +others who were thrown out of employment did not like it. Frequently +they attacked the factory-buildings and set fire to the machines, but +Insurance Companies had been organised as early as the 17th century and +as a rule the owners were well protected against loss. + +Soon, newer and better machines were installed, the factory was +surrounded with a high wall and then there was an end to the rioting. +The ancient guilds could not possibly survive in this new world of +steam and iron. They went out of existence and then the workmen tried +to organise regular labour unions. But the factory-owners, who through +their wealth could exercise great influence upon the politicians of the +different countries, went to the Legislature and had laws passed which +forbade the forming of such trade unions because they interfered with +the "liberty of action" of the working man. + +Please do not think that the good members of Parliament who passed these +laws were wicked tyrants. They were the true sons of the revolutionary +period when everybody talked of "liberty" and when people often killed +their neighbours because they were not quite as liberty-loving as they +ought to have been. Since "liberty" was the foremost virtue of man, it +was not right that labour-unions should dictate to their members the +hours during which they could work and the wages which they must demand. +The workman must at all times, be "free to sell his services in the open +market," and the employer must be equally "free" to conduct his business +as he saw fit. The days of the Mercantile System, when the state had +regulated the industrial life of the entire community, were coming to +an end. The new idea of "freedom" insisted that the state stand entirely +aside and let commerce take its course. + +The last half of the 18th century had not merely been a time of +intellectual and political doubt, but the old economic ideas, too, had +been replaced by new ones which better suited the need of the hour. +Several years before the French revolution, Turgot, who had been one +of the unsuccessful ministers of finance of Louis XVI, had preached the +novel doctrine of "economic liberty." Turgot lived in a country which +had suffered from too much red-tape, too many regulations, too many +officials trying to enforce too many laws. "Remove this official +supervision," he wrote, "let the people do as they please, and +everything will be all right." Soon his famous advice of "laissez +faire" became the battle-cry around which the economists of that period +rallied. + +At the same time in England, Adam Smith was working on his mighty +volumes on the "Wealth of Nations," which made another plea for +"liberty" and the "natural rights of trade." Thirty years later, after +the fall of Napoleon, when the reactionary powers of Europe had gained +their victory at Vienna, that same freedom which was denied to the +people in their political relations was forced upon them in their +industrial life. + +The general use of machinery, as I have said at the beginning of this +chapter, proved to be of great advantage to the state. Wealth increased +rapidly. The machine made it possible for a single country, like +England, to carry all the burdens of the great Napoleonic wars. The +capitalists (the people who provided the money with which machines were +bought) reaped enormous profits. They became ambitious and began to +take an interest in politics. They tried to compete with the landed +aristocracy which still exercised great influence upon the government of +most European countries. + +In England, where the members of Parliament were still elected according +to a Royal Decree of the year 1265, and where a large number of recently +created industrial centres were without representation, they brought +about the passing of the Reform Bill of the year 1882, which changed the +electoral system and gave the class of the factory-owners more influence +upon the legislative body. This however caused great discontent among +the millions of factory workers, who were left without any voice in the +government. They too began an agitation for the right to vote. They put +their demands down in a document which came to be known as the "People's +Charter." The debates about this charter grew more and more violent. +They had not yet come to an end when the revolutions of the year 1848 +broke out. Frightened by the threat of a new outbreak or Jacobinism and +violence, the English government placed the Duke of Wellington, who +was now in his eightieth year, at the head of the army, and called for +Volunteers. London was placed in a state of siege and preparations were +made to suppress the coming revolution. + +But the Chartist movement killed itself through bad leadership and no +acts of violence took place. The new class of wealthy factory owners, +(I dislike the word "bourgeoisie" which has been used to death by the +apostles of a new social order,) slowly increased its hold upon the +government, and the conditions of industrial life in the large cities +continued to transform vast acres of pasture and wheat-land into dreary +slums, which guard the approach of every modern European town. + + + + +EMANCIPATION + +THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF MACHINERY DID NOT BRING ABOUT THE ERA OF +HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY WHICH HAD BEEN PREDICTED BY THE GENERATION +WHICH SAW THE STAGE COACH REPLACED BY THE RAILROAD. SEVERAL REMEDIES +WERE SUGGESTED BUT NONE OF THESE QUITE SOLVED THE PROBLEM + + +IN the year 1831, just before the passing of the first Reform Bill +Jeremy Bentham, the great English student of legislative methods and the +most practical political reformer of that day, wrote to a friend: "The +way to be comfortable is to make others comfortable. The way to make +others comfortable is to appear to love them. The way to appear to love +them is to love them in reality." Jeremy was an honest man. He said what +he believed to be true. His opinions were shared by thousands of his +countrymen. They felt responsible for the happiness of their less +fortunate neighbours and they tried their very best to help them. And +Heaven knows it was time that something be done! + +The ideal of "economic freedom" (the "laissez faire" of Turgot) had +been necessary in the old society where mediaeval restrictions lamed +all industrial effort. But this "liberty of action" which had been +the highest law of the land had led to a terrible, yea, a frightful +condition. The hours in the fac-tory were limited only by the physical +strength of the workers. As long as a woman could sit before her loom, +without fainting from fatigue, she was supposed to work. Children of +five and six were taken to the cotton mills, to save them from the +dangers of the street and a life of idleness. A law had been passed +which forced the children of paupers to go to work or be punished by +being chained to their machines. In return for their services they got +enough bad food to keep them alive and a sort of pigsty in which they +could rest at night. Often they were so tired that they fell asleep at +their job. To keep them awake a foreman with a whip made the rounds and +beat them on the knuckles when it was necessary to bring them back to +their duties. Of course, under these circumstances thousands of little +children died. This was regrettable and the employers, who after all +were human beings and not without a heart, sincerely wished that they +could abolish "child labour." But since man was "free" it followed that +children were "free" too. Besides, if Mr. Jones had tried to work his +factory without the use of children of five and six, his rival, Mr. +Stone, would have hired an extra supply of little boys and Jones would +have been forced into bankruptcy. It was therefore impossible for Jones +to do without child labour until such time as an act of Parliament +should forbid it for all employers. + +But as Parliament was no longer dominated by the old landed aristocracy +(which had despised the upstart factory-owners with their money bags +and had treated them with open contempt), but was under control of the +representatives from the industrial centres, and as long as the law +did not allow workmen to combine in labour-unions, very little was +accomplished. Of course the intelligent and decent people of that time +were not blind to these terrible conditions. They were just helpless. +Machinery had conquered the world by surprise and it took a great many +years and the efforts of thousands of noble men and women to make the +machine what it ought to be, man's servant, and not his master. + +Curiously enough, the first attack upon the outrageous system of +employment which was then common in all parts of the world, was made +on behalf of the black slaves of Africa and America. Slavery had been +introduced into the American continent by the Spaniards. They had tried +to use the Indians as labourers in the fields and in the mines, but the +Indians, when taken away from a life in the open, had lain down and died +and to save them from extinction a kind-hearted priest had suggested +that negroes be brought from Africa to do the work. The negroes were +strong and could stand rough treatment. Besides, association with the +white man would give them a chance to learn Christianity and in this +way, they would be able to save their souls, and so from every possible +point of view, it would be an excellent arrangement both for the kindly +white man and for his ignorant black brother. But with the introduction +of machinery there had been a greater demand for cotton and the negroes +were forced to work harder than ever before, and they too, like the +Indians, began to die under the treatment which they received at the +hands of the overseers. + +Stories of incredible cruelty constantly found their way to Europe and +in all countries men and women began to agitate for the abolition of +slavery. In England, William Wilberforce and Zachary Macaulay, (the +father of the great historian whose history of England you must read +if you want to know how wonderfully interesting a history-book can be,) +organised a society for the suppression of slavery. First of all they +got a law passed which made "slave trading" illegal. And after the year +1840 there was not a single slave in any of the British colonies. The +revolution of 1848 put an end to slavery in the French possessions. The +Portuguese passed a law in the year 1858 which promised all slaves their +liberty in twenty years from date. The Dutch abolished slavery in +1863 and in the same year Tsar Alexander II returned to his serfs that +liberty which had been taken away from them more than two centuries +before. + +In the United States of America the question led to grave difficulties +and a prolonged war. Although the Declaration of Independence had +laid down the principle that "all men were created free and equal," an +exception had been made for those men and women whose skins were dark +and who worked on the plantations of the southern states. As time +went on, the dislike of the people of the North for the institution +of slavery increased and they made no secret of their feelings. The +southerners however claimed that they could not grow their cotton +without slave-labour, and for almost fifty years a mighty debate raged +in both the Congress and the Senate. + +The North remained obdurate and the South would not give in. When +it appeared impossible to reach a compromise, the southern states +threatened to leave the Union. It was a most dangerous point in the +history of the Union. Many things "might" have happened. That they did +not happen was the work of a very great and very good man. + +On the sixth of November of the year 1860, Abraham Lincoln, an Illinois +lawyer, and a man who had made his own intellectual fortune, had +been elected president by the Republicans who were very strong in the +anti-slavery states. He knew the evils of human bondage at first hand +and his shrewd common-sense told him that there was no room on the +northern continent for two rival nations. When a number of southern +states seceded and formed the "Confederate States of America," Lincoln +accepted the challenge. The Northern states were called upon for +volunteers. Hundreds of thousands of young men responded with eager +enthusiasm and there followed four years of bitter civil war. The +South, better prepared and following the brilliant leadership of Lee and +Jackson, repeatedly defeated the armies of the North. Then the economic +strength of New England and the West began to tell. An unknown officer +by the name of Grant arose from obscurity and became the Charles Martel +of the great slave war. Without interruption he hammered his mighty +blows upon the crumbling defences of the South. Early in the year 1863, +President Lincoln issued his "Emancipation Proclamation" which set all +slaves free. In April of the year 1865 Lee surrendered the last of his +brave armies at Appomattox. A few days later, President Lincoln was +murdered by a lunatic. But his work was done. With the exception of Cuba +which was still under Spanish domination, slavery had come to an end in +every part of the civilised world. + +But while the black man was enjoying an increasing amount of liberty, +the "free" workmen of Europe did not fare quite so well. Indeed, it is +a matter of surprise to many contemporary writers and observers that the +masses of workmen (the so-called proletariat) did not die out from sheer +misery. They lived in dirty houses situated in miserable parts of the +slums. They ate bad food. They received just enough schooling to fit +them for their tasks. In case of death or an accident, their families +were not provided for. But the brewery and distillery interests, (who +could exercise great influence upon the Legislature,) encouraged them +to forget their woes by offering them unlimited quantities of whisky and +gin at very cheap rates. + +The enormous improvement which has taken place since the thirties and +the forties of the last century is not due to the efforts of a single +man. The best brains of two generations devoted themselves to the task +of saving the world from the disastrous results of the all-too-sudden +introduction of machinery. They did not try to destroy the capitalistic +system. This would have been very foolish, for the accumulated wealth of +other people, when intelligently used, may be of very great benefit to +all mankind. But they tried to combat the notion that true equality +can exist between the man who has wealth and owns the factories and +can close their doors at will without the risk of going hungry, and the +labourer who must take whatever job is offered, at whatever wage he +can get, or face the risk of starvation for himself, his wife and his +children. + +They endeavoured to introduce a number of laws which regulated the +relations between the factory owners and the factory workers. In this, +the reformers have been increasingly successful in all countries. +To-day, the majority of the labourers are well protected; their hours +are being reduced to the excellent average of eight, and their +children are sent to the schools instead of to the mine pit and to the +carding-room of the cotton mills. + +But there were other men who also contemplated the sight of all the +belching smoke-stacks, who heard the rattle of the railroad trains, who +saw the store-houses filled with a surplus of all sorts of materials, +and who wondered to what ultimate goal this tremendous activity would +lead in the years to come. They remembered that the human race had lived +for hundreds of thousands of years without commercial and industrial +competition. Could they change the existing order of things and do away +with a system of rivalry which so often sacrificed human happiness to +profits? + +This idea--this vague hope for a better day--was not restricted to a +single country. In England, Robert Owen, the owner of many cotton mills, +established a so-called "socialistic community" which was a success. But +when he died, the prosperity of New Lanark came to an end and an attempt +of Louis Blanc, a French journalist, to establish "social workshops" +all over France fared no better. Indeed, the increasing number of +socialistic writers soon began to see that little individual communities +which remained outside of the regular industrial life, would never +be able to accomplish anything at all. It was necessary to study the +fundamental principles underlying the whole industrial and capitalistic +society before useful remedies could be suggested. + +The practical socialists like Robert Owen and Louis Blanc and Francois +Fournier were succeeded by theoretical students of socialism like Karl +Marx and Friedrich Engels. Of these two, Marx is the best known. He was +a very brilliant Jew whose family had for a long time lived in Germany. +He had heard of the experiments of Owen and Blanc and he began to +interest himself in questions of labour and wages and unemployment. But +his liberal views made him very unpopular with the police authorities of +Germany, and he was forced to flee to Brussels and then to London, where +he lived a poor and shabby life as the correspondent of the New York +Tribune. + +No one, thus far, had paid much attention to his books on economic +subjects. But in the year 1864 he organised the first international +association of working men and three years later in 1867, he published +the first volume of his well-known treatise called "Capital." Marx +believed that all history was a long struggle between those who +"have" and those who "don't have." The introduction and general use of +machinery had created a new class in society, that of the capitalists +who used their surplus wealth to buy the tools which were then used +by the labourers to produce still more wealth, which was again used +to build more factories and so on, until the end of time. Meanwhile, +according to Marx, the third estate (the bourgeoisie) was growing richer +and richer and the fourth estate (the proletariat) was growing poorer +and poorer, and he predicted that in the end, one man would possess +all the wealth of the world while the others would be his employees and +dependent upon his good will. + +To prevent such a state of affairs, Marx advised working men of all +countries to unite and to fight for a number of political and economic +measures which he had enumerated in a Manifesto in the year 1848, the +year of the last great European revolution. + +These views of course were very unpopular with the governments of +Europe, many countries, especially Prussia, passed severe laws against +the Socialists and policemen were ordered to break up the Socialist +meetings and to arrest the speakers. But that sort of persecution never +does any good. Martyrs are the best possible advertisements for an +unpopular cause. In Europe the number of socialists steadily increased +and it was soon clear that the Socialists did not contemplate a violent +revolution but were using their increasing power in the different +Parliaments to promote the interests of the labouring classes. +Socialists were even called upon to act as Cabinet Ministers, and they +co-operated with progressive Catholics and Protestants to undo the +damage that had been caused by the Industrial Revolution and to bring +about a fairer division of the many benefits which had followed the +introduction of machinery and the increased production of wealth. + + + + +THE AGE OF SCIENCE + +BUT THE WORLD HAD UNDERGONE ANOTHER CHANGE WHICH WAS OF GREATER +IMPORTANCE THAN EITHER THE POLITICAL OR THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS. +AFTER GENERATIONS OF OPPRESSION AND PERSECUTION, THE SCIENTIST HAD AT +LAST GAINED LIBERTY OF ACTION AND HE WAS NOW TRYING TO DISCOVER THE +FUNDAMENTAL LAWS WHICH GOVERN THE UNIVERSE + + +THE Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, the Greeks and the +Romans, had all contributed something to the first vague notions of +science and scientific investigation. But the great migrations of the +fourth century had destroyed the classical world of the Mediterranean, +and the Christian Church, which was more interested in the life of +the soul than in the life of the body, had regarded science as a +manifestation of that human arrogance which wanted to pry into divine +affairs which belonged to the realm of Almighty God, and which therefore +was closely related to the seven deadly sins. + +The Renaissance to a certain but limited extent had broken through +this wall of Mediaeval prejudices. The Reformation, however, which had +overtaken the Renaissance in the early 16th century, had been hostile to +the ideals of the "new civilisation," and once more the men of science +were threatened with severe punishment, should they try to pass beyond +the narrow limits of knowledge which had been laid down in Holy Writ. + +Our world is filled with the statues of great generals, atop of prancing +horses, leading their cheering soldiers to glorious victory. Here and +there, a modest slab of marble announces that a man of science has found +his final resting place. A thousand years from now we shall probably +do these things differently, and the children of that happy generation +shall know of the splendid courage and the almost inconceivable devotion +to duty of the men who were the pioneers of that abstract knowledge, +which alone has made our modern world a practical possibility. + +Many of these scientific pioneers suffered poverty and contempt and +humiliation. They lived in garrets and died in dungeons. They dared not +print their names on the title-pages of their books and they dared not +print their conclusions in the land of their birth, but smuggled the +manuscripts to some secret printing shop in Amsterdam or Haarlem. They +were exposed to the bitter enmity of the Church, both Protestant +and Catholic, and were the subjects of endless sermons, inciting the +parishioners to violence against the "heretics." + +Here and there they found an asylum. In Holland, where the spirit +of tolerance was strongest, the authorities, while regarding these +scientific investigations with little favour, yet refused to interfere +with people's freedom of thought. It became a little asylum for +intellectual liberty where French and English and German philosophers +and mathematicians and physicians could go to enjoy a short spell of +rest and get a breath of free air. + +In another chapter I have told you how Roger Bacon, the great genius of +the thirteenth century, was prevented for years from writing a single +word, lest he get into new troubles with the authorities of the church. +And five hundred years later, the contributors to the great philosophic +"Encyclopaedia" were under the constant supervision of the French +gendarmerie. Half a century afterwards, Darwin, who dared to question +the story of the creation of man, as revealed in the Bible, was +denounced from every pulpit as an enemy of the human race. + +Even to-day, the persecution of those who venture into the unknown realm +of science has not entirely come to an end. And while I am writing this +Mr. Bryan is addressing a vast multitude on the "Menace of Darwinism," +warning his hearers against the errors of the great English naturalist. + +All this, however, is a mere detail. The work that has to be done +invariably gets done, and the ultimate profit of the discoveries and the +inventions goes to the mass of those same people who have always decried +the man of vision as an unpractical idealist. + +The seventeenth century had still preferred to investigate the far off +heavens and to study the position of our planet in relation to the solar +system. Even so, the Church had disapproved of this unseemly curiosity, +and Copernicus who first of all had proved that the sun was the centre +of the universe, did not publish his work until the day of his death. +Galileo spent the greater part of his life under the supervision of the +clerical authorities, but he continued to use his telescope and provided +Isaac Newton with a mass of practical observations, which greatly helped +the English mathematician when he dis-covered the existence of that +interesting habit of falling objects which came to be known as the Law +of Gravitation. + +That, for the moment at least, exhausted the interest in the Heavens, +and man began to study the earth. The invention of a workable +microscope, (a strange and clumsy little thing,) by Anthony van +Leeuwenhoek during the last half of the 17th century, gave man a chance +to study the "microscopic" creatures who are responsible for so many of +his ailments. It laid the foundations of the science of "bacteriology" +which in the last forty years has delivered the world from a great +number of diseases by discovering the tiny organisms which cause the +complaint. It also allowed the geologists to make a more careful study +of different rocks and of the fossils (the petrified prehistoric +plants) which they found deep below the surface of the earth. These +investigations convinced them that the earth must be a great deal older +than was stated in the book of Genesis and in the year 1830, Sir Charles +Lyell published his "Principles of Geology" which denied the story +of creation as related in the Bible and gave a far more wonderful +description of slow growth and gradual development. + +At the same time, the Marquis de Laplace was working on a new theory of +creation, which made the earth a little blotch in the nebulous sea out +of which the planetary system had been formed and Bunsen and Kirchhoff, +by the use of the spectroscope, were investigating the chemical +composition of the stars and of our good neighbour, the sun, whose +curious spots had first been noticed by Galileo. + +Meanwhile after a most bitter and relentless warfare with the clerical +authorities of Catholic and Protestant lands, the anatomists and +physiologists had at last obtained permission to dissect bodies and to +substitute a positive knowledge of our organs and their habits for the +guesswork of the mediaeval quack. + +Within a single generation (between 1810 and 1840) more progress was +made in every branch of science than in all the hundreds of thousands of +years that had passed since man first looked at the stars and wondered +why they were there. It must have been a very sad age for the people +who had been educated under the old system. And we can understand +their feeling of hatred for such men as Lamarck and Darwin, who did +not exactly tell them that they were "descended from monkeys," (an +accusation which our grandfathers seemed to regard as a personal +insult,) but who suggested that the proud human race had evolved from +a long series of ancestors who could trace the family-tree back to the +little jelly-fishes who were the first inhabitants of our planet. + +The dignified world of the well-to-do middle class, which dominated the +nineteenth century, was willing to make use of the gas or the electric +light, of all the many practical applications of the great scientific +discoveries, but the mere investigator, the man of the "scientific +theory" without whom no progress would be possible, continued to +be distrusted until very recently. Then, at last, his services were +recognised. Today the rich people who in past ages donated their wealth +for the building of a cathedral, construct vast laboratories where +silent men do battle upon the hidden enemies of mankind and often +sacrifice their lives that coming generations may enjoy greater +happiness and health. + +Indeed it has come to pass that many of the ills of this world, which +our ancestors regarded as inevitable "acts of God," have been exposed +as manifestations of our own ignorance and neglect. Every child nowadays +knows that he can keep from getting typhoid fever by a little care in +the choice of his drinking water. But it took years and years of hard +work before the doctors could convince the people of this fact. Few of +us now fear the dentist chair. A study of the microbes that live in our +mouth has made it possible to keep our teeth from decay. Must perchance +a tooth be pulled, then we take a sniff of gas, and go our way +rejoicing. When the newspapers of the year 1846 brought the story of the +"painless operation" which had been performed in America with the help +of ether, the good people of Europe shook their heads. To them it seemed +against the will of God that man should escape the pain which was the +share of all mortals, and it took a long time before the practice of +taking ether and chloroform for operations became general. + +But the battle of progress had been won. The breach in the old walls +of prejudice was growing larger and larger, and as time went by, the +ancient stones of ignorance came crumbling down. The eager crusaders +of a new and happier social order rushed forward. Suddenly they found +themselves facing a new obstacle. Out of the ruins of a long-gone past, +another citadel of reaction had been erected, and millions of men had to +give their lives before this last bulwark was destroyed. + + + + +ART + +A CHAPTER OF ART + + +WHEN a baby is perfectly healthy and has had enough to eat and has slept +all it wants, then it hums a little tune to show how happy it is. To +grown-ups this humming means nothing. It sounds like "goo-zum, goo-zum, +goo-o-o-o-o," but to the baby it is perfect music. It is his first +contribution to art. + +As soon as he (or she) gets a little older and is able to sit up, the +period of mud-pie making begins. These mud-pies do not interest the +outside world. There are too many million babies, making too many +million mud-pies at the same time. But to the small infant they +represent another expedition into the pleasant realm of art. The baby is +now a sculptor. + +At the age of three or four, when the hands begin to obey the brain, +the child becomes a painter. His fond mother gives him a box of coloured +chalks and every loose bit of paper is rapidly covered with strange +pothooks and scrawls which represent houses and horses and terrible +naval battles. + +Soon however this happiness of just "making things" comes to an end. +School begins and the greater part of the day is filled up with work. +The business of living, or rather the business of "making a living," +becomes the most important event in the life of every boy and girl. +There is little time left for "art" between learning the tables of +multiplication and the past participles of the irregular French verbs. +And unless the desire for making certain things for the mere pleasure of +creating them without any hope of a practical return be very strong, the +child grows into manhood and forgets that the first five years of his +life were mainly devoted to art. + +Nations are not different from children. As soon as the cave-man had +escaped the threatening dangers of the long and shivering ice-period, +and had put his house in order, he began to make certain things which +he thought beautiful, although they were of no earthly use to him in his +fight with the wild animals of the jungle. He covered the walls of his +grotto with pictures of the elephants and the deer which he hunted, and +out of a piece of stone, he hacked the rough figures of those women he +thought most attractive. + +As soon as the Egyptians and the Babylonians and the Persians and all +the other people of the east had founded their little countries along +the Nile and the Euphrates, they began to build magnificent palaces for +their kings, invented bright pieces of jewellery for their women and +planted gardens which sang happy songs of colour with their many bright +flowers. + +Our own ancestors, the wandering nomads from the distant Asiatic +prairies, enjoying a free and easy existence as fighters and hunters, +composed songs which celebrated the mighty deeds of their great leaders +and invented a form of poetry which has survived until our own day. A +thousand years later, when they had established themselves on the Greek +mainland, and had built their "city-states," they expressed their joy +(and their sorrows) in magnificent temples, in statues, in comedies and +in tragedies, and in every conceivable form of art. + +The Romans, like their Carthaginian rivals, were too busy administering +other people and making money to have much love for "useless and +unprofitable" adventures of the spirit. They conquered the world and +built roads and bridges but they borrowed their art wholesale from the +Greeks. They invented certain practical forms of architecture which +answered the demands of their day and age. But their statues and their +histories and their mosaics and their poems were mere Latin imitations +of Greek originals. Without that vague and hard-to-define something +which the world calls "personality," there can be no art and the Roman +world distrusted that particular sort of personality. The Empire needed +efficient soldiers and tradesmen. The business of writing poetry or +making pictures was left to foreigners. + +Then came the Dark Ages. The barbarian was the proverbial bull in +the china-shop of western Europe. He had no use for what he did not +understand. Speaking in terms of the year 1921, he liked the magazine +covers of pretty ladies, but threw the Rembrandt etchings which he had +inherited into the ash-can. Soon he came to learn better. Then he tried +to undo the damage which he had created a few years before. But the +ash-cans were gone and so were the pictures. + +But by this time, his own art, which he had brought with him from the +east, had developed into something very beautiful and he made up for his +past neglect and indifference by the so-called "art of the Middle +Ages" which as far as northern Europe is concerned was a product of the +Germanic mind and had borrowed but little from the Greeks and the Latins +and nothing at all from the older forms of art of Egypt and Assyria, not +to speak of India and China, which simply did not exist, as far as the +people of that time were concerned. Indeed, so little had the northern +races been influenced by their southern neighbours that their own +architectural products were completely misunderstood by the people of +Italy and were treated by them with downright and unmitigated contempt. + +You have all heard the word Gothic. You probably associate it with the +picture of a lovely old cathedral, lifting its slender spires towards +high heaven. But what does the word really mean? + +It means something "uncouth" and "barbaric"--something which one might +expect from an "uncivilised Goth," a rough backwoods-man who had no +respect for the established rules of classical art and who built his +"modern horrors" to please his own low tastes without a decent regard +for the examples of the Forum and the Acropolis. + +And yet for several centuries this form of Gothic architecture was the +highest expression of the sincere feeling for art which inspired the +whole northern continent. From a previous chapter, you will remember how +the people of the late Middle Ages lived. Unless they were peasants and +dwelt in villages, they were citizens of a "city" or "civitas," the old +Latin name for a tribe. And indeed, behind their high walls and their +deep moats, these good burghers were true tribesmen who shared the +common dangers and enjoyed the common safety and prosperity which they +derived from their system of mutual protection. + +In the old Greek and Roman cities the market-place, where the temple +stood, had been the centre of civic life. During the Middle Ages, the +Church, the House of God, became such a centre. We modern Protestant +people, who go to our church only once a week, and then for a few hours +only, hardly know what a mediaeval church meant to the community. Then, +before you were a week old, you were taken to the Church to be baptised. +As a child, you visited the Church to learn the holy stories of the +Scriptures. Later on you became a member of the congregation, and if you +were rich enough you built yourself a separate little chapel sacred to +the memory of the Patron Saint of your own family. As for the sacred +edifice, it was open at all hours of the day and many of the night. In +a certain sense it resembled a modern club, dedicated to all the +inhabitants of the town. In the church you very likely caught a first +glimpse of the girl who was to become your bride at a great ceremony +before the High Altar. And finally, when the end of the journey had +come, you were buried beneath the stones of this familiar building, that +all your children and their grandchildren might pass over your grave +until the Day of Judgement. + +Because the Church was not only the House of God but also the true +centre of all common life, the building had to be different from +anything that had ever been constructed by the hands of man. The temples +of the Egyptians and the Greeks and the Romans had been merely the +shrine of a local divinity. As no sermons were preached before the +images of Osiris or Zeus or Jupiter, it was not necessary that +the interior offer space for a great multitude. All the religious +processions of the old Mediterranean peoples took place in the open. +But in the north, where the weather was usually bad, most functions were +held under the roof of the church. + +During many centuries the architects struggled with this problem of +constructing a building that was large enough. The Roman tradition +taught them how to build heavy stone walls with very small windows lest +the walls lose their strength. On the top of this they then placed a +heavy stone roof. But in the twelfth century, after the beginning of +the Crusades, when the architects had seen the pointed arches of the +Mohammedan builders, the western builders discovered a new style which +gave them their first chance to make the sort of building which those +days of an intense religious life demanded. And then they developed this +strange style upon which the Italians bestowed the contemptuous name of +"Gothic" or barbaric. They achieved their purpose by inventing a vaulted +roof which was supported by "ribs." But such a roof, if it became too +heavy, was apt to break the walls, just as a man of three hundred pounds +sitting down upon a child's chair will force it to collapse. To overcome +this difficulty, certain French architects then began to re-enforce the +walls with "buttresses" which were merely heavy masses of stone against +which the walls could lean while they supported the roof. And to assure +the further safety of the roof they supported the ribs of the roof by +so-called "flying buttresses," a very simple method of construction +which you will understand at once when you look at our picture. + +This new method of construction allowed the introduction of enormous +windows. In the twelfth century, glass was still an expensive curiosity, +and very few private buildings possessed glass windows. Even the castles +of the nobles were without protection and this accounts for the eternal +drafts and explains why people of that day wore furs in-doors as well as +out. + +Fortunately, the art of making coloured glass, with which the ancient +people of the Mediterranean had been familiar, had not been entirely +lost. There was a revival of stained glass-making and soon the windows +of the Gothic churches told the stories of the Holy Book in little +bits of brilliantly coloured window-pane, which were caught in a long +framework of lead. + +Behold, therefore, the new and glorious house of God, filled with an +eager multitude, "living" its religion as no people have ever done +either before or since! Nothing is considered too good or too costly or +too wondrous for this House of God and Home of Man. The sculptors, who +since the destruction of the Roman Empire have been out of employment, +haltingly return to their noble art. Portals and pillars and buttresses +and cornices are all covered with carven images of Our Lord and the +blessed Saints. The embroiderers too are set to work to make tapestries +for the walls. The jewellers offer their highest art that the shrine of +the altar may be worthy of complete adoration. Even the painter does his +best. Poor man, he is greatly handicapped by lack of a suitable medium. + +And thereby hangs a story. + +The Romans of the early Christian period had covered the floors and +the walls of their temples and houses with mosaics; pictures made of +coloured bits of glass. But this art had been exceedingly difficult. +It gave the painter no chance to express all he wanted to say, as all +children know who have ever tried to make figures out of coloured blocks +of wood. The art of mosaic painting therefore died out during the late +Middle Ages except in Russia, where the Byzantine mosaic painters +had found a refuge after the fall of Constantinople and continued +to ornament the walls of the orthodox churches until the day of the +Bolsheviki, when there was an end to the building of churches. + +Of course, the mediaeval painter could mix his colours with the water +of the wet plaster which was put upon the walls of the churches. This +method of painting upon "fresh plaster" (which was generally called +"fresco" or "fresh" painting) was very popular for many centuries. +To-day, it is as rare as the art of painting miniatures in manuscripts +and among the hundreds of artists of our modern cities there is perhaps +one who can handle this medium successfully. But during the Middle Ages +there was no other way and the artists were "fresco" workers for lack +of something better. The method however had certain great disadvantages. +Very often the plaster came off the walls after only a few years, or +dampness spoiled the pictures, just as dampness will spoil the pattern +of our wall paper. People tried every imaginable expedient to get away +from this plaster background. They tried to mix their colours with wine +and vinegar and with honey and with the sticky white of egg, but none +of these methods were satisfactory. For more than a thousand years these +experiments continued. In painting pictures upon the parchment leaves of +manuscripts the mediaeval artists were very successful. But when it came +to covering large spaces of wood or stone with paint which would stick, +they did not succeed very well. + +At last, during the first half of the fifteenth century, the problem +was solved in the southern Netherlands by Jan and Hubert van Eyck. The +famous Flemish brothers mixed their paint with specially prepared oils +and this allowed them to use wood and canvas or stone or anything else +as a background for their pictures. + +But by this time the religious ardour of the early Middle Ages was a +thing of the past. The rich burghers of the cities were succeeding the +bishops as patrons of the arts. And as art invariably follows the full +dinner-pail, the artists now began to work for these worldly employers +and painted pictures for kings, for grand-dukes and for rich bankers. +Within a very short time, the new method of painting with oil spread +through Europe and in every country there developed a school of special +painting which showed the characteristic tastes of the people for whom +these portraits and landscapes were made. + +In Spain, for example, Velasquez painted court-dwarfs and the weavers +of the royal tapestry-factories, and all sorts of persons and subjects +connected with the king and his court. But in Holland, Rembrandt and +Frans Hals and Vermeer painted the barnyard of the merchant's house, +and they painted his rather dowdy wife and his healthy but bumptious +children and the ships which had brought him his wealth. In Italy on +the other hand, where the Pope remained the largest patron of the arts, +Michelangelo and Correggio continued to paint Madonnas and Saints, while +in England, where the aristocracy was very rich and powerful and in +France where the kings had become uppermost in the state, the artists +painted distinguished gentlemen who were members of the government, and +very lovely ladies who were friends of His Majesty. + +The great change in painting, which came about with the neglect of the +old church and the rise of a new class in society, was reflected in all +other forms of art. The invention of printing had made it possible for +authors to win fame and reputation by writing books for the multitudes. +In this way arose the profession of the novelist and the illustrator. +But the people who had money enough to buy the new books were not the +sort who liked to sit at home of nights, looking at the ceiling or just +sitting. They wanted to be amused. The few minstrels of the Middle Ages +were not sufficient to cover the demand for entertainment. For the first +time since the early Greek city-states of two thousand years before, the +professional playwright had a chance to ply his trade. The Middle Ages +had known the theatre merely as part of certain church celebrations. The +tragedies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had told the story +of the suffering of our Lord. But during the sixteenth century the +worldly theatre made its reappearance. It is true that, at first, the +position of the professional playwright and actor was not a very high +one. William Shakespeare was regarded as a sort of circus-fellow who +amused his neighbours with his tragedies and comedies. But when he died +in the year 1616 he had begun to enjoy the respect of his neighbours and +actors were no longer subjects of police supervision. + +William's contemporary, Lope de Vega, the incredible Spaniard who wrote +no less than 1800 worldly and 400 religious plays, was a person of rank +who received the papal approval upon his work. A century later, Moliere, +the Frenchman, was deemed worthy of the companionship of none less than +King Louis XIV. + +Since then, the theatre has enjoyed an ever increasing affection on the +part of the people. To-day a "theatre" is part of every well-regulated +city, and the "silent drama" of the movies has penetrated to the tiniest +of our prairie hamlets. + +Another art, however, was to become the most popular of all. That was +music. Most of the old art-forms demanded a great deal of technical +skill. It takes years and years of practice before our clumsy hand is +able to follow the commands of the brain and reproduce our vision upon +canvas or in marble. It takes a life-time to learn how to act or how to +write a good novel. And it takes a great deal of training on the part of +the public to appreciate the best in painting and writing and sculpture. +But almost any one, not entirely tone-deaf, can follow a tune and almost +everybody can get enjoyment out of some sort of music. The Middle Ages +had heard a little music but it had been entirely the music of the +church. The holy chants were subject to very severe laws of rhythm and +harmony and soon these became monotonous. Besides, they could not well +be sung in the street or in the market-place. + +The Renaissance changed this. Music once more came into its own as the +best friend of man, both in his happiness and in his sorrows. + +The Egyptians and the Babylonians and the ancient Jews had all been +great lovers of music. They had even combined different instruments +into regular orchestras. But the Greeks had frowned upon this barbaric +foreign noise. They liked to hear a man recite the stately poetry of +Homer and Pindar. They allowed him to accompany himself upon the lyre +(the poorest of all stringed instruments). That was as far as any one +could go without incurring the risk of popular disapproval. The Romans +on the other hand had loved orchestral music at their dinners and +parties and they had invented most of the instruments which (in VERY +modified form) we use to-day. The early church had despised this music +which smacked too much of the wicked pagan world which had just been +destroyed. A few songs rendered by the entire congregation were all +the bishops of the third and fourth centuries would tolerate. As the +congregation was apt to sing dreadfully out of key without the guidance +of an instrument, the church had afterwards allowed the use of an organ, +an invention of the second century of our era which consisted of a +combination of the old pipes of Pan and a pair of bellows. + +Then came the great migrations. The last of the Roman musicians were +either killed or became tramp-fiddlers going from city to city and +playing in the street, and begging for pennies like the harpist on a +modern ferry-boat. + +But the revival of a more worldly civilisation in the cities of the late +Middle Ages had created a new demand for musicians. Instruments like +the horn, which had been used only as signal-instruments for hunting and +fighting, were remodelled until they could reproduce sounds which were +agreeable in the dance-hall and in the banqueting room. A bow strung +with horse-hair was used to play the old-fashioned guitar and before the +end of the Middle Ages this six-stringed instrument (the most ancient of +all string-instruments which dates back to Egypt and Assyria) had grown +into our modern four-stringed fiddle which Stradivarius and the other +Italian violin-makers of the eighteenth century brought to the height of +perfection. + +And finally the modern piano was invented, the most wide-spread of all +musical instruments, which has followed man into the wilderness of the +jungle and the ice-fields of Greenland. The organ had been the first +of all keyed instruments but the performer always depended upon the +co-operation of some one who worked the bellows, a job which nowadays +is done by electricity. The musicians therefore looked for a handier and +less circumstantial instrument to assist them in training the pupils +of the many church choirs. During the great eleventh century, Guido, +a Benedictine monk of the town of Arezzo (the birthplace of the poet +Petrarch) gave us our modern system of musical annotation. Some time +during that century, when there was a great deal of popular interest +in music, the first instrument with both keys and strings was built. It +must have sounded as tinkly as one of those tiny children's pianos which +you can buy at every toy-shop. In the city of Vienna, the town where +the strolling musicians of the Middle Ages (who had been classed +with jugglers and card sharps) had formed the first separate Guild of +Musicians in the year 1288, the little monochord was developed into +something which we can recognise as the direct ancestor of our modern +Steinway. From Austria the "clavichord" as it was usually called in +those days (because it had "craves" or keys) went to Italy. There it +was perfected into the "spinet" which was so called after the inventor, +Giovanni Spinetti of Venice. At last during the eighteenth century, some +time between 1709 and 1720, Bartolomeo Cristofori made a "clavier" which +allowed the performer to play both loudly and softly or as it was said +in Italian, "piano" and "forte." This instrument with certain changes +became our "pianoforte" or piano. + +Then for the first time the world possessed an easy and convenient +instrument which could be mastered in a couple of years and did not need +the eternal tuning of harps and fiddles and was much pleasanter to the +ears than the mediaeval tubas, clarinets, trombones and oboes. Just as +the phonograph has given millions of modern people their first love of +music so did the early "pianoforte" carry the knowledge of music +into much wider circles. Music became part of the education of every +well-bred man and woman. Princes and rich merchants maintained private +orchestras. The musician ceased to be a wandering "jongleur" and became +a highly valued member of the community. Music was added to the dramatic +performances of the theatre and out of this practice, grew our modern +Opera. Originally only a few very rich princes could afford the expenses +of an "opera troupe." But as the taste for this sort of entertainment +grew, many cities built their own theatres where Italian and afterwards +German operas were given to the unlimited joy of the whole community +with the exception of a few sects of very strict Christians who still +regarded music with deep suspicion as something which was too lovely to +be entirely good for the soul. + +By the middle of the eighteenth century the musical life of Europe was +in full swing. Then there came forward a man who was greater than all +others, a simple organist of the Thomas Church of Leipzig, by the +name of Johann Sebastian Bach. In his compositions for every known +instrument, from comic songs and popular dances to the most stately of +sacred hymns and oratorios, he laid the foundation for all our modern +music. When he died in the year 1750 he was succeeded by Mozart, who +created musical fabrics of sheer loveliness which remind us of lace +that has been woven out of harmony and rhythm. Then came Ludwig van +Beethoven, the most tragic of men, who gave us our modern orchestra, +yet heard none of his greatest compositions because he was deaf, as the +result of a cold contracted during his years of poverty. + +Beethoven lived through the period of the great French Revolution. +Full of hope for a new and glorious day, he had dedicated one of his +symphonies to Napoleon. But he lived to regret the hour. When he died in +the year 1827, Napoleon was gone and the French Revolution was gone, but +the steam engine had come and was filling the world with a sound that +had nothing in common with the dreams of the Third Symphony. + +Indeed, the new order of steam and iron and coal and large factories had +little use for art, for painting and sculpture and poetry and music. The +old protectors of the arts, the Church and the princes and the merchants +of the Middle Ages and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries no +longer existed. The leaders of the new industrial world were too busy +and had too little education to bother about etchings and sonatas and +bits of carved ivory, not to speak of the men who created those things, +and who were of no practical use to the community in which they lived. +And the workmen in the factories listened to the drone of their engines +until they too had lost all taste for the melody of the flute or fiddle +of their peasant ancestry. The arts became the step-children of the +new industrial era. Art and Life became entirely separated. Whatever +paintings had been left, were dying a slow death in the museums. And +music became a monopoly of a few "virtuosi" who took the music away from +the home and carried it to the concert-hall. + +But steadily, although slowly, the arts are coming back into their own. +People begin to understand that Rembrandt and Beethoven and Rodin are +the true prophets and leaders of their race and that a world without art +and happiness resembles a nursery without laughter. + + + + +COLONIAL EXPANSION AND WAR + +A CHAPTER WHICH OUGHT TO GIVE YOU A GREAT DEAL OF POLITICAL INFORMATION +ABOUT THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, BUT WHICH REALLY CONTAINS SEVERAL +EXPLANATIONS AND A FEW APOLOGIES + + +IF I had known how difficult it was to write a History of the World, I +should never have undertaken the task. Of course, any one possessed +of enough industry to lose himself for half a dozen years in the musty +stacks of a library, can compile a ponderous tome which gives an account +of the events in every land during every century. But that was not the +purpose of the present book. The publishers wanted to print a history +that should have rhythm--a story which galloped rather than walked. And +now that I have almost finished I discover that certain chapters gallop, +that others wade slowly through the dreary sands of long forgotten +ages--that a few parts do not make any progress at all, while still +others indulge in a veritable jazz of action and romance. I did not like +this and I suggested that we destroy the whole manuscript and begin once +more from the beginning. This, however, the publishers would not allow. + +As the next best solution of my difficulties, I took the type-written +pages to a number of charitable friends and asked them to read what I +had said, and give me the benefit of their advice. The experience was +rather disheartening. Each and every man had his own prejudices and his +own hobbies and preferences. They all wanted to know why, where and how +I dared to omit their pet nation, their pet statesman, or even their +most beloved criminal. With some of them, Napoleon and Jenghiz Khan were +candidates for high honours. I explained that I had tried very hard to +be fair to Napoleon, but that in my estimation he was greatly inferior +to such men as George Washington, Gustavus Wasa, Augustus, Hammurabi +or Lincoln, and a score of others all of whom were obliged to content +themselves with a few paragraphs, from sheer lack of space. As for +Jenghiz Khan, I only recognise his superior ability in the field of +wholesale murder and I did not intend to give him any more publicity +than I could help. + +"This is very well as far as it goes," said the next critic, "but how +about the Puritans? We are celebrating the tercentenary of their arrival +at Plymouth. They ought to have more space." My answer was that if I +were writing a history of America, the Puritans would get fully one half +of the first twelve chapters; that however this was a history of mankind +and that the event on Plymouth rock was not a matter of far-reaching +international importance until many centuries later; that the United +States had been founded by thirteen colonies and not by a single one; +that the most prominent leaders of the first twenty years of our history +had been from Virginia, from Pennsylvania, and from the island of Nevis, +rather than from Massachusetts; and that therefore the Puritans ought to +content themselves with a page of print and a special map. + +Next came the prehistoric specialist. Why in the name of the great +Tyrannosaur had I not devoted more space to the wonderful race of +Cro-Magnon men, who had developed such a high stage of civilisation +10,000 years ago? + +Indeed, and why not? The reason is simple. I do not take as much +stock in the perfection of these early races as some of our most +noted anthropologists seem to do. Rousseau and the philosophers of the +eighteenth century created the "noble savage" who was supposed to have +dwelt in a state of perfect happiness during the beginning of time. Our +modern scientists have discarded the "noble savage," so dearly beloved +by our grandfathers, and they have replaced him by the "splendid savage" +of the French Valleys who 35,000 years ago made an end to the universal +rule of the low-browed and low-living brutes of the Neanderthal and +other Germanic neighbourhoods. They have shown us the elephants the +Cro-Magnon painted and the statues he carved and they have surrounded +him with much glory. + +I do not mean to say that they are wrong. But I hold that we know by +far too little of this entire period to re-construct that early +west-European society with any degree (however humble) of accuracy. And +I would rather not state certain things than run the risk of stating +certain things that were not so. + +Then there were other critics, who accused me of direct unfairness. Why +did I leave out such countries as Ireland and Bulgaria and Siam while I +dragged in such other countries as Holland and Iceland and Switzerland? +My answer was that I did not drag in any countries. They pushed +themselves in by main force of circumstances, and I simply could not +keep them out. And in order that my point may be understood, let me +state the basis upon which active membership to this book of history was +considered. + +There was but one rule. "Did the country or the person in question +produce a new idea or perform an original act without which the history +of the entire human race would have been different?" It was not a +question of personal taste. It was a matter of cool, almost mathematical +judgment. No race ever played a more picturesque role in history than +the Mongolians, and no race, from the point of view of achievement or +intelligent progress, was of less value to the rest of mankind. + +The career of Tiglath-Pileser, the Assyrian, is full of dramatic +episodes. But as far as we are concerned, he might just as well never +have existed at all. In the same way, the history of the Dutch Republic +is not interesting because once upon a time the sailors of de Ruyter +went fishing in the river Thames, but rather because of the fact +that this small mud-bank along the shores of the North Sea offered a +hospitable asylum to all sorts of strange people who had all sorts of +queer ideas upon all sorts of very unpopular subjects. + +It is quite true that Athens or Florence, during the hey-day of their +glory, had only one tenth of the population of Kansas City. But our +present civilisation would be very different had neither of these two +little cities of the Mediterranean basin existed. And the same (with due +apologies to the good people of Wyandotte County) can hardly be said of +this busy metropolis on the Missouri River. + +And since I am being very personal, allow me to state one other fact. + +When we visit a doctor, we find out before hand whether he is a surgeon +or a diagnostician or a homeopath or a faith healer, for we want to know +from what angle he will look at our complaint. We ought to be as careful +in the choice of our historians as we are in the selection of our +physicians. We think, "Oh well, history is history," and let it go +at that. But the writer who was educated in a strictly Presbyterian +household somewhere in the backwoods of Scotland will look differently +upon every question of human relationships from his neighbour who as +a child, was dragged to listen to the brilliant exhortations of Robert +Ingersoll, the enemy of all revealed Devils. In due course of time, both +men may forget their early training and never again visit either church +or lecture hall. But the influence of these impressionable years stays +with them and they cannot escape showing it in whatever they write or +say or do. + +In the preface to this book, I told you that I should not be an +infallible guide and now that we have almost reached the end, I +repeat the warning. I was born and educated in an atmosphere of the +old-fashioned liberalism which had followed the discoveries of Darwin +and the other pioneers of the nineteenth century. As a child, I happened +to spend most of my waking hours with an uncle who was a great collector +of the books written by Montaigne, the great French essayist of the +sixteenth century. Because I was born in Rotterdam and educated in the +city of Gouda, I ran continually across Erasmus and for some unknown +reason this great exponent of tolerance took hold of my intolerant +self. Later I discovered Anatole France and my first experience with +the English language came about through an accidental encounter with +Thackeray's "Henry Esmond," a story which made more impression upon me +than any other book in the English language. + +If I had been born in a pleasant middle western city I probably +should have a certain affection for the hymns which I had heard in +my childhood. But my earliest recollection of music goes back to the +afternoon when my Mother took me to hear nothing less than a Bach +fugue. And the mathematical perfection of the great Protestant master +influenced me to such an extent that I cannot hear the usual hymns of +our prayer-meetings without a feeling of intense agony and direct pain. + +Again, if I had been born in Italy and had been warmed by the sunshine +of the happy valley of the Arno, I might love many colourful and sunny +pictures which now leave me indifferent because I got my first artistic +impressions in a country where the rare sun beats down upon the +rain-soaked land with almost cruel brutality and throws everything into +violent contrasts of dark and light. + +I state these few facts deliberately that you may know the personal bias +of the man who wrote this history and may understand his point-of-view. +The bibliography at the end of this book, which represents all sorts +of opinions and views, will allow you to compare my ideas with those of +other people. And in this way, you will be able to reach your own final +conclusions with a greater degree of fairness than would otherwise be +possible. + +After this short but necessary excursion, we return to the history of +the last fifty years. Many things happened during this period but very +little occurred which at the time seemed to be of paramount importance. +The majority of the greater powers ceased to be mere political agencies +and became large business enterprises. They built railroads. They +founded and subsidized steam-ship lines to all parts of the world. They +connected their different possessions with telegraph wires. And they +steadily increased their holdings in other continents. Every available +bit of African or Asiatic territory was claimed by one of the rival +powers. France became a colonial nation with interests in Algiers and +Madagascar and Annam and Tonkin (in eastern Asia). Germany claimed parts +of southwest and east Africa, built settlements in Kameroon on the +west coast of Africa and in New Guinea and many of the islands of the +Pacific, and used the murder of a few missionaries as a welcome excuse +to take the harbour of Kisochau on the Yellow Sea in China. Italy tried +her luck in Abyssinia, was disastrously defeated by the soldiers of +the Negus, and consoled herself by occupying the Turkish possessions in +Tripoli in northern Africa. Russia, having occupied all of Siberia, took +Port Arthur away from China. Japan, having defeated China in the war of +1895, occupied the island of Formosa and in the year 1905 began to +lay claim to the entire empire of Corea. In the year 1883 England, the +largest colonial empire the world has ever seen, undertook to "protect" +Egypt. She performed this task most efficiently and to the great +material benefit of that much neglected country, which ever since the +opening of the Suez canal in 1868 had been threatened with a foreign +invasion. During the next thirty years she fought a number of colonial +wars in different parts of the world and in 1902 (after three years of +bitter fighting) she conquered the independent Boer republics of the +Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Meanwhile she had encouraged Cecil +Rhodes to lay the foundations for a great African state, which reached +from the Cape almost to the mouth of the Nile, and had faithfully picked +up such islands or provinces as had been left without a European owner. + +The shrewd king of Belgium, by name Leopold, used the discoveries of +Henry Stanley to found the Congo Free State in the year 1885. Originally +this gigantic tropical empire was an "absolute monarchy." But after many +years of scandalous mismanagement, it was annexed by the Belgian people +who made it a colony (in the year 1908) and abolished the terrible +abuses which had been tolerated by this very unscrupulous Majesty, who +cared nothing for the fate of the natives as long as he got his ivory +and rubber. + +As for the United States, they had so much land that they desired no +further territory. But the terrible misrule of Cuba, one of the last of +the Spanish possessions in the western hemisphere, practically forced +the Washington government to take action. After a short and rather +uneventful war, the Spaniards were driven out of Cuba and Puerto Rico +and the Philippines, and the two latter became colonies of the United +States. + +This economic development of the world was perfectly natural. The +increasing number of factories in England and France and Germany needed +an ever increasing amount of raw materials and the equally increasing +number of European workers needed an ever increasing amount of food. +Everywhere the cry was for more and for richer markets, for more +easily accessible coal mines and iron mines and rubber plantations and +oil-wells, for greater supplies of wheat and grain. + +The purely political events of the European continent dwindled to mere +insignificance in the eyes of men who were making plans for steamboat +lines on Victoria Nyanza or for railroads through the interior of +Shantung. They knew that many European questions still remained to be +settled, but they did not bother, and through sheer indifference and +carelessness they bestowed upon their descendants a terrible inheritance +of hate and misery. For untold centuries the south-eastern corner +of Europe had been the scene of rebellion and bloodshed. During the +seventies of the last century the people of Serbia and Bulgaria and +Montenegro and Roumania were once more trying to gain their freedom and +the Turks (with the support of many of the western powers), were trying +to prevent this. + +After a period of particularly atrocious massacres in Bulgaria in the +year 1876, the Russian people lost all patience. The Government was +forced to intervene just as President McKinley was obliged to go to Cuba +and stop the shooting-squads of General Weyler in Havana. In April of +the year 1877 the Russian armies crossed the Danube, stormed the Shipka +pass, and after the capture of Plevna, marched southward until they +reached the gates of Constantinople. Turkey appealed for help to +England. There were many English people who denounced their government +when it took the side of the Sultan. But Disraeli (who had just made +Queen Victoria Empress of India and who loved the picturesque Turks +while he hated the Russians who were brutally cruel to the Jewish people +within their frontiers) decided to interfere. Russia was forced to +conclude the peace of San Stefano (1878) and the question of the Balkans +was left to a Congress which convened at Berlin in June and July of the +same year. + +This famous conference was entirely dominated by the personality of +Disraeli. Even Bismarck feared the clever old man with his well-oiled +curly hair and his supreme arrogance, tempered by a cynical sense +of humor and a marvellous gift for flattery. At Berlin the British +prime-minister carefully watched over the fate of his friends the Turks. +Montenegro, Serbia and Roumania were recognised as independent kingdoms. +The principality of Bulgaria was given a semi-independent status under +Prince Alexander of Battenberg, a nephew of Tsar Alexander II. But none +of those countries were given the chance to develop their powers and +their resources as they would have been able to do, had England been +less anxious about the fate of the Sultan, whose domains were necessary +to the safety of the British Empire as a bulwark against further Russian +aggression. + +To make matters worse, the congress allowed Austria to take Bosnia and +Herzegovina away from the Turks to be "administered" as part of the +Habsburg domains. It is true that Austria made an excellent job of it. +The neglected provinces were as well managed as the best of the British +colonies, and that is saying a great deal. But they were inhabited by +many Serbians. In older days they had been part of the great Serbian +empire of Stephan Dushan, who early in the fourteenth century had +defended western Europe against the invasions of the Turks and whose +capital of Uskub had been a centre of civilisation one hundred and fifty +years before Columbus discovered the new lands of the west. The Serbians +remembered their ancient glory as who would not? They resented the +presence of the Austrians in two provinces, which, so they felt, were +theirs by every right of tradition. + +And it was in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, that the archduke +Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was murdered on June 28 of the +year 1914. The assassin was a Serbian student who had acted from purely +patriotic motives. + +But the blame for this terrible catastrophe which was the immediate, +though not the only cause of the Great World War did not lie with the +half-crazy Serbian boy or his Austrian victim. It must be traced back +to the days of the famous Berlin Conference when Europe was too busy +building a material civilisation to care about the aspirations and +the dreams of a forgotten race in a dreary corner of the old Balkan +peninsula. + + + + +A NEW WORLD + +THE GREAT WAR WHICH WAS REALLY THE STRUGGLE FOR A NEW AND BETTER WORLD + + +THE Marquis de Condorcet was one of the noblest characters among the +small group of honest enthusiasts who were responsible for the outbreak +of the great French Revolution. He had devoted his life to the cause +of the poor and the unfortunate. He had been one of the assistants of +d'Alembert and Diderot when they wrote their famous Encyclopedie. During +the first years of the Revolution he had been the leader of the Moderate +wing of the Convention. + +His tolerance, his kindliness, his stout common sense, had made him an +object of suspicion when the treason of the king and the court +clique had given the extreme radicals their chance to get hold of the +government and kill their opponents. Condorcet was declared "hors de +loi," or outlawed, an outcast who was henceforth at the mercy of every +true patriot. His friends offered to hide him at their own peril. +Condorcet refused to accept their sacrifice. He escaped and tried to +reach his home, where he might be safe. After three nights in the +open, torn and bleeding, he entered an inn and asked for some food. The +suspicious yokels searched him and in his pockets they found a copy of +Horace, the Latin poet. This showed that their prisoner was a man of +gentle breeding and had no business upon the highroads at a time when +every educated person was regarded as an enemy of the Revolutionary +state. They took Condorcet and they bound him and they gagged him and +they threw him into the village lock-up, but in the morning when the +soldiers came to drag him back to Paris and cut his head off, behold! he +was dead. + +This man who had given all and had received nothing had good reason to +despair of the human race. But he has written a few sentences which ring +as true to-day as they did one hundred and thirty years ago. I repeat +them here for your benefit. + +"Nature has set no limits to our hopes," he wrote, "and the picture of +the human race, now freed from its chains and marching with a firm tread +on the road of truth and virtue and happiness, offers to the philosopher +a spectacle which consoles him for the errors, for the crimes and the +injustices which still pollute and afflict this earth." + +The world has just passed through an agony of pain compared to which the +French Revolution was a mere incident. The shock has been so great that +it has killed the last spark of hope in the breasts of millions of +men. They were chanting a hymn of progress, and four years of slaughter +followed their prayers for peace. "Is it worth while," so they ask, +"to work and slave for the benefit of creatures who have not yet passed +beyond the stage of the earliest cave men?" + +There is but one answer. + +That answer is "Yes!" + +The World War was a terrible calamity. But it did not mean the end of +things. On the contrary it brought about the coming of a new day. + +It is easy to write a history of Greece and Rome or the Middle Ages. +The actors who played their parts upon that long-forgotten stage are +all dead. We can criticize them with a cool head. The audience that +applauded their efforts has dispersed. Our remarks cannot possibly hurt +their feelings. + +But it is very difficult to give a true account of contemporary events. +The problems that fill the minds of the people with whom we pass through +life, are our own problems, and they hurt us too much or they please us +too well to be described with that fairness which is necessary when we +are writing history and not blowing the trumpet of propaganda. All the +same I shall endeavour to tell you why I agree with poor Condorcet when +he expressed his firm faith in a better future. + +Often before have I warned you against the false impression which is +created by the use of our so-called historical epochs which divide the +story of man into four parts, the ancient world, the Middle Ages, the +Renaissance and the Reformation, and Modern Time. The last of these +terms is the most dangerous. The word "modern" implies that we, the +people of the twentieth century, are at the top of human achievement. +Fifty years ago the liberals of England who followed the leadership of +Gladstone felt that the problem of a truly representative and democratic +form of government had been solved forever by the second great Reform +Bill, which gave workmen an equal share in the government with their +employers. When Disraeli and his conservative friends talked of a +dangerous "leap in the dark" they answered "No." They felt certain of +their cause and trusted that henceforth all classes of society would +co-operate to make the government of their common country a success. +Since then many things have happened, and the few liberals who are still +alive begin to understand that they were mistaken. + +There is no definite answer to any historical problem. + +Every generation must fight the good fight anew or perish as those +sluggish animals of the prehistoric world have perished. + +If you once get hold of this great truth you will get a new and much +broader view of life. Then, go one step further and try to imagine +yourself in the position of your own great-great-grandchildren who will +take your place in the year 10,000. They too will learn history. But +what will they think of those short four thousand years during which we +have kept a written record of our actions and of our thoughts? They will +think of Napoleon as a contemporary of Tiglath Pileser, the Assyrian +conqueror. Perhaps they will confuse him with Jenghiz Khan or Alexander +the Macedonian. The great war which has just come to an end will +appear in the light of that long commercial conflict which settled the +supremacy of the Mediterranean when Rome and Carthage fought during one +hundred and twenty-eight years for the mastery of the sea. The Balkan +troubles of the 19th century (the struggle for freedom of Serbia and +Greece and Bulgaria and Montenegro) to them will seem a continuation of +the disordered conditions caused by the Great Migrations. They will look +at pictures of the Rheims cathedral which only yesterday was destroyed +by German guns as we look upon a photograph of the Acropolis ruined +two hundred and fifty years ago during a war between the Turks and the +Venetians. They will regard the fear of death, which is still common +among many people, as a childish superstition which was perhaps natural +in a race of men who had burned witches as late as the year 1692. Even +our hospitals and our laboratories and our operating rooms of which we +are so proud will look like slightly improved workshops of alchemists +and mediaeval surgeons. + +And the reason for all this is simple. We modern men and women are not +"modern" at all. On the contrary we still belong to the last generations +of the cave-dwellers. The foundation for a new era was laid but +yesterday. The human race was given its first chance to become +truly civilised when it took courage to question all things and made +"knowledge and understanding" the foundation upon which to create a more +reasonable and sensible society of human beings. The Great War was the +"growing-pain" of this new world. + +For a long time to come people will write mighty books to prove that +this or that or the other person brought about the war. The Socialists +will publish volumes in which they will accuse the "capitalists" of +having brought about the war for "commercial gain." The capitalists +will answer that they lost infinitely more through the war than they +made--that their children were among the first to go and fight and be +killed--and they will show how in every country the bankers tried their +very best to avert the outbreak of hostilities. French historians will +go through the register of German sins from the days of Charlemagne +until the days of William of Hohenzollern and German historians will +return the compliment and will go through the list of French horrors +from the days of Charlemagne until the days of President Poincare. And +then they will establish to their own satisfaction that the other fellow +was guilty of "causing the war." Statesmen, dead and not yet dead, in +all countries will take to their typewriters and they will explain how +they tried to avert hostilities and how their wicked opponents forced +them into it. + +The historian, a hundred years hence, will not bother about these +apologies and vindications. He will understand the real nature of the +underlying causes and he will know that personal ambitions and personal +wickedness and personal greed had very little to do with the final +outburst. The original mistake, which was responsible for all this +misery, was committed when our scientists began to create a new world of +steel and iron and chemistry and electricity and forgot that the human +mind is slower than the proverbial turtle, is lazier than the well-known +sloth, and marches from one hundred to three hundred years behind the +small group of courageous leaders. + +A Zulu in a frock coat is still a Zulu. A dog trained to ride a bicycle +and smoke a pipe is still a dog. And a human being with the mind of a +sixteenth century tradesman driving a 1921 Rolls-Royce is still a human +being with the mind of a sixteenth century tradesman. + +If you do not understand this at first, read it again. It will become +clearer to you in a moment and it will explain many things that have +happened these last six years. + +Perhaps I may give you another, more familiar, example, to show you what +I mean. In the movie theatres, jokes and funny remarks are often thrown +upon the screen. Watch the audience the next time you have a chance. A +few people seem almost to inhale the words. It takes them but a second +to read the lines. Others are a bit slower. Still others take from +twenty to thirty seconds. Finally those men and women who do not read +any more than they can help, get the point when the brighter ones among +the audience have already begun to decipher the next cut-in. It is not +different in human life, as I shall now show you. + +In a former chapter I have told you how the idea of the Roman Empire +continued to live for a thousand years after the death of the last Roman +Emperor. It caused the establishment of a large number of "imitation +empires." It gave the Bishops of Rome a chance to make themselves the +head of the entire church, because they represented the idea of Roman +world-supremacy. It drove a number of perfectly harmless barbarian +chieftains into a career of crime and endless warfare because they were +for ever under the spell of this magic word "Rome." All these people, +Popes, Emperors and plain fighting men were not very different from you +or me. But they lived in a world where the Roman tradition was a vital +issue something living--something which was remembered clearly both +by the father and the son and the grandson. And so they struggled and +sacrificed themselves for a cause which to-day would not find a dozen +recruits. + +In still another chapter I have told you how the great religious +wars took place more than a century after the first open act of the +Reformation and if you will compare the chapter on the Thirty Years War +with that on Inventions, you will see that this ghastly butchery took +place at a time when the first clumsy steam engines were already +puffing in the laboratories of a number of French and German and English +scientists. But the world at large took no interest in these strange +contraptions, and went on with a grand theological discussion which +to-day causes yawns, but no anger. + +And so it goes. A thousand years from now, the historian will use the +same words about Europe of the out-going nineteenth century, and he +will see how men were engaged upon terrific nationalistic struggles +while the laboratories all around them were filled with serious folk who +cared not one whit for politics as long as they could force nature to +surrender a few more of her million secrets. + +You will gradually begin to understand what I am driving at. The +engineer and the scientist and the chemist, within a single generation, +filled Europe and America and Asia with their vast machines, with their +telegraphs, their flying machines, their coal-tar products. They +created a new world in which time and space were reduced to complete +insignificance. They invented new products and they made these so cheap +that almost every one could buy them. I have told you all this before +but it certainly will bear repeating. + +To keep the ever increasing number of factories going, the owners, who +had also become the rulers of the land, needed raw materials and coal. +Especially coal. Meanwhile the mass of the people were still thinking in +terms of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and clinging to the +old notions of the state as a dynastic or political organisation. This +clumsy mediaeval institution was then suddenly called upon to handle the +highly modern problems of a mechanical and industrial world. It did +its best, according to the rules of the game which had been laid down +centuries before. The different states created enormous armies and +gigantic navies which were used for the purpose of acquiring new +possessions in distant lands. Whereever{sic} there was a tiny bit of +land left, there arose an English or a French or a German or a Russian +colony. If the natives objected, they were killed. In most cases they +did not object, and were allowed to live peacefully, provided they did +not interfere with the diamond mines or the coal mines or the oil mines +or the gold mines or the rubber plantations, and they derived many +benefits from the foreign occupation. + +Sometimes it happened that two states in search of raw materials wanted +the same piece of land at the same time. Then there was a war. This +occurred fifteen years ago when Russia and Japan fought for the +possession of certain terri-tories which belonged to the Chinese people. +Such conflicts, however, were the exception. No one really desired to +fight. Indeed, the idea of fighting with armies and battleships and +submarines began to seem absurd to the men of the early 20th century. +They associated the idea of violence with the long-ago age of unlimited +monarchies and intriguing dynasties. Every day they read in their papers +of still further inventions, of groups of English and American and +German scientists who were working together in perfect friendship for +the purpose of an advance in medicine or in astronomy. They lived in +a busy world of trade and of commerce and factories. But only a few +noticed that the development of the state, (of the gigantic community of +people who recognise certain common ideals,) was lagging several +hundred years behind. They tried to warn the others. But the others were +occupied with their own affairs. + +I have used so many similes that I must apologise for bringing in one +more. The Ship of State (that old and trusted expression which is ever +new and always picturesque,) of the Egyptians and the Greeks and the +Romans and the Venetians and the merchant adventurers of the seventeenth +century had been a sturdy craft, constructed of well-seasoned wood, and +commanded by officers who knew both their crew and their vessel and +who understood the limitations of the art of navigating which had been +handed down to them by their ancestors. + +Then came the new age of iron and steel and machinery. First one part, +then another of the old ship of state was changed. Her dimensions were +increased. The sails were discarded for steam. Better living quarters +were established, but more people were forced to go down into the +stoke-hole, and while the work was safe and fairly remunerative, they +did not like it as well as their old and more dangerous job in the +rigging. Finally, and almost imperceptibly, the old wooden square-rigger +had been transformed into a modern ocean liner. But the captain and the +mates remained the same. They were appointed or elected in the same +way as a hundred years before. They were taught the same system of +navigation which had served the mariners of the fifteenth century. +In their cabins hung the same charts and signal flags which had done +service in the days of Louis XIV and Frederick the Great. In short, they +were (through no fault of their own) completely incompetent. + +The sea of international politics is not very broad. When those Imperial +and Colonial liners began to try and outrun each other, accidents were +bound to happen. They did happen. You can still see the wreckage if you +venture to pass through that part of the ocean. + +And the moral of the story is a simple one. The world is in dreadful +need of men who will assume the new leadership--who will have the +courage of their own visions and who will recognise clearly that we are +only at the beginning of the voyage, and have to learn an entirely new +system of seamanship. + +They will have to serve for years as mere apprentices. They will have +to fight their way to the top against every possible form of opposition. +When they reach the bridge, mutiny of an envious crew may cause their +death. But some day, a man will arise who will bring the vessel safely +to port, and he shall be the hero of the ages. + + + + +AS IT EVER SHALL BE + +"The more I think of the problems of our lives, the more I am persuaded +that we ought to choose Irony and Pity for our "assessors and judges" +as the ancient Egyptians called upon "the Goddess Isis and the Goddess +Nephtys" on behalf of their dead. "Irony and Pity" are both of good +counsel; the first with her "smiles" makes life agreeable; the other +sanctifies it with her tears." "The Irony which I invoke is no cruel +Deity. She mocks neither love nor beauty. She is gentle and kindly +disposed. Her mirth disarms and it is she who teaches us to laugh at +rogues and fools, whom but for her we might be so weak as to despise +and hate." + +And with these wise words of a very great Frenchman I bid you farewell. +8 Barrow Street, New York. Saturday, June 26, xxi. + + +AN ANIMATED CHRONOLOGY, 500,000 B.C.--A.D. 1922 + + +THE END + + + + +CONCERNING THE PICTURES + +CONCERNING THE PICTURES OF THIS BOOK AND A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + + +The day of the historical textbook without illustrations has gone. +Pictures and photographs of famous personages and equally famous +occurrences cover the pages of Breasted and Robinson and Beard. In this +volume the photographs have been omitted to make room for a series of +home-made drawings which represent ideas rather than events. + +While the author lays no claim to great artistic excellence (being +possessed of a decided leaning towards drawing as a child, he was taught +to play the violin as a matter of discipline,) he prefers to make his +own maps and sketches because he knows exactly what he wants to say and +cannot possibly explain this meaning to his more proficient brethren in +the field of art. Besides, the pictures were all drawn for children and +their ideas of art are very different from those of their parents. + +To all teachers the author would give this advice--let your boys and +girls draw their history after their own desire just as often as you +have a chance. You can show a class a photograph of a Greek temple or +a mediaeval castle and the class will dutifully say, "Yes, Ma'am," and +proceed to forget all about it. But make the Greek temple or the Roman +castle the centre of an event, tell the boys to make their own picture +of "the building of a temple," or "the storming of the castle," and they +will stay after school-hours to finish the job. Most children, before +they are taught how to draw from plaster casts, can draw after a +fashion, and often they can draw remarkably well. The product of their +pencil may look a bit prehistoric. It may even resemble the work of +certain native tribes from the upper Congo. But the child is quite +frequently prehistoric or upper-Congoish in his or her own tastes, and +expresses these primitive instincts with a most astonishing accuracy. + +The main thing in teaching history, is that the pupil shall remember +certain events "in their proper sequence." The experiments of many years +in the Children's School of New York has convinced the author that few +children will ever forget what they have drawn, while very few will ever +remember what they have merely read. + +It is the same with the maps. Give the child an ordinary conventional +map with dots and lines and green seas and tell him to revaluate that +geographic scene in his or her own terms. The mountains will be a +bit out of gear and the cities will look astonishingly mediaeval. The +outlines will be often very imperfect, but the general effect will be +quite as truthful as that of our conventional maps, which ever since the +days of good Gerardus Mercator have told a strangely erroneous story. +Most important of all, it will give the child a feeling of intimacy with +historical and geographic facts which cannot be obtained in any other +way. + +Neither the publishers nor the author claim that "The Story of Mankind" +is the last word to be said upon the subject of history for children. It +is an appetizer. The book tries to present the subject in such a fashion +that the average child shall get a taste for History and shall ask for +more. + +To facilitate the work of both parents and teachers, the publishers have +asked Miss Leonore St. John Power (who knows more upon this particular +subject than any one else they could discover) to compile a list of +readable and instructive books. + +The list was made and was duly printed. + +The parents who live near our big cities will experience no difficulty +in ordering these volumes from their booksellers. Those who for the +sake of fresh air and quiet, dwell in more remote spots, may not find it +convenient to go to a book-store. In that case, Boni and Liveright will +be happy to act as middle-man and obtain the books that are desired. +They want it to be distinctly understood that they have not gone into +the retail book business, but they are quite willing to do their share +towards a better and more general historical education, and all orders +will receive their immediate attention. + + + + +AN HISTORICAL READING LIST FOR CHILDREN + + +"Don't stop (I say) to explain that Hebe was (for once) the legitimate +daughter of Zeus and, as such, had the privilege to draw wine for the +Gods. Don't even stop, just yet, to explain who the Gods were. Don't +discourse on amber, otherwise ambergris; don't explain that 'gris' +in this connection doesn't mean 'grease'; don't trace it through +the Arabic into Noah's Ark; don't prove its electrical properties +by tearing up paper into little bits and attracting them with +the mouth-piece of your pipe rubbed on your sleeve. Don't insist +philologically that when every shepherd 'tells his tale' he is not +relating an anecdote but simply keeping 'tally' of his flock. Just go +on reading, as well as you can, and be sure that when the children get +the thrill of the story, for which you wait, they will be asking more +questions, and pertinent ones, than you are able to answer."--("On the +Art of Reading for Children," by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch.) + + +The Days Before History + + +"How the Present Came From the Past," by Margaret E. Wells, Volume I. + +How earliest man learned to make tools and build homes, and the +stories he told about the fire-makers, the sun and the frost. A simple, +illustrated account of these things for children. "The Story of Ab," by +Stanley Waterloo. + +A romantic tale of the time of the cave-man. (A much simplified edition +of this for little children is "Ab, the Cave Man" adapted by William +Lewis Nida.) "Industrial and Social History Series," by Katharine E. +Dopp. + +"The Tree Dwellers--The Age of Fear" + +"The Early Cave-Men--The Age of Combat" + +"The Later Cave-Men--The Age of the Chase" + +"The Early Sea People--First Steps in the Conquest of the Waters" + +"The Tent-Dwellers--The Early Fishing Men" + +Very simple stories of the way in which man learned how to make pottery, +how to weave and spin, and how to conquer land and sea. + +"Ancient Man," written and drawn and done into colour by Hendrik +Willem van Loon. + +The beginning of civilisations pictured and written in a new and +fascinating fashion, with story maps showing exactly what happened in +all parts of the world. A book for children of all ages. + + +The Dawn of History + +"The Civilisation of the Ancient Egyptians," by A. Bothwell Gosse. + +"No country possesses so many wonders, and has such a number of works +which defy description." An excellent, profusely illustrated account of +the domestic life, amusements, art, religion and occupations of these +wonderful people. "How the Present Came From the Past," by Margaret E. +Wells, Volume II. + +What the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Persians +contributed to civilisation. This is brief and simple and may be used as +a first book on the subject. + +"Stories of Egyptian Gods and Heroes," by F. H. Brooksbank. + +The beliefs of the Egyptians, the legend of Isis and Osiris, the +builders of the Pyramids and the Temples, the Riddle of the Sphinx, all +add to the fascination of this romantic picture of Egypt. + +"Wonder Tales of the Ancient World," by Rev. James Baikie. + +Tales of the Wizards, Tales of Travel and Adventure, and Legends of the +Gods all gathered from ancient Egyptian literature. + +"Ancient Assyria," by Rev. James Baikie. + +Which tells of a city 2800 years ago with a street lined with beautiful +enamelled reliefs, and with libraries of clay. + +"The Bible for Young People," arranged from the King James version, with +twenty-four full page illustrations from old masters. + +"Old, Old Tales From the Old, Old Book," by Nora Archibald Smith. + +"Written in the East these characters live forever in the West--they +pervade the world." A good rendering of the Old Testament. "The Jewish +Fairy Book," translated and adapted by Gerald Friedlander. + +Stories of great nobility and beauty from the Talmud and the old Jewish +chap-books. "Eastern Stories and Legends," by Marie L. Shedlock. + +"The soldiers of Alexander who had settled in the East, wandering +merchants of many nations and climes, crusading knights and hermits +brought these Buddha Stories from the East to the West." + + +Stories of Greece and Rome "The Story of the Golden Age," by James +Baldwin. + +Some of the most beautiful of the old Greek myths woven into the story +of the Odyssey make this book a good introduction to the glories of +the Golden Age. "A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales," by Nathaniel +Hawthorne, with pictures by Maxfield Parrish. + +"The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy," by Padraic Colum, +presented by Willy Pogany. + +An attractive, poetically rendered account of "the world's greatest +story." + +"The Story of Rome," by Mary Macgregor, with twenty plates in colour. + +Attractively illustrated and simply presented story of Rome from the +earliest times to the death of Augustus. + +"Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls," retold by W. H. Weston. "The Lays +of Ancient Rome," by Lord Macaulay. + +"The early history of Rome is indeed far more poetical than anything +else in Latin Literature." + +"Children of the Dawn," by Elsie Finnemore Buckley. + +Old Greek tales of love, adventure, heroism, skill, achievement, or +defeat exceptionally well told. Especially recommended for girls. + +"The Heroes; or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children," by Charles +Kingsley. + +"The Story of Greece," by Mary Macgregor, with nineteen plates in colour +by Walter Crane. + +Attractively illustrated and simply presented--a good book to begin on. + + +Christianity + +"The Story of Jesus," pictures from paintings by Giotto, Fra Angelico, +Duccio, Ghirlandais, and Barnja-da-Siena. Descriptive text from the New +Testament, selected and arranged by Ethel Natalie Dana. + +A beautiful book and a beautiful way to present the Christ Story. "A +Child's Book of Saints," by William Canton. + +Sympathetically told and charmingly written stories of men and women +whose faith brought about strange miracles, and whose goodness to man +and beast set the world wondering. "The Seven Champions of Christendom," +edited by F. J. H. Darton. + +How the knights of old--St. George of England, St. Denis of France, St. +James of Spain, and others--fought with enchanters and evil spirits to +preserve the Kingdom of God. Fine old romances interestingly told for +children. "Stories From the Christian East," by Stephen Gaselee. + +Unusual stories which have been translated from the Coptic, the Greek, +the Latin and the Ethiopic. "Jerusalem and the Crusades," by Estelle +Blyth, with eight plates in colour. + +Historical stories telling how children and priests, hermits and knights +all strove to keep the Cross in the East. + + +Stories of Legend and Chivalry + +"Stories of Norse Heroes From the Eddas and Sagas," retold by E. M. +Wilmot-Buxton. + +These are tales which the Northmen tell concerning the wisdom of +All-Father Odin, and how all things began and how they ended. A good +book for all children, and for story-tellers. "The Story of Siegfried," +by James Baldwin. + +A good introduction to this Northern hero whose strange and daring +deeds fill the pages of the old sagas. "The Story of King Arthur and His +Knights," written and illustrated by Howard Pyle. + +This, and the companion volumes, "The Story of the Champions of the +Round Table," "The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions," "The +Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur," form an incomparable +collection for children. "The Boy's King Arthur," edited by Sidney +Lanier, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth. + +A very good rendering of Malory's King Arthur, made especially +attractive by the coloured illustrations. "Irish Fairy Tales," by James +Stephens, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. + +Beautifully pictured and poetically told legends of Ireland's epic hero +Fionn. A book for the boy or girl who loves the old romances, and a +book for story-telling or reading aloud. "Stories of Charlemagne and the +Twelve Peers of France," by A. J. Church. + +Stories from the old French and English chronicles showing the romantic +glamour surrounding the great Charlemagne and his crusading knights. +"The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood," written and illustrated by Howard +Pyle. + +Both in picture and in story this book holds first place in the hearts +of children. "A Book of Ballad Stories," by Mary Macleod. + +Good prose versions of some of the famous old ballads sung by the +minstrels of England and Scotland. "The Story of Roland," by James +Baldwin. + +"There is, in short, no country in Europe, and no language, in which the +exploits of Charlemagne and Roland have not at some time been recounted +and sung." This book will serve as a good introduction to a fine heroic +character. "The Boy's Froissart," being Sir John Froissart's Chronicles +of Adventure, Battle, and Custom in England, France, Spain. + +"Froissart sets the boy's mind upon manhood and the man's mind upon +boyhood." An invaluable background for the future study of history. "The +Boy's Percy," being old ballads of War, Adventure and Love from Percy's +Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, edited by Sidney Lanier. + +"He who walks in the way these following ballads point, will be manful +in necessary fight, loyal in love, generous to the poor, tender in the +household, prudent in living, merry upon occasion, and honest in all +things." "Tales of the Canterbury Pilgrims," retold from Chaucer and +others by E. J H. Darton. + +"Sometimes a pilgrimage seemed nothing but an excuse for a lively and +pleasant holiday, and the travellers often made themselves very merry on +the road, with their jests and songs, and their flutes and fiddles and +bagpipes." A good prose version much enjoyed by boys and girls. "Joan of +Arc," written and illustrated by M. Boutet de Monvel. + +A very fine interpretation of the life of this great heroine. A book to +be owned by every boy and girl. "When Knights Were Bold," by Eva March +Tappan. + +Telling of the training of a knight, of the daily life in a castle, of +pilgrimages and crusades, of merchant guilds, of schools and literature, +in short, a full picture of life in the days of chivalry. A good book to +supplement the romantic stories of the time. + + +Adventurers in New Worlds + +"A Book of Discovery," by M. B. Synge, fully illustrated from authentic +sources and with maps. + +A thoroughly fascinating book about the world's exploration from the +earliest times to the discovery of the South Pole. A book to be owned by +older boys and girls who like true tales of adventure. "A Short History +of Discovery From the Earliest Times to the Founding of the Colonies on +the American Continent," written and done into colour by Hendrik Willem +van Loon. + +"Dear Children: History is the most fascinating and entertaining and +instructive of arts." A book to delight children of all ages. "The Story +of Marco Polo," by Noah Brooks. "Olaf the Glorious," by Robert Leighton. + +An historical story of the Viking age. "The Conquerors of Mexico," +retold from Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico," by Henry Gilbert. "The +Conquerors of Peru," retold from Prescott's "Conquest of Peru," by Henry +Gilbert. "Vikings of the Pacific," by A. C. Laut. + +Adventures of Bering the Dane; the outlaw hunters of Russia; Benyowsky, +the Polish pirate; Cook and Vancouver; Drake, and other soldiers of +fortune on the West Coast of America. "The Argonauts of Faith," by Basil +Mathews. + +The Adventures of the "Mayflower" Pilgrims. "Pathfinders of the West," +by A. C. Laut. + +The thrilling story of the adventures of the men who discovered the +great Northwest. + +"Beyond the Old Frontier," by George Bird Grinnell. + +Adventures of Indian Fighters, Hunters, and Fur-Traders on the Pacific +Coast. "A History of Travel in America," by Seymour Dunbar, illustrated +from old woodcuts and engravings. 4 volumes. + +An interesting book for children who wish to understand the problems and +difficulties their grandfathers had in the conquest of the West. This is +a standard book upon the subject of early travel, but is so readable as +to be of interest to older children. + +"The Golden Book of the Dutch Navigators," by Hendrik Willem van Loon. +Fully illustrated from old prints. + + +The World's Progress in Invention--Art--Music. + +"Gabriel and the Hour Book," by Evaleen Stein. + +How a boy learned from the monks how to grind and mix the colours for +illuminating the beautiful hand-printed books of the time and how he +himself made books that are now treasured in the museums of France and +England. "Historic Inventions," by Rupert S. Holland. + +Stories of the invention of printing, the steam-engine, the +spinning-jenny, the safety-lamp, the sewing machine, electric light, and +other wonders of mechanism. "A History of Everyday Things in England," +written and illustrated by Marjorie and C. V. B. Quennell. 2 Volumes. + +A most fascinating book, profusely illustrated in black and white and +in colour, giving a vivid picture of life in England from 1066-1799. It +tells of wars and of home-life, of amusements and occupations, of art +and literature, of science and invention. A book to be owned by every +boy and girl. "First Steps in the Enjoyment of Pictures," by Maude I. G. +Oliver. + +A book designed to help children in their appreciation of art by +giving them technical knowledge of the media, the draughtsmanship, the +composition and the technique of well-known American pictures. "Knights +of Art," by Amy Steedman. + +Stories of Italian Painters. Attractively illustrated in colour from old +masters. "Masters of Music," by Anna Alice Chapin. "Story Lives of Men +of Science," by F. J. Rowbotham. "All About Treasures of the Earth," by +Frederick A. Talbot. + +A book that tells many interesting things about coal, salt, iron, rare +metals and precious stones. "The Boys' Book of New Inventions," by Harry +E. Maule. + +An account of the machines and mechancial{sic} processes that are making +the history of our time more dramatic than that of any other age since +the world began. "Masters of Space," by Walter Kellogg Towers. + +Stories of the wonders of telegraphing through the air and beneath +the sea with signals, and of speaking across continents. "All About +Railways," by F. S. Hartnell. "The Man-of-War, What She Has Done and +What She Is Doing," by Commander E. Hamilton Currey. + +True stories about galleys and pirate ships, about the Spanish Main and +famous frigates, and about slave-hunting expeditions in the days of old. + + +The Democracy of To-Day. + +"The Land of Fair Play," by Geoffrey Parsons. + +"This book aims to make clear the great, unseen services that America +renders each of us, and the active devotion each of us must yield in +return for America to endure." An excellent book on our government for +boys and girls. "The American Idea as Expounded by American Statesmen," +compiled by Joseph B. Gilder. + +A good collection, including The Declaration of Independence, The +Constitution of the United States, the Monroe Doctrine, and the famous +speeches of Washington, Lincoln, Webster and Roosevelt. "The Making of +an American," by Jacob A. Riis. + +The true story of a Danish boy who became one of America's finest +citizens. "The Promised Land," by Mary Antin. + +A true story about a little immigrant. "Before we came, the New World +knew not the Old; but since we have begun to come, the Young World has +taken the Old by the hand, and the two are learning to march side by +side, seeking a common destiny." + + +Illustrated Histories in French. + +(The colourful and graphic pictures make these histories beloved by +all children whether they read the text or not.) "Voyages et Glorieuses +Decouvertes des Grands Navigateurs et Explorateurs Francais, illustre +par Edy Segrand." "Collection d'Albums Historiques." Louis XI, texte de +Georges Montorgueil, aquarelles de Job. Francois I, texte de G. Gustave +Toudouze, aquarelles de Job. Henri IV, texte de Georges Montorgueil, +aquarelles de H. Yogel. Richelieu, texte de Th. Cahu, aquarelles de +Maurice Leloir. Le Roy Soleil, texte de Gustave Toudouze, aquarelles de +Mauriae Leloir. Bonaparte, texte de Georges Montorgueil, aquarelles de +Job. "Fabliaux et Contes du Moyen-Age"; illustrations de A. Robida + +INDEX {Not included} + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik van Loon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF MANKIND *** + +***** This file should be named 754.txt or 754.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/5/754/ + +Produced by Charles Keller + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |