History Books

"The dismissal of M. Necker irritated the people beyond description. They looked upon themselves as insulted in their favourite. Mob succeeded mob, each more mischievous and daring than the former. The Duc d'Orleans continued busy in his work of secret destruction. In one of the popular risings, a sabre struck his bust, and its head fell, severed from its body. Many of the rioters (for the... more...

Chapter I [Medina’s narrative opens with the expedition of Legazpi, and the part played therein by the Augustinian Andrés de Urdaneta and his companions. Felipe II, having determined upon an expedition to the western islands, “entrusted the matter to the viceroy of Nueva España, at that time Don Luis de Velasco, a man of so great worth in all matters, that he has never received adequate praise.... more...

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that on meeting the great council of our nation I am able to announce to them on grounds of reasonable certainty that the wars and troubles which have for so many years afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that the communications of peace and commerce are once more... more...

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: At no period of our political existence had we so much cause to felicitate ourselves at the prosperous and happy condition of our country. The abundant fruits of the earth have filled it with plenty. An extensive and profitable commerce has greatly augmented our revenue. The public credit has attained an extraordinary elevation. Our... more...

CHAPTER I. Holding up the Turk. In September, 1914, the 7th Bn. Manchester Regiment set out for active service in the East in goodly company, for they were a part of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, the first territorials to leave these shores during the Great War. After many interesting days spent on garrison duty in the Sudan and Lower Egypt they journeyed to Gallipoli soon after the landing had... more...

THE GREAT EVENTS (THE PERIOD OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE) CHARLES F. HORNE So vast and wonderful a construction was the Roman world, so different from our own, that we are apt to imagine it as an arrangement far more deliberately planned, far more mechanically complete, than it appeared to its own inhabitants. From a cursory glance, we may carry away wholly mistaken conceptions of its thought and purpose.... more...

The Queen having been robbed of her purse as she was passing from the Tuileries to the Feuillans, requested my sister to lend her twenty-five louis. [On being interrogated the Queen declared that these five and twenty louis had been lent to her by my sister; this formed a pretence for arresting her and me, and led to her death.—MADAME CAMPAN.] I spent part of the day at the Feuillans, and her Majesty... more...

Of Ammianus Marcellinus, the writer of the following History, we know very little more than what can be collected from that portion of it which remains to us. From that source we learn that he was a native of Antioch, and a soldier; being one of the prefectores domestici—the body-guard of the emperor, into which none but men of noble birth were admitted. He was on the staff of Ursicinus, whom he... more...

Preface The first official report sent by Governor Francisco de Sande to the home government is dated June 7, 1576. It is introduced by a description of the winds prevalent in the Indian Archipelago. Arriving at Manila (August 25, 1575), he finds that much of the city has been destroyed by a Chinese pirate named Limahon; and he relates, in a graphic manner, the circumstances of this affair. In the... more...

OBJECTS OF THE EXPEDITION. The expedition of which we have just detailed the proceedings was so far satisfactory in its results, that it not only set at rest the hypothesis of the existence of an internal shoal sea in southern Australia, and ascertained the actual termination of the rivers it had been directed to trace, but also added very largely to our knowledge of the country considerably to the... more...