History Books

PREFACE The formality of a preface to this little book might have been very well omitted, if it were not to gratify the curiosity of some inquisitive people, who, I foresee, will be apt to make objections against the reality of the narrative. Indeed the public has too often been imposed upon by fictitious stories, and some of a very late date, so that I think myself obliged by the usual respect which... more...

INTRODUCTION Biographical Note Two years before the mast were but an episode in the life of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.; yet the narrative in which he details the experiences of that period is, perhaps, his chief claim to a wide remembrance. His services in other than literary fields occupied the greater part of his life, but they brought him comparatively small recognition and many disappointments. His... more...

CHAPTER I. HOW THE PRESS-GANG CAME IN. The practice of pressing men—that is to say, of taking by intimidation or force those who will not volunteer—would seem to have been world-wide in its adoption. Wherever man desired to have a thing done, and was powerful enough to insure the doing of it, there he attained his end by the simple expedient of compelling others to do for him what he, unaided,... more...

COLUMBUS   Behind him lay the gray Azores,    Behind the Gates of Hercules;  Before him not the ghost of shores,    Before him only shoreless seas.  The good mate said: "Now we must pray,    For, lo! the very stars are gone.  Brave Admiral, speak; what shall I say?"    "Why say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"   "My men grow mutinous day by... more...

INTRODUCTION. While our absent brothers are battling on the field, it is becoming that the friends at home should be eager for the minutest particulars of the camp-life, courage and endurance of the dear boys far away; for to the loyal lover of his country every soldier is a brother. The narrative related on the following pages is one of extraordinary "daring and suffering," and will excite an... more...

"ON TO CANADA!" The American people of today, weighed in the balances of the greatest armed conflict of all time and found not wanting, can afford to survey, in a spirit of candid scrutiny and without reviving an ancient grudge, that turbulent episode in the welding of their nation which is called the War of 1812. In spite of defeats and disappointments this war was, in the large, enduring... more...

THE FIRST CHAPTER. Now Plautius had much adoo to find out the Britains in their lurking holes and couerts; howbeit when he had traced them out, first he vanquished Cataratacus, and after Togodumnus the sonnes of Cynobellinus: for their father was dead not verie long before. These therefore fléeing their waies, Plautus receiued part of the people called Bodumni Catuellani Bodumni (which were subiects... more...

I.—Celtic London When we see the words "Celtic London" at the head of a chapter we naturally feel inclined to ask, "Was there such a place? Was there any Celtic London?" Although it is almost impossible to answer such a question by either "yes" or "no," it may be worth while to examine it briefly before passing on to the domains of authentic history. In the first... more...

At the beginning of the national era the internal commerce of the United States gave small promise of the tremendous development it was to undergo during the ensuing century. There was as yet too little differentiation of occupation to give rise to a large interstate trade in native products, and the proximity of the greater part of the population to the seacoast made it cheaper and more convenient to... more...

FERDINAND VON SCHILL. Profound silence reigned in the valleys and gorges of Jena and Auerstadt. The battles were over. The victorious French had marched to Jena to repose for a few days, while the defeated Prussians had fled to Weimar, or were wandering across the fields and in the mountains, anxiously seeking for inaccessible places where they might conceal their presence from the pursuing enemy. A... more...