History Books

PREFACE The rules of the Royal Institution forbid (and wisely) religious or political controversy.  It was therefore impossible for me in these Lectures, to say much which had to be said, in drawing a just and complete picture of the Ancien Régime in France.  The passages inserted between brackets, which bear on religious matters, were accordingly not spoken at the Royal Institution. But more.  It... more...

CHAPTER I AIMS History may be made, in several ways, an important factor in forming intelligent, patriotic citizens: (a) It must be remembered that society, with all its institutions, is a growth, not a sudden creation. It follows that, if we wish to understand the present and to use that knowledge as a guide to future action, we must know the story of how our present institutions and conditions have... more...

CHAPTER I. GAUL. The Frenchman of to-day inhabits a country, long ago civilized and Christianized, where, despite of much imperfection and much social misery, thirty-eight millions of men live in security and peace, under laws equal for all and efficiently upheld. There is every reason to nourish great hopes of such a country, and to wish for it more and more of freedom, glory, and prosperity; but one... more...

INTRODUCTION. Lewis Holberg, the author of the Narrative of Niels Klim, was the most eminent writer among the Danes in the eighteenth century. His works show a surprising versatility of genius, comprising Histories and Treatises on Jurisprudence, together with Satires and Comedies. He was by birth a Norwegian, but was educated at the University at Copenhagen in Denmark. Soon after receiving a... more...

USIC was written in a scrawl impossible to decipher up to the thirteenth century, when Plain Song (Plain Chant) made its appearance in square and diamond-shaped notes. The graduals and introits had not yet been reduced to bars, but the songs of the troubadours appear to have been in bars of three beats with the accent on the feeble note of each bar. However, the theory that this bar of three beats or... more...

CHAPTER I ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CANADA If, standing upon the threshold of the twentieth century, we cast a look behind us to note the road traversed, the victories gained by the great army of Christ, we discover everywhere marvels of abnegation and sacrifice; everywhere we see rising before us the dazzling figures of apostles, of doctors of the Church and of martyrs who arouse our... more...

Chapter LIX: The Crusades.—Part I. Preservation Of The Greek Empire.—Numbers, Passage, AndEvent, Of The Second And Third Crusades.—St. Bernard.—Reign Of Saladin In Egypt And Syria.—His Conquest OfJerusalem.—Naval Crusades.—Richard The First Of England.—Pope Innocent The Third; And The Fourth And Fifth Crusades.—The Emperor Frederic The Second.—Louis The Ninth OfFrance; And The Two... more...

PRINCIPALL SECRETARIE TO HER MAIESTIE, MASTER OF THE COURT OF WARDES AND LIUERIES, AND ONE OF HER MAIESTIES MOST HONOURABLE PRIUIE COUNSELL. Right Honorable, hauing newly finished a Treatise of the long Voyages of our Nation made into the Leuant within the Streight of Gibraltar, and from thence ouer-land to the South and Southeast parts of the world, all circumstances considered, I found none to whom I... more...

Abdication of Charles resolved upon—Brussels in the sixteenth century—Hall of the palace described—Portraits of prominent individuals present at the ceremony—Formalities of the abdication— Universal emotion—Remarks upon the character and career of Charles —His retirement at Juste. On the twenty-fifth day of October, 1555, the estates of the Netherlands were assembled in the great hall of... more...

"In the Southern Ocean, the greater part of Australia, Tasmania, Norfolk, Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, and many other groups of Oceanica are hers. "What other state can compete with her in the management of colonies, and in the selection of situations from which she could command the sea? Jersey and Guernsey are her keys of the Straits of Dover; from Heligoland she can open or shut the... more...