History Books

1788. (CONTINUED.) THE KING'S ILLNESS—CONDUCT OF THURLOW—PLANS OF MINISTERS—DISCUSSIONS IN PARLIAMENT—IRISH VIEW OF THE REGENCY QUESTION—PROCEEDINGS OF THE PRINCE'S PARTY—THE RATS IN BOTH HOUSES. The fluctuations of the daily accounts from Windsor, and afterwards from Kew, to which place the King was ultimately removed at the instance of the Prince of Wales, and the effect they... more...

WHAT IS IMPERIALISM? [Tuesday, May 8th, 1900] The present age has rewritten the annals of the world, and set its own impress on the traditions of humanity. In no period has the burden of the past weighed so heavily upon the present, or the interpretation of its speculative import troubled the heart so profoundly, so intimately, so monotonously. How remote we stand from the times when Raleigh could sit... more...

CALIFORNIA'S NAME AND EARLY HISTORY   A Spanish story written four hundred years ago speaks of California as an island rich in pearls and gold. Only black women lived there, the story says, and they had golden spears, and collars and harness of gold for the wild beasts which they had tamed to ride upon. This island was said to be at a ten days' journey from Mexico, and was supposed to lie... more...

Chapter I. The Secession Movement The secession movement had three distinct stages. The first, beginning with the news that Lincoln was elected, closed with the news, sent broadcast over the South from Charleston, that Federal troops had taken possession of Fort Sumter on the night of the 28th of December. During this period the likelihood of secession was the topic of discussion in the lower South.... more...

PREFACE Forty-seven years have passed since this volume was first published; in that time a mass of source material has been made available to the historian and numerous books on early Virginia history have been published. But I believe that its main theses have not been shaken. The old belief that the Virginia aristocracy had its origin in a migration of Cavaliers after the defeat of the royalists in... more...

SPECIAL MESSAGES, ETC. SATURDAY, August 22, 1789. The President of the United States came into the Senate Chamber, attended by General Knox, and laid before the Senate the following state of facts, with the questions thereto annexed, for their advice and consent: "To conciliate the powerful tribes of Indians in the southern district, amounting probably to 14,000 fighting men, and to attach them... more...

CHAPTER I PALESTINE'S INFLUENCE ON THE WAR In a war which involved the peoples of the four quarters of the globe it was to be expected that on the world's oldest battleground would be renewed the scenes of conflict of bygone ages. There was perhaps a desire of some elements of both sides, certainly it was the unanimous wish of the Allies, to avoid the clash of arms in Palestine, and to leave... more...

NARRATIVE. On the 28th of November, 1824, I sailed from Wiscasset, (Me.) for Matanzas, in the Island of Cuba, on board the brig Betsey, laden with lumber; our officers and crew consisting of seven, viz. Ellis Hilton, of Wiscasset, master; Joshua Merry, of Edgecomb, 1st mate; Daniel Collins, of Wiscasset, 2d mate; Charles Manuel, (a Portuguese), Seth Russell, and Benj. Bridge, seamen; and Detrey Jeome,... more...

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereign, a plurality of wives. The people, generally, whether by law, or by necessity stronger than law, were more happily limited to one. Marriage was conducted in a manner that gave it quite as original a character as belonged to the other institutions of the country. On an appointed day of the year, all those of a marriageable age - which, having... more...

I. THE ISONZO FRONT1My first impressions of the Italian war centre upon Udine. So far I had had only a visit to Soissons on an exceptionally quiet day and the sound of a Zeppelin one night in Essex for all my experience of actual warfare. But my bedroom at the British mission in Udine roused perhaps extravagant expectations. There were holes in the plaster ceiling and wall, betraying splintered laths,... more...