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VOLUME III

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. Thus, for instance, the Roman Republic never
assumed the definite design of conquering the world; its people had only
the vaguest conception of whither the world might extend. They merely
quarrelled with their neighbors, defeated and then annexed them.

At almost any time after Hannibal's death, Rome might have marched her
legions, practically unopposed, over all the lands within her reach. Yet
she permitted a century and a half to elapse ere Pompey asserted her
sovereignty over Asia. It was left for Augustus to take the final step,
and, by absorbing Egypt, make his country become in name what it had
long been in fact, the ruler of the civilized world.

Thus, too, we think of Augustus as a kindly despot, supreme, and
governed only by his own will. But his compatriots looked on him as
simply the chief citizen of their republic. They considered that of
their own free will, to escape the dangers of further civil war, they
had chosen to confer upon one man, eminently "safe and sane," all the
high offices whose holders had previously battled against one another.
So Augustus was Emperor or Imperator, which meant no more than general
of the armies of the Republic; he was Consul, or chief civil
administrator of the Republic; he was Pontifex Maximus, high-priest of
the Republic. He could have had more titles and offices still if he
would have accepted them from an obsequious senate.

But the title of "king," so obnoxious to Roman taste, Augustus never
sought, nor did his successors, who were in turn appointed to all his
offices. For nearly three centuries after the one-man power had become
absolute, Rome continued to call itself a republic, to go through forms
of election and ceremonial, which grew ever more and more meaningless
and trivial.

Augustus seems to have felt the tremendous weight of his position, and
to have tried honestly to divide his authority. He invested the
trembling senate with both power and responsibility. In theory, it
became as influential as he. But the appointment of its members, and
also the supreme control of the armies, remained always with the
Imperator; and thus the senate continued in reality little better than a
flickering shadow. Under the reign of a well-meaning emperor, it loomed
large, and often dilated into a very valuable and honorable body. In the
grip of a tyrant, it sank at once to its true aspect of helpless and
obsequious submission.


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Gazing across the broader field of universal history, one comes more and
more to overlook the merely temporary, constantly shifting border lines
of states, and to see Western Europe as a whole, to watch its nations as
a single people guided by similar developments of the mind, impelled by
similar stirrings of the heart, taking part in but a single story, the
marvellous tale of man's advance
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"During the eighteenth century a remarkable change swept over Europe. The dominant spirit of the time ceased to be artistic as in the Renaissance, or religious as in the Reformation, or military as during the savage civil wars that had followed. The central figure of the world was no longer a king, nor a priest, nor a general. Instead, the man on whom all eyes were fixed, who towered above his fellows, was a mere author, possessed of no claim to notice but his pen. This was the age of the arisen intellect.

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VOLUME XI

Gazing across the broader field of universal history, one comes more and
more to overlook the merely temporary, constantly shifting border lines
of states, and to see Western Europe as a whole, to watch its nations as
a single people guided by similar developments of the mind, impelled by
similar stirrings of the heart, taking part in but a single story, the
marvellous tale of man's advance.

This sense of an all-enfolding unity, an ever-advancing common destiny,
sinks weakest perhaps in the period we now approach. The nations seem
sharply separated in their careers. In the preceding age the power of
Spain and the fanaticism of its monarch, Philip II, had made the
reëstablishment of Catholicism the dominant question throughout Europe.
But in 1609 Philip III of Spain abandoned his father's attempt to
conquer Holland and again enforce a universal religion. In 1610 Henry IV
of France, who had brought peace and amity out of the savage religious
wars within his own realm, fell under an assassin's knife. These two
events may be accepted as marking a turn in the current of the world, a
change in the thoughts of men. The next half-century saw wars indeed,
bloody and bitter wars, but they were no longer primarily religious. The
strife was more than half political, and men of opposite faiths found
themselves at times allied upon the battle-field. The feeling of
religious brotherhood grew weaker, that of political allegiance
stronger.

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VOLUME VI

It was during the period of about one hundred fifty years, extending
from the middle of the twelfth to the close of the thirteenth century,
that the features of our modern civilization began to assume a
recognizable form. The age was characterized by the decline of
feudalism, and by the growth of all the new influences which combined
to create a new state of society.

With the decay of the great lords came the rise of the great cities,
the increased power and importance of the middle classes, the burghers
or "citizens," who dominate the world to-day. In opposition to these
there came also an unforeseen accession of strength to kings. The
boundaries of modern states grew more clearly defined; modern
nationalities were distinctly established; Europe assumed something of
the outline, something of the social character, which she still
retains.

The period includes not only the culmination and close of the
crusading fervor, but also, coincident with this, the culmination of
both the religious and the temporal powers of the popes, and the
scarce recognized beginning of their decline. Universities, vaguely
existent before, now increase rapidly in numbers and importance,
receive definite outlines and foundations, and exert a mighty
influence. In fact it has been not inaptly said that the rule of
mediæval Europe was divided amid three powers--the emperor, the pope,
and the University of Paris. Books, from which we can trace the
history of the time, become as numerous as before they had been scant
and vague and misleading. Thought reveals itself struggling everywhere
for expression, displayed at times in the sunshine of song and rhyme
and merry laughter, at times in the storms of philosophic dispute and
religious persecution.

In short, this was an age of strife between old ways and new. It saw
the granting of Magna Charta, but it saw also the establishment of the
Inquisition, and the creation of the two great monastic orders, whose
opposing methods, the Dominicans ruling by fear and the Franciscans by
love, are typical of the contrasting spirits of the time. It was the
age which in the next century under Dante's influence was to burst
into blossom as the Renaissance.


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The three centuries which follow the downfall of the empire of
Charlemagne laid the foundations of modern Europe, and made of it a
world wholly different, politically, socially, and religiously, from
that which had preceded it. In the careers of Greece and Rome we saw
exemplified the results of two sharply opposing tendencies of the Aryan
mind, the one toward individualism and separation, the other toward
self-subordination and union
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Surrender of Marshal Tallard at the Battle of Blenheim, Painting by R. Caton Woodville. The Duke of Monmouth humiliates himself before King James II, Painting by J. Pettie, A.R.A. Charles XII carried on a litter during the Battle of Poltava, Painting by W. Hauschild. %AN OUTLINE NARRATIVE% ... Read more

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Our modern world begins with the Protestant Reformation. The term itself
is objected to by Catholics, who claim that there was little real
reform. But the importance of the event, whether we call it reform or
revolution, is undenied. Previous to 1517 the nations of Europe had
formed a single spiritual family under the acknowledged leadership of
the Pope
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In the year 1844 electricity, last and mightiest of the servants of man,
was seized and harnessed and made to do practical work. A telegraph line
was erected between Washington and Baltimore. [Footnote: See _Invention
of the Telegraph_.]
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An Outline Narrative of the Great Events CHARLES F. HORNE Origin and Progress of Printing (A.D. 1438) HENRY GEORGE BOHN John Hunyady Repulses the Turks (A.D. 1440-1456) ARMINIUS VAMBERY Rebuilding of Rome by Nicholas V, the «Builder-pope» (A.D. 1447-1455) MRS. MARGARET OLIPHANT Mahomet II Takes Constantinople (A.D. 1453) End of the Eastern Empire GEORGE FINLAY Wars of the Roses (A.D. 1455-1485) Death of Richard III at Bosworth DAVID HUME Ivan the Great Unites Russia and Breaks the Tartar Yoke (A.D. 1462-1505) ROBERT BELL Culmination of the Power of Burgundy Treaty of Péronne (A.D. 1468) P.F. WILLERT Lorenzo de'Medici Rules in Florence Zenith of Florentine Glory (A.D. 1469) OLIPHANT SMEATON Death of Charles the Bold (A.D. 1477) Louis XI Unites Burgundy with the Crown of France PHILIPPE DE COMINES Inquisition Established in Spain (A.D.1480), WILLIAM H. RULE JAMES BALMES Murder of the Princes in the Tower (A.D.1483) JAMES GAIRDNER Conquest of Granada (A.D.1490) WASHINGTON IRVING Columbus Discovers America (A.D. ... Read more

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It is related that in 1661, on the day following the death of the great
Cardinal Mazarin, the various officials of the State approached their young
King, Louis XIV. "To whom shall we go now for orders, Your Majesty?" "To
me," answered Louis, and from that date until his death in 1715 they had
no other master
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An Outline Narrative of the Great Events CHARLES F. HORNE ... Read more

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VOLUME IX

Our modern world begins with the Protestant Reformation. The term itself
is objected to by Catholics, who claim that there was little real
reform. But the importance of the event, whether we call it reform or
revolution, is undenied. Previous to 1517 the nations of Europe had
formed a single spiritual family under the acknowledged leadership of
the Pope. The extent of the Holy Father's authority might be disputed,
especially when he interfered in affairs of state. Kings had fought
against his troops on the field of battle. But in spiritual matters he
was still supreme, and when reformers like Huss and Savonarola refused
him obedience on questions of doctrine, the very men who had been
fighting papal soldiers were shocked by this heretical wickedness. The
heretics were burned and the wars resumed. When Alexander Borgia sat
upon the papal throne for eleven years, there were even philosophers who
drew from his very wickedness an argument for the divine nature of his
office. It must be indeed divine, said they, since despite such
pollution as his, it had survived and retained its influence.

Some modern critics have even gone so far as to assert that for at least
two generations before the Reformation the great majority of the
educated classes had ceased to care whether the Christian religion were
true or not. The Renaissance had so awakened their interest in the
affairs of this world, its artistic beauties and intellectual advance,
that they gave no thought to the beyond. But we approach controversial
matters scarce within our scope. Suffice it to say that the Reformation
brought religion once more into intensest prominence in all men's eyes,
and that a large portion of the civilized world broke away from the
domination of the Pope. Men insisted on judging for themselves in
spiritual matters. Only after three centuries of strife was the
privilege granted them. Only within the past century has thought been
made everywhere free--at least from direct physical coercion. The last
execution by the Spanish Inquisition was in 1826, and the institution
was formally abolished in 1835.

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"FIFTY years ago the term "renaissance" had a very definite meaning to scholars as representing an exact period toward the close of the fourteenth century when the world suddenly reawoke to the beauty of the arts of Greece and Rome, to the charm of their gayer life, the splendor of their intellect. We know now that there was no such sudden reawakening, that Teutonic Europe toiled slowly upward through long centuries, and that men learned only gradually to appreciate the finer side of existence, to study the universe for themselves, and look with their own eyes upon the life around them and the life beyond.

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VOLUME VIII

The Renaissance marks the separation of the mediaeval from the modern
world. The wide difference between the two epochs of Teutonic history
arises, we are apt somewhat glibly to say, from the fact that our
ancestors worshipped and were ruled by brute force, whereas we follow the
broad light of intellect. Perhaps both statements require modification;
yet in a general way they do suggest the change which by a thousand
different agencies has, in the course of the last four centuries, been
forced upon the world. Mediaeval Europe was a land not of equals, but of
lords and slaves. The powerful nobles regarded themselves as of wholly
different clay from the hapless peasants whom they trampled under foot,
serfs so ignorant, so brutalized by want, that they were often little
better than the beasts with which they herded. Gradually the tradesmen,
the middle classes, forced their way to practical equality with the
nobles. Then came the turn of the masses to do the same. The beginnings
of the merchants' movement we have already traced in the preceding
volumes; the end of the peasants' effort is perhaps even to-day scarce
yet accomplished.

In dealing with modern history, therefore, every writer is apt to begin
with a different date. Some go back as far as Petrarch, who reintroduced
the study of ancient art and learning; that is, they regard our world as
a direct continuation of the Roman, with the thousand years of the Middle
Ages gaping between like an earthquake gulf of barbarism, that was
bridged at last. Some take the invention of printing as a starting-point,
feeling that the chief element of our progress has been the gathering of
information by the poorer classes. Some, looking to political changes,
turn to the reign of Louis XI of France, noting him as the first modern
king, or to the downfall of Charles the Bold, the last great feudal
noble. Others name later starting-points such as the establishment of
modern art by Michelangelo and Raphael at Rome, the discovery of America,
with its opening of vast new lands for the pent-up population of narrow
Europe, or the Reformation, which has been called man's revolt against
superstition, the establishment of the independence of thought.

All of these epochs fall within the limits of the Renaissance, and all,
except that of Petrarch, within the later Renaissance which we are now
considering. The period is therefore worth careful study.

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VOLUME VII

Fifty years ago the term "renaissance" had a very definite meaning to
scholars as representing an exact period toward the close of the
fourteenth century when the world suddenly reawoke to the beauty of the
arts of Greece and Rome, to the charm of their gayer life, the splendor
of their intellect. We know now that there was no such sudden
reawakening, that Teutonic Europe toiled slowly upward through long
centuries, and that men learned only gradually to appreciate the finer
side of existence, to study the universe for themselves, and look with
their own eyes upon the life around them and the life beyond.

Thus the word "renaissance" has grown to cover a vaguer period, and
there has been a constant tendency to push the date of its beginning
ever backward, as we detect more and more the dimly dawning light amid
the darkness of earlier ages. Of late, writers have fallen into the way
of calling Dante the "morning star of the Renaissance"; and the period
of the great poet's work, the first decade of the fourteenth century,
has certainly the advantage of being characterized by three or four
peculiarly striking events which serve to typify the tendencies of the
coming age.

In 1301 Dante was driven out of Florence, his native city-republic, by a
political strife. In this year, as he himself phrases it, he descended
into hell; that is, he began those weary wanderings in exile which ended
only with his life, and which stirred in him the deeps that found
expression in his mighty poem, the _Divina Commedia_.[1] Throughout his
masterpiece he speaks with eager respect of the old Roman writers, and
of such Greeks as he knew--so we have admiration of the ancient
intellect. He also speaks bitterly of certain popes, as well as of other
more earthly tyrants--so we have the dawnings of democracy and of
religious revolt, of government by one's self and thought for one's
self, instead of submission to the guidance of others.

More important even than these in its immediate results, Dante, while he
began his poem in Latin, the learned language of the time, soon
transposed and completed it in Italian, the corrupted Latin of his
commoner contemporaries, the tongue of his daily life. That is, he wrote
not for scholars like himself, but for a wider circle of more worldly
friends. It is the first great work in any modern speech. It is in very
truth the recognition of a new world of men, a new and more practical
set of merchant intellects which, with their growing and vigorous
vitality, were to supersede the old.

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VOLUME I

THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS HISTORIANS is the answer to a problem which
has long been agitating the learned world. How shall real history, the
ablest and profoundest work of the greatest historians, be rescued from
its present oblivion on the dusty shelves of scholars, and made welcome
to the homes of the people?

THE NATIONAL ALUMNI, an association of college men, having given this
question long and earnest discussion among themselves, sought finally
the views of a carefully elaborated list of authorities throughout
America and Europe. They consulted the foremost living historians and
professors of history, successful writers in other fields, statesmen,
university and college presidents, and prominent business men. From this
widely gathered consensus of opinions, after much comparison and sifting
of ideas, was evolved the following practical, and it would seem
incontrovertible, series of plain facts. And these all pointed toward
"THE GREAT EVENTS."

In the first place, the entire American public, from top to bottom of
the social ladder, are at this moment anxious to read history. Its
predominant importance among the varied forms of literature is fully
recognized. To understand the past is to understand the future. The
successful men in every line of life are those who look ahead, whose
keen foresight enables them to probe into the future, not by magic, but
by patiently acquired knowledge. To see clearly what the world has done,
and why, is to see at least vaguely what the world will do, and when.

Moreover, no man can understand himself unless he understands others;
and he cannot do that without some idea of the past, which has produced
both him and them. To know his neighbors, he must know something of the
country from which they came, the conditions under which they formerly
lived. He cannot do his own simple duty by his own country if he does
not know through what tribulations that country has passed. He cannot be
a good citizen, he cannot even vote honestly, much less intelligently,
unless he has read history. Fortunately the point needs little urging.
It is almost an impertinence to refer to it. We are all anxious, more
than anxious to learn--_if only the path of study be made easy_.

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