Narrative of the general course of history from the earliest periods to the establishment of the American Constitution. Prepared with questions for the use of schools, and illustrated with 150 maps and engravings

Front matter

Class Book

Copyright N^.

COPmiGHT DEPOSIT.

Contents

PARTI.

ANCIENT HISTORY. „.^^

CHAPTER PAGE

Part II. English History

I. THE ANCIENT BRITONS 168

II. THE ROMAN INVASION 172

III. THE ANGLO-SAXONS 179

rV'. THE DANES • 1^0

V. KING ALFRED THE GREAT 19^

VI. THE NORMAN CONQUEST 210

VII. RICHARD THE CRUSADER • 220

VIII. KING JOHN 230

IX. KING RICHARD THE THIRD 240

X. HENRY THE EIGHTH .i^lD THE EErOR:M ATION

25<^ vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER ''•^*^'

.^.. ^ ., JILIZABETH 2G 1

XII. OVERTHROW OF THE MONARCHY 270

XIII. THE RE STORATION 279

XIV. THE REVOLUTION 289

XV. THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRACY 299

Part III. American History

I. THE ABORIGINES 309

IL COLUMBUS 318

III. SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA 331

IV. SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK 340

V. SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND 347

VI. THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT 358

VII. THE AMERICAN CONGRESS 371

VIII. COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR 375

IX. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 385

X. PROGRESS OF THE AVAR 393

XI. EXPEDITION OF BURGOYNE , , ; 405

XII. THE FRENCH ALLIANCE 414

XIII. THE TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD 419

XIV. THE SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS 432

XV. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL UNION , 442

ENGRAVINGS.

PAGE

If,

LIFE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS

GREENLANDER AND SEAL

1/

ESQUIMAUX

TROPICAL SAVAGES ^"

INDUSTRIAL ARTS "

SITUATION OF NINEVEH "

SEMIRAMIS IN THE WOOD ^

SEMIRAIVIIS ON THE WALL '

THE BRIBE ' ^

KING HEZEKIAH SHOWING HIS TREASURES

THE HANGING GARDENS ^ _

CYRUS ENTERING BABYLON

MOUNDS ^^

ARCHER — SPEARMAN — SLINGER '^

WRITING DOWN THE NIBIBER OP THE SLAIN "

ADVANCING TO THE ATTACK

THE COMPOUND HORSEMAN

bo

CROSSING A RIVER

WAR CHARIOT

HEAD-DRESS OP A HORSE ^

DISCOVERIES g-^

THE herdsman's INFANT

CmUS'S HUNTING g^

EXPEDITIONS OP CYRUS ^g

STATE S OF GREEC E _

VIEW OF ATHENS ^.

<4

PH^DYMA AND S3IERDIS

CROSSING THE HELLESPONT

MARCH OF XERXES

THE PERSIAN EMBASSADORS AT SPARTA

MARCH OF ALEXANDER „.

MARCH THROUGH THE PASS OF SUSA

MAP OF LATIUM

82 84

Vlll ENGRAVINGS.

PAGE

THE TWINS 98

THE BRACELETS 102

ROMAN MILITARY ROAD 105

PLEBEIANS 106

EMPIRE OP PTRRHUS HQ

PTRRHUS VIEWING THE ROMAN ENCAJJIPMENT 115

DISPLAY OF THE ARMOR 11(J

DEATH OF PYRRHUS Ug

situation of carthage , 221

crossing the alps 226

scipio burning the carthaginian fleet 128

Cesar's invasion of Britain 230

132 13(5 138

EXCITEMENT IN ROME

ASSASSINATION OF POMPEY

THE TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION ;

THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT ji^

THE SPHINX ,.,

THE STATUES OF MEMNON ...^

CLEOPATRA'S STRATAGEM ,,^

CLEOPATRA S ENTERTAINIVIENT j.p

ROOM IN CLEOPATRA'S PALACE , „'

BURNING OF ROME ,'^.,

lo'o

RIOTS IN ROME

RUINS OF ROME ^

FORMS OF THE WAR CHARIOT AND THE ARMOR OF THE ANCIENT BRITONs'" 165

COAST OF ENGLAND AT DOVER

HUTS OF ANCIENT BRITONS ^^

A DRUID IN HIS ROBES

DRUIDICAL RUIN

COMBAT ON THE BEACH

1 74

THE WALL OF SEVERUS

1 70

ANGLO-SAXON CHIEFTAIN

THE CORACLES

RUINS OF THE MONASTERY OF lONA ' ^^^

THE SEA-KINGS ^^^

lO]

ARMS AND COSTUME OF THE DANES

ALFRED READING TO HIS STEPMOTHER ......". ^^^

ALFRED LETTING THE CAKES BURN .,,' "^^

HASTINGS IN THE CHURCH "^^

SITUATION OF NORMANDY !"....!!.. ' ^^^

THE NEWS OF EDWARD's I.-..',TII ^^^

HASTINGS 214

DEATH OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ^^^

ENGRAVINGS. IX

PAGE

DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS 222

VIEW OF THE RAMPARTS OF ACRE 226

SAVE ME ! SAVE ME ! 235

VIEW OF RUNNY MEAD 237

DEATH OF KING JOHN 239

YOUNG EDWARD 242

THE TOWER OF LONDON 243

RICHARD AT THE COUNCIL 245

MURDER OF THE PRINCES 248

THE QUEEN-MOTHER MOURNING FOR HER CHILDREN 249

KING HENRY THE EIGHTH 252

TRIAL OF QUEEN CATHARINE 255

THE BAPTISM OF ELIZABETH 259

ELIZABETH'S PROGRESS TO LONDON 263

PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 267

PROCE SS OF COINING 271

PURITANS PULLING DO\\T!J A CROSS IN LONDON 273

BIBLE CHAINED IN A CHURCH 274

STRAFFORD ON HIS WAY TO EXECUTION 277

VIEW OF WORCE STER 282

KING CHARLES AT BOSCOBEL 285

LANDING OP CHARLES THE SECOND AT DOVER 286

VIEW OF EXETER 29 1

WILLIAM OF ORANGE IN HIS CARRIAGE AT THE HAGUE 294

LANDING OF WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE 297

JOHN Churchill's present 304

english iron- works 305

wigwams 311

interior op a wigwam 312

indian warriors 313

the ambush 316

indian carousals 317

portrait of columbu s 320

queen isabella 325

the caravel 326

LAKDING of COLUMBUS 330

ONE OF Raleigh's ships 334

PORTRAIT OF SMITH 335

POCAHONTAS 339

BEGINNING OF SHIP-BUILDING IN NEW YORK 342

NEGOTIATING WITH THE INDIANS 344

NEW YORK IN 1664 346

X EXGIIAVINGS.

PAGE

MAP OF PLYMOUTH BAY 354

LANDING OF THK AVALLOONS 35(5

FRAGMENT OF THE PLYMOUTH ROCK 357

THE PLYMOUTH ROCK 357

THE governor's HOUSE 3^0

COLONIAL TROOPS ON A MARCH.

THE TROOPS SURPRISED

THE POST-MASTER-GENERAL

THE BOSTON MASSACRE

361 362 364 369

THROWING THE TEA OVERBOARD 3jq

INDEPENDENCE HALL njA

MONUMENT ON BUNKER HILL 33^

WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT CAMBRIDGE 332

VIEAV OF BOSTON FROM DORCHESTER HEIGHTS 333

ADAMS, SHERM.4N, LIVINGSTON, JEFFERSON, FR.\JfKLIN 391

JEFFERSON READING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 392

WASHINGTON BEFORE HE WAS APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND 397

WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT TAPPAN 393

WASHINGTON'S TENT 099

THE CAMP-CHEST .^.^

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE ''^^^^''^'.. 403

BATTLE OF TRENTON .r.i

BURGOYNE AND THE INDIAN CHIEFS 4Q7

BURGOYNE's encampment on THE HUDSON !!."..!"! 413

FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT. 4.I7

BENEDICT ARNOLD ^2^

VIEW IN THE HIGHLANDS *' ^gO

ROBINSONS HOUSE .^O

MAJOR ANDRE .„,

MAP OF THE SCENE OF ARNOLD'S TREASON 425

smith's HOUSE .^

LORD CORNWALLIS ,00

REMAINS OF THE INTRENCHMENTS AT YORKTOWN 434

SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS 44q

MOUNT VERNON .-^

Part I. Ancient History

THE STORY OF HISTORY.

PART I.

ANCIENT HISTORY.

Chapter I. Disteibution Of The Human Race

What k the cause of the different climates of the eartKs sur-

' The various portions of the earth differ very much from each other in respect to the manner in which the sun shmes upon them, both in his daily and in his annual course, and very great diiferences are thus produced in the climates of the several regions and in the course of their seasons, and in all the productions of the soil, both plants and animals.

Describe the tropical regions.

In some parts of the earth, for example, the days and nights are always equal, the weather is always warm, and flowers and fruits bloom and ripen all the year round. The reason of this is, that these regions, being the central part of the earth, turn every day, as the great globe revolves, directly toward the sun. They are called the tropical regions.*

. The earth turns round every day before the sun very much as an ^PP'f - ^-P™^" ed by a twisted string to roast, turns before the fire. The middle parts of the apple half way between the stem and the blossom, which are turned directly toward the fire as it goes round, correspond with the equatorial or tropical regions of the ^^^h. Only, of course, the earth is immensely large, and the sun is at such an -°™;j ''';7;^ that the beams of it shine very gently on the earth, even on the parts that come rectly opposite to its rays.

14 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN liACE.

Describe the Polar regions.

In other places, there are regions where the sun does not shine for six months at a time, and then, when the jDeriod for his shining comes, he never rises high in the heavens so as to shine warm and full upon the ground, but moves round and round the sky just above the horizon. Of course, for half the year in these regions it is winter and night, and during the other half, though they call it summer, the sun shines with very faint and feeble rays. In consequence of this, scarcely any plants grow upon the land, and the sea is covered at all times, both in summer and winter, with immense floating fields and mountains of ice. These are the Polar regions. The northern Polar regions are called the Arctic, regions. The southern Polar regions have been very little explored. They are called the Antarctic regions. Describe the temperate i^egions.

Then, besides these two extremes, there are the temperate regions, which lie between them. We ourselves live in the temperate regions. Here, for half of the year, the sun rises high in the heavens, and his beams are warm. During this period the grass grows, the flowers bloom, the fruits ripen, and tlie land is ricli with waving fields of corn and grain. Then comes the winter, when the sun declines, and all vegetation ceases, and the ground IS bound up with frost or covered with snow.

How has Nature adapted man to these different regions ? Of course, regions so different from each other as these must not only produce altogether different kinds of plants and animals, but very different kinds of men, we might suppose, would be required to inhabit them. Nature has accordingly provided a great variety of races of men to occupy the several portions of the earth, the people of each race being adapted, both in their bodily constitutions and in the capacities of their minds, for the situation in which they dwell, though they are all, as the Scriptures inform us, descended from one common origin.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.

What kind of animals inhabit the Polar regions f In the Polar regions, where the sun is gone entirely for half the year, and shines very faintly and feebly for the other half, no plants except mosses, and lichens, and a few stunted shrubs can ever grow ; but then the shores of the seas, and the fields and islands of ice, and all the lakes and bays, are thronged with animals. The sea is full of whales, seals, walruses, and other monsters, that are

kept warm in the winter by the thick coats of blubber or fat which envelop them, while on the land, and over the fields of ice, white bears, wolverines, foxes, and other fierce beasts of prey are constantly prowling. These land animals are kept warm by their y^n Then, in the summer, immense flocks of ducks, and geese, and gulls, and other wild-fowl throng the lakes, and rivers, and bays, and swamps that lie along these shores, to make their nests and rear their young. Before the long winter night sets in, however, the birds fly away across the continent thousands of miles, taking with them the young birds that they have reared. These birds are kept warm by ih^xx feathers.

What qualities in men are required for these regions ?

To live and to thrive in such regions as these, men must be of a very hardy constitution, so as to be able to bear cold without injury. They must be fitted, too, to subsist almost entirely on flesh t

DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.

GllEEMLANliKU A and other animal food, since scarcely any vegetables grow in siicli

_ .^^ a clime. They must

^ ^^^^^ ers and capacities of

p : . mind high enoup'h to

C / enable them to hunt

I wild beasts, to catch

and kill whales and seals, and to build . such huts as they need, and yet not so hio-has to make them

o

discontented or restless with their monotonous* and solitary country, and with the half-torpid life that they must lead during the long dark and dismal night of their winter.

Describe the modes of life of the Polar tribes.

These are, in fact, the characteristics of the various races of men that are found dwelling on the Polar shores. They can live altogether on the coarsest flesh. They can endure the greatest extremes of cold. They build huts of the drift-wood that is brought down by the rivers, and is then washed by the sea upon their shores. They cover their huts with earth three or four feet thick to keep them warm, leaving an opening for a door in front large enough to creep in and out. When they have no drift-wood, they build their huts of blocks of snow, arching them over at the to]) like an oven or a dome. They light and warm their huts sufficiently for their purpose by means of big lamps fed by whale oil. They set traps for animals on land ; they take fish in the lakes and at the rapids in the river with nets and hooks, and they kill seals and whales with harpoons and spears. They can travel on foot * That which is in every part alike — without variety.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.

over the snow with snow-shoes which the women make for them, while some of the natives train dogs, and others reindeer, to draw them in sledges over the ice and snow. These people sometimes

ESQUIMAUX.

endure suffering, it is true, as all men must, but generally they are contented and happy in the condition in which God has placed them, so well are they adapted to it. They could not easily be persuaded to change their country or their modes of life for those of any other people.

What is known of the history of these tribes f There are a great many separate races and nations of these Arctic men, nearly all of \\hom have probably lived where they do now, and as they do now, for hundreds and hundreds of years. Their history, if it could be known, would consist only of accounts of the wars which they have waged w^ith each other, and of the seasons of famine and distress which they have sometimes endured. But their history is not known, nor would the rest of mankind feel any special interest in it if it could be discovered. What is the state of things in the tropical regions f In tropical regions, the state of the case is entirely changed. Here the days and nights are nearly equal all the year, and the

B

18 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN EACE.

sun ascends every day into the mid-heavens, and shines down directly upon the land with his most powerful rays. There is no winter. Frost and snow are unknown. There is, indeed, no spring, nor autumn, but summer reigns supreme throughout the year.

What forms of animal and vegetable life j^revail in the tropical regions f

Of course, in a region like this, plants thrive luxuriantly. Flowers bloom and fruits ripen in perpetual and ceaseless succession, furnishing to man and beast an abundance of food without labor or care. Trees grow in the forests to an enormous magnitude, dense underwood springs up among them, and vines and creepers twist and twine about their stems, and hang in festoons from their branches, and bind them all together in an intricate, impenetrable maze. In these entangled thickets lions, tigers, and hyenas roam and prowl in search of prey, and apes, monkeys, and parrots, and thousands of other birds of gaudy plumage, chatter, and sing, and play among the branches through all the year.

What are the characteristics of the men that inhabit the trojpical regions f

The circumstances being thus so entirely different in the tropical regions from those of the Arctic or frigid zone, the men fitted to dwell in them are different too. Their color is black, that they can better resist the heat of the sun. Their constitutions are such that, while they can not endure cold, they enjoy heat, and thrive in it. They love the sun. In temper of mind they are quiet and gentle.

What are their wants in respect to food and clothing ?

As the season in their country is always warm, and as fruits grow abundantly without tilling of the ground, these people have very little to do to procure themselves food and clothing. Very sHghtly-built huts are sufficient, too, to form their lodgings, as they only need dwellings to shelter them from the rain. Thus they

DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.

al savage-s live almost like the animals that inhabit the forests around them, eating what comes most readily to hand, and spending the rest of the time in luxurious repose. They need no high intellectual powers, no capacities for enduring hardship or hunger, and no spirit of industry or ambition, and they are consequently not endued with them.

Describe the Bushmen,

Some of these tropical nations occupy a very humble position indeed in the scale of humanity. There is a race called Bushmen, who live in the southern part of Africa, whose life is almost wholly animal. They build no houses, but sleep under the trees, or in holes which they burrow in the ground. They live on roots, nuts, and insects, and are as wild as the chimpanzees or orangoutangs, which they much resemble.

What are the princijjal tropical countries ?

The tropical portions of the earth that are inhabited by races like these are the central parts of Africa and South America, the islands of the Pacific Ocean that are near the equator, and a portion of New Holland.

20 DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN KACE.

In what res2)ect does the conditioJi of the Polar and trojpical nations agree?

These tropical savages differ very widely from the wild men that dwell about the poles in all their mental and bodily powers and qualities, and in their modes of life. In one respect, however, they agree with them, namely, in this, that their past history has ueven been written, and it can now, therefore, never be known ; nor, indeed, would mankind in general be expected to take much interest in the history of such wild and savage tribes, even if it could be known.

Describe the condition of things in the tem^yerate regions.

We now come to the temperate portions of the earth. Here the course of the seasons, and the action of the sun on vegetable hfe, are such as to require the exercise of far higher and more intellectual qualities in man than are necessary either in the tropics or at the poles, because here man must till the ground during half of the year, and lay up stores of food produced by this tillage for the other half. Of course, he must be able to devise agricultural implements, and to make inclosures to defend his fields from wild Ijcasts, and to tame animals to do his work, and to buikl bams and granaries for his stores of food, and houses to protect his family from the cold of winter. To meet these exigencies of their condition, the races that have lived in the temperate regions have been endued Avith higher and more intellectual natures than those that have been before described, and the powers that they have been endued with have been greatly improved by the cultivation and the exercise of them.

What are the characteristics of the 7Xices that inhabit the temperate regions ?

The consequence has been, that these races have formed themselves into extensive and powerful nations, and made innumerable discoveries and improvements in the arts of life. They have established systematic governments, and enrolled immense armies,

DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN RACE.

and organized vast combinations of various kinds, to accomplisli objects beyond the powers of individual men. Tliey have dug deep mines down through the most soHd rocks, and extended them under the beds of rivers, and even beneath the sea, to procure metals and coal. They have constructed roads, and invented

wheel vehicles to run upon them, some by the power of animals, tud others by the power of steam ; and ships and steamers for the sea, in order to convey the productions of one countiy to another for the purpose of exchange.

They have built vast cities to place the public and general stores of these productions in. They have investigated the laws of nature, and by their science and art have learned to surmount the greatest physical obstacles, and to perform the most astonishing exploits ; and, finally, by means of various arts of writing which they have invented, they have kept, for many centuries, regular records of their history.

What are the principal nations that have been formed from these races f

There are a great many distinct races of men that have thus formed civilized nations in the temperate regions of the earth. The principal of them are the Chinese, the Japanese, the Tartars, the Hindoos, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Russians, the Germans, the French, the Spaniards, the Moors, the British, the IMexicans, the Central

INDUSTRIAL ARTS.

22 DISTEIBUTION OF THE HUMAN KACE.

Americans, and, lastly, ourselves — the Americans. All these have preserved records, more or less complete and authentic, of the events of their history.

How far is the history of these 7iatiom of interest to us f

Of these various nations, however, there are very few whose history is of any special interest or of any practical value to us. That in which we are chiefly concerned is simply the line of our own history, traced back through the nations that preceded us, and from which we descended, to ancient times.

What course do we take in tracing hack the line of our oivn history f

In going back to retrace this line, we follow, for two hundred years, the history of our own country. The people that settled this country two hundred years ago came from England. Of course, when we arrive at the origin of this nation, we proceed to the line of English History, which we follow back for about sixteen hundred years, to the point of its connecting with the Eoman empire near the time of Christ. We here enter the field of what is called Ancient History, and we follow the line back through the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians, till the record loses itself in the legends and traditions of the remotest antiquity. Thus the course of history which is of practical interest and value to us divides itself into three periods.

What are the three general branches of the subject f

1. Ancient History, extending from the earliest records to the decline and fall of the Roman empire.

2. English History, extending from the commencement of the first origin of the British government to the colonization of America.

3. American History, extending from the first colonization of this country to the present time.

What digressions will he required f

In following this course, however, we shall not absolutely be confined to the history of the nations that come directly in the line, but sliall be led to frequent digressions among nations incidentally and collaterally connected with them.

Chapter II. Nineveh And The Assyrians

W/iat territory was first sought for settlement by the earliest inhabitants of Asia ?

When the people were scattered abroad on the earth at the original dispersion of mankind, as described in the Scriptures, they would naturally, at first, seek out the most fertile regions, and those most easily tilled, to live in, and in these regions they would, of course, most rapidly increase and multiply. Accordingly, the first glimpses that we obtain of the history of the human race in those remote ages relate to several nations which seemed to spring up at a very early period, and nearly at the same time, on the borders of certain great rivers of that portion of the world which, as it happened, flowed through regions of extraordinary natural fertility.

What were the principal natio7is tlmt were thus formed?

The principal nations that thus early organized themselves in these great river districts were these, namely, the Assyrians in the country of the Tigris, the Babylonians in that of the Euphrates, and the Egyptians in the valley of the Nile. In addition to these there was another very important nation, the PhcBuicians, whose country was near the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

What was the situation of these countries f

The situation of these ancient nations in respect to each other you will see by the following map. The first named of them, the Assyrians, as appears by the map, occupied the country watered by the Tigris, and their capital was Nineveh.

NINEVEH AND THE ASSYEIANS.

^__^j CaloT^j^

■h

TFA<z^ ^^YW z'Ad eajntal of Assyi'ia f Of Babylonia ?

We should have known probably very little about the Assyrians at the present time had it not been for the celebrity attained by the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of the country, and which acquired great renown all over the world in its day for its magnificence and splendor. It was the same in respect to Babylon and the Babylonians, who will form the subject of the next lesson.

What are the sources of information in resiject to these cities at the 2^resent day f

At the time when these cities flourished the art of writing was not known, so it happens that no true and authentic accounts have come down to us respecting them. There were, however, a great many legends and tales that were related in those days in regard to the manner in which tliey were built, and to the people who lived in them ; and these tales, when the art of writing was at length discovered, were narrated more or less fully in the works of various authors, and thus have come down to our dav.

NINEVEH AND THE ASSYRIANS. 2o

WAat evidence is there in respect to the truth of these accounts?

It is impossible now to determine how far these tales are true. There is no doubt, however, that the cities themselves really existed, and that they were very prosperous and powerful, for the places where they stood have been found at the present day, and the ground is covered for miles with long grassy ridges and mounds, which are found, on digging into them, to be filled with ruins and remains of every kind, bricks, sculptures, utensils, images, columns, and almost every other kind of architectural relic. Some of these relics will be presently described.

Which was the oldest of these cities f

Nineveh is supposed to have been the oldest of these two cities ; at least, the period of its power and prosperity was earlier than that in which Babylon flourished. Some of the legends and tales that are related of its early history are very curious and entertaining.

In what luay do great cities usually arise at the2rresent day, and in what situations f

And here it must be remarked, that cities and towns in ancient times were founded and built up very differently from those of the present day. Now they grow up gradually of themselves, as it were, as places of trade or of manufacture, wherever conveniences naturally exist for carrying on these pursuits, as, for example, at good landing-places on livers, or around harbors on the sea, or by the side of waterfalls, where the floAV of the water can be used to drive mills and machinery.

And how did great cities usually originate in ancient times f

In ancient times they were built by kings and chieftains to gather the people into for defense, or to make safe places for the residence of their courts, or the head-quarters of the armies.

What sort of defenses were constructed ?

The first thing to be done, therefore, in founding an ancient city, was to build a wall about it to protect the people within. It was not necessary, in general, that these walls should be very strong, for there were no cannon in those days, nor any other means of battering down a wall except to hurl stones and beams of wood against it, or to undermine and overthrow it by means of pickaxes, spades, and levers.

Where do we find the first account of the founding of Nineveh f

The first foundation of Nineveh took place at so early a period that the event is recorded in the Book of Genesis, where, in chapter X., 11, it is said, "Out of that land went Ashur, and builded Nineveh." The place was undoubtedly, at first, only a small walled town — a sort of stronghold of the chieftains who first occupied it to retreat to with their troops, and a place for the laborers to live in who cultivated the neighboring fields. It gradually increased, however, and became, at length, great and powerful.

From lohat source probably ivas its early prosperity first demved ?

This prosperity was owing, in part, to the very fertile character of the suiTOunding country ; for the whole country through which the Tigris and Euphrates flow is a vast plain, wliich has been famed from the earliest ages for the beauty of the scenery and the fruitfulness of the soil.

What tnonarch first made it a great cajntal f

Nineveh did not, however, acquire any considerable celebrity for centm'ies after this time. It was made a great capital at last by Ninus, a king of the country, who arose some centuries later, and became a mighty conqueror. Ninus possessed greater talents than the kings and chieftains around him for organizing armies and carrying on wars, and so he invaded the territories of his neighbors, and conquered them, in spite of all their efforts to resist him, and thus brought their lands under his dominion, compelling the laborers who tilled the fields to pay tribute and taxes to him instead of to them, and to work for him in building the walls of cities and towns. Thus lie made himself master of a great empire.

Describe the plans icJiich Ninus adopted for making Nineveh a great capital.

When at last he was well established in his power, he determined to build a splendid capital for the metropolis of his kingdom, and he made choice of Nineveh, which was well situated on the banks of the river, in a central part of his dominions, for the site of it. He accordingly began to lay his plans for the new city, and then proceeded to execute them on a very grand and magnificent scale by means of the money which he collected from the people, and of the labors which he compelled them to perform. He built new and strong walls around it, and reared splendid palaces, and laid out parks and gardens, and collected together a large population of merchants and artisans to carry on commerce and manufactures in it, and then, when his work was finished, he invited all the princes, potentates, and nobles of his realms to come and make it their abode.