Elements of general history, ancient and modern

Front matter

Class Book.

W

DEC *l*

Preface

THE following work contains the Outlines of a Course of Lectt&es on General History, delivered for many years in the University of Edinburgh, and received with a portion of the public approbation amply sufficient to compensate the labours of the author. He began to compose these Elements principally with the view of furnishing an aid to students attending his Lectures ; but soon conceived, that, by giving a little more amplitude to their composition, he might render the work of more general utility. As now given to the public, he would willingly flatter himself that it may be not only serviceable to youth, in furnishing a regular plan for the prosecution of this important study, but useful even to those who have acquired a competent knowledge of general history from the perusal of the works of detached historians, and who wish to methodize that knowledge, or even to refresh their memory on material facts and the order of events.

In the composition of these Elements the author has endeavoured to unite with the detail of facts, so much of reflection as to aid the mind in the formation of rational views of the causes and consequences of events, as well as of the policy of the actors ; but he has anxiously guarded against that speculative refinement which has sometimes entered into works of this nature. Such works profess to exhibit the philosophy or the spirit of history, but are more adapted to display the writer's ingenuity as a theorist, or talents as a rhetorician^ than to instruct the reader in the more useful knowledge of historical facts.

As the progress of the human mind forms a capital object in the study of history, the state of the arts and sciences, the religion, laws, government, and manners of nations, are material parts, even in an elementary work of this nature. The history of literature is a most important article in this study. The author ha3 therefore endeavoured to give to each ot these topics its due share of attention ; and in that view they are separately treated, in distinct sections, at particular periods of time.

ALEX. FRASER TYTLL1L

Edinburgh, April, 1801.

Transfer U. S.Nava? Academ* Aug. 26 1932

Contents

^•#♦4*-

Introduction

Pftfe.

Advantages arising from the Study of History, and more particularly from prosecuting it according to a regular Plan 11

PlAH Of THE COURSE 18

Part First Ancient History

Sect. 1. Earliest authentic Accounts of the History of the World 17 Sect. 2. Considerations on the Nature of the First Governments, and

on the Laws, Customs, Arts, and Sciences of the first

Ages 18

Sect. 3. Of the Egyptians 20

Sect. 4. Of the Phoenicians 22

Sect. 5. The History of Greece - ih.

Sect. 6. Reflections on the first and rudest Periods of the Grecian

History 23

Sect. 7. Early period of Grecian History. Argonautic Expedition.

Wars of Thebes and Troy ..... 24

Sect. 8. Establishment of the Greek Colonies ... 25

Sect. 9. The Republic of Sparta 26

Sect. 10. The Republic of Athens 26

Sect. 11. Of the state of the Persian Empire, and its History down to

the War with Greece ...... 29

Sect. 12. The War between Greece and Persia - 31

Sect. 13. Age of Pericles - - 33

Sect. 14. The Republic of Thebes 35

Sect. 15. Philip of Macedon ..... . ib.

Sect. 16. Alexander the Great 36

Sect. 17. Successors of Alexander 38

Sect. 18. Fall and conquest of Greece 39 Sect 19. Political Reflections arising from the History of the States of

Greece - - « 40

Sect 20 State of the Arts in Greece 41

Sect. 21 Of the Greek Poets 43

Sect. 22. Of the Greek Historians 45

Sect. 23. Of the Greek Philosophers 47

Sect. 24 The History of Rome - 49

Reflections on the Government and State of Rome under the

Kings - 0|

A2

" CONTENTS.

Page- Sect. 25. Rome under the Consuls ------ 53

Sect. 26. The Law ofVolero ----.. 56

Sect, 27. The Decern virate -------- 57

Sect. 28. Increase of popular Power 58

Sect. 29. Conquest of .Italy by the Romans 59

Sect. 30. History of Carthage 60

Sect. 31. History of Sicily - 61

Sect. 32. The Punic Wars 62

Sect. 33. The Gracchi, and the Corruption of the Commonwealth 64 Sect 34. Progress of the Civil Wars. Second Triumvirate, and fall of

the Republic -- 67

Sect. 35. Considerations on such particulars as mark the Genius and

national Character of the Romans ... - 70

System of Roman Education - ib.

Sect. 36. Of the Progress of Literature among the Romans - 71

Sect. 37. State of Philosophy among the Romans - 75

Sect. 38. Of the Public and Private Manners of the Romans - - 76

Sect. 39. Of the Art of War among the Romans - - 77 Sect. 40. Reflections arising from a View of the Roman History dnring

the Commonwealth ------ 79

Sect. 41. Rome under the Emperors ------ 81

Sect. 42. The same subject continued - 84

Sect. 43. Age of the Antonines, &c. 87

Sect. 44. State of the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine. His

Successors 90

Sect. 45. Progress of the Christian Religion from its Institution to the

Extinction of Paganism in the Reign of Theodosius - 93

Sect. 46. Extinction of the Roman Empire in the West - - 95 Sect. 47. Of the Origin, Manners, and Character of the Gothic Nations

before their establishment in the Roman Empire - 97 Sect. 48. Of the Manners, Laws, and Government of the Gothic Nations after their establishment in the Roman Empire 99 Sect. 49. Method of studying Ancient History ... - IQ2

Part Second. Modern History

Sect. 1. Of Arabia and the Empire of the Saracens - - 106

Sect. 2. Monarchy of the Franks - - - 108

Sect. 3. Reflections on the State of France during the Merovingian

race of its Kings 109

Sect. 4. Charlemagne. The new Empire of the West - - 112 Sect. 5. Manners, Governments, and Customs of the Age of Charlemagne 113

Sect. 6. Retrospective View of the Affairs of the Church before the

Age of Charlemagne ------ 115

Sect. 7. Empire of the West under the Successors of Charlemagne 116 Sect. 8. Empire of the East during the Eighth and Ninth Centuries 118 Sect. 9. State of the Church in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries - 1.19 Sect 10. Of the Saracens in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries - 120

Sect. 11. Empire of the West and Italy in the Tenth and Eleventh

Centuries 121

Sect. 12. History of Britain from its earliest Period down to the Norman Conquest 123

Sec?. 13 Of the Government, Laws and Manners of the Angk>-Sax©»« 127

CONTENTS. ?

Page. fleet. 14. State of Europe during the Tenth, Eleventh, and TwelAh

Centuries 128

Sect. 15. History of England in the Eleventh, Twelfth, and part of the

Thirteenth Centuries 130

Sect. 16. State of Germany and Italy in the Thirteenth Century 134

Sect. 17. The Crusades or Holy Wars 135

Sect. 18. Of Chivalry and Romance 138

Sect. 19. State of Europe in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries 140

Sect. 20. Revolution in Switzerland - 141

Sect. 21. State of Europe continued in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and

part of the Fifteenth Centuries - - 142

Sect. 22. History of England in the Thirteenth Century - - 143

Sect. 23. History of Scotland from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth

Sect. 24. History of England in the Fourteenth Century - - 146

Sect. 25. England and France in the Fifteenth Century. State of

Manners - 147

Sect. 26. Decline and Fall of the Greek Empire ... 149

Sect. 27. Government and Policy of the Turkish Empire - - 150

Sect. 28. France and Italy in the End of the Fifteenth Century 151

Sect. 29. History of Spain in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 152 Sect. 30. France, Spain, and Italy, in the End of the Fifteenth and Beginning of the Sixteenth Century .... 153 Sect. 31. History of England from the Middle of the Fifteenth to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. Civil Wars of York

and Lancaster 154

Sect. 32. History of Scotland from the Middle of the Fourteenth Century to the End of the Reign of James V. - - 156 Sect. 33. Of the Ancient Constitution of the Scottish Government 159 Sect. 34. A view of the Progress of Literature and Science in Europe from the Revival of Letters to the End of the Fifteenth

Sect. 35. View of the Progress of Commerce in Europe before the

Portuguese Discoveries 163

Sect 36. Discoveries of the Portuguese in the Fifteenth Century, and

their effects on the Commerce of Europe ... 165 Sect. 37. Germany and France in the Reigns of Charles V. and Francis I. 167

Sect. 38. Observations on the Constitution of the German Empire 170

Sect. 39. Of the Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, and the

Revolution in Denmark and Sweden .... 171 Sect. 40. Of the Reformation in England under Henry VIII. and hi 3

Successors 174

Sect. 41. Of the Discovery and Conquest of America by the Spaniards 175 Sect. 42. Possessions of the other European Nations in America 177

Sect. 43 Of the State of the Fine Arts in Europe, in the Age of Leo X. 180 Sect. 44. Of the Ottoman Power in the Sixteenth Century - - 182 Sect. 45. State of Persia, and the other Asiatic Kingdoms, in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - . . „ 183

Sect. 46. History of. India 184

Sect. 47. Ancient State of India ; Manners, Laws, Arts, and Sciences,

and Religion, of the Hindoos ..... 186

Sect. 48. Of China and Japan 188

Sect. 49. Of the Antiquity of the Empire of China. State of the Arts

and Sciences, Manners, Government, Laws - - 189

Sect. 50. Mr. Bailly ; s Theory of the Origin of the Sciences among the

Nations of Asia ....... 192

Sect. 51 Reign of Philip II. of Spam. Revolution of the Netherlands,

and Establishment of the Republic of Holland - 194

Sect 52 Of the Constitution and Government of the United Provinces 196 Sect. 53 Reign of Philip II. continued - 197

Sect. 64. State of France in the End of the Sixteenth Century, under Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and

Henry IV. 197

Sect 55. History of England and Scotland in the Reigns of Elizabeth

and'Mary Queen of Scots 199

Sect 56. History of Great Britain in the Reigns of James I. and

Sect. 57. The Commonwealth of England ..... 207 Sect. 58. Reigns of Charles II. and James II. - - - 209

Sect. 59. On the British Constitution 211

Sect. 60 Ofthe Public Revenue of Great Britain - - 214

Sect 61 History of France under Lewis XIII. ... 216

Sect 62. Spain under Philip III. and Philip IV. Constitution of Portugal and Spain -------- 217

Sect. 63. Affairs of Germany from the Abdication of Charles V. to the

Peace of Westphalia ... - . 218

Sect. 64. France under Lewis XIV. - - 219

Sect. 65. Of the Constitution of France under the Monarchy - 223

Sect 66. Of Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, and Charles XII.,

King of Sweden 224

8ect. 67. A View of the Progress of Science and Literature in Europe, from the End ofthe Fifteenth to the End of the Sixteenth Century -- 227

Appendix

THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS.

Sect. 1. A General View of the History of Mankind in the Primeval

Ages 231

Sect. 2. Summary View of Jewish History - 232

Sect. 3. The Antiquity of the Scriptures ----- 233

Sect. 4. The Subject of the Books, and Characters ofthe Writers 235

Sect. 5. Of the Antediluvian World 240

Sect. 6. First Ages after the Deluge ------ 241

Sect. 7. Ofthe Jews -----.._ ft

Sect. 8. The History of the Hebrews during the Government of the

Judges - 244

Sect. 9. Retrospect ofthe Government ofthe Hebrews - - 245

Sect. 10. Regal Government of the Hebrews - 246

Sect 11. Restoration ofthe Jews to their Liberty and Country - 249

Sect. 12. The State of Learning and Commerce amon'g the Jews 252

Conclusion 253

Part Third

Sect. 1. France, from the death of Lewis XIV., 1,715, to the P«ace ef

Pige.

Sect 9. England, from the Accession of the House of Hanover,

1,714, to the end of the Reign of George the First, 1,727 262

Sect. 3L Austria, (and Germany,) from the Peace of Rastadt, 1,714,

tothePeaceof Aix-la-Chapelle, 1,748 268

Sect 4. England, from the Accession of George II. to the Throne,

Sect 5. State of Europe at the Conclusion of the Peace of Aix-la- Chapelle, 1,748 278

Sect 6. Of the Seven Years' War, 1,755—1,762 281

Sect. 7. From the Accession of George III., 1,760, to the Commencement of the Disputes with America, 1,764 - 288

Sect 8. Disputes between Great Britain and her American Colonies,

1,764—1,783 291

Sect 9. France, from the Peace of Paris, 1,763, to the Opening of the

Assembly of the States General, 1,789 - - - 297

Sect 10. Austria, from the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, to the

death of Maria Theresa, 1,763— 1,780 - 307

Sect 11. Reigns of Joseph II., Leopold II., &c, from 1,765 to 1,800 309

Sect 12. France, from the Opening of the Assembly of the States

General, 1,789, to the deaths of the King and Queen, 1,793 316

Sect 13. Great Britain, from the conclusion of the American War,

1,783, to the Peace of Amiens, 1,802 - 322

Sect. 14. France, from the death of the King and Queen, and Overthrow of the Girondist or Brissotine Party, 1,793, to the Establishment of the Directory, 1,795 333

Sect. 15. France, from the Establishment of the Directory 1,795, to the

Peace of Amiens 337

Sect. 16. France, from the Peace of Amiens to the Treaty of Tilsit,

1,807 347

Sect. 17. Spam and Portugal, from 1,788 to 1,814 - - - 353

Sect. 18. France, from the Peace of Tilsit, to the Abdication of Napoleon. 1,814 359

Sect. 19. Poland, from the Commencement of the Eighteenth Century,

to the Treaty of Vienna, 1,815 .... 363

Sect. 20. Great Britain, from the Peace of Amiens, 1,802, to the death

of George III., 1,820 369

Sect. 21. France, from the Entrance of the Allies into Paris, March, 1,814, to the final Evacuation of it by the Foreign Troops, 1,818 375

Sect. 22. Northern States of Europe, from the Close of the Seventeenth Century 379

Sect 23. Southern States of Europe, from the Close of the Seventeenth

Sect. 24. Of India, or Hindoostan 391

State of Arts, Sciences, Religion, Laws, Government, Ac. - - 39S

Botany ... 402

Electricity 405

Mineralogy and Geology ........ 407

Geography - 409

Discoveries and Inventions .... ... 419

Religion -. 420

History, Polite Literature, Fine Arts, eVc. -..-..- 423

Part Fourth. The United States

Pace

Sect. 1. Discovery of America 424

Sect. 2. Discoveries by the English. Settlement of Virginia. - 427

Sect. 3. Settlement of Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New- Hampshire, Maine. Maryland, North and South Carolina, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Georgia - - - 431

Sect. 4. War with France, and Conquest of Canada. Disputes with

Great Britain, and War of the Revolution ... 438 Sect. 5. Establishment of the State and National Governments. Wars

with Tripoli and the Indians, &c. - 448

Sect 6. War with Great Britain, &c. ..... 451

A Table of Chronology 460

Comparative view of Ancient and Modern Geography - 499

INTRODUCTION.

1. THE value of any science is to be estimated according to its tendency to promote improvement, either in private virtue, or in those qualities which render man extensively useful in society. Some objects of pursuit have a secondary utility ; in furnishing rational amusement, which, relieving the mind at intervals from the fatigue of serious occupation, invigorates and prepares it for fresh exertion. It is the perfection of any ■cience, to unite these advantages, to promote the advancement of public and private virtue, and to supply such a degree of amusement, as to supersede the necessity of recurring to frivolous pursuits for the sake of relaxation. Under this description falls the science of history.

2. History, says Dionysius of Halicarnassus, is " philosophy teaching by examples." The superior efficacy of example to precept is universally acknowledged. All the laws of morality and rules of conduct are verified by experience, and are constantly submitted to its test and examination. History, which adds to our own experience an immense treasure of the experience of others, furnishes innumerable proofs, by which we may cerify all the precepts of morality and of prudence.

3. History, beside its general advantages, has a distinct species of util- Jty to different men, according to their several ranks in society, and occupations in life.

4. In this country it is an indispensable duty of every man of liberal birth, to be acquainted, in a certain degree, with the science of politics ; *nd history is the school of politics. It opens to us the springs of human Affairs ; the causes of the rise, grandeur, revolutions, and fall of empires ; it points out the reciprocal influence of government and of national manners ; it dissipates prejudices, nourishes the love of our country, and directs to the best means of its improvement ; it illustrates equally the blessings of political union, and the miseries of faction ; the danger, on one hand, of anarchy, and, on the other, the debasing influence of despotic power.

5. It is necessary that the study of history should be prosecuted according to a regular plan ; for this science, more perhaps than any other, is liable to perversion from its proper use. With some it is no better than an idle amusement ; with others it is the food of vanity ; with a third class it fosters the prejudices of party, and leads to political bigotry. It is dangerous for those who, even with the best intentions, seek for historical knowledge, to pursue the study without a guide ; for no science has been so little methodized. The sources of prejudice are infinite ; and the mind of youth should not be left undirected amidst the erring, the partial, and contradictory representations of historians. Besides the importance of being able to discriminate truth from falsehood, the attention ought to be directed only to useful truths. Much danger arises from the perusal ol memoirs, collections of anecdotes, &c. ; for many of those works exhibit the most depraved pictures, weaken our confidence in virtue, and present the most unfavourable views of human nature.

U INTRODUCTION.

6. There are many difficulties which attend the attempt of forming * proper plan of study, and giving: an instructive view of general history. Utility is to be reconciled with amusement, prejudices are to be encountered, variety of taste to be consulted, political opinions balanced, judgment and decision exercised on topics keenly controverted. The proposer of such a plan ought therefore to be possessed equally of firmness of mind and moderation of sentiment. In many cases he must abandon popularity for the calm approbation of his own conscience. Disregarding every partial and inferior consideration, he must direct his view solely to tre proper end of all education, the forming of good men, and of good citizens.

7. The object and ^naral purpose of the following course, is to exhibit a progressiva view of the state of mankind, from the earliest ages of which we have any authentic accounts, down to the close of the 17th century ; to delineate the origin of states and of empires, the great outlines of their history, the revolutions which they have undergone, the causes which have contributed to their rise and grandeur, and operated to their decline and extinction. For these purposes it is necessary to bestow particular attention on the manners of nations, their laws, the nature of their governments, their religion, their intellectual improvements, and their progress in the arts and sciences.

PLAN OF THE COURSE.

T WO opposite methods have been followed in giving- academical lecture* on the study of history : one exhibiting a strict chronological arrangement of events, upon the plan of Turselline's Epitome ; the other, a series of disquisitions on the various heads or titles of public law, and the doctrines of politics ; illustrated by examples drawn from ancient and modern history. Objections occur to both these methods : the former furnishes only a dry chronicle of events, which nothing connects together but the order of time ; the latter is insufficient for the most important purposes of history, the tracing f events to their causes, the detection of the springs of human actions, the display of the progress of society, and of the rise and fall of states and empires ; finally, by confining history to the exemplification of the doctrines of politics, we lose its effect as a school of morals.

In the following lectures we hold a middle course between these extremes, and endeavour, by remedying the imperfection of each, to unite, if possible, the advantages of both. ^

While so much regard is had to chronology as is necessary for showing the progress of mankind in society, and communicating just ideas of the state ofthe world in all the different ages to which authentic history extends, we shall, in the delineation of the rise and fall of empires and their revolutions, pay more attention to the connexion of subject than that of

In' this view we must reject the comman method of arranging general history according to epochs, or aeras

When the world is viewed at any period either of ancient or of modern history, we generally observe one nation or empire predominant, to whom all the rest bear, as it were, an under part, and to whose history we find that the principal events in the annals of other nations may be referred from some natural connexion. This predominant empire or state it is proposed to exhibit to view as the principal object, whose history therefore is to be more fully delineated, while the rest are only incidentally touched when they come to have a natural connexion with the principal.

The Jewish history, belonging to a different department of academical education, enters not into the plan of these lectures ; though we often resort to the sacred writings for detached facts illustrative of the manners •f ancient nations. See appendix.

In the ancient world, among the profane nations, the Greeks are the earliest people who make a dist:nguished figure, and whose history is at the same time authentic. t -'«...

The Greeks owed their civilization to the Egyptians and Phoenicians. The Grecian history is therefore properly introduced by a short account of these nations, and of the Assyrians, their rivals, conquered at one time by the Egyptians, and conquerors afterwards of them in their turn.

Rise of the independent states of Greece, and singular constitution ot the two great republics of Sparta and Athens.

The war of Greece with Persia induces a short account of the preceding periods of the history of that nation, the rise of the Persian monarchy, the nature of its government, manners, and religion. B

14 PLAN OF THE COURSE.

The Grecian history is pursued through all the revolutions of the nation, till Greece becomes a province of the Roman empire.

Political reflections applicable to the history of the Btates of Greece. — Progress of the Greek- in the arts.— Of the Greek poets, — historians, — philosophers.

Rome, after the conquest of Greece, becomes the leading- object of attention.

Origin of the Romans. — Nature of their government under the kings.— Easy substitution of the consular for the regal dignity. — Subsequent changes in the constitution. — Progress to a democracy. — Extension of the Roman arm3. — Conquest of Italy. — Wars with foreign nations.

The Punic wars open a collateral view to the history of Carthage and of Sicily.

Success of the Roman arms in Asia, Macedonia, and Greece. — Opulence of the republic from her conquests, and corruption of her manners.^ The civil wars, and ruin of the commonwealth.

Particulars which mark the genius and national spirit of the R.omans : — education, — laws, — literary character, — art of war, — public and private manners.

Rome under the emperors, — Artful policy by which the first emperors disguised their absolute authority. — Decline of the ambitious character of the Romans. — Easy submission to the loss of civil liberty. — The military spirit purposely abased by the emperors. — The empire divided becomes a languid body, without internal vigour. — The Gothic nations pour down from the north. — Italy conquered successively by the Heruli, Ostrogoths, and Lombards. — Extinction of the western empire-

The manners, genius, laws, and government of the Gothic nations, form an important object of inquiry, from their influence on the manners and policy of the modern European kingdoms.

In the delineation of modern history the leading objects of attention are more various ; the scene is oftener changed : nations, which for a while occupy the chief attention, become for a time subordinate, and afterwards re-assume their rank as principal ; yet the same plan is pursued as in the department of ancient history : the picture is occupied only by one great object at a time, to which all the rest hold an inferior rank, and are taken notice of only when connected with the principal.

Upon the fall of the western empire, the Saracens are the first who dis tinguish themselves by the extension of their conquests, and the splen« dour of their dominion.

While the Saracens extend their arms in the east and in Africa, a nf-w empire of the west is founded by Charlemagne. — The rise and progress xA the monarchy of the Franks. — The origin of the feudal system. — State ol the European manners in the age of Charlemagne. — Government, arts and sciences, literature.

As collateral objects of attention, we survey the remains of the Roman empire in the east ; the conquests and settlements of the Normans ; the foundation and progress of the temporal dominion of the church of Rome ; the conquest of Spain by the Saracens.

The conquest of England by the Normans solicits our attention to the history of Britain. Retrospective view of the British history, from its earliest period to the end of the Anglo-Saxon government in England. — Observations on the government, laws, and manners, of the Anglo-Saxons.

Collateral view of the state of the continental kingdoms of Europe, during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. — France under the Capetian race of monarchs. — Conquests of the Normans in Italy and Sicily.- — State of the northern kingdoms of Europe. The eastern empire. — Empire oi Germany. — Disputes of supremacy between the popes ana the emperor*.

PLAN OF THE COURSE. 15

The history of Britain still the principal object of attention. — England under the kings of the Norman line, and the first princes of the Plantagenet branch. — The conquest of Ireland, under Henry II., introduces an anticipated progressive view of the political connexion between England and Ireland down to the present time. As we proceed in the delineation of the British history, we note particularly those circumstances which mark the growth of the English constitution.

At this period all the kingdoms of Europe join in the crusades. — A brief account is given of those enterprises. — Moral and political effects of the crusades on the nations of Europe. —Origin of chivalry, and rise of romantic fiction.

Short connected sketch of the state of the European nations after the crusades.-^Rise of the house of Austria. — Decline of the feudal government in France. — Establishment of the Swiss republics. — Disorders in the popedom. — Council of Constance.

The history of Britain resumed. — England under Henry HI. and Edward I. — The conquest of Wales. — The history of Scotland at this period intimately connected with that of England. — View of the Scottish history from Malcolm Canmore to Robert Bruce. — State of both kingdoms during the reigns of Edward II. and III. — The history of France connected with that of Britain. — France itself won by Henry V.

The state of the east at this period affords the most interesting object of attention. — The progress of the Ottoman arms retarded for a while by th« conquests of Tamerlane and of Scanderbeg. — The Turks prosecute the: victories under Mahomet the great, to the total extinction of the Constaatinopolitan empire. — The constitution and policy of the Turkish empire

France, in this age, emancipates herself from the feudal servitude ; and Spain, from the union of Arragon and Castile, and the fall of the kingdom cf the Moors, becomes one monarchy under Ferdinand and Isabella.

The history of Britain is resumed. — Sketch of the history of England down to the reign of Henry VIII. ; of Scotland, during the reigns of the five Jameses. — Delineation of the ancient constitution of the Scottish government.

The end of the fifteenth century is a remarkable sere in the history of Europe. Learning and the sciences underwent at that time a very rapid improvement ; and, after ages of darkness, shone out at once with surprising lustre. — A connected view is presented of the progress of literature in Europe, from its revival down to this period. — In the same age the advancement of navigation, and the course to India by the Cape of Good Hope, explored by the Portuguese, affect the commerce of all the Europe an kingdoms.

The age of Charles V. unites in one connected view the affairs of Germany, of Spain, of France, of England, and of Italy. The discovery of the new world, the reformation in Germany and England, and the splendour of the fine arts under the pontificate of Leo X., render this period one of the most interesting in the annals of mankind.