4—By some chronological confusion the new era has been made to begin four years before the appearance of the founder of Christianity. When Augustus had settled the whole empire he ordered the temple of Janus to be closed and a census taken of all its inhabitants, which numbered one hundred and twenty millions. On this occasion Jesus Christ was born.10—A Roman army under Varus was defeated and cut to pieces in Germany. It was the severest defeat the Romans had suffered since the overthrow and death of Crassus, by the Parthians, sixty-three years before.14—The Emperor Augustus died and was succeeded by his step-son, Tiberius.29—Jesus Christ was crucified by Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea, at the solicitation, and on the accusation, of the leading Jews.37—Tiberius died and was succeeded by Caligula. The commencement of the reign of Tiberius was wise and moderate, but he soon became violent and cruel. Caligula was a still greater monster of wickedness.40—Growing weary of his cruelty he was assassinated by one of his officers, and his uncle, Claudius, was raised to the throne. He was of feeble intellect and became the tool of infamous favorites. He was poisoned by order of his wife, Agrippina.54—Nero, the son of Agrippina by a former husband, was made emperor at seventeen years of age. He exceededall description in folly, extravagance and crime. His violence and barbarity fell generally on the patricians and members of his court, but he was esteemed by the common people, as were most of the emperors, who spent vast sums on theatres and spectacles for their amusement. The two bases of the empire were the populace and the army. The emperor was terrible and tyrannical chiefly to the patricians, while the army made him formidable to the provinces and the barbarians. A conflagration which some attributed to the orders64—of Nero lasted nine days and destroyed the greater part of Rome. Nero cast the blame on the Christians, who had become numerous, and raised a horrible persecution against them.66—The Jews rebelled and defied the Roman Empire.68—Nero was dethroned by the Roman senate and army, and committed suicide to avoid punishment for his crimes.69—Three emperors, Galba, Otho and Vitellius, were placed on the throne in succession, but rebellions were raised against them and all were put to death. Vespasian, then besieging Jerusalem, was proclaimed emperor by his army at the desire of the rulers of the eastern provinces, and, in the same year, overcame all opposition and commenced the first reign since Augustus that was free from disgraceful profligacy and public crime.70—Titus, the son of Vespasian, captured and destroyed Jerusalem. Vespasian, during a reign of ten years, restored order and prosperity to Rome and the empire, but not without great labor and danger.79—Titus succeeded as emperor, and was remarkable for his clemency and care for his subjects. During his reign occurred the most fearful eruption of the volcano Vesuvius on record. Herculaneum and Pompeii, two wealthy and flourishing cities, were destroyed, beingburied by the ashes. Pliny, an eminent writer, was suffocated while observing the eruption.81—Titus died, to the great grief and loss of mankind, and was succeeded by his brother, Domitian, who was one of the most infamous rulers that ever desolated the earth. He raised a violent persecution against the Christians for refusing to adore his statues and worship him as a god. Among the victims was his own cousin, Clemens, who had embraced Christianity. He96—was assassinated by his wife and officers in self-defense, and the senate proclaimed Nerva, a native of Crete, emperor. He was remarkable for his lenity and all the gentle virtues. He was followed, after a reign of two98—years, by Trajan, whom he had adopted as his colleague and successor, who is said to have been the greatest and most deserving person of his time. He was, by birth, a Spaniard, was wise and successful as a warrior and statesman, and extremely noble as a man. He bridged the Danube and the Euphrates rivers and conquered both the Germans and Parthians on the north and east of the empire. A stain on his memory was the persecution of the Christians.117—He was succeeded by Adrian, in whose reign all the Roman laws, or annual edicts of the prætors, were compiled into one body, and law assumed the dignity of a science. He promoted literature, but continued the persecution of the Christians. A rebellion of the139—Jews was punished with merciless severity. He was followed by Antoninus Pius, who suspended all persecution of Christians, promoted the best interests of all parts of the empire, and introduced, during a prosperous reign of twenty-two years, the most important reforms into every part of the government.161—Marcus Aurelius, called the Philosopher, succeeded. He carried on a successful war with the Germans, and made the welfare of his subjects his special care, butwas seduced, by the pagan philosophers, into a persecution of the Christians. Having discovered his error he stopped it, toward the close of his reign. Commodus,180—his son, inherited the purple. He also inherited a vicious and cruel disposition, and received a demoralizing education from his mother. He was a monster of vice and cruelty. He was assassinated in192—his bed by his own family and guards to save their lives. Pertinax reigned three months, but, attempting to restrain the license of the soldiery, he was murdered by them. The soldiers in Rome then proclaimed that the empire was for sale, and a rich merchant, Didius, bought it from them and reigned in Rome two months,193—when he was also slain by the army. Septimus Severus, an able general, seized the purple which he secured against many rivals, and retained for eighteen years. His vigor alone prevented general anarchy, but he was systematically cruel.211—Caracalla, his son, succeeded. He was a bloody and atrocious tyrant, supported on the throne only by his soldiers, whose aid he secured by large pay. He was217—murdered by the commander of his guards, Macrinus, who succeeded in acquiring his place, but was soon218—murdered by the soldiers. They raised Heliogabalus, a young Syrian priest of fourteen years of age, through the assurance of his female relatives that he was the son of Caracalla, to the purple. He is described as the most cruel and infamous of all the Roman emperors.222—After four years of horrible crime, he was slain in a mutiny of his guard and his body thrown into the Tiber. Alexander Severus succeeded. He was apparently a secret admirer of Christianity and a model235—prince. He was murdered by Maximin, a Thracian peasant, who had, by his valor, risen to high command in the army, who seized the reins of power. He was successful in war, but his severity provoked mutiny in238—various parts of the empire, and he was slain by his own soldiers. Gordian succeeded, a heroic youth of a noble family. He was successful in war, but was murdered244—by his own prime minister, Philip, an Arabian, who became emperor. He favored the Christians, and reigned five years. In his reign, the thousandth year of the foundation of Rome was celebrated by public249—games. He was slain in a revolt by Decius, the general of his army, who occupied the throne. He raised a most violent storm of persecution against the Christians, who were despoiled of their goods and driven to caves and deserts. From this time is dated the sect of250—anchorites, or hermits, who imagined they could acquire superior holiness by abandoning society and devoting themselves to meditation and prayer. The idea appears to have been derived from the Persian Magians, who, in this century restored the ancient dynasty and religion of the Persians, or Parsees, in Persia. During the political and social disorganization that soon commenced the anchorites became numerous, and the system was extensively prevalent for a thousand years to the great injury of active and true Christianity.251—Decius was slain in a battle with the Goths, who had invaded the empire, and Gallus became emperor.253—He was put to death by Emilianus, who attempted to seize the reins of government, but the army elected Valerian, governor of Gaul. The empire was invaded by the Goths on the north and the Persians under their king, Sapor, on the east. From this time, it had to259—fight for its life. Valerian was defeated by Sapor and remained nine years in captivity, Gallienus, his son, becoming emperor. He was extremely incompetent and a multitude of rival claimants for the supreme authority arose in all directions. They were called the “Thirty Tyrants.” One of them, Odenatus, king of Palmyra, in the Syrian desert, defeated Sapor, andGallienus proclaimed him his colleague. On the death of Odenatus, his wife, Zenobia, assumed the title of “Queen of the East,” conquered Egypt and ruled a wide region with success and splendor. Both Goths262—and Persians invaded Asia Minor. Gallienus was murdered268—and Claudius succeeded. He defeated the Goths270—but died in a pestilence. Aurelian succeeded. He was an able general. He subdued the Germans and272—Goths, and conquered Zenobia, one of the most remarkable275—women of history. Aurelian was assassinated by some victims of his severity, and Tacitus, a Roman senator succeeded, but died in seven months, and was followed by Probus. He was a vigorous general, and drove back the barbarians on all sides, but attempting to employ his soldiers in labor on public works, they282—revolted and murdered him. Carus, the captain of the283—imperial guard, was raised to the throne. Dying the next year, his sons, Carinus and Numerianus, inherited his authority, but Numerianus was assassinated in a284—few months by his father-in-law, and Diocletian, said to have been formerly a slave, was proclaimed emperor by the army. This was called “The Era of the Martyrs,” from the long and bloody persecutions against the Christians. This was the tenth general attack on them, and proved to be the last. The barbarians pressing in great force on all sides, Diocletian appointed several colleagues, and their united ability drove the invaders back.305—Diocletian resigned his power to Galerius, who appointed three associates, making a division of the empire. One of these, Constantius, died in Britain, and was succeeded306—by his son, Constantine. For a time, there were six emperors, but one was killed, Galerius died, and Constantine conquered the others.312—Constantine changed the whole character of the empire by embracing Christianity and relying largely on thatelement for the support of his power, while he disbanded the Pretorian, or royal Guard, which had for two hundred years assumed to make and unmake emperors, and whose example, imitated by the other armies, kept the world periodically disturbed by the disputes and battles of rival claimants to the imperial purple. By the313—edict of Milan, Constantine abolished all laws unfriendly to Christianity; he restored the authority of the senate and magistrates, and removed his capital from Rome to Constantinople.324—The pagan element was now so worn and decrepit that no general disorders resulted. Whatever was left rallied under Licinus, who was conquered by Constantine. It appears to have been the strength of the Christian element and its essential hostility to the Roman principle of violent subjugation that produced so many and fierce persecutions. Had it not been for the pressure of barbarians on the empire the prevalence of that system would have preserved society and the state for a thousand years more, as it actually did in the Eastern empire; but every thing that man has the management of must be affected by his limitations, his mistakes and his follies. Christianity needed a better ally, a fresher and purer society, built up by the young blood and better instincts of another and newer people.Constantine paid great respect to the clergy of the church and took a leading part in its general counsels—a great mistake and a great misfortune.325—His spiritual supremacy was virtually acknowledged at the council of Nice which he convoked.330—Constantine died leaving his vast dominions to his three sons, who, in the course of ten years, were reduced to one, Constantius. After a troubled reign of twenty361—years more, he died, and was succeeded by his cousin Julian, called the “Apostate,” from his renouncing Christianity and laboring to restore the pagan religion.In this he signally failed. He undertook to rebuild the Jewish temple at Jerusalem, without success.363—He was mortally wounded in an invasion of Persia, and was succeeded by Jovian, who restored imperial favor364—to the Christian religion. He died after one years reign and Valentinian was elected emperor by the council of ministers and generals. He divided the empire with his brother, Valens, and afterward Rome and Constantinople usually had each an emperor. Valentinian died375—and was succeeded by his son, Gratian.378—The Huns appeared in Europe, having wandered from the borders of China, and defeated Valens with dreadful slaughter. Valens himself was among the slain. This was the commencement of the great migrations that finally overwhelmed the Roman Empire of the west.379—Gratian, left sole emperor, appointed Theodosius, called The Great, his colleague, who subdued the Goths, repelled the Huns, and restored order.383—Gratian was murdered by the usurper Maximus.388—Theodosius conquered and put Maximus to death and restored Valentinian II., brother of Gratian, to the throne of the western empire. In a few years the whole394—empire was reunited by the death of Valentinian. Theodosius soon died, universally lamented, leaving the two empires to his sons, Honorius and Arcadius.402—Alaric, the Goth, invaded Italy and, though defeated, endangered the safety of Rome.408—Theodosius II. succeeded to the empire of the east.410—Alaric again invaded Italy and sacked Rome. Alaric soon after died and his forces were persuaded, by negotiations, to leave Italy, but they permanently established themselves in Spain and Southern Gaul (France). Thus the empire began to fall to pieces.425—Honorius died and Valentinian III. became emperor.429—The Vandals soon conquered the Roman provinces inAfrica, under their king, Genseric. They extended440—their conquests to Sicily.447—Attila, called the “Scourge of God,” appeared at the head of the Huns, and Theodosius made a humiliating treaty with him to save his dominions from desolation.448—In the next year the Saxons and Angles were invited into Britain by the civilized Romans, to protect them from the Picts and Scots, and laid the foundation of the modern Anglo-Saxon race, and the Franks invaded Gaul laying the foundations of the modern kingdom of France. England received its name from the Angles—France from the Franks.451—Attila, the Hun, invaded Gaul, and was defeated at452—Chalons, by the united Romans and Visigoths. Attila then invaded Italy and laid it waste, but died before he454—had completed the ruin of the empire. Valentinian III. was murdered, and the Vandals from Sicily invaded Italy and sacked Rome.SECTION XIII.THE RISE OF MODERN NATIONS.476—After a succession of puppet emperors in Rome, Odoacer abolished the name and took the title of king of Italy. He was a German in command of the auxiliaries in Roman pay. Thus ended, in disaster and disgrace, the once mighty Roman Empire. Its ruin was gradual and the barbarians who overthrew it had already embraced Christianity, so that the institutions of the church did not share its fall.486—Clovis, king of the Franks, defeated the Romans and Gauls at the battle of Soissons. The Ostrogoths invaded492—Italy under Theodoric the Great, deposed Odoacer, and founded a new kingdom.496—Clovis defeated the invading Germans and embraced500—Christianity. Clovis next defeated the Burgundians.507—He subdued the Visigoths and all France was united under one rule. He was of the Merovingian line, or dynasty, of kings, which lasted over two hundred years, during which the remains of Roman civilization and the influence of the church were gradually modifying and penetrating the character of a new and energetic race.527—Justinian became the ruler of the Eastern or Grecian Empire.534—His generals waged war with the Vandals in Africa and the Ostrogoths in Italy, and after eighteen years of conflict, succeeded in reconquering part of Italy, which the Greek emperors continued to hold nominally for about three hundred years; the seat of their representative being at Ravenna. He was called an Exarch. Rome itself was left, substantially, to the control of the Christian bishop. When the Lombards founded a kingdom568—in the north of Italy they were prevented, by the exarch and bishop, from spreading over the southern part; and when the exarch threatened to become too powerful to suit the views of the bishop, he supported the Lombards. Thus the temporal or political power of the popes arose, and they were the politic authors of the “Balance of Power” theory, or system, that has played so large a part in European history. The result has been exceedingly favorable to progress in all directions, since it has secured the independence of states, and a more various and perfect civilization by the development of the special genius of each people. Many circumstances conspired to support this idea, in later times, and render it very prominent and influential.This gradual advance of the bishop of Rome in political influence associated him with the mighty memories of the “Eternal City,” and suggested the idea of a spiritual empire over all Christendom, which gradually became realized and quite changed the characterof Christianity for near 800 years. Hurtful as it ultimately became, by reviving a universal despotism over conscience and freedom of thought, it was long powerful for good by giving a common centre to Europe, broken into fragments as it was by the rise of feudalism. That was disorganizing; this was centralizing, and kept the channels of communication open and the missionary spirit and the elements of a restored learning in activity. Its influence in commencing and carrying forward the crusades, which substantially broke the strength of feudalism, was of immense importance.622—Mahomet arose in the Arabian peninsula, and his new religion spread with astonishing rapidity. In one hundred732—years from the death of Mahomet the Saracens had established a vast empire, covering two thirds of the Roman empire, viz.: all of the old Persian empire, Egypt, and all of northern Africa and Spain, and threatened to inundate Europe. They poured a vast army over the Pyrenees into France. This was defeated in a great battle at Tours, by Charles Martel, who founded a new dynasty, replacing the Merovingian, called the Carlovingian, and made France the most powerful, as it became the leading, nation in Europe, for promoting civilization during many centuries.By this means the center of political influence, “The Star of Empire,” took another step westward. His son, Pepin le Bref, or the Short, caused himself to be752—crowned king of France by the Roman Pontiff, Stephen II., which added to his own prestige, as it also did to that of the pope. It was a sort of league between the rising temporal and spiritual powers in Europe, and set an example long followed. Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the son of Pepin, ascended the throne in 771,771—and by his intelligence, energy, and wise statesmanship, by his encouragement of learning, his organizing talentsand his success in conquering and civilizing the seething mass of nationalities in Germany, he may be said to have really founded modern civilization during his long reign of forty-three years. He conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, and was crowned by the pope, Adrian I, “Emperor of the Romans,” kneeling at the altar in Rome; but he virtually confirmed the temporal authority of the popes, and associated their influence in all his conquests. He thoroughly broke the spirit of the pagan Saxons, in northwestern Germany, by a war of thirty-three years, carried his conquests east over most of the present Austrian empire, civilizing and bringing the barbarians into the pale of Christendom by the aid of Christian missionaries, and conquered some portions of Spain from the Saracens.It seemed as if the history of the western Roman Empire, which had fallen three hundred years before, was to be repeated. That was the hope and dream of both Charlemagne and the Roman Pontiff, who joined hands to realize it. This new western emperor had great abilities and the church was very strong. The centre of Europe had so long been within the reach of civilizing influences, and had attained such a point of development in its various nationalities, that they readily accepted permanent institutions, when presented by a power so strong as that of the mighty Frank ruler.814—But when he died, it was found that there was no other hand strong enough to wield his sceptre. All the memories of the old empire, all the influence of the Christian church, the remains of the Roman organization, and the ripening vigor of new races, which had begun to lay aside their barbarous impulses, were united to aid the vast designs of this great statesman. But the tendencies of the new society, in general, were in a different direction. The Germanic civilization was totally different from the Roman, and had there beena succession of rulers as large minded and strong willed as Charlemagne, they could not have repeated the history of the ancient world. The tendency of the races that overthrew the empire was invincibly against centralization, and instead of a new Roman Empire in western Europe, appeared the Feudal System.
4—By some chronological confusion the new era has been made to begin four years before the appearance of the founder of Christianity. When Augustus had settled the whole empire he ordered the temple of Janus to be closed and a census taken of all its inhabitants, which numbered one hundred and twenty millions. On this occasion Jesus Christ was born.
10—A Roman army under Varus was defeated and cut to pieces in Germany. It was the severest defeat the Romans had suffered since the overthrow and death of Crassus, by the Parthians, sixty-three years before.
14—The Emperor Augustus died and was succeeded by his step-son, Tiberius.
29—Jesus Christ was crucified by Pontius Pilate, Roman governor of Judea, at the solicitation, and on the accusation, of the leading Jews.
37—Tiberius died and was succeeded by Caligula. The commencement of the reign of Tiberius was wise and moderate, but he soon became violent and cruel. Caligula was a still greater monster of wickedness.
40—Growing weary of his cruelty he was assassinated by one of his officers, and his uncle, Claudius, was raised to the throne. He was of feeble intellect and became the tool of infamous favorites. He was poisoned by order of his wife, Agrippina.
54—Nero, the son of Agrippina by a former husband, was made emperor at seventeen years of age. He exceededall description in folly, extravagance and crime. His violence and barbarity fell generally on the patricians and members of his court, but he was esteemed by the common people, as were most of the emperors, who spent vast sums on theatres and spectacles for their amusement. The two bases of the empire were the populace and the army. The emperor was terrible and tyrannical chiefly to the patricians, while the army made him formidable to the provinces and the barbarians. A conflagration which some attributed to the orders64—of Nero lasted nine days and destroyed the greater part of Rome. Nero cast the blame on the Christians, who had become numerous, and raised a horrible persecution against them.
66—The Jews rebelled and defied the Roman Empire.
68—Nero was dethroned by the Roman senate and army, and committed suicide to avoid punishment for his crimes.
69—Three emperors, Galba, Otho and Vitellius, were placed on the throne in succession, but rebellions were raised against them and all were put to death. Vespasian, then besieging Jerusalem, was proclaimed emperor by his army at the desire of the rulers of the eastern provinces, and, in the same year, overcame all opposition and commenced the first reign since Augustus that was free from disgraceful profligacy and public crime.
70—Titus, the son of Vespasian, captured and destroyed Jerusalem. Vespasian, during a reign of ten years, restored order and prosperity to Rome and the empire, but not without great labor and danger.
79—Titus succeeded as emperor, and was remarkable for his clemency and care for his subjects. During his reign occurred the most fearful eruption of the volcano Vesuvius on record. Herculaneum and Pompeii, two wealthy and flourishing cities, were destroyed, beingburied by the ashes. Pliny, an eminent writer, was suffocated while observing the eruption.
81—Titus died, to the great grief and loss of mankind, and was succeeded by his brother, Domitian, who was one of the most infamous rulers that ever desolated the earth. He raised a violent persecution against the Christians for refusing to adore his statues and worship him as a god. Among the victims was his own cousin, Clemens, who had embraced Christianity. He96—was assassinated by his wife and officers in self-defense, and the senate proclaimed Nerva, a native of Crete, emperor. He was remarkable for his lenity and all the gentle virtues. He was followed, after a reign of two98—years, by Trajan, whom he had adopted as his colleague and successor, who is said to have been the greatest and most deserving person of his time. He was, by birth, a Spaniard, was wise and successful as a warrior and statesman, and extremely noble as a man. He bridged the Danube and the Euphrates rivers and conquered both the Germans and Parthians on the north and east of the empire. A stain on his memory was the persecution of the Christians.
117—He was succeeded by Adrian, in whose reign all the Roman laws, or annual edicts of the prætors, were compiled into one body, and law assumed the dignity of a science. He promoted literature, but continued the persecution of the Christians. A rebellion of the139—Jews was punished with merciless severity. He was followed by Antoninus Pius, who suspended all persecution of Christians, promoted the best interests of all parts of the empire, and introduced, during a prosperous reign of twenty-two years, the most important reforms into every part of the government.
161—Marcus Aurelius, called the Philosopher, succeeded. He carried on a successful war with the Germans, and made the welfare of his subjects his special care, butwas seduced, by the pagan philosophers, into a persecution of the Christians. Having discovered his error he stopped it, toward the close of his reign. Commodus,180—his son, inherited the purple. He also inherited a vicious and cruel disposition, and received a demoralizing education from his mother. He was a monster of vice and cruelty. He was assassinated in192—his bed by his own family and guards to save their lives. Pertinax reigned three months, but, attempting to restrain the license of the soldiery, he was murdered by them. The soldiers in Rome then proclaimed that the empire was for sale, and a rich merchant, Didius, bought it from them and reigned in Rome two months,193—when he was also slain by the army. Septimus Severus, an able general, seized the purple which he secured against many rivals, and retained for eighteen years. His vigor alone prevented general anarchy, but he was systematically cruel.
211—Caracalla, his son, succeeded. He was a bloody and atrocious tyrant, supported on the throne only by his soldiers, whose aid he secured by large pay. He was217—murdered by the commander of his guards, Macrinus, who succeeded in acquiring his place, but was soon218—murdered by the soldiers. They raised Heliogabalus, a young Syrian priest of fourteen years of age, through the assurance of his female relatives that he was the son of Caracalla, to the purple. He is described as the most cruel and infamous of all the Roman emperors.
222—After four years of horrible crime, he was slain in a mutiny of his guard and his body thrown into the Tiber. Alexander Severus succeeded. He was apparently a secret admirer of Christianity and a model235—prince. He was murdered by Maximin, a Thracian peasant, who had, by his valor, risen to high command in the army, who seized the reins of power. He was successful in war, but his severity provoked mutiny in238—various parts of the empire, and he was slain by his own soldiers. Gordian succeeded, a heroic youth of a noble family. He was successful in war, but was murdered244—by his own prime minister, Philip, an Arabian, who became emperor. He favored the Christians, and reigned five years. In his reign, the thousandth year of the foundation of Rome was celebrated by public249—games. He was slain in a revolt by Decius, the general of his army, who occupied the throne. He raised a most violent storm of persecution against the Christians, who were despoiled of their goods and driven to caves and deserts. From this time is dated the sect of250—anchorites, or hermits, who imagined they could acquire superior holiness by abandoning society and devoting themselves to meditation and prayer. The idea appears to have been derived from the Persian Magians, who, in this century restored the ancient dynasty and religion of the Persians, or Parsees, in Persia. During the political and social disorganization that soon commenced the anchorites became numerous, and the system was extensively prevalent for a thousand years to the great injury of active and true Christianity.
251—Decius was slain in a battle with the Goths, who had invaded the empire, and Gallus became emperor.
253—He was put to death by Emilianus, who attempted to seize the reins of government, but the army elected Valerian, governor of Gaul. The empire was invaded by the Goths on the north and the Persians under their king, Sapor, on the east. From this time, it had to259—fight for its life. Valerian was defeated by Sapor and remained nine years in captivity, Gallienus, his son, becoming emperor. He was extremely incompetent and a multitude of rival claimants for the supreme authority arose in all directions. They were called the “Thirty Tyrants.” One of them, Odenatus, king of Palmyra, in the Syrian desert, defeated Sapor, andGallienus proclaimed him his colleague. On the death of Odenatus, his wife, Zenobia, assumed the title of “Queen of the East,” conquered Egypt and ruled a wide region with success and splendor. Both Goths262—and Persians invaded Asia Minor. Gallienus was murdered268—and Claudius succeeded. He defeated the Goths270—but died in a pestilence. Aurelian succeeded. He was an able general. He subdued the Germans and272—Goths, and conquered Zenobia, one of the most remarkable275—women of history. Aurelian was assassinated by some victims of his severity, and Tacitus, a Roman senator succeeded, but died in seven months, and was followed by Probus. He was a vigorous general, and drove back the barbarians on all sides, but attempting to employ his soldiers in labor on public works, they282—revolted and murdered him. Carus, the captain of the283—imperial guard, was raised to the throne. Dying the next year, his sons, Carinus and Numerianus, inherited his authority, but Numerianus was assassinated in a284—few months by his father-in-law, and Diocletian, said to have been formerly a slave, was proclaimed emperor by the army. This was called “The Era of the Martyrs,” from the long and bloody persecutions against the Christians. This was the tenth general attack on them, and proved to be the last. The barbarians pressing in great force on all sides, Diocletian appointed several colleagues, and their united ability drove the invaders back.
305—Diocletian resigned his power to Galerius, who appointed three associates, making a division of the empire. One of these, Constantius, died in Britain, and was succeeded306—by his son, Constantine. For a time, there were six emperors, but one was killed, Galerius died, and Constantine conquered the others.
312—Constantine changed the whole character of the empire by embracing Christianity and relying largely on thatelement for the support of his power, while he disbanded the Pretorian, or royal Guard, which had for two hundred years assumed to make and unmake emperors, and whose example, imitated by the other armies, kept the world periodically disturbed by the disputes and battles of rival claimants to the imperial purple. By the313—edict of Milan, Constantine abolished all laws unfriendly to Christianity; he restored the authority of the senate and magistrates, and removed his capital from Rome to Constantinople.
324—The pagan element was now so worn and decrepit that no general disorders resulted. Whatever was left rallied under Licinus, who was conquered by Constantine. It appears to have been the strength of the Christian element and its essential hostility to the Roman principle of violent subjugation that produced so many and fierce persecutions. Had it not been for the pressure of barbarians on the empire the prevalence of that system would have preserved society and the state for a thousand years more, as it actually did in the Eastern empire; but every thing that man has the management of must be affected by his limitations, his mistakes and his follies. Christianity needed a better ally, a fresher and purer society, built up by the young blood and better instincts of another and newer people.
Constantine paid great respect to the clergy of the church and took a leading part in its general counsels—a great mistake and a great misfortune.
325—His spiritual supremacy was virtually acknowledged at the council of Nice which he convoked.
330—Constantine died leaving his vast dominions to his three sons, who, in the course of ten years, were reduced to one, Constantius. After a troubled reign of twenty361—years more, he died, and was succeeded by his cousin Julian, called the “Apostate,” from his renouncing Christianity and laboring to restore the pagan religion.In this he signally failed. He undertook to rebuild the Jewish temple at Jerusalem, without success.
363—He was mortally wounded in an invasion of Persia, and was succeeded by Jovian, who restored imperial favor364—to the Christian religion. He died after one years reign and Valentinian was elected emperor by the council of ministers and generals. He divided the empire with his brother, Valens, and afterward Rome and Constantinople usually had each an emperor. Valentinian died375—and was succeeded by his son, Gratian.
378—The Huns appeared in Europe, having wandered from the borders of China, and defeated Valens with dreadful slaughter. Valens himself was among the slain. This was the commencement of the great migrations that finally overwhelmed the Roman Empire of the west.
379—Gratian, left sole emperor, appointed Theodosius, called The Great, his colleague, who subdued the Goths, repelled the Huns, and restored order.
383—Gratian was murdered by the usurper Maximus.
388—Theodosius conquered and put Maximus to death and restored Valentinian II., brother of Gratian, to the throne of the western empire. In a few years the whole394—empire was reunited by the death of Valentinian. Theodosius soon died, universally lamented, leaving the two empires to his sons, Honorius and Arcadius.
402—Alaric, the Goth, invaded Italy and, though defeated, endangered the safety of Rome.
408—Theodosius II. succeeded to the empire of the east.
410—Alaric again invaded Italy and sacked Rome. Alaric soon after died and his forces were persuaded, by negotiations, to leave Italy, but they permanently established themselves in Spain and Southern Gaul (France). Thus the empire began to fall to pieces.
425—Honorius died and Valentinian III. became emperor.
429—The Vandals soon conquered the Roman provinces inAfrica, under their king, Genseric. They extended440—their conquests to Sicily.
447—Attila, called the “Scourge of God,” appeared at the head of the Huns, and Theodosius made a humiliating treaty with him to save his dominions from desolation.
448—In the next year the Saxons and Angles were invited into Britain by the civilized Romans, to protect them from the Picts and Scots, and laid the foundation of the modern Anglo-Saxon race, and the Franks invaded Gaul laying the foundations of the modern kingdom of France. England received its name from the Angles—France from the Franks.
451—Attila, the Hun, invaded Gaul, and was defeated at452—Chalons, by the united Romans and Visigoths. Attila then invaded Italy and laid it waste, but died before he454—had completed the ruin of the empire. Valentinian III. was murdered, and the Vandals from Sicily invaded Italy and sacked Rome.
476—After a succession of puppet emperors in Rome, Odoacer abolished the name and took the title of king of Italy. He was a German in command of the auxiliaries in Roman pay. Thus ended, in disaster and disgrace, the once mighty Roman Empire. Its ruin was gradual and the barbarians who overthrew it had already embraced Christianity, so that the institutions of the church did not share its fall.
486—Clovis, king of the Franks, defeated the Romans and Gauls at the battle of Soissons. The Ostrogoths invaded492—Italy under Theodoric the Great, deposed Odoacer, and founded a new kingdom.
496—Clovis defeated the invading Germans and embraced500—Christianity. Clovis next defeated the Burgundians.
507—He subdued the Visigoths and all France was united under one rule. He was of the Merovingian line, or dynasty, of kings, which lasted over two hundred years, during which the remains of Roman civilization and the influence of the church were gradually modifying and penetrating the character of a new and energetic race.
527—Justinian became the ruler of the Eastern or Grecian Empire.
534—His generals waged war with the Vandals in Africa and the Ostrogoths in Italy, and after eighteen years of conflict, succeeded in reconquering part of Italy, which the Greek emperors continued to hold nominally for about three hundred years; the seat of their representative being at Ravenna. He was called an Exarch. Rome itself was left, substantially, to the control of the Christian bishop. When the Lombards founded a kingdom568—in the north of Italy they were prevented, by the exarch and bishop, from spreading over the southern part; and when the exarch threatened to become too powerful to suit the views of the bishop, he supported the Lombards. Thus the temporal or political power of the popes arose, and they were the politic authors of the “Balance of Power” theory, or system, that has played so large a part in European history. The result has been exceedingly favorable to progress in all directions, since it has secured the independence of states, and a more various and perfect civilization by the development of the special genius of each people. Many circumstances conspired to support this idea, in later times, and render it very prominent and influential.
This gradual advance of the bishop of Rome in political influence associated him with the mighty memories of the “Eternal City,” and suggested the idea of a spiritual empire over all Christendom, which gradually became realized and quite changed the characterof Christianity for near 800 years. Hurtful as it ultimately became, by reviving a universal despotism over conscience and freedom of thought, it was long powerful for good by giving a common centre to Europe, broken into fragments as it was by the rise of feudalism. That was disorganizing; this was centralizing, and kept the channels of communication open and the missionary spirit and the elements of a restored learning in activity. Its influence in commencing and carrying forward the crusades, which substantially broke the strength of feudalism, was of immense importance.
622—Mahomet arose in the Arabian peninsula, and his new religion spread with astonishing rapidity. In one hundred732—years from the death of Mahomet the Saracens had established a vast empire, covering two thirds of the Roman empire, viz.: all of the old Persian empire, Egypt, and all of northern Africa and Spain, and threatened to inundate Europe. They poured a vast army over the Pyrenees into France. This was defeated in a great battle at Tours, by Charles Martel, who founded a new dynasty, replacing the Merovingian, called the Carlovingian, and made France the most powerful, as it became the leading, nation in Europe, for promoting civilization during many centuries.
By this means the center of political influence, “The Star of Empire,” took another step westward. His son, Pepin le Bref, or the Short, caused himself to be752—crowned king of France by the Roman Pontiff, Stephen II., which added to his own prestige, as it also did to that of the pope. It was a sort of league between the rising temporal and spiritual powers in Europe, and set an example long followed. Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the son of Pepin, ascended the throne in 771,771—and by his intelligence, energy, and wise statesmanship, by his encouragement of learning, his organizing talentsand his success in conquering and civilizing the seething mass of nationalities in Germany, he may be said to have really founded modern civilization during his long reign of forty-three years. He conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, and was crowned by the pope, Adrian I, “Emperor of the Romans,” kneeling at the altar in Rome; but he virtually confirmed the temporal authority of the popes, and associated their influence in all his conquests. He thoroughly broke the spirit of the pagan Saxons, in northwestern Germany, by a war of thirty-three years, carried his conquests east over most of the present Austrian empire, civilizing and bringing the barbarians into the pale of Christendom by the aid of Christian missionaries, and conquered some portions of Spain from the Saracens.
It seemed as if the history of the western Roman Empire, which had fallen three hundred years before, was to be repeated. That was the hope and dream of both Charlemagne and the Roman Pontiff, who joined hands to realize it. This new western emperor had great abilities and the church was very strong. The centre of Europe had so long been within the reach of civilizing influences, and had attained such a point of development in its various nationalities, that they readily accepted permanent institutions, when presented by a power so strong as that of the mighty Frank ruler.
814—But when he died, it was found that there was no other hand strong enough to wield his sceptre. All the memories of the old empire, all the influence of the Christian church, the remains of the Roman organization, and the ripening vigor of new races, which had begun to lay aside their barbarous impulses, were united to aid the vast designs of this great statesman. But the tendencies of the new society, in general, were in a different direction. The Germanic civilization was totally different from the Roman, and had there beena succession of rulers as large minded and strong willed as Charlemagne, they could not have repeated the history of the ancient world. The tendency of the races that overthrew the empire was invincibly against centralization, and instead of a new Roman Empire in western Europe, appeared the Feudal System.
1. This system was the direct opposite of centralization. Under it all Christendom broke up into fragments; the king exerted but a loose general control, that continued to decrease for several centuries; and most of the real authority was exerted by the feudal lords from their fortified castles, which, for three hundred years, had been springing up over all the territory conquered from the Romans. It had its true origin in the markedpersonal assertion, the strongindividualityof the Teutonic Race, which was, and is, one of its most prominent traits. While in their native barbarous state their armies were formed for their expeditions of foreign conquest, that proved so fatal to the Romans, on the voluntary principle. The prowess and fame of a leader, or chief, drew to him a multitude of warriors, longing for activity and booty. So long as he could lead them to success, to gain their individual ends, they obeyed him. When he failed to reward their ambition they held themselves free to leave him.
2. It was not immense disciplined armies, but innumerable bands, organized in this way, that, through a long course of years, gradually overran Britain, Gaul, Spain and Italy. For four hundred years the civilized world had been accustomed to the control and protection of a distant ruler whose powerful armies rendered resistance vain, and all thought of organization for self-protection against the terrible barbarians was wanting when they were attacked. Each city or region defended itself as well as possible, or submitted at once. Theconquerors took what they wanted and passed on to other lands, or spread themselves out over the province. They usually settled in the country parts, fortifying the country seats of the richer inhabitants, or building themselves castles near the larger towns, to hold them in awe. The leader considered himself the owner of the conquered territory, and divided it among his followers, who settled themselves, each in his new domain, as its owner and ruler. The conquered inhabitants were his subjects from whom he took tribute. The conquerors were few in number in proportion to the conquered; but there was little resistance throughout the old Roman provinces. Organization and spirit were wanting to them, and resistance would provoke complete ruin, since the conqueror could easily call to his aid any number of his fellows in return for a share of the spoils. Thus they gave what was demanded and made themselves content with what was left.
The cities paid tribute, the cultivators gave a portion of their harvests to the new rulers. The territory not given to his followers was considered the property of the original leader. In return for the gift each of the recipients of territory was held bound to aid him in his wars, and each larger chief stood in similar relations to the king of his tribe or nation. Out of this grew, at length, what was called the Feudal System, feudal being derived, by some, from the old German words “fee,” salary, and “od,” landed possessions—a payment, or salary, in land, for services rendered, with a certain obligation to the giver.
3. The kings of the Franks—the German nation that conquered Gaul—up to the time of Charlemagne, labored to consolidate their power and rule like the Roman emperors. But the genius of their race and the peculiarities of the situation were both opposed to that purpose. Charles Martel, Pepin, his son, and Charlemagne, his grandson, were all rulers of great vigor, and the last, apparently, succeeded for a time. But the military strength lay only in the scattered feudalchieftains, each of whom sought to build up his own power on his own estates. It was not possible to maintain a strong central government for any length of time, or under an ordinary man. For two hundred years these petty lords grew in strength at the expense of the king. They were still held to him by the necessity of supporting him in war, by a system of checks, which, in time, were increased, and still more enlarged, when the people began to make themselves felt in the twelfth century; but from the fifth to the fifteenth century feudalism was the prevailing system in all the civilized European nations.
4. It was a very rude and violent period, but some of the most happy traits of modern life grew out of it. The isolation of the feudal lord in his fortified chateau or castle, where his wife and children were his only equals, combined with the constant influence of the church, gradually elevated the condition of the woman, the rudeness and violence of the time were modified by the rise of chivalry, which was, in great part, founded on this new respect for the gentler sex, and sympathy for her helpless condition when exposed, without a powerful protector, to unrestrained insolence and passion; and the feudal system held all the elements of society in suspense until the mighty forces—revived learning, the printing press, and a new commerce and industry—were ready to take a prominent part in making it what we now find it—far superior to the old society.
5. Feudalism held men apart, and individually subject to the refining influence of Christian precepts, from the fifth to the ninth century, when the romantic practice of chivalry became popular as a relief from the tedium of isolation, and a channel for the flow of the softer sentiments of respect for woman, of compassion for weakness, and, at the same time, a vent for the martial spirit which the constant conflicts of the time cultivated. The age of chivalry indicates that Christianity was powerfully moulding the character of the new nations. Working on qualities as stern and rude as those ofthe old Roman of the Republic, its partial control, the beginnings of its power, were manifested in a romantic way. The isolation of feudal life, and a sense of wrong in employing all their energies in unceasing contests of ambition produced the chivalric outbreak and the crusades. The knights of chivalry were feudal lords and gentlemen, trained in all the warlike arts of the period and in all the courtesies which the new influence of female society produced. When starting forth as knight-errants, they were exhorted by the stern feudal warrior to valor, and by the Christian priest to gentleness toward the weak and defenseless, and they made it the business of life to wander about on horseback incased in armor, displaying their warlike accomplishments and combatting petty tyranny. There was little power in the king to right the wrongs of his subjects, and brutal violence in the feudal lords had no other effectual punishment. Chivalry flourished for more than five hundred years; but its most useful days were from 1000 to 1200. It was the first, and seems to later times a somewhat amusing indication of a more humane social state than the world had ever known.
6. The crusades commenced about 1100, the object being to rescue the sepulcher of the founder of Christianity from unbelievers. It first engaged the sympathy of the people at large, then of the feudal nobility and finally interested the ambition of kings. For two hundred years a large part of the best blood of Europe was poured out in Palestine in a vain effort to expel the Saracens from it. The transportation of armaments and supplies to that country from various parts of Europe gradually led to commerce and skill in navigation; so much of ancient civilization and knowledge as still existed in the Eastern, or Greek Empire at Constantinople, was introduced into modern Europe, which at the same time was relieved of its more turbulent and adventurous elements; and a heavy blow was given to the smaller feudal proprietors by the expense incurred in a distant expedition where they died without issue, reduced their families to poverty, or whencethey returned penniless to mortgaged estates. It rapidly hastened the movement, begun by other influences, to reduce the number of feudal proprietors, and render government more vigorous over increasingly large territories.
1. Between 1000 and 1200 the independent and enterprising spirit—the individualism—that we have seen at the base of European character, and which first produced the Feudal System, began to move among the masses in various ways and laid the foundation for that influence of the People that was afterward to become the most powerful element in political life.
It first presented itself in the development of industrial arts and commerce in cities which obtained, as corporations, the rights, or a part of the rights, of the feudal proprietor, which they proceeded to exercise under the form of Free Cities in Germany, privileged Communes in France and commercial Republics in Italy.
2. A second development, highly favorable some centuries later to the reaction of popular freedom against centralizing despotism in the government, was the religious protest against the claims of the church over freedom of thought. This spirit grew up in Germany, and its first remote beginnings are to be found in the imperial title conferred by the pope on Charlemagne. In the course of time (A. D.963) that title was inherited by the German rulers who, for a long time, struggled for the control of Italy and a feudal superiority over the popes. This was carried on for two centuries with much acrimony, in which the terms Guelph, the general name of those who supported the side of the popes, and Ghibellines, of those who rallied to the emperor, came to be the watchwords of Germany and Italy. The popes triumphed in this contest, which prevented the establishment of a vast and powerful political despotism,and gave the church a temporal kingdom in a part of Italy, with an immense spiritual empire highly embarrassing to free mental growth. The reaction against this spiritual control produced the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, in which was wrapped up the germ of modern Republicanism.
3. The Crusades loosened the bonds of Feudalism, taught nations and rulers to act together to gain a common object, enlarged the experiences of men immensely, and cultivated and organized the spirit of personal adventure which afterwards expended itself on commerce.
It was at about the crisis of this period (1215,A. D.) that the Magna Charta—the foundation of English constitutional liberty—was produced; that the Hanseatic League and Free Cities began to flourish in Germany; the commercial republics of Venice, Genoa and Florence rose in Italy; and the communal corporations in France sprang up. They were all more or less stimulated by influences growing out of the Crusades, and brought forward thepeopleand their distinct and separate interests and activities into political importance. This was the beginning of an entirely new order of things, which required a new continent for its full development.
4. A first circumstance, above all favorable to the liberties of the people, was the Invention of Printing, producing rapid diffusion of information, the coincident revival of learning and the foundation of modern science. All these, working together with various other agencies, gradually swept away feudalism, checked the towering spiritual tyranny of the church and corrected a crowd of minor evils that embarrassed society, enterprise, and progress in the science of government.
The intermediate stage in this progress appeared like a return to old principles. The dissolution of feudalism left the governments of Europe centralized. The lords inheriting feudal rights had become intolerable despots. For a certain period the authority of the king was the bulwark behind which the people sheltered themselves from the oppressions of theirfeudal superiors, and they united with him to reduce the feudal nobility to the comparatively harmless condition of the modern aristocracy, whose greatest distinction is social pre-eminence. It left them, indeed, a high, but not overwhelming, position in the body politic, which the growing education and wealth of the middle and lower classes constantly tended to reduce. This change was commencing when America was discovered. The feudal chiefs labored to extend and strengthen their power at the expense of each other, of the king and the people. The increasing activity and importance of commerce, trade and industry required the support of a broad legislation that could not be obtained while nations were broken up into petty lordships, principalities and kingdoms almost independent of each other, and whose rulers were often hostile to or at war with each other; while the support of so many rulers became a heavy burden on the resources of the people. The king represented the nation and was the rallying point of reform. To strengthen him was to promote the larger interests of the country.
5. For these reasons, and from the resistance offered by the feudal institutions, which had existed a thousand years, authority became centralized in the monarch to an extravagant degree, and this at a time when freer institutions were most required by the larger and wiser views of the people. The great usefulness of the Roman Catholic Church in civilizing and educating the modern nations and founding a center or common bond between them, which produced a degree of unity in their progress, had continually added to her power, while the disposition to free thought was ever becoming more pronounced. Thus two despotic forces, each claiming absolute obedience in their respective spheres, were rising in strength to a degree extremely embarrassing to the growing intelligence and increased activities of the commonalty. The traditional authority of the church and the king came, in the course of a hundred years after the discovery of America, todirectly oppose the most important interests and instincts of mankind.
6. The progress of the people, as distinct from that of their governments, may then be described as starting in the last great service done for Europe by the church—the organization of the Crusades. The feudal system separated men too much for healthy progress, and this singular display of religious zeal united the various nationalities in a common effort, and stirred up powers that had long slumbered. It was in this period that the adventurous and comprehensive activities of modern life commenced. Wealth had been largely confined to the feudal nobility. It now began to flow out through the general community. The nobles expended vast sums in fitting out princely retinues to lead to the Holy Land, for which their estates were security. They died, or returned penniless, and their lands passed into the hands of the commercial classes, whose successful diligence had made them wealthy. It was the first heavy blow to feudal institutions, and laid the foundation of the power of the people.
Corporations and cities which had obtained the rights of feudal proprietors, employed them for the purposes of self-government, and so used an instrument of despotism to shield and sustain a virtual democracy. With this freedom of action, popular liberty, controlled in a general way by feudal obligations to the prince, king, or emperor, grew fast and strong protected by the growing despotisms of the church and the state. The Hanseatic League, in the north of Germany, was, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, perhaps as wealthy and powerful as any king or emperor in Christendom; and in the sixteenth, the small commercial province of the Netherlands could defy the whole power of Spain, with the wealth of the Indies at her back.
7. The revival of learning, and the invention of the art of printing, gave an immense impulse to this uprising of the people, commenced near three hundred years before; about the same time the Portuguese discovered the way to India bythe Cape of Good Hope, Columbus threw open the “Gates of the West,” and the wealth of both Indies flowed in a full stream through the channels of commerce and trade; that is to say, into the hands of the busy and industrious people. All events seemed to conspire to build up a base for the power and development of the commonalty.
This growing intelligence and strength among the masses, with the habit of ruling themselves under feudal forms, made a conflict with the two arrogant despotisms inevitable in the near future. Feudal institutions were still a serious and vexatious embarrassment to freedom of movement, and a very heavy tax on industry, and the only legal way to remove it was by strengthening the central or kingly power, which continued to increase for more than a hundred years; but the conflict with priestly despotism was entered on at once. A vast rebellion against the church commenced, called “The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century,” which embraced nearly all the most enterprising and commercial nations.
1. We have said that great men were a kind of summary of the tendencies of their period; an expression of a wide-spread thought or state of mind, which their fortunate combination of faculties and more favorable circumstances enabled them first to state, or embody, with distinctness; that the great following they obtained, and the extensive influence which enabled them to make great changes, were due to a coincident development in their generation of the same thoughts and tendencies. This explains the existence oferasin all departments of life. Men grow, or progress, silently, from one to the other; when the general progress has reached the suitable point it breaks out in a leader more bold and positive than the rest.
The discovery of America was such an era; and the suddenadvance in many ways at about the same time was the result of gradual growth during many centuries. It was shown by the sudden appearance of great men in different spheres. Columbus lived in the midst of a great era. Printing, the use of the compass, the science of astronomy and the successful protest against spiritual despotism all commenced their great career just before, or just after him. The great painters, whose works are now so much esteemed, were all living in 1500. Copernicus discovered the true planetary system in the year Columbus died. Gunpowder, which enabled Cortez to conquer the Mexican Empire, came into general use about the same period. Luther commenced the Reformation, while the first adventurers were creeping, with amazed curiosity, around the shores of the American continent. The foundation of all the sciences was then laid. Correct principles were enunciated for religion, government and thought; and the laws of nature, of human relations and of religious liberty were promulgated almost simultaneously.
2. But not all the European nations, and notallof any one nation, were prepared for this vast advance. The southern part of Germany, and the people in general in southern Europe, resisted what they regarded as a dangerous innovation, and the reform spread only north and west. The close connection instituted by Constantine between church and state, which was renewed under Charlemagne, raised at this time, a long series of religious wars, which contributed to embarrass Protestantism in the same way by the necessity under which it lay, (or supposed it lay,) of seeking the protection of princes. Luther’s reorganized church became the state religion of northern Europe, and fell under government control in Switzerland and Holland. Henry VIII. of England, while yielding, like a true Englishman, to the general tendency of his people, in taking the reformed faith under his protection constituted himself its head.
In the long contest between Catholic and Protestant, it became apparent that full religious liberty was not then possiblein Europe; and the more, that a political element was involved in the contest. Free thought naturally led to free institutions, and the leading European governments were, by the breaking up of feudalism, centralized and made more despotic than ever. Thus its tendency to political revolution organized strong governments against it, or prevented its development by the check of governmental supremacy.
3. While this contest was working itself out in the firm establishment of Protestantism under state patronage in northern Europe, and its entire extinction in the stronger and more conservative southern monarchies, the discovery and subjugation of Mexico and Peru, with their wealth of precious metals and tropical productions, together with the trade with the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, passage to which was discovered before the daring venture of Columbus, had greatly enriched Europe. A large part of this wealth passed immediately, or in process of time, into the hands of the people as the result of personal adventure or of the activity of commerce, trade and industry. The maritime regions of northern Germany, Holland and England gathered much of this golden fruit; the maritime republics of Italy fell into decay; and Spain spent its vast treasures in war. It was led to this suicidal policy by various royal marriages which united the German Empire, Spain and the Netherlands under one scepter. This vast ascendancy, united with great wealth, excited the alarm of other nations, and contributed to strengthen the Reformation. The Protestant princes of Germany and the king of France united to reduce this dangerous pre-eminence in order to uphold the existing nationalities of Europe, or the Balance of Power, as it was called. Thus the emperor, Charles V., was led to pour out the treasures of Mexico and Peru to sustain his political aspirations, and his wars turned the wealth of the Indies into the channels of commerce and industry.
His successor, Philip II., still uniting Spain and the Netherlands, undertook to crush the reformed faith in the latter states,and failed in a war of nearly half a century. This vast expense made Spain, the richest country of Europe, the poorest, still to the profit of commerce and the greater strength of Protestant lands. The United Netherlands became free Protestant states and remarkably prosperous.
4. The English people advanced in laying the foundations of a free constitution from the time of the Magna Charta in 1215. They became strongly Protestant, and finally their commons engaged in a contest with the king, Charles I., for the maintenance of popular rights. He resisted to the last extremity, and the commons precipitated a revolution that dethroned and beheaded him, and established a republic. This was premature and expired with the great leader, Cromwell, who had successfully headed it. Royal power was restored, but a few years later was rearranged and so modified as to be suited to the independent but moderate tendencies of the people. A certain part of the English people, however, aspired to more complete liberty than a monarchy could afford them, and passed over the sea to secure freedom of conscience and political enfranchisement in the New World.
With the moderate and steady maintenance of their rights, characteristic of Englishmen, they were governed under charters from the English sovereigns who, for the sake of extending their dominions, allowed them much freedom. European governments could not conform to the demands of progress by loosening the bands of arbitrary rule, and the new colonies became the refuge of such as aspired to more liberal institutions, as well as of adventurers in search of gain. Thus the English colonies became the escape valve of European politics and society, the Appendix of the Reformation, and the Hope of Liberty.
1. We see here again the operation of the constant law that impelled men, or moved the “Star of Empire,” westward.The form of the continents, the character of the surface and the climate, provided a natural and desirable opening only in that direction. The overplus of population, the discontent of some part of the people with existing government, the restlessness of adventurers, or the requirements of trade and commerce produced a migration. The colony, instructed by the experience of the parent state, was free to improve on its institutions. Colonies have almost always prospered more than the mother country. Transplanting seemed to improve both the stock and the institutions. Greece was colonized from Asia, as was Rome; Miletus, Syracuse, and other Greek colonies excelled the mother cities in wealth, and though the free structure of Grecian government allowed a natural development at home and made Athens the metropolis, yet its marvelous genius was nourished and stimulated by the colonies. Carthage was greater and stronger than Tyre, and contended with Rome for the control of the world; the most western nations of Europe were colonized from Rome and Germany, and have taken the lead in later progress, while America has always displayed the lusty, fertile vigor of a young life.
Thus the conformation of the surface of the earth, and the peculiarly fruitful character of a transplanted civilization, have always furnished an escape from the embarrassing fixity of an old state, in the same western direction, and the old and the new unite to establish frequent stages of progress. In this way a continuous growth has been secured that impresses on advancing culture the same unity, from first to last, that we see in the growth and mental development of the individual man.
2. We have seen the aggregation and primary discipline of mankind in the simple but extensive despotisms of western Asia, varied in Palestine by a theocratic system which has produced the world’s great religion, and in Egypt by the predominance of a learned priestly caste. We saw an improvement made in Greece to meet the demands of intellectualdevelopment. Their intelligence, however, was a spontaneous outburst, of necessity immature. Two thousand years of training, and the addition of many new elements were required before mind couldrulethe world; but Greece, by the attractiveness of her art and culture, set men at work on the great problem of politics and life.
Rome followed to organize government and consolidate the civilizations, to ripen their fruit and transmit the seed to a more favorable time, and to new and better races. A complete civilization was impossible without well digested science, which had its remote roots in Greece; and law, which was gradually produced by the grand Roman republic; and a clear understanding of the profound yet simple precepts of Jesus Christ.
3. Western Europe received all the wisdom and experience of the ancient world, and labored well at the grand problem, though she did not completely solve it. She, however, made an immense advance toward it, and her children, rich in her experience, instructed at once by her success and her mistakes, and aided always by her wisdom, found (let us hope) in America the goal of their noblest aspirations. Thus we find the spirit of progress traversing the whole course of human history, constantly advancing through all the confusion of rising and falling states, of battle, siege and slaughter, of victory and defeat; through the varying fortunes and ultimate extinction of monarchy, republic and empire; through barbaric irruption and desolation, feudal isolation, spiritual supremacy, the heroic rush and conflict of the Cross and the Crescent; amid the busy hum of industry, through the marts of trade and behind the gliding keels of commerce; through the bloody conflicts of commons, nobles, kings and kaisers to New and Free America. There the Englishman, the German, the Frenchman, the Italian, the Scandinavian, the Asiatic and the African all meet as equals. There they are free to speak, to think, and to act. They bring their common contributions of character, energy and activity to the support and enlargementof a common country, and the spread of its influence and enlightenment through all the lands of their origin. As America is the common ground on which all the currents and ideas of all the civilizations meet, so also it is the point from which return currents, hastened by lightning and by steam, seek again every quarter of the earth with kindly greetings, to renew the relations broken in the original separation of the races, and to cement, by exchanges mutually profitable, a new and better unity of mankind. As the heart in the human body receives the current of blood from all parts of the system, and, having revitalized it, returns it with fresh elements of strength, so America adopts the children of all lands only to return a manhood ennobled by a sense of its own dignity through the practice of a system of self-government which improves the condition and promotes the interest of each while it produces harm to none.
4. America, then, will colonize Ideas, extensively, when her institutions are thoroughly matured. The process, indeed, commenced with her birth, and her Spirit sails with her ships in every sea and visits all lands. All the past has contributed to the excellence of her foundation, and modern Europe has supplied her with the most desirable building material both of ideas and of men. Without Asia, Greece and Rome, there would have been a very imperfect modern Europe; and without modern Europe, America must have begun at the beginning, with all the lessons, discoveries and discipline of thousands of years to learn. Happily, we seem authorized to believe that, as she concludes the possible great migrations of humanity, she has so well learned the lessons of experience as to have given due flexibility and capacity of improvement to all her institutions, and, when necessary canreconstructherselfwithinherself. If this be true, she will reach the goal of all progress by furnishing to each individual among her citizens such aid as a state can give to make the most of himself, to reach the fullest expression of his value.
1. Civilization, or the history of it, at least, commenced in the Eastern continent. The Western was, until a comparatively recent period, quite unknown to those who recorded the progress of mankind, and the events by which it was marked. The science of the most learned men and nations of ancient times did not extend to a comprehension of geography beyond the limits of their own countries, and of the countries conquered by their rulers, or those which, bordering on these, held some relations with them.
2. The world appeared to be a flat surface, and no one thought of questioning that it was soonlyin appearance. It was reserved for a daring Genoese sea captain, about four hundred years ago, to conceive the happy idea that this appearance was deceptive; that it was really round; and that, by sailing westward, the distant East, or India, might be readily reached. Columbus, having become fully satisfied that this theory was correct, and not being rich enough to fit out an expedition himself, endeavored to convince others, who had the means, of the truth of his views, and to induce them to aid him to put them to the test.
3. The Genoese, living by commerce, and, at that time wealthy and powerful, gave him no encouragement. They even regarded him as a madman. He applied to the Governments of Portugal, England, and Spain, but gained little attention for many years. At length Queen Isabella, of Spain, became interested in his theories, and, with much effort, assistedhim to put them to proof. He set sail August 3, 1492, with three small vessels, on an unknown sea. His crew were filled with fear to find themselves so far from land, and sailing toward unknown dangers. He had great difficulty in calming their terrors, and was in great danger of perishing in the mutiny they contemplated. He was saved by the opportune appearance of land on the 11th of October. He had reached the group of islands lying between North and South America. The one first discovered was called, by the natives whom he found inhabiting it, Guanahani. He named it, in remembrance of his peril, San Salvador—St. Savior. Supposing he had reached the Indies lying to the eastward of Asia, and not dreaming of a new continent, he called the inhabitants Indians. Cuba and Hayti, larger islands lying further south, were soon after discovered, and he hastened to carry back the wonderful tidings of his discovery to Spain. He reached home seven months and eleven days after his departure.
4. He and his discoveries immediately became famous. The world had never been struck with a surprise so great, and all Europe was in a ferment at the news. He soon returned as Viceroy of the newly discovered lands, to establish a colony and extend his researches. Five years later, in 1498, he discovered the main land near the river Orinoco, in the northern part of South America. He died in 1506, unaware of the magnitude of his discoveries, still believing he had only reached India from the west, and treated with much ingratitude by the government he had so much benefited by his bold genius. The first published account of the new continent was by a Florentine, Amerigo Vespucci, who visited the main land in 1499, claimed the merit of the discovery, and gave it his name, America. His claim has long been disallowed, and Columbus duly honored as the real discoverer, though the name was never changed.
5. It is believed that North America was known to the mariners of the North of Europe as early as the tenth century; and that settlements, that afterwards perished, were made fromIceland and Greenland as far south as the shores of New England. This, however, is only a dim tradition, there being no detailed and authentic history of these events left on record so far as is yet known.
6. An English mariner, by descent a Venitian, disputes with Columbus the first sight of the main continent in 1498. He first touched the coast of Labrador, and sailed as far south as Florida in the next year. It was near a hundred years later before a permanent settlement was made within the territory that is now the United States, by the English, though the city of St. Augustine was founded in Florida by the Spaniards in 1565.
In 1607 a settlement was made at Jamestown, on the Potomac river, in Virginia, and in 1620 the Puritans of England, persecuted there for their religious views, sought liberty of worship in the new world, establishing a colony at Plymouth, in the eastern part of New England. Others followed in succession until many distinct colonies had been planted on the eastern coast of the United States; all of which—except Florida, belonging to the Spaniards, on the south, and Canada, settled by the French, on the north—were under the control of, and received their laws from, England.