PREFACE.
Every one perusing the pages of the historians must have been impressed with the graphic and singularly penetrative character of many of the sketches of the distinguished persons whose doings form the staple of history. These pen-portraits often stand out from the narrative with luminous and vivid effect, the writers seeming to have concentrated upon them all their powers of penetration and all their skill in graphic delineation. Few things in literature are marked by analysis so close, discernment so keen, or by effects so brilliant and dramatic. In some of the later historians this feature is specially noticeable, but it was Hume’s admirable portrayal of the character of Alfred the Great that suggested the compilation of the present volume.
A selection such as this of the more striking passages in the great historians will serve, it is believed, a double purpose—first as a suitable introduction to these distinguished writers for those not acquainted with them, and next as a means of stimulating a taste for the study of history itself. It must be remembered that it is largely through their sympathies for persons that readers generally find pleasure in history. The sometimes noble and sometimes startling personality of great leaders exerts a fascinating effect upon all susceptible minds, and whatever brings this personality vividly before us greatly strengthens our interest in the records of the past. For these reasons this compilation will be found well adapted for the reading class in high schools and seminaries.
It is desirable to explain that in some instances the selections do not appear here exactly in the form of the original. Passages from different pages are sometimes brought together, so as to give completeness to the portrait, but in no other way has any liberty been taken with the text of the authors.
In making the selections, the primary object was to secure, in each instance, the most vivid and truthful portrait obtainable, but it was also thought desirable to render the volume as representative of historical literature as possible, and hence to include a wide range of writers. The work will be found to be tolerably representative in this particular, but some well-known historians do not appear, for the reason that their methods did not yield suitable material.
The selections terminate with the period of Waterloo, because, while great leaders have flourished since those days, the historical perspective is not sufficient to permit that judicial estimate so necessary for a truly valuable portrait.
CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| [THEMISTOCLES AND ARISTIDES.] By George Grote | [1] |
| (From the “History of Greece.”) | |
| [PERICLES.] By Ernst Curtius | [6] |
| (From the “History of Greece.”) | |
| [EPAMINONDAS.] By Ernst Curtius | [10] |
| (From the “History of Greece.”) | |
| [ALEXANDER THE GREAT.] By George Grote | [14] |
| (From the “History of Greece.”) | |
| [HANNIBAL.] By Theodor Mommsen | [19] |
| (From the “History of Rome.”) | |
| [THE GRACCHI.] By Plutarch | [23] |
| (From “Plutarch’s Lives.”) | |
| [CAIUS MARIUS.] By James Anthony Froude | [27] |
| (From “Julius Cæsar—A Sketch.”) | |
| [MITHRIDATES, KING OF PONTUS.] By Theodor Mommsen | [32] |
| (From the “History of Rome.”) | |
| [LUCIUS SYLLA.] By James Anthony Froude | [37] |
| (From “Julius Cæsar—A Sketch.”) | |
| [POMPEY.] By Thomas Kerchever Arnold | [41] |
| (From the “History of Rome.”) | |
| [SERTORIUS.] By Plutarch | [44] |
| (From “Plutarch’s Lives.”) | |
| [JULIUS CÆSAR.] By James Anthony Froude | [49] |
| (From “Julius Cæsar—A Sketch.”) | |
| [TRAJAN.] By Charles Merivale | [53] |
| (From the “History of the Romans under the Empire.”) | |
| [THE ANTONINES.] By Edward Gibbon | [56] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [ZENOBIA, QUEEN OF PALMYRA.] By Edward Gibbon | [60] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [CONSTANTINE, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPEROR.] By Edward Gibbon | [65] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [JULIAN THE APOSTATE.] By Edward Gibbon | [70] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [THEODOSIUS THE GREAT.] By Edward Gibbon | [77] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [ATTILA, THE SCOURGE OF GOD.] By Edward Gibbon | [83] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [BELISARIUS.] By Lord Mahon | [88] |
| (From the “Life of Belisarius.”) | |
| [MOHAMMED, THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM.] By Edward Gibbon | [92] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [CHARLEMAGNE.] By Sir James Stephen | [100] |
| (From “Lectures on the History of France.”) | |
| [ALFRED THE GREAT, OF ENGLAND.] By David Hume | [107] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [OLAF TRYGGVESON, KING OF NORWAY.] By Thomas Carlyle | [111] |
| (From the “Early Kings of Norway.”) | |
| [CNUT OR CANUTE OF ENGLAND, ALSO KING OF DENMARK.]By John Richard Green | [116] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.] By John Richard Green | [120] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [ROBERT GUISCARD.] By Edward Gibbon | [126] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [THOMAS À BECKET, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.] ByDavid Hume | [130] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [SALADIN.] By Edward Gibbon | [135] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [HENRY II, KING OF ENGLAND.] By David Hume | [138] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [GENGHIS OR ZINGIS KHAN.] By Edward Gibbon | [142] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [SIMON DE MONTFORT, EARL OF LEICESTER.]By John Richard Green | [148] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [EDWARD I, KING OF ENGLAND.] By John Richard Green | [153] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [ROBERT BRUCE.] By Sir Archibald Alison | [157] |
| (From “Essays.”) | |
| [EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND.] By David Hume | [163] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [RIENZI.] By Edward Gibbon | [167] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [TIMOUR OR TAMERLANE.] By Edward Gibbon | [173] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [JEANNE D’ARC.] By John Richard Green | [180] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [MAHOMET OR MOHAMMED II.] By Edward Gibbon | [186] |
| (From the “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”) | |
| [LORENZO DE’ MEDICI.] By John Addington Symonds | [190] |
| (From the “Italian Renaissance.”) | |
| [GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA.] By John Addington Symonds | [195] |
| (From the “Italian Renaissance.”) | |
| [CÆSAR BORGIA.] By Charles Yriarte | [201] |
| (From “Cæsar Borgia.”) | |
| [CARDINAL WOLSEY.] By John Richard Green | [208] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [FRANCISCO PIZARRO.][1] By John Richard Green | [211] |
| (From the “Conquest of Peru.”) | |
| [HERNANDO CORTÉS.] By William Hickling Prescott | [216] |
| (From the “History of the Conquest of Mexico.”) | |
| [MARTIN LUTHER.] By Thomas Carlyle | [222] |
| (From the “Life of Martin Luther.”) | |
| [IGNATIUS DE LOYOLA (SAINT), FOUNDEROF THE ORDER OF JESUS.] By Sir James Stephen | [230] |
| (From “Stephen’s Essays.”) | |
| [THOMAS CROMWELL, EARL OF ESSEX.] By John Richard Green | [235] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [CHARLES V, EMPEROR OF GERMANY.][2] By John Lothrop Motley | [240] |
| (From the “Rise of the Dutch Republic.”) | |
| [WILLIAM OF NASSAU, PRINCE OF ORANGE.] By John Lothrop Motley | [248] |
| (From the “Rise of the Dutch Republic.”) | |
| [JOHN KNOX.] By James Anthony Froude | [255] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [DUKE OF ALVA.] By John Lothrop Motley | [259] |
| (From the “Rise of the Dutch Republic.”) | |
| [QUEEN ELIZABETH.] By John Richard Green | [265] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS.] By David Hume | [275] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [JOHN PYM.] By John Richard Green | [280] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [HENRY IV, KING OF FRANCE.] By John Lothrop Motley | [284] |
| (From the “History of the United Netherlands.”) | |
| [WALLENSTEIN, DUKE OF FRIEDLAND.]By Friedrich von Schiller | [291] |
| [CARDINAL RICHELIEU.] By Sir James Stephen | [299] |
| (From the “Lectures on the History of France.”) | |
| [GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, KING OF SWEDEN.] By Friedrich vonSchiller | [303] |
| (From the “History of the Thirty Years’ War.”) | |
| [EARL OF STRAFFORD.] By David Hume | [310] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [OLIVER CROMWELL.] By Thomas Babington Macaulay | [315] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [LORD HALIFAX.] By Thomas Babington Macaulay | [322] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [LOUIS XIV OF FRANCE.] By Thomas Babington Macaulay | [327] |
| (From “Essays.”) | |
| [WILLIAM III OF ENGLAND.] By Thomas Babington Macaulay | [329] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [PETER THE GREAT, CZAR OF RUSSIA.]By Thomas Babington Macaulay | [339] |
| (From the “History of England.”) | |
| [DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.] By William E. H. Lecky | [344] |
| (From the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century.”) | |
| [SIR ROBERT WALPOLE.] By William E. H. Lecky | [351] |
| (From the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century.”) | |
| [FREDERICK THE GREAT.] By Thomas Carlyle | [357] |
| (From the “Life of Frederick the Great.”) | |
| [WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM.] By John Richard Green | [364] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [EDMUND BURKE.] By William E. H. Lecky | [369] |
| (From the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century.”) | |
| [GEORGE WASHINGTON.] By William E. H. Lecky | [378] |
| (From the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century.”) | |
| [MIRABEAU.] By Thomas Carlyle | [384] |
| (From Carlyle’s “Essays.”) | |
| [CHARLES JAMES FOX.] By William E. H. Lecky | [389] |
| (From the “History of England in the Eighteenth Century.”) | |
| [JEAN PAUL MARAT.] By Hippolyte Adolphe Taine | [396] |
| (From the “French Revolution.”) | |
| [PRINCE TALLEYRAND.] By Archibald Alison | [400] |
| (From the “History of Europe.”) | |
| [GEORGE JACQUES DANTON.] By Hippolyte Adolphe Taine | [405] |
| (From the “French Revolution.”) | |
| [ROBESPIERRE.] By Hippolyte Adolphe Taine | [410] |
| (From the “French Revolution.”) | |
| [WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER.] By John Richard Green | [417] |
| (From the “Short History of the English People.”) | |
| [NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.] By Louis Adolphe Thiers | [423] |
| (From the “History of the Consulate and Empire.”) | |
| [DUKE OF WELLINGTON.] By Archibald Alison | [432] |
| (From the “History of Europe.”) |