is now, indeed, the custom' to write historical books on a very extended scale. Mr. Froude devotes a good many volumes to tell the story of part of the Tudor period in English history; and Mr. Freeman, whose historical views are not at all the same as Mr. Froude's, is yet quite at one with him as to the necessity of detail, as his bulky volumes on the Norman conquest of England quite sufficiently prove. There is a great deal to be said in defence of this. If we wish to know a man in our every-day life, we think it necessary to find out a great many details about him before we are sure we have a correct conception of his character; and so, if we wish to get at the truth about the great men and great events of history, it is necessary to know a great deal about them too. Once, indeed, history was written in quite a different fashion. Before the invention of printing it would seem to have been the habit (strange as it may seem) for authors to say what they had to say in the fewest possible words that they could find. Thus Julius Cæsar tells the story of his wars in Gaul and his invasions of Britain in less space than he would, had he been an author of our own time, have taken to get fairly into his subject. It is true, he, as well as many others among these ancients, had a wonderful power of compression, and a knack of cramming a great many things into a line or two, which knack would be the ruin of a modern newspaper writer, though we cannot say that we ever found one who was in danger from that direction! On the other hand, Cæsar's wars, as told by himself, though in a way very good reading, do seem to us to have this lack of human interest which is the fault from which our best historians of to-day are as a rule free. The difficulty, then, is how to be brief and yet interesting. That difficulty we have attempted to solve by carefully selecting events famous in the history of the world-now the siege of a city, then a great battle; here again some noteworthy incident in the life of a famous man; and by telling of these with some detail, so that the reader might be instructed and amused, and at the same time, we hope, urged to continue those fascinating studies into which we have, as it were, shown him a number of means of entrance. In doing this, we need hardly say that we have drawn largely from the works of the eminent historians of the past. Hume, Robertson, Macaulay, Goldsmith, and many other less-known writers, have been borrowed from to illustrate the great scenes they described so well; and we take this opportunity of acknowledging our obligations to them. In conclusion, we can only state that he who attentively peruses our book will not, indeed, be acquainted with the history of the past as a whole, but he will know many of its most interesting and curious episodes. Our order of treatment is mainly chronological, but we have on many occasions departed from such an arrangement where it seemed to be required by the nature of our subjects. REMARKABLE EVENTS. M "THE TALE OF TROY DIVINE." ¡ODERN criticism has made sad havoc of the siege of Troy, and even has not spared Homer, who sang its "tale divine." Here, as elsewhere, modern criticism may prove to have been too rash. At any rate, we (following the account of the learned if often partial Gillies) here present the reader with the account of it, believed through so many centuries. The celebrated kingdom of Priam occupied the eastern banks of the Helles pont, the southern coast of the Propontis, and the northern shores of the Ægean. From the river Esepus to the promontory of Lectum, the Trojan dominions extended in length two hundred miles; but their breadth was far less considerable, being regularly compressed between three seas, and the lofty ridges. of mount Ida. This delightful and picturesque country, which excelled Greece in fruitfulness of soil and softness of climate, was distinguished by the epithet of Hellespontian, from the large inland province which bore the common name of Phrygia. The Lesser, or Hellespontian Phrygia, was planted, according to tradition, by a Grecian colony, about two hundred years before the Trojan war. The similarity of religion, language, and manners, sufficiently justified that opinion, and seems to have induced the most diligent inquirers of antiquity to regard not only the Trojans, but the Lycians and Pamphylians, as scattered branches of the Hellenic nation, which distance of place had gradually cut off from all communication with the trunk. The Asiatic Greeks were exposed to none of those unfavourable circumstances already mentioned, which long retarded the improve-. ment of their brethren in Europe. The fertile and extensive plains of Asia offered them the materials of more powerful kingdoms than Greece could afford; and, instead of being MARS, THE GOD OF WAR. B His son Priam ruled in great splendour for many years; but Paris, his son, unfortunately went to visit Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose wife Helen was of exceeding beauty. For some time they lived in the utmost harmony together, when their happiness was interrupted by the arrival of the son of Priam, the handsomest man of his age, and singularly adorned with the frivolous accomplishments that often captivate the weakness of a female mind. Though a soldier of no great renown, Paris had strongly imbibed the romantic spirit of gallantry which prevailed in the heroic ages, of the Grecian queen. Enamoured of the elegant stranger, she abandoned her country and her husband, and having transported her most valuable treasure within the Trojan walls, defied the resentment of Greece, and the vengeance of heaven. Menelaus and the confederated kings of Greece at once began to make preparations to attack Troy. On the other hand, Priam had many powerful auxiliaries. His cause was defended by the hardy mountaineers, who covered the back of his kingdom; by the Carians, Lycians, and other nations of Asia and was distinguished by an ardent passion for beauty, which, notwithstanding the general softness of his unwarlike character, prompted him to brave every danger in pursuit of his favourite object. Animated by the hope of beholding the inimitable model of what he most adored, he seized the opportunity afforded him by a voyage of Menelaus into Crete, visited the dominions of his hereditary enemies, and solicited the rites of hospitality at the Spartan court. His person, his accomplishments, his address, and still more the voluntary hardships which he had endured for, her sake, seduced the inconstant affections Minor, extending from the mouth of the river Halys to the southern extremity of Cilicia; and by the Pelasgi, Thracians, and Pæonians, fierce barbarians who inhabited the European side of the Hellespont and Propontis. Confiding, however, rather in their domestic strength than in foreign assistance, the Trojans determined to defend their native shores against hostile invasion. The debarkation of the Greeks was purchased by much blood. Having effected a descent, they encamped on the Trojan plain, but lost the only opportunity which they enjoyed during many years of crushing at once the power of their enemies; who immediately shut themselves up within their impenetrable walls, leaving the city open only on the side of mount Ida, from which they received corn, cattle, and other necessary supplies. Agamemnon, as there was reason to expect from the manners of his age, had been more industrious in collecting a great army, than provident in contriving means by which it might keep the field. The provisions, transported from Greece, were speedily consumed, while the operations of the siege promised little hope of success, the Greeks being unacquainted with any military engines fitted to make an impression on the Trojan walls. With such a numerous army they might have converted the siege into a blockade; but scarcity of supplies compelled the greater part of them to quit the camp. The quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles deprived the Grecian army of the services of the latter. So more slow years rolled on, till the beloved friend of Achilles was slain by the arm of Hector, the bravest and most generous of the Trojan race. This event, which was infinitely more dreadful than death to the affectionate ardour of the Grecian chief, stifled his hitherto inexorable resentment against the proud tyranny of Agamemnon. His return to the camp restored the declining fortune of the Greeks; and the indignant fury of his rage was quenched in the detested blood of Hector, whose patriotic valour had long been the firmest bulwark of his father's kingdom. The destruction of Troy soon followed the death of her darling hero. The city, whether taken by storm or by surprise, was set on fire during night; most of the citizens perished by the sword, or were dragged into captivity; and only a miserable remnant escaped through the confused horror of raging flames and expiring kinsmen. The burning of Troy happened eleven hundred and eighty-four years before the Christian era. Neither the city nor territory ever assumed, in any succeeding age, the dignity of independent government. The sea-coast was planted eighty years after the Trojan war, by new colonies from Greece; and the inland parts submitted to the growing power of the Lydians, whose arms overspread and conquered all the finest provinces of Lesser Asia. The Greeks had recovered possession of the admired beauty of Helen; they had taken complete vengeance on the family and nation of her unhappy seducer; but the misfortunes, which were the natural consequence of the Trojan expedition, left them little reason to boast of their victory. Of five Boeotian commanders, only one remained, and the siege had been proportionately fatal to the leaders of other tribes, as well as to their warlike followers. Those who lived to divide the rich spoils of Troy were impatient to set sail with their newly-acquired treasure, notwithstanding the threatening appearance of the skies. Many of them perished by shipwreck; the rest were long tossed on unknown seas; and when they expected to find in their native country the end of their calamities, they were exposed to suffer greater calamities there than any which they had yet endured. The thrones of several of the absent princes had been usurped by violence and ambition; the lands of various communities had been occupied by the invasion of hostile tribes; even the least unfortunate of these adventurers found their domains uncultivated, or their territories laid waste, their families torn by discord, or their cities shaken by faction. And thus the most celebrated enterprise of combined Greece tended to plunge that delightful and once happy country into barbarism and misery. |