invited James to be their king, for he and the whole Stuart family
lorded it over the English people. They acted as if they were “lords of
creation,” and the English people had to fight for their rights.
A body of men called Parliament were supposed to make the laws for the
English people. But James said that Parliament could do nothing that he
didn’t like, and if they weren’t very careful he wouldn’t let them do
any governing at all. James said that whatever the king did was right,
that the king could do no wrong, that God gave kings the right to do as
they pleased with their subjects. This was called the Divine Right of
Kings. Naturally the English people would not put up with this sort of
thing. Ever since the time of King John they had insisted on their own
rights. The Tudors had often done things that the people didn’t like,
but the Tudors were English. The Stuarts, however, were Scotch, and
the people looked on them as foreigners; what they permitted in one of
their own family they wouldn’t stand in these strangers whom they had
invited into their family. So, of course, a quarrel was bound to start.
But the real fight came with the next king and not with James.
James was very fond of beefsteak, and one particular cut from the loin
of beef he liked especially well. It was so delicious he thought it
should be honored in some way, and so he made it a knight as if it were
a brave and gallant gentleman and dubbed it “Sir Loin,” which we still
call it to-day--although people have forgotten all about how it got
such a name, and some even say this is only a story and that he never
did such a foolish thing, anyway.
During King James’s reign the Bible was translated into English. This
is probably the same Bible you read and that is called the King James
Bible.
Nothing much happened in England during James’s reign, but in some
other countries a great deal did happen, although the king had little
to do with it. English people made settlements in India, that far away
country of the Brahmanists, which Columbus had tried to reach by going
west; and these settlements there grew until India at last belonged to
England. The English made settlements also in America, and these grew
until at last part of America, too, belonged to England.
One of these settlements in America was made in the South, and one was
made in the North. Raleigh’s settlement at Roanoke had disappeared, as
I told you; but in 1607 a boatload of English gentlemen sailed over
to America looking for adventure and hoping to make their fortunes by
finding gold. They landed in Virginia and named the place where they
settled Jamestown after their king, James. But they found no gold, and
as they were not used to work, they didn’t want to do any. But their
leader, Captain John Smith, took matters in hand and said that those
that didn’t work shouldn’t eat. So then the colonists had to go to work.
Back in England people had learned to smoke, and so the colonists
began to raise tobacco for the English people. The tobacco brought
the colonists so much money that it proved to be a gold-mine--of a
different kind--after all. But the colonial gentlemen wanted some one
to do the rough work for them. So a few years later some negroes were
brought over from Africa and sold to the colonists as slaves to do the
rough work. This was the beginning of slavery in America, which grew
and grew until in the South almost all the work was done by colored
slaves.
A little later another company of people left England for America.
These people were not looking for fortunes, however, as the Jamestown
settlers had been. They were looking for a place where they might
worship God as they pleased, for in England they were interfered
with, and they wanted to find a place where no one would interfere
with them. So this company of people left England in 1620 in a ship
called the _Mayflower_ sailed across the ocean and landed in a place
called Plymouth, in Massachusetts, and there they settled. More than
half of them died the first winter from hardship and exposure in the
bitter weather that they have in the North, but, nevertheless, none of
those who were left would go back to England. This settlement was the
beginning of that part of the United States called New England. You
will hear more about both settlements later when you study American
History. But at present we must see what was going on in England, for
there were great “goings on” there.
[Illustration]
67
A King Who Lost His Head
Have you ever sung, “King William was King James’ son”?
Well, that must have been some other King James, for King Charles was
this King James’ son, and he was Charles I.
Charles was “a chip of the old block.” Like his father he believed in
the Divine Right of Kings, that he alone had the right to say what
should be done or what should not be done, and he treated the English
people as King John had; that is, as if they were made simply to serve
his pleasure and to do as he said.
But this time the people didn’t carry him off, as they had King John,
to agree to a paper. They started to fight. The king made ready to
fight for what he thought his rights. So he got together an army of
lords and nobles and those who agreed with him. Those who took his side
even dressed differently from those who were against him. They grew
their hair in long curls and wore a broad-brimmed hat with a large
feather and lace collars and cuffs of lace even on their breeches.
Parliament also got together an army of the people who wanted their
rights. They had their hair cut short and wore a hat with a tall crown
and very simple clothes. A country gentleman named Oliver Cromwell
trained a regiment of soldiers to be such good fighters that they were
called Ironsides.
[Illustration: King Charles and Oliver Cromwell.]
The king’s army was made up of men who prepared for battle by drinking
and feasting. The parliamentary army prayed before going into battle
and sang hymns and psalms as they marched.
At last after many battles the king’s army was beaten and King Charles
was taken prisoner. A small part of Parliament then took things in
their own hands, and though they had no right to do so they tried King
Charles and condemned him to death. They found him guilty of being a
traitor and a murderer and other terrible things. Then he was taken
out in front of his palace in London in the year 1649 and his head
was cut off. People now feel that this was a shameful thing for the
parliamentary army to do to the king, and even at that time only a part
of the English people were in favor of it. He might have been sent away
instead of being killed, or he might have had his office of king taken
away from him.
Oliver Cromwell, the commander of the parliamentary army then ruled
over England for a few years. He was a coarse-looking person with
very rough manners, but honest and religious, and he ruled England as
a stern and strict father might rule his family. He would stand no
nonsense. Once when he was having his picture painted--for there were
no photographs then--the artist left out a big wart he had on his face.
Cromwell angrily told him, “Paint me as I am, wart and all.” Cromwell
was really a king although he called himself Protector, but he did a
great deal that was good for England.
When Cromwell died his son became ruler after him, just as if he were
the son of a king, but the son was unable to fill his father’s shoes.
He meant well, but he hadn’t the brains or the ability that his father
had, and so in a few months he resigned. Oliver Cromwell had been so
strict that the English people had forgotten about their troubles under
the Stuarts. So in 1660 when the English found themselves without a
ruler they invited back the son of Charles I, whom they had beheaded,
and once more a Stuart became king. This was Charles II.
Charles was called the Merry Monarch because all he seemed to think
about was eating and drinking, amusing himself, and having a good time.
He made fun of things that were holy and sacred. To revenge himself on
those who had put his father to death he had those of them who were
still living killed in the most horrible way one could think of. Those
that were dead already, Oliver Cromwell among them, were taken from
their tombs; then their dead bodies were hung and afterward beheaded.
In his reign that old and terrible disease, the plague, broke loose
again in London. Some people thought that God had caused it, that
He was shocked by the behavior of the king and his people especially
toward holy things, that He was punishing them. The next year, 1666, a
great fire started and burned up thousands of houses, and hundreds of
churches were destroyed. But the Great Fire, as it was called, cleaned
up the disease and dirt and was therefore really a blessing. London had
been a city of wooden houses. It was rebuilt of brick and stone.
Only one more Stuart ruler shall I tell you about--or rather a royal
pair, William and Mary--because in their reign the fight between the
people and their kings was once for all finally settled. In 1688
Parliament drew up an agreement called the Declaration of Right, which
William and Mary signed. This agreement made Parliament ruler over the
nation, and ever since, Parliament and not the king has been the real
ruler of England. So I think we have heard enough of the Stuarts for a
while.
68
Red Cap and Red Heels
The last Louis I told you about was a saint--the Louis who went on the
last Crusade.
The two Louis I’m going to tell you about now were not saints--not by
any means.
They were Louis XIII and Louis XIV and they ruled France while the
Stuarts were reigning in the seventeenth century in England.
Louis XIII was king in name only. Another man told him what to do,
and he did it. Strange to say, this other man was a great ruler of
the church called a cardinal, who wore a red cap and a red gown. The
cardinal’s name was Richelieu.
Now, you are probably sick and tired of hearing about wars, but during
the reign of Louis XIII another long war started, and I must tell
you something about it for it lasted thirty years. It was therefore
called the Thirty Years’ War. It was different from most wars. It was
not a war of one country against another. It was a war between the
Protestants and Catholics.
Cardinal Richelieu was of course a Catholic and the real ruler of
France, which was a Catholic country. Nevertheless, he took sides with
the Protestants, for they were fighting a Catholic country called
Austria, and he wanted to beat Austria. Most of the countries in Europe
took part in this war, but Germany was the battle-ground where most of
the fighting was done. Even Sweden, a northern country of Europe which
we have not heard of before, took part. The king of Sweden at this time
was named Gustavus Adolphus, and he was called the Snow King because he
was king of such a cold country, and also the Lion of the North, for
he was such a brave fighter. I am mentioning him particularly because
of all kings and rulers in Europe at this time he was the finest
character. Indeed, most of the other rulers thought only of themselves,
and they would lie and cheat and steal and even murder to get what
they wanted, but Gustavus Adolphus was fighting for what he thought
was right. Gustavus Adolphus was a Protestant, and so he came down
into Germany and fought on the side of the Protestants. He was a great
general, and his army won. But unfortunately he himself was at last
killed in battle. The Protestants came out ahead in the Thirty Years’
War, and at last a famous treaty of peace was made called the Treaty of
Westphalia. By this treaty it was agreed that each country should have
whatever religion its ruler had; it could be Protestant or Catholic as
the ruler wished.
During the Thirty Years’ War the plague, that old deadly contagious
disease we have heard of before, broke out in Germany. A little town
named Oberammergau prayed that it might be spared. The townspeople
vowed that if they were spared they would give a play of Christ’s life
once every ten years. They _were_ spared, and so every ten years, ever
since then, with only a few exceptions, they have been giving what is
called the Passion Play. As it is the only place in the world where it
is ever given, tens of thousands of Christians from all over the globe
travel to this little out-of-the-way village to see these peasants act
the stories of Christ’s life. The play is given on Sundays during the
summer of the tenth year and lasts all day long. There are about seven
hundred people who take part, half of all the people in the town. It
is a great honor to be chosen to play the part of a saint; it is the
highest earthly honor to be selected to play the part of Christ; and it
is a disgrace to be left out entirely.
The next French king to rule after Louis XIII and Richelieu was Louis
XIV.
The people in England had at last succeeded in getting the power to
rule themselves through their Parliament. But in France Louis would
let no one rule but himself. He said, “I am the state,” and he would
let no one have a say in the government. This was the same as the
Stuarts’ Divine Right of Kings, which the English people had put an end
to. Louis ruled for more than seventy years. This is the longest time
that any one in history has ever ruled.
[Illustration: Louis XIV.]
Louis XIV was called the Grand Monarch, and everything he did was to
show off. He was always parading and strutting about as if he were
the leading character in a play and not just an ordinary human being.
He wore corsets and a huge powdered wig and shoes with very high red
heels, to make himself appear taller. That, I suppose, is why some
ladies to-day wear high heels called French heels. He carried a long
cane, stuck out his elbows, turned out his toes, and strutted up and
down, for he thought these things made him seem grand, important,
imposing.
All this may sound as if Louis were a silly person with no sense, but
you must not get that idea. In spite of his absurd manners he made
France the chief power in Europe. He was almost constantly fighting
other countries, trying to increase the size of France and to add to
his kingdom, but I have already told you so much about so many fights,
that I’m not going to tell you any more about his just now, for you
would probably not read it if I did. So France had her turn as leader
of all the other countries as Spain and England had had.
Louis built a magnificent palace at Versailles in which were marble
halls, beautiful paintings, and many huge mirrors in which he could see
himself as he strutted along. The palace was surrounded by a park with
wonderful fountains. The water for the fountains had to be brought a
long distance, and it cost thousands of dollars to have the fountains
play just for a few minutes. Even to-day sight-seers visit Versailles
to see the magnificent palace rooms and to watch the fountains play.
But Louis surrounded himself not only with beautiful things. He also
surrounded himself with all the most interesting men and women of his
time. All those who could do anything exceptionally well, all those who
could paint well or write well or talk well or play well or look well,
he brought together to live with him or near by him. This was called
his _court_. Those in his Court were “in society.” They were the chosen
few who looked down on all the others who were not in society.
[Illustration: Louis XIV getting ready for bed.]
This was all very fine for the people who were lucky enough to be “in
society”--in Louis’s court. But the poor people of France, those not in
his court, were the ones who had to pay Louis’s expenses and those of
his court. They were the ones who had to pay for his parties and balls
and feasts and for all sorts of presents which he gave his friends. So
we shall see presently what happened. The poor people would not stand
that sort of thing forever. “The worm will turn,” we say.
[Illustration]
69
A Self-Made Man
Who was the Father of His Country?
I know what you will say:
“George Washington.”
But there was another man called “The Father of His Country” before
Washington was born, and he was not an American.
In the east of Europe there is a great country as large as our own,
and its name is Russia. Very little had been heard of Russia before
the Year 1700, for although it was the largest country in Europe, its
people were only about half civilized. The Russians were a branch of
the great Aryan family called Slavs, but although they were white
people, they were living so close to the yellow people in China that
they had become much like them in many of their ways. Then, too, the
terrible Genghis Khan and his yellow Mongols had conquered Russia
in the thirteenth century and ruled over the land. So although the
Russians were Christians, they were in every other way more like the
people of the East than like Europeans. The men had long beards and
wore long coats. The women wore veils like those the Turkish women
wore. The people counted with balls strung on wires as the Chinese did.
Well, just before 1700 there was born a Russian prince named Peter.
When a small boy, Peter was very much afraid of the water. But he felt
so ashamed that he, a prince, should fear anything that he forced
himself to get used to the water. He would go to it and play in it and
sail boats on it, although all the time he was almost scared to death.
And so at last he not only got over this great fear but he came to like
the water and boats more than any other playthings.
When Peter grew up the thing he wanted more than anything else in the
world was to make his country important in Europe, for before this time
it had not been. It was big but not great. And his people had to be
civilized. But before he could teach his own people, who were most of
them very poor and ignorant, he had to learn himself. As there was no
one in Russia who could teach him what he wanted to know, he disguised
himself as a common laborer and went to the little country of Holland.
Here he got a job in a shipbuilding yard and worked for several months,
cooking his own food and mending his own clothes. While he was doing
this, however, he learned all about building ships and studied many
other things besides, such as blacksmithing, cobbling shoes, and even
pulling teeth.
Then he went to England, and everywhere he went he learned all he
could. At last he returned to his own country with the knowledge he had
gained and set to work to make Russia over. First of all, Peter wanted
Russia to have a fleet of ships as other nations had. But in order to
have a fleet he had to have water for his ships, and Russia had almost
no land bordering on the water. So Peter planned to take a sea-shore
away from the neighboring country of Sweden.
Now the king of Sweden at this time was Charles. He was the twelfth
king named Charles that Sweden had had. Charles XII was hardly more
than a boy, and Peter thought it would be an easy matter to beat
this boy and help himself to whatever land he wanted on the water.
But Charles was not an ordinary boy. He was an extra-ordinary boy,
extra-ordinarily bright and gifted, and he had been unusually well
educated besides. He knew several languages; he had learned to ride a
horse when he was four years old and how to hunt and to fight. Besides
all this, he feared neither hardship nor danger. Indeed, he was such a
daredevil that people called him the Madman of the North. So at first
Peter’s army was beaten by Charles.
But Peter took his beating calmly, simply remarking that Charles would
soon teach the Russian army how to win. Indeed, so successful was
Charles at first in fighting Peter and all others who threatened him
that the countries of Europe began to think of him as Alexander the
Great come to life again, and they feared he might conquer them all.
But at last the Russians did win against Charles, and Peter got his
sea-shore. Then Peter built the fleet for which he had been working and
planning for so many years.
The capital of Russia was Moscow. It was a beautiful city but near
the center of that country and far from the water. This didn’t suit
Peter at all. Peter wanted a fine city for his capital, but he wanted
it right on the water’s edge, so that he could have his beloved ships
close to him. So he picked out a spot not only on the water but mostly
water, for it was chiefly a marsh. Then he put a third of a million
people to work filling in the marsh, and on this he built a beautiful
city. This city he called St. Petersburg in honor of his patron
saint, the apostle Peter, after whom he himself had been named. The
name of St. Petersburg was later changed to Petrograd and recently to
Leningrad. Then Peter improved the laws, started schools, and built
factories and hospitals and taught his people arithmetic, so that they
could count without having to use balls strung on strings. He made
his people dress like other Europeans. He made the men cut off their
long beards, which he thought looked countrified. The men thought it
indecent to have no beards so some saved them to be placed in their
coffins in order that at the day of resurrection they could appear
before God unashamed. He introduced all sorts of things that he found
in Europe but which were unknown in his own country, and he really made
Russia over into a great European nation, so that is why he is called
Peter the Great, the Father of his Country.
Peter fell in love with a poor peasant girl, an orphan named Catherine,
and married her. She had no education, but she was very sweet and
lovely and bright and quick-witted, so the marriage turned out happily.
The Russians were shocked at the idea of having a queen who was not a
princess and was so low-born. But Peter had her crowned, and after he
died she ruled over Russia.
70
A Prince Who Ran Away
If you put a P in front of Russia it makes--Prussia. This is the name
of a little country in Europe, which is now a part of Germany. Russia
was big, and Peter made it great. Prussia was small, but another king
made it also great. This king was named Frederick. He, too, lived in
the eighteenth century, but a little later than Peter, and he, too, was
called “the Great”--Frederick the Great.
Frederick’s father, who was the second king of Prussia, had a hobby for
collecting giants--as you might collect postage-stamps. Wherever he
heard of a very tall man, no matter in what country and no matter what
it cost to get him, he bought or hired him. This collection of giants
he made into a remarkable company of soldiers which was his special
pride.
He was a very cranky, cross, and bad-tempered old king. He treated his
children terribly, especially his son Frederick, whom he called Fritz.
Fritz had curls and liked music and poetry and fancy clothes. And his
father thought he was growing up to be a girl-boy. This disgusted his
father, for he wanted a son who would be a soldier and fighter. His
father when angry used to throw dishes at him, lock him up for days
at a time, and feed him on bread and water and whip him with a cane.
Finally Fritz could stand it no longer, and he ran away. He was caught
and brought back. His father was so angry with his son for disobeying
and acting as he had done that he was actually going to have him
killed--yes, put to death--but at the last minute was persuaded not to
do it.
But here is a funny thing: When Fritz grew up to be Frederick, he
turned out just what his father wanted him to be--a great soldier and
fighter. He still loved poetry and even tried to write poems himself,
and he was very fond of music and he played the flute very well,
indeed. But Frederick wanted above everything else to make his country
important in Europe; for before his time it was of little account, and
no one paid much attention to it.
Now, the neighboring country to Prussia was Austria. Austria was ruled
over by a woman. This woman was named Maria Theresa. Maria Theresa had
become ruler of Austria at the same time that Frederick had become king
of Prussia. Some people thought a woman was not a fit person to rule
over a country. Frederick’s father had promised to let Maria Theresa
alone--he had promised not to fight a woman--but when Frederick became
king he wanted to add a part of Austria to his own country, and so he
simply helped himself to the piece of Maria Theresa’s country that he
wanted. He didn’t care if she was a woman or whether it was fair or
not. Of course this started a war. Before long almost every country in
Europe was fighting either with Frederick or against him. But Frederick
not only succeeded in getting what he was after; he succeeded in
holding on to it.