Chapter 1

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GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN

_A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of_

THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 200 OF THE MOST PROMINENT PERSONAGES IN HISTORY

VOL. I.

Copyright, 1894, BY SELMAR HESS

edited by Charles F. Horne

New-York: Selmar Hess Publisher

Copyright, 1894, by SELMAR HESS.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

SUBJECT AUTHOR PAGE

ALARIC THE BOLD, _Archdeacon Farrar, D.D., F.R.S._, 56 ALEXANDER THE GREAT, 10 MARC ANTONY, 37 ATTILA, _Archdeacon Farrar, D.D., F.R.S._, 59 BELISARIUS, _Charlotte M. Yonge_, 64 GODFREY DE BOUILLON, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 97 JULIUS CAESAR, _E. Spencer Beesly, M.A._, 32 CHARLEMAGNE, _Sir J. Bernard Burke_, 75 CLOVIS THE FIRST, _Thomas Wyatt, A.M._, 61 GASPARD DE COLIGNI, _Professor Creasy_, 164 HERNANDO CORTES, _H. Rider Haggard_, 150 CYRUS THE GREAT, _Clarence Cook_, 5 DIOCLETIAN, 50 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, 176 EDWARD I. OF ENGLAND, _Thomas Davidson_, 109 EDWARD III. OF ENGLAND, 114 EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE, _L. Drake_, 119 BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN, 127 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, _Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen_, 199 HANNIBAL, _Walter Whyte_, 14 HENRY IV. OF FRANCE, 171 HENRY V. OF ENGLAND, _G. P. R. James_, 129 HERMANN, 40 JOHN HUNIADES, _Professor A. Vambery_, 136 CAIUS MARIUS, _James Anthony Froude, LL.D._, 25 CHARLES MARTEL, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 69 NEBUCHADNEZZAR, _Clarence Cook_, 1 PEPIN THE SHORT, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 72 FRANCISCO PIZARRO, _J. T. Trowbridge_, 156 SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 182 SALADIN, _Walter Besant_, 106 SCIPIO AFRICANUS MAJOR, 18 MILES STANDISH, _Elbridge S. Brooks_, 189 TRAJAN, _J. S. Reid, Litt. D._, 42 OLAF TRYGGVESON, _Thomas Carlyle_, 83 ALBRECHT VON WALLENSTEIN, _Henry G. Hewlett_, 194 WARWICK, THE KING-MAKER, 146 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, _G. W. Prothero_, 92

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME I.

PHOTOGRAVURES

ILLUSTRATION ARTIST TO FACE PAGE

ATTILA, "THE SCOURGE OF GOD," _Ulpiano Checa_ _Frontispiece_ "AND HE WAS DRIVEN FROM MEN, AND DID EAT GRASS AS OXEN," _Georges Rochegrosse_ 4 HANNIBAL CROSSING THE RHONE, _Henri-Paul Motte_ 14 HERMANN'S TRIUMPH OVER THE ROMANS, _Paul Thumann_ 40 ROME UNDER TRAJAN--A CHARIOT RACE, _Ulpiano Checa_ 48 THE VICTIMS OF GALERIUS, _E. K. Liska_ 54 ALARIC IN ATHENS, _Ludwig Thiersch_ 56 CHARLEMAGNE AT WITIKIND'S BAPTISM, _Paul Thumann_ 78 HENRY V. REJECTS FALSTAFF, _Eduard Gruetzner_ 132 THE ADMIRAL OF THE SPANISH ARMADA SURRENDERS TO DRAKE, _Seymour Lucas_ 180 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF LUTZEN, _Ludwig Braun_ 202

WOOD-ENGRAVINGS AND TYPOGRAVURES

ALEXANDER DISCOVERING THE BODY OF DARIUS, _Gustave Dore_ 12 GENEROSITY OF SCIPIO, _Schopin_ 20 MARIUS ON THE RUINS OF CARTHAGE, _John Vanderlyn_ 32 THE IDES OF MARCH, _Carl Von Piloty_ 36 THE LAST GLADIATORIAL CONTEST, _J. Stallaert_ 58 CLOVIS PUNISHING A REBEL, _Alphonse De Neuville_ 62 BELISARIUS RECEIVING ALMS, _Jacques-Louis David_ 68 CHARLES MARTEL AT TOURS, _Charles Steuben_ 72 PEPIN AFTER THE MURDER OF DUKE WAIFRE, _Th. Lybaert_ 74 A NORSE RAID UNDER OLAF, _Hugo Vogel_ 84 WILLIAM AT HASTINGS, _P. J. De Loutherbourg_ 94 GODFREY DE BOUILLON ENTERING JERUSALEM, _Carl Von Piloty_ 104 SALADIN, _Gustave Dore_ 108 EDWARD III. AND THE BURGHERS OF CALAIS, _Berthelemy_ 118 BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN, _Alphonse De Neuville_ 128 HUNIADES AT BELGRADE, _Gustave Dore_ 146 YORK AND LANCASTER--THE RED AND WHITE ROSES, 148 PIZARRO EXHORTING HIS BAND AT GALLO, _Lizcano_ 158 HENRY IV. OF FRANCE AT HOME, _J. D. Ingres_ 176 RALEIGH PARTING FROM HIS WIFE, _E. Leutze_ 188 DEPARTURE OF THE MAYFLOWER, _A. W. Bayes_ 192 WALLENSTEIN'S LAST BANQUET, _J. Scholz_ 198

SOLDIERS AND SAILORS

Sleep, soldiers! still in honored rest Your truth and valor wearing: The bravest are the tenderest. The loving are the daring.

--BAYARD TAYLOR

NEBUCHADNEZZAR[1]

By CLARENCE COOK

(645-561 B.C.)

[Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]

With the death of Sardanapalus, the great monarch of Assyria, and the taking of Nineveh, the capital city, by the Medes, the kingdom of Assyria came to an end, and the vast domain was parcelled out among the conquerors. At the time of the catastrophe, the district of Babylonia, with its capital city Babylon, was ruled as a dependent satrapy of Assyria by Nabopolassar. Aided by the Medes, he now took possession of the province and established himself as an independent monarch, strengthening the alliance by a marriage between the Princess Amuhia, the daughter of the Median king, and his son Nebuchadnezzar.

In the partition of Assyria, the region stretching from Egypt to the upper Euphrates, including Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, had fallen to the share of Nabopolassar. But the tribes that peopled it were not disposed to accept the rule of the new claimant, and looked about for an ally to support them in their resistance. Such an ally they thought they had found in Egypt.

Egypt was the great rival of Babylon, as she had been of Assyria. Both desired to control the highways of traffic connecting the Mediterranean with the farther East. Egypt had the advantage, both from her actual position on the Mediterranean and her nearer neighborhood to the coveted territory, and she used her advantage with audacity and skill. No sooner, however, did Nabopolassar feel himself firm on his throne than he resolved to check the ambition of Egypt and secure for himself the sovereignty of the lands in dispute.

The task was not an easy one. Pharaoh Necho had been for three years in possession of the whole strip along the Mediterranean--Palestine, Phoenicia, and part of Syria--and was pushing victoriously on to Assyria, when he was met at the plain of Megiddo, commanding the principal pass in the range of Mount Carmel, by the forces of the petty kingdom of Judah, disputing his advance. He defeated them in a bloody engagement, in which Josiah, King of Judah, was slain, and then continued his march to Carchemish, a stronghold built to defend one of the few fordable passes of the upper Euphrates. This important place having been taken after a bloody battle, Necho was master of all the strategic points north and west of Babylonia.

Nebuchadnezzar was now put in command of an army, to force Pharaoh to give up his prey. Marching directly upon Carchemish, he attacked the Egyptian and defeated him with great slaughter. Following up his victory, he wrested from Pharaoh, in engagement after engagement, all that he had gained in Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, and was in the midst of fighting in Egypt itself, when the news came of the death of his father; and he hastened home at once by forced marches to secure his possession of the throne. In his train were captives of all the nations he had conquered: Syrians, Phoenicians, Jews, and Egyptians. Among the Jewish prisoners was Daniel, the author of the book of the Old Testament called by his name, and to whom we owe the little personal knowledge we have of the great Babylonian monarch.

Of all the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar in this long struggle with Egypt, that of the Jewish people is the most interesting to us. The Jews had fought hard for independence, but if they must be conquered and held in subjection, they preferred the rule of Egypt to that of Babylon. Even the long slavery of their ancestors in that country and the sufferings it had entailed, with the tragic memories of the exodus and the wanderings in the desert, had not been potent to blot out the traditions of the years passed in that pleasant land with its delicious climate, its nourishing and abundant food. Alike in prosperity and in evil days the hearts of the people of Israel yearned after Egypt, and the denunciations of her prophets are never so bitter as when uttered against those who turned from Jehovah to worship the false gods of the Nile. Three times did the inhabitants of Jerusalem rebel against the rule of Babylon, and three times did Nebuchadnezzar come down upon them with a cruel and unrelenting vengeance, carrying off their people into bondage, each time inflicting great damage upon the city and leaving her less capable of resistance; yet each time her rulers had turned to Egypt in the vain hope of finding in her a defence against the oppressor, but in every instance Egypt had proved a broken reed.

Of the three successive kings of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar had left to rule the city as his servants, and who had all in turn rebelled against him, one had been condemned to perpetual imprisonment in Babylon; a second had been carried there in chains and probably killed, while the third, captured in a vain attempt to escape after the taking of the city, had first been made to see his sons killed before his eyes, had then been cruelly blinded, and afterward carried in chains to Babylon, and cast into prison. The last siege of the city lasted eighteen months, and when it was finally taken by assault, its ruin was complete. By previous deportations Jerusalem had been deprived of her princes, her warriors, her craftsmen, and her smiths, with all the treasure laid up in the palace of her kings, and all the vessels of gold and silver consecrated to the worship of Jehovah. Little then was left for her to suffer, when the punishment of her latest rebellion came. Her walls were thrown down, her temple, her chief glory, was destroyed, the greater part of the inhabitants who had survived the prolonged siege were carried off to swell the crowd of exiles already in Babylon, and only a few of the humbler sort of folk, the vine-dressers and the small farmers, were left behind.

When Nebuchadnezzar rested after his conquests, secure in the subjugation of his rivals, and in the possession of his vast kingdom, he gave himself up to the material improvement of Babylon and the surrounding country. The city as he left it, at the end of his reign of forty-three years, was built on both sides of the Euphrates, and covered a space of four hundred square miles, equal to five times the size of London. It was surrounded by a triple wall of brick; the innermost, over three hundred feet high, and eighty-five feet broad at the top, with room for four chariots to drive abreast. The walls were pierced by one hundred gate-ways framed in brass and with brazen gates, and at the points where the Euphrates entered and left the city the walls also turned and followed the course of the river, thus dividing the city into two fortified parts. These two districts were connected by a bridge of stone piers, guarded by portcullises, and ferries also plied between the quays that lined the river-banks, to which access was given by gates in the walls.

Nebuchadnezzar's palace was a splendid structure covering a large space at one end of the bridge. In the central court were the Hanging Gardens, the chief glory of the city, and reckoned one of the wonders of the world. No clear idea can be formed of these gardens from any description that has come down to us, but it would appear that arches eighty feet high supported terraces of earth planted with all the skill for which the gardeners of the East were famous. We are told that they were built for the pleasure of Queen Amuhia, who, as a Median princess, missed her native mountains, but a more commonplace explanation is that they were carried so high to escape the mosquitoes that swarmed on the lower level.

Various splendid edifices, chiefly religious, adorned the great squares of the city: the temple of the god Bel, enriched by the spoils of Tyre and Jerusalem, was the especial pride of Nebuchadnezzar. It rose in a succession of eight lofty stages, and supported on the top a golden statue of the god, forty feet high. Still another temple of Bel was built in seven stages, each faced with enamelled brick of one of the planetary colors; the topmost one of blue, the color dedicated to Mercury or Nebo, the patron god of Nabopolassar.

But the most important of the civic undertakings of Nebuchadnezzar was the extension of the great system of canalization by which the barren wastes of the Babylonian plain were made to rival the valley of the Nile in fertility, and become the granary of the East. The whole territory was covered with a network of canals fed by the Tigris and Euphrates, and used for both irrigation and navigation. One branch had already connected Nineveh with Babylon, and another constructed by Nebuchadnezzar united Babylon to the Persian Gulf, running a distance of four hundred miles. This is still to be traced in a portion of its length.

The fate of Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most tragic in the long list of calamities that have overtaken the great and powerful of the earth. According to Daniel, it was just after the king had spoken those words of exulting pride as he walked in the palace of the Kingdom of Babylon: "Is not this great Babylon that I have built," when he was attacked by that dreadful form of madness, called by the Greeks, lycanthropy (wolf-man), in which the victim fancies himself a beast: in its fiercer manifestations a beast of the forest, or in milder visitations a beast of the field. Nebuchadnezzar's madness became so violent that for four years he was exiled from his throne and from the company of men, and wandered in the fields, eating grass like oxen, "and his body was wet with the dews of heaven, and his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." Although no mention is made of this strange malady in any writing but the book of Daniel, yet it has a pathetic confirmation in one of the rock-cut inscriptions that record the acts of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. "For four years the seat of my kingdom did not rejoice my heart. In all my dominions I built no high place of power, nor did I lay up the precious treasure of my kingdom. In Babylon I erected no buildings for myself nor for the glory of my empire. In the worship of Bel-Merodach, my Lord, the joy of my heart, in Babylon the city of his worship and the seat of my empire, I did not sing his praise, nor did I furnish his altar with victims"--and then, as if returning to the thing that lay nearest him--"In four years I did not dig out the canals."

In time, the black cloud of the king's madness passed away and health and reason were restored to him. And if the words that Daniel puts into the king's mouth on his recovery are really his, we must recognize in this Eastern Despot a decided strain of religious sensibility, a trait that appears beside in his almost passionate expressions of affection for his god Merodach, and in his sympathy with Daniel and the youths who were his companions, in their own religious devotion. Although Daniel and the other youths whom the king had caused to be called out from the mass of the Jewish captives for his own particular service--boys distinguished from the rest by their personal beauty, their intelligence and aptitude--were too earnest in their religious convictions and too high-spirited to conform to the Babylonian religion or to conceal their sentiments under the cloak of policy, yet the king tolerated their adherence to their ritual and yielded only in part to the persistence of the Jew-baiters, who saw with angry eyes the promotion of the hated captives to places of power and authority over the heads of their captors. In spite of his enemies Daniel was allowed to exercise his own religion in peace; and the persecutors of his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were themselves destroyed in the furnace they had heated for their innocent victims, which the youths themselves were rescued from by the personal interposition of the king, who pretended to see--or in his religious exaltation did really see--the god himself standing guard over the victims in the midst of the flames.

Of Nebuchadnezzar after the recovery of his reason we learn but little. The chronicle of Daniel passes abruptly from Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar, and the great king is not mentioned again. History, too, is silent. It tells us only that he left the throne to a son, whose name, Evil-Merodach, records the devotion of his father to the god of his people.

[Signature of the author.]

CYRUS THE GREAT[2]

By CLARENCE COOK

(REIGNED 558-529 B.C.)

[Footnote 2: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]

The early life of Cyrus the Persian, like that of many another famous conqueror, is lost in a cloud of fable. According to Herodotus, to whom we owe the earliest account, Astyages the King of Media was warned in a dream that some danger threatened the kingdom from the offspring of his daughter Mandane, who as yet was unmarried. In order to remove the danger, whatever it might be, as far as possible from his throne, Astyages married his daughter to a Persian named Cambyses, who took her with him to his own country. But after his daughter's marriage Astyages had another dream, which was interpreted by the priests to mean that his daughter's child was destined to reign in his stead. Alarmed by this prophecy he sent for his daughter, and when in course of time she bore a son, he ordered his trusty lieutenant Harpagus to carry the child to his own house and kill it. Harpagus took the infant as he had been ordered to do, but moved by the pleadings of his wife he determined to commit the rest of his bloody instructions to other hands. He therefore called one of his herdsmen, and ordered him to expose the child on the bleakest part of the mountain and leave it to perish, threatening him with the most terrible penalties in case of disobedience. But the herdsman and his wife were no more proof against pity than Harpagus and his wife had been, and while they stood swayed between their wish to save the child and their fear of disobeying Harpagus, fortune happily provided an escape for them. The wife of the herdsman brought forth a dead child, and this they determined to substitute for the living infant, and to bring up the grandson of Astyages as their own. The exchange was accomplished, and after some days the servants of Harpagus, sent to inquire if their master's commands had been obeyed, were shown by the herdsman the body of a dead child exposed on the rocks and still wearing the rich clothes and ornaments in which it had been brought to his house. Harpagus was thus enabled to assure Astyages that he was safe from the threatened danger, and might enjoy his throne in peace.

When the child of Mandane was ten years old an accident brought him to the knowledge of the king, and restored him to his birthright. One day he was playing with the children of his neighbors, and in a certain game where it was necessary to make one of the players king, Cyrus was chosen, and all the others, as his subjects, promised to obey his commands. But one of the boys, the son of a rich noble of the court of Astyages, refused to do as he was bid by Cyrus, and according to the rule of the game, he had to submit to a beating at the hand of the boy-king. Angry at this treatment, he complained to his father, who, indignant in his turn, went to Astyages, and reproached him with the blows his son had received at the hands of the son of one of the king's slaves. Cyrus was brought before the king; but when he was asked how he had dared to treat the son of a nobleman in such a way, the boy, nothing daunted, answered that he had done only what was right: the rules of the game were known to all who had joined in it: the other boys had submitted to the penalties: the son of the nobleman alone had refused, and he had been punished as he deserved. "If any wrong has been done by me," he said, "I am ready to suffer for it." Struck by the boldness of the lad, and by something in his looks, Astyages dismissed him for a time, and promised the nobleman that he should be satisfied for the insults offered to his son. He then sent for the herdsman Mitridates and wrung from him a confession of what he had done; and learning how Harpagus had deceived him he acquitted Mitridates, and turned all his vengeance upon Harpagus as the chief offender. How cruelly he punished him must not be told here, for pity, but it was such a barbarous revenge as could never be forgiven; and though Harpagus pretended to make light of it, yet it was only that by keeping fair with the king he might bide his time, and repay cruelty with cruelty.

But now, as Cyrus in our story has grown to man's estate, and is ready to show the world of what stuff he is made, it will be well to explain in a few words, what was the state of things in that part of the world where he was to play his part.

The mighty Kingdom of Assyria in its greatest estate had stretched from the Indus on the east, to the Mediterranean on the west. But when Nineveh, the capital and chief city of the empire, had been destroyed by the Medes--a subject people living on the north-eastern borders of the kingdom, but who had risen in rebellion against their rulers--Assyria was broken in pieces, and several minor kingdoms rose on her ruins.