Part 1
HERO TALES FROM HISTORY
BY
SMITH BURNHAM, A.M.
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, WESTERN STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
_ILLUSTRATED_
THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY
CHICAGO PHILADELPHIA TORONTO DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
PREFACE
An interest in history and a love of historical reading will be most readily acquired by those children who approach this rich field of literature through the medium of stories of the great figures of the past. Such stories, if properly selected and told, give children those vivid concrete pictures of men and of events which are vitally essential to any real understanding of bygone days. At the same time such history stories may be so selected as to hold up right ideals of conduct and of character. Moreover, by their appeal to the emotions, which lie very near to the springs of conduct, they move to action. Tales of gentleness, of honor, of justice, of courage, of fortitude in suffering, of intrepidity in danger, of dauntless resolution, of iron will, inspire children to an emulation of those virtues. These “Hero Tales from History” have been written in the faith set forth in this paragraph. Through these stories the author aims to inculcate the fundamental virtues just named and at the same time to acquaint children with the names and achievements of some of those great men and women whose lives and characters are a part of our racial and national inheritance.
In the selection of the tales in this book the author has drawn upon all ages. Here are mighty men of the ancient world and makers of modern America. Some of the characters chosen as the heroes of these stories are great figures in world history, but the greater part of them were selected because they are among the foremost heroes of our own country and of our own culture. Of course in a book of this size many valuable stories had to be omitted. But it is believed that all the tales included are typical and representative.
These “Hero Tales” are not biographies of the men about whom they are told, neither has any attempt been made to join them into a connected historical narrative. They are just stories from the past told with constant thought of the stage of mental development of the children for whom they are intended. Each story has a hero, each is full of action, and the author has tried to tell each one in clear and simple language. The author has also tried to make each story teach its intended lesson without any moralizing on his part.
The history of the past can never become a vital thing to us until the men of the past are live, flesh and blood men. It is the author’s hope that these “Hero Tales from History” will help to make threescore great figures from our past something more than names to the children who may enjoy this book.
SMITH BURNHAM.
CONTENTS
PAGE MIGHTY MEN OF LONG AGO
MOSES, THE GREATEST LAW-GIVER, AND THE MEEKEST MAN 1
DAVID, THE GIANT-KILLER KING 6
HOMER, THE HERO POET OF ANCIENT GREECE 10
SOCRATES, THE “GRAND OLD MAN” OF GREECE 15
ALEXANDER, THE BOY WHO CONQUERED THE WORLD 20
FOUR FAMILIAR SAYINGS OF JULIUS CÆSAR 24
HEROES OF THE MIDDLE AGES
THE CHRISTMAS CROWNING OF CHARLEMAGNE 32
ALFRED, THE GREATEST OF THE SAXON KINGS 37
HOW WILLIAM OF NORMANDY CONQUERED A KINGDOM 42
LION-HEARTED RICHARD AND WOLF-HEARTED JOHN 47
JOAN OF ARC AND THE LILIES OF FRANCE 52
FOUR LEADERS IN THE OLD WORLD
SHAKESPEARE, THE GREATEST MAKER OF PLAYS 58
HOW CROMWELL CHANGED PLACES WITH THE KING 61
NAPOLEON, THE CORSICAN BOY WHO RULED EUROPE 65
NELSON, THE HERO OF TRAFALGAR 72
DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS
COLUMBUS, THE MAP-MAKER WHO FOUND A NEW WORLD 78
MAGELLAN, THE MAN OF THE STRAITS 84
CORTES, THE CONQUEROR 89
DE SOTO, A GOLD HUNTER IN SOUTHERN SWAMPS 96
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, ENGLAND’S FIRST GREAT SAILOR 102
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, THE FAVORITE OF GOOD QUEEN BESS 109
HENRY HUDSON, THE MAN WHO PUT HIMSELF ON THE MAP 115
LA SALLE AND THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 120
LIVINGSTONE, THE WHITE MAN OF THE DARK CONTINENT 126
PEARY, A HERO OF THE GREAT WHITE NORTH 137
COLONISTS AND PIONEERS
JOHN SMITH, THE CAPTAIN OF MANY ADVENTURES 145
CHAMPLAIN, THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE 151
MYLES STANDISH, THE BRAVE LITTLE CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 160
JOHN WINTHROP, A PURITAN MAKER OF MASSACHUSETTS 170
ROGER WILLIAMS, A MINISTER WHO LIVED THE GOLDEN RULE 176
LORD BALTIMORE, CALVERT AND CLAIBORNE, THE THREE FATHERS OF MARYLAND 180
WILLIAM PENN, THE FOUNDER OF PENNSYLVANIA 185
PATRIOTS OF THE REVOLUTION
PATRICK HENRY, THE “FIREBRAND OF THE REVOLUTION” 190
NATHAN HALE, WHO SPOKE THE BRAVEST WORDS IN HISTORY 194
LAFAYETTE, THE BOY HERO OF TWO WORLDS 201
THE IMMORTAL REPLY OF JOHN PAUL JONES 208
GENERAL MARION, THE CAROLINA “SWAMP FOX” 217
WINNERS OF THE WEST
WOLFE AND MONTCALM, THE RIVAL HEROES OF QUEBEC 224
DANIEL BOONE, THE GREAT INDIAN FIGHTER OF KENTUCKY 232
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, THE YOUNG HERO WITH A GREAT IDEA 240
LEWIS AND CLARK, TWO ADVENTURERS IN THE FAR WEST 247
DAVID CROCKETT, THE HERO OF THE ALAMO 258
FAMOUS INVENTORS
HOW ELI WHITNEY MADE COTTON KING 266
“FULTON’S FOLLY” 270
HOW MORSE SENT LETTERS BY LIGHTNING 274
CYRUS H. MCCORMICK AND THE STORY OF THE REAPER 279
ELIAS HOWE AND HIS SEWING MACHINE 282
EDISON, THE WIZARD OF MANY INVENTIONS 285
THE GREATEST AMERICANS
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE BOY WHO WAS DILIGENT IN BUSINESS 292
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS MOTHER 296
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, THE ORPHAN BOY FROM THE WEST INDIES 301
THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE FATHER OF DEMOCRACY 309
ANDREW JACKSON, AMERICA’S MOST POPULAR HERO 315
WEBSTER, CLAY, CALHOUN, THREE GREAT CHAMPIONS IN CONGRESS 320
THE KIND HEART OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 327
ULYSSES S. GRANT, THE GENERAL WHO HATED WAR 332
THE NOBLE SOUL OF ROBERT E. LEE 341
DAVID FARRAGUT, THE HERO OF MOBILE BAY 346
THE STRENUOUS LIFE OF ROOSEVELT 352
CLARA BARTON, “THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLE-FIELD” 358
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, THE AMERICAN CHILDREN’S POET 365
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE FRANKLIN’S BOOKSHOP IN PHILADELPHIA _Frontispiece_
MOSES PRAYING ON MOUNT SINAI 5
DAVID PLAYING HIS HARP BEFORE KING SAUL 9
HOMER, THE BLIND POET 11
SOCRATES TAKES THE CUP OF POISON FROM HIS JUDGES 18
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AT ONE OF HIS LUXURIOUS BANQUETS 23
THE ASSASSINATION OF CÆSAR 28
CHARLEMAGNE IS CROWNED EMPEROR OF THE WESTERN WORLD AT ROME 35
KING ALFRED DIVIDES HIS LAST LOAF OF BREAD WITH THE POOR BEGGAR 39
KING WILLIAM WOUNDED IN SINGLE COMBAT 45
KING RICHARD FORGIVES BERTRAND DE GURDUN 48
THE VICTORIOUS RETURN OF JOAN OF ARC TO ORLEANS 55
SHAKESPEARE AMONG HIS FRIENDS IN LONDON 59
OLIVER CROMWELL VISITING THE POET MILTON 63
EMPEROR NAPOLEON AT THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO 70
NELSON RECEIVING THE SWORD OF THE SPANISH ADMIRAL 74
COLUMBUS PLEADING HIS CAUSE BEFORE KING FERDINAND AND QUEEN ISABELLA 81
FERDINAND MAGELLAN 85
HERNANDO CORTES 90
THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF MEXICO BY CORTES 93
DE SOTO ON THE BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI 100
QUEEN ELIZABETH KNIGHTING DRAKE ON BOARD THE “GOLDEN HIND” 107
THE BOYHOOD OF RALEIGH 110
THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER 117
THE SHIPS OF FRANCE AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI 124
DAVID LIVINGSTONE, THE BRAVE SCOTCH MISSIONARY 127
PEARY IN ARCTIC DRESS WITH HIS ESKIMO DOGS 138
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 145
THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS 149
WHEN BRAVE AND COURTEOUS CHAMPLAIN SURRENDERED QUEBEC 158
THE MARCH OF MYLES STANDISH 163
GOVERNOR JOHN WINTHROP 170
THE LANDING OF ROGER WILLIAMS 179
GEORGE CALVERT, LORD BALTIMORE 181
WILLIAM PENN 185
PENN’S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS 189
PATRICK HENRY DELIVERING HIS CELEBRATED SPEECH 191
THE LAST WORDS OF CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE 199
GENERAL LAFAYETTE WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE 204
JOHN PAUL JONES COMMANDING THE “BON HOMME RICHARD” 215
GENERAL MARION, THE CAROLINA “SWAMP FOX” 218
THE MARQUIS DE MONTCALM 225
THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE 231
DANIEL BOONE, THE GREAT INDIAN FIGHTER OF KENTUCKY 233
COLONEL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 241
LEWIS AND CLARK ON THEIR EXPEDITION INTO THE FAR WEST 249
DAVID CROCKETT, HERO OF THE ALAMO 259
ELI WHITNEY, INVENTOR OF THE COTTON GIN 267
WHITNEY’S FIRST COTTON GIN 268
ROBERT FULTON, INVENTOR OF THE STEAMBOAT 270
THE “CLERMONT,” FULTON’S FIRST STEAMBOAT 273
S. F. B. MORSE, INVENTOR OF THE TELEGRAPH 275
MORSE’S FIRST TELEGRAPH SOUNDER 277
CYRUS H. MCCORMICK, INVENTOR OF THE REAPER 280
MCCORMICK’S FIRST REAPER 281
ELIAS HOWE 283
HOWE’S FIRST SEWING MACHINE 284
THOMAS A. EDISON AND ONE OF HIS EARLY DYNAMOS 287
WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL TO HIS MOTHER 299
THE FIRST MEETING BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND HAMILTON 305
THE SIGNING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 312
GENERAL JACKSON AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS 319
CLAY, CALHOUN AND WEBSTER, “THE STATESMEN OF THE COMPROMISE” 321
THE BOY LINCOLN READING BY THE FIRELIGHT 328
GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT 333
LEE’S INVASION OF THE NORTH 343
FARRAGUT IN THE RIGGING AT THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY 351
THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS COLONEL OF THE ROUGH RIDERS 353
CLARA BARTON, “THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELD” 360
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 366
MIGHTY MEN OF LONG AGO
MOSES, THE GREATEST LAW-GIVER, AND THE MEEKEST MAN
Long ago in the land of Egypt there lived as slaves to the Egyptians a race of white people called the Hebrews. There were so many of them that the Egyptians began to be afraid that they would over-run the land. So the cruel king, or the Pharaoh, as he was called, commanded that all the baby boys of the slave race should be thrown into the River Nile. But one little child escaped this fate, for his poor slave mother disobeyed the king and hid her baby in her hut. When he was three months old, his mother was afraid she could not keep him quiet any longer. So she made a basket, and plastered it inside with pitch, so that it would be water-tight and float like a boat. Into this basket-boat she put her baby.
The mother set the strange little boat on the edge of the River Nile, among the tall reeds called bulrushes, very near the place where she knew the king’s daughter came every day to bathe. It was a cool spot, well guarded and safe from the terrible crocodiles that lived in the Nile. After making sure that the little boat would not sink, the mother went back to her work, leaving her daughter Miriam to see what became of her baby brother.
Just as the wise mother had planned, the princess soon came with her ladies-in-waiting, and spied the cradle basket rocking on the waves near the shore. She told one of her maidens to bring it to her. The king’s daughter knew too well of her father’s command to drown or kill all the boy babies of the Hebrew slaves. So when she found a baby crying there, she pitied the poor mother who had obeyed the king by putting him in the river, still fondly hoping to save his life.
When the Pharaoh’s daughter saw the babe, she said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children!” There was a pleading look in the face of the little child. He seemed to ask the princess to take him in her arms. The princess herself was married but she had no children. That baby, smiling through his tears, touched her mother-heart. How could she help saving his little life from her father’s cruel law by claiming him as her own?
Just then Sister Miriam bowed before the princess and said, “Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?”
The king’s daughter was, pleased and said, “Yes, go.” So the happy sister ran and brought her mother to the great stone palace of the Pharaohs. Then the princess said, as if the mother were only a child’s nurse, “Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.”
So, besides saving his life, that mother was royally paid for taking care of her own son instead of working as a slave out in the hot sun. Besides, she had a good chance to tell him, as he grew up, of the one true God. What if her boy should save his father’s people from slavery, when he became a man in the palace of the Pharaohs?
In due time the daughter of the king adopted the young Hebrew as her own son, and named him Moses, which means “Saved,” because she had rescued him out of the river. When Moses was old enough he went to live with his royal mother, where he was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, who at that time, nearly four thousand years ago, were the most learned people in the world. Although he studied in the college of the priests, who believed in the Sun, the Moon and many other gods, Moses never forgot what his mother had taught him about the true God.
Young Prince Moses had a great deal to do while he was growing to manhood. He is said to have become commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army that conquered the black and savage race living a thousand miles up the Nile.
In the Bible story are these words:
“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
“And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
“Now when Pharaoh heard this, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.”
This Pharaoh was not the father of Moses’ foster mother, who was now dead. It is said that this king was afraid Moses would drive him from the throne and become Pharaoh himself.
For forty long years the exiled prince lived in Midian, studying, planning, and writing. It was during this time that he made the great decision of his life. He resolved to save his own people, the million Hebrews who were slaves to the Egyptians.
At last, Moses and his brother Aaron appeared before the Pharaoh, and announced that God had demanded that the king should let the children of Israel go free. It was a hard thing to ask, for the Egyptians still needed the great army of slave men to build great pyramids and temples.
The king refused, and consented, and refused again, until plague after plague was sent upon the land of Egypt. At last, when the king’s son, and the oldest child of every Egyptian family in the whole country had died in one night, the terrified and heartbroken king called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go.”
“And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.”
This going out of the Hebrew people bound for the Promised Land, nearly four thousand years ago, is called “the Exodus.” To this day it is celebrated by the Jews every year as the Passover.
When the Pharaoh realized that the great stone temples and pyramids of Egypt might never be finished, he was afraid because he had let the slave people go. So he ordered out his horses and chariots and drove hard after them till he caught them in camp beside the Red Sea. The frightened Hebrews began to cry and accuse Moses of deceiving them and leading them out into a great trap, to be killed like a million helpless sheep, by Pharaoh’s army.
But Moses told the wailing crowds not to be afraid. Before the king’s horses and men caught up with them a strong east wind came up and kept the tide from running in, thus leaving a bare sand bar right in front of them across that arm of the Red Sea. Moses commanded the people to march over as on dry land, an order which they lost no time in obeying. Then the Pharaoh and his horsemen came up behind and drove hard after them upon the sand bar. But the heavy chariots stuck in the mud beneath the sand, and when the Egyptians reached the middle the wind changed, and the tide, which had been held back so long, rushed in and drowned Pharaoh and his army. Then Miriam and Moses and Aaron led these million freed slaves in a grand victory chorus of song about their hairbreadth escape.
But the people were always scolding and complaining against Moses, the dear, gentle leader who had saved them from their cruel bondage. It was his patient love for his thankless people, while through forty years they wandered in the wilderness, that gave Moses the name of being the meekest man that ever lived.
At Mount Sinai Moses received from God and gave to the people the Ten Commandments, written on two tablets of stone. He spent his time during the long years of wandering in the wilderness in planning the laws and religion for his beloved people. He himself never entered the Promised Land, but died in the wilderness, somewhere on a mountain called Nebo. The Bible makes this statement of his death:
“So Moses the servant of the Lord died there. And he buried him in a valley, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.”
DAVID, THE GIANT-KILLER KING
Nearly three thousand years ago a bright, handsome Hebrew lad was playing a harp while watching his father’s sheep on the hills of Bethlehem.
One dark night there was a great stir among the sheep, and David saw a bear making off with one of the lambs. There were no guns in those days, but David had a sling, and he could fling a pebble almost as swift and straight as a boy can shoot a bullet to-day. So David ran and killed the bear by driving a stone through the big brute’s eye into its brain. When he took the trembling lamb back to its mother, what should he see but a lion starting off with a sheep in his huge jaws. There was no time to gather pebbles. Grabbing a jagged rock in one hand, David seized the great beast by the mane with the other, and aimed quick blows at the lion’s eyes, breaking his skull before the lion could drop his prey and fight back.
That was a great night’s work for one lone lad. After quieting his frightened flock, David took his harp and made up a song of thanks to the God of Israel for saving him alive from the jaws of the lion and the paws of the bear.
Not long after this, David’s old father sent out to the hills for him. When the youth came down to the house, he found Samuel, Prophet of God and Judge of Israel, waiting for him. David’s seven older brothers stood around eyeing him strangely, as the prophet said, “This is he,” and baptized him by pouring oil on his head.
“What did the prophet anoint me for?” David asked his father.
“To be king of Israel instead of Saul.”
“But I am only a boy, and King Saul is so big and strong--head and shoulders taller than other men. Why did not the prophet anoint our Eliab? He is almost as tall as the king himself.”
“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
After that David went back and herded his father’s sheep, but his brothers were jealous of him because he had been anointed to be king.
As had often happened in the days of the Judges, the heathen Philistines came up and made war against the people of Israel, and the eldest three of David’s brothers were in the king’s army. Many weeks went by, but no word came from the camp. So the father sent David down with provisions for the brothers and a present for their captain.
The shepherd boy found the two armies in camps opposite each other, across a narrow valley. Every one was excited over Goliath, a giant who came down every day into the valley from the army of the Philistines and challenged the king of Israel and all his men. Goliath was nearly eleven feet tall. He wore a bronze helmet about as big as a bushel measure, and his spear was like a weaver’s beam. Even King Saul and David’s tall brother Eliab were much too small to fight with the Philistine giant.