Columbus, meanwhile, in

spired by the same hope of Dreamca
finding a sea-route to India,
and believing the earth to be
round, sailed westward. He
reached, not India, as he sup-
posed, but a new world.
his third voyage, the very
year that Da Gama sailed to
Asia, Columbus first saw the
coast of South America.

On

Adventurers of many nations now flocked eagerly through the door Columbus had opened. The names of Vespucci, Balboa, Cartier,

Ponce de Leon, and De Soto are familiar to every student of American history. The Cabots, sailing under the English flag, explored the coast of the New World from Labrador to Chesapeake Bay. Cabral, a Portuguese navigator, in 1500, took possession of Brazil in the name of his king. Finally Magellan passed through the strait still known by his name, and crossed the Pacific to the Philippine Islands; there he was killed by the savage natives, but one of his ships, continuing the voyage, circumnavigated the globe (1521).

Mexico, when discovered by the Spaniards, had reached, under the Montezumas,-its Aztec rulers,-a considerable degree of civilization. Its laws were written in hieroglyphics; its judges were chosen for life; its army was furnished with music, hospitals, and surgeons; its calendar was more accurate than the Spanish; its people were skilled in agriculture and the arts; and its capital, Mexico, was supplied with aqueducts, and adorned with palaces and temples.

The Aztecs, however, were idolaters and cannibals; and their civilization was ignorant of horse, ox, plow, printing, and gunpowder.

Cortes, with a little army of 600 Spaniards, fearlessly invaded this powerful empire. His cannon and cavalry carried terror to the simple-minded natives. A war of three years, crowded with romance as with cruelty, completed the conquest. Mexico remained a province of Spain until 1821.

Peru, under the Incas, was perhaps richer and more powerful than Mexico. Two great military roads extended the entire length of the empire, and along them the public couriers carried the news 200 miles per day. A vast system of water-works, more extensive than that of Egypt, irrigated the rainless regions, and agriculture had attained a high degree of perfection. The government was paternal, the land being owned by the Inca, and a portion assigned to each person to cultivate. Royal officers directed the industry of this great family in tillage, weaving, etc., and, though no one could rise above his station, it was the boast of the country that every one had work, and enjoyed the comforts of life.

Pizarro, an unprincipled Spanish adventurer, overthrew this rich empire (1533), and imprisoned the Inca. The unfortunate captive offered, for his ransom, to fill his cell with gold vessels as high as he could reach; but, after he had collected over $15,000,000 worth, he was strangled by his perfidious jailers.

The Spanish Colonies rarely prospered. In Mexico, Cortes sought to rule wisely. He sent home for priests and learned men; founded schools and colleges; and introduced European plants and animals. But, on his return to Spain, he became, like Columbus, a victim of ingratitude, though he had given to the emperor Charles V. "more states than Charles had inherited cities."

In general, the Spanish governors destroyed the native civilization,

without introducing the European. The thirst for gold was the principal motive that drew them to the New World. The natives were portioned among the conquerors, and doomed to work in the mines. It is said that four fifths of the Peruvians perished in this cruel bondage. The kind-hearted Las Casas, the apostle of the Indians, spent his life in vainly seeking to alleviate their miseries, convert them to Christianity, and obtain for them governmental protection. To supply the fearful waste of the population, negroes were brought from Africâ, and so slavery and the slave-trade were established. The Spaniards turned to agriculture only when gold-hunting ceased to pay; and, not being a trading people, their colonial commerce fell chiefly into the hands of foreigners. For a time, however, the Spanish coffers were running over with American gold and silver.

READING REFERENCES.

Heeren's Manual.-Dyer's History of Modern Europe.-Heeren's Historical Treatises.-Yonge's Three Centuries of Modern History.-Arnold's Lectures on Modern History.-Thalheimer's Manual of Modern History.-Michelet's Modern History.Duruy's Histoire des Temps Modernes.-Irving's Life of Columbus.—Parkman's Pioneers of France.-Help's Spanish Conquest of America.-Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella (Columbus).—Wallace's Fair God (fiction).—Barnes's Brief Hist. of the U. S. -Barnes's Popular Hist. of the U. S.-Squier's Ancient Peru, Harper's Mag., Vol. 7.Abbott's Cortez, Harper's Mag., Vol. 12.-Abbott's Columbus, Harper's Mag., Vol. 38. -Higginson's Spanish Discoveries, Harper's Mag., Vol. 65.-Eggleston's Beginning of a Nation, Century Magazine, Vol. 25.-Fitzgerald's Kings of Europe and their Families (excellent for genealogy).

THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

I. THE FRENCH IN ITALY.

The Invasion of Italy (1494) by the French may be considered the opening event of modern history. The many leagues formed during the progress of this invasion, illustrate the growth of the new States-System.

Charles VIII. (1483-98), filled with dreams of rivaling Alexander and Charlemagne, resolved to assert the claim of his house to the kingdom of Naples.1 Milan, Florence, and Rome opened their gates to his powerful army. He entered Naples amid the acclamations of the populace. This brilliant success turned the head of the weak king, and he gave himself up to feasts and tournaments. Meanwhile the first extended league in modern history was formed by Milan, Venice, the Pope, Maximilian of Germany, and Ferdinand of Spain, to expel the invader. Charles retreated as hastily as he had come, and by the victory of Fornovo secured his escape into France.

Louis XII. (1498-1515), inheriting the schemes of

Geographical Questions.-Locate Naples; Milan; Fornovo; Venice; Pavia; Marignano; Genoa; Vienna; Wittenberg; Augsburg; Smalcald; Nuremberg; Innsbruck; Passau; Trent; Guinegate; Calais; Toul; Verdun; Rouen; Crespy; Passy; Ivry; Nantes; Antwerp; Leyden; Amsterdam; Haarlem; Ghent; Edinburgh; Flodden; Plymouth. Point out the seven provinces of Northern or United Netherlands; the limits of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century.

1 The Dukes of Anjou, a branch of the House of France (p. 355), having been expelled from Italy, became established in the petty principality of Provence. After the death of René, who, according to Shakspere, bore

"The style of king of Naples,

Of both the Sicilies and Jerusalem,

Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman,"

the province and the claim of the house fell to Louis XI. (Brief Hist. France, p. 106).

Charles VIII. with a claim to Milan, led the second expedition over the Alps. Milan quickly fell into his hands. An arrangement was made with Ferdinand to divide Naples between them; but the conquerors quarreled over the spoil,

and the French army, in spite of the heroism of the Chevalier Bayard, was beaten back from Naples by the Spanish infantry under the "Great Captain" Gonsalvo.