PREFACE. THE PLAN of this work is nearly the same as that of the STUDENT'S MANUAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY, which has been sanctioned by public approbation. It is a compilation which can have few claims to novelty; but it is hoped that most students will be gratified with the attention paid to such events as mark the progress of civilisation, for they form the chain by which the histories of the several nations of Europe are linked together. It has been the constant aim of the Author to impress upon his readers that the Providence of God may be traced with as much distinctness in the moral government of the universe, as in the physical world: we cannot comprehend all the mysteries of the Almighty's wondrous plan, because 'the end is not yet;' but we see enough to convince us that there is evident and great design in the order of the events which constitute general history, and that all the records of our race bear testimony to the great truth announced in the revealed word of God'Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.' In the narrative of our own times, the Writer has sedulously avoided party views of important questions, and has confined himself to a plain statement of facts, without any colouring borrowed from opinions. Colonisation is too important a branch of Modern History to be omitted; and at the risk of being charged with something like repetition, the Author has thought it right to give a summary of the history of the principal Colonies which. have been founded in India and America. The rise, progress, and present state of the Papacy as a political system, has been, it is trusted, satisfactorily developed, including histories of the Inquisition and of the Order of Jesuits. The history of China has been brought down to the present day, and in like manner a sketch is given of the fortunes of the Jews since their dispersion by Adrian. In this the eighth edition the later Chapters have been rewritten, so as to bring down the History to the present time. The Chronological Tables first introduced into the fifth edition have been retained. On the other hand, that the volume might not become inconveniently bulky, it was thought desirable to make some retrenchments of the less essential matter in the earlier chapters, and in those on the Papal power, the Inquisition, and the Colonies. SECT. I. Decline of the Papal Power. The Great Schism of the West 140 II. First Revival of Literature, and Inventions in Science . III. History of the Negotiations and Wars respecting Italy IV. The History of Burgundy under the Princes of the House of |