the way they were confronted by a large army of Mexicans, with whom they fought a hotlycontested battle. The overpowering numbers of the enemy seemed on the point of winning the victory, when the Mexican general was killed, and his army fled panic-stricken to the mountains. The victorious Spaniards reached the Tlascalan territory the next day. After recruiting their strength, they collected an auxiliary native army, reduced the neighboring provinces, and returned to lay siege to Mexico. The inhabitants made a gallant defence under their new emperor, Guatemozin; but after a siege of seventy-five days they were compelled to surrender (August 13, 1521). Guatemozin was put to death, and Mexico became a Spanish province. Cortes was made governor, but subsequently he was deprived of much of his power through the jealousy of his enemies in Spain, and, like many other of the explorers of the New World, finally died in solitude and neglect. ensued. At length he was summoned to appear before the emperor, Charles V., at Worms, to answer the charges that had been preferred against him. Luther gives a brief but characteristic account of the proceedings at Worms. "Are the books yours?"-"Yes."-" Will you revoke or not?" -"No."—" Get you gone, then." Friends in disguise seized him on his homeward journey and carried him to the Wartburg Castle, where he lived in safe retirement nearly a year. There he employed his time in translating the Bible into German. This work was not entirely completed until 1534. The Diet of Worms published an edict denouncing Luther as a heretic, and from that time he was irrevocably separated from the Church of Rome. After his return to Wittenberg he continued to write and teach the doctrines of the Reformation until his death, which occurred in 1546. 1521. Martin Luther. 1522. The First Voyage around the World. Among the daring enterprises which marked the beginning of the sixteenth century, that of Ferdinand Magalhaens, or Magellan, a Portuguese navigator, is worthy of special mention. Martin Luther, the leader of the German Reformation, was born at Eisleben, Saxony, in 1483. He was educated at the University of Erfurt, graduating in 1505. His father desired him to enter the legal profession, but Luther made up his mind to become a monk, and accordingly entered the Augustine convent at Erfurt. He had not been in the convent long when he was prevailed upon to accept a profes-object in view he appealed to King Emmanuel sorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here he lectured upon Greek philosophy and upon religion. In 1516 a Dominican monk named Tetzel travelled through Germany selling indulgences, -papers which he said would remit the sins of all who purchased them. Luther, hearing of the matter, wrote a book denouncing the sale of these indulgences, and a great controversy This bold man determined to discover a southwest passage to Asia, which he believed would be shorter and less dangerous than the route by way of the Cape of Good Hope. With this of Portugal for assistance, but the king listened coldly and gave no encouragement. Incensed at this treatment, Magellan went to Spain and laid his plans before Charles V. The emperor was favorably impressed with the project, and ordered a fleet of five ships to be fitted out for Magellan's use. In August, 1519, Magellan sailed from Seville with his little squadron. Touching at the Canary Islands, he sailed west to Brazil, and spent the autumn in searching every bay and inlet for the expected communication with the southern ocean. In January, 1520, he reached the Rio de la Plata. After sailing up this stream for some days, he concluded, from the freshness of the water and the shallowness of the stream, that the wished-for strait could not be there. He accordingly turned back and continued his course towards the south. The Spaniards now began to suffer excessively from the rigors of the climate. The crews of three ships mutinied and insisted on returning to Spain. Magellan succeeded in suppressing this dangerous insurrection, and the southward voyage was continued. At length he discovered the mouth of a strait, into which he entered, in spite of the murmurs and remonstrances of his men. After sailing twenty days in that winding and dangerous channel to which he gave his own name, the great southern ocean opened to his view. Meantime one of the ships had deserted, but, encouraged by his great discovery, Magellan sailed into the ocean, taking a northwest course through the limitless expanse of waters. Nearly four months passed before they saw land again. The crews suffered considerably from want of water and scarcity of provisions. The weather, however, continued fair and beautiful, with such favorable winds that Magellan bestowed on the ocean the name of Pacific, by which it has since been known. At length, in March, they reached a group of small islands, where they found abundance of delicious fruit. From these islands, which Magellan called Ladrones (robbers) from the thieving propensities of the natives, he sailed westward and made the more important discovery of the islands now called Philippines. Here, during an attack made upon them by the natives, Magellan and several of his officers were killed. The crews chose a new captain, and the voyage was continued. small islands in the vicinity they reached the Moluccas,-the objective-point of the expedition. The Portuguese on the islands were much astonished that the Spaniards had arrived there by holding a westerly course, and they listened to the story of their adventures with breathless interest. When ready to return home, the Spaniards found that only one ship was fit for the long voyage. Taking on a cargo of precious spices, they sailed in this vessel January, 1522. This time they followed the course of the Portuguese by the Cape of Good Hope, and after many disasters arrived safely in Spain in September. The circumnavigation of the globe, long believed an impossibility, had thus been accomplished. Though an untimely fate deprived Magellan of the satisfaction of completing this great undertaking himself, his contemporaries, just to his memory and talents, ascribed to him not only the honor of having formed the plan, but of having surmounted almost every obstacle to its completion. 1523. Liberation of Sweden by Gustavus The Scandinavian nations, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, were united in the latter part of the fourteenth century under the rule of Margaret, Queen of Denmark. The sovereigns of Denmark continued their sway over the three countries until the beginning of the sixteenth century, when Sweden was freed through the patriotic exertions of Gustavus Vasa, a young Swedish nobleman. The first attempt of Gustavus to rouse the peasants to revolt was unsuccessful. The King of Denmark, Christian II., surnamed the Tyrant, set a price upon Gustavus's head and threatened death to any who should assist him. Gustavus fled to the mountains of Dalecarlia, where he worked as a miner and wood-cutter until he After touching at Borneo and a number of the deemed the time ripe for his enterprise. Then making himself known to the peasantry and miners, his remarkable eloquence aroused in them the spirit of independence, and six hundred men took up arms against their Danish oppressors. The insurrection spread with great rapidity, and the Danes were speedily driven from the kingdom. Gustavus was elected king, and by his wise administration raised his country to an honorable rank among the nations of Europe. 1527. Macchiavelli. Niccolo Macchiavelli, an Italian author and statesman, was born in Florence in 1469. His father was a lawyer, his mother a poetess. In 1498, Niccolo was appointed secretary of the "Ten," the body of magistrates to whom the supreme government of the republic was intrusted. The position of Florence at that period was one of great importance, and her relations to the chief powers of Europe required the highest qualities of statesmanship. Macchiavelli's talents in this direction developed rapidly. He was sent on numerous embassies to foreign countries, and was employed in various commissions to the cities dependent on Florence. His correspondence with the government of the Florentine republic during these missions was very extensive, and his despatches are models of diplomatic style. They form one of the most instructive and entertaining collections of state papers ever published. In the latter part of his life he was accused of being concerned in a conspiracy against Cardinal de Medici, afterwards Pope Leo X. He was thrown into prison, but soon after the accession of Leo X. he obtained his freedom and gradually returned to public life. His last emHis last employment was in the army of the league against Charles V. He died on his return to Florence in 1527. Of the writings of Macchiavelli the most celebrated is "Del Principe,"-" The Prince." This work is upon methods of controlling the government of a nation, and until quite recently was condemned as designed to teach the vilest arts of despotism. Scarcely any book of ancient or modern times has been so violently assailed. That synonyme for the devil, "Old Nic," was coined out of Macchiavelli's Christian name by the English as an expression of the light in which they regarded him and his writings. The researches of modern Italian scholars have in some measure vindicated the name of Macchiavelli from the opprobrium heaped upon it. Among the many celebrated men who flourished during the reign of Henry VIII. none was more remarkable than Thomas Wolsey, who, from being a butcher's son, rose to the dignity of lord chancellor of the kingdom. He was born at Ipswich in 1471. Graduating at Oxford when only fifteen years of age, he was known all through the university as the “ Boy Bachelor." His talents and industry soon attracted the notice of the king (Henry VII.), who gave him a chaplaincy in the royal household and subsequently made him Dean of Lincoln. When Henry VIII. came to the throne Wolsey became one of his counsellors. Henry was young and fond of pleasure, Wolsey was fond of work, and he was shrewd enough to see that the best way to win the king's favor was by helping Henry to indulge his tastes. So Wolsey attended to the affairs of state, relieved Henry from all care and responsibility, and gave him abundant opportunity to amuse himself. The result was that Wolsey obtained enormous power, and for fifteen years was complete master of the kingdom. He became not only lord chancellor and Archbishop of York, but he was made a cardinal by the pope, and he hoped to be pope himself by and by. He now began to live in splendid style. In his household he had not less than five hundred retainers, doctors, chaplains, and choristers innumerable, and servants of all degrees. Whenever he went out to ride his cardinal's hat was borne before him by a gentleman of rank, while the ushers going down the hall cried out, " On before, my lords and masters, on before, and make way for my Lord Cardinal." Then when he came to the door he mounted a mule trapped in crimson velvet, with a velvet saddle and gilt stirrups. With this display he went through the streets followed by a great train of nobles and gentlemen, and the people, from whose ranks he had risen, were mightily pleased with all this pomp and splendor. But this glory was not to last. The king had begun to talk about a divorce from Queen Catherine. From motives of policy, Wolsey at first approved of the step (to further his own schemes he wanted Henry to marry a French princess), and he gave the king assurance that the divorce should be secured. But the pope, in a dilemma between his desire to please Henry and his fear of Charles V., the nephew of Queen Catherine, delayed his answer from time to time. Henry became very impatient. But Wolsey's plans all came to naught. Even before the pope was asked for the divorce Henry informed the cardinal that he intended to marry Anne Boleyn, one of the queen's maids of honor. The French princess was not to be thought of. In deep disappointment Wolsey retired from the royal presence, and from that moment he secretly opposed the divorce. Months passed and still no decision of the matter was given. Henry began to suspect that his minister was playing a double part and that he was responsible for this delay. In great anger he deprived Wolsey of the seals of office and banished him in disgrace to his see of York. Hardly a year had passed when he was summoned to London on a charge of high treason. On his journey sickness seized him, and he was forced to rest at Leicester Abbey. Already broken-hearted by his fall, he felt that he was dying, and as he reviewed his past life he turned to his attendant and said, mournfully, "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, He would not have given me over in my gray hairs." In the days of his prosperity Wolsey was a liberal patron of literature and the arts. He built a college at his native town of Ipswich, endowed seven lectureships at Oxford, and founded there the splendid college of Christ Church. 1534. The English Reformation. The English Reformation as brought about by Henry VIII. was at first only a question of power and authority, and not one of religion and faith. It was not until the next reign that the real doctrines of Protestantism began to take a firm hold upon the people. When Henry found that the pope did not intend to grant him a divorce from Queen Catherine, he determined to have it in spite of the papal power. Previous to this time he had no thought of breaking with the Church of Rome. He had been a zealous Catholic, and had even written a book against the doctrines of Luther, for which the pope had given him the title of "Defender of the Faith." But Henry loved his own will more than anything else, and he was bound to have his way. Two new advisers helped him greatly towards the accomplishment of his purposes,-Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas Cromwell, the new prime minister. Cromwell proposed the bold plan of proclaiming Henry head of the Church in England and of obtaining a divorce from his own ecclesiastical courts. The matter was at once laid before Parliament, and Lords and Commons declared that the pope should have no more authority in England, and that the king was supreme head both of Church and State (1534). A court of English bishops, presided over by Cranmer, immediately granted Tower, where he remained a prisoner more the long-coveted divorce. The execution of Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher the following year was the occasion of the final breach with Rome, and from that time the Church of England had a separate existence. 1535. Sir Thomas More. Sir Thomas More, an English statesman, philosopher, and author, was born in 1480. He was one of the most learned men of his time. While studying at Oxford he became acquainted with Colet and Erasmus, two Greek scholars of note, and the three became fast friends. Their efforts to bring about reforms both in learning and in religion won for them the name of the Oxford Reformers. After More left the university he took up the practice of law in London. He soon rose to great eminence in his profession and became a member of Parliament. Henry VIII. made him one of his counsellors and sent him on various diplomatic missions. After the fall of Wolsey, More became lord chancellor of the kingdom, but soon foreseeing that the measures of the king and Parliament would lead to a breach with the Church of Rome and to an alteration of religion which he could not accept, he resigned his office, after a brief ministry of two years (1532). More's silent disapproval of the king's course was especially galling to Henry's new adviser, Thomas Cromwell, through whose influence many of the changes, both political and religious, were being carried out. Through Cromwell's influence More was required to swear allegiance to the Act of Succession, which sanctioned Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn and made the divorce from Catherine valid. This oath More would not take, for he did not believe that the divorce and remarriage were valid. He was at once committed to the than a year. At length he was brought to trial on the ground that he had refused to acknowledge the king's supremacy as head of the Church. As More himself expected, he was condemned to death. When told that the king as an act of favor had commuted his sentence from burning to decapitation, he remarked with his usual facetiousness, "God preserve all my friends from such favors." On the scaffold his cheerfulness never once forsook him. As the fatal stroke was about to descend he moved aside his beard, saying, “Pity that should be cut, for it never committed treason." More declared that he died a faithful subject of the king and a true Catholic before God. So perished the foremost Englishman of his age. As an author More is chiefly famous for his charming work called "Utopia," or the Land of Nowhere. It describes an imaginary commonwealth where everybody has a pleasant home, no one works too hard, no one quarrels about religion, every one can read and write, and the king rules to make his people safe, wise, and happy. This book is the embodiment of his ideal of government, education, and social life. 1541. Discovery of the Mississippi River. Ferdinand de Soto was a Spanish adventurer sent out by the Spanish government to be governor of Cuba and Florida, and with authority to make whatever discoveries he pleased in the New World. De Soto had previously been in Peru with Pizarro, the famous or infamous conqueror of that unhappy land. In 1539 De Soto left Spain with a squadron of ten vessels. Touching at Cuba in June, he left his wife to govern in his absence, and then sailed onward to Florida, anchoring in Tampa. Bay. He then began his march into the interior, through swamps, across rivers, and gener |