xt7nzs2k710g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7nzs2k710g/data/mets.xml Eggleston, George Cary, 1839-1911. 1885  books b92-202-30752275 English Harper, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. World history. Strange stories from history  : for young people / by George Cary Eggleston. text Strange stories from history  : for young people / by George Cary Eggleston. 1885 2002 true xt7nzs2k710g section xt7nzs2k710g 


SThANGE STORIES
       FR M

   HI STORY'
        FOR
/oOUNq pEOPLE



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STRANGE STORIES FROM IHISTORY


                     FOR



             YOUNG PEOPLE




                     BY



      GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON
                 AUTHOR OF
K RED EAGLE " " TlE BIG BROTER " " TIME WRECK OF THE RED BIRD"
            " THE SIGNAL BOYS" ETC.




                31111strateb



          NEW  YORK
HARPER  BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE

 



























HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE SERIES.

          Illustrated. l1mo, Cloth, 1.00 per volume.


TIlE ADVENTURES OF JIMMNIY BROWN. Edlited by XW I.. AI.-E,.
TIIE CRUISE OF' 'IlE CAN!OIE B['It. ll- IV. L.. ALDEN.
'THE CRUISE OF' Eli'. dl! MST." 13y IV. I.. ALDEN.
TfIE MORAI PIR ATE. 13y WV. I.. A.I'EN-.
TIOBY 'i'1.EII; , 'Il:N W'EEKS WITlH A CIRCUS. By AMES OTIS.
I It. STUB13BS'S BBlS 'ETR. A N'qII"I to 'T'.bv Tyler.` By TI AESI OTIS.
TIM AND '1I11: OB, 'I'IE AD)`VENT'I REdO (PI A ITT IV AND A 1P(0. By JAIMES OTIS.
1EF'!' BEHIND: on, TEN DAYS A NE"W"ITY. By JAIES OTIS.
IRAISIN; 'rHE " PEA..'' BL TABy S t)TI.
MTI.DREII'S BIARGiAIN, AND OITHIIEI STOIESI  3 By LUCY C. I.LLIX.
NAN. BY 13.1Y C. I.ILLIE.
'I';IIE FItAL IAtNIC'11,4. By WTIL-TI551 BLT. K.
T'IlE LOST CITY; -'l, THEll BOY EXIlORl.lERS IN CENTRAL ASIA. By DAVID KEr.
TIlE TAL.KING UAl'AVES. An 11h1i-1 Story. By W. (0. ST:IIA)BIMI).
WIIV, WAS PAUL. (EAYSI)N  13y J11115 Fl1AM- TIN-', AUIwTlI' of'' Tins Babies.''
PRINCE LAZY1I(NES, AND OTHER S'(RIES. By Mrs. XV. J. II-S.
THE ICE QUEEN. By EnEaSr N.NEE'T.II
CHA TERS ON PLANT lIFE. 1y Men S B. Tler.
STRANGE STORIES FROM RISTORY. By GEOR,,,,  CARe EGLE5TON7.

      Pu1sIIsInT BY HARPER      B IROTIHERS, NEWv YOREK.
7-4nq rf te a.ca'. eeks i/.eseI bhy vmai, .J.,steq7ide'lai/toy UO ofl thE
              aitedI Matee Canada, `n me.-i't ef the Jri-e.



Copyright, 1885, by HARPER  BROTBERS.

 










PREFACE.



  IN calling the tales in this volume "Strange Sto-
ries" I have sought simplv to indicate that, in the
main, they are unfa-imiliar to youthful readers, and
that most of them relate deeds and occurrences some
wh-lat out of the common. In choosing, the themes I
lhave tried to avoid the tales that have been often
used1, and to tell only those of which young readers
generally lave not before heard.
  Of course, a book of this kind can make no preten-
sion to originality of matter, as the facts used in it
are to be found in. historical works of recognized au-
thoi ity, thoughi many of them have been drawn from
l)ooks that are not easily accessible to the majority
of rea(lers. If tlhere is ,any originality in my little

 



Preface.



volume it is in the maniner in which the tales are
told. I have endeavored to tell them as simply as
possible, and at the same time with as much dramat.
ic force and fervor as I could conmmiand, w hile adher-
ing] rigidly to the facts of history.
  It would be impossible for me to say to what
sources I amn indebted for materials. 'Thlie incidents
related have been familiar to me for years, as they
are to all persons wvhose reading of history has been
at all extensive, and I cannot say with any certainty
how much of each I learned from one and how much
from another historical writer. Nor is it in any way
necessary that I should do so, as the recorded facts
of history are common properyts. But a special ac-
knowledgment is due to Mr. Jamnes Parton in the
case of the tale of the Negro Fort, and also for cer-
tain details in those relatincg to the New Orleans
campaign of 1814-15. In that field Mr. Partoni is an
original investigator, to whose labors every writer on
the subject must be indebted. I wish also to ac-



VI

 




                      Preface.                  vii

knowledge my obligation to 'Mr. A. B. Meek, the au-
thor of a little Wvork entitled " Ptoniatic Passag-es in
Southwestern History," for the main facts in the sto.
lies of the Charge of the Hounds and the Battle of
the Canoes on the Alabama River; but, with respect
to those matters, I have had the advantage of private
sources of information also.
  Most of the stories in the volume were originally
written for Ilkper'8 Young People; one was first
published in Good Cheer, and a few in other periodi-
cals. I owe thanks to the editors and publishers
concerned for permission to reprint them in this
form.

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CONTENTS.





HISTORY STORIES.



TEIE STORY OF THE NEGRO FORT

A AWAR FOR AN ARCHBISHOP.

THE Boy COMMANDER OF THE CAMISARDS

TEIE CANOE FIGHT

THE BATTLE OF LAKE BORGNB  

TIE BATTLE IN THE DARK.

THE TROUBLESOME BURGHERS.

TuE DEFENCE OF ROCHELLE.

THE SAD STORY OF A Boy KING  . .

Two OBSCURE HEROES .

THE CHARGE OF THE HOUNDS



            PAGE
. . . ...  .... 13

           . 26

. ..... ....... 38

...... . . .... 05

. ..... ....... 67

........ ...  77.

....... .... 88

...... . . .... 99

......... . . 111

... . . . 120

.... . . . 130

 







x



Con/en/s.



                                                 PAGE
THE STORY OF A WINTER CAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . 140

YOUNG WASHINGTON IN TIHE WOODS . . . . . . . . 151

THE STORY OF CATHERINE. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 63

TuE VIRGINIA WIFE-MARKET. . . . . . . . . . . 175




                BIOGRAPHY STORIES.


BOYHOOD OF DANIEL WEBSTER . . . . . . . . . . 185

THE SCULLION WHO BECAME A SCULPTOR  . . . . . . 193

BOYHOOD OF WILLIAM CEIAMBERS . . . . . . . . . 200

HOW A BOY HIRED OUT, AND WHAT CAME OF IT . . . . 206

TiHE WVICKEDEST MAN IN THE WORLD . . . . . . . . 212

A PRINCE WHO WOULD NOT STAY DEAD. . . . . . . 228


 









                 ILLUSTRATIONS.

                                                         PAGE
Boarding the Gun-boats. . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece
Breakfast and Battle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Vladimir Besieging the City Uontaining his Archbishop. . . 35
Cavalier Personating the Lieutenant of the Count Broglio . . 47
With a Single Blow he Knocked over the Indian with whom
   Austill was Struggling. . . . . . . . . . . . 63
General Jackson at Yew Orleans. . . . . . . . . . 79
The Barghers Prepare to Defend their City  . . . . . . 95
Richelieu Surveying the W11orks at Rochelle. . . . . . . 103
The Pa-rting between King Richard II. and Queen Isabella  . 117
Mfartin. Preaching to the People on the Duty of Fighting  . . 125
"Just at the Moment when Mlatters were at their Worst, he
   Rode up . .  .  .  . .  .  .  . .  .  .  . .  .  . . 13 7
Capture of the Dutch Fleet by the Soldiers of the French Re-
   public.1.4.9..........                        .. . 149
Washington as a Surveyor. . . . . . . . . . . . 157
"She Went Boldly into his Tent "... . . . . . . .        1,
"' To the End of the Twelfth Book of the Aneid,' answered
   the '.Idle' Boy in Triumph". . . . . . . . . . 189

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STRANGE STORIES FROM HISTORY.


     TIlE STORY OF THE NEGRO FORT.
  DUiRING the war of 1812-14, between Great Brit-
ain and the United States, the weak Spanish Gove--
nor of Florida-for Florida was then Spanish terri-
tory-permitted the British to make Pensacola their
base of operations against us. This was a gross out-
rage, as we were at peace with Spain at the time, and
General Jackson, acting on his own responsibility,
invaded Florida in retaliation.
  Amiong the British at that time was an eccentric
Irish officer, Colonel Edward Nichols, who enlisted
and tried to make soldiers of a large number of the
Seminole Indians. In 1815, after the war was over,
Colonel Nichols again visited the Seminoles, who

 




Strange S/ories from History.



were disposed to be hostile to the United States, as
Colonel Nichols himself was, and made an astonish.
ing treaty with them, in which an alliance, offensive
and defensive, between Great Britaini and the Semi-
noles, was agreed upon. We lha(l ma(le peace with
Great Br itain a few months before, and yet this ri-
diiculous Irish colonel signed a treaty binding Great
Britain to fight us whenever the Seminoles in the
Spanish territory of Florida should see fit to make
a war! If this extraordinary performance had been
all, it would not have mattered so MUch, for the
British government refused to ratify the treaty; but
it was not all. Colonel Nichols, as if determined to
give us as much trouble as he could, built a strong
fortress on the Appalachicola River, and gave it to
his friends the Seminoles, naming it "The British
Post on the Appalachicola," where the British had
not the least right to have any post whatever. Situ-
ated on a high bluff, with flanks securely guarded by
the river on one side and a swamp on the other, this
fort, properly defended, was capable of resisting the

 




Tlze Story of the Negro Fort.



assaults of almost any force that could approach it;
and Colonel Nichols was determined that it should
be properly defended, and should be a constant men-
ace and source of danger to the United States. HIe
armed it with one 32-pounder cannon, three 24-
pouLnders, and eight other guns. In the matter of
small-arms he was even more liberal. He supplied
the fort with 2500 muskets, 500 carbines, 400 pistols,
and 500 swords. In the magazines he stored 300
quarter casks of rifle powder and 763 barrels of or-
dinary gunpowder.
  When Colonel Nichols went away, his Seminoles
soon wandered off, leaving the fort without a garri-
son. This gave an opportunity to a negro bandit
and desperado named Gargon to seize the place,
which he did, gathering about him a large band of
runaway negroes, Choctaw 'Indians, and other lawvless
persons, whom he organized into a strong company
of robbers. Gargon made the fort his stronghold,
and began to plunder the country round about as
thoroughly as any robber baron or Italian bandit



1 -

 



Strange Stories from His/ory.



ever did, sometimes venturing across the border into
the United States.
   All this was so annoying and so threatening to our
 frontier settlements in Georgia, that General Jackson
 demanded of the Spanish authorities that they should
 reduce the place; and they would have been glad
 enough to do so, probably, if it had been possible,
 because the banditti plundered Spanish as well as
 other settlements. But the Spanish governor had
 no force at command, and could do nothing, and so
 the fort remained, a standing menace to the Ameri-
 can borders.
 Matters were in this position in the spring of 1816,
 when General Gaines was sent to fortify our frontier
 at the point where the Chattahoochee and Flint riv-
 ers unite to form the Appalachicola. In June of that
 year some stores for General Gaines's forces were sent
 by sea from New Orleans. The vessels carrying
 them were to go up the Appalachicola, and General
 Gaines was not sure that the little fleet would be
permitted to pass the robbers' strongliold, which had

 




7Thze Story of the Negro Fort.



come to be called the Negro Fort. Accordingly, he
sent Colonel Clinch with a small force down the riv-
er, to render any assistance that might be necessary.
On the way Colonel Clinch was joined by a band of
Seminoles, who wanted to recapture the fort on their
own account, and the two bodies determined to act
together .
  Meantime the two schooners with supplies and the
two gun-boats sent to guard them had arrived at the
mouth of the river; and when the commandant tried
to hold a conference with Gargon, the ship's boat,
bearing a white flag, was fired upon.
  Running short of water while lying off the riverI's
mouth, the officers of the fleet sent out a boat to pro-
cuie a supply. This boat was armed with a swivel
and muskets, and was commanded by Midshipman
Luffborough. The boat w ent into the mouth of
the river, and, seeing a negro on shore, Midshipman
Luffborough landed to ask for fresh-water supplies.
GarIon, with some of his men, lay in ambush at the
spot, and while the officer talked with the negro the



I 7

 



I 8       Strantge Stories from History.

concealed men fired upon the boat, killing Luffbor-
ough and two of his men. One man got away by
swvimming, and wvas picked up by the fleet; two oth-
ers were taken prisoners, and, as was afterwards
learned, Garqon coated them with tar and burned
themn to death.
  It would not do to send more boats ashore, an(l so
the little squadron lay together awaiting orders from
Colonel Clinch. That officer, as be approached the
fort, captured a negro, who wvore a white man's scalp
at hfis belt, and fromt him he learned of the massacre
of LDffborough's party. There was no further occa-
sion for doubt as to what was to be done. Colonel
Clinch determined to reduce the fort at any cost, al-
though the operation promised to be a very difficult
one.
  Placing his men in line of battle, he sent a courier
to the fleet, ordering the gun-boats to come up and
help in the attack. The Seminoles made many dem-
onstrations against the works, and the negroes replied
with their cannon. Gargon had raised his flags-a

 




Tlze Slory of /AMe NeSgo Fort.



red one and a British Union-jack-and whenever he
caught sight of the Indian1 s or the Americans, he
shelled them vigorously witth his 32-pounder.
  Three or four days were I)assecl in this way, while
the gun-boats were slowly making their way up the
river. It was Colonel Clinch's purpose to have the
gun-boats shell the fort, while lie should storm it on
the land1 side. Tle work promised to be bloody,
and it wvas necessary to b)1riDg all the available force
to bear at once. There wvere no sie(ge-guns at band,
or anywhiere within reach, and the only way to re-
duce the fort was for the small force of soldiers-
numbering only one hundred an(d sixteen 111en-to
]'ush upon it, receiviing the fire of its heavy artillery,
andl climb over its parapets in the face of a murder-
ous fire of small-arms. Garlog had with him three
hundred and thirty-four maen, so that, besides having
stroncg defensive works and a1n albundant supply of
large cannon, his force outnumbered Colonel Clinch's
nearly three to one. It is true that the American offi-
cer had the band of Seminoles with him, but they -were



I 9

 




S/range Slories from History.



entirely worthless for determined work of the eiiid
that the white men had to do. Even while lyinig in
the woods at a distance, waiting for the gun-boats to
come up, the Indians became utterly demoralized
under the flre of Gargon's 32-pounder. Tlhere was
nothing to be done, however, by way of improving
the prospect, which was certainly hopeless enough.
One hundred and sixteen white men had the Negro
Fort to storm, notwithstanding its strength and the
overwhelming force that defended it. But those one
hundred and sixteen men were American soldiers,
under command of a brave and resolute officer, wvo
had made up his mind that the fort could be taken,
and they were prepared to follow their leader up to
the muzzle of the guns and over the ramparts, there
to fight the question out in a hand-to-hand struggle
with the desperadoes inside.
  Finally the gun - boats arrived, and preparations
were made for the attack. Sailing-master Jairus Loo-
mis, the commandant of the little fleet, cast his an-
chors under the guns of the Negro Fort at five o'clock



20

 




The Slory of /e Negro Eort.



in the morning on the 27th of July, 1816. The fort
at once opened fire, and it seemed impossible for the
little vessels to endure the storm of shot and shell
that rained upon them  from  the ramparts above.
They replied vigorously, however, but with no ef-
fect. Their guns were too small to make any im-
pression upon the heavy earthen Nalls of the for-
tress.
  Sailing-master Loomis had roused his ship's cook
early that morning, and had given him   a strange
breakfast to coolk. Ile had ordered him to make all
the fire he could in his galley, and to fill the fire with
cannon-balls. Not lonc after the bombardment began
the coolk reported that breakfast was ready; that is
to say, that the cannon-balls were red-hot. Loomis
trained one of his guns with his own hands so that
its shot should fall within the fort, instead of burying
itself in the ramparts, and this gun was at once load-
ed wvith a red-lhot shot. The word was given, the
match applied, and the glowing missile sped on its
way. A    few  seconds later the earth shook and



2 I

 




Strange S/odzes from History.



quivered, a deafening roar stunned the sailors, and
a vast cloud of smoke filled the air, shutting out
the sun.
  The hot shot had fallen into the great magazine,
where there were hundreds of barrels of gunpowder,
and the Negro Fort was no more. It had been lit-
erally blown to atoms in a second.
  The slaughter was frightful. There were, as we
know already, three hundred and thirty-four men in
the fort, and two hundred and seventy of them. were
killed outright by the explosion. All the rest, ex-
cept three men who miraculously escaped injury,
were wounded, most of them so badly that they died
soon afterwards.
  One of the three men who escaped the explosion un-
hurt was Gargon himself. Bad as this bandit chief was,
Colonel Clinch would have spared his life, but it hap-
pened that he fell into the hands of the sailors fiom
the gun-boat; and when they learned that GarMon
had tarred and burned their comrades whom lhe had
captured in the attack on Luffborough's boat, they



22


 













        -1 I
 --_ 'N I - =-ttt




- -amn=t
2-1,1==-',,,",
                                   K
                                   4
  I !

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            The Sloy of thle Ncgro Evor.      25

turned him over to the infuriated Seminiiioles, who put
bini to death in their own cruel way.
  This is the Listory of a strange affair, wh71icil at one
time promised to give the government of the United
States no little trouble, even threatening to involve
us in a war with Spain, for the fort was on Spanish
territory, and the Spaniards naturally resented an in-
vasion of their soil.


 










         A WAR FOR AN ARCIIBISIIOg.
      THE CURIOUS STORY OF VLADIMIR TIHE GREAT.
  IN the latter part of the tenth century Sviatozlaf
was Grand Prince of Russia. Ile was a powerful
prince, but a turbulent one, and hie behaved so ill
towards his neiglhbors that, when an opportunity of-
fered, one of them converted his skull into a gold-
2mounted drinking -cuip, with an inscription upon it,
and his dominions were parcelled out between his
three sons-Yaropolk, Oleg, and Vladimir.
  Yaropolk, finding his possessions too small for his
amnbition, made wvar on Ole,, and conquered his ter-
ritory; but his brother Oleg having been killed in
the war, the tender-hearted Yaropolk wept bitterly
over his corpse.
  The other brother , Vladimir, was so grieved at the
death of Oleg that he abandoned his capital, Novgo-

 



A  War for an Archbishop.



rod, and remained for a time in seclusion. Yaropolk
seized the opportunity thus offered, and made him-
self master of Vladimir's dominions also. Not long af.
terwards Vladimiir appeared at the bead of an army,
and Yaropolk ran away to his own capital, Kiev.
Vladimir at once resumed the throne, and sent word
to Yaropolk that lhe would in due time return the
hostile visit.
  About this time Yaropolk and Vladimir both
asked for the hand of the Princess Rogneda, of Po.
lotzk, in marriaige; and( the father of the princess,
fearing to offeind either of the royal barbarians, left
the choice to Rogneda herself. She chose Yaropolk,
sending a very insulting message to Vladimir, where-
upon that prince marched against Polotzk, conquered
the prov'i nce, and with his own hand slew the father
an(l brothers of the princess. Then, with their blood
still unwashed from his hands, hle forced Rogneda to
ma1.Irry him.
  Havin, attended to this matter, Vladimir under-
took to return his brother's hostile visit, as he had



27

 



Siraitge Siorics from     Hfislbwy.



promised to do. Yaropolk's capita], Kiev, was a
strongly fortified place, and capable of a stout resist-
ance; but Vladimir corrupted Blude, one of Yaro-
polk's ministers, paying him to betray his master,
and promising, in the event of success, to heap hon-
ors on his head. Blude worked upon Yaropolk's
fears, and persuaded him to abandon the capital
without a struggle, and Vladimir took possession. of
the throne and the country. Even in his exile, how.
ever, Yaropolk had no peace. Blude frightened him
with false stories, and persuaded him to remove fiom
place to place, until his mind and body were worn
out, w-hen, at Blude's suggestion, lie determined to
surrender himself, and trust to the mercy of Vladimir.
That good-natured brother ordered the betrayed and
distressed prince to be put to death.
  Then Vladimir rewarded Blude. He entertained
him in princely fashion, declaring to his followers
that lie was deeply indebted to this man for his
faithful services, and heaping all mianner of honors
uipon him. But at the end of three days he said to



28

 




A Wezr fr an A4-chz'ishiop.



Blude: "I have kept my promise strictly. I have
received you with welcome, and heaped unwvonlted
honors upon your hreadl. This I have done as your
friend. To-day, as judge, I condemni the traitor and
the murderer of his prince."I He ordered that-, Blude
Should stuffer instant dleat]], and the sentence was
eXecUte(i.
  Now  that both Oleg and Yaropolk were dead,
Vladimir was Grand Prinice of all the lRussias, as his
father before him had been. He invaded Poland,
and mnade war upon various others of his neighlbors,
greatly enilargi ig his dominions and strengthening
his Iruile.
  But Vladimir was a very pious prinlce in his Lea.
theii w-ay, an'.d feeling- that the gods had greatly fit-
vored him, lhe masde rich feasts of thanksgiving in
their lhonor. Ile ordered splendid memorials to vari-
ous deities to l)e erected throughout the country, aid
he specially honored Perune, the father of the gods,
for whom lie 1)rovided a new p)air of golden wvhiskers
-golden whiskers beinig the special glory of Perune.



29

 



S/range Stories from History.



   Not content with this, Vladimir ordered a human
 sacrifice to be made, and selected for the victim a
 Christian youth of the capital. The father of the
 boy resisted, and both were slain, locked in each oth-
 er's arms.
   Vladimir gave vast sumns of money to the religions
establishments, and behaved generally like a very
devout pagran. His piety and generosity made him
so desirable a patron that efforts w-ere made by the
priests of other religions to convert him. Jews, Alo-
hammedans, Catholics, and Greeks all soughlt to win
him, and. Vladimir began seriously to consider the
question of changing his religion. Ile appointed a
commission, consisting of ten boyards, and ordered
them. to examine into the comparative merits of the
different religions, and to report to him. When their re-
port was niade,Vladimir weighed the matter carefully.
  lie beganl by rejecting Mohammedanism, because
it forbids the use of wine, and Vladimir was not at
all disposed to become a water-drinker. Judaism, he
said, was a homueless religion, its followers being Wan-



30

 



A  War for an ArcAhbishzop.



derers on the face of the earth, under a curse; so
lie would have nothin, to do with that fiith. The
Catholic religion would not do at all, because it rec-
ognized in the pope a superior to himself, and Vladi-
mir had no, mind to acknowfledge a superior. The
Greek religion. was free from these objections, and,
moreover, by adopting it lhe Nvould blrinlg himself into
friendship wvith the great Greek or Byzantine Em-
pil e, wvhose capital was at Constantinople, and that was
somethinc, whlich lie earnestly desired to accomplish.
  Accordingly, lie determined to become a Christian
and a member of the Greek Church ; b)ut lhowv
There wvere serious difficulties in the way. In olderl
to become a Christian lie must be baptizedl, aidid he was
puzzled about how to accomplish that. Theie wvere
many Greek priests in his capital, any one of whomi
wvould have been glad to baptize the heathen mon-
archl, lut Vladimir would not let a mere priest con-
vert him into a Christian. Nobody less than an arch-
bislhop woul(l (1o for that, and there was no arlchbish-
op in Russia.



31I

 




S/range Stories from History.



   It is true that there were p)lenty of arclibishops in
the dominions of his Byzantine neighbors, and that
the Greek emperors, Basil and Conist antine, would
have ljeen glad to send him a dozen of them if lhe
had expressed a wNi7sh1 to that effect; lut Vladimir
was proud, an(l could not think of asking a favor of
anybody, least of all of the Greekl emperors. No, he
wVouldl die a heathen ratlher than ask for an arclhbish-
op to baptize him.
  Nevertheless, Vladimir had fully madhe up his mind
to hlave himnself baptized by an archbishop. It was
his lifelong habit, when he wanted anything, to take
it by force. I-e had taken two thirds of his domin-
ions in that way, ancl, as wve have seen, it was in that
way that lhe grot his wife Rogneda. So now that he
wanted an archbishop, he determined to take one.
Calling his army together, he declared war on the
Greek emperors, and promlising his soldiers all the
pillage they watited, hie marchear d away towards Con-
staritinople.
  The first serious obstacle lie met with was the for-



32

 




A  War for anz Arclibishop.



tified city of Klherson, situated near the spot where
Sebastopol stands ill our day. Here the resistalnce
was so obstinate that month after mnonth was con-
suinied iii siege operations. At the end of six months
Vladimir became seriously alarmed lest the garrison
should be succored firom without, in which case his
hope of getting himself converted into a Christian
must be abandoned altoether.
  WVhile he w.as troubled on this score, however, one
of his soldiers picked upi ain arrow that had been shot
fr-om the city, anid found a letter attached to it. rThis
letter informed the Gi'and Prince that the wvater-pipes
of the city received their supplies at a point immedli-
ately in his real, and with this news Vladimir's hope
of becoming a Christian revivedl. Ile found the wa.-
ter-pipes and stopped them up, and the city surren-
dered.
  There were plenty of bishops and archbishops
there, of course, and they were perIfectly willing-as
they had been fromt the first, for that mnatter-to bap-
tize the unruly royal convert, but Vladimii- was not



233

 




Strange S/ories from His/ory.



content now with that. Ile sent a messene-r to Con-
stantinople to tell the emperors there that he wvanted
their sister, the Princess Anne, for a wife; and. that if
they refused, he would march against Constantinople
itself. The Emperors Basil and Constantine consent-
ed, and althoughi Vladimir lhad five wives already, le
married Anne, and was baptized on the same day.
  Having now become a Christian, the Grand Prince
determined that his Russians should do the same.
He publicly stripped the god Perune of his gorgeous
golden whiskers, and of his rich vestments, showving
the people that Perune was only a log of wood.
Thenl he had the deposed god whipped in public, and
thrown into the river, with all the other gods.
  He next ordered all the people of his capital city to
assemble on the banks of the Dnieper River, and, at
a signal, made them all rush into the -water, while
a priest pronounced the baptismal service over the
whole population of the city at once. It was the
most wholesale baptism ever performed.
  That is the way in which Russia was changed from



34


 



























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                     ii     1/

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            A Warfor ani Archibishoop.           37

a pagan to a Christian empire. The story reads like
a romance, but it is plain, well-autlhenticated history.
For his military exploits the Russian historians call
this prince Vladimir the Great. The, people call him
St. Vladimir, the Greek Church having enrolled hlis
name amIIong, the saints soon after his death. Ile was
undoubtedly a man of rare military skill, and unusu-
al ability in the government of men. Bad as his acts
wvere, lhe seems to have had a conscience, and to have
done his duty so far as lhe was capable of understand-
ing it.


 










THE BOY COMIMANDER OF TIIE CAMISARDS.



  WVIIEN Louis XIV. was King of France, that coun-
try was generally Catholic, as it is still, but in the
rugged mountain region called the Cevennes more
than half the people were Protestants. At first the
king consented that these Protestant people, who
were well behaved both in peace and in war, should
live in quiet, and worship as they pleased; but in
those days men were not tolerant in matters of relig-
ion, as they are now, and so after a while King, Lotuis
made up his mind that he would compel all his peo-
ple to believe alike. The Protestants of the Cevennes
were required to give up their religion and to be-
come Catholics. When they refused, soldiers wver-el
sent to compel them, and gieat cruelties were prac-
tised upon therm. Many of them were killed, many
put in priSOD, -and many sent to work in the galleys.

 



Thze Boy Commander of the Camisa;-ds.



  When this persecution had lasted for nearly thirty
years, a body of young mnen who were gathered to-
gether in the High Cevennes resolved to defend thenm-
selves by force. They secured arms, and although
their numbers were very sinall, they met and fought
the troops.
  Among these young mien was one, a mere boy,
nameed Jean Cavalier. His home was in the Lower
Cevennes, but hie hadt fled to the highlands for safety.
This boy, without know-ing it, haid military genius
of a very high order, and w\rhen it became evident
that he and his comirades could not longI hold out
against the large bodies of regular troops sent against
them, he suggested a plan which in the end proved
to be so good that for years the pOOr peasants were
able to maintain war against all the armies that King
Louis could send against them , although lie sent
many of his finest generals anid as miany as sixty
thousand men to subdue themii.
  Cavalier's plan was to collect miore imen, divide, and
miake uprisings in several places at once, so that the
                        ,3



39

 



4S/range S/ories from His/ory.



king's officers could not tell in whichl way to turn.
As lhe and his comrades knew the country well, and
had friends to tell them of the enemy's movements,
they could nearly always know when it was safe to
attack, and wihen they must hide in the woods.
  Cavalier took thirty men and wvent into one part
of the country, while Captain La Porte, with a like
number, wvent to another, and Captain St. John to
still anotlher. They kept each other informed of all
movements, and whenever one was pressed by the
enemy, the others would begin burning churches or
attacking small gallisolls. Tne enemy would thus be
compelled to abandon the pursuit of one party in order
to go after the others, and it soon became evident that
under Cavalier's lead the peasants wvere too wily and
too str ong fol thle sol(lier s. Sometimies Cavalier would
fairly beat detachments of his foes, and give themn
chase, killingr all whom  lie caught; for in that war
both sides did tlhis, even killing thleir prisoners wvith-
out mercy.  At otlher times Cavalier was worsted in
fight, and whlen that wans the case lhe fled to the



40

 




Thze Boy Commander of die Camzsards.



woods, collected more men, and waited for another
chance.
  Without trying to write an orderly history of the
war, for which there is not space enough here, I shall
now tell some stories of Cavalier's adventures, draw-
ing, the information chiefly fromt a book which lie
himself wrote years afterwards, when be was a cele-
brated man and a general in the British army.
  One Sunday Cavalier, who was a preacher as well
as a soldier, held services in his camp in the woods,
and all the Protestant peasants in the neighborhood
attended. The Governor of Alais, whose name was
De la Hay, t