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 LORD'S LECTURES

 BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.

 BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.

 AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.
     
 

 VOLUME VIII.

 GREAT RULERS.

 CONTENTS.

     ALFRED THE GREAT.
     THE SAXONS IN ENGLAND.
     The early Saxons
 Their conquest of England
 Division of England into petty kingdoms
 Conversion of the Saxons
 The Saxon bishoprics
 Early distinguished men
 Isadore, Caedmon, and Baeda, or Bede
 Birth and early life of Alfred
 Succession to the throne of Wessex
 Danish invasions
 Humiliation and defeat of Alfred
 His subsequent conquests
 Final settlement of the Danes
 Alfred fortifies his kingdom
 Reorganizes the army and navy
 His naval successes
 Renewed Danish invasions
 The laws of Alfred
 Their severity
 Alfred's judicial reforms
 Establishment of shires and parishes
 Administrative reforms
 Financial resources of Alfred
 His efforts in behalf of education
 His literary labors
 Final defeat of the Danes
 Death and character of Alfred
 His services to civilization
 Authorities

     QUEEN ELIZABETH.
     WOMAN AS A SOVEREIGN.
     The reign of Queen Elizabeth associated with progress
 Her birth and education
 Her trials of the heart
 Her critical situation during the reign of Mary
 Her expediences
 Her dissembling
 State of the kingdom on her accession to the throne
 Rudeness and loyalty of the people
 Difficulties of the Queen
 The policy she pursued
 Her able ministers
 Lord Burleigh
 Archbishop Parker
 Favorites of Elizabeth
 The establishment of the Church of England
 Its adaptation to the wants of the nation
 Religious persecution
 Development of national resources
 Pacific policy of the government
 Administration of justice
 Hatred of war
 Glory of Elizabeth allied with the prosperity of England
 Good government
 Royal economy
 Charge of tyranny considered
 Power of Parliament
 Mary, Queen of Scots
 Palliating circumstances for her execution
 Character of Mary Stuart
 Her plots and intrigues
 The execution of Essex
 Other charges against Elizabeth
 Her coquetry
 Her defects
 Her virtues
 Her public services
 Her great fame
 Her influence contrasted with power
 Verdict of Lord Bacon
 Elizabethan era
 Constellation of men of genius
 

     HENRY OF NAVARRE.
     THE HUGUENOTS.
     The Cause and the Hero
 The sixteenth century contrasted with the nineteenth
 A New Spirit in the world
 Differences of progress
 Religious, civil, and social upheavals
 John Calvin
 Reformed doctrines in France
 Persecution of the Huguenots
 They arm in self-defence to secure religious liberty
 Henry of Navarre
 Jeanne D'Albret
 Education of Henry
 Coligny
 Slaughter of St. Bartholomew
 The Duke of Guise, Catherine de Medicis, and Charles IX.
 Effects of the massacre
 Responsibility for it
 Stand taken by the Protestants
 They retire to La Rochelle
 Bravery and ability of Henry
 Battle of Coutras
 Battle of Ivry
 Abjuration of Henry IV
 His motives
 The ceremony
 Edict of Nantes
 Henry's service to France
 Effects of the Abjuration of Henry IV. on the Huguenots
 Character of Henry
 

     GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
     THIRTY YEARS' WAR.
     The Thirty Years' War a political necessity
 Agitation which succeeded the death of Luther
 Brilliancy of the period
 Persecution of the Protestants
 Ferdinand II
 Bohemia
 Its insurrection
 Renewed persecution
 Its success
 Elector Count Palatine
 Rallying of German princes against the Emperor
 Wallenstein
 His successful warfare
 Consternation of Germany
 Gustavus Adolphus comes to its relief
 Character of Gustavus Adolphus
 His brilliant exploits
 Balance of power
 Dismissal and recall of Wallenstein
 The contending forces
 Battle of Lutzen
 Death of Gustavus Adolphus
 Peace of Westphalia
 Its political consequences
 Ultimate effects of the Thirty Years' War
 

     CARDINAL RICHELIEU.
     ABSOLUTISM.
     State of France in the 17th Century
 Elevation of Richelieu
 He perceives the great necessities of the State
 Makes himself necessary to Louis XIII.
 His aims as Prime Minister
 His executive ability
 His remorseless tyranny
 His warfare on the Huguenots
 Aims of the Huguenots
 La Rochelle
 Fall of the Huguenots
 Character of the Nobility; their decimation
 The Queen-Mother
 The Duke of Orleans
 The justification of Richelieu
 The Parliaments
 Their hostilities
 Their humiliation
 The policy of Richelieu
 His services to the Crown
 His internal improvements
 His defects of character
 Necessity of absolutism amid treasons and anarchies
 Abuse of absolutism
 

     OLIVER CROMWELL.
     ENGLISH REVOLUTION.
     The Puritans
 Their peculiarities
 Love of Civil Liberty
 Charles I. and his ministers
 Laud
 Strafford
 Tyranny of the King
 Persecution of the Puritans
 Petition of Right
 Reforms
 The Parliament
 Contest between the King and Parliament
 War and Revolution
 Characteristics of the Age
 Rise of Cromwell
 His military genius
 Battle of Naseby
 Of Preston
 Conquest of Scotland
 Execution of Charles I.
 A war measure
 The Independents gain ascendency
 Conquest of Ireland
 Cromwell made Protector of the army
 Military despotism
 Motives of Cromwell
 His great abilities as a ruler
 His services to England
 Greatness of England under Cromwell
 Cromwell contrasted with Louis XIV.
 His intellectual defects
 His death
 Cromwell as an instrument of Providence
 Occasional necessity of absolutism
 Ultimate effect of Cromwell's rule
 

     LOUIS XIV.
     THE FRENCH MONARCHY.
     Illustrious men on the accession of Louis XIV.
 State of France
 Ambition of Louis XIV.
 His love of military glory
 His character
 His inherited greatness
 His alliance with the Church
 His unbounded power
 His great ministers
 Colbert
 Aims of Colbert
 His great services
 Louvois
 His great executive abilities
 The first war of Louis XIV.
 Conquest of Flanders
 Its iniquity
 Invasion of Holland
 Easy victories
 Rise of William of Nassau
 Prevents the conquest of Holland
 Peace of Nimeguen
 Louis in the zenith of power
 His aggrandizement
 His palaces
 His court
 His mistresses
 His friendship with Madame de Maintenon
 Elevation of Maintenon
 Religious persecution
 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
 Coalition against Louis XIV.
 Unfortunate wars
 Humiliation
 His death
 Effects of his reign in France
 

     LOUIS XV.
     REMOTE CAUSES OF REVOLUTION.
     Long reign of Louis XV.
 Decline of French military power
 Loss of colonial possessions
 Cardinal Fleury
 Duke of Orleans
 Derangement of the finances
 Injustice of feudal privileges
 John Law
 Mississippi scheme
 Bursting of the bubble
 Excessive taxation
 Worthlessness of the nobility
 Their effeminacy and hypocrisy
 Character of the King
 Corruption of his court
 The Jesuits
 Death of the King
 The reign of court mistresses
 Madame de Pompadour
 Extravagance of the aristocracy
 Improvements of Paris
 Fall of the Jesuits
 The Philosophers and their writings,--Voltaire, Rousseau
 Accumulating miseries and disgraceful government
 

     PETER THE GREAT.
     HIS SERVICES TO RUSSIA.
     State of Russia on the accession of Peter the Great
 The necessity for a great ruler to arise
 Early days of the Czar Peter
 Accession to the throne
 Lefort
 Origin of a navy
 Seizure of Azof
 Military reform
 Peter sets out on his travels
 Works as a carpenter in Holland
 Mentchikof
 Peter visits England
 Visits Vienna
 Completion of the apprenticeship of Peter
 He abolishes the Streltzi
 Various other reforms
 Opposition of the clergy
 War with Charles XII. of Sweden
 Battle of Narva
 Siege of Pultowa
 Peter invades Turkey
 His imprudence and rashness
 Saved by the sagacity of his wife Catherine
 Foundation of St. Petersburg
 Second tour of Europe
 Misconduct and fate of Alexis
 Coronation of Catherine I.
 Character of Peter
 His great services to Russia
 

     FREDERIC THE GREAT.
     THE PRUSSIAN POWER.
     Characteristics of the man
 Education of Frederic II.
 His character
 Becomes King
 Seizure of a part of Liège
 Seizure of Silesia
 Maria Theresa
 Visit of Voltaire
 Friendship between Voltaire and Frederic
 Coalition against Frederic
 Seven Years' War
 Carlyle's History of Frederic
 Empress Elizabeth of Russia
 Decisive battles of Rossbach, Luthen, and Zorndorf
 Heroism and fortitude of Frederic
 Results of the Seven Years' War
 Partition of Poland
 Development of the resources of Prussia
 Public improvements
 General services of Frederic to his country
 His character
 His ultimate influence