66 



HISTORY. 



History. 



r.crman 

 kingdoms. 



Denmark, 

 ic. 



Nether- 

 lands. 



Switzer- 

 land. 



Italy, 



History of 

 the king. 



lloU.a Ot 



Ana. 



the l6th centuries, are intimately connected. As the 

 discovery of the new world happened at that period, 

 the articles AMI u.< \, MEXICO, and PEHU, ought to be 

 consulted for an account of the transactions of the Spa- 

 niards there. Soon afterwards the history of this coun- 

 try becomes connected with that of the Netherlands. 

 After the separation of the United Provinces from Spain, 

 its history may be chiefly elucidated by the histories of 

 Portugal, Italy, France, and Britain. The history of Por- 

 tugal admits of little elucidation from the history of 

 any other country except Spain; the articles AFRICA 

 and ASIA, however, may be consulted for a brief ac- 

 count of their discoveries and settlements in these quar- 

 ters of the globe. 



As an introduction to the history of the German 

 kingdoms and states, the article GERMANY ought to be 

 perused : this will prepare the way for the history of 

 Austria, illustrated in its progress by the histories of 

 Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Russia, Turkey, 

 Sweden, and the Netherlands : the history of Prussia, 

 illustrated by the history of Brandenburgh, Russia, 

 Austria and France ; the history of Bavaria, Saxony, 

 &c. The account of the Reformation, given in the ar- 

 ticle ECCLESIASTICAL History, ought to be consulted, 

 with reference not only to the history of Germany, 

 but also to those of Britain, France, and the Nether- 

 lands, during the 16th and part of the 17th centuries. 

 The history of Russia will receive elucidation from the 

 histories of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, 

 and Persia. The article SCANDINAVIA ought to be con- 

 sulted for a general view of the manners, customs, 

 laws, &c. and early history of Denmark, Sweden, and 

 Norway. These countries, besides mutually illustrating 

 the history of one another, will receive elucidation prin- 

 cipally from the history of Russia and Germany. Under 

 the article NETHERLANDS, will be found the history 

 of that country, not only while it remained undivided, 

 but also of the United Provinces, and of the new king- 

 dom, which has reunited the whole seventeen provin- 

 ces. That portion of the history of this country, which 

 properly relates to the United Provinces, will receive 

 elucidation from the history of Spain, France, and 

 England, during nearly the whole of the period, from 

 the establishment of their independence till they were 

 merged in the kingdom of the Netherlands. The com- 

 paratively pacific history of SWITZERLAND admits of il- 

 lu?tration, in no important degree, except from the 

 history of Austria, during the very early period of the 

 establishment of its independence, till, like nearly all 

 the other states of continental Europe, its history be- 

 comes involved in the revolutionary history of France. 



The general account of ITALY ought to be consulted 

 previous to the histories of Naples, Sicily, Venice, Tus- 

 cany, the Popedom, &c. ; and these will be elucidated 

 by the histories of France, Spain, Austria, and Turkey. 

 The history of the Popedom indeed, both in its eccle- 

 siastical and civil character, is so intimately connected 

 with the history of all the European kingdoms, (except 

 Russia and Poland, ) till the Reformation, that it ought 

 to be studied carefully; for this purpose the article 

 ECCLESIASTICAL History may be consulted. The his- 

 tory of Poland will be elucidated principally by that of 

 Turkey, Austria, and Russia. 



Respecting the histories of the kingdoms of Asia, 

 Africa, and America, our notices must be very short. Of 

 course before the history of any particular country in 

 any of these divisions of the globe is studied, the de- 

 scription of that particular division, under its proper 

 head in this work, ought to be consulted. Turkey, 



from its connection with the histories of Austria, Po- 

 land, and Russia, claims perhaps the first notice. The 

 history of Arabia, illustrated by the life of Mahomet, 

 is an interesting object of study, not only on account of 

 the conquests and literature of the Arabs, but also from 

 the connection of their history with that of the Penin- 

 sula. Though the history of CHINA has little or no 

 connection with the history of any European state, yet 

 the peculiarities of its inhabitants must render its his- 

 tory interesting : Under that article will be found not 

 only an accurate and well-proportioned abridgment of 

 the history, but also a very faithful and detailed de- 

 scription ot' the manners, language, institutions, &c. of 

 that singular country. Since the middle of the last 

 century, the history of INDIA has become so intimately 

 connected with the histories of France and Britain, 

 and that country at present forms so large and valuable 

 a portion of the British empire, that its modern history 

 ought to excite considerable interest, even though its 

 ancient history, and the character of its inhabitants, 

 and their laws, institutions, &c. did not put forth 

 strong claims to our attention. For an account of the 

 histories of the other kingdoms of Asia, we must barely 

 refer our readers to the articles of PERSIA, BIRMAN 

 EMPIRE, JAPAN, THIBET, TARTARY, MALACCA, CEYLON-, 

 SIAM, &c. The history of the principal states of Africa 

 will be found under the articles EGYPT, ABYSSINIA, 

 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, ALGIERS, MOROCCO, TRIPOLI, 

 TUNIS, &c. The history of the united states of Ame- 

 rica, as already mentioned, should be sought for under 

 the articles AMERICA and BRITAIN; of the British co- 

 lonies there, under the articles CANADA, NOVA SCOTIA, 

 &c. and also under BRITAIN ; of the Spanish colonies, 

 under the articles BUENOS AYRES, CHILI, MEXICO, 

 PERU, &c. and also under SPAIN ; of the Portuguese 

 settlements under the head of BRAZIL, and also under 

 PORTUGAL. 



V. We shall now conclude this article with a brief 

 notice of the different species of history, besides that 

 which is emphatically so styled. History, strictly 

 speaking, relates to the narration of the wars and poli- 

 tical events of kingdoms ; but besides this species of 

 history, that which relates to the support which Chris- 

 tianity has received from the secular power ; together 

 with the benefits or disadvantages resulting from this 

 support ; and also to the internal administration of the 

 church, its constitution and discipline, its doctrine and 

 its worship ; or, in other words, the history of Chris- 

 tianity, of its corruptions and reformation, and of the 

 influence which its principles, or the conduct of its 

 professors, have had on the political condition and af- 

 fairs of mankind, may justly be regarded, as very inti- 

 mately connected with the species of history, which we 

 have been so fully considering. Ecclesiastical history, 

 therefore, ought to be studied, not merely in its reli- 

 gious, but also in its political point of view. Whoever 

 I'eflects on the power of the Pope for several centuries, 

 on the friendly relations or wars between the diffe- 

 rent states of Europe, which they brought about, on 

 the wars arising from the Reformation, and on the great 

 and decided change in the political character and power 

 of the mass of the people which that event produced, 

 must be convinced that ecclesiastical history cannot 

 safely be neglected even by the mere statesman. This 

 article, therefore, ought to be carefully perused, both 

 by itself, and in connection with the history of the dif- 

 ferent states of Europe. 



The histories of the different arts and sciences are 

 quite of a, distinct class from political and ecclesiastical 



China. 



India. 



Africa. 



America, 



Other spe- 

 cies of his- 

 tory. 



Ecclesiasti- 

 cal history. 



Its connec- 

 tion with 

 political his- 

 tory. 



