And the late revolution in 1789. The victories and conquests of Napoleon te Grand, 1795 to 1814. The most celebrated sovereigns of France, were Charlemagne, Henry IV., Louis XIV., and Napoleon, crowned emperor in 1804. 642. The English monarchy includes England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The Saxon heptarchy was united in 827; and thus was laid the foundation of the kingdom of England. The most remarkable events in English history have been The invasion of the Romans; The subjugation by the Saxons; The accession of the Danish prince Canute; The conquest of England by the Normans; The contests between the houses of York and Lancaster in the fifteenth century; The beheading of Charles I.; The revolution in 1688; And the separation of America. The most celebrated sovereigns of England, have been Alfred the Great, Edward 1., Edward III., Henry V., Elizabeth, and William III. 643. In ancient times, the names, as well as the divisions of countries, were different from what they are at present: their correspondence is given beneath : Modern Names. Norway and Sweden. Finland. Jutland. Romania. Morea. Corfu. Cephalonia. Candia. Negropont. England, Scotland, & Wales. Lanark, Dumbarton.. Cornwall and Devonshire. Surry, Sussex. Norfolk and Suffolk. Lincolnshire, Nottingham shire, Derbyshire, &c. Northumberland & Durham. Westmoreland, Cumberland. Anglesey. Flintshire, Montgomery, c. Dublin and Kildare. Iberia, Colchis, et Albania Georgia, Gangea, and Da gestan, N. B. For other particulars, consult Dr. Robinson's" Grammar of History, and his Ancient and Modern Histories. XXX. Mythology. 644. MYTHOLOGY, Fable, or Fiction, is the creature of the imagination, and derives its origin from a love of the marvellous and wonderful a passion, of which legislators and teachers, in early ages of society, took advantage. Obs. These tales of ignorance, barbarism, and superstition, fill a large portion of many books of education; but I think these few pages quite enough on so obsolete and useless a subject. 645. As a means of civilizing the world, the priest and the poet, among ancient nations, made use of the same means to convey their maxims and instructions to the vulgar. It was often, also, a mode of honouring whatever was useful or honourable in nations; the Chinese having their Fohi; the Hindoos, their Brahma; the Greeks and Romans, their Jupiter; and the Scandinavians, their Woden. 646. Mythology was first reduced to a system by the Hindoos; and afterwards, by priests of Egypt, who were the depositories of Eastern learning, as well as religion, and who monopolized all the arts and sciences. 647. Fables are the tales of former times, when there existed neither records nor chronology. By the Chinese mythology, Fo or Fohi, probably (the Noah of holy writ,) the founder of their empire, was born in a supernatural manner, and was inspired by heaven with knowledge which qualified him to teach all arts and sciences, and compose their laws. Of their Confucius, they believe, that he was not born as other men; but able to reason profoundly frem his childhood. 648. The mythology of the Hindoos is much connected with their casts or tribes; into which, the Indian nations are divided. Some of their fables relate to the creation, the general deluge, and to Vishnu or Brahma; who, they say, was miraculously born (in Sweta, the White Island, or Britain !) and that at thirty, he began to promulgate his doctrines, which have since spread all over India, and a great part of Asia. The principal dogma, was that of the transmigration of souls, after death, into the bodies of other animals;-a doctrine which gave rise to idols in the shape of monsters, quadrupeds, &c.' |