far as doubling the Cape by Diaz, 1487,) 1497. A spirit of enterprise, when roused and put in motion, is always progressive; and that of the Portuguese, though slow and timid in its first operations, gradually acquired vigour, and prompted them, by despising dangers which formerly appalled them, to advance far beyond the utmost boundary of ancient navigation. From unacquaintance with the proper season for choosing the route in that vast ocean through which he had to steer his course, De Gama's voyage was long and dangerous; but in ten months from the period of quitting the port of Lisbon, he landed at Calicut, on the Malabar coast, in India, 1498. That territory was then governed by a prince of the Nair tribe, styled the Zamorin; and being astonished at the visit of an unknown people, whose aspect, and arms, and manners bore no resemblance to any of the nations accustomed to frequent his harbours, and who had arrived by a course hitherto deemed impracticable, he received them with that fond admiration which is often excited by novelty; but in a short time formed schemes to destroy them. De Gama, however, extricated himself and his party with singular prudence and dexterity from every danger, and at last sailed from Calicut with his ships richly laden. He returned to Portugal in two years after his sailing from the Tagus, but with a great loss of men; only 55 out of 148 whom he took out, having survived. Emanuel received him with all possible testimonies of respect and kindness, created him a count, and not only declared him admiral of the Indies, but made that office hereditary in his family. On the first intelligence of Gama's successful voyage, the Venetians, with the quicksighted discernment of merchants, foresaw the ruin of that lucrative branch of commerce which had so contributed to aggrandize their country; and their fears were shown to have been well founded, when Emanuel selected a succession of officers to take the supreme command in | India, who, by their valour, military skill, political sagacity, and integrity, accomplished, in 24 years after the voyage of De Gama, the virtual conquest of countries now known by the general name of 'The East Indies.' One of the successors of Gama was Albuquerque, whom Emanuel_sent out as viceroy, with a strong fleet; and he took possession of Ormus, in the Persian Gulf, and of the island of Goa on the Malabar coast; on which last he founded a city, the capital of the Portuguese possessions in the East. These conquests secured to the Portuguese the control of the whole interior commerce of India. Shutting out the Egyptians and other traders, they carried on their transactions without opposition, prescribed to the natives the terms of their mutual intercourse, set what price they pleased on the goods they purchased, and were thus enabled to import from Hindustan and the regions beyond it, whatever is useful or rare. When the Mamluk soldan of Egypt, soon after, urged by the Venetians, attacked the Portuguese in the Red Sea, the latter faced his formidable squadron with undaunted courage, defeated it, and remained masters of the Indian Ocean. The colonists continued their progress until they established a commercial empire, to which, whether we consider its extent, its opulence, the slender power by which it was formed, or the splendour with which the government of it was conducted, there had hitherto been nothing comparable in the history of nations. Emanuel, who laid the foundation of this stupendous fabric, lived long enough to see it almost completed, and died, aged 53, 1521. Every part of Europe was now supplied by the Portuguese with the productions of the East, if we except some inconsiderable quantity of them, which the Venetians still continued to receive by the ancient channel of Egypt; and their dominion in India subsisted in full vigour for more than half a century from that period. Dis sensions at home, and the transfer of Portugal to Philip II. of Spain, 1580, led to the neglect and decline of the Asiatic colonies; and upon the occurrence of war with the Netherlands, the Dutch, then rising into maritime distinction, deprived Philip II. of them all, save Macao and Goa, which have continued to belong to Portugal to this day. GERMANY UNDER MAXIMILIAN I. -He succeeded his father, Frederick IV., 1493, at 34, having married in 1477, Mary, the wealthy heiress of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, by whom he had Philip, who married the heiress of Spain, and became the father of Charles V. and Ferdinand I. The conquest of Naples by Charles VIII. of France having greatly alarmed Maximilian, he entered into a league with the pope and other princes to stop the progress of his arms; but the allied forces were beaten, or at least put to a stand, at Fortnova, 1495. Maximilian allied with Louis XII. against the Venetians, and subsequently with Henry VIII. of England, 1513, against Louis himself; in which latter dispute the emperor condescended to enlist in Henry's service, wear the cross of St. George, and receive pay (100 crowns a day) as one of his subjects and captains. But while he exhibited the extraordinary spectacle of an emperor of Germany serving under a king of England, he was treated with the highest respect by Henry, and really directed all the operations of the combined army. It was this alliance which defeated the French at the battle of the spurs, 1513. Maximilian, who was evidently an eccentric prince, formed at one time the chimerical design of causing himself to be elected coadjutor to pope Julius II. He was always unhappy, and poor; but he loved the sciences and learned men, and, besides some poems, composed memoirs of his own life, which terminated at the age of 61, 1519. POLAND UNDER JOHN ALBERT.John Albert was the son of Casimir IV., and succeeded him 1492; but nothing occurred either in his reign, or in that of his brother ALEXANDER, who became king at his death in 1501, and reigned till 1506, worthy of memorial, beyond the perpetual harass received by both monarchs from the incursions of the Turks and Tartars. RUSSIA UNDER IVAN III. THE GREAT. The only interesting events in the history of Russia, from the period of the Mongul invasion, 1237, to the accession of Ivan III., as grand duke, (better known as Ivan Vasilowitz I.) who succeeded his father Vasili (Basil) the Blind, 1462, were the alternate contests with the Tartars and Poles, to protect the country from their aggressions; the general alarm of the Russians at the progress of Timur, who after threatening them with entire subjugation, directed his attention to the East; and a quarrel respecting the throne in the reign of Ivan's father, when the cousins of Vasili put out his eyes (whence his appellation), but were obliged by the people to fly from Moscow, and leave their sightless relative in possession of the throne. Ivan III. proved both the conqueror and deliverer of his country, and laid the foundation of its future grandeur. After marrying the princess Sophia, daughter of Thomas Palæologus, who had been driven from Constantinople, and forced to take refuge at Rome, he was willing to listen to the dictates of his consort's more cultivated mind, and to make the best use of her remark one day at dinner, ‘that she was surprised to find she had married a slave of the Tartars.' The remonstrance alluded to the servile ceremony annually observed since the Mongul conquest of 1237 (see Vol. I., page 582); and nettled at the reproach, Ivan feigned himself ill when the next deputation from the Tartars arrived, and, under that pretext, avoided a repetition of the stipulated humiliating proceeding. He soon after required the Mongul legates, whose abode was in the precincts of the kremlin (or palace) of Moscow, to find lodgings in the city; and perceiving these Tartar representatives quietly submit to his commands, he boldly commenced hostilities against the Mongul emperor, and made himself master of Casan, 1477. The liberation of his country from Tartar despotism was thus effected for a while. The province of Permia, with great part of Lapland, submitted to him; and Great Novogorod, (a city then so famous, that the Russians used to express its importance by the proverbial expression of Who can resist God and the Great Novogorod?) was reduced by his generals, after a seven years' siege, and yielded him the immense treasure of 300 cart-loads of gold and silver. All the northern nations, beholding with terror the rapid increase of duke Ivan's power, now courted his alliance; but the Poles, under Casimir IV., seemed inclined to resist,-the more especially as that king had built upon a promise made by Ivan that Novogorod should be given up to Poland. Ivan, however, overran Lithuania, and compelled Casimir to purchase a cessation of arms; and Servia, which had hitherto been a tributary state of Poland, now put itself under the protection of Muscovy. After the death of Casimir, Ivan totally subdued Lithuania; but in attempting to bring Livonia under his yoke was defeated, 1502, by the Knights of the Cross, under their grand-master, Walter Von Plettenberg, with immense loss. The latter years of Ivan's life were embittered by domestic quarrels: his second consort, Sophia, wishing to give the sovereignty to her own children, induced him to set aside Demetrius, his grandson, the rightful heir, in favour of her son Gabriel. Soon after reluctantly consenting to this arrangement, İvan died, aged 69, 1505. FOUNDATION OF MODERN PERSIA. -It was shown, in the reign of Tamerlane, that Uzen Hasan, a Turkish chieftain, killed the last Persian prince of the great Mongul's house, 1468, and usurped the throne. The supre macy of the family of Hasan, however, was of short duration; for Ismail the Sage, descended from the celebrated religious teacher, Sheikh Saffillddin, of Ardebil, and remotely related to the house of Hasan, made himself master of Persia, and founded the Seffavean, Saffi, or Sofi dynasty, 1502, thus commencing the present kingdom of Persia. Being warmly devoted to the memory of Ali, he encouraged the Shiah faith; insomuch that he came to be regarded as a saint, and to be called Shah-Shian, king of the Shiahs, all Persia adopting (and still maintaining) the Aliade opinions. Ismail ventured to attack Selim I., of Turkey; but being defeated by that sultan, he contented himself with the conquests he had made, and died in his capital of Bagdad, 1523, transmitting the throne of Persia to a long line of posterity. DELHI UNDER SEKANDER SHAH LODI. He succeeded his father Bhelol Khan 1488, and pursuing the same vigorous policy, greatly extended his dominions. He removed the capital from Delhi to Agra, in order still further to carry his conquests; but in spite of his endeavours, three other independent Moslim states arose,Bijapur, Berar, and Golconda; while the Hindu kingdom of Vijanayagar became powerful, by seizing the greater portion of the territory of the Bahmini kings, who had recently removed their capital from Kalberga to Ahmedabad. In Sekander's reign, the Portuguese first arrived in India, and established settlements on the coast of Malabar, then subject to Hindu rajas. Sekander died 1517. (See Baber.) GRANADA, TILL ITS FALL UNDER BOABDIL.-MULEY ALI ABUL HASAN succeeded his father, Mohammed X., 1466: but the state of affairs grew every day worse. In 1470, the governor of Malaga revolted, and did homage to the king of Castile. The city of Granada, and even its harem, became the scene of those commotions and discords that hastened the ruin of the Moorish empire. The sultana been abbreviated by chroniclers to Bu-abdad, and thence corrupted to Boabdil, was now glad to own Ferdinand of Castile his suzerain, in order to enjoy the title of king of Granada. The state, however, was on the brink of ruin by intestine commotions; and especially by the rivalry of the two potent families of the Zegris and Abencerrages. It was in 1489, when the army had returned unsuccessful from the siege of Jaen, that the Zegris, then high in the favour of Boabdil, conspired to prove that failure the work of the Abencerrages, whose chief, Albin Hamed, they solemnly declared, not only aspired to the throne, but had become the secret paramour of the queen. The fury of Ayesha, mother of Abu-Abdallah, heir-presumptive to the throne, entertained a mortal hatred towards another of Hasan's wives, a Spanish lady called Zoraya, and mother of two princes. At that time the two powerful states of Aragon and Castile were united, and the doom of Granada was sealed. The taking of Zahara, 1481, by the generals of AbulHasan was the signal of a war of reprisals on the part of Ferdinand V. The city of Alhama, one of the bulwarks of Granada, was reduced in 1482; and in the ensuing year several important fortresses opened their gates to the conqueror. Meanwhile the Moorish court was divided into two hostile factions-those of Ayesha and Zoraya. The tribe of the The-Boabdil may easily be imagined by gris (Zegris) supported the former; that of the Beni Sarraj (Abencerrages) the latter; one held the Albayzin, the other the Alhambra; and the streets of Granada were daily stained with the blood of its inhabitants. Though Abu-Abdallah, called Assaghir (the small), succeeded in dethroning his father, 1483, he was himself taken prisoner by the Christians near Lucena in a few weeks; and Abul-Hasan regained momentary possession of his capital, 1484. The undutiful Assaghir, however, having obtained his liberty, again disputed the throne with his aged father; and at last the people of Granada, leaving the father and son to settle their quarrel, appointed Abdallah Zagal (the brave), uncle of Assaghir, king. In the meanwhile Ferdinand was pushing on his conquests. In June 1484, he took Alora and Setenil; in 1485, Ronda and Marbella fell into his hands; Loxa surrendered 1486; and the ensuing campaign began by the taking of Malaga. But these successes did not rouse the Moors to a sense of their danger, or induce them to put an end to their civil dissensions; for, profiting by the absence of Zagal from his capital, Assaghir marched upon Granada, and again usurped the throne. This prince, whose name of Abu-Abdallah has those acquainted with the Moorish character; and he swore the instant annihilation of the whole race of Ben Zerragh. Ordering 30 of his guards to arm themselves, and the executioner to attend, he took his seat in the hall of lions of the Alhambra; and summoning the Abencerrages, as on occasions of council, contrived that they should enter the apartment one by one. As each unsuspecting victim passed the portal, he was seized and beheaded; and no less than 35 were sacrificed in this manner, before intelligence was obtained without of the tragedy which was enacting within. All the Abencerrages would thus have died but for a little page, who, following his master closely, was admitted unperceived, during the confusion that prevailed amongst the guards in the vestibule. Appalled on perceiving the floor of the hall strewed with mangled corpses, he fled with precipitancy, and cried out to the first of his master's house whom he met, You are betrayed!' In an incredibly brief space of time, 14,000 men were in arms at the gates of the palace, to avenge the death of men so generally beloved by the citizens; and a party of Abencerrages rushed into the hall of lions, and though Boabdil escaped, put to death more than 200 of his adherents in and about the Mr. Washington Irving has accumulated, in his recent visit to the Alhambra, a fund of matter highly interesting to every investigator of Spanish history. When Granada fell, an offer was made of free citizenship to all such Moors and Jews as would embrace Christianity: few, however, accepted the proposal, and 170,000 families quitted Spain for ever. This extensive expatriation depopulated Spain of artists and labourers; and the contemporaneous discovery of America not only aggravated the evil, but brought upon the remaining Spaniards, by the influx of wealth, a deplorable indolence, which has, more or less, to this day characterized the people of the peninsula. Alhambra. Muley Hasan was again | nary occasions of mourning; while declared king, but resigned in favour of his son, on hearing that he had made his peace with the house of Ben Zerragh. Boabdil, however, had determined on the death of the queen; but she was advised, on the day appointed for her execution, to commit her cause to some Christian knights, who at tilt and tournament defeated her false accusers, and obtained her liberty. The fall of Granada speedily followed this combat, the Abencerrages giving every facility to the hostile movements of Ferdinand, who in the spring of 1491, invested its capital; and after a siege of nearly a year, the standard of the cross waved on the red towers of the Alhambra, 1492. Boabdil, on being compelled by his conqueror to retire to Alpuxares, a small domain allotted him for his future abode, turned round to take a last view of his beloved capital from a neighbouring hill. His whole family accompanied him; and bursting into tears, he sank on the ground, overwhelmed with grief at the recollection of what he had lost. My son,' said his mother Ayesha, 'you have cause indeed to weep like a woman, who defended not your throne either as a monarch or a man!' The unhappy prince, quitting his beloved Spain soon after for Africa, fell in battle there on the side of the king of Fez. The Moors bewail to this day their expulsion from Granada, which had been their place of abode for 780 years. Each evening in their prayers do they supplicate heaven to restore them possession of a country, connected in their fervid imaginations with all that is romantic, heroic, and glorious in their annals. Their last ambassador from the wilds of Africa begged permission of the Spanish king to set his foot in the palace of the Alhambra; and his pathetic lamentation when he entered its deserted walls, has furnished the theme of many a modern poet's lay. Mr. Lockhart, in his Spanish ballads, has most touchingly pourtrayed the deep feeling of the swarthy race on ordi MILAN UNDER LUDOVICO SFORZA. It has been shown that this prince, surnamed the Moor,' poisoned his nephew, 1494, to obtain the ducal throne. He however met eventually with the punishment due to his crime. Louis XII. having overrun the Milanese district, 1499, compelled Ludovico to hold it as a fief of France; but the latter having, after a few months, incited his people to revolt against the French, Louis sent La Trimouille into Italy to reduce them to obedience. The general effected his object, and carried Ludovico prisoner to France; whereon Louis shut him up in an iron cage at Loches, in which he passed the remaining 10 years of his miserable existence, dying 1509. Milan continued under French governors until the dispute between Louis XII. and pope Julius II., in consequence of the latter joining in a league against him with Henry VIII. of England and the Venetians, 1510. On that occasion, Gaston de Foix, duc de Nemours, who commanded the French in Italy, gained the victory of Ravenna over the confederates, 1511, but was killed after the battle; and upon its being found that Gaston had fallen, the Swiss proclaimed Maximilian, the son of Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, and in 1512 the emperor Maximilian ob |