The Lion of the North:

a tale of the times of Gustavus Adolphus and the wars of religion. By G.A. Henty

In this story, Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the Thirty Years' War. The issue had its importance, which has extended to the present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany. The army of the chivalrous King of Sweden was largely composed of Scotsmen, and among these was the hero of the story.

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MY DEAR LADS,

You are nowadays called upon to acquire so great a mass of learning and information in the period of life between the ages of twelve and eighteen that it is not surprising that but little time can be spared for the study of the history of foreign nations. Most lads are, therefore, lamentably ignorant of the leading events of even the most important epochs of Continental history, although, as many of these events have exercised a marked influence upon the existing state of affairs in Europe, a knowledge of them is far more useful, and, it may be said, far more interesting than that of the comparatively petty affairs of Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.

Prominent among such epochs is the Thirty Years' War, which arose from the determination of the Emperor of Austria to crush out Protestantism throughout Germany. Since the invasion of the Huns no struggle which has taken place in Europe has approached this in the obstinacy of the fighting and the terrible sufferings which the war inflicted upon the people at large. During these thirty years the population of Germany decreased by nearly a third, and in some of the states half the towns and two-thirds of the villages absolutely disappeared.

The story of the Thirty Years' War is too long to be treated in one volume. Fortunately it divides itself naturally into two parts. The first begins with the entry of Sweden, under her chivalrous monarch Gustavus Adolphus, upon the struggle, and terminates with his death and that of his great rival Wallenstein. This portion of the war has been treated in the present story. The second period begins at the point when France assumed the leading part in the struggle, and concluded with the peace which secured liberty of conscience to the Protestants of Germany. This period I hope to treat some day in another story, so that you may have a complete picture of the war. The military events of the present tale, the battles, sieges, and operations, are all taken from the best authorities, while for the account of the special doings of Mackay's, afterwards Munro's Scottish Regiment, I am indebted to Mr. J. Grant's Life of Sir John Hepburn.

Yours sincerely,

G. A. HENTY

The Life of Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, was born in the year 387 AD or so it is believed. He comes from the village of Bunnavem Taburniae (there is still some doubt about the name for it has many names) in Roman Britain. The location to the village is unknown but believed to be on the west coast near Scotland. He was the son of Calpornius, a deacon, who is the son of Potitus, a priest. Besides being a deacon, Calpornius also held a official position with the Roman administration. The native tongue of St. Patrick was an old Celtic dialect similar to nowadays Welsh. Being among the privileged classes it is well believed he was also familiar with Latin. Few details were written by Patrick, or by anyone else, of his childhood and early teens. But Patrick did mention that towards his regard to Christianity, even though his family was Christian, he was a pagan.

At sixteen years of age, Patrick was captured, with thousands of others, and brought to Ireland in slavery. During the six years of captivity Patrick worked as a herdsman and as you know the treatment of slaves is nothing but humane and Patrick recalls that he endured hunger, nakedness, and being near the point of collapse. During those years of hardship whatever religion he had that was nominal changed into desperate plight in seeking for God. “And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God.” He wrote in his ‘Confession’ that he prayed a hundred prayers during the day and as many during the night. One night he heard a voice in his dreams say, and I quote, “It is well that you fast, for soon you will go to your home country.” A short wile after he heard a voice again, saying “See, your ship is ready.” As Joseph did with Mary and Our Lord many years ago, Patrick never doubted the Lord got up and fled, from his master’s field, and traveled across two hundred miles of country, seemingly on foot. As a runaway slave there would be many dangers and hardships to face but Patrick gives us few details besides being unafraid for he went with the strength of God to guide him. He found a ship ready to sail and after much difficulty was allowed to board. After various adventures, which Patrick does not mention where but is believed to have taken place in Gaul, returned home to hos family.

After thirty years of peace and becoming a deacon, Patrick had a vision of a man coming, as it were from Ireland. The mans name was Victoricus (who many believe to be Saint Victricius, bishop of Roauen). He carried with him many letters which one he gave to Patrick, and in the letter he heard the desperate cry of the Irish. Patrick knew then that it was his calling to go back to Ireland and help the people. Although he petitioned to the elders of the church, instead of letting him go they attacked him with a confession he had made, to a friend about his childhood, thirty years ago. But in the years to pass Patrick prevailed and became the Second Bishop of Ireland for they sent Palladius before him. It is said that is when his name was changed to Patrick for his Christian name was Maewyn Succat. It took him many years and through many hardships to see change in Ireland. As he said in his confession, and I quote; “hence how did it come to pass in Ireland that those who never had a knowledge of God, but until now always worshipped idols and things impure, have now been made a people of the Lord, and are called sons of God, that the sons and daughters of the Kings of the Irish are seen to be Monks and Virgins of Christ.”

According to the latest reconstruction of the Old Irish annals, Patrick died in 460 AD on March 17^th. And that is why we celebrate his life, the banishing of the snakes, and the bringing of Christianity into beloved Ireland. 

By Allison Halliday

Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Patrick's "Breastplate" Prayer

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
 

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;*
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Reading & Learning

The Story of Saint Patrick's Day by Patricia A. Pingry
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie de Paola
Patrick: Saint of Ireland by Joyce Denham
St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons
St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting

Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert

Explain to your children how Saint Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people and that is why shamrocks are associated with Saint Patrick and the Irish people. 

http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com/pdf/HH-St-Patricks-Day.pdf

http://motherlyloving.blogspot.com/2010/03/feast-of-saint-patrick.html

By Right of Conquest:

or With Cortez in Mexico

By G.A.Henty

With the Conquest of Mexico as the ground-work of his story, Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of an English youth. He is beset by many perils among the natives, but by a ruse he obtains the protection of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds in regaining his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec bride.

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PREFACE.

The conquest of Mexico, an extensive empire with a numerous and warlike population, by a mere handful of Spaniards is one of the romances of history; indeed, a writer of fiction would scarcely have dared to invent so improbable a story. Even the bravery of the Spaniards and the advantage of superior arms would not have sufficed to give them the victory, had it not been that Mexico was ripe for disruption. The Aztecs, instead of conciliating by wise and gentle government the peoples they had conquered, treated them with such despotic harshness that they were ready to ally themselves with the invaders, and to join with them heartily against the central power; so that instead of battling against an empire single-handed, the Spaniards had really only to war with a great city, and were assisted by a vast army of auxiliaries.

Fortunately, the details of the extraordinary expedition of Cortez were fully related by contemporary writers, several of whom were eye-witnesses of the scenes they described. It was not necessary for me, however, to revert to these, as Prescott in his admirable work on the conquest of Mexico has given a summary of them, and has drawn a most vivid picture of the events of the campaign. The book far surpasses in interest any volume of fiction, and I should strongly recommend my readers to take the first opportunity that occurs of perusing the whole story, of which I have only been able to touch upon the principal events.

While history is silent as to the voyage of the Swan, it is recorded by the Spaniards that an English ship did in 1517 or 1518 appear off the port of San Domingo, and was fired at by them, and chased from the islands; but it was not until some twenty or thirty years later that the English buccaneers openly sailed to challenge the supremacy of the Spaniards among the Western Islands, and to dispute their pretensions to exclude all other flags but their own from those waters. It may, however, be well believed that the ship spoken of was not the only English craft that entered the Spanish main, and that the adventurous traders of the West country more than once dispatched ships to carry on an illicit trade there. Such enterprises would necessarily be conducted with great secrecy until the relations between Spain and England changed, and religious differences broke up the alliance that existed between them during the early days of Henry VIII.

G. A. HENTY.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

The Fighting Veres:

Lives of Sir Francis Vere, General of the Queen's Forces in the Low Countries, Governor of the Brill and of Portsmouth, and of Sir Horace Vere, General of the Forces in the Low Countries, Governor of the Brill, Master-General of Ordnance, and Baro

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PREFACE.

The war of independence in the Netherlands had a lasting influence on the formation of opinion in England. It thus led to the civil war in defense of the liberties of the old country, and to the founding of colonies in America. Queen Elizabeth declared that the people of the Netherlands were justified in resisting the tyranny of rulers who infringed and attempted to subvert their rights and liberties. She made war on the tyrant, and espoused the cause of the oppressed people. Englishmen received the declaration of their Queen with enthusiasm. During upwards of sixty years they continued to cross the sea and to fight for the cause of freedom. There was scarcely a man in England who had not either served himself....

By England's aid: The freeing of the Netherlands

  by G.A.Henty

The story, By England's Aid continues the account of the Dutch struggle for Independence first presented in By Pike and Dyke. Two English lads, brothers, experience the major conficts in the struggle meeting one of the greatest generals of the time, Sir Francis Vere. Their adventures include the Spanish Armada, the battle of Cadiz, life in Holland and Spain, the Battle of Ostend and more.

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MY DEAR LADS,

In my preface to By Pike and Dyke I promised in a future story to deal with the closing events of the "War of Independence in Holland. The period over which that war extended was so long, and the incidents were so numerous and varied, that it was impossible to include the whole within the limit of a single book. The former volume brought the story of the struggle down to the death of the Prince of Orange and the capture of Antwerp; the present gives the second phase of the war, when England, who had long unofficially assisted Holland, threw herself openly into the struggle, and by her aid mainly contributed to the successful issue of the war. In the first part of the struggle the scene lay wholly among the low lands and cities of Holland and Zeeland, and the war was strictly a defensive one, waged against overpowering odds. After England threw herself into the strife it assumed far wider proportions, and the independence of the Netherlands was mainly secured by the defeat and destruction of the great Armada, by the capture of Cadiz and the fatal blow thereby struck at the mercantile prosperity of Spain, and by the defeat of the Holy League by Henry of Navarre, aided by English soldiers and English gold. For the facts connected with the doings of Sir Francis Vere and the British contingent in Holland, I have depended much upon the excellent work by Mr. Clement Markham entitled “The Fighting Veres” . In this full justice is done to the great English general and his followers, and it is conclusively shown that some statements to the disparagement of Sir Francis Vere by Mr. Motley are founded upon a misconception of the facts. Sir Francis Vere was, in the general opinion of the time, one of the greatest commanders of the age, and more, perhaps, than any other man -with the exception of the Prince of Orange contributed to the successful issue of the struggle of Holland to throw off the yoke of Spain.

Yours sincerely,
G. A. HENTY.

Under Drake's flag : a tale of the Spanish Main

by G.A.Henty
An exciting account of life on the high seas as seen through the eyes of young Ned Hearne. The brave 16th-century teen sails with Francis Drake, experiences a harsh seafaring life, visits strange, unexplored lands; and witnesses the great naval battle between the English fleet and the Spanish Armada.


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 Sir Francis Drake 
by Wikipedia (read the rest  by clicking the title.) 

"Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral (1540 – 27 January 1596), was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, a renowned pirate, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588, subordinate only to Charles Howard and the Queen herself. He died of dysentery in January 1596 after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico. His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a pirate to the Spaniards to whom he was known as El Draque, 'Draque' being the Spanish pronunciation of 'Drake'. His name in Latin was Franciscus Draco ('Francis the Dragon'). King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £4,000,000 (US$6.5M) by modern standards, for his life. He is famous for (among other things) leading the first English circumnavigation of the world, from 1577 to 1580."

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