COMPEND OF HISTORY, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. BY SAMUEL WHELPLEY, A.M. WITH CORRECTIONS, IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITIONS BY REV. JOSEPH EMERSON. NEW EDITION, BROUGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY, BY SAMUEL EMERSON, A.M. TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. VOL. I. NEW YORK: ROBERT B. COLLINS. Edue T 608.56.850 v.2 m MARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY GIFT OF GEORGE ARTHUR PLIMPTON DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, VIZ. District Clerks Office BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirtieth day of June, A. D. 1825, in the fortyninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Richardson and Lord of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: "A Compend of History, from the earliest times; comprehending a General View of the Present State of the World, with respect to Civilization, Religion, and Government; and a Brief Dissertation on the Importance of Historical Knowledge. By Samuel Whelpley, A. M. Principal of the Newark Academy. Eighth edition. With Corrections, and imporant Additions and Improvements. By Rev. Joseph Emerson, Principal of the Female Seminary at Wethersfield. Two volumes in one. Vol. 1." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned" and also to an act, entitled, " An Act supplementary to an act, entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; 296 extending the benefits hereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching his and other prints." JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. COPYRIGHT RENEWED, According to the Act of Congress, on the First day of June, 1853, BY NANCY EMERSON, In the Clerk's Office of the United States Court for the Western District of Virginia. REVISED EDITION. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, BY NANCY EMERSON, In the Clerk's Office of the United States Court for the Western District of Virginia. TO THE REV. SAMUEL MILLER, D. D., ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, &c. &c. REVEREND SIR, WITH little more claim on you, than what the mass of society have on the benevolent notice of the learned, the wise and the good, I have presumed to inscribe to you, the following Compend of History; the chief merit of which, I am highly sensible, must consist much in the motive of the author. Destined by Providence to be intrusted with the education of youth, I have long regarded it as an important inquiry, what branches of knowledge and what modes of instruction are best calculated to benefit the young mind-what objects will be most likely to arrest the attention, enlarge the understanding, strengthen the memory, and promote virtuous dispositions. Whilst, on the one hand, I have not the vanity to think, that I have made any important discoveries in this inquiry; so, neither am I discouraged, on the other, by the reflection, that the wise and learned in every age have been more or less engaged in the same inquiry. If the lapse of ages has corrected the errors of Lycurgus, Solon and Aristotle, it is presumed, that the most approved systems of the present day, having endured a similar test, will also be found defective. The study of history is too much neglected in our present course of education; and I am strongly impressed with the belief, that children may lay a broad foundation for historical knowledge, while learning to read, and may become very generally acquainted with history, merely in a common course of school reading. No species of instruction so easily or so deeply imprints itself on the memory of youth, as that which is clothed in simple narration and description; especially if that narration convey interesting facts-and if that description engage and delight the imagination. It has often been observed, that an early taste for reading is likely to enkindle in the mind a desire for general improvement; and, if I may be allowed to appeal to my own experience, the reading of history was the first thing which awakened in me a desire to study the sciences. With these views, Reverend Sir, I have been induced to publish the following Compend. I have often found myself embarrassed in passing through so wide a field-with such rapidity. A selection and arrange. ment were desired, that would mark an unbroken line, and give the reader a just, general and connected impression. How far I have succeeded in the attempt, the reader must judge. Had I more leisure, or a better judgment, the work would have been more correct. But, as it is, I hope it will answer the purpose for which it is designed, and, especially, that it may be so fortunate, as to gain the sanction of your approbation. |