THE HISTORY OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN STATES. K BY W. C. TAYLOR, LL.D. M.R.A.S. F.S.S. &c. OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF FRANCE, AND THE HISTORICAL LONDON: PRINTED FOR WHITTAKER & Co. AVE MARIA LANE. 1836. PREFACE. THE period of European history between the fifth and fifteenth centuries, has been illustrated by the greatest historians of modern times, Gibbon and Sismondi; some apology may, therefore, be expected from one of far inferior powers, who ventures to treat of the same subject. A very few words of explanation will suffice: were there no other objection, the size of the works of these eminent writers renders them unfit for the general use of students, and both have discussed subjects which could not with propriety be introduced into schools. History has recently occupied the prominent position in our English course of education, which it has for more than half a century held in the schools of France and Germany, and every day's experience proves the value and importance of the change. In the histories of Greece and Rome, the students learn the ancient system of civilization, its classical forms, and its great results: the histories of France and England introduce them to an entirely new state of things; the modes of life, the motives of action, the designs both of war and peace, are wholly altered. There is a sensible break in the chain of information and the |