Books with author George Putnam Upton

Among the famous queens of the world—Catharine II of Russia, Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, and Victoria of England, Mary Queen of Scots, Isabella of Spain, Louise of Prussia, Marie Antoinette, Marie and Catharine di Medici of France, and others, Maria Theresa of Austria holds a conspicuous place. In statesmanship and patriotism she ranks with Elizabeth and Catharine. As Catharine greatly improved the administration of her Empire, introduced new laws and extended its frontiers, and as Elizabeth's reign was characterized by great commercial enterprises and extraordinary intellectual activity, so the reign of Maria Theresa, though she was engaged for years in two great wars,—that of the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War with Frederick for the recovery of Silesia, which he had taken from her,—proved to be of the highest benefit to Austria in the strengthening of law and the introduction of needed reforms and wise measures for the welfare of the Empire.For years she was engaged in war for the preservation of Silesia with the most potent sovereign in Europe—Frederick the Great. Doubtless he had some antique claim upon Silesia, but when Maria Theresa succeeded to the throne under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, all the European powers, Prussia among them, whose rights might be affected, renounced their claims. She relied upon their good faith, but on the slightest of pretexts Frederick broke it and determined to rob her of Silesia, even at the cost of plunging all Europe into a long and devastating war. He set aside a new treaty to enforce an old claim. He plainly condemned himself by his own words in his Memoirs: "Ambition, interest, the desire of making people talk about me carried the day and I decided for war." When peace was finally made, Maria Theresa retained her old inheritance, though she lost Silesia; but Frederick was more than willing to make peace, for all Germany had been a terrible sufferer by the war and Prussia was in dire straits.The story of the life of the great queen is briefly told in these pages. It is the story of the life of a proud, ambitious queen; a wise, judicious ruler, who had the best interests of her subjects at heart, and for whom they were always ready to die; a woman of spotless personal character and true to all her domestic duties at a time when immorality and corruption were rife in high places. The story covers some of the same episodes of history which occur in the narrative of Frederick, in this series, but is none the less interesting, as the reader will find both sides presented.

The period of the "Swiss Heroes" romance is in the days of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; and the sentiment of its title is to be found in the careers of the three heroes, Hans Vogeli, his brother Heinrich Vogeli, who gave his life to establish his Swiss citizenship, and Walter Irmy. A short sketch of the relations of Charles the Bold to the Swiss is all that is needful as a preface to the stirring story which the German author has told so well and so accurately.Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, of Burgundy, and Isabella of Portugal, one of the most conspicuous figures at the close of the Middle Ages, was born in 1433. He became Duke of Burgundy in 1467 and shortly afterwards took as his second wife Margaret, the sister of Edward IV of England. After years of war with Louis of France, which eventually ended in his success, and urged on by his inordinate ambition, he determined to erect an independent kingdom under his own sovereignty. With this end in view he entered into negotiations with Emperor Frederick, offering to marry his daughter to the Emperor's son, in case he himself were elected king of the Romans. The Emperor proposed, however, to make him king of Burgundy at Treves, but the scheme was thwarted by the Electors, who persuaded the former to leave the city secretly.Four years previously (1469), Sigismund, Duke of Austria, had sold Alsace to Charles, and the latter appointed Peter von Hagenbach its governor. His career of cruel oppression and the vengeance which the people wreaked upon him are vividly described in this little romance. Charles was so enraged that he gave up the country to waste and slaughter. But meanwhile powerful allies were united against him. Louis of France had secured the alliance of the Swiss; and Sigismund, who was anxious to get Alsace hack, joined the French. The English deserted him and signed a treaty of peace with Louis. Battle after battle was fought, in which the Swiss were victorious; and at last the troops of Rene, the dispossessed duke of Lorraine, aided by the Swiss troops, won a great victory under the walls of Nancy, January 5, 1477. The Burgundians were routed and Charles was killed. The heroism of the Swiss stands out conspicuously in this romance; but among all the characters in the stirring drama none is more alluring, more pathetic, more glorious, than Heinrich Vogeli, who won his restoration to citizenship by his heroic death.

Translator's PrefaceThe life-story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart contained in this volume closes with his admission to membership in the Accademia Filarmonica at Bologna, Italy. Mozart was then in his fifteenth year. Up to that time his life had been a happy one, free from care, untouched by adversity, and crowned with continuous successes. He was admired by the people, considered a prodigy by the greatest composers, and was received with extraordinary honors at the Courts of Austria, France, Holland, and England. His twenty remaining years, embittered by enmities and saddened by privations and misfortunes, find no place in this life-story. They were occupied almost exclusively with artistic tours, during which he brought out many of his greatest works, among them, "Mitridate," "Idomeneo," "Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," and "The Magic Flute." The last-named opera made its appearance in 1789, and the same year he began the immortal "Requiem," the composition of which was so significant in its relation to his rapidly approaching end.He died two years later. He was then in impoverished circumstances. His funeral was of the kind common among the poorest class. No note of music was heard. No friend accompanied the solitary hearse to the cemetery where this great genius was left in a pauper's grave. His life-story in this volume leaves him crowned with honors, the idol of his time, a marvel to the greatest musicians, flushed with success and exultant in the pride of genius, standing on the threshold of youthful manhood, the brightest, most beautiful, most attractive, most lovable figure in the world of music. It is one of the attractions of this little volume that it takes leave of him there, before the sunshine of his life was obscured by a single cloud.G. P. U.CHICAGO, June, 1904.

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Excerpt from Letters of Peregrine PicklePeregrine Pickle, devoted to matters of gossip and in ferest in the world of amusement. Necessarily, much of this matter was of an ephemeral nature, which perished with publication. Many of these letters, also, were de voted to topics of a purely local and temporary character, which, at this present date, would possess no interest. I have, therefore, taken care to preserve only such parts of them as have a general bearing, and have arranged them under appropriate heads, with dates at the end of each, as a matter of convenience and reference.These letters were commenced in the early part of the winter of 1866 and have, therefore, reached the very respectable age of nearly three years. Like other children, they are old enough to go alone, and I therefore send them out into the world, richly endowedwith my blessings, which is all I have to give them. Should they succeed in the world, I shall be profoundly astonished, as they were born amidst the press and hurry of other editorial duties, and they came into the world scarce half made up. Should they fail, I shall at least have the gratification of showing that Lytton Bul wer was in error in regard to the lexicon of youth.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

About the Book The romance novel, which is sometimes termed the romantic novel, places its primary focus on the development of a romantic relationship and love between two people. The sub-genres of the romance novel include: fantasy, historical romance, paranormal fiction, and science fiction. Romance novels existed in ancient Greece, and were also to be found in the literary fiction of the 18th and 19th centuries in the works of such authors as Samuel Richardson and Jane Austen.Also in this Book Titles that are fiction anthologies are collections of fiction works chosen by the compiler. They may be a collection of stories by different authors.And in this Book Urban fiction is set in the urban landscape, although the genre is as much defined by socio-economic and cultural themes. Urban fiction usually has a dark backdrop, focusing on lower socio-economic characters. Themes include profanity, sex, and violence, with authors often drawing upon their own past experiences to enrich their stories.About us Leopold Classic Library has the goal of making available to readers the classic books that have been out of print for decades. While these books may have occasional imperfections, we consider that only hand checking of every page ensures readable content without poor picture quality, blurred or missing text etc. That's why we: republish only hand checked books; that are high quality; enabling readers to see classic books in original formats; that are unlikely to have missing or blurred pages. You can search "Leopold Classic Library" in categories of your interest to find other books in our extensive collection. Happy reading!