It is true that the first accidental discovery of Iceland appears to have been made in 861, eleven years before the accession of Alfred to the throne; yet, as the actual colonization of that island did not take place till the year 878, the seventh of his glorious reign, we have been induced to distinguish the actual commencement of maritime discovery by the modern European nations as coinciding with his era.

This ominous commencement of his viceregal reign was not belied by the events which followed; and the hero of Lepanto, the victor of the Turks, the idol of Christendom, was destined to have his reputation and well-won laurels tarnished in the service of the insidious despotism to which he now became an instrument.

Sufficient, however, had been wrought to test its value, and they were not discouraged by this inauspicious commencement.

The further progress of Gustavus Adolphus in the ecclesiastical territories agreed with this brilliant commencement.

I was not without some curiosity to see the conclusion that was to follow upon so extraordinary a commencement.

In nations which have made a false commencement, it would be found that the citizen, or rather the subject, has extorted immunity after immunity, as his growing intelligence and importance have both instructed and required him to defend those particular rights which were necessary to his well-being.

Fred's was a fortunate commencement.

I have already had occasion to point out that an apprenticeship to goldsmith's work was considered at Florence an almost indispensable commencement of advanced art-study.

The boats had not yet retreated from him to the distance necessary to ensure safety, when this injudicious commencement of the war took place.

The interesting points in connection with the case are the insidious commencement of osseous disease, its extensive development, and the entire absence of any external manifestation, through its being confined entirely within the limits of the hoof.

If a ship from Europe came but into sight, it was now considered as a sufficient motive for a war, and as a signal only for an instantaneous commencement of hostilities.

Blanche, sitting close to Helen, was bending over a frame containing the intricate commencement of a fruit and bird petit-point picture, which, when finished, she intended should form a banner screen for this very room.

The change was less remarkable, because not of long duration; for the joyous commencement of that government afterward ran riot through excess.

It was larger than we had expected, in consequence of strangers coming in, and proved rather a lively commencement to our spiritual course of labor.

SwineCato assigns to a large estate ten stiespoultry, and pigeons were kept in the farmyard, and fed as there was need; and, where opportunity offered, a small hare-preserve and a fish-pond were constructedthe modest commencement of that nursing and rearing of game and fish which was afterwards prosecuted to so enormous an extent.

There is a punctual generation who time their calls to the precise commencement of your dining-hournot to eatbut to see you eat.

In the death of Major Winthrop, at the promising commencement of his military career, the nation lost one of its purest, noblest, and most capable spirits.

This was a rough commencement, and the result being seen by all hands it greatly encouraged the assailants.

A good idea of the character and resources of a nobleman's or wealthy gentleman's kitchen at the end of the sixteenth and commencement of the seventeenth century may be formed from the Fairfax inventories (1594-1624), lately edited by Mr. Peacock.

This seemed destined, though, to be a day of misfortunes, to which the chicken business was but a slight commencement.

With a commencement as solid as this, it was not difficult to make the walls of the tent (or marquee would be the better word, since both habitations had nearly upright sides) by means of an old fore-course.

The low lands, on the other hand, announced a striking commencement of improvement and prosperity.

But, as the time drew nearer, her dislike to a sudden commencement of absolute hostilities became stronger,to hostilities which would seem to have no sanction from Mr. Bolton himself, because he would then be absent.

They fell upon more gracious topics, and in spite of this somewhat sullen commencement the meeting was quite as delightful as they anticipated.

The terms of the treaty proposed by the United States were not only just to Mexico, but, considering the character and amount of our claims, the unjustifiable and unprovoked commencement of hostilities by her, the expenses of the war to which we have been subjected, and the success which had attended our arms, were deemed to be of a most liberal character.