This final effort was made by the last great sultan of the Circassian dynasty, Kansuh Ghuri (1501-1516), who also exerted himself manfully in defending his country from the impending disaster of Ottoman invasion. But the Othmanli Turks, greatly heartened by the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, had been steadily encroaching in Asia, and, after defeating the shah of Persia, their advance upon Syria and Egypt was only a matter of time. The victory was made easier by jealousies and treachery among the Mamluks. Kansuh fell at the head of his gallant troops in a battle near Aleppo in August 1516; a last desperate stand of the Mamluks under the Mukattam Hill at Cairo in January 1517, was overcome, and Sultan Selim made Egypt a province of the Turkish empire. Such it remains, formally, to this day. * * * * * RAPHAEL HOLINSHED Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland Raphael Holinshed, who was born about 1520, is one of the most celebrated of English chroniclers. The "Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland," known by his name, cover a long period of English history, beginning with a "Description" of Britain from the earliest times, and carried on until the reign of Elizabeth, in the course of which, between 1580 and 1584, Holinshed died. The work did good service to Shakespeare, who drew from it much of the material for his historical plays. The first edition, published in 1577, was succeeded in 1587 by another, in which the "Chronicles" were continued by John Hooker and others. An edition appeared in 1807, in the foreword to which the "Chronicles" are described as containing "the most curious and authentic account of the manners and customs of our island in the reign of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth "; and being the work of a contemporary observer this is not too much to claim for it. Owing to the great scope of this work, it is impossible to convey an impression of the whole, which is best represented by means of selected examples of the chronicler's method. Being the work of so many different authors, the literary quality of the "Chronicles" naturally varies; but the learning and research they show make them an invaluable aid to the study of the manners and customs of early England. _I.--Master Holinshed to his Good Lord and Master, Sir William Brooke, Knight_